Grass Valley iControl Solo User Manual

iControl Solo

User Gu ide

Part Number: M786-1600-324 11 July 2011

1

Copyright Notice

Copyright © 2011 Miranda Technologies Inc. All rights reserved.
ATTENTION: Please read the following terms and conditions carefully. By using iControl documentation,

you agree to the following terms and conditions:
Miranda T echnologies Inc. her eby grants permission and license t o owners of iControl to use their pr oduct

manuals for their own internal business use. Manuals for Miranda Technologies Inc. products may not be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means , electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording, for any purpose unless specifically authorized in writing by Miranda Technologies Inc.

A Miranda T echnologies Inc. manual ma y have been r evised to r eflect changes made to the product during
its manufacturing life. Thus, differen t versions of a manual ma y exist for any giv en prod uct. Care should be
taken to ensure that one obtains the proper manual version for a specific product serial number.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment
on the part of Miranda Technologies Inc.

Warranty Policies

Warranty information is available in the Support section of the Miranda Web site (www.miranda.com).

Title iControl Solo User Guide
Part Number M786-1600-324
Revision 11 July 2011 2:16 pm

ii

Table of Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Differences Between iControl Solo and the Standard iControl System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Getting Started with iControl Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Communicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Densité Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Detailed Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Connecting Densité and Imaging Series Housing Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Adding Densité Communicator Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Configuring Imaging Communicator Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

3 Using iControl Solo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Navigator Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Control Panels and Device Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Control Panel Tabs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Info Control Panels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Devices Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Alarm Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Reference Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Detailed Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Opening iControl Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Closing iControl Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Opening Control Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Opening Info Control Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Changing Device Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Managing Device Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

iii

1

Adding Cards to the Reference Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Removing Cards from the Reference Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Installing IC-USB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

IC-USB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

IC-USB Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Detailed Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Connecting the IC-USB Device to a PC or Laptop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Connecting the IC-USB Device to a Miranda Quartet2 Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Connecting the IC-USB Device to a Miranda Symphonie Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Determining the IC-USB COM Port Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Installing a Single Imaging Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Installing Multiple Imaging Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Contact Us! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

iv

Welcome to iControl Solo!

Overview

This guide describes how to configure and use iC ontrol Solo for contr olling and monitoring devices required
in the broadcast signal path for interfacing, routing and distribution. iControl Solo is designed and
produced by Miranda Technologies Inc.

Introduction

iControl Solo is a stand-alone PC-based control application which offers affordable control directly from a
desktop or laptop that has Windows7™ or Windows XP™ Professional. It provides easy list-based control
and configuration of up to 100 Densité Series and/or Imaging Series modules. Operators are provided with
quick access to devices and parameters for fast and easy control. More advanced control requirements
demanding simultaneous, multi-device monitoring and error logging , and a customized, highly graphical
user interface, can be met with the iControl Web and iControl PM applica tions. A USB-to-RS-422 adapter
(IC-USB) used to connect Imaging Series housing frames is sold separately.

In brief, iControl Solo offers the following key features and benefits:

• a Navigator window with different sorting options, similar to iControl Navigator,

• drivers for most Miranda Densité and Imaging devices,

• the ability to interface up to 100 devices,

• easy problem resolution using status indicators,

•ideal for set and forget operations.

Introduction

1

Differences Between iControl Solo and the Standard iControl System

Differences Between iControl Solo and the Standard iControl System

iControl Solo does not:

•provide thumbnails,

• use a GSM (Global Status Manager) for central management of alarm conditions and error logging,

•support audio level meters (ALMs),

• allow simultaneous access to the same devices from an RCP-100 control panel,

• support Virtual Service Managers for configuring and controlling Miranda proc amp devices,

• support Router Manager for configuring and controlling routing switchers.

2

Getting Started with iControl Solo

This section explains how to set up your iControl Solo system.

Summary

Key Concepts
Connecting Densité and Imaging Series Housing Frames
Adding Densité Communicator Services
Configuring Imaging Communicator Services

Key Concepts

Communicators

Communicators are software components that implement a specific protocol for controlling a family of
devices.

Communicators in iControl Solo are responsible for the discovery process whereby aPCor laptop detects
Miranda devices connected to its serial ports or on the LAN, and initiates services to control these devices.

A communicator is an application that handles the communications between yourPC or laptop and
Densité or Imaging series frames on the network. The two types of communicators (Imaging and Densité)
are configurable services in iControl Solo.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Getting Started with iControl Solo

2

Densité Manager

Imaging Communicators allow you to control signal processing and distribution performance modules
housed in Miranda Imaging series (Symphonie, Quartet2) frames. The Imaging series frames are
connected to yourPC or laptop via RS-422 serial ports.

Densité Communicators allow you to control interfacing and distribution modules housed in Miranda
Densité frames. A Densité frame is connected to the network via its Densité Controller Ethernet port.

T o be able to use a communica tor, the service must be configured. If the service is not configured, yo u will
not be able to control the devices even if they are connected. If the service is configured, but there are no
cards connected, only the service will be displayed in the Navigator window.

Densité Manager

The Densité Manager is a service that allows you to manage multiple Densité frames (using Densité
Communicators).

For the Densité Manager to discover cards and begin controlling services, you need to specify the
IPaddresses of the Densité frames that it will manage. Each frame ma y contain up to 20 devices. If y ou do
not add any addresses, or if you add an incorrect address, the Densité Manager will not discover any
frames.

Detailed Directions

To set up your iControl Solo system you will need to:

• connect the Densité and Imaging frames that house the cards you wish to control,

• configure Densité and Imaging services in iControl Solo.

4

iControl Solo

User Guide

Connecting Densité and Imaging Series Housing Frames

Densité frames can be connected over the network through an Ethernet router, or directly to yourPC or
laptop via a crossover cable. Imaging frames (Symphonie and Quartet2) are connected to yourPC or
laptop using either the IC-USB device, or an RS-232-to-RS-422 converter.

Up to 100 Densité cards

Customer-supplied PC or laptop that has
iControl Solo

Up to 4 daisy-chained Imaging frames

Connecting multiple Densité Series frames through a router, and up to 4 Imaging Series frames via IC-USB

Crossover Cable

Connecting a single Densité Series frame without a router

See also:

For more information about the IC-USB device, see"Installing IC-USB", on page23.

Adding Densité Communicator Services

To add a Densité Communicator service:

1. Open iControl Solo, and double-click DensiteManager in the logical navigator view.

5

Getting Started with iControl Solo

2

Adding Densité Communicator Services

2. In DensiteManager, click Add.

3. In the Target Info rmation window, type the frame’s IPaddress and a descriptive name for the new
Densité Communicator service, and then click OK.

6