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RS-485 Bus Calculator
Max cable length, termination, and fail-safe bias resistors for an RS-485 bus.
max length ≈ min(1200 m, 10⁸/baud), termination = 120 Ω each end, fail-safe bias each = 150·Vcc − 30 Ω (≥200 mV idle).
When you need it: Sizing termination, stub length and the node/distance budget for a multidrop industrial link (Modbus, DMX, building automation) so reflections and loading don't corrupt data.
Worked example: 32 standard unit-load transceivers on 120 Ω cable are terminated with 120 Ω at each far end only. Rate and reach trade off along a roughly constant product: about 100 kbit/s at 1200 m down to ~10 Mbit/s at ~12 m.
Tips & gotchas:
- Terminate only the two physical ends of the trunk — a terminator in the middle just wastes drive current and worsens loading.
- Keep stubs (drops) shorter than ~1/10 of the signal rise-time length, or they act as reflective transmission lines.
- Add fail-safe bias resistors so an idle (undriven) bus reads a defined logic level instead of noise.
- The standard driver handles 32 unit loads; use 1/8-UL transceivers to reach 256 nodes on one segment.