Biamp RCU User Manual

ADVANTAGE® RCU

Remote Control Unit

Operation Manual

®

9/2/99

Biamp Systems, 10074 S.W. Arctic Drive, Beaverton, Oregon 97005 U.S.A. [phone] http://www.biamp.com

an affiliate of Rauland Borg Corp.

blank

RCU

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Connections
Controls
Programming
Application
RS-232 Control
Warranty

pg. 2
pg. 3
pg. 4
pg. 9

pg. 10

INTRODUCTION

The ADVANTAGE® RCU Remote Control Unit allows control of certain other
ADVANTAGE

®

programmable products, such as VRAM, MSP, & SPM522D,
via external potentiometers and/or contact-closures. The RCU includes
programming software for assignment of specific functions to the external
controls. Control panels can then be customized to control a variety of level,
muting, source selection, & recall preset functions within a system having
multiple ADVANTAGE

®

products. The RCU carries a five-year warranty.

RCU features include:

♦ RS-232 serial & link ports for communication with products
♦ remote control port accepts up to 23 potentiometers
♦ logic inputs port accepts up to 24 contact-closures
♦ programming software assigns functions to controls
♦ potentiometers provide various level control functions
♦ logic inputs provide muting, source, & preset functions
♦ logic inputs may be used to enable/disable other controls
♦ logic inputs can emulate control buttons & RS-232 commands
♦ covered by Biamp Systems’ five-year warranty
♦ incorporates AES recommended grounding practices

♦

marked and UL / C-UL listed power source

1

CONNECTIONS

27V

~

50/60 Hz

12 watts

class 2

wiring

serial port

link port link

BIAMP SYSTEMS

Portland, Oregon

an affiliate of Rauland-Borg Corp.

remote control power logic inputs

AC Power Cord: The power transformer provides 27 Volts AC to
the RCU, and is detachable via a 5-pin DIN connector. The RCU
has two internal ‘self-resetting’ fuses (there are no user
serviceable parts inside the unit). If the internal fuses blow, they
will attempt to re-set after a short period. However, this may be an
indication that the RCU requires service.

Serial Port: This 9-pin Sub-D (male) connector provides an RS­232 Serial Port for control of the RCU (and associated products)
via computers or third-party controllers (see RS-232 Control on pg.

10). The Serial Port has the following pin assignments (left-to-right
& top-to-bottom): Pin 1) not used; Pin 2) Receive Data (RxD)
input; Pin 3) Transmit Data (TxD) output; Pin 4) Data Terminal
Ready (DTR) output; Pin 5) Ground; Pin 6) not used; Pin 7)
Request To Send (RTS) output; Pin 8) not used; Pin 9) not
used. PC Control Software and a serial cable are provided for
programming via Windows

®

95 (see Setup on pg. 4). NOTE: The

Serial Port also transmits commands assigned to external
potentiometers & contact-closures (see Remote Control & Logic
Inputs below).

Link Port: This 9-pin Sub-D (female) connector provides a Link
Port for RS-232 control from the RCU to other ADVANTAGE
programmable products (see RS-232 Control on pg. 10). The Link
Port of one device simply connects to the Serial Port of the next
device (and so forth). Link cables are available as an option
(Biamp #909-0057-00). NOTE: All but the final device in a system
should have the Link Switch pressed in (see below). The Link Port
has the following pin assignments (right-to-left & top-to-bottom):
Pin 1) not used; Pin 2) Transmit Data (TxD) output; Pin 3)
Receive Data (RxD) input; Pin 4) not used; Pin 5) Ground;
Pin 6) Data Set Ready (DSR) output; Pin 7) not used; Pin 8)
Clear To Send (CTS) output; Pin 9) not used. NOTE: The Link

Port also transmits commands assigned to external potentiometer
& contact-closures ( see Remote Control & Logic Inputs below).

RCU

Remote Control: This 25-pin Sub-D (female) connector allows
connection of up to 23 potentiometers (on pins 1~23 respectively),
with a common control voltage (+5 Volts DC on pin 24), and a
common ground (on pin 25). Potentiometers should be between
5k ohms and 50k ohms in value, with a linear taper (see Controls
on next page). Potentiometers are wired with high to +5 Volts (pin

24), low to ground (pin 25), & wiper to the desired control terminal
(pins 1~23). Each potentiometer may be programmed to control a
specific function on a specific product (see Setup on pg. 4). These
functions typically include various level adjustments.

Logic Inputs: This 25-pin Sub-D (female) connector allows
connection of up to 24 contact-closures (on pins 1~24 respectively)
with a common ground (on pin 25). Contact-closures may be
switches, relays, or logic outputs from other devices (see Controls
on next page). Each logic input may be programmed to control a
specific function on a specific product (see Setup on pg. 4).
These functions typically include muting, source selection, & preset
selection. However, logic inputs may also be programmed to
enable/disable potentiometers or other logic inputs, as well as to
transmit custom ASCII characters commands to other products.

®

Power Indicator: When the power transformer is plugged in, and
AC power is applied to the RCU, the Power indicator remains lit.

Link Switch: The Link Switch is used when connecting multiple
devices in a ‘Link Port to Serial Port’ configuration (see Link Port
above). From the factory, the Link Switch is released (out). When
connecting multiple devices, the Link Switch must be depressed
(in) on all devices except the final device in the system (the device
with no Link Port connection).

2

CONTROLS

REMOTE CONTROL / POTENTIOMETERS

13 1

25 14

remote control

remote control pin numbers

pots #1~23

+5 Volts

ground

pin #1~23

pin #24
pin #25

Rotary or slide potentiometers may be used with the RCU. Potentiometers should be between 5k ohms and 50k ohms in value, with a
linear taper. Potentiometers are wired to the RCU Remote Control port with the ‘high’ side of the potentiometer to +5 Volts (pin 24), the
‘low’ side of the potentiometer to ground (pin 25), & the ‘wiper’ of the potentiometer to the desired control terminal (pins 1~23).

potentiometer wiring

wiperpot #1

high (cw)

low (ccw)

5kΩ∼50kΩ

linear taper

w

cwccw

gnd pot +5V

+5 Volts

13 1

25 14

ground

LOGIC INPUTS / CONTACT-CLOSURES

13 1

25 14

logic inputs

logic inputs pin numbers

logic #1~24

ground

pin #1~24

pin #25

When nothing is connected to a Logic Input, an internal pull-up resistor keeps it at a ‘high’ idle state (+5.0 VDC). The Logic Input is
activated when its input goes ‘low’ (less than +0.8 VDC), and is de-activated when its input goes ‘high’ (greater than +2.4 VDC). A Logic
Input is controlled in one of three ways: 1) Use a switch, relay, or other contact-closure (such as from a third-party controller) to short the
Logic Input to ground. 2) Use an NPN style ‘open-collector’ logic output from an external to short the Logic Input to ground. 3) Use an
active TTL output driver circuit (such as from a third-party controller) to actively drive the Logic Input to a ‘high’ or ‘low’ state. Multiple
contact-closures or ‘open-collector’ logic outputs may be wired in parallel to a single Logic Input (see diagram below). Logic Outputs and
contact-closures should be rated for at least 5 Volts / 1mA operation. Low-current / dry-contact closures are recommended for reliability.
Active output driver circuits should not exceed a signal range of 0~5 Volts DC, and should have a minimum pulse width of 100 milli­seconds. Logic Input impedances are approximately 10k ohms.

multiple switches to single Logic Input

13 1

25 14

3

SETUP

RCU parameters are all adjustable using the BiampWin PC Control Software and serial cable provided with the unit. The BiampWin
software provides programs for various ADVANTAGE® products, including the RCU. The RCU program includes several control screens,
which are described on the following pages. Once the software is started (and Comm Port Configuration is set), the control screens are
accessed via the drop-down menus at the top of the opening screen. The Main screen appears whenever an RCU file is opened. Pot
Definition, Logic Input Definition, & Configuration Options screens are then available from the Configure RCU menu. The File menu
provides functions such as open, close, save, etc. The Settings menu recalls the Comm Port Configuration screen. The Window menu
arranges the active product screens. The Help menu explains the available adjustments. To install PC Control Software: Insert BiampWin
Disk 1 into Drive A:, select ‘Run’ from the Start’ menu, and enter A:\SETUP. System Requirements: Windows® 95/98/NT, with 16M RAM
and 5M of available hard disk space (serial port required for ‘on-line’ operation).

MAIN SCREEN

4