Serial card powers 5V peripherals

Card allows serial devices which require the full 5V DC to be run from portable hosts, such as PDAs, which usually only supplies 3.3V through the CF bus.

New from Elan Digital, the CF500 serial card provides an RS232 connection with constant 5V power output.

This serial card allows serial devices which require the full 5V DC to be run from portable hosts, such as PDAs, which usually only supplies 3.3V through the CF bus.

Even when the host input voltage is only 3.3V, the card offers a steady 5V/100mA on pin 9 so that peripherals such as barcode scanners and fingerprint readers can be powered without any additional supply, yet the efficient DC/DC convertor circuitry ensures that there is no unnecessary drain on the host battery.

The card automatically configures to become another COM port by using the built-in OS drivers that are tried and tested and are optimised to work in the Windows environment as well as Linux and Mac O/S.

A hardware switch allows either industry standard rates up to 115Kbaud in x1 mode or up to 921Kbaud in x8 mode, including in Windows CE based operating systems (CE, Ce.NET, PPC, Windows Mobile).

The Type I format CF card can also be used in laptops and other PCMCIA interface systems with a simple adapter.

A variety of cable options are offered, with custom cables available for OEM applications.

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