Hello everyone! In lieu of our normal new product video update, we just have the blog post today. We have a big update coming next week and we’re pretty busy preparing for that!
A few weeks ago we launched the Fathom-S tether interface that provides analog video and serial communications. Today we are announcing two more tether interface board options. Both of them provide Ethernet connections, but with different trade-offs in performance and cost. We’re really excited about these Ethernet tether interfaces because they enable live HD video streaming and more expansion options in the future.
Fathom-E is a simple and economical interface board that works well for shorter lengths (<100m) of tether. This board is dead simple: it's just an Ethernet jack and a terminal block, making it easy to connect the Fathom Tether or an Cat5 cable to an Ethernet port. It uses all four twisted pairs in the cable, but provides a simple and reliable connection!
Fathom-X is a lot more capable, but at a higher cost. This board uses a HomePlugAV module to send 100 Mbps Ethernet through a single twisted pair of wires. Additionally, it’s robust enough to do that in high-noise environments and over tether lengths of at least 300m (the data sheet indicates that it will work to 2000m! We haven’t tested that.) Since it only uses a single set of wires, the rest are free for other uses, including pairing it with the Fathom-S interface board for analog video and serial communication.
Check out the documentation for the Fathom-X for more information. We only have a limited quantity of the Fathom-X boards in stock at the moment, but there will be more in the near future.
Both of these boards share the same mounting holes as the Fathom-S interface, making it easy to interchange between options or upgrade later. They also come with a flexible 6″ Ethernet cable to make it easy to connect to a computer onboard the ROV.
That’s all for this week. Stay tuned next week for some big news!