Gilderfluke&Co DMX-512 User Manual

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BS-DMX-Tx & BS-Serial Smart Bricks

Printed March 24, 2000

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BS-Serial as a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) ........................................................................ 7

BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial as a Smart Brick .......................................................................... 7

Front of the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks ......................................... 9

RS-422 Serial Port ............................................................................................................ 9

PC and Compatible Connections ................................................................................ 9

Apple Macintosh Connections ..................................................................................... 9

Board Error LED ................................................................................................................9

DMX-512 LED ....................................................................................................................9

Brick Heart ....................................................................................................................... 9

Heartbeat ......................................................................................................................... 9

Z-Brick ............................................................................................................................ 10

BackPlane Connections ....................................................................... 11

Animation Data Eproms ........................................................................ 13

BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks Configuration .................................... 15

BS-DMX-Tx .......................................................................................... 16

BS-Serial in MIDI Mode .......................................................................... 17

First Addressed in Eprom ............................................................................................... 18

Baud Rate ....................................................................................................................... 18

DMX Rx Checksum ......................................................................................................... 18

Sequencer Enabled ........................................................................................................ 19

Frame Rate /2 ................................................................................................................. 19

Numbering System ......................................................................................................... 19

VT-52 Compatible Display .............................................................................................. 19

Operating Mode ............................................................................................................. 19

Monitor Channel ............................................................................................................ 19

MIDIÊKeyboard Channels .............................................................................................. 20

Voice, Press Velocity, and Release Velocity .................................................................. 20

String Trigger Channel ................................................................................................... 21

Edit Strings..... ............................................................................................................. ... 21

Download configuration ................................................................................................ 21

Reload Default Configuration ........................................................................................ 21

Upload configuration ..................................................................................................... 21

Data Dump ..................................................................................................................... 22

BS-Serial in Intelix Mode ........................................................................ 23

First Addressed in Eprom ............................................................................................... 23

Baud Rate ....................................................................................................................... 23

DMX Rx Checksum ......................................................................................................... 23

Sequencer Enabled ........................................................................................................ 24

Frame Rate /2 ................................................................................................................. 24

Numbering System ......................................................................................................... 24

VT-52 Compatible Display .............................................................................................. 24

Operating Mode ............................................................................................................. 24

String Trigger Channel ................................................................................................... 25

Edit Strings..... ................................................................................................................ 26

Download configuration ................................................................................................ 26

Reload Default Configuration ........................................................................................ 26

Upload configuration ..................................................................................................... 26

Data Dump ..................................................................................................................... 26

BS-Serial in Rexroth Quick Write Mode ..................................................... 27

First Addressed in Eprom ............................................................................................... 27

Baud Rate ....................................................................................................................... 27

DMX Rx Checksum ......................................................................................................... 28

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Sequencer Enabled ........................................................................................................ 28

Frame Rate /2 ................................................................................................................. 28

Numbering System ......................................................................................................... 28

VT-52 Compatible Display .............................................................................................. 28

Operating Mode ............................................................................................................. 28

Monitor Channel ............................................................................................................ 29

Rexroth Channels.... ...................................................................................................... 29

Analog Resolution .......................................................................................................... 30

String Trigger Channel ................................................................................................... 30

Edit Strings..... ................................................................................................................ 30

Download configuration ................................................................................................ 31

Reload Default Configuration ........................................................................................ 31

Upload configuration ..................................................................................................... 31

Data Dump ..................................................................................................................... 31

BS-Serial in Orpan Modes ...................................................................... 32

First Addressed in Eprom ............................................................................................... 33

Baud Rate ....................................................................................................................... 33

DMX Rx Checksum ......................................................................................................... 33

Sequencer Enabled ........................................................................................................ 33

Frame Rate /2 ................................................................................................................. 33

Numbering System ......................................................................................................... 33

VT-52 Compatible Display .............................................................................................. 33

Operating Mode ............................................................................................................. 33

Monitor Channel ............................................................................................................ 34

String Trigger Channel ................................................................................................... 34

Edit Strings..... ................................................................................................................ 34

Download configuration ................................................................................................ 35

Reload Default Configuration ........................................................................................ 35

Upload configuration ..................................................................................................... 35

Data Dump ..................................................................................................................... 35

BS-Serial in Moog Modes ....................................................................... 36

Moog Control Word ................................................................................................... 37

E-Stop ................................................................................................................. 37

Park .................................................................................................................... 37

Engage .............................................................................................................. 37

Start ................................................................................................................... 37

Reset .................................................................................................................. 38

Inhibit ................................................................................................................. 38

First Addressed in Eprom ............................................................................................... 38

Baud Rate ....................................................................................................................... 38

DMX Rx Checksum ......................................................................................................... 38

Sequencer Enabled ........................................................................................................ 38

Frame Rate /2 ................................................................................................................. 38

Numbering System ......................................................................................................... 39

VT-52 Compatible Display .............................................................................................. 39

Operating Mode ............................................................................................................. 39

Motion Base ID ............................................................................................................... 39

Monitor Channel ............................................................................................................ 39

Moog Status on DMX ...................................................................................................... 40

Analog Resolutions ........................................................................................................ 41

String Trigger Channel ................................................................................................... 41

Edit Strings..... ................................................................................................................ 41

Oversampling ................................................................................................................ 42

Download configuration ................................................................................................ 42

Reload Default Configuration ........................................................................................ 42

Upload configuration ..................................................................................................... 42

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Data Dump ..................................................................................................................... 42

Using Z-Bricks with a BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks ........................... 43

Output Capacity ....................................................................................................... 44

Decimal to HEXadecimal to ASCII to Percentage ...................................... 47

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Overview

The BS-DMX-Tx and BS-Serial are two different Smart Bricks that are built on the same
chasis. They are both used to store animation and lighting data which is transmitted as a
DMX-512 or serial data stream. The BS-Serial is an upgraded version of the BS-DMX-Tx that
has a second serial port. It transmits DMX-512 data as well, but can simultaneously transmit
serial data in a number of different formats. It has dedicated modes for controlling MIDI de­vices, Moog Motion Bases, Intelix matrix mixers, Rexroth DCC Servo cards, and more. The
second serial port can be set to operate at baud rates from 2400 baud to 115 Kbaud.

Both the BS-DMX-Tx and BS-Serial output cards feature a single DMX-512 output and a
port for attaching Z-Bricks. They are designed to be used as an output card for use in a
PC¥MACs system, or as a playback only Smart Brick in a Smart Brick installation. They can be
used in two different ways:

1) BS-Serial as a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU): Because the BS-DMX-Tx does not
check for validity on this received data before using it to update its outputs, this is
not a recommended mode of operation for the BS-DMX-Tx. In this mode the BS­Serial receives up to 256 channels of DMX-512 data transmitted by a PC¥MACs
Animation Control System, or any other source of DMX-512 data. The BS-Serial
card uses this data to update its outputs. The DMX-512 input allows the BS-Serial
Bricks to be used as a permanent output device for a PC¥MACs, or the DMX-512
input can be used temporarily until an Eprom is programmed so the cards can
be used as a Smart Bricks.

2) BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial as a Smart Brick: These card acts just like any other
Playback-Only Smart Bricks, playing animation data from on-board Eprom(s). As
Smart Bricks, they require a Smart Brick Brain to run. The Smart Brick Brain tells all of
the Smart bricks attached to it (including the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks)
where in the show it is at any given instant. The BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
then use this information to access the appropriate data in the Eprom(s) and up­date their outputs. The Eprom data from a BS-DMX-Tx will always start at DMX ad­dress 0. The BS-Serial allows you to offset the start of the Eprom data to any of the
first 256 DMX addresses. The animation sequence which is to be is used on the
BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks is usually generated on a PC¥MACs Animation
Control System. While it is being generated, the DMX-512 input mode is used so
that you can see the animation data.

In either of the above modes, all 256 channels of DMX-512 or Eprom data are transmit­ted through the Z-Brick and/or DMX-512 data outputs. The Z-Brick output can be used for
additional digital outputs through one or more Z-Bricks. The DMX-512 output can be used
to control light dimmers, automated spotlights, color changers, fog and wind machines, or
any other pieces of equipment which will accept standard DMX-512 inputs.

The BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks can be mounted in one 1Ó wide slot in any of our
Brick Card cages. The BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks can be used in conjunction with
any selection of Smart Bricks, Smart Brick Brains, Electronic FeedBack (EFB) Smart Bricks and
Z-Bricks in the same card cage. Card cages with one, two, three or sixteen slots are avail­able. The card cages provide all of the connections for power supply, control signals and

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outputs that any Brick card will need. Several different styles of output connectors are avail­able on the one and two slot card cages. The sixteen slot card cage mounts in seven inch­es of standard 19Ó rack space (4-1/2 Ò of space behind the panel).

Power requirements for each BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks are 9 to 24 VDC. The BS­DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Brick itself draws approximately 200 ma..

The DMX-512 standard was developed by the United States Institute for Theatrical
Technology (USITT) for a high speed (250 KBaud) asynchronous serial data link. Although it
was originally designed for controlling light dimmers, it is now supported by hundreds of
suppliers throughout the world for controlling all kinds of theatrical equipment.

Even though the DMX-512 standard calls for up to 512 channels of data, the DMX
transmission from PC¥MACs is limited to 256 eight bit wide channels. You can address your
DMX-512 compatible output devices to respond to any address between 00 and 255.
Addresses above the 256th are used in PC¥MACs for transmitting a checksum. The BS-DMX­Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks can use this to verify that the data received from PC¥MACs has no
transmission errors in it. If you address a light dimmer or other DMX-512 device to addresses
256 or 257, you will see this verification data displayed as a flickering pattern.

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On the Front of the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks:

A) RS-422 Serial Port: This is used to configure the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks. It is com-

patible with all of the RS-422 Serial Ports used on Gilderfluke & Company products.

The serial data signals from the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks are brought out on a six
position RJ-11 (modular telephone style connector). Facing the end of the cable with the re­lease latch upwards, its pin out is as follows:

COLOR SIGNAL NAME:

LEFT #1 white Signal Ground

#2 black - Serial data out from card

#3 red + Serial data out from card
#4 green - Serial data in to card
#5 yellow + Serial data in to card

RIGHT #6 blue Ground to force into configuration

PC and Compatible Connections: To cross wire the RS-422 / RS-485 signals from the BS­DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks to the RS-232 serial port of an IBM compatible, cross connect
the signals as follows:

DB-25 DE-9 Signal Signal from/to BS-DMX-Tx/BS-Serial Bricks

2 3 DATA OUT - Serial data into card (#4 green)
3 2 DATA IN - Serial data out from card (#2 black)
7 5 GROUND Signal Ground (#1 white or #6 blue)

Apple Macintosh Connections: Apple Macintosh computers have true RS-422 serial ports
built in. To connect to the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks, the pin out is as follows (view is of
male connector facing the end of the cable):

The BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks expect to see the serial data in the following format:

ONE START BIT

EIGHT DATA BITS

ONE STOP BIT

Unlike many of the products manufactured by Gilderfluke & Company, the BS-DMX-Tx or
BS-Serial Smart Bricks will enter configuration immediately upon when the sixth wire is ground­ed. The serial port connection on the front of the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial are not connected to
the standard serial port buss used on the backplanes by BS-ANA, BS-BRN and other Gilderfluke
Cards. Configuration is always done at 9600 baud, no parity, 8 bits, one stop bit.

B) Board Error LED: This LED will flash when:

1) BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Brick just booted

2) An error is found in the DMX-512 data checksum (if receiving DMX-512 data). If this
and the DMX-512 LEDs donÕt turn off, then you are probably sending a DMX-512
stream to the card that doesnÕt have a checksum in it.

3) An error is found in the Smart Brick Network checksum (if receiving Smart Brick Network
data)

C) DMX-512 LED: This LED will be lit when the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks is receiving DMX-

512 data.

D) Brick Heart: The heartbeat from the Smart Brick Brain is transmitted throughout the system

over the Smart Brick Network. The presence of a healthy heartbeat means that the data on
the Smart Brick Network is getting through cleanly. If it ever stutters or flashes erratically (or not
at all), then there is a problem with the Smart Brick Brain, the Smart Brick Network, or the BS­DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks. As the DMX-512 takes precedence over the Smart Brick
Network, this LED will go dark whenever a DMX-512 signal is present.

E) Heartbeat: This LED Flashes continuously while the CPU is running. If it ever stops for more than

a fraction of a second, the 'Deadman' circuit in the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks will au-

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tomatically reset the CPU. While performing an Ease-In, the heart rate will double.

F) Z-Brick: This twenty pin IDS connector is used to connect to one or more Z-Bricks. When en-

abled, the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks puts out data from the DMX-512 input or on­board Eprom to this connector. The format of the data is as follows:

IDS pin # SIGNAL

1 Data bit 0
2 Data bit 1
3 Data bit 2
4 Data bit 3
5 Data bit 4
6 Data bit 5
7 Data bit 6
8 Data bit 7

9 Address bit 0
10 Address bit 1
11 Address bit 2
12 Address bit 3
13 Address bit 4
14 Address bit 5
15 Address bit 6
16 Address bit 7
17 ground
18 ground
19 Strobe/
20 Reset/

When the address and data lines are valid, the rising edge of the Strobe line will latch the

data into the addressed outputs.

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BackPlane Connections:

The BackPlane connection is through a sixty position double sided edge connector (thirty connections
on each side on .1Ó centers). This normally is plugged into a card cage, but can also be used with an IDS
or other discrete edge connector.

The first ten positions are used for the Smart Brick network and RS-422 serial port used by other cards in
the system. They are normally bussed between all of the cards in the card cage (although they can be
separated by cutting the lines if desired). The BS-DMX-Tx and BS-Serial do not use these bussed serial port
lines.

The next forty positions are used to connect the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks to the output ca­bling. It is on these pins that most of the I/O connections are made.

The last ten positions are used to provide power to the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks. These wires
are ganged to provide a higher current carrying capacity. The pinout of this connector is as follows:

output wire # Edge pin #color wire function

Smart Brick net #2 1 black Smart Brick Network Data/ into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
Smart Brick net #1 2 white Smart Brick Network Data into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
Smart Brick net #3 3 red Smart Brick Network Clock into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks

Serial Port #3 4 red TxD + out (not used by BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks)

Smart Brick net #4 5 green Smart Brick Network Clock/ into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks

Serial Port #2 6 black TxD - out (not used by BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks)

Smart Brick net #5 7 yellow Smart Brick Network Strobe into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks

Serial Port #5 8 yellow Rx + in (not used by BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks)

Smart Brick net #6 9 blue Smart Brick Network Strobe into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks

Serial Port #4 10 green Rx -in (not used by BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks)

Ribbon cable #1 11 brown DMX-512 ground
Ribbon cable #2 12 red DMX-512 Rx - into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
Ribbon cable #3 13 orange DMX-512 Rx + into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
Ribbon cable #4 14 yellow DMX-512 Tx - out of BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
Ribbon cable #5 15 green DMX-512 Tx + out of BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
Ribbon cable #6 16 blue
Ribbon cable #7 17 violet
Ribbon cable #8 18 gray
Ribbon cable #9 19 white

Ribbon cable #10 20 black

Ribbon cable #11 21 brown RS-422 ground
Ribbon cable #12 22 red RS-422 Serial Port Rx - data into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
Ribbon cable #13 23 orange RS-422 Serial Port Rx + data into BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
Ribbon cable #14 24 yellow RS-422 Serial Port Tx - data out of BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial
Ribbon cable #15 25 green RS-422 Serial Port Tx + data out of BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial
Ribbon cable #16 26 blue Ground to force BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial into configuration mode
Ribbon cable #17 27 violet Ground to force BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial into configuration mode
Ribbon cable #18 28 gray
Ribbon cable #19 29 white
Ribbon cable #20 30 black

Ribbon cable #21 31 brown MIDI n/c (MIDI DIN pin #3)
Ribbon cable #22 32 red MIDI Tx - (MIDI DIN pin #5)
Ribbon cable #23 33 orange MIDI ground (MIDI DIN pin #2)
Ribbon cable #24 34 yellow MIDI Tx + (MIDI DIN pin #4)
Ribbon cable #25 35 green MIDI n/c (MIDI DIN pin #1)

1

1

Errata: These pinouts were reversed in earlier editions of this manual. The pinout shown now has been
corrected. The Left side pin of R1 must be connected to GROUNDÊon the BS-Serial. This is the leftmost of
the two holes it can go into.

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Ribbon cable #26 36 blue
Ribbon cable #27 37 violet
Ribbon cable #28 38 gray
Ribbon cable #29 39 white
Ribbon cable #30 40 black

Ribbon cable #31 41 brown
Ribbon cable #32 42 red
Ribbon cable #33 43 orange
Ribbon cable #34 44 yellow
Ribbon cable #35 45 green
Ribbon cable #36 46 blue
Ribbon cable #37 47 violet
Ribbon cable #38 48 gray
Ribbon cable #39 49 white
Ribbon cable #40 50 black

n/a 51 black power supply ground
n/a 52 black power supply ground
n/a 53 black power supply ground
n/a 54 black power supply ground
n/a 55 black power supply ground
n/a 56 red + power supply input
n/a 57 red + power supply input
n/a 58 red + power supply input
n/a 59 red + power supply input
n/a 60 red + power supply input

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Animation Data Eproms:

The Eproms used for all all of the 'Brick' products manufactured by Gilderfluke & Company have tradi­tionally each contained one channel (eight bits) worth of data. The Eproms used on the BS-DMX-Tx or BS­Serial Smart Bricks, BS-ANA, EFB Smart Brick and RTU/FSK Units for storing animation data each carry a num­ber of channel's worth of data. The first four bytes also contain the frame rate, number of channels and
the length of the first show in the Eprom.

These are generated on a PC¥MACs system by:

1) Selecting the 'Save as Eprom...' command from the 'File' pulldown.

2) Check on the 'Multi Channel' checkbox

3) Set the 'start' and 'end' boxes to set the number channels you want to go into this multiple
Eprom file. A BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks can hold anywhere from one to all 255 chan­nels. Be sure to allow for enough extra channels for any Z-Bricks that might be attached to the
BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks. When creating Eproms for a BS-DMX-Tx, the ÔstartÕ is usually
set to Ô00Õ. When preparing Eproms for a BS-Serial, the ÔstartÕ can be set to any value. The ÔFirst
Address in EpromÕ value is set to equal the ÔstartÕ value that is used when creating the Eprom
files.

4) Use the ÔAddÕ button to select any additional show you would like to be saved into this Eprom
file set.

5) Use the ÔPromoteÕ and ÔDemoteÕ buttons to move selected show(s) into the order you would like
to save them in the Eprom.

6) Normally you will want to select the ÔCalculate Brick Start FramesÕ checkbox to allow PC¥MACs
to automatically calculate the offset into the Eproms needed for the shows you are saving. If
you would like to preserve the ÔStart frameÕ values in the show files, also check the ÔSave Brick
StartsÕ checkbox.

7) If you are not using the PC¥MACs calculated ÔBrick StartsÕ, you will have had to set these indi­vidually for each show under its File/Show Information dialog. If they are set improperly,
PC¥MACs will tell you if any of the shows are overlapping during the build. When using ÔBrick
StartsÕ that you have entered, PC¥MACs can pad the space between the shows with the de­fault values for the movements if you have checked the ÔPad With Default ValuesÕ checkbox.

8) Press the ÔBuildÕ button to begin the saving process. A standard file save dialog will open.
Name the file as desired. (it defaults to the name of the first show in the list). PC¥MACs will
warn you if a file already exists with this name. Hit OK to save the data to a file.

Once the shows have been saved to the multiple show file, you can burn them into Eprom(s) using
any Eprom programmer that supports 27C010 through 27C080 Eproms. The BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart
Bricks each hold a single 27C010, 27C020 or 27C040. If using 27C080 Eproms, you can use up to eight
of these chips on each BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Brick. If more than eight 27C080s are needed, then a
memory expansion card can add the capacity for a total of up to fifteen 27C080 Eproms or a single PCM­CIA flash card.

If you press the ÔReportÕ button, PC¥MACs will display the information about the Eprom set you just
saved. This information is also saved in a text file with the same name as the Eproms, but with the exten­sion of Ô.setÕ. You can open this file with any text editor like Notepad or Wordpad. The numbers shown for
ÔBrick startÕ and ÔBrick endÕ are what you need to enter into the Smart Brick Brain to set the start and end of
each show. The ÔEprom startÕ and ÔEprom endÕ are the actual locations of the shows in the Eprom set. The
number shown for the ÔEprom EndÕ for the last show in this file set is the last byte which will be saved into
the Eprom. If your Eprom is smaller than this number, you will need to use more than a single Eprom. The
capacities of all of the large Eproms are as follows:

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Eprom type Total number of bytes

27C010 131,072
27C020 262,144
27C040 524,288
27C080 1,048,576

Note that at least one show must be loaded starting at a 'Brick Start' of 0, even if it is only a frame or
two long. PC¥MACs will use this first show to set the frame rate and number of channels stored in the multi­ple channel Eprom. The BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Brick need this information to index into the Eprom.

If the data sent out from an Eprom BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial has shifted compared to what you saw when
you were sending the card DMX data, It is an indication that the ÔstartÕ was set improperly when the Eprom
file set was saved. On a BS-DMX-Tx, the first byte of data in the Eprom is output in DMX-Channel Ô00Õ. When
saving the Eprom from PC¥MACs, always set the ÔStart ChannelÕ to Ô00Õ. The channels output will then be
exactly what you saw when you were programming.

On the BS-Serial, the offset is a question of the address set for the ÔFirst Address in EpromÕ and the
channel used for the ÔStart ChannelÕ when saving the Eproms from PC¥MACs. The EpromsÕ data can start
at any ÔStart ChannelÕ that you would like. Data from the Eprom will be offset by the ÔFirst Address in EpromÕ
value. These two should be set to the same value if you want the data to appear as it was when you were
programming. DMX-512 devices and Z-Bricks that are addressed below the ÔFirst Address in EpromÕ will re­ceive Ô00Õ values, as will any addresses after the end of the data in the Eprom(s).

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BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks Configuration:

To communicate with the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks through the serial port, you can use just
about any computer or terminal which has a serial port on it. Some newer computer designs, like the
Apple Macintosh, come with serial ports which are directly compatible with the RS-422 / RS-485 signal lev­els the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks wants to see. These signal levels are close enough to be used
with the RS-232 signal levels found on most older computers (like most IBMs and compatibles) with only a
simple adapter cable, so long as the wire isn't too long. To gain the full advantage of the RS-422 / RS-485
signal levels you will need to use a signal level adapter like our 232conv-09.

If you are using a computer as a terminal you will need to run a modem or terminal emulation pro­gram. These will send everything you type on the keyboard out the serial port on your computer while
printing on the screen anything which comes in from the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks through the
serial port. Every copy of Windows 3.1 comes with TERM.EXE, which is just such a program. Windows Ô95 &
Windows Ô98 comes with a (not quite as good) terminal program called ÔHyper TermÕ 2. Z-Term is available
as shareware (free) from most bulletin board systems and users groups for Macintosh computers. A
modem program will usually have the advantage over a terminal emulation program in that it will allow
you to save data to your computer's disk drives and then send it back to the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart
Bricks at a later date. The BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks uses no screen control codes or ESCape se­quences (unless VT-52 compatible mode has been enabled), so it should work on any machine with an
eighty column by twenty-four line display. Machines with other display formats will work, but may not look
so neat on the screen.

When configuring your modem program, you should set it for 9600 baud, 8 data bits, one stop bit and
no parity. If your terminal emulation program supports VT-52 terminal emulation (they all do!), you should
enable it. This will allow faster screen redraws if 'VT-52 compatible' mode is enabled on the BS-DMX-Tx or
BS-Serial Smart Bricks. You should set your program NOT to insert an extra LineFeed (LF) character after
each Carriage Return (CR) it receives. You should also tell it NOT to scroll automatically after the eightieth
column is filled. If either of these are on, the screen will be displayed 'double spaced'. This won't cause
any problem, but may make it hard to see the whole screen at one time.

If you have hooked up the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks to your computer and it still doesn't seem
to respond to the keyboard, the first thing to check is that you are attached to the right serial port. The
easiest way to do this is to disconnect the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks and short between the Tx
data out and Rx data in pins on the serial port connector on the back of your computer. On all IBMs and
compatibles this means sticking a piece of wire, paper clip, or similar tool between pins 2 and 3 on the
'Com.' connector. While still running the modem program, anything you type should be shown on the
screen while this paper clip is in place, while nothing will appear when you remove it. If your computer
passes this test, then you are using the right serial port and the problem is most likely the baud rate setting
or in your wiring to the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks. If you get characters on the screen even with
the paper clip removed from the serial port, it means you probably need to set the 'echo' mode to 'none'
or 'full duplex' and try this test again.

To enter the configuration mode on a BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Brick, you need to ground the pin
shown on the connection diagrams. This can be done on the backplane or the connector on the front of
the card. Plugging in a six conductor modular cable from a Gilderfluke & Company RS-232 to RS-422 con­verter will automatically do this for you and put the card into configuration mode.

Configuration mode uses the same serial port as any string or other special outputs. Entering configu­ration mode will immediately stop the normal serial port outputs, force the card to 9600 baud, no parity,
eight data bits and one stop bit.

All numeric values in configuration mode are entered in HEXadecimal (0-9, A through F) or Decimal
numbers (0-9), as selected on the menu. Each number consist of one or more ASCII characters followed
by a <RETURN> (<ENTER> on some keyboards). If more characters have been entered before the <RE­TURN> than are allowed, then the characters already entered will scroll to the left to make room for the
new entries. Once a command has been invoked, characters can be erased one-by-one by using the
<DELETE> key (<BACKSPACE> on some keyboards). An entire entry can be erased by hitting the
<ESC>ape key. A command can be canceled altogether by hitting the <RETURN> key (<ENTER> on

2

If possible, copy Ôterm.exeÕ from your older PC and put it onto your Windows Ô95 or Windows Ô98

machine. After all, you probably already own it.

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