BOSTON - TAC has introduced what the company says is the industry's first BACnet service tool, designed to provide easy field access to controller point information. TAC's Roam IO₂ Service Tool is a compact hardware adapter with software applications designed to run as a BACnet service tool on a Windows® Pocket PC or laptop. Small enough to clip onto a technician's belt, the Roam IO₂ automatically discovers and edits BACnet devices from third parties as well as TAC's own Andover Continuumâ„¢ BACnet and Infinetâ„¢ lines of controllers.

"The Roam IO₂ is the first of its kind: a service tool servicing both Andover Continuum and third-party BACnet controllers from sensors to drives to controllers," said Rainer Wischinski, vice president of product marketing for TAC. "It is also the first BACnet service tool with Bluetooth wireless communications capabilities. And it does all this while still weighing under a pound."

Using this tool, technicians can locate all third-party BACnet and Andover Continuum devices on a network, says the company. It provides multiple displays of the entire BACnet system, including objects within the device, and detailed views of the BACnet properties of selected objects. Technicians can edit and change values, set descriptions, and more.

The service tool's Explorer-like tree provides a visualization of the entire BACnet system, according to Wischinski. "For example, expanding the controller reveals the objects within the device while switching to the details view displays all the BACnet properties and Andover Continuum attributes of the selected object," he said.

The hardware comes with an RJ-11 cable and a set of service port adapters to connect the Roam IO₂ to the built-in service port on any room sensor or Andover Continuum controller equipped with a service jack.

For more information, visit www.tac.com.

Publication date: 05/22/2006