Why Need 250 ohms resistor in

HART protocol
-------------------------------------------------------------The250ohmresistorinHARTisashuntresistorjustliketheterminatorforFOUNDATIONfieldbus.
TheHARTcommunicationsignalworksthisway:
Thetalkingdevicetransmitsacurrent
Thelisteningdevicepicksuponvoltage
Thepurposeofthe250ohmshuntresistoristoconvertthetransmitted
currenttoavoltagethereceivedcanpickup
Takealookatchapter11intheyellowbook"FieldbusesforProcess
Control:Engineering,Operation,andMaintenance"buyonline:
http://www.isa.org/fieldbuses

SorryJonas,Idonotbelieveyouarecorrect.Inmypreviousreplytothisquestion,Ipointedoutthatthe250
ohmresistorconvertsthe420mAanalogsignalfromtheHARTtransmittertoa15voltdroptoallowthe
AnalogInputcardoftheDCSorPLCtoreadtheanalogsignal.TheHARTdigitalFSK(FrequencyShift
Keying)signalisalsopresentonthislineandsuppliestheHARTdigitaldatatotheHARTmodemchip
usuallypresentonthesameAnalogInputcardforallnewDCSsandPLCs.TheBell202protocolusedforthis
FSK
digitalcircuitneedsnoterminatingorloadresistor.The250ohmresistorisonlyfortheanalogcircuit.
DickCaro

>yesyouareright,iliketosayanotherpointherethat420mAconvertedintovoltagebyusing250ohm
Resistor,DCSacceptonlyvoltagesignal15v
>ifyouaresendingsignal1050mAthenyoushoulduse100ohmResistortoconvertintovoltage15V

>ifyousendthevoltagesignal15VthennoResistorisneeded,directlygiventotheDCSaccordingtothe
Prioritywise(+and),ifthepriorityisinterchangedtheninDCSSoftFileErrorwillbecoming
RakeshKumar.NBEInstrumentationEngineer

YES.Unlessyouwishtoapplythe24voltsDCofyourlooppowersupplydirectlyacrosstheAnalogInput
terminalsthatexpecttoseea15voltdropacrossthis250ohmresistor.Idon'tthinkso.
Ifyouarenotusingthe420mAanalogsignalfromaHARTinstrument,whyareyouusingHART'sanalog
transmission.Thereisalsoafaster,thoughlessused,PSKmultidropversionofHARTthatdoesnotneeda
250ohmsignalbecausethereisno420mAsignal.ReadallaboutHARTathttp://hartcomm.org.
DickCaro

The250ohmresistorisnotplacedintheloopfortheideaofconvertingthecurrent(420mA)from
transmissiontovoltage(15V)forreception,andalsothevalue250isnotaspecialvalueforaloopresistance
neededforHARTcommunication.
Explainingfirstthetruepurposeofhavingaresistorintheloop:
TheHARTcommunicatoriscommunicatingwiththetransmitterthroughFSKprotocol.Understandingthis
protocol,itisacommunicationinanalogplatform.DigitalizationofthesignalhappenswithintheHART
devicesandnotalongthetransmissionline.
Theresistor'spositionintheloopisbetweenthetransmitterandtheDCpowersupply.Asweconnectthe
communicatoritshouldbetapbetweentheresistorandthetransmitterordirectlyparalleltotheresistor.Why?
BecausethepowersupplyhasaLOWPASSCAPACITORfilterthatbasicallysquelchesanalogsignalslike
ripples.Thus,ifthereisnoresistanceinbetweenthePSandtheTXthatanalogsignalcomingfromtheHART
deviceswillonlybefilteredout.
Explainingthevalue250:
Theresistancevalueisnotnecessarilybe250ohms.Maybebecauseoftheideathatthecontrollingcurrentof
20mAwillgiveus5voltcalibrationifthereisaloopresistanceof250ohms.Maybenotagoodtheory.
ActuallyyoucanuseanumberofpossibleresistancevaluesthatwillallowcommunicationbetweenHART
devices.Thisvaluedependsonthetransmitterminimumoperatingvoltagerequirement.SimpleOHM'sLAW.
Forexample,ifthevoltagerequirementforacertaintransmitteris1224voltsusearesistorthatwillnotgive
youadropofbelow12voltsorelseyouwillnotdeliverpowertoyourtransmitter.Mosttransmittersare

suppliedwith24voltsandaspercomputation250ohmsto500ohmsgivesadropofalmost18vwhichis
somewhatinbetweentheoperatingvoltage.

Youdon't.
TheHARTsignalisahighfrequencysuperimposedontheanalogsignal.Inordertoreceivethesignalyou
needameansofcreatingasomeimpedanceintheloop,aresistordoesthis.
Ifyouweretoconnectthetransmitterdirectlyacrossa24VDCpowersupply,theanalogsignalwouldbejust
finebuttheHARTsignalwouldbedampedrightout.Ifyouaddsomeresistanceintheloopyouwillgetsome
DCvoltagedropbutalsoacrosstheresistoryouwillgettheHARTsignal.
There'snothingmagicaboutthevalue250,itwillworkwithlesse.g.200.Itwouldalsoworkifinsteadofa
resistoryouaddedachoke.
DousallafavourIfyouhaveacommunicatorandpowersupplytryarangeofresistorsandletusknowthe
minimumvaluethatyoucangettowork.
Theliteraturesays250becausethat'sacommonvalue.
Regards
Roy

SorrytodisagreeagainwithyouRoy,butthe250ohmresistorintheHARTcircuitistherefortheANALOG
signal,notthedigitalsignal.With20mADCintheloop,typicallyfullscale,thevoltagedropacrossthe
precision250ohmresistorisexactly5volts.TheA/DconverterintheAnalogInputcardexpectsarangeof1
5voltstointerprettheanalogtransmissionofaHARTinstrument.Theresistorhasnothingtodowiththe
LOWFrequencydigitalsignal(1200bps)
oftheHARTdigitaltransmission.
ChangingtheresistortosomethingelsewouldcertainlynoteffectthedigitalHARTsignal,butitwouldkill
thecalibrationoftheanalogHARTsignal.
DickCaro

Page14oftheRosemount275communicatormanual
http://www.emersonprocess.com/hart/pdf/275book.pdf
showsthe250ohmresistoradapterpluggeddirectlyintothe275(andinserieswiththeloop),usingthepairof
bananajackson3/4"centerwiththesuppliedbananaplugadapteracrosswhicha~250ohmresistoris
connected.
Whenusingthe250ohmresistorinthisfashion,thevoltagedropacrossthe250ohmresistorisplacedoutside
ofthereceiverdevice'sanaloginput,ifthereisoneintheloop.Theillustrationcitedshowsnoreceiverdevice
intheloop,onlytheDCpowersupply,theHARTdeviceandthe275,notuntypicalofabench'cal'for
commissioning.
Inmyexperience,the275communicatorworksjustaswellifthe250ohmsisacrossareceiverdevice'sAI,
butbenchtestingorfieldcommissioningmightnothaveacompleteloopcircuitthroughanAIwithits
droppingresistance,whichiswhatIthinktheillustrationistryingtoshow.
CarlEllis

Carl,youhaveitright.TheHARTinstrumentexpectstooperateinafullloopwithananaloginputboard
wheretheterminationhasa250ohmprecisionresistortoprovidethe15voltdropfortranslatingthe420mA
currentsignaltoavoltage.Ifyouattempttooperatethe275withouttheterminationoftheAIcircuit,youmust
provideanother250ohmresistor,asforbenchcalibration.
Ifthe274isconnectedacrossthe420mAlineofanoperatinginstrument,thenthebenchtest250ohm
resistorisnotneeded.The275drawsitspowerfromtheoperating420mAloopsomustbeplacedinseries
withthatloop,butitcandothiswhentheAIboardwitha250ohmresistorisalreadyinstalled,byconnecting
acrosstheline.The275onlyneedstodetectthedigitalHARTsignal.
DickCaro

Youneedtheresistance.Itcanbeaslowas230ohm.Itcanthewireresistance,itdoesnotmatter,aslongas
thereisaresistance.

Seealsopage10oftheHARTapplicationguide.Foundacopy
here:http://www.pacontrol.com/download/hartprotocol.pdf
"Aminimumloopimpedanceof230isrequiredforcommunication."
Transmissionisbycurrent,receptionbyvoltage,soyouneedtheshunt.
Cheers,
Jonas

Guys,
Maybethiswillhelpalittle:
http://www.masoneilan.com/internet/businessunits/measurement/subunits/masoneilan/products/instrum
ents/ew2000.pdf
Page39:*PositionerorControllerwithHARTCommunication*
Regards,
J.P

Dick,
Yourstatement"The275drawsitspowerfromtheoperating420mAloop"isnotquitecorrect.Ithasitsown
internalbattery.Ifyoureadtheoriginalpost,Shankarasks,"Whyweneedtouse250OhmsWhileusing
HART"?FromthatIassumedhewasusingHARTwithoutanalog,that'swhyIsaid"Youdon't."
Ifyouconnectatransmitterdirectlyacrossthepowersupply,that'sanoperatinginstrumentandtheHART
signalwillstillbethere,butyouneedsomeformofreactanceorresistancesotheHARTcommunicatorcan
pickupthechangeormodulatethecurrent.Whenyouusethecommunicatorinthefieldtheresistanceis
suppliedbythewiringandanyinputresistance.
IdidaprojectwithaModicon(50Ohm0.21V)Ifoundthecommunicatorwouldnotworkatthepanelbut
workedOKatthetransmitterbecauseoftheadditionalwirereactance.IguesswhatIamtryingtogetacross,
there'snothingmagicaboutthenumber250,220or570willworkjustaswell.
Regards&MerryChristmas,
Roy

Dick,

Idon'tdisagreewithyouthatthe250isusedforanalogina15voltinput,butnotallinputmodulesare15.I
haveusedModiconswheretheinputwas50Ohms.
IfyouaretestingaHartdeviceintheshopyoumighthaveapowersupply,amultimeterandaHART
communicator.Youhookthetransmitter,themultimeterandpowersupplyinseries.Nowwheredoyouhook
theHARTcommunicator?Obviouslyyouneedsomeloopresistance,AllIamsayingitdoesn'thavetobea
precision250Ohmresistor,anyoldthingwilldo,e.g.147Ohm,220Ohm,570Ohm,anRTD,atransformer
primary,alightbulb...anythingthatwillgiveyousomeloopimpedance.
YouDon'tHavetoHave250.000Ohms
Roy

well..guys!
herewhy250ohms!
there'snomagicbehind250ohm..yeah!..itcouldgiveadropofvoltsfrom1vto5v,butgetthis..
thedcpowersupplyweuseintheloophaslowpasscapacitorfilters,andinabsenceofaresistor,thefilteris
inparallelwiththeTx,therebybypassingthedigitalinformation,andaddingaresistorjustprovidesan
impedancebtntheTxandfiltercircuit!
andyeah!..youcangoupto1000ohmstoo!..
sochillout!!!..yo!!

Dick,
Youarecorrectofcourse,
WhatIwasdisputingistheneedfor250OhmsintheHARTcommunications.
Forinstanceyouhaveatransmitteronthebenchforcalibration.
Ifyouconnectitdirectlyacrossa24Voltpowersupplyitwillbequitehappybutyouwillnotbeableto
communicatewithit.YouneedsomeimpedancesotheHARTcanmodulatethelines.
Itdoesn'thavetobe250Ohmsforthat.
Sometimesyoustrikeinputsthatusemuchlowervoltagelevelse.g.0.21Volt(50Ohms),I'mnotsureif
HARTwillworkwiththatinwhichcaseyoucanaddanotherresistorintheloop.
250Ohmswillworkofcoursebutsowill100,330,270oranyothervaluethereabouts.
Hithere,

HARTCommunicationtechnologyhasaverylowpowerrequirementtypicallyworkingonlessthan3.8mA
ofcurrent.HARTutilizesafrequencyshiftkeying(FSK)modemtocommunicateovertheprimaryvariable
analogsignalwires.Byimposingthedigitalsignalontopofthe420mAanalogloop,HARTallowsfora
simultaneousanalogsignalwithacontinuousdigitalcommunicationsignalthathasnoeffectontheanalog
signal.
HARTcircuitsornetworkscanbeconfiguredinoneofthreeways,throughaconventionalconnectionmethod
(pointtopoint),multidrop(pointtomultiplepoints)orthroughamultiplexer(HARTtoRS485).HART
Communicationisdesignedsothattheremustbeminimumresistanceinthecurrentloopbefore
communicationwilloccur.TheHARTspecificationaccommodatesloopresistancesof230to1100ohms,
typicallya250ohmresistorisrecommended.

Powersupplyimpedanceisminimalasopposedtocurrentsourcebeinginfinite.
Towire24Vrightacrossatransmitterandusinghartcommunicatorconnectorsacrossthetransmitterwouldbe
thesameasconnectingthemonthesameside.

>Whydoweneedtoinclude250ohmsresistorintheloopwhileusingHARTprotocol?
Thisvideoexplainswhyyouneeda250ohmsresistor.Pleasewatchit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ4A0kGGkI&feature=related

Greatthatsomebodymadeavideotoprovethetheory.Finallywecanlaythistopictorest.Youmusthavea
resistancefortheHARTtransmitter.
NotethatforHARTpositionersyoudonotneedtheresistor
Ididnotwatchthecliptotheend,thereisaminordetailinthebeginning"T"in"HART"istransducer,not
transmitter
Cheers,
Jonas

Simpleansweryoudon't.
ButyouneedsomemeansofdevelopingavoltagedropthattheHARTcommunicatorcanseee.g.areactoror
resistorofhighenoughvalue.
Withouttheresistortheloadistoolowinimpedanceanditshuntsthesignal.
Someseemfixatedon250Ohmsbutinreality100mightbeenoughand500nottoomuch.
Roy

100ohmistoolittle.Youneed230ohmormore
Cheers,
Jonas

Fortherecord
TheHARTCommunicationApplicationGuide,
HCF_LIT039Rev.1.0Preliminary
DateofPublication:March25,2010,onpage9,states
"Aminimumloopimpedanceof230isrequiredforcommunication."
Thecharacterafterthevalue230(above)istheGreekletterOmegaforOhm.Whetherthatcharacteractually
makesittotheforum'swebpageisiffy.
Documentispubliclyavailablehere:
http://www.hartcomm.org/hcf/documents/appguide.pdf

the250ohmisrequiredinlooptodothefollowing:
hartcommunicationisestablishedbysuperimposingfsksignaloftwotones1200and2200overthe420ma.
theamplitudeofthesesignalsis+or0.5masotheresistorisrequiredtomakevoltagedropsufficienttobe
sensedbythehartmasterandslave.ifweremovethisresistorwhathappensis,thevoltageacrosstheterminals
ofthetransmitterwillremainconstant24v.thehartandtransmitterareconnectedinparallelsotheonlyway
toinitiateorreceivesignalsistovarythevoltageacrosstheterminalsofeachothers.

>Whydoweneedtoinclude250ohmsresistorintheloopwhileusingHARTprotocol?
becauseofohmslaw..
V=I*R..amicorrect?
1v=4ma
2v=8ma
3v=12ma
4v=16ma
5v=20ma..ok
sowhatistheresistance?
1v=4ma*r
thenr=1/4=0.25#250ohms

Yes,youneeda250ohmresistortoget15Vdcsignalforananaloginput,butthat'snotwhyHARTrequires
250ohms.
Whenatransmitterisfiredupontheworkshopbench,thetransmitterwilllightupanddoitsfunctionswhile
connecteddirectlytoasuitableDCpowersupplywithzeroloadintheloop[noresistor,24Vdcacrossthexmtr
(+)and()],thatis,it'sfunctionalexceptforHARTcommunications.HARTcommwillnotfunctionwithout
atleast230ohmsintheloop.
ThereasonforthiswasexplainedinpostsaboveandhastodowithanimpedanceacrosswhichtheFSK
HARTsignalcandevelopandbedetected,becausethepowersupplyactsasalowpassfilter.
Aworkbenchsetupmightormightnotrequirea15VdcforsomethinglikecalibrationbutHARTdefinitely
requiresaminimumloopresistance.

>becauseofohmslaw..
>
>V=I*R..amicorrect?
>1v=4ma
>2v=8ma
>3v=12ma
>4v=16ma
>5v=20ma..ok
>sowhatistheresistance?

>1v=4ma*r
>thenr=1/4=0.25#250ohms
4ma=0.004Ampsnottake4inthedivisorvalue,soR=1/0.004=250ohms.CurrenttakeintermsofAmpere
onlynotinmilliamps.

hi
Therearetwothings
1.420masignal
2.HARTprotocl
youneedtolookseparatelyabovetwo
HARTprotocolusesconventional420mAsignalwithdigitalinformation.
1.Toachieve420mA,(DCSstandard15VDC)youneed250Ohmresistorirrespectiveofyouareusing
HARTprotocolornot.
2.HARTprotocolbasedon420mahenceofcourseyouneed250ohmresistortoachievethiscurrent.
soinfirstplace,thebasicpurposeof250OHMStoachieve420ma,thenHARTcomes.
Pandu

Youdon't,butyoudoneedsomethingtocreatesomeimpedancesotheHARTcommunicationscanpullthe
Voltageupanddown.
WithoutsomeimpedancetheFSKsignalwouldbeshortedout.I'msure220Ohmsworksjustaswell,asmall
chokewouldprobablyworkbetter.

>Whydoweneedtoinclude250ohmsresistorintheloopwhileusingHARTprotocol?
Afterreadingallthepostsandcontributionsforthereplyofthisquestion,ithinktheanswercanbesummedup
intothis,

The250ohmsresistanceintheloopservestwopurpose:
1)TheHARTCommunicatorcommunicatestothetransmitterbyFSKmethod.Thecapacitorinthepower
supplyforthetransmitterdistortsthisHARTsignal.Hencetheresistorservesasanaidtogetthesignal
back,forthecommunicator.
2)DCS,PLCneedsvoltage(1to5V)signaltounderstandthesignalfromthetransmitter.Theresistoragain
servestoconvertthiscurrentsignalintovoltagesignalfortheDCS/PLC.
Andlast,butnotleast,thevalueoftheresistorcanbeanythingaslongasitdoesn'tcomeinthewayfor
supplyingpowertothetransmitterandfilteringouttheHARTsignal.

Justin,
Yousummeditupprettywellbutdon'tworrysomepeoplearehunguponthemagicvalueof250Ohms.
Iguessiftheycan'tfinda250Ohmresistortheyjustthrowuptheirhandsandgiveup.LOL
Roy

IfIunderstandthisthread,acurrentsinkresistorofabout200ohmsisneededtoallowtheHARTchiptosend
adigitalsignalonthewirepair.AsithappenswithaHARTcircuit,aprecision250ohmresistoristypically
requiredattheanaloginputterminationsinordertogetthe420mAanalogsignalfromthetransmitterthatis
beingsenttohaveavoltagedropofprecisely15volts.That250ohmresistor,thenisalsofunctioningasthe
loadresistorfortheHARTdigitalsignal.AsRoysays,ifyoudon'tcareaboutthe420mAsignal,thenyoudo
notneedaprecisionloadresistor,butitisunusualtofindaHARTinstallationinwhichthe420mAsignalis
notused.
DickCaro

TheissueofresistanceinaHARTlooptypicallyariseswhenaneworreplacementtransmitterisfiredupon
thebench,notinthefieldwherethere'salreadyashunt/loadresistorontheanaloginput.
Onthebench,thetechconnectspowersupplyleadstothetransmittersignalterminalsandthetransmitterfires
up,regulatingitsoutputlikeitshould.
ThenthetechconnectstheleadsfromaHARTcommunicator.Thetransmitterwon'ttalkHARTbecausethe
master'scommandsandthetransmittersresponse,arefilteredoutbythepowersupply,effectivelyalowpass
filter.Thereisn'tenoughresistanceinthelooptodevelopa'seeable'FSKHARTsignal.

TheHARTFoundationsaysaloopneedsaminimumof230ohms.240,270,300and333ohmsarestandard
resistancevalues.250ohmprecisionresistorsaboundintheprocessworld.ButzeroohmsinaHARTloop
meansno'seeable'HARTsignal.
Theotherlessfrequentcaseisdeviceswhoseanaloginputsuselessthan250ohms.IranintoaPrecision
DigitalpanelmeterindicatingflowfromaDPtransmittertheotherday.ThePD'sinputresistancewasonly50
or100ohms.TherewasnoHARTsignaluntilIbroketheloopandinsertedaresistor.

Thankyouallforgivingmeclearinformationabouttheuseof250ohmresisterfortheHARTtransmitter.
ButIhaveoneDoubt.IfIconnect3numbersof9voltbatteryinserieswiththeHARTtransmitter,Doesthe
transmittersentHARTsignalstothecommunicator?
Ihavealreadydonethatassoonasthisdoubtcameintomymind.Theresultisthecommunicatordidn't
receiveHARTsignals,Whythisishappening?itsjustabattery,DoesthebatteryeatuptheHARTsignals?

>DoesthebatteryeatuptheHARTsignals?
Yes,the9VoltbatteryislowimpedanceshortingouttheFSKsignal,youneedsomeresistancetodevelop
somesignalVoltage,tryafewdifferentvaluesinseriese.g220,330,470Ohmsanditwillwork.
With3x9Vbatteriesyouhavelotsofoptions.Youmayfindyoucancutdownto2x9VMosttransmitters
giveyouaformulaforcalculatingthemaximumburdenorloopresistance.
Ihavebeentryingtogetpeopleherenottofixateon250Ohms,that'sonlyrequiredifyouneedtopickoff1
5Volts

haifriends
Iwasalreadysearchtheresultofthisquestionandafterigotthesufficientanswerthisistheanswerthat
resistorisusingonlywiththepowersupplybutnoneedforthefieldbecauseinthatthatpowersupplyis
containtheresistance.inourpowersupply'shavecapacitancethatcapacitanceiskillstheaccurrentfromthe
HARTcommunicatorthat'swhyweareputtingtheresistor.
Hiall,
Canwesummarisethis(old)discussionas:
i.TheresistanceisnecessaryforHartcommonlyanditsvalueisapprox230to1000ohms.
ii.TheTxcalibrationisfor420mAtoreflectthemeasurementspanandnotintermsofvoltage.Hencethe
benchcalibrationisunaffectedbytheresistancevalue.

iii.Inservice,thereceivinginstrumentwillmostlikelyhavea250ohmprecisionresistor.Hencewedonot
needtouseaprecisionresistorduringbenchcalibration,unlesswearesimultaneouslybenchcalibratingthe
receivinginstrumentalso.
DickCaro'sclarificationabouttheneedforaprecisionresistancewasconfusing.HenceIhavetriedto
summarizeithere.