Hall Research UHBX-3S User Manual

© Copyright 2014. Hall Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

User’s Manual

UHBX-3S

HDMI On HDBaseT™ 1x3 Splitter with

Local Loop-out, RS232, & PoH

Split HDMI & Extend Video, Audio, RS232 & Power

upto 500 ft (150 m) on a single Cat6 cable

UMA1220 Rev B

1163 Warner Ave Tustin, CA 92780, Ph: [phone], Fax [phone]

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Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Features 4

3.0 Setup 5

3.1 Package Contents 5

3.2 Installation 5

4.0 Operation 7

4.1 Front Panel LEDs 7

4.2 EDID Management 8

5.0 Serial (RS-232) Commands 8

5.1 Serial Setup 8

5.2 Serial Commands 9

6.0 Troubleshooting 10

7.0 Specifications 11

TRADEMARKS USED IN THIS MANUAL

UHBX-3S

Hall Research and its logo are trademarks of Hall Research. Any other trademarks mentioned
in this manual are acknowledged as the property of the trademark owners.

FCC RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE STATEMENT

This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used
properly, that is, in strict accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, may cause interference to
radio communication. It has been designed to comply with the limits for a Class A computing device
in accordance with the specifications in Subpart B of Part 15 of FCC rules, which are intended to
provide reasonable protection against such interference when the equipment is operated in a
commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause
interference, in which case the user at their own expense will be required to take whatever measures
may be necessary to correct the interference.

Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void
the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

3

UHBX-3S

1.0 Introduction

The UHBX-3S is an HDMI 1.4 compliant splitter with one local HDMI output
and 3 HDBaseT™ outputs for transmission to compatible receivers up to 150
meters/500 ft away (max distance is a function of receiver type).

The Splitter supports HDCP, 3D, Deep Color, CEC, and 4Kx2K resolution.
EDID management is integrated into the unit with "Pass-thru", "Learn", and
"Emulate" features. Advanced users can use the USB port to download, edit, and
upload EDID data to and from the device. The unit provides an RS-232 port that
can be used to individually address and send control commands to the remote
displays (requires receivers with RS-232 such as UHBX-R-PD). The UHBX-3S
provides convenient front panel LED status indicators for all HDBaseT
parameters to quickly verify proper operation.

The UHBX-3S supports PoH (Power over HDBaseT™) using an optional
external 48 v DC power supply (part number 511-PS4812 sold separately).
Compatible receivers are powered from the sender using PoH standard so no
additional power supplies are needed. The implementation is compliant with
HDBaseT Alliance's requirements and adheres to PoE IEEE802.3af standard
whereby power is only inserted onto the UTP cable after a low voltage handshake
with a compliant receiver to assure reliability, safety, and compliance.

The HD BaseT outputs can be connected to all compliant HDBaseT receivers,
TV's and projectors. Hall Research offers ccompatible receivers including the
economical UH-1BT-R for extension to 70m/230 ft, the UH-1BTX-R for
extension to 100m /230 ft (or 150m/500ft if the splitter port is configured for LR
mode), or the UHBX-R-PD that supports HDMI, RS-232, PoH, and extension to
150m/500 ft.

Figure 1- UHBX-3S Sender paired with UHBX-R-PD receivers

Full-duplex RS232 Serial Port extension is provided that can operate at any baud
rate up to 115,200 (independent of video activity).

When the UHBX-3S is paired with the UHBX-R-PD receivers, all receivers are
remotely powered from sender as shown in the figure above. For this to work an

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additional +48V power supply must be connected to UHBX-3S. Note that the
+48V power supply is not included with the UHBX-3S.

UHBX-3S also works with UH-1BT-R and the UH-1BTX-R receivers. As
shown in Figure 2 below. In this case each receiver is powered locally and the
+48V power supply is NOT required at the sender.

Figure 2- UHBX-3S paired with UH-1BT-R (or UH-1BTX-R) receivers

UHBX-3S

2.0 Features

• Splits HDMI for up to 3 remote displays using HDBaseT™

• Local HDMI output for connection to a display or daisy-chain to another

splitter

• Extends HDMI, Power (PoH), and RS-232 signals over single Cat 6

cable up to 500 ft (150 m) max.

• Supports all HDMI & DVI resolutions with ability to extend 4Kx2K &

deep color video up to 100m (330 ft) OR 1080p HDMI video & DVI
video up to 150m (500 ft).

• Advanced EDID management with USB port for EDID manipulation

using a PC

• Can address and send independent RS-232 commands to each HDBaseT

output.

• RS-232 commands can be sent at any baud rate up to 115200

• Complies fully with HDBaseT standard

• Power-over-HDBaseT(PoH) meets IEEE 802.3af standard

• RS-232 expansion port for daisy-chaining multiple UHBX-3S units

• Fully isolates ground between TX and RX sides

• Sturdy metal enclosures with mounting provisions

5

UHBX-R-PD

UHBX-R-PD

Remote

Remote

Video

PC

+5V

+48V

Local

USB

Mini

2

UHBX-3S

USB is only required

UHBX-3S

3.0 Setup

3.1 Package Contents

All UHBX-3S units are shipped with +5V power supply, a 1m HDMI cable and
a male-to-female RS-232 cable.

3.2 Installation

Source

HDMI

In

HDMI

Out

RS-232

In (F)

Cat 6

Cat 6

Cat 6

UHBX-R-PD

Display

USB

RS-232

Out (M)

to assign Output port

numbers & to manage
EDID.

HDMI Cable

RS-232 Cable

Figure 3 – UHBX-3S Application Diagram

As shown in the diagram above, UHBX-3S is used to extend a single video
source to three (3) remote displays, located within 500 ft (150 m) from the
source. It also provides an additional HDMI output for connection to a local
display or for daisy chaining to another UHBX-3S for more HDBaseT outputs.
When the UHBX-3S is used with UHBX-R-PD receivers, the RS-232 and Power
(PoH) signals are also extended on the same Cat 6 cable. The RS-232 In port is
used to send/receive commands or data to/from remote displays connected at the
output. Special RS-232 commands are provided to selectively communicate with
any individual output (Please refer to Section 5 for more details.).

Note: By default the output port numbers are assigned address 1 through 3. If
RS-232 ports are daisy chained among several UHBX-3S devices then the user
must assign different port numbers to each box so each HDBaseT output has a
unique address. In order to do this the user must connect each additional box to a
PC using the supplied using a USB cable (cable is type A to mini-USB) and
utilize the "UHBX-3S Manager Software" available for download from Hall
Research website.

Display 1

Remote

Display 2

Display 3

Multiple UHBX-3S boxes can be daily-chained together as shown below.

6

Cat 6

Cat 6

Cat 6

Cat 6

Cat 6

USB

Mini

UHBX-3S

+5V

UHBX-R-PD

UHBX-R-PD

Remote

Remote

Video

PC

Remote

+5V

+48V

UHBX-R-PD

Remote

Remote

Remote

Local

USB is only required to

Mini

UHBX-3S

UHBX-3S

Source

HDMI

In

HDMI

Out

HDMI

In

HDMI

Out

RS-232

In (F)

USB

RS-232

Out (M)

RS-232

In (F)

Cat 6

UHBX-R-PD

UHBX-R-PD

UHBX-R-PD

Display 1

Display 2

Display 3

Display 6

Display 5

Display 4

Display

A maximum of 7 splitters can be daisy chained in this manner. This would allow
21 remote displays and one local display.

USB

RS-232

Out (M)

+48V

assign Output port
numbers & to manage

Figure 4 – Two UHBX-3S units daisy-chained together

HDMI Cable

RS-232 Cable

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Link

UTP Link.

PoH

Solid On means PoH handshake successful and power is sent to receiver

RS-232 Out (Male)

UHBX-3S

3.2.1 Sender Serial Connections

Connect the RS-232 input (Female) connector to your controller or PC using a
straight-through male-to-female DB9 cable. The pin-outs are shown below:

RS-232 In (Female)

DB9-F Pin Term Direction

2 TX Output

3 RX Input

5 GND

DB9-M Pin Term Direction

2 RX Input

3 TX Output

5 GND

4.0 Operation

Make connections as shown in Figure 3 and power up the UHBX-3S. If the
UHBX-R-PD is used as the receiver, make sure the optional 48V power supply is
also connected to the sender. In this case the PoH LED will be lit in about 3
seconds to indicate that the receiver is getting power. When the Link LED on
Sender and Receiver are lit (or blinking) the system is ready to extend video and
if you have video connected, it should be visible on the remote displays. It is
recommended to leave the EDID in PASS position, but if you are not getting an
image switch it to EMUL position.

4.1 Front Panel LEDs

Figure 5 – Sender LEDs

Solid on means Sender & Receiver are communicating
Blinking means the ends are communicating in Low-Power (sleep) mode

Video Solid on means Video is being sent to the display

LNG RCH Solid on means the link is operating in Long Reach mode

As shipped from factory, the 3 HDBaseT ports of the splitter are in AUTO mode,
in this mode if a UHBX-R-PSE is used, the link mode should be set to standard
(100m) or Long Reach (150m) using the mode switch on the receiver. When
connected to UH-1BTX-R which does not have a mode switch, the user can force
any of the 3 HDBaseT outputs of the Splitter into Long Reach mode. In this mode
the signal can extend to 150 meters, and is more immune to noise or interference.

If the Link, Video, and Lng Rch LED’s are blinking together, there has been a
failure on the corresponding transmitter module or it is missing. Contact Support.

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PASS

Solid On means current EDID configuration is in Pass-Thru mode

EMUL

Solid On means current EDID configuration is in EMULATE mode

plug a display to any of the 4 outputs, the EMUL LED will stop blinking

UHBX-3S

4.2 EDID Management

One of the distinguishing features of the UHBX-3S is EDID management. It
supports two modes of operation Pass-Through & Emulate. In Pass-through
mode the EDID of the TV connected to the output(s) is passed to the source. In
Emulate mode the UHBX-3S allows the user to send an EDID table that is stored
in the splitter itself (independent of the sinks). The EDID mode is selectable from
the front panel. The internal EDID table can be modified in two ways.

1. It can be "learned" from the display connected to the local HDMI output (by

holding the SEL button for 5 seconds, or using the GUI software

2. The user can upload any valid EDID table from a PC through the USB port

To switch between EMULATE and PASS-THRU modes, simply press the SEL
button. To "LEARN" the EDID from locally connected TV press and hold the
SEL button for 3 seconds.

Figure 6 – EDID Mode Selection

Blinking means the selected mode is Pass-Thru (PASS LED will be solidly
lit), but the splitter could not find any sinks at any of its 4 outputs so it has
decided to emulate EDID from internal table. In this case as soon as you

5.0 Serial (RS-232) Commands

The UHBX-3S has special commands that can be used to selectively send data to
the HDBaseT outputs. This section describes serial port settings, command
syntax and expected response from the unit.

Note - If daisy-chaining more than one box, prior to using serial commands
please assign a unique port number to each output port using the UHBX-3S
Manager Software. Please refer to the software guide for more details.

5.1 Serial Setup

Connect one end of M/F serial (RS-232) cable shipped with the product to the
RS-232 In port of UHBX-3S and the other end to the RS-232 port of your
computer (or USB to RS-232 adapter). Open a serial terminal program (e.g.
HyperTerminal or Realterm, TeraTerm etc.) and set up the serial port using the
following settings.

Baud Rate: 19200, Bits: 8, Parity: None, Stop Bits: 1, Flow Control: Off

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N 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Rate

UHBX-3S

5.2 Serial Commands

Command: XC,n <cr> stands for Serial Connect

Connect serial interface to an output (n). If n is not specified, then it reports
which output the controller is connected to. “n” could be in the range of 1 to 99
Response: XC,n <cr>
This indicates that the command completed successfully

Command: XT <cr> Stands for Serial Transmit
This command should be followed by a string of characters to send. The user
has 1-5 seconds to enter any characters from 0x00 to 0xFF. The maximum
number of bytes being sent out can’t exceed 64.
The terminal characters indicating the end of string are 0x17 followed by 0x0D.
If the user has more than 64 bytes to send, they must use multiple commands.
Response: OK <cr>
It is recommended that the customer wait for the OK response prior to issuing
further commands. Neglecting to do so runs the risk of corrupting the internal
buffers.

Command: XR <cr> Stands for Serial Read
Get the contents of the receive FIFO. The unit can store upto 64 bytes in the
Receive FIFO. This commands

Response: x bytes or none in the FIFO

Command: XB,n <cr> Stands for Serial Baud

If n is not specified, it reports the current baud rate (n = 1-8 per table below)

Baud

1200 2400 4800 9600 19200 38400 57600 115200

Response: XBn <cr>

Command: XP,n <cr> Stands for Serial Parity

If n is not specified, it reports the current parity. n: (0 = None, 1=Odd, 2=Even)
Response: XP,n <cr>

NOTES:

“XB,n” and “XP,n” are global commands and will affect the setting for all
HDBaseT outputs. So if all the remote devices you are trying to control use the
same baud rate, you only need to issue the XB,n command once. Otherwise you
need to use the XB,n command prior to sending data to individual outputs

By Default power management is turned on in the UHBX-3S. This means that if
there is no video or no display connected (Hot Plug not active), the unit will put
the HDBaseT links in low power mode. This will significantly reduce power
consumption in both splitter and receiver. You can still send Serial commands at
all baud rates when the power management is active . However, it is possible to
get a single spurious extra “junk” byte at the beginning of your command as

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received at the remote site if the command was issued with the HDBaseT link in
low-power mode. This byte is typically hex FF or FE and will only occur at baud
rates above 38400. If the device you are trying to control is going to get confused
by the hex FF or FE at the beginning of a command string, you can do one of two
things:

(a) Anticipate it and make changes to your command string to handle it.
For example you can issue a Carriage return first followed by your
actual command, or send your command twice.

(b) Disable the power management in the UHBX-3S using the GUI

UHBX-3S

6.0 Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing problems getting the extender to work properly, please
use the following troubleshooting suggestions.

 Make sure that all of the connections on both the sender and the receiver are

solid. Loose connections are the number one cause of issues.

 Try resetting the system by cycling power on the Splitter.

 Check the state of the LED’s on the front of both the sender and the receiver. If

the Link, Video, and Lng Rch LED’s are blinking together, there has been a
failure on the corresponding transmitter module or it is missing.

 Change the EDID mode using the front panel push button.

 Make sure the Cat6 cables are not run next to power cables or ballasts. Even if

the length of the cable is less than 100 meters, if the screen is blanking or
shows glitches, place the HDBaseT link in Long Reach mode. In this mode the
signal is much stronger, can go farther and offers extra immunity to
interference and electrostatic discharge (ESD). To do this, when using UHBX­R-PD as receiver, put the link in Long Reach mode using the small slide
switch. If you are using UH-1BTX-R that does not have a LR switch, you can
force the link in LR mode from the UHBX-3S using the Windows GUI
software through the USB port. The unit will remember the last setting.

 Update the firmware in the splitter (contact Hall Research Support)

 Make sure that the UTP or STP cable meets the requirements. Never use low-

skew cable for digital video extension (low skew cables are suited for analog
video extension, but do not work well for digital video).

If you still are unable to get the system working, contact Hall Research support
with a detailed description of the issue and the steps you have taken.

Do not open or try to repair the unit yourself as this will void your warranty. To
return the extender for repair, you must contact HR Support at 714-641-6607 or
via email or web. To ship the unit back for repair, make sure to obtain a Return
Material Authorization (RMA) number.

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Standards

DVI (single link) and HDMI (compliant with 12 bit color depth, 3D
video)

Signal type

HDBaseT

Connectors

Locking HDMI

Resolutions

DVI signal VGA (640x480) thru WUXGA (1920x1200)

Audio

Formats

All HDMI Embedded Audio including: LPCM 7.1CH, Dolby TrueHD

Other Signals

DDC

Pass-Thru DDC for reading EDID directly from remotely connected
CEC

Pass-Thru CEC for Consumer Electronics Control compatible devices

RS232

Bidirectional (full-duplex) any baud rate up to 115,200

PoH

Power-over-HDBaseT meets IEEE 802.3af standard. PD side identifies

5.5 watts max

General

Power Supply

100 VAC to 240 VAC, 50-60 Hz, external; 5 VDC, 3.2 A
Actual DC current 1.6A max

Power

10.15 watts maximum

Temp/humidity

Storage: -40 to +158 °F (-40 to +70 °C) 10~ 90%, non-condensing
Mounting

Threaded nuts on bottom for rack-shelf mounting or optional rack ears

Enclosure type

Metal (Aluminum ends, Aluminum Extrusion)

Dimensions

1.66" H x 8.42" W x 5.59" D (42mm H x 214mm W x 141mm D)
Shipping – 3 lbs (0.681 kg)

Vibration

ISTA 1A in carton (International Safe Transit Association)

Safety

CE

EMI/EMC

CE, FCC Class A

MTBF

90,000 hours (estimate)

Specifications are subject to change without notice

7.0 Specifications

Input & Output ports

Input Port 1x HDMI Female (Type A)

Output Port 1x HDMI Female (Type A), 3x RJ45 connectors

Video

HDTV signal 480i through 1080p
Digital Cinema 4K (4096x2160) – Not supported in Long Reach

and DTS-HD Master Audio (32-192kHz sample rate)

LCD and HDCP handshake

as Class 2 (3.84–6.49 watts). Actual power consumption of PD side is

UHBX-3S

PoH Supply (Optional ) 100 VAC to 240 VAC, 50-60 Hz, external; 48VDC

Operating: +32 to +122 °F (0 to +50 °C) 10~ 90%, non-condensing

Cooling Convection

Product weight Product – 2.5 lbs (0.386kg)

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© Copyright 2014. Hall Research, Inc.

All rights reserved.

1163 Warner Ave., Tustin, CA 92780

Ph: [phone]

UHBX-3S