Weekend Project: converter from RS-232 to fibre optics

[128er]

Hey EEVBloggers,

thought I could present my little weekend project. Often at my job a converter from RS-232 to fibre optics would have been very useful . Primarily to readout/configure power devices or test gear.

Some examples:
http://www.advanced-energy.com/en/THYRO_P.html
https://www.gossenmetrawatt.com/english/produkte/mavowatt40.htm

Why DIY? Because they seem to be not that cheap and of course for the fun and education.

In particular I wanted the thing to be small. So it should fit in some sort of DB-9 enclosure. Found out that a Siemens Profibus-DP Connector provides enough space for all parts. Some parts of the enclosure had to be milled off. Then I etched a PCB and soldered all parts on. And dont ask why, but I don't remember myself why the hell I ordered a MAX3311 in µMAX package. It was a PITA to solder the damn thing.   

It is powered from USB with 5V. I could have done a few improvements. Like LED's to indicate power or data transfer action. And one little thing. If I had swapped the positions of the optics transmitter and receiver, the arrows on the enclosure would correlate to the data direction of the fibres. Also I'm not that happy about the board layout. Because of limitations from the single sided construction. But I think the whole thing is not realy critical in terms of signal integrity. The converter actually works very well.  Maybe I will do a revision in the future

No rocket science, but a usefull tool for me.

Not to forget . . . pictures and schematic!

[tautech]

 
Revision 2 with LED's?
Pwr, Tx, Rx ?

[macboy]

I would think this would be trivial to do with a pair of TOSLINK (digital audio) modules on each end. They are cheap, have logic level inputs/outputs, and can handle at least 6 Mbps.

[128er]

Revision 2 with LED's?
Pwr, Tx, Rx ?

As I mentioned in my first post. Didn't thought of that, doh. Maybe I will do a rev. 2

I would think this would be trivial to do with a pair of TOSLINK (digital audio) modules on each end. They are cheap, have logic level inputs/outputs, and can handle at least 6 Mbps.

Don't understand exactly how your arrangement should look like. But these VL connectors are widely used in the industrial field (fieldbus over fibre, etc,  . . .). No need for TOSLINK. And the TX/RX modules that I use are rated up to 10MBaud and CMOS/TTL compatible.

[timb]

What parts did you use for fiber connectors?


Sent from my Tablet

[128er]

TX module: AVAGO HFBR-1528Z

RX module: AVAGO HFBR-2528Z

Bought them on Ebay. The fibre cabel and plugs are from Siemens. I had them lying around at work. Normaly used with Siemens OBT's, for Profibus over fibre.