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Reproduction Reference
ED-13530 – P1147
Venus 1500 Version 3 Operation Manual
1) This page is for reproduction reference only and will not be included in the
manual.
2) This manual is to be copied on FRONT AND BACK PAGES -8 ½ x 11 paper.
Note: The first page, Cover Page, uses the front of the page (blank on back).
Section heading pages always start on a new page; they never start on the back
of another page.
3) Materials included: Insert a copy of A-92267 in Appendix A. Insert a copy of SL4078 at the end of Appendix B.
4) Use a blue cover and back. Insert labeled, tabbed dividers before each
section.
5) Punch all pages along the left edge and bind with a spiral binder.
6) Please direct questions and suggestions to Engineering Support.
Introduction
1.1 System Requirements ...................................................................................................... 1
Figure 188: Select Broadcast Group to Edit ....................................................................................... 155
Figure 189: Edit Broadcast Group Window ........................................................................................ 155
List of Figures ix
Figure 1:
Tutorial
Symbol
Introduction
The purpose of this manual is to assist in the installation and operation of the Venus 1500 Display
Network. This section will give the specifications for Venus 1500 software and provide Daktronics’
contact information.
Each section of this manual contains the following parts:
A detailed description on a variety of topics related to the controller Practice exercises Tutorials that teach systematic processes accompanied by screen shots and example
sequences.
Note 1: The screen shots in this manual may vary from those on the user’s computer.
Note 2: At the end of the sections are tutorials, designated by this symbol in the corner of
the page (Figure 1).
The Venus 1500 operating software has the following minimum system requirements:
Personal computer running Windows 98, Me , 2000, XP or Vista with the most
current updates installed, 32-bit versions only.
Note: Venus 1500 Real-time requires Windows 2000, XP, or Vista.
Pentium
®
II processor, 400 MHz or higher
128MB RAM or higher50MB free hard disk spaceMicrosoft
®
Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
CD-ROM DriveMouse or other compatible pointing deviceSupported communication device (serial port, modem, or Ethernet Network)One or more Venus 1500-compatible displays installed.
Help is available from the Help pull-down menu in Venus 1500 Message Studio, Schedule
Studio, and Administrator. Two options will appear: Contents and About.
Note: When in Display Manager, click on the yellow question mark in the upper-left side of
the screen to access the Contents help screen.
Contents
Press <ALT+C> or click Contents to access the Contents help screen. This screen can also be
accessed directly from the main screen by pressing <F1>. The contents screen will direct the
user to the electronic manual.
Introduction 1
2
Figure 2: About Dialog
About
Each area of the software (Message Studio, Schedule Studio, etc.) contains a Venus 1500 About
dialog box that can be accessed from the Help pull-down menu. The Venus 1500 About box
contains information about the software, including software version and Daktronics’ contact
information. Click OK or press Enter to exit the Venus 1500 About box. Refer to Figure 2.
If any problems or questions arise that are not discussed in this manual, contact Daktronics
using any of the following methods:
Mail: Daktronics Customer Service
PO Box 5128
331 32nd Avenue
Brookings, SD 57006
Phone: Customer Service: 800-843-9879 (toll free) or 605-697-4598
Website: http://www.daktronics.com
Introduction
This section will give instructions on the installation of the Venus® 1500 software and a general
description of the command buttons and applications.
The Venus 1500 software must be installed to a hard disk before use. To install the software
onto a computer, follow these steps:
1. Place the Venus 1500 installation compact disk (CD) into the appropriate CD-ROM
(presume drive D:).
2. The installation should begin automatically within a few seconds. If it does not, click
on the Start button and select Runfrom the menu. Type ―D:\SETUP‖ and press
Enter.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen. SETUP will copy the necessary files to run the
Venus 1500 software to the hard disk and create Venus 1500 in the Start menu.
Note: The Venus 1500 software installs to the C:\Program Files\Daktronics\Venus
1500 directory by default; this is the recommended location.
4. The Venus 1500 control software is now installed and ready to be configured for use
with the Venus 1500 Display Network.
This manual is laid out in a basic chronological order to create and display a message. The
basic steps are:
1. Install the Venus 1500 Control System software if it is not already installed on the
computer (Section 2.1).
2. Configure the display type(s) and communication method (Sections 3).
3. Create the message(s) (Section 4).
4. Create the schedule(s), when desired (Section 5).
5. Send the message/schedule to the display (Section 6).
6. Run the message/schedule (Section 6).
Getting Started 3
4
Figure 3: Venus 1500 Shell
Figure 4: Right-click Menu
When the Venus 1500 software program starts, a ―shell‖ program loads. Refer to Figure 3.
Each component of the software (Message Studio, Schedule Studio, etc.) is launched from this
program. Click on the appropriate shell button to activate the desired component.
The Venus 1500 Shell consists of five buttons:
Display Manager sends content to and from the display. Message Studio designs text and/or animated messages for the display. Schedule Studio assigns start and stop dates and times to messages. Administrator sets up the software to create messages and to communicate with the
sign.
Real Time displays data from external sources that output Daktronics standard real-
time data protocols. Note: Real Time will only appear if the software key is present
and is installed on Windows 2000 or XP Home/Professional.
Right-clicking the left side of the Venus 1500 Shell program brings up a menu with four
selections: Always On Top, Hide, About Venus 1500…, and Exit. Refer to Figure 4.
Getting Started
Always On Top places the Venus 1500 Shell program on top of all other programs
when navigating the desktop. The shell will always be visible when this menu item is
checked. Click this item to uncheck it and turn this feature off.
Hide completely hides the shell program when it is running (it is similar to
minimizing). The Venus 1500 Shell program has an icon in the system tray. To see the
program when the shell is hidden, double-click the shell icon, or right-click the icon
and select Restore on the menu that appears.
About Venus 1500… shows the About Venus 1500 dialog (Figure 2). Click OK to exit
this dialog.
Exit closes the Venus 1500 Shell program but will not close any other Venus 1500
The Venus 1500 Administrator is used to configure displays, display types, display groups, and
networks. Refer to Figure 5. The Administrator is also used to test the network, set up text filters,
configure the message database, and apply zoning restrictions.
To activate the Venus 1500 Administrator, click from the Venus 1500 Shell.
The screen is divided into two areas. When Display Configuration is selected, the left column will list
all of the currently configured display types. When Network Configuration is selected, the left
column will list all of the currently configured networks. The right side of the screen displays the
configuration details for the currently selected display or network.
Display Wizard is the recommended way to configure new networks, displays, and display
types, since it provides a systematic process for configuration. Refer to Tutorial 1: How to
Configure a Network and Display with the Display Wizard.
Note: It is also possible to configure networks, displays, and display types manually by following the instructions in the following sections: 3.2 Network Configuration, 3.3 Display
Configuration, and 3.4 Display Type Configuration.
The Venus 1500 Administrator 5
6
A network consists of multiple displays connected to each other. Up to 240 Venus 1500-
controlled displays can exist on one network.
When is selected, a network may be configured for communicating with
displays. The Network Configuration screen provides the tools to add a network, edit an
existing network, or remove a network. Refer to Section 3.1 Display Creation Wizard for the
recommended way of configuring a network.
Note: Manual Display Creation is an alternative to using the Display Wizard to
configure networks. Instructions for this process are available in Tutorial 2: How to
Configure a Network Manually.
Three different types of networks exist and are explained in the following list:
Direct Network indicates that a serial connection exists between the PC and the
display(s).
Dial-up Network indicates that an analog modem is used to communicate with the
display.
TCP/IP Network indicates a connection across a network using the TCP/IP protocol.
TCP/IP must be installed and correctly configured for the computer that has the
Venus 1500 software installed. All serial server or display addresses must be
static or use a fully qualified DNS name. Contact your system administrator to
obtain a static IP address or DNS name.
In some instances, a TCP/IP connection requires a serial server device connected
to an Ethernet network for communication to displays. The TCP/IP Address is
the address of the serial server on the Ethernet network. For a Lantronix™ serial
server, the TCP/IPAddress is the address that was applied to the device when it
was configured. If a Lantronix serial server is being used, refer to Daktronics
manual ED-9623 for MSS-1 or MSS-100 and ED-12850 for the UDS-1100
instructions on configuring the serial server and assigning a static IP address. The
IP address of the serial server must be set in the TCP/IP network in the Venus
1500 software.
Refer to Tutorial 5 for instructions on adding, editing, and deleting networks.
The Venus 1500 Administrator
Selecting enables displays and groups to be added, edited, and deleted.
Note: Confirm the display size, technology, and color of the display before configuring the
Venus 1500 Control System. Incorrect configuration settings may cause unwanted display
results. Refer to Section 3.1 Display Creation Wizard for the recommended method of
configuring a display.
Manual Display Creation is an alternative to using the Display Wizard to configure
displays. Instructions for this process are available in Tutorial 3: How to Configure a
Display Manually.
Refer to Tutorials 6 and 7 for instructions on editing and deleting displays.
A display group is a collection of displays that are the same display type (refer to Section
3.4). A group allows multiple displays to be selected in Display Manager. This allows
communication tasks to be easily applied to a single group of displays. Note: A group is not
required for sending data to the display. Refer to Tutorial 8 for instructions on creating a
group of displays.
Note: Display types must be configured and displays added before this option can be used.
Refer to Section 3.4.
Display type refers to the model of the display. A display type may be Galaxy®, DataTrac®,
or InfoNet®, for example. In addition, Galaxy displays may be monochrome, tricolor, or RGB.
The display type information is necessary for proper configuration. Multi-Galaxy display
type refers to the displays that include two different LED types in the same display (example:
one monochrome and one tricolor).
The number of display types that can be configured in the system is virtually unlimited. Refer
to Section 3.1 Display Creation Wizard for the recommended way of configuring a display
type.
Manual Display Creation is an alternative to using the Display Wizard to configure
displays types. Instructions for this process are available in Tutorial 4: How to
Configure a Display Type Manually.
Refer to Tutorial 9 for instructions on adding a multi-Galaxy display type.
Refer to Tutorial 7 for instructions on how to remove a display type.
The Venus 1500 Administrator 7
8
Security options sets up a password for the display. The password is then stored in the
display’s memory and is verified every time the software communicates to the display. Refer
to Tutorial 10 for instructions on setting security options.
If the password is forgotten, it is necessary to access the internal components of the display to
reset the security function. Take care to remember the password.
Note: Password security can be activated for Version 3 displays only.
The operator can specify default settings for timeouts, maximum retries, and disconnect time
for each of the network types. Refer to Tutorial 11 for instructions on modifying
communication defaults. The following terms are used in the Communication Defaults
dialog:
Communication Timeouts is the maximum amount of time allowed between retries
when establishing a connection before the software times out the process.
Maximum Retries refers to the number of attempts made to connect to a display. Disconnect Time is the maximum amount of time it will take for the control
computer to disconnect from the display after the last command was sent. Note: If
there is no communication with the display for the specified time, the control
computer will close the connection with the display.
Venus 1500 software contains a text filter that prevents specified words from appearing on
the display(s). To enable or modify this filter, select Text Filter Setup from the Edit menu in
the Venus 1500 Administrator. Refer to Tutorial 12 for instructions on customizing the Text Filter.
Two filter lists can be enabled:
Default List protects against words identified in the FCC vs. Pacifica Foundation
(438 U.S. 726 [1978]) legal case. To view this list, click View Default List.
WARNING: The words in the Default List can be seriously offensive to many people. View
this list with the understanding that it is a filter system for the Message Editor program and is
not meant to be offensive.
Custom List protects against words identified by the operator.
The Venus 1500 Administrator
Figure 6: Shared Database
Direct network testing uses a loop-back box or adapter to test whether the serial port is
working and to determine that the communication cable has no physical breaks in it. Refer to
Tutorial 15 for instructions on testing the network.
The ping capability in the Venus 1500 is a troubleshooting tool for TCP/IP networks. This
feature allows the operator to ensure that the serial server or display on a TCP/IP network is
alive and working. Refer to Tutorial 15 for instructions on ping testing for TCP/IP display
connections.
Zoning Configuration is available for areas that have restrictions on the electronic messages
that are displayed. If a message contains restricted actions such as flashing when it is created,
the zoning restrictions will not allow that feature to be shown on the display. This feature will
prevent operators from inadvertently violating local zoning restrictions. However, while in
Message Studio, the messages will preview effects that the operator adds, but the effects will
not be visible on the display.
Refer to Tutorial 13 for instructions on customizing Zoning Configuration.
For locations that have multiple computers
with Venus 1500 installed, a remote database
can be configured for storing messages. This
allows messages to be shared between
computers without needing to copy the
messages from one computer to another. Refer
to Figure 6.
Note: This feature may not work if the
computer with the Venus 1500 software has an
operating system different from the remote
computer. For example, if the computer with
the Venus 1500 software installed is running
Microsoft Windows XP® and the remote
computer with the Remote Database is
running Microsoft Windows 98®,
communications will fail.
Refer to Tutorial 14 for additional information.
The Venus 1500 Administrator 9
10
The following steps are necessary for setting up a remote database:
1. Click Venus 1500 Administrator from the Venus 1500 shell.
2. Select Edit > Database.
3. Select the Remote Database location by clicking on the browse button.
4. Browse to the new database location and click OK to select it.
5. Click OK to close the Remote Database dialog. A prompt will appear to move the
contents of the local database to the remote location.
Note: This is simply a sharing function and does not synchronize computers or displays in
any way. Any existing messages with the same names will be overwritten. It is best to set up
the remote database immediately before configuring displays and creating messages or
schedules.
Following this section are the tutorials for Administrator. Please refer to the tutorials for
directions on operating the Administrator part of the Venus 1500 software. The following is a
list of the tutorials:
1. How to Configure a Display and Network with the Display Wizard
2. How to Configure a Network Manually
3. How to Configure a Display Manually
4. How to Configure a Display Type Manually
5. How to Add, Edit, and Delete a Network
6. How to Edit a Display’s Configuration
7. How to Delete a Display or Display Type from a Network
8. How to Create a Group of Displays
9. How to Add a Multi Galaxy Display Type
10. How to Set Security Options
11. How to Modify Communication Defaults
12. How to Custom Configure - Text Filter
13. How to Custom Configure - Zoning Configuration
14. How to Custom Configure - Database
15. How to Test a Network
The Venus 1500 Administrator
Figure 7: Display Wizard
Figure 8: Auto Detect Setup
NOTE: This feature will only work with the display controller when the power is ON.
The Display Wizard is the easiest way to automatically detect the displays that are connected
to the network source. This is the recommended detection method.
1. Click Display Wizard in the Edit menu of the Administrator.
2. Mark the Auto Detect option if not already marked. Auto Detect allows the software to
scan for the display’s address and automatically set up the necessary information. Refer
to Figure 7.
3. Click Next.
If a network has already been created, follow steps 4-10. If a network has not been created, go
to step 11.
4.Select a communications port from the down arrow under Select a list of existing
configured network resources. Click Next.
5. Type in the number of displays which the Display Wizard should detect in the
network. (The maximum number of displays on a network is 240.) Click Next. Refer to
Figure 8.
The Venus 1500 Administrator 11
Tutorial
12
Figure 9: Detected Display Description
Figure 10: Security Option
6.When the Auto Detecting is completed, the Display Wizard will show the Display
Description. At this point, it is possible to rename the display to make it easily
identifiable. To do this, click in the Detected Display Description box, highlight the
current name and enter the desired name. Refer to Figure 9.
7. If the Security Option is enabled on the display, a window will appear asking for the
password to be entered before completing the Auto Detect (Figure 10).
The Venus 1500 Administrator
Tutorial
Figure 11: Display Summary
Figure 12: Import Animations
8. Once the Display Wizard has finished scanning the network, it will show all the
displays found on that network (Figure 11). Click Finish to save the information and
begin communicating with the display(s) or click Back to Start to configure another
display.
9. Once the display is configured, click the Finish button. To import animations now,
insert the Venus 1500 Installation CD, and click Yes. Click No to void the import
(Figure 12).
10. If animations are available for this display type, they are imported automatically.
The animations will be added to the Animate folder in the Message Studio.
The Venus 1500 Administrator 13
Tutorial
14
Figure 13: Display Wizard Network Configuration
Figure 14: Network Type Configuration
If a network has not been created, follow steps 11-19.
11. Select Create a new network resource, and click Next (Figure 13).
12. Choose which type of network to create: Direct, Dial-up, or TCP/IP. Select the type by
clicking on the down arrow next to the Network Type box (Figure 14).
13. Click Next.
The Venus 1500 Administrator
Tutorial
Figure 15: COM Port Selection
Figure 16: Auto Detect Setup
14.Select a local COM port from a drop-down list of available ports (Figure 15) and click
Next.
15.Type in the number of displays on the network port, and click Next.
The Venus 1500 Administrator 15
Tutorial
16
Figure 17: Display Found
Figure 18: Select Time Zone
16. The Display Wizard will then auto-detect the ports and show a window with the
information of the display(s) found. Refer to Figure 17. Click Next.
17. Choose a time zone for the display and click Next (Figure 18).
The Venus 1500 Administrator
Tutorial
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