ANY-maze Help > I/O devices supported by ANY-maze > The ANY-maze interface device family > The ANY-maze Analogue interface > Connecting an ANY-maze Analogue interface to your equipment and testing it
Connecting an ANY-maze Analogue interface to your equipment and testing it
Introduction
The ANY-maze Analogue interface has 4 input ports and 2 output ports. The inputs can be connected to 4 single-ended signals or 2 differential signals. All the ports use pluggable screw terminal blocks, making it easy to connect to bare wires.
| • | Connecting to the input ports |
| • | Connecting to the output ports |
| • | Testing |
Connecting to the input ports
The 'pin-out' of the input ports is as follows (counting left to right, looking into the port):
| Pin 1 | Analogue signal input |
| Pin 2 | GND |
When connecting a single-ended signal, you should connect the signal to pin 1 and ground to pin 2.
When connecting a differential signal, you need to use a pair of ports (either ports 1&2, or ports 3&4). You should connect the positive signal to pin 1 of port 1, and the negative signal to pin 1 of port 2. You should also connect GND to Pin 2 of either port.
As mentioned in the Configuring an ANY-maze Analogue interface topic, if you have a single-ended signal that might go negative (with respect to ground) then you should configure the port as differential and connect the signal as follows: connect the signal to Pin 1 of Port 1; connect ground to Pin 1 of Port 2 and also to Pin 2 of either of the ports.
Connecting to the output ports
The 'pin-out' of the output ports is as follows (counting left to right, looking into the port):
| Pin 1 | Analogue output 1 |
| Pin 2 | 5V |
| Pin 3 | Analogue output 2 |
| Pin 4 | GND |
Both output 1 and output 2 are referenced to GND on Pin 4.
Pin 2 provides a 5V power line, which you can use to power external circuitry. When the ANY-maze Analogue interface is powered from USB, you can draw up to 300mA from Pin 2; when the device is DC powered, you can draw up to 900mA from Pin 2. In either case, if you try to draw too much power from this pin, the device will limit the current (or possibly switch it off altogether) and a warning will displayed in ANY-maze. Note that you can use Pin 2 to power things connected to either the input or the output ports.
Testing
After you have connected your equipment to the ANY-maze Analogue interface ports, you will of course want to test it. This is easily done using the I/O page.
| 1. | Open the ANY-maze Analogue interface in the list on the left side of the I/O page. |
| 2. | Select the interface's Analogue inputs, again, in the list on the left side of the page. |
| 3. | The right hand side of the page will display some charts showing the voltage at each of the input ports - see figure 1, below. |
| 4. | Do something to the equipment that is connected to the inputs so that the voltage will change; you should see this change reflected in the charts. |
Figure 1. Testing the ANY-maze Analogue interface inputs on the I/O page. Here, ports 1&2 are connected to a differential signal that's outputting a sine wave.
You can also test the output ports using the I/O page.
| 1. | Again, open the ANY-maze Analogue interface in the list on the left side of the I/O page. |
| 2. | Select the interface's Analogue outputs in the list on the left side of the page. |
| 3. | The right hand side of the page will display a graphical representation of the two output ports, with sliders below them (see figure 2). |
| 4. | Moving a slider will alter the voltage at the respective output. You can use a voltmeter or oscilloscope to check the voltage. |
Figure 1. Testing the ANY-maze Analogue interface outputs on the I/O page.
See also:
| • | Setting up the ANY-maze Analogue interface |
| • | Configuring the ANY-maze Analogue interface |
| • | Using the ANY-maze Analogue interface in tests |
© Copyright 2003-2026 Stoelting Co. All rights reserved
ANY-maze help topic T1084