- Seamlessly connects to standard 5250 and 5250 Express IBM AS/400 and 3X local and remote twinax controllers and workstations
- Supports distances of 5,000 feet on twinax and 3,000 feet on each twisted pair cable for a total distance of 8,000 feet per connection
- Cascadable to four units for extra long distances
- Retiming repeater technology regenerates and reclocks data, eliminating clock jitter and noise
- Digital Phase Locked Architecture provides acquisition of data rates of 1 Mbps for 5250 or 2 Mbps for 5250 Express (-2%, +4%), resulting in high immunity to noise and crosstalk
- Twinax or RJ11/45 connectors and polarity controls provide easy installation and flexibility
- Clear display and software independence make installation and monitoring intuitive and easy
The OmniStar 400 is an IBM 5250 and 5250 Express compatible star repeater that replaces traditional twinax daisy chains and provides star configuration on twisted pair wiring. It supports distances of 3,000 feet on each twisted pair and 5,000 feet on twinax for a total of 8,000 feet from the host. For cases that require additional distance, the OmniStar supports cascading of up to 4 stars.
The host connects to the OmniStar via twinax or twisted pair RJ11/45 cable. The workstation connects to it via twisted pair RJ11/45 cable. Both the host and workstation ports support polarity configuration, which facilitates the usage of different balun types.
The OmniStar diagnostics detect and display true port activity and parity errors. Each port is monitored for valid frame header patterns which are displayed via green Activity LEDs. The data is analyzed for errors; a detected error is displayed via a red Parity Error LED. These features assist in installation and monitoring of the OmniStar operation.
In contrast to passive and active stars which are susceptible to device data rate variations, noise and crosstalk, the OmniStar's Digital Phase Locking Architecture (PLA) provides data acquisition with data rate variations of -2% to +4% while providing superior noise and crosstalk immunity. Additionally, in a traditional star, shorted or unterminated cables can cause a port failure. By contrast the PLA isolates the failures so they do not affect operation.
The Express models operate with both the 5250 and 5250 Express protocols. Each port provides data rates of 1 Mbps for standard 5250 and 2 Mbps for 5250 Express protocol.
The OmniStar 400 is completely software-transparent and no setup is required.