A wired switch layer
for modern automation.
Phantom Controls turns the mechanical state of a conventional latching wall switch into an addressed digital event, carries that event over a shared RS-485 bus, and bridges it to a local IP control system.
From mechanical contact
to automation event.
Latching wall switch
A conventional dry-contact mechanism supplies a stable open/closed state to the transmitter.
Phantom-TX
Reads switch state, applies its local address and transmits the event onto the RS-485 trunk.
4-wire RS-485
24V, GND, A and B are daisy-chained along the low-voltage bus. TX nodes tap the shared conductors.
Phantom-RX
Terminates the bus at the gateway, interprets switch events and presents them to the automation platform over IP.
Designed to disappear
behind the switch.
The transmitter is the wall-side endpoint. Its job is intentionally narrow: read a latching contact, maintain a unique address and communicate reliably over the bus.
| TX connection | Function | Installer note |
|---|---|---|
| 24V | Low-voltage DC supply | Distributed from bus power source |
| GND | Power reference | Shared along bus |
| A | RS-485 differential data | Maintain polarity throughout trunk |
| B | RS-485 differential data | Maintain polarity throughout trunk |
| SW1 | Switch sense input | Connect to latching switch contact |
| COM | Switch common | Connect to opposite switch contact |
The intelligence
at the rack.
The receiver is the bridge between the deterministic low-voltage field bus and the software-driven automation network.
Install like infrastructure,
not like a collection of gadgets.
The intended architecture is a shared four-conductor trunk: 24V, GND, RS-485 A and RS-485 B. Each transmitter taps the same conductors and the trunk continues to the next device, with termination located at the receiver/end of the data path.
| Design consideration | Current direction |
|---|---|
| Switch type | Latching dry-contact wall switches; not momentary-only architecture |
| Bus | 4 conductors: 24V, GND, RS-485 A, RS-485 B |
| Topology | Daisy-chain / trunk with addressed TX taps |
| Device identification | Two-digit field-set rotary addressing |
| TX bias / termination | Not located at each transmitter |
| Receiver termination | 120 Ω at bus endpoint |
| Network side | Local Ethernet / IP gateway |
Engineering specifications shown here describe the current development architecture and may change before production certification. Final cable limits, node count, EMC strategy and installation rules will be established through validation testing.
Want to test the hardware?
We are looking for qualified integrators, technical partners and design-driven projects for structured beta evaluation.