I thought it would be worth looking in one of these units to see if it follows the rules for proper buffering of a DMX512 (one direction RS485) lighting network as used in the theatre and show industries.
It turns out that the circuitry is quite standard with a proper MAX485 receiver and 8 matching transmitters, but it’s also a bit odd in that the circuitry is clearly based on a fully isolated buffer, but with the isolation defeated by the use of a single power supply.
With an application like this I would recommend swapping the supplied power supply for one from a reputable supplier. That way you can choose one amply rated for the task, plus avoid any isolation issues that could cause data corruption or damage other devices on a network.
Here’s a typical search link on ebay com to find these units. :-
If you enjoy the channel you can help support it with a dollar for coffee, cookies and lighting gadgets for disassembly at:-
