The PS 285 is designed for use as an auxiliary 2-channel
power supply unit, should the main power supply of an
ASL intercom system be insufficient to drive the required
number of stations.
The unit has to be placed in a network in such a way that
it feeds its own group of user stations.
The PS 285 can be used in portable as well as fixed
applications. It uses only 1U of 19” rack space.
The unit is very versatile and ideal for use in applications
where standard microphone cable is available and ease of
set-up is of paramount importance.
2.0 UNPACKING
The shipping carton contains the parts listed below
* The PS 285
* Mains power cable
* Spare fuses
* User manual
If any are missing, contact your dealer.
With the PS 285 will be a small packet of spare fuses.
Please keep them in a safe place.
There is also one spare fuse included in the mains inlet.
3.0 MECHANICAL INSTALLATION
A vertical rack space of 1U (1.75”, 44mm) is required for
the PS 285. It is not necessary to provide rear support by
extra bracing or shelving.
Adequate ventilation must be provided by allowing
sufficient space around the sides and rear of the unit to
ensure free circulation of air. Forced cooling is not
required.
The intercom line power supply is fully protected and is
capable of safely driving 20 beltpacks or 10 speaker
stations, or a combination of the two, operating at full
power.
Fully electronic switching increases reliability and allows
for remote Mic Mute facility.
ASL has taken great care to ensure that this product
reaches you in flawless condition.
After unpacking the unit please inspect for any physical
damage to the unit, and retain the shipping carton and
relevant packing materials for use should the unit need
returning.
If any damage has occurred, please notify your dealer
immediately so that a written claim can be initiated.
Please also refer to the guarantee section of this manual.
The power supply regulator is mounted on the rear of the
unit, and after a period of time it will feel hot to the touch.
This is quite normal, and should be no cause for alarm.
The PS 285 may be connected to the mains
power outlet to which other audio equipment is
connected. The outlet should have a clean earth.
Avoid using mains power outlets which also power
dimmer controlled lighting equipment.
This appliance must be earthed
WARNING
4.1 SAFETY EARTHING
The green-and-yellow wire of the mains cord
must always be connected to the electrical
installation safety earth or ground. It is
essential for personal safety as well as for
proper operation of the PS 285 and the other
connected stations. This wire is internally
connected to all exposed metal surfaces and
any rack framework into which this unit might
be mounted is assumed to be connected to
the same grounding circuit.
4.2 POWERING UP
Powering up procedure:
- Make sure that the red power switch on the left
side of the front panel is OFF.
Connect the power cord to the rear of the
-
station.
Plug the other end of the power cord into a
-
PROPERLY GROUNDED outlet.
The PS 285 employs professionally designed
audio input and output circuits which do not
require the disconnection of any safety earth for
the avoidance of hum loops.
Turn on the power with the red button. The red
-
overload LED will light up for about 3 seconds, then
extinguishes. The yellow LEDS will go on, indicating
the station is standby.
When a powered partyline is connected to the
-
intercom line input the green LED will go on,
indicating the station is active.
See for further installation and operation the concerning
sections.
5.0 SET-UP 5.1 REMOTE CONTROLLED STANDBY MODE
When the main power supply has reached its limit, a
PS 285 can be used to feed another group of user
stations. Make sure the unit is placed correctly.
When, for example, 30 beltpacks are needed, they
should be equally devided between the main power
supply and the PS 285. The booster should be placed
in the middle of the chain of user stations.
Refer to page 10 for an example of a 2-channel
intercom network with a booster.
This feature enables the user to activate or de-activate
the PS 285 with the power on/off switch of the main
power supply. The standby LED’s on the front panel
illuminate if there is no line power (from the main power
supply) available at the input connectors. The PS 285
will not supply power until the standby mode has been
released by providing line power at the input.
6.0 FRONT PANEL CONTROLS
over
PS 285
Power
Supply
Booster
load
Power
On StandbyOn Standby
CHANNEL ACHANNEL B
Pro series
Intercom
1
2
3
4
1 POWER ON/OFF switch
Mains power push button for switching ON and OFF
the internal power supply.
2 OVERLOAD LED
This LED illuminates if the internal power supply has
shut off line power due to overload.
If the internal power supply is overloaded (too many
user stations are connected or short-cicuit in the
interconnecting cables), it activates a circuit-breaker
which immediately shuts off line power. This circuitbreaker resets automatically 3 seconds after the
overload situition is terminated, restoring line power
automatically.
During short-circuit, the overload LED extinguishes
very shortly every 3 seconds.
This overload LED also comes on every time you
switch on the main power.
3 ON LED
This LED illuminates if a partyline is connected to the
intercom input and the unit supplies power to the
output.
4 STANDBY LED
This LED illuminates when no line power is detected at
the input connector and no power is supplied to the
output connector.
connected to the PS 285 when line power is
supplied to the input connector.
There is one connector for channel A and one
connector for channel B.
Pin assignments :
1. 0V / ground shield
2. +30V power wire
3. audio wire
6 INPUT connector
This XLR-3 is the sense input and should be
connected to the intercom line from the main
power supply.
There is one connector for channel A and one
connector for channel B.
Pin assignments are like the output connector.
7 FUSE
This fuse protects the PS 285 against severe internal
damage, in case of malfunction in the power section.
To remove the fuse the mains cord must be removed.
It is most important to place the correct fuse in the
holder:
mains voltage fuse
90 – 240 VAC T 1250 mA
Spare fuses will be found in the small packet supplied
with the unit.
8 MAINS inlet
IEC Mains connector. For correct wiring and
operation refer to section 4.0.
WARNING
Before you plug in the mains voltage, check if:
* The fuse is correct
For the PRO Series Intercom system the interconnecting
cables are of the shielded two-conductor microphone cable
type and the intercom line connectors are of the XLR-3
type. Audio and Call signals are on XLR pin 3, DC power is
on XLR pin 2. XLR pin 1 is connected to the shield of the
cable which functions as the common return for audio and
power.
Since the audio signal is transferred in an
way, certain rules have to be obeyed when installing the
cables of an intercom network. This is to avoid earth loops
and to minimize power loss and the possible effect of
electromagnetic fields.
These rules are:
• Use high quality (multipair) cable.
For interconnecting user stations, power supplies
and accessories in an ASL Intercom network, use
high quality shielded two-conductor (minimum 2x
0.30 mm2) microphone cable only.
In case of a multi channel intercom network, use
high quality microphone 'multipair' cable only, each
pair consisting of two conductors (minimum 2x 0.15
mm2) with separate shield. Multipair cable should
also have an overall shield.
• Use flexible cables.
Use flexible single and multipair microphone cable
instead of cable with solid cores, especially when the
cable is subjected to bending during operation or
installation.
• Separate cable screen to XLR pin 1.
The screen of each separate microphone cable
and/or the screen of each single pair in a multipair
cable, should be connected to pin 1 of each XLR-3
connector. Do not connect this cable screen to the
metal housing of the connector or to metal wall
boxes (outlets).
See page 12 for Earthing Concept.
• Cable trunks, connection boxes and overall
multipair cable screen to clean earth.
Metal cable trunks, metal connection boxes and
overall multipair cable screen should be interconnected and, at one point (the 'central earthing
point') in the intercom network only, be connected to
a clean safety earth.
See page 12 for Earthing Concept.
• Keep metal connection boxes and cable trunks
isolated from other metal parts.
Metal housings for intercom cables and connectors
should be mounted in such a way that they are
isolated from other metal cable and connector
housings and from any other metal construction
parts.
See Party Line, Technical Concept
unbalanced
• Keep cables parallel as much as possible
When two (multi channel) units in a network are
connected by more than one cable, make sure that
these cables are parallel to each other over the whole
distance between those units. When using multipair
cable, parallelism is ensured in the best possible way.
• Avoid closed loops.
Always avoid that cables are making a loop. So-called
'ring intercom' should not physically be cabled as a ring.
All cable routes should have a 'star' configuration, with
the central earthing point (usually close to the power
supply position) as the centre of the star.
• Keep cables away from electromagnetic sources.
Keep intercom cables away from high energy cables,
e.g. 110/220/380V mains power or dimmer controlled
feeds for spotlights.
Intercom cables should cross high energy cables at an
angle of 90° only.
Intercom cables should never be in the same trunking
as energy cables.
• Place power supplies in a central position.
In order to avoid unacceptable power losses, place the
power supplies as close as possible to where most
power consumption occurs or, in other words, most user
stations are placed.
• Connect ASL power supply to a 'clean' mains outlet.
The ASL power supply may be connected to the mains
power outlet to which other audio equipment is
connected. Avoid using mains outlets which also power
dimmer controlled lighting systems.
In case of more complex installations, don't hesitate to
contact us. Please send us a block diagram of the
planned network with a list of all user stations and their
positions, and we are happy to advise you on cabling
lay-out.
9.0 PARTY LINE, TECHNICAL CONCEPT 11.0 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS PS 285
ASL's PRO Series offers a complete two way ('full
duplex') communications system.
Users of the system are connected via a 'party line'.
Master stations (with built-in power supply), beltpacks,
speaker stations and power supplies are
interconnected via standard microphone cable. One
wire is used as an audio line, one as a power line and
the screen of the cable functions as earth/return.
Current drive is used for signal transfer. Each station
utilises a current amplifier to amplify the microphone
signal and place it on the common audio line where,
due to the constant line impedance (situated in the
power supply between XLR pin 3 and 1), a signal
voltage is developed which can be further amplified
and sent to headphones or loudspeakers.
This principle has three advantages:
- the use of a single audio line allows several
stations to talk and listen simultaneously.
- due to the high bridging impedance offered by
each station, the number of stations 'on line' has
no influence on the level of the communications
signal.
- power and audio to the intercom stations use the
same cable.
The Call signal is also sent as a current on the audio
line. It develops a DC potential over the line
impedance which will be sensed by each station and
interpreted as a Call signal.
10.0 GUARANTEE
This unit is warranted by ASL Intercom to the original
end-user purchaser against defects in workmanship
and materials in its manufacture for a period of one
year from the date of shipment to the end-user.
Faults arising from misuse, unauthorised modifications
or accidents are not covered by this warranty. If the
unit is faulty, it should be sent in its original packing to
the supplier or your local ASL dealer, with shipping
prepaid. A note must be included stating the faults
found and a copy of the original suppliers invoice.
THIS PRODUCT WAS DESIGNED, DEVELOPED
AND MANUFACTURED BY :
mains voltage range 90 – 230 V 60Hz AC
DC ouput voltage +30 V +/- 5% DC
ripple and noise < 11 mV rms
max. output current 1.7 A continous, 3 A peak
circuit-breaker delay time 0.2 sec.
automatic reset time 3.0 sec.
2.2 Kohms (DC)
intercom line audio level nom. –18 dBu
Max. +4 dBu
dynamic range 80 dB
call send signal +2.8 mA
call receive signal threshold +2.4 V DC
supply voltage +30 V DC (12 V to 32 V)
Note: 0 dBu = 775 mV into open circuit.
ASL reserve the right to alter specifications without
further notice.