Just to clarify this point, there are two different styles of termination in existence...On the latter, note that the Bridge hardware doesn't supply terminator power, so if you want to use SJ style terminators with it, you need to switch off the clock and use a Beebmaster or SJ Clockbox with it.
Firstly, the BeebMaster / SJ terminators (typically those housed in the metal DIN5 can) require a special circuit to power (biases) the data termination. This special circuit is present in the BeebMaster / SJ research clock, but is not present in the PiEconetBridge, as it requires a higher voltage PSU for it to work. This special circuit avoids the need to have a dedicated PSU at either end of the cable to power up the terminators.
Secondly, the PiEconetBridge uses a more conventional 5v circuit to power / bias the data termination. If running a small network, the PiEconetBridge has onboard termination that is powered from the bridge PSU, and that should be sufficient for most scenarios. If extending the network and additional termination is required at the far end of the network, this termination will need to be powered. You shouldn't try using the BeebMaster / SJ research terminators in this scenario, as PiEconetBridge doesn't have the correct circuit or PSU to power these terminators. Instead, it is possible to power more conventional terminators by extending the network from the PiEconetBridge using CAT5 style cabling. The extra cores in the CAT5 cable can carry a 5v supply from the PiEconetBridge all the way through to the far end of the network, where the termination is applied, and can be used to power / bias this termination. The simplest way to achieve this is to place one of my hubs at the far end, and connect the hub to the bridge using CAT5 cabling. These hubs have termination built in and the termination can be switched on using the onboard DIP switches.
If you would prefer to use the SJ style termination instead of the more conventional termination that is supplied with the PiEconetbridge, then you will need to add a BeebMaster / SJ clock into the cable network to generate the required voltage to power those terminators. In this scenario, the PiEconetbridge clock driver and the clock / data termination must be disabled. This can be done with the DIP switches on the PiEconetBridge.
Statistics: Posted by KenLowe — Mon Mar 10, 2025 9:38 am