hi, i am building a set of small computer-actuated lights for placing around my front garden.
i need a way of linking them all up along a uni-directional bus to my computer, which will send positional info to them at 19200baud through it's UART.
I am concerned about interference affecting the signal.
is it possible to just connect the serial-port's TX pin and ground to some twisted pair cable, and take connections off of it for each lighting unit?
or would i need to use a protocol such as RS485 with termination resistors and the like to avoid signal smooshing?
could i also run a power supply down this cable without damaging the signal?
there will be about 5 light units.
Lee.
i need a way of linking them all up along a uni-directional bus to my computer, which will send positional info to them at 19200baud through it's UART.
I am concerned about interference affecting the signal.
is it possible to just connect the serial-port's TX pin and ground to some twisted pair cable, and take connections off of it for each lighting unit?
or would i need to use a protocol such as RS485 with termination resistors and the like to avoid signal smooshing?
could i also run a power supply down this cable without damaging the signal?
there will be about 5 light units.
Lee.
