UART to RS-485 converter

• Breakout board for the SP3485 RS-485 transceiver IC
• Operates from a single +3.3V supply
• Includes SP3485 RS-485 transceiver, filter capacitor, and more
• RoHS compliant

The SFE UART to RS-485 converter is a breakout board for the SP3485 RS-485 transceiver IC, which will convert a UART serial stream to RS-485. The SP3485 is a half-duplex transceiver, so it can only communicate one way at a time, but it can reach transmission speeds of up to 10Mbps. This board requires a very low amount of power and can operate from a single +3.3VDC supply.

This breakout board includes the SP3485 RS-485 transceiver, filter capacitor, and other components shown on the schematic. The manufacturer has broken out the RS-485 output to three different connections: (1) an RJ-45 connector, (2) a 3-pin 3.55mm screw terminal, and (3) a 3-pin 0.1″ pitch header; none of these output connectors come populated. This product replaces the sparkfun’s BOB-09505.

Features:

• Fully equipped with SP3485 RS-485 transceiver and supporting components
• Operates from a single +3.3V supply
• Interoperable with +5.0V logic
• RS-485 input/output broken out to RJ-45 connector, 3.5mm screw terminal, and 0.1″ pitch header
• Driver/Receiver enable connected to RTS line
• -7V to +12V common-mode input voltage range
• Allows up to 32 transceivers on the serial bus
• Driver output short-circuit protection