Orban Optimod-FM 8300, 8300J Operating Manual

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Page 1

Operating Manual

OPTIMOD-FM

8300

Digital Audio Processor

Version 2.1 Software

Page 2

IMPORTANT NOTE: Refer to the unit’s rear panel for your Model Number.

Model Number: Description:

8300 OPTIMOD 8300, Stereo Encoder, Digital I/O, Protec-

tion Structure, Two-Band Structure, Multi-Band Structure, 115V (for 90-130V operation) or 230V (for 200-250V operation), switchable to 50µs or 75µs.

8300J As above, but for 90-117V operation.

MANUAL:

Part Number: Description:

96116.210.03 8300 Operating Manual

CAUTION:

NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.

TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK).

WARNING: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE OR ELECTRICAL SHOCK,

DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.

This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to

the presence of uninsulated dangerous voltage

inside the enclosure  voltage that may be

sufficient to constitute a risk of shock.

This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to important

operating and maintenance instructions in the accompa-

nying literature. Read the manual.

In accordance to the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) directive of the European Parliament, this product must not be discarded into the municipal waste stream in any of the Member States. This product may be sent back to your Orban dealer at end of life where it will be reused or recycled at no cost to you.

If this product is discarded into an approved municipal WEEE collection site or turned over to an approved WEEE recycler at end of life, your Orban dealer must be notified and supplied with model, serial number and the name and location of site/facility.

Please contact your Orban dealer for further assistance.

www.orban.com

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IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

All the safety and operating instructions should be read before the appliance is operated.

Retain Instructions: The safety and operation instructions should be retained for future reference.

Heed Warnings: All warnings on the appliance and in the operating instructions should be adhered to.

Follow Instructions: All operation and user instructions should be followed.

Water and Moisture: The appliance should not be used near water (e.g., near a bathtub, washbowl, kitchen sink, laundry tub, in a wet base-

ment, or near a swimming pool, etc.).

Ventilation: The appliance should be situated so that its location or position does not interfere with its proper ventilation. For example, the appli-

ance should not be situated on a bed, sofa, rug, or similar surface that may block the ventilation openings; or, placed in a built-in installation, such as a bookcase or cabinet that may impede the flow of air through the ventilation openings.

Heat: The appliance should be situated away from heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other appliances (including amplifiers)

that produce heat.

Power Sources: The appliance should be connected to a power supply only of the type described in the operating instructions or as marked on

the appliance.

Grounding or Polarization: Precautions should be taken so that the grounding or polarization means of an appliance is not defeated.

Power-Cord Protection: Power-supply cords should be routed so that they are not likely to be walked on or pinched by items placed upon or

against them, paying particular attention to cords at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the appliance.

Cleaning: The appliance should be cleaned only as recommended by the manufacturer.

Non-Use Periods: The power cord of the appliance should be unplugged from the outlet when left unused for a long period of time.

Object and Liquid Entry: Care should be taken so that objects do not fall and liquids are not spilled into the enclosure through openings.

Damage Requiring Service: The appliance should be serviced by qualified service personnel when: The power supply cord or the plug has

been damaged; or Objects have fallen, or liquid has been spilled into the appliance; or The appliance has been exposed to rain; or The appliance does not appear to operate normally or exhibits a marked change in performance; or The appliance has been dropped, or the enclosure damaged.

Servicing: The user should not attempt to service the appliance beyond that described in the operating instructions. All other servicing should be

referred to qualified service personnel.

The Appliance should be used only with a cart or stand that is recommended by the manufacturer.

Safety Instructions (European)

Notice For U.K. Customers If Your Unit Is Equipped With A Power Cord.

WARNING: THIS APPLIANCE MUST BE EARTHED.

The cores in the mains lead are coloured in accordance with the following code:

GREEN and YELLOW - Earth BLUE - Neutral BROWN - Live

As colours of the cores in the mains lead of this appliance may not correspond with the coloured markings identifying the terminals in your plug, proceed as follows:

The core which is coloured green and yellow must be connected to the terminal in the plug marked with the letter E, or with the earth symbol, or coloured green, or green and yellow.

The core which is coloured blue must be connected to the terminal marked N or coloured black.

The core which is coloured brown must be connected to the terminal marked L or coloured red.

The power cord is terminated in a CEE7 / 7 plug (Continental Europe). The green / yellow wire is connected directly to the unit's chassis. If you need to change the plug and if you are qualified to do so, refer to the table below.

WARNING: If the ground is defeated, certain fault conditions in the unit or in the system to which it is connected can result in full line voltage between chassis and earth ground. Severe injury or death can then result if the chassis and earth ground are touched simultaneously.

Conductor WIRE COLOR

Normal Alt

L LIVE BROWN BLACK

N NEUTRAL BLUE WHITE

E EARTH GND GREEN-YELLOW GREEN

AC Power Cord Color Coding

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Safety Instructions (German)

Gerät nur an der am Leistungsschild vermerkten Spannung und Stromart betreiben. Sicherungen nur durch solche, gleicher Stromstärke und gleichen Abschaltverhaltens ersetzen. Sicherungen nie überbrücken. Jedwede Beschädigung des Netzkabels vermeiden. Netzkabel nicht knicken oder quetschen. Beim Abziehen des Netzkabels den Stecker und nicht das Kabel enfassen. Beschädigte Netzkabel sofort auswechseln. Gerät und Netzkabel keinen übertriebenen mechanischen Beaspruchungen aussetzen. Um Berührung gefährlicher elektrischer Spannungen zu vermeiden, darf das Gerät nicht geöffnet werden. Im Fall von Betriebsstörungen darf das Gerät nur Von befugten Servicestellen instandgesetzt werden. Im Gerät befinden sich keine, durch den Benutzer reparierbare Teile. Zur Vermeidung von elektrischen Schlägen und Feuer ist das Gerät vor Nässe zu schützen. Eindringen von Feuchtigkeit und Flüssigkeiten in das Gerät vermeiden. Bei Betriebsstörungen bzw. nach Eindringen von Flüssigkeiten oder anderen Gegenständen, das Gerät sofort vom Netz trennen und eine qualifizierte Servicestelle kontaktieren.

Safety Instructions (French)

On s'assurera toujours que la tension et la nature du courant utilisé correspondent bien à ceux indiqués sur la plaque de l'appareil. N'utiliser que des fusibles de même intensité et du même principe de mise hors circuit que les fusibles d'origine. Ne jamais shunter les fusibles. Eviter tout ce qui risque d'endommager le câble seceur. On ne devra ni le plier, ni l'aplatir. Lorsqu'on débranche l'appareil, tirer la fiche et non le câble. Si un câble est endommagé, le remplacer immédiatement. Ne jamais exposer l'appareil ou le câble ä une contrainte mécanique excessive. Pour éviter tout contact averc une tension électrique dangereuse, on n'oouvrira jamais l'appareil. En cas de dysfonctionnement, l'appareil ne peut être réparé que dans un atelier autorisé. Aucun élément de cet appareil ne peut être réparé par l'utilisateur. Pour éviter les risques de décharge électrique et d'incendie, protéger l'appareil de l'humidité. Eviter toute pénétration d'humidité ou fr liquide dans l'appareil. En cas de dysfonctionnement ou si un liquide ou tout autre objet a pénétré dans l'appareil couper aussitôt l'appareil de son alimentation et s'adresser à un point de service aprésvente autorisé.

Safety Instructions (Spanish)

Hacer funcionar el aparato sólo con la tensión y clase de corriente señaladas en la placa indicadora de características. Reemplazar los fusibles sólo por otros de la misma intensidad de corriente y sistema de desconexión. No poner nunca los fusibles en puente. Proteger el cable de alimentación contra toda clase de daños. No doblar o apretar el cable. Al desenchufar, asir el enchufe y no el cable. Sustituir inmediatamente cables dañados. No someter el aparato y el cable de alimentación a esfuerzo mecánico excesivo. Para evitar el contacto con tensiones eléctricas peligrosas, el aparato no debe abrirse. En caso de producirse fallos de funcionamiento, debe ser reparado sólo por talleres de servicio autorizados. En el aparato no se encuentra ninguna pieza que pudiera ser reparada por el usuario. Para evitar descargas eléctricas e incendios, el aparato debe protegerse contra la humedad, impidiendo que penetren ésta o líquidos en el mismo. En caso de producirse fallas de funcionamiento como consecuencia de la penetración de líquidos u otros objetos en el aparato, hay que desconectarlo inmediatamente de la red y ponerse en contacto con un taller de servicio autorizado.

Safety Instructions (Italian)

Far funzionare l'apparecchio solo con la tensione e il tipo di corrente indicati sulla targa riportante i dati sulle prestazioni. Sostituire i dispositivi di protezione (valvole, fusibili ecc.) solo con dispositivi aventi lo stesso amperaggio e lo stesso comportamento di interruzione. Non cavallottare mai i dispositivi di protezione. Evitare qualsiasi danno al cavo di collegamento alla rete. Non piegare o schiacciare il cavo. Per staccare il cavo, tirare la presa e mai il cavo. Sostituire subito i cavi danneggiati. Non esporre l'apparecchio e il cavo ad esagerate sollecitazioni meccaniche. Per evitare il contatto con le tensioni elettriche pericolose, l'apparecchio non deve venir aperto. In caso di anomalie di funzionamento l'apparecchio deve venir riparato solo da centri di servizio autorizzati. Nell'apparecchio non si trovano parti che possano essere riparate dall'utente. Per evitare scosse elettriche o incendi, l'apparecchio va protetto dall'umidità. Evitare che umidità o liquidi entrino nell'apparecchio. In caso di anomalie di funzionamento rispettivamente dopo la penetrazione di liquidi o oggetti nell'apparecchio, staccare immediatamente l'apparecchio dalla rete e contattare un centro di servizio qualificato.

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PLEASE READ BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Manual

The Operating Manual contains instructions to verify the proper operation of this unit and initialization of certain options. You will find these operations are most conveniently performed on the bench before you install the unit in the rack.

Please review the Manual, especially the installation section, before unpacking the unit.

Trial Period Precautions

If your unit has been provided on a trial basis:

You should observe the following precautions to avoid reconditioning charges in case you later wish to return the unit to your dealer.

(1) Note the packing technique and save all packing materials. It is not wise to ship in other than the factory carton. (Re-

placements cost $35.00).

(2) Avoid scratching the paint or plating. Set the unit on soft, clean surfaces.

(3) Do not cut the grounding pin from the line cord.

(4) Use care and proper tools in removing and tightening screws to avoid burring the heads.

(5) Use the nylon-washered rack screws supplied, if possible, to avoid damaging the panel. Support the unit when tighten-

ing the screws so that the threads do not scrape the paint inside the slotted holes.

Packing

When you pack the unit for shipping:

(1) Tighten all screws on any barrier strip(s) so the screws do not fall out from vibration. (2) Wrap the unit in its original plastic bag to avoid abrading the paint. (3) Seal the inner and outer cartons with tape.

If you are returning the unit permanently (for credit), be sure to enclose:

 The Manual(s)  The Registration / Warranty Card  The Line Cord  All Miscellaneous Hardware (including the Rack Screws and Keys)  The Extender Card (if applicable)  The Monitor Rolloff Filter(s) (OPTIMOD-AM only)  The COAX Connecting Cable (OPTIMOD-FM and OPTIMOD-TV only)

Your dealer may charge you for any missing items.

If you are returning a unit for repair, do not enclose any of the above items.

Further advice on proper packing and shipping is included in the Manual (see Table of Contents).

Trouble

If you have problems with installation or operation:

(1) Check everything you have done so far against the instructions in the Manual. The information contained therein is

based on our years of experience with OPTIMOD and broadcast stations.

(2) Check the other sections of the Manual (consult the Table of Contents and Index) to see if there might be some sug-

gestions regarding your problem.

(3) After reading the section on Factory Assistance, you may call Orban Customer Service for advice during normal Cali-

fornia business hours. The number is (1) 510 / 351-3500.

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This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio-frequency energy. If it is not installed and used as directed by this manual, it may cause interference to radio communication. This equipment complies with the limits for a Class A computing device, as specified by FCC Rules, Part 15, subject J, which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference when this type of equipment is operated in a commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference. If it does, the user will be required to eliminate the interference at the user’s expense.

This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the radio Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications. (Le present appareil numerique n’emet pas de bruits radioelectriques depassant les limites applicables aux appareils numeriques [de las class A] prescrites dans le Reglement sur le brouillage radioelectrique edicte par le ministere des Communications du Canada.)

Perform the installation under static control conditions. Simply walking across a rug can generate a static charge of 20,000 volts. This is the spark or shock you may have felt when touching a doorknob or some other conductive surface. A much smaller static discharge is likely to destroy one or more of the CMOS semiconductors employed in OPTIMOD-FM. Static damage will not be covered under warranty.

There are many common sources of static. Most involve some type of friction between two dissimilar materials. Some examples are combing your hair, sliding across a seat cover or rolling a cart across the floor. Since the threshold of human perception for a static discharge is 3000 volts, you will not even notice many damaging discharges.

Basic damage prevention consists of minimizing generation, discharging any accumulated static charge on your body or workstation, and preventing that discharge from being sent to or through an electronic component. You should use a static grounding strap (grounded through a protective resistor) and a static safe workbench with a conductive surface. This will prevent any buildup of damaging static.

WARNING

IMPORTANT

U.S. patents 208,548, 4,460,871, 5,737,434, 6,337,999, 6,434,241, 6,618,486, and 6,937,912 protect OPTIMOD 8300. Other patents pending.

Orban and Optimod are registered trademarks. All trademarks are property of their respective companies.

This manual is part number 96116.210.03. Published April 2009.

8350 East Evans Suite C4, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 USA

Phone: (1) (480) 403-8300; Fax: (1) (480) 403-8301; E-Mail: custserv@orban.com; Site: www.orban.com

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Operating Manual

OPTIMOD-FM

8300

Digital Audio Processor

Version 2.1 Software

Page 8

Table of Contents

Index.........................................................................................................................0-9

Section 1 Introduction

.........................................................................................................................................1-1

ABOUT THIS MANUAL.......................................................................................................1-1

THE OPTIMOD-FM 8300 DIGITAL AUDIO PROCESSOR .......................................................1-1

User-Friendly Interface............................................................................................1-2

Absolute Control of Peak Modulation...................................................................1-2

Flexible Configuration ............................................................................................1-3

Adaptability through Multiple Audio Processing Structures ...............................1-4

Controllable .............................................................................................................1-5

PRESETS IN OPTIMOD-FM ..............................................................................................1-5

Factory Presets .........................................................................................................1-5

User Presets..............................................................................................................1-6

INPUT/OUTPUT CONFIGURATION ........................................................................................1-6

Digital AES3 Left/Right Input/Output ....................................................................1-7

Analog Left/Right Input/Output.............................................................................1-7

Stereo Analog Baseband Composite Output ........................................................1-7

Subcarriers................................................................................................................1-8

Remote Control Interface .......................................................................................1-8

Computer Interface .................................................................................................1-9

RS-232 Serial Port ............................................................................................................. 1-9

RJ45 Ethernet Connector ................................................................................................. 1-9

LOCATION OF OPTIMOD-FM.........................................................................................1-10

Optimal Control of Peak Modulation Levels.......................................................1-10

Best Location for OPTIMOD-FM ...........................................................................1-11

If the transmitter is not accessible:................................................................................ 1-11

If the transmitter is accessible: ...................................................................................... 1-11

STUDIO-TRANSMITTER LINK.............................................................................................1-13

Transmission from Studio to Transmitter.............................................................1-13

Digital Links .................................................................................................................... 1-13

Composite Baseband Microwave STLs........................................................................... 1-14

Dual Microwave STLs...................................................................................................... 1-14

Analog Landline (PTT / Post Office Line)....................................................................... 1-16

Using the Orban 8100AST (or 8100A/ST) External AGC with the 8300 .............1-16

STL and Exciter Overshoot ....................................................................................1-16

USING LOSSY DATA REDUCTION IN THE STUDIO..................................................................1-17

ABOUT TRANSMISSION LEVELS AND METERING ..................................................................1-17

Meters ....................................................................................................................1-17

Studio Line-up Levels and Headroom ..................................................................1-18

Fig. 1-1: Absolute Peak Level, VU and PPM Reading.................................................... 1-18

Transmission Levels................................................................................................1-19

LINE-UP FACILITIES .........................................................................................................1-19

Metering of Levels.................................................................................................1-19

Composite Output Level ................................................................................................ 1-19

Built-in Calibrated Line-up Tones.................................................................................. 1-20

Built-in Calibrated Bypass Test Mode............................................................................ 1-20

MONITORING ON LOUDSPEAKERS AND HEADPHONES..........................................................1-20

EAS TEST......................................................................................................................1-21

Page 9

PC CONTROL AND SECURITY PASSCODE.............................................................................1-22

WARRANTY, USER FEEDBACK...........................................................................................1-23

User Feedback........................................................................................................1-23

LIMITED WARRANTY .............................................................................................1-23

INTERNATIONAL WARRANTY...............................................................................1-23

EXTENDED WARRANTY ........................................................................................1-24

Section 2 Installation

.........................................................................................................................................2-1

INSTALLING THE 8300.......................................................................................................2-1

Figure 2-1: AC Line Cord Wire Standard.......................................................................... 2-2

Figure 2-2: Wiring the 25-pin Remote Interface Connector........................................... 2-4

8300 REAR PANEL ...........................................................................................................2-5

INPUT AND OUTPUT CONNECTIONS.....................................................................................2-6

Cable.........................................................................................................................2-6

Connectors ...............................................................................................................2-6

Analog Audio Input.................................................................................................2-6

Analog Audio Output .............................................................................................2-7

AES3 Digital Input and Output...............................................................................2-7

Composite Output and Subcarrier Input ...............................................................2-8

Figure 2-3: Separation vs. load capacitance ....................................................................2-9

Grounding..............................................................................................................2-10

Power Ground........................................................................................................2-11

Circuit Ground .......................................................................................................2-11

8300 FRONT PANEL .......................................................................................................2-11

STUDIO LEVEL CONTROLLER INSTALLATION (OPTIONAL) .......................................................2-13

If you are using Orban 8200ST external AGC......................................................2-13

Figure 2-4: 8200ST Jumper Settings (*Factory Configuration) .....................................2-14

QUICK SETUP.................................................................................................................2-16

ANALOG AND DIGITAL I/O SETUP.....................................................................................2-24

AUTOMATION USING THE 8300’S INTERNAL CLOCK............................................................2-30

SECURITY AND PASSCODE PROGRAMMING.........................................................................2-32

To Create a Passcode: ............................................................................................2-33

To Edit a Passcode:.................................................................................................2-33

To Delete a Passcode: ............................................................................................2-34

To Lock the Front Panel Immediately:..................................................................2-34

To Program local lockout: .....................................................................................2-34

To Unlock the Front Panel: ...................................................................................2-35

Dial-up Networking and the Passcode.................................................................2-35

If You Have Forgotten Your Passcode..................................................................2-35

REMOTE CONTROL INTERFACE PROGRAMMING ..................................................................2-36

NETWORKING AND REMOTE CONTROL..............................................................................2-37

SYNCHRONIZING OPTIMOD TO A NETWORK TIME SERVER....................................................2-39

Table 2-1: NIST-referenced timeservers .........................................................................2-40

INSTALLING 8300 PC REMOTE CONTROL SOFTWARE ..........................................................2-43

Installing the Necessary Windows Services..........................................................2-43

Check Hardware Requirements ............................................................................2-43

Running the Orban Installer Program..................................................................2-44

Setting Up Ethernet, LAN, and VPN Connections ...............................................2-45

Conclusion..............................................................................................................2-45

APPENDIX: SETTING UP SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS .............................................................2-47

Preparing for Communication through Null Modem Cable ..............................2-47

Connecting Using Windows 2000 Direct Serial Connection:..............................2-47

Page 10

Connecting Using Windows XP Direct Serial Connection ..................................2-52

Preparing for Communication through Modems ...............................................2-57

Connecting Using Windows 2000 Modem Connection ......................................2-57

Connecting using Windows XP Modem Connection ..........................................2-63

UPDATING YOUR 8300’S SOFTWARE.................................................................................2-69

Section 3 Operation

.........................................................................................................................................3-1

8300 FRONT PANEL .........................................................................................................3-1

INTRODUCTION TO PROCESSING..........................................................................................3-3

Some Audio Processing Concepts.................................................................................... 3-3

Distortion in Processing ................................................................................................... 3-3

Loudness and Distortion .................................................................................................. 3-3

OPTIMOD-FM — from Bach to Rock ......................................................................3-4

Fundamental Requirements: High-Quality Source Material and Accurate

Monitoring...............................................................................................................3-4

ABOUT THE 8300’S SIGNAL PROCESSING FEATURES ..............................................................3-5

Signal Flow...............................................................................................................3-5

ITU-R 412 Compliance .............................................................................................3-9

Two-Band Purist Processing ....................................................................................3-9

Input/Output Delay ...............................................................................................3-10

CUSTOMIZING THE 8300’S SOUND ...................................................................................3-10

Basic Modify...........................................................................................................3-11

Full Modify .............................................................................................................3-11

Advanced Modify ..................................................................................................3-12

Gain Reduction Metering .....................................................................................3-12

To Create or Save a User Preset ............................................................................3-13

ABOUT THE PROCESSING STRUCTURES ...............................................................................3-14

FACTORY PROGRAMMING PRESETS ...................................................................................3-16

Table 3-1: Factory Programming Presets....................................................................... 3-17

EQUALIZER CONTROLS ....................................................................................................3-21

Table 3-2: Five-Band Equalization Controls .................................................................. 3-22

STEREO ENHANCER CONTROLS .........................................................................................3-26

Table 3-3: Stereo Enhancer Controls ............................................................................. 3-26

AGC CONTROLS ............................................................................................................3-27

Table 3-4: AGC Controls................................................................................................. 3-27

Advanced AGC Controls........................................................................................3-30

CLIPPER CONTROLS.........................................................................................................3-33

Table 3-5: Clipper Controls ............................................................................................ 3-34

Advanced Clipper Controls ...................................................................................3-37

THE TWO-BAND STRUCTURE ...........................................................................................3-37

The Protection Presets...........................................................................................3-38

Setting Up the Two-Band Structure for Classical Music......................................3-38

Customizing the Settings ......................................................................................3-39

The Two-Band Structure’s Full and Advanced Setup Controls ...........................3-39

Table 3-6: Two-Band Controls ....................................................................................... 3-40

Advanced Two-Band Controls ..............................................................................3-44

THE FIVE-BAND STRUCTURE ............................................................................................3-45

Putting the Five-Band Structure on the Air.........................................................3-45

Customizing the Settings ......................................................................................3-45

Table 3-7: Multiband Controls....................................................................................... 3-46

The Five-Band Structure’s Full and Advanced Setup Controls ...........................3-46

Page 11

Table 3-8: MB Attack / Release Controls........................................................................ 3-47

Table 3-9: MB Band Mix Controls...................................................................................3-48

Advanced Multiband Controls..............................................................................3-53

ABOUT THE 8300’S HD / DIGITAL RADIO PROCESSING........................................................3-55

Delay Difference between Digital-Channel and FM Outputs ............................3-56

Table 3-10: HD Audio Controls....................................................................................... 3-56

HD I/O Setup Controls ...........................................................................................3-56

HD Audio Controls.................................................................................................3-56

ITU-R MULTIPLEX POWER CONTROLLER............................................................................3-57

Multiplex Power Threshold ............................................................................................3-57

Figure 3-1: Multiplex Power over 15 Minute Observation Interval with MPX Power

Controller Active, measured at Optimod’s Composite Output ....................................3-58

Audio Processing and the Multiplex Power Threshold Control ...................................3-59

Table 3-11: Test Modes................................................................................................... 3-59

TEST MODES .................................................................................................................3-59

GETTING THE BASS SOUND YOU WANT ............................................................................3-60

USING THE 8300 PC REMOTE CONTROL SOFTWARE ...........................................................3-62

To set up a new connection: .................................................................................3-63

To initiate communication: ...................................................................................3-63

To modify a control setting:..................................................................................3-64

To recall a preset:...................................................................................................3-64

To save a user preset you have created: ..............................................................3-65

To back up User Presets, system files, and automation files onto your computer’s

hard drive:..............................................................................................................3-65

To restore archived presets, system files, and automation files:........................3-66

To share an archived User Preset between 8300s: ........................................................3-67

To modify INPUT/OUTPUT and SYSTEM SETUP: ...........................................................3-67

To modify AUTOMATION: .........................................................................................3-67

To group multiple 8300s: ......................................................................................3-68

Operation Using the Keyboard ............................................................................3-68

To Quit the Program..............................................................................................3-68

About Aliases created by Optimod 8300 PC Remote Software .........................3-68

Multiple Installations of Optimod 8300 PC Remote ...........................................3-69

To Import Archived 8400 and 8500 Presets into Your 8300................................3-70

Section 4 Maintenance

.........................................................................................................................................4-1

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE ...................................................................................................4-1

SUBASSEMBLY REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT.......................................................................4-2

FIELD AUDIT OF PERFORMANCE..........................................................................................4-6

Table 4-1: Decoder Chart for Power Supervisor .............................................................. 4-8

Table 4-2: Layout Diagram of J7, with expected voltages on each pin .........................4-9

Table 4-3: Typical Power Supply Voltages and AC Ripple ..............................................4-9

Section 5 Troubleshooting

.........................................................................................................................................5-1

PROBLEMS AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS...............................................................................5-1

RFI, Hum, Clicks, or Buzzes ...............................................................................................5-1

Unexpectedly Quiet On-Air Levels ................................................................................... 5-1

Poor Peak Modulation Control ........................................................................................5-1

Audible Distortion On-Air ................................................................................................5-2

Page 12

Audible Noise on Air........................................................................................................ 5-2

Whistle on Air, Perhaps Only in Stereo Reception ......................................................... 5-3

Interference from stereo into SCA .................................................................................. 5-4

Fig. 5-1: Typical 8300 baseband spectrum with heavy processing, 0-100 kHz. ............. 5-4

Shrill, Harsh Sound ........................................................................................................... 5-4

Dull Sound ........................................................................................................................ 5-5

System Will Not Pass Line-Up Tones at 100% Modulation ............................................ 5-5

System Will Not Pass Emergency Alert System (“EAS” USA Standard) Tones at the

Legally Required Modulation Level ................................................................................ 5-5

System Receiving 8300’s Digital Output Will Not Lock .................................................. 5-5

19 kHz Frequency Out-of-Tolerance................................................................................ 5-5

L–R (Stereo Difference Channel) Will Not Null With Monophonic Input...................... 5-6

General Dissatisfaction with Subjective Sound Quality.................................................. 5-6

Security Passcode Lost (When Unit is Locked Out) ......................................................... 5-6

Connection Issues between the 8300 and a PC, Modem, or Network ................5-6

Troubleshooting Connections.................................................................................5-7

You Cannot Access the Internet After Making a Direct or Modem Connection to

the 8300: ..................................................................................................................5-7

OS-SPECIFIC TROUBLESHOOTING ADVICE ............................................................................5-8

Troubleshooting Windows 2000 Direct Connect:..................................................5-8

Troubleshooting Windows 2000 Modem Connect:.............................................5-10

Troubleshooting Windows XP Direct Connect: ...................................................5-11

Troubleshooting Windows XP Modem Connect: ................................................5-11

TROUBLESHOOTING IC OPAMPS .......................................................................................5-12

TECHNICAL SUPPORT.......................................................................................................5-13

FACTORY SERVICE...........................................................................................................5-13

SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS ..................................................................................................5-14

Section 6 Technical Data

.........................................................................................................................................6-1

SPECIFICATIONS................................................................................................................6-1

Performance.............................................................................................................6-1

Installation ...............................................................................................................6-2

CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................................6-5

Overview ..................................................................................................................6-5

Control Circuits ........................................................................................................6-6

User Control Interface and LCD Display Circuits ...................................................6-7

Input Circuits............................................................................................................6-8

Output Circuits.........................................................................................................6-9

DSP Circuit..............................................................................................................6-12

Power Supply .........................................................................................................6-12

ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................................6-13

PARTS LIST ....................................................................................................................6-14

Obtaining Spare Parts ...........................................................................................6-15

Base Board .............................................................................................................6-15

CPU Module ...........................................................................................................6-17

RS-232 Board..........................................................................................................6-18

Power Supply .........................................................................................................6-19

Input/Output (I/O) Board ......................................................................................6-20

DSP Board...............................................................................................................6-23

Display Board.........................................................................................................6-25

SCHEMATICS AND PARTS LOCATOR DRAWINGS...................................................................6-25

Page 13

Function Description Drawing Page

Chassis

Base Board

CPU Module

RS-232 Board

Power Supply

I/O Board

DSP Board

Circuit Board Locator and Basic Interconnections Glue logic; supports CPU module and RS-232 daughterboard.

Top view (not to scale) Parts Locator Drawing

6-29

6-30

Contains:

System Connections Schematic 1 of 4 CPU module interface Schematic 2 of 4 CPU module interface (ver. .06) Schematic 2 of 4 Power Supply Monitor Schematic 3 of 4 CPLD, General Purpose Interface,

Schematic 4 of 4

6-31 6-32 6-33 6-34 6-35

and Remotes Control microprocessor. Services front panel, serial port, Ethernet,

Parts Locator Drawing

6-36

DSP board, and control board. Resides on base board.

Contains:

Ethernet Schematic 1 of 5

General Purpose Bus Schematic 2 of 5

Memory Schematic 3 of 5

Miscellaneous Functions Schematic 4 of 5

Power and Ground Distribution Schematic 5 of 5 Supports Serial Port Parts Locator

6-37 6-38 6-39 6-40 6-41 6-42

Drawing

Schematic 1 of 1 ±15V analog supply; ±5V analog

supply; +5V digital supply

Parts Locator Drawing

Schematic 1 of 1 Analog Input/Output

AES3 Input/Output

Parts Locator Drawing

6-43 6-44

6-45

6-46

Composite Output SCA Input.

Contains:

L and R Analog Inputs Schematic 1 of 5 6-47

L and R Analog Outputs Schematic 2 of 5 6-48

Composite / SCA Schematic 3 of 5 6-49

Control and Digital I/O Schematic 4 of 5 6-50

Interface and Power Distribution Schematic 5 of 5 6-51 DSP Chips; Local +3.3V regulator.

Contains:

DSP Extended Serial Audio Inter-

Parts Locator

6-52 Drawing Schematic 1 of 7 6-53

face (ESAI) DSP Host Interface Schematic 2 of 7 6-54 DSP Serial Peripheral Interface,

Schematic 3 of 7 6-55

Power, and Ground ISA Bus 8-bit I/O Schematic 4 of 7 6-56 Serial Audio Interface and Clock

Schematic 5 of 7 6-57

Generation

Page 14

Display Board

DSP Block

Diagram

Power Distribution Schematic 6 of 7 6-58

No-Connects Schematic 7 of 7 6-59 Front-Panel LCD, LEDs, Buttons, and Rotary Encoder

Parts Locator Drawing

6-60

Schematic 1 of 1 6-61 Shows signal processing 6-62

Page 15

Index

19 K Ref control 2- · 10

8100A/ST 1- · 16 8100A1 1- · 16 8100AST 1- · 16 8100AXT2 1- · 16 8200ST 2- · 13 8300 HD 3- · 55 8300 OPTIMOD-FM 1- · 1 8400

comparison with 8300 3- · 70 importing 8400 presets 3- · 4, 70

A/D converter

circuit description 5- · 9 specification 6- · 2

Abbreviations 6- · 13 AC Line Cord Standard 2- · 2 Advanced Modify 3- · 12 AES/EBU I/O 2- · 7 AGC

bass attack control 3- · 31 bass coupling control 3- · 29 bass delta threshold control 3- · 32 bass release control 3- · 31 bass threshold control 3- · 31 control list 3- · 27 crossover control 3- · 32 defeating 3- · 18, 27 drive control 3- · 28 external AGC setup 2- · 13 gate threshold control 3- · 28 idle gain control 3- · 31 master attack control 3- · 31 master delta threshold control 3- · 31 master release control 3- · 28 matrix 3- · 30 Maximum Delta Gain Reduction control 3- ·

meter 2- · 12, 2 ratio control 3- · 30 window release control 3- · 30 window size control 3- · 30

AGC 3- · 6 allpass crossover 3- · 32 analog baseband outputs 1- · 7 analog I/O 1- · 7 analog input

circuit description 6- · 8 ref level, I/O setup 2- · 24

analog input 2- · 6 analog landline 1- · 16 analog output

circuit description 6- · 10

analog output 2- · 7 anti-aliased 3- · 37, 53 archiving presets 3- · 65 attack 3- · 31 attack time controls 3- · 53 audio

connections 2- · 6 input, connecting 2- · 6 output 2- · 7 output, connecting 2- · 7

Audio Precision 4- · 6 auditing performance 4- · 6 automation

add event 2- · 31 delete event 2- · 32 edit event 2- · 32

automation 2- · 30 automation 3- · 67

B4>B5 coupling 3- · 7 B5 down expand 3- · 51 backing up presets 3- · 65 balance adjust 2- · 26 balanced

inputs 2- · 6 output, simulates transformer 2- · 7

band coupling 3- · 51 base board

removing 4- · 3 replacing 4- · 5

Page 16

baseband spectrum

control 3- · 6

baseband spectrum 5- · 4 Basic Modify 3- · 11 Bass

equalizer 3- · 61 Getting sound you want 3- · 60

bass clip threshold 3- · 33 bass punch

and the bass clipper 3- · 33

bass threshold 3- · 31 battery

replacing 6- · 6

Beatles 3- · 31 bit depth of internal processing 6- · 1 block diagram 6- · 62 bone-conduction comb filtering 3- · 10 Brilliance control 3- · 24 buttons

escape 2- · 12 escape 3- · 2 modify 2- · 12 modify 3- · 1 next 2- · 11 NEXT 3- · 1 previous 2- · 11 PREVIOUS 3- · 1 RECALL 2- · 12 RECALL 3- · 1 setup 2- · 12 setup 3- · 1 soft buttons 2- · 11

buzz 5- · 1 bypass

local 1- · 21 PC remote 1- · 22 remote interface 1- · 22 test mode 1- · 20

cable

shielding 2- · 10 type recommended for analog I/O 2- · 6

CD mastering, overprocessing in 3- · 5 chassis

getting inside 4 · 2 ground 2- · 11

circuit board locator drawing 6- · 29 circuit description

control 6- · 6

LCD display 6- · 7 user control interface 6- · 7

circuit description 6- · 5 CIT25 2- · 8 classical 3- · 18, 38 cleaning front panel 4- · 1 clipper

bass clip threshold control 3- · 33 clipper shape control 3- · 33 control list 3- · 33 final clip drive control 3- · 33

clipper, bass 3- · 7 clock

battery 6- · 6 reset to hour 2- · 37 reset to midnight 2- · 37 resetting via remote control 2- · 37 setting 2- · 30

common-mode rejection 2- · 10 components

obtaining 6- · 15

composite

circuit description 6- · 11 isolation transformer 2- · 8 limiter 3- · 8 peak level control 1- · 19

composite baseband microwave STL 1- ·

composite limiter

drive 3- · 34 pilot tone protection 2- · 9

composite output

cable specification 2- · 8 I/O setup 2- · 20, 26 impedance 2- · 8 level adjustment range 2- · 8 level control 2- · 8 setting output impedance 2- · 8 specifications 6- · 3 termination 2- · 8

composite output 2- · 8 composite outputs 1- · 7 compression

defined 3- · 3

compressor gate 3- · 29 Compressor look-ahead

and bass clipper mode 3- · 36

computer

connecting to 2- · 4 troubleshooting connections 5- · 7 Windows 2000 5- · 8 Windows XP 5- · 11

Page 17

computer interface

RS-232 2- · 5 serial 2- · 5

computer interface 1- · 9

connecting

through Win XP direct serial 2- · 52

connection to PC

troubleshooting 5- · 6

connectors

audio 2- · 6 input and output 2- · 6

contrast 2- · 11 contrast control 3- · 1 control knob 2- · 12 control knob 3- · 1 controls

contrast 2- · 11 contrast 3- · 1 description 3- · 1 soft buttons 3- · 1

corrosion 4- · 1 CPU board

replacing 4- · 5

CPU module

removing 4- · 3

crossover

allpass 3- · 32 linear phase 3- · 32 modes 3- · 32

D/A converter

circuit description 6- · 10 specification 6- · 2

Delay

Analog vs. HD 3- · 56

delay 3- · 10 delta release control 3- · 54 digital I/O 1- · 7 digital input

circuit description 6- · 9

digital links 1- · 13 digital output

circuit description 6- · 11

digital radio

setup controls 3- · 56

display assembly

removing 4 · 2

display board

parts list 6- · 25

replacing 4 · 5

distortion

aliasing 3- · 8 caused by poor source material 3- · 4 excessive 5- · 6 on material with strong HF content 3- · 37 specification 6- · 1 testing 4- · 10 troubleshooting 5- · 2

dither 2- · 29 DJ Bass control 3- · 25 downward expander 3- · 50 DSP

block diagram 6- · 62 circuit description 6- · 12

DSP board

removing 3- · 4 replacing 4- · 5

dual microwave STLs 1- · 14 dull sound

troubleshooting 5- · 5

EAS

modulation low 5- · 5 test tones 1- · 21

easy setup 2- · 16 echo fusion threshold 3- · 10 EQ Frequency control

HD 3- · 57

equalizer

bass shelf 3- · 21 control list 3- · 21 parametric 3- · 23

equalizer 3- · 7 escape button 2- · 12 escape button 3- · 2 Ethernet 2- · 37, 45, 63 exciter overshoot 1- · 16 Exit Test 2- · 36

factory presets

selecting 2- · 21

factory presets 1- · 5 factory service 5- · 13 final clip drive 3- · 33 Firewall 2- · 45, 63

Page 18

Firmware

updating 8500 2- · 69

five-band

attack time controls 3- · 53 band coupling controls 3- · 51 band on/off switch 3- · 53 band threshold control 3- · 49 delta release control 3- · 54 downward expander thresold control 3- · 50 full modify control list 3- · 46 HF clipper threshold 3- · 52 high frequency limiter control 3- · 43, 54 limiter attack control 3- · 54 maximum distortion control 3- · 44, 54 multiband drive control 3- · 46 multiband gate threshold control 3- · 49 multiband limit threshold control 3- · 50 multiband limiter drive control 3- · 50 mutiband release control 3- · 47 output mix controls 3- · 52

five-band 3- · 45 frequency response

specification 6- · 1 testing 4- · 9

front panel 3- · 1 Full Modify 3- · 11 fuse 2- · 5

gain reduction

meters 2- · 12 meters 3- · 2

gate

threshold control 3- · 49

gate 3- · 29 gate LED 2- · 12, 2 Gateway 2- · 45, 63 gateway address 2- · 38 getting inside the unit 4 · 2 gold (format) 3- · 19 GPI

specifications 6- · 4

GPI interface

testing 4- · 13

ground

chassis 2- · 11

ground lift switch 2- · 3, 5 grounding

circuit 2- · 11 loss of 4- · 1

power 2- · 11

grounding 2- · 10 grouping 8300s 3- · 68

Haas threshold 3- · 10 half-cosine interpolation limiter 3- · 8 HD

EQ frequency control 3- · 57 EQ Gain control 3- · 57 Limiter Drive control 3- · 57

HD Radio

GR meter 2- · 13 setup controls 3- · 56

HD Radio 1- · 3 headphones

low delay monitoring 1- · 21 low-delay monitoring 2- · 18, 27

headphones 1- · 20 HF enhancer 3- · 7 high frequency

excessive energy in source material 3- · 5

High Frequency Enhancer 3- · 25 high frequency limiter

threshold 3- · 52

high frequency limiter 3- · 7, 43, 52, 54 high-pass filter

30 Hz 3- · 6, 25

hum 5- · 1

I/O

AES/EBU 2- · 7 connections 2- · 3

I/O board

replacing 4- · 5

IC opamps

troubleshooting 5- · 12

idle gain 3- · 31

import

8400 presets 3- · 4, 70

input

analog, connecting 2- · 6 analog, specifications 6- · 2 digital, specifications 6- · 2 meters 2- · 12 SCA, specifications 6- · 4 subcarrier 2- · 8

Page 19

input level

line-up 1- · 18

input meters 1- · 19 input meters 3- · 2 input selector

I/O setup 2- · 24

input/output board

removing 4- · 3

inspection of package contents 2- · 1 installation procedure 2- · 1 Internet

cannot access 5- · 7

IP address 2- · 37 IP port 2- · 38 ITU412

setting up controller 2- · 22

ITU412 3- · 9, 57

J.17

and 8300 digital I/O 1- · 7 and NICAM 1- · 14 deemphasis applied to digital audio input 6-

· 3 defined 1- · 7 preemphasis applied to digital audio output

6- · 3

line-up tones

system will not pass at 100% modulation 5- ·

line-up tones 1- · 20 LLHard mode 3- · 36 location 1- · 10 lock

driven equipment cannot lock to 8300 output

5- · 5

lockout

immediate 2- · 34 programming local 2- · 34 unlocking front panel 2- · 35

look-ahead

limiting 3- · 3

Lookahead

Multiband Control 3- · 53

Lookahead 3- · 44 lossy data reduction

in studio 1- · 17 NICAM 1- · 14 used in STLs · 13

loudness

and distortion 3- · 3 insufficient 5- · 6 insufficient due to poor peak control 5- · 1

loudness/distortion tradeoff 3- · 33 L–R will not null 5- · 6

latency

low delay presets 2- · 18 low delay presets 3- · 10, 15, 18, 71

latency 3- · 10 LEDs

gate 2- · 12, 2

Less-More

index 3- · 43

Less-More 3- · 27 level

metering 1- · 19 setup 2- · 18 transmission 1- · 19

limiter

attack 3- · 54

limiting

defined 3- · 3

line voltage 2- · 2 linear-phase crossover 3- · 32

MAC address 5- · 7 main board

reattaching 4 · 5

master delta threshold 3- · 31 matrix, AGC 3- · 30 maximum distortion control 3- · 44, 54 measuring performance 4- · 6 meter

circuit description 6- · 7 composite 1- · 19 gain reduction 3- · 12

meters

AGC 2- · 12, 2 circuit description 6- · 7 composite 3- · 2 gain reduction 2- · 12 gain reduction 3- · 2 input 2- · 12 input 3- · 2 studio 1- · 17

Page 20

Mod Reduction control 2- · 36 modem

preparing for connection 2- · 57 recommended baud rate 2- · 58 setting up 2- · 38 specification for 2- · 44 Windows 2000 configuration 2- · 57 Windows XP configuration 2- · 63

modify button 2- · 12 modify button 3- · 1 modulation control

troubleshooting poor 5- · 1

monitoring 1- · 20 Mono mode 2- · 36 MPX Power Offset 3- · 35 multiband drive 3- · 46 multiband limit threshold 3- · 50 multiband llimiter drive 3- · 50 multipath distortion 3- · 26 multiplex power

meter 2- · 13

multiplex power 3- · 57

NAB Broadcast and Audio System Test CD

4- · 6

network

timeserver 2- · 39

networking 2- · 37 NEWS preset 3- · 19 NEXT button 2- · 11 NEXT button 3- · 1 NICAM 1- · 14 noise

troubleshooting 5- · 2

null modem cable

communicating through 2- · 47

null modem cable 2- · 43

oldies 3- · 19 Orban 222 stereo enhancer 3- · 26 output

analog output level trim adjustment 4- · 9 analog, connecting 2- · 7 analog, specifications 6- · 2 composite 2- · 8

composite, specifications 6- · 3 digital, setting dither 2- · 29 digital, setting sample rate 2- · 28 digital, setting sync 2- · 28 digital, setting word length · 28 digital, specifications 6- · 3 headphone monitoring, setup 2- · 18, 27

output level

I/O setup 2- · 27, 28 quick setup 2- · 20

output mix controls 3- · 52 overshoot

in exciter 1- · 16

overshoot

reduction 1- · 17

overshoot

excessive 5- · 1

overshoot 3- · 58 overshoot compensator drive 3- · 37

parametric equalizer 3- · 7 parent preset 3- · 43 parts

obtaining 6- · 15

parts list

base board 6- · 15 CPU module 6- · 17 display board 6- · 25 DSP board 6- · 23 I/O board 6- · 20 power supply 6- · 19 RS-232 board 6- · 18

parts list 6- · 14 passcode

and dial-up networking 2- · 35 creating 2- · 33 deleting 2- · 34 editing 2- · 33 programming 2- · 32 recovering from lost 2- · 35

Orban installer program 2- · 44

PC board locator diagram 6- · 29 PC control

security 1- · 22

PC hardware requirements 2- · 43 PC Remote

aliases 3- · 68 moving alias folders 3- · 70

Page 21

multiple coexisting versions 3- · 69 upgrading versions 3- · 69

PC Remote Software 3- · 62 peak control criteria 1- · 10 peak-to-average ratio 3- · 3 performance

measuring 4- · 6

phase rotator 3- · 6, 25 phase-linear

system group delay spec · 10 two-band purist processing 3- · 9

phase-linear 1- · 4 phase-linear 3- · 39 pilot tone

frequency out of tolerance 5- · 5 reference output 1- · 8 reference output 2- · 9

port, IP 2- · 38 Ports 2- · 45, 63 power

cord 2- · 2, 5

power 2- · 2 power supply

circuit description 6- · 12 parts list 6- · 19 testing 4- · 8

power supply board

reattaching 4 · 5 removing 4 · 4

prcocessing

styles 3- · 4

pre-emphasis

defeating 2- · 19 quick setup 2- · 17

preset

restoring archived 3- · 66

presets

backup 3- · 65 classical 3- · 18 customizing 3- · 10 factory 1- · 5 factory programming 3- · 16 five-band 3- · 14, 19 protection 3- · 38 saving user 3- · 6, 13 sharing between 8300s 3- · 67 two-band 3- · 14 UL (ultra-low latency) 3- · 10, 15 user presets 1- · 6

PREVIOUS button 2- · 11 PREVIOUS button 3- · 1 processing

AGC 3- · 6 block diagram 6- · 62 distortion in 3- · 3 equalization 3- · 7 input conditioning 3- · 6 intelligent clipping 3- · 8 introduction to 3- · 3 multiband compression 3- · 7 signal flow 3- · 5 stereo enhancement 3- · 6 structures 1- · 4 structures 3- · 14 two-band purist 30 · 9

Proof of Performance 1- · 5 Proof of Performance 3- · 59 protect preset 3- · 18 punch

increasing 3- · 54

quick setup 2- · 16

rack-mounting unit 2- · 3 ratio

AGC 3- · 30 control 3- · 7 limit 3- · 26

rear panel 2- · 5 RECALL button 2- · 12 RECALL button 3- · 1 registration card 2- · 1 release

fast 3- · 48 medium-fast 3- · 48 medium-slow 3- · 48 slow 3- · 47

remote

PC Remote software 3- · 62

remote control

bypass 1- · 22 connecting 2- · 3 GPI, specifications 6- · 4 wiring 2- · 4

remote control 2- · 5 remote interface

functions controllable by 2- · 36 GPI 1- · 8 programming GPI 2- · 36

Page 22

testing 4- · 13 wiring 2- · 4

remote interface connector 2- · 5 Remote Software 2- · 39, 43, 69 resolution

specification 6- · 1

RFI 5- · 1 right channel balance

I/O setup 2- · 26

RJ45 jack 2- · 38 routine maintenance 4- · 1 RS232

testing 4- · 13

RS232 board

replacing 4- · 5

RS-232 connector 2- · 5 RS-232 interface

circuit description 6- · 7 removing board 4- · 2

sample rate

at digital output 6- · 3 internal, specification 6- · 1 setting output 2- · 20

sample rate converter

testing 4- · 11

saving user presets 3- · 6, 13 SCA

composite meter does not indicate 1- · 19 input, specifications 6- · 4 inputs 1- · 8 interference from stereo 5- · 4 modulation reduction 2- · 23

screen display 2- · 11 screen display 3- · 1 screens

System Setup 2- · 16

Security

lock immediately 2- · 34

security 1- · 22 security 2- · 32 Serial Communications

setting up 2- · 47

serial connection

setting up direct 2- · 39

serial connector 2- · 5 service 5- · 13 setup

I/O 2- · 24

quick 2- · 16

setup button 2- · 12 setup button 3- · 1 shelving equalizer

bass, slope of 3- · 7

shipping instructions 5- · 14 shrill sound

troubleshooting 5- · 4

signal flow diagram 6- · 62 soft buttons 2- · 11 soft buttons 3- · 1 Software

updating 8500 2- · 69

software updates 1- · 5 Sound Technology 4- · 6 source material

poor-quality, adjusting processing for 3- · 5 requirements for 3- · 4

spare parts

obtaining 6- · 15

specifications 6- · 1 spectrum analyzer 4- · 6 Speech/music detector 3- · 36, 53 sports 3- · 48 sports preset 3- · 20 Stanford Research Systems 4- · 6 station ID

setting 2- · 22

stereo encoder

testing 4- · 11

stereo encoder 3- · 8 stereo enhancer 3- · 26 Stereo mode 2- · 36 STL

compatibility with 32 kHz sample rate 2- · 8 overshoot in uncomressed digital 2- · 8 systems 1- · 13, 14

studio chassis mode 2- · 17 studio-transmitter link 1- · 13 subassembly removal and replacement 4- ·

subcarrier

input, specifications 6- · 4 inputs 2- · 9 modulation reduction 2- · 23

subcarrier input 2- · 8 subcarrier inputs 1- · 8 subnet mask 2- · 37 switches

ground lift 2- · 3, 5 voltage select 2- · 2, 5

Page 23

system setup

quick setup 2- · 16

System Setup screen 2- · 16

talk 3- · 48 TALK preset 3- · 19 TCP/IP

setting parameters 2- · 37

technical support 5- · 23, 13 telephone support 5- · 23, 13

test modes 3- · 59 Threshold

Multiband Speech 3- · 44

threshold control 3- · 49 time

daylight saving 2- · 17 summer 2- · 17

time & date 2- · 16 timeserver 2- · 39 top cover

reattaching 4 · 6 removing 4 · 2

transformer

composite isolation 2- · 8

troubleshooting

installation 5- · 1

two-band

bass attack control 3- · 44 bass coupling control 3- · 42 bass threshold control 3- · 44 clipping control 3- · 43 crossover control 3- · 44 drive control 3- · 40 full modify controls 3- · 39 gate control 3- · 42 high frequency clip threshold control 3- · 44 high frequency limiting control 3- · 43 master attack control 3- · 44 master compression threshold 3- · 44 release control 3- · 41

two-band structure 3- · 37

unpacking 2- · 1 Updating software 2- · 69 upgrading software 1- · 5 user presets

archiving 3- · 14 creating 3- · 6, 11, 13

user presets 1- · 6

voltage select switch 2- · 2, 5 VPN, setting up 2- · 45, 63

warranty 1- · 23 Warranty 1- · 23 warranty 6- · 5 whistle on-air

troubleshooting 5- · 3

window

release control 3- · 30 window size control 3- · 30

Windows

installing services 2- · 43

Windows 2000

adding direct serial connection 2- · 48, 52,

58, 65 Direct Connect 5- · 8 direct serial connection 2- · 47 modem connect 5- · 10 modem connection 2- · 57

Windows XP

direct connect 5- · 11 modem configuration 2- · 63 modem connect 5- · 11

word length

at output, specification 6- · 3 setting output 2- · 28

unlock front panel 2- · 35

XLR connector

wiring standard 2- · 7

Page 24

Page 25

OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

Section 1

Introduction

About this Manual

The Adobe pdf form of this manual contains numerous hyperlinks and bookmarks. A reference to a numbered step or a page number (except in the Index) is a live hyperlink; click on it to go immediately to that reference.

If the bookmarks are not visible, click the “Bookmarks” tab on the left side of the Acrobat Reader window.

1-1

This manual has a table of contents and index. To search for a specific word or phrase, you can also use the Adobe Acrobat Reader’s text search function.

The OPTIMOD-FM 8300 Digital Audio Processor

Orban’s all-digital OPTIMOD-FM 8300 Audio Processor can help you achieve excellent audio quality in FM stereo broadcasting. Because all processing is performed by high-speed mathematical calculations within Motorola DSP56362 Digital Signal Processing chips, the processing has cleanliness, quality, and stability over time and temperature that is unmatched by analog processors.

OPTIMOD-FM 8300 is descended from the industry-standard OPTIMOD-FM audio processors. Thousands of these processors are on the air all over the world. They have proven that the “OPTIMOD sound” attracts and keeps an audience even in the most competitive commercial environment.

Because OPTIMOD-FM incorporates several audio processing innovations exclusive to Orban products, you should not assume that it can be operated in the same way as less sophisticated processors. If you do, you may get disappointing results.

Take a little time now to familiarize yourself with OPTIMOD-FM. A small investment of your time now will yield large dividends in audio quality.

The rest of Section 1 explains how OPTIMOD-FM fits into the FM broadcast facility. Section 2 explains how to install it and set it up. Section 3 tells how to operate OPTIMOD-FM. Sections 4 through 6 provide reference information.

Page 26

1-2

INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

OPTIMOD-FM was designed to deliver a high quality sound while simultaneously increasing the average modulation of the channel substantially beyond that achievable by “recording studio”-style compressors and limiters. Because such processing can exaggerate flaws in the source material, it is very important that the source audio be as clean as possible.

For best results, feed OPTIMOD-FM unprocessed audio. No other audio processing is necessary or desirable.

If you wish to place level protection prior to your studio / transmitter link (STL), use an Orban studio level control system expressly designed for this purpose. (At the time of this writing, this is the Orban 8200ST OPTIMOD-Studio Compressor / Limiter / HF Limiter / Clipper.) The 8200ST can be adjusted so that it substitutes for the broadband AGC circuitry in OPTIMOD-FM, which is then defeated.

User-Friendly Interface

 An LCD and full-time LED meters make setup, adjustment and programming

of OPTIMOD-FM easy — you can always see the metering while you’re adjusting the processor. Navigation is by dedicated buttons, soft buttons (whose functions are context-sensitive), and a large rotary knob. The LEDs show all metering functions of the processing structure (Two-Band or Five-Band) in use.

Absolute Control of Peak Modulation

 The 8300 provides universal transmitter protection and audio processing

for FM broadcast. It can be configured to interface ideally with any commonly found transmission system in the world.

 The 8300 provides pre-emphasis limiting for the two standard pre-emphasis

curves of 50s and 75s. Its pre-emphasis control is seldom audibly apparent, producing a clean, open sound with subjective brightness matching the original program.

 By integrating the stereo encoder with the audio processing, the 8300 elimi-

nates the overshoot problems that waste valuable modulation in traditional external encoders. The stereo encoder has two outputs with independent level controls, each capable of driving 7in parallel with 47,000pF, (100ft / 30m of coaxial cable).

 The 8300 prevents aliasing distortion in subsequent stereo encoders or transmis-

sion links by providing bandwidth-limiting and overshoot-compensated 15 kHz low-pass filters ahead of the 8300’s audio outputs and stereo encoder.

 Anti-aliased clippers running at 256 kHz sample rate prevent any trace of

“digital clipper” sound.

Page 27

OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

Flexible Configuration

 The 8300 includes analog and AES3 digital inputs and outputs. Both digital in-

put and digital output are equipped with sample-rate converters and can operate at 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz sample rates. The pre-emphasis status and output levels are separately adjustable for the analog and digital outputs.

 The 8300 has an internal, DSP-based stereo encoder (with a patented “half-

cosine interpolation” composite limiter operating at 512 kHz sample rate)

to generate the pilot tone stereo baseband signal and control its peak level. The composite limiter is a unique, “you can only do this in DSP” process that beats composite clippers by preserving stereo imaging while fully protecting the stereo pilot tone, RDS / RBDS, and subcarriers.

 The 8300’s digital output can be switched to emit processed audio suitable for

HD Radio, digital radio, and netcasts. Meanwhile, the analog output and composite output continue to emit audio processed for the analog FM channel. To do this, the output of the multiband compressor (5-band or 2-band) splits into two paths. The FM path feeds an advanced, distortion-canceling clipper and overshoot compensator, while the HD path is de-emphasized and then feeds a look-ahead limiter.

1-3

Note that the “UL” [ultra-low-latency] presets do not offer HD processing. If a UL preset is put on-air, the HD output will emit a de-emphasized, FM-processed signal.

 The analog inputs are transformerless, balanced 10k instrumentation-

amplifier circuits, and the analog outputs are transformerless balanced, and

floating (with 50 impedance) to ensure highest transparency and accurate pulse response.

 The 8300 has two independent composite baseband outputs with digitally

programmable output levels. Robust line drivers enable them to drive 100 feet of RG-59 coaxial cable without audible performance degradation.

 The 8300 has two subcarrier inputs that are mixed with the output of

OPTIMOD-FM’s stereo encoder before application to the composite output connectors. One input can be re-jumpered to provide a 19 kHz pilot reference output. The other input has an internal level trim to accommodate subcarrier generators with output levels as low as 220 mV.

 The 8300 precisely controls the audio bandwidth to 15 kHz. This prevents

overshoots in uncompressed digital links operating at a 32 kHz-sample rate and prevents interference to the pilot tone and RDS (or RBDS) subcarrier.

 The 8300 has a defeatable multiplex power limiter that controls the multiplex

power to ITU-R BS412 standards. An adjustable threshold allows a station to achieve maximum legal multiplex power even if the downstream transmission

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INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

system introduces peak overshoots into the 8300-processed signal. Because this limiter closes a feedback loop around the audio processing, it allows the user to adjust the processor’s subjective setup controls freely without violating BS412 limits, regardless of program material. The multiplex power limiter acts on all outputs (not just the composite output). It reduces clipper drive when it reduces power, simultaneously reducing clipping distortion.

 All input, output, and power connections are rigorously RFI-suppressed to

Orban’s traditional exacting standards, ensuring trouble-free installation.

 The 8300 is designed and certified to meet all applicable international

safety and emissions standards.

Adaptability through Multiple Audio Processing Structures

 A processing structure is a program that operates as a complete audio proc-

essing system. Only one processing structure can be on-air at a time. OPTIMODFM realizes its processing structures as a series of high-speed mathematical computations made by Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chips.

 The 8300 features three processing structures: Optimum Five-Band (or “Multi-

band”; 15 or 20 ms delay) for a consistent, “processed” sound, free from undesirable side effects, Ultra-Low-Latency Five-Band (5 ms delay) for environ- ments where talent monitors live off-air and they object to the delay of Optimum Five-Band, and Two-Band for a transparent sound that preserves the fre- quency balance of the original program material. A special Two-Band preset creates a no-compromise “Protect” function that is functionally similar to the “Pro- tect” structures in earlier Orban digital processors. The Optimum Five-Band and the Two-Band structures can be switched via a mute-free crossfade; the Low Latency Five-Band structure causes a very brief audio mute when activated.

 The 8300 can increase the density and loudness of the program material by

multiband compression, limiting, and clipping. This improves the consistency of the station’s sound and increasing loudness and definition remarkably, without producing unpleasant side effects.

 The 8300 rides gain over an adjustable range of up to 25 dB, compressing dy-

namic range and compensating for both operator gain-riding errors and gain inconsistencies in automated systems.

 The 8300’s Two-Band processing structure is phase-linear to maximize audible

transparency.

 The 8300 can import and run any 8400 or 8500 user preset via the 8300 PC

Remote application. (Certain 8400 and 8500 features are not available and will be reinterpreted.) See To Import Archived 8400 and 8500 Presets into Your 8300 on page 3-70 for details.)

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

Controllable

 The 8300 can be remote-controlled by 5-12V pulses applied to eight pro-

grammable, optically isolated “general-purpose interface” (GPI) ports.

 8300 PC Remote software is a highly graphical application that runs under

Windows 2000 and XP. It communicates with a given 8300 via TCP/IP over mo- dem, direct serial, and Ethernet connections. You can configure PC Remote to switch between many 8300s via a convenient organizer that supports giving any 8300 an alias and grouping multiple 8300s into folders. Clicking an 8300’s icon causes PC Remote to connect to that 8300 through an Ethernet network, or initiates a Windows Dial-Up or Direct Cable Connection if appropriate. The PC Remote software allows the user to access all 8300 features (including advanced controls not available from the 8300’s front panel), and allows the user to archive and restore presets, automation lists, and system setups (containing I/O levels, digital word lengths, GPI functional assignments, etc.).

 OPTIMOD-FM contains a versatile real-time clock, which allows automation of

various events (including recalling presets) at pre-programmed times. The clock can be set automatically from an Internet timeserver.

1-5

 A Bypass Test Mode can be invoked locally, by remote control (from either the

8300’s GPI port or the 8300 PC Remote application), or by automation to permit broadcast system test and alignment or “proof of performance” tests.

 OPTIMOD-FM contains a built-in line-up tone generator, facilitating quick and

accurate level setting in any system.

 OPTIMOD-FM's software can be upgraded by running Orban-supplied

downloadable upgrade software on a PC. The upgrade can occur remotely through the 8300’s Ethernet port or serial port (connected to an external modem), or locally (by connecting a Windows® computer to the 8300’s serial port through the supplied null modem cable).

Presets in OPTIMOD-FM

There are two distinct kinds of presets in OPTIMOD-FM: factory presets and user presets.

Factory Presets

The Factory Presets are our “factory recommended settings” for various program formats or types. The description indicates the processing structure and the type of processing. Each Factory Preset on the Preset list is really a library of more than 20 separate presets, selected by navigating to M

ODIFY PROCESSING / LESS-MORE and us-

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INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

ing the factory presets are listed and described starting on page 3-16.

LESS-MORE control to adjust OPTIMOD-FM for less or more processing. The

Factory Presets are stored in OPTIMOD-FM’ erased. You can change the settings of a Factory Preset, but you must then store those settings as a User Preset, which you are free to name as you wish. The Factory Preset remains unchanged.

s non-volatile memory and cannot be

User Presets

User Presets permit you to change a Factory Preset to suit your requirements and then store those changes.

You can store more than 100 User Presets, limited only by available memory in your 8300 (which will vary depending on the version of your 8300’s software). You can give your preset a name up to 18 characters long.

User Presets cannot be created from scratch. You must always start by recalling a Factory Preset. Make the changes, and then store your modified preset as a User Preset. You can also recall a previously created user preset, modify it, and save it again, either overwriting the old version or saving under a new name. In all cases, the original Factory Preset remains for you to return to if you wish.

User Presets inherit the structure of their parent Factory Presets (Five-Band, TwoBand, or Ultra-Low-Latency Five-Band). The only way you can choose the structure of a factory preset is to edit it from a Factory preset having that structure (or to edit it from an older User Preset having the desired structure). You cannot change the structure that an existing User Preset uses.

User Presets are stored in non-volatile memory that does not require battery backup. To Create or Save a User Preset on page 3-13 has more about User Presets.

Input/Output Configuration

OPTIMOD-FM simultaneously accommodates:

 Digital AES3 left/right inputs and outputs.

 Analog left/right inputs and outputs.

 Composite stereo outputs.

 Subcarrier (SCA and RDS / RBDS) inputs.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

Digital AES3 Left/Right Input/Output

The digital input and output conform to the professional AES3 standard. They both have sample rate converters to allow operation at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz sample frequency.

The left/right digital input is on one XLR-type female connector on the rear panel; the left/right digital output is on one XLR-type male connector on the rear panel.

OPTIMOD-FM provides digital and analog inputs and outputs. You select whether OPTIMOD-FM uses the digital or analog input either locally or by remote interface. If OPTIMOD-FM is set to accept a digital input and the feed fails, OPTIMOD-FM will automatically switch back to the analog input.

Level control of the AES3 input is accomplished via software control through System Setup (see step 5 on page 2-26) or through PC Remote.

1-7

Both analog and digital outputs are active continuously

The 8300’s output sample rate can be locked either to the 8300’s internal crystal clock or to the sample rate present at its AES3 input.

The 8300 can apply J.17 de-emphasis to signals applied to its digital input and J.17 pre-emphasis to the processed signal emitted from its digital output. J.17 is a 6 dB/octave shelving pre-emphasis / de-emphasis standard with break points at 400 Hz and 4 kHz. It is mainly used in older studio / transmitter links that use NICAM technology. The 8300’s provisions for J.17 make it fully compatible with systems using this standard.

Analog Left/Right Input/Output

The left and right analog inputs are on XLR-type female connectors on the rear panel. Input impedance is greater than 10k; balanced and floating. Inputs can accommodate up to +27 dBu (0 dBu = 0.775Vrms).

The left and right analog outputs are on XLR-type male connectors on the rear panel. Output impedance is 50; balanced and floating. The outputs can drive 600 or higher impedances, balanced or unbalanced. The peak output level is adjustable from –6 dBu to +24 dBu.

Level control of the analog inputs and outputs is accomplished via software control through System Setup (see step 3 on page 2-24 and step 7 on page 2-27) or through PC Remote.

Stereo Analog Baseband Composite Output

The stereo encoder has two unbalanced analog baseband outputs on two BNC connectors on the rear panel. Each output can be strapped for or 7source imped-

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INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

ance and can drive up to 8V peak-to-peak into 7in parallel with up to 0.047F (100ft / 30m of RG-59 / U cable) before any significant audible performance degradation occurs.

See the footnote on page 1-12 and refer to Figure 2-3 on page 2-9.

Independent level control of each output is via software (see step 6 on page 2-26). A ground lift switch is available on the rear panel. This is useful to prevent loops between the 8300 and the transmitter.

ground

Subcarriers

The stereo encoder has two unbalanced 60subcarrier (SCA) inputs with rearpanel BNC connectors to accept any subcarrier at or above 23 kHz. The subcarriers are mixed into each composite output and their level is not affected by the composite level control for that output.

The 8300 does not digitize subcarriers; the mixing occurs after D/A conversion and is analog.

Subcarrier inputs sum into composite baseband outputs before digitally controlled composite attenuator. The sensitivity of the SCA 1 input is variable from 220 mV p-p to >10 V p-p to produce 10% injection. Sensitivity is adjustable by an internal PCboard-mounted trim pot. The sensitivity of the SCA 2 input is fixed at 772 mV p-p to produce 10% injection.

The correct peak level of the stereo program applied to the stereo encoder sometimes depends on the number of subcarriers in use. Some regulatory authorities require that total baseband peak modulation be maintained within specified limits. Thus, the level of the stereo main and subchannel must be reduced when a subcarrier is turned on. The 8300’s remote control feature allows you to reduce the stereo main and subchannel level by connecting an on/off signal from your subcarrier generator (See page 2-8). You define the amount of reduction in percent using the procedure in step 21 on page 2-23. See page 2-36 for information on programming the remote control.

A jumper on the circuit board can reconfigure the SCA 2 input to provide the pilot tone only, which can provide a pilot reference for an RDS subcarrier generator.

stereo

Remote Control Interface

The Remote Control Interface is a set of eight optically isolated GPI inputs on a DB25 connector, which can be activated by 5-12V DC. They can control various functions of the 8300:

 Recall any Factory Preset, User Preset, Test Mode state (Bypass or Tone), or exit

from a Test Mode to the previous processing preset.

 Switch the stereo encoder to stereo, mono-from-left, mono-from-right, or

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

mono-from-sum audio input. This also determines the feed to the entire processing chain so that facilities that do not use the 8300’s stereo encoder can change stereo/mono mode and select the source when in mono mode.

 Switch the 8300 to use either the analog input or the digital input.

 Reduce the stereo main and subchannel modulation to compensate for transmit-

ter overshoot and subcarrier inputs (SCAs).

The remote control of overshoot compensation and SCA modulation (see page 2-36) is not latching. You must supply a continuous current to the programmed remote input to hold the gain at its compensated level. Use the status outputs of your transmitter and/or SCA generators to provide the switching signal so the compensation will automatically follow the transmitter and/or subcarrier generator on the air.

 Reset the 8300’s internal clock to the nearest hour or to midnight.

You can reconfigure the functions of the eight inputs via System Setup. For example, if you are not using the stereo encoder, the three inputs ordinarily dedicated to controlling the state of the stereo encoder can instead be re-configured to call three additional presets.

1-9

See page 2-36 for information on programming the remote control interface.

Computer Interface

On the rear panel of the 8300 are an RS-232 serial port and an Ethernet port for interfacing to IBM-compatible PCs. These computer interfaces support remote control and metering, and allow downloading software upgrades.

Each 8300 package ships with 8300 PC Remote software, an application for any IBMcompatible PC running Microsoft Windows 2000 (Service Pack 3) or XP. 8300 PC Remote permits you to adjust any 8300 preset by remote control or to do virtually anything else that you can do from the 8300’s front panel controls. The program displays all of the 8300’s LCD meters on the computer screen to aid remote adjustment.

RS-232 Serial Port

8300 PC Remote can communicate at up to 115 kbps via between the computer and the 8300 through their RS-232 serial ports.

RJ45 Ethernet Connector

8300 can be connected to any Ethernet network that supports the TCP/IP proto-

The col.

See Networking and Remote Control on page 2-37 for more information.

modem or direct connection

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INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

Location of OPTIMOD-FM

Optimal Control of Peak Modulation Levels

The audio processing circuitry in OPTIMOD-FM produces a signal that is preemphasized to either the 50s or 75s standard pre-emphasis curve. It is precisely and absolutely high-frequency-controlled and peak-controlled to prevent overmodulation, and is filtered at 15 kHz to protect the 19 kHz pilot and prevent distortion caused by aliasing-related non-linear crosstalk. If this signal is fed directly into a stereo encoder, peak modulation levels on the air will be precisely controlled. However, if the audio processor’s signal is fed to the stereo encoder through any circuitry with frequency response errors and/or non-constant group delay, the peaks will be magnified. Peak modulation will increase, but average modulation will not. The modulation level must therefore be reduced to accommodate the larger peaks. Reduced average modulation level will cause reduced loudness and a poorer signal-tonoise ratio at the receiver.

Landline equalizers, transformers, and 15 kHz low-pass filters and pre-emphasis networks in stereo encoders typically introduce frequency response errors and nonconstant group delay. There are three criteria for preservation of peak levels through the audio system:

1) The system group delay must be essentially constant throughout the frequency range containing significant energy (30-15,000Hz). If low-pass filters are present, this may require the use of delay equalization. The deviation from linear-phase must not exceed 1 from 30-15,000Hz.

2) The low-frequency 3 dB point of the system must be placed at 0.15Hz or lower (this is not a misprint!). This is necessary to ensure less than 1% overshoot in a 50Hz square wave and essentially constant group delay to 30Hz.

3) Any pre-emphasis used in the audio transmission system prior to the stereo en- coder must be canceled by a precisely complementary de-emphasis: Every pole and zero in the pre-emphasis filter must be complemented by a zero and pole of identical complex frequency in the de-emphasis network. An all-pole deemphasis network (like the classic series resistor feeding a grounded capacitor) is not appropriate.

In this example, the network could be fixed by adding a second resistor between ground and the capacitor, which would introduce a zero.

Low-pass filters (including anti-aliasing filters in digital links), high-pass filters, transformers, distribution amplifiers, and long transmission lines can all cause the above criteria to be violated, and must be tested and qualified. It is clear that the above criteria for optimal control of peak modulation levels are most easily met when the audio processor directly feeds the stereo encoder. In the 8300, no circuit elements that might distort the shape of the waveform are interposed between the audio

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

processor and the stereo encoder. We therefore recommend using the 8300 with its built-in stereo encoder whenever practical.

Best Location for OPTIMOD-FM

The best location for OPTIMOD-FM is as close as possible to the transmitter, so that its stereo encoder output can be connected to the transmitter through a circuit path that introduces the least possible change in the shape of OPTIMOD-FM’s carefully peak-limited waveform — a short length of coaxial cable. If this is impossible, the next best arrangement is to feed the 8300’s AES3 digital output through an alldigital, uncompressed path to the transmitter's exciter.

Use the 8300’s left and right analog audio outputs in situations where the stereo encoder and exciter are under the jurisdiction of an independent transmission authority, and where the programming agency’s jurisdiction ends at the interface between the audio facility and the link connecting the audio facility to the transmitter. (The link might be telephone / post lines, analog microwave radio, or various types of digital paths.) This situation is not ideal because artifacts that cannot be controlled by the audio processor can be introduced by the link to the transmitter, by transmitter peak limiters, or by the external stereo encoder.

1-11

If the transmitter is not accessible:

All audio processing must be done at the studio and you must tolerate any that occurs later. If you can obtain a broadband (0-75 kHz) phase-linear link to the transmitter, and the transmitter authority will accept the delivery of a baseband encoded signal, use the 8300’s internal stereo encoder at the studio location to feed the STL. Then feed the output of the STL receiver directly into the transmitter’s exciter with no intervening processing.

If an uncompressed AES3 digital link is available to the transmitter, this is also an excellent means of transmission, although it will not pass the effects of the 8300’s composite processor (if you are using it). However, if the digital link employs lossy compression, it will disturb peak levels.

If only an audio link is available, use the 8300’s left and right audio outputs and feed the audio, without pre-emphasis, directly into the link. If possible, request that any transmitter protection limiters be adjusted for minimum possible action — OPTIMOD-FM does most of that work. Transmitter protection limiters should respond only to signals caused by faults or by spurious peaks introduced by imperfections in the link. To ensure maximum quality, all equipment in the signal path after the studio should be carefully aligned and qualified to meet the appropriate standards for bandwidth, distortion, group delay and gain stability, and such equipment should be re-qualified at reasonable intervals. (See Optimal Control of Peak Modula- tion Levels on page 1-10).

damage

If the transmitter is accessible:

ou can achieve the most accurate control of modulation peaks by locating

Y OPTIMOD-FM at the transmitter site and then using its stereo encoder to drive the transmitter. You can usually also obtain good results by locating OPTIMOD-FM at the

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INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

studio and connecting the baseband output of its stereo encoder to the transmitter through a composite baseband STL (see page 1-14). However, many composite baseband STLs do not control peaks perfectly because of bounce (see page 1-15), and locating OPTIMOD-FM at the transmitter site (where it the transmitter’s RF exciter) is thus likely to maximize loudness.

Because OPTIMOD-FM controls peaks, it is irrelevant whether the audio link feeding OPTIMOD-FM’s input terminals is phase-linear. However, the link should have low noise, the flattest possible frequency response from 30-15,000Hz, and low non-linear distortion.

We strongly recommend that you use the 8300’s internal stereo encoder to feed the output of the encoder directly to the baseband input of the exciter through less than 100 feet (30 meters) of coaxial cable. 100 feet of coaxial cable (assuming 30pF / foot capacitance) will reduce measured separation at 15 kHz (worst case) to approximately 60 dB. This separation is comfortably above the separation (approximately 20 dB) that starts to cause perceptible changes in the stereo image.

You will achieve a louder sound on the air, with better control of peak modulation, than if you use most external stereo encoders.

can control peaks just prior to

An exception is Orban’s 8218 stereo encoder, which does not add overshoot, and, in fact, contains its own overshoot limiter. However, because it accepts audio in left/right form, the 8218 will not let you exploit the 8300’s composite limiter.

The shorter the baseband cable from OPTIMOD-FM to exciter, the less likely that ground loops or other noise problems will occur in the installation. If you require a long cable run, you can use Orban’s CIT25 Composite Isolation Transformer to break any ground loops. This transformer will ordinarily cure even the most stubborn hum or noise caused by the composite connection between OPTIMOD-FM and the exciter. Its instruction manual contains complete information on its installation and application.

If a separate stereo encoder must be used, feed the encoder directly from the 8300’s left and right analog outputs. If possible, bypass the pre-emphasis network and the input low-pass filters in the encoder so that they cannot introduce spurious peaks.

Julie M. Adkins and Robert D. Sorkin: “Effect of Channel Separation on EarphonePresented Tones, Noise, and Stereophonic Material,” J. Audio Engineering Society, vol. 33 pp. 234-239, 1985.

Subjects listened to 500-Hz tones, broadband noise, and stereophonic program material through earphones and adjusted the channel separation, via a manual control, until the degradation of the spatial effect became detectable. Mean channel separations ranged from 10 to 15.9 dB for the musical selections employed and from 13.7 to 16.8 dB for the noise and tonal stimuli. The results are discussed in terms of existing data on detectable stereo separation and on the discrimination of interaural time differences. [Abstract ©Audio Engineering Society, Inc.]

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

Because of their special design, OPTIMOD-FM’s pre-emphasis network and low-pass filters perform the same functions while retaining tight peak control.

Studio-Transmitter Link

Transmission from Studio to Transmitter

1-13

There are five types of studio-transmitter links (STLs) in common use in broadcast service: uncompressed digital, digital with lossy compression (like MPEG, Dolby

), microwave, analog landline (telephone / post line), and audio subcarrier on

APT-x a video microwave STL.

STLs are used in three fundamentally different ways. They can either (1) pass unprocessed audio for application to the 8300’s input, (2) they can pass the 8300’s peak-controlled analog or digital left and right audio outputs, or (3) they can pass the 8300’s peak-controlled composite stereo baseband output. The three applications have different performance requirements. In general, a link that passes unprocessed audio should have very low noise and low non-linear distortion, but its transient response is not important. A link that passes processed audio doesn’t need as low a noise floor as a link passing unprocessed audio. However, its transient response is critical. At the current state of the art, an uncompressed digital link using digital inputs and outputs to pass audio in left/right format achieves best results. We will elaborate below.

Digital Links

Digital links may pass audio as lossy data reduction processing to the signal to reduce the number of bits per second required for transmission through the digital link. Such processing will almost invariably distort peak levels, and such links must therefore be carefully qualified before you use them to carry the peak-controlled output of the 8300 to the transmitter. For example, the MPEG Layer 2 algorithm can increase peak levels up to 4 dB at 160kB/sec by adding large amounts of quantization noise to the signal. While the desired program material may psychoacoustically mask this noise, it is nevertheless large enough to affect peak levels severely. For any lossy compression system the higher the data rate, the less the peak levels will be corrupted by added noise, so use the highest data rate practical in your system.

straightforward PCM encoding, or they may apply

, or

It is practical (though not ideal) to use lossy data reduction to pass unprocessed audio to the 8300’s input. The data rate should be at least of “contribution quality” — the higher, the better. If any part of the studio chain is analog, we recommend using at least 20-bit A/D conversion before encoding.

Because the 8300 uses multiband limiting, it can dynamically change the frequency response of the channel. This can violate the psychoacoustic masking assumptions made in designing the lossy data reduction algorithm. Therefore, you need to leave “headroom” in the algorithm so that the 8300’s multiband processing will not unmask quantization noise. This is also true of any lossy data reduction applied in the studio (such as hard disk digital delivery systems).

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INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

For MPEG Layer 2 encoding, we recommend 384 kB/second or higher.

Some links may use straightforward PCM (pulse-code modulation) without lossy data reduction. If you connect to these through an AES3 digital interface, these can be very transparent provided they do not truncate the digital words produced by the devices driving their inputs. Because the 8300’s output is tightly band-limited to 15 kHz, it can be passed without additional overshoot by equally well by any link with 32 kHz or higher sample frequency.

Currently available sample rate converters use phase-linear filters (which have constant group delay at all frequencies). If they do not remove spectral energy from the original signal, the sample rate conversion, whether upward or downward, will not add overshoot to the signal. This is not true of systems that are not strictly bandlimited to 15 kHz, where downward sample rate conversion will remove spectral energy and will therefore introduce overshoot.

If the link does not have an AES3 input, you must drive its analog input from the 8300’s analog output. This is less desirable because the link’s analog input circuitry may not meet all requirements for passing processed audio without overshoot.

NICAM is a sort of hybrid between PCM and lossy data reduction systems. It uses a block-companded floating-point representation of the signal with J.17 preemphasis.

Older technology converters (including some older NICAM encoders) may exhibit quantization distortion unless they have been correctly dithered. Additionally, they can exhibit rapid changes in group delay around cut-off because their analog filters are ordinarily not group-delay equalized. The installing engineer should be aware of all of these potential problems when designing a transmission system.

Any problems can be minimized by always driving a digital STL with the 8300’s AES3 digital output, which will provide the most accurate interface to the STL. The digital input and output accommodate sample rates of 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, and 96 kHz.

Composite Baseband Microwave STLs

The composite baseband microwave STL carries the standard pilot-tone stereo band, and therefore receives the output of a stereo encoder located at the studio site. The receiver output of the composite STL is the stereo baseband signal, which is applied directly to the wideband input of the FM broadcast transmitter’s exciter. Thus, no stereo encoder is needed at the transmitter.

In general, a composite microwave STL provides good audio quality, as long as there is a line-of-sight transmission path from studio to transmitter of less than 10 miles (16 km). If not, RF signal-to-noise ratio, multipath distortion, and diffraction effects can cause serious quality problems. Where a composite STL is used, use the 8300’s stereo encoder to drive the composite STL transmitter.

base-

Dual Microwave STLs

Dual microwaves STLs use two separate transmitters and and right channels in discrete form. Dual microwave STLs offer greater noise immu-

receivers to pass the left

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

nity than composite microwave STLs. However, problems include gain- and phasematching of the left and right channels, overloads induced by pre-emphasis, and requirements that the audio applied to the microwave transmitters be processed to prevent over-modulation of the microwave system.

Lack of transparency in the path will cause overshoot. Unless carefully designed, dual microwave STLs can introduce non-constant group delay in the audio spectrum, distorting peak levels when used to pass processed audio. Nevertheless, in a system using a microwave STL, the 8300 is sometimes located at the studio and any overshoots induced by the link are tolerated or removed by the transmitter’s protection limiter (if any). The 8300 can only be located at the transmitter if the signal-to-noise ratio of the STL is good enough to pass unprocessed audio. The signal-to-noise ratio of the STL can be used optimally if an Orban Optimod-PC 1101, Optimod 6300, 8200ST Compressor / Limiter / HF Limiter / Clipper or an 4000 Transmission Limiter protects the link from overload. Of these, the 1101 and 6300 are currently manufactured as of this writing and are the preferred choices because their AGCs are identical to the AGC in the 8300.

If the 8300 is located at the transmitter and fed unprocessed audio from a microwave STL, it may be useful to use a companding-type noise reduction system (like dbx Type 2 or Dolby SR) around the link. This will minimize any audible noise buildup caused by compression within the 8300.

1-15

Some microwave links can be modified such that the deviation from linear phase is less than + at 0.15Hz and less than 0.1 dB down at 20 kHz. This specification results in less than 1% overshoot with processed audio. Many such links have been designed to be easily configured at the factory for composite operation, where an entire FM stereo baseband is passed. The requirements for maintaining stereo separation in composite operation are similar to the requirements for high waveform fidelity with low overshoot. Therefore, most links have the potential for excellent waveform fidelity if they are configured for composite operation (even if a composite FM stereo signal is not actually being applied to the link).

Nevertheless, in a dual-microwave system, the 8300 is usually located at the main FM transmitter and is driven by the microwave receivers. One of Orban’s studio level control systems, such as the 8200ST, protects the microwave transmitters at the studio from overload. These units also perform the gain riding function ordinarily executed by the AGC section of the 8300’s processing, and optimize the signal-to-noise ratio obtainable from the dual-microwave link.

If the STL microwave uses pre-emphasis, its input pre-emphasis filter will probably introduce overshoots that will increase peak modulation without any increases in average modulation. If the studio level control system is capable of producing a preemphasized output, we strongly recommend that the microwave STL’s pre-emphasis be defeated, and pre-emphasis performed in the studio level control system. This frees the system from potential overshoot. (The Orban 8200ST can be readily configured to produce a pre-emphasized output.)

10 from 20 Hz to 15 kHz and frequency response is less than 3 dB down

Further, it is common for a microwave STL to bounce because of a large infrasonic peak in its frequency response caused by an under-damped automatic frequency

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INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

control (AFC) phase-locked loop. This bounce can increase the STL’s peak carrier deviation by as much as 2 dB, reducing average modulation. Many commercial STLs have this problem.

Some consultants presently offer modifications to minimize or eliminate this problem. If your exciter or STL has this problem, you may contact Orban Customer Service for the latest information on such services.

Analog Landline (PTT / Post Office Line)

Analog landline quality is extremely variable, ranging from excellent to Whether landlines should be used or not depends upon the quality of the lines locally available, and upon the availability of other alternatives. Due to line equalizer characteristics and phase shifts, even the best landlines tend to veil audio quality slightly. They will certainly be the weakest link in a FM broadcast chain.

Slight frequency response irregularities and non-constant group delay characteristics will alter the peak-to-average ratio, and will thus reduce the effectiveness of any peak limiting performed prior to their inputs.

poor.

Using the Orban 8100AST (or 8100A/ST) External AGC

with the 8300

If you have an OPTIMOD-FM 8100A1 (or 8100A or 8100A/1) installation that uses an Orban 8100AST (or 8100A/ST) external AGC at the studio to protect an STL (with the main 8100A, 8100A1 or 8100A/1 chassis at the transmitter), you may wish to continue to use the external AGC to protect the STL when you install the 8300 at the transmitter.

If you are keeping your analog OPTIMOD-FM as a standby processor, you will probably want to use the external AGC to drive both the 8300 and the 8100A1 (also called 8100A/1) transmitter chassis in parallel. This is usually practical. However, complications will occur if you are not using an Orban 8100AXT2 (also called 8100A/XT2) SixBand Limiter Accessory with your 8100A1, because, to correctly drive an 8300, the external AGC must be strapped as if it were driving an 8100A1 (or 8100A/1) + 8100AXT2 (or 8100A/XT2) system. Therefore, if you have only an 8100A1 (or 8100A/1), you will have to re-strap the external AGC for operation without the XT2 before you can put the standby 8100A1 (or 8100A/1) on the air.

STL and Exciter Overshoot

Earlier in this section, we discussed at length what is required to prevent STLs from overshooting. There are similar requirements for FM exciters. Nevertheless, in some installations some overshoot is inevitable. If this is a problem in your installation, the 8300’s remote control feature offers the means to reduce the peak level of the 8300’s audio output as necessary. This way, you can still use the 8300’s line-up tone to adjust the steady-state deviation to 75 kHz. Yet, the reduced peak level of the audio emitted from the 8300 ensures that the carrier deviates no further than 75 kHz after overshoot. This overshoot reduction can be selected on the input/output

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

screen, and the remote operation can be selected in System Setup: Network / Remote.

Using Lossy Data Reduction in the Studio

Many stations are now using lossy data reduction algorithms like MPEG-1 Layer 2 or Dolby AC2 to increase the storage time of digital playback media. In addition, source material is often supplied through a lossy data reduction algorithm, whether from satellite or over landlines. Sometimes, several encode / decode cycles will be cascaded before the material is finally presented to OPTIMOD-FM’s input.

All such algorithms operate by increasing the quantization noise in discrete frequency bands. If not psychoacoustically masked by the program material, this noise may be perceived as distortion, “gurgling,” or other interference. Psychoacoustic calculations are used to ensure that the added noise is masked by the desired program material and not heard. Cascading several stages of such processing can raise the added quantization noise above the threshold of masking, such that it is heard. In addition, at least one other mechanism can cause the noise to become audible at the radio. OPTIMOD-FM’s multiband limiter performs an “automatic equalization” function that can radically change the frequency balance of the program. This can cause noise that would otherwise have been masked to become unmasked because the psychoacoustic masking conditions under which the masking thresholds were originally computed have changed.

1-17

Accordingly, if you use lossy data reduction in the studio, you should use the highest data rate possible. This maximizes the headroom between the added noise and the threshold where it will be heard. Also, you should minimize the number of encode and decode cycles, because each cycle moves the added noise closer to the threshold where the added noise is heard.

About Transmission Levels and Metering

Meters

Studio engineers and transmission engineers consider audio levels and their measurements differently, so they typically use different methods of metering to monitor these levels. The VU meter is an average-responding meter (measuring the approximate RMS level) with a 300ms rise time and decay time; the VU indication usually under-indicates the true peak level by 8 to 14 dB. The Peak Program Meter (PPM) indicates a level between RMS and the actual peak. The PPM has an attack time of 10ms, slow enough to cause the meter to ignore narrow peaks and under-indicate the true peak level by 5 dB or more. The absolute peak-sensing meter or LED indicator shows the true peak level. It has an instantaneous attack time, and a release time slow enough to allow the engineer to read the peak level easily. Fig. 1-1 shows

relative difference between the absolute peak level, and the indications of a VU

the meter and a PPM for a few seconds of music program.

Page 42

1-18

INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

Studio Line-up Levels and Headroom

The studio engineer is primarily concerned with calibrating the equipment to provide the required input level for proper operation of each device, and so that all devices operate with the same input and output levels. This facilitates patching devices in and out without recalibration.

For line-up, the studio engineer uses a calibration tone at a studio standard level, commonly called line-up level, reference level, or operating level. Metering at the studio is by a VU meter or PPM (Peak Program Meter). As discussed above, the VU or PPM indication under-indicates the true peak level. Most modern studio audio devices have a clipping level of no less than +21 dBu, and often +24 dBu or more. So the studio standardizes on a maximum program indication on the meter that is lower than the clipping level, so those peaks that the meter does not indicate will not be clipped. Line-up level is usually at this same maximum meter indication. In facilities that use VU meters, this level is usually at 0VU, which corresponds to the studio standard level, typically +4 or +8 dBu.

For facilities using +4 dBu standard level, instantaneous peaks can reach +18 dBu or higher (particularly if the operator overdrives the console or desk). Older facilities with +8 dBu standard level and equipment that clips at +18 or +21 dBu will experience noticeable clipping on some program material.

In facilities that use the BBC-standard PPM, maximum program level is usually PPM4 for music, PPM6 for speech. Line-up level is usually PPM4, which corresponds to +4 dBu. Instantaneous peaks will reach +17 dBu or more on voice.

In facilities that use PPMs that indicate level directly in dBu, maximum program and line-up level is often +6 dBu. Instantaneous peaks will reach +11 dBu or more.

ABSOLUTE PEAK

PPM

Fig. 1-1: Absolute Peak Level, VU and PPM Reading

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

Transmission Levels

The transmission engineer is primarily concerned with the peak level of a program to prevent overloading or over-modulation of the transmission system. This peak overload level is defined differently, system to system.

In FM modulation (FM / VHF radio and television broadcast, microwave or analog satellite links), it is the maximum-permitted RF carrier frequency deviation. In AM modulation, it is negative carrier pinch-off. In analog telephone / post / PTT transmission, it is the level above which serious crosstalk into other channels occurs, or the level at which the amplifiers in the channel overload. In digital, it is the largest possible digital word.

For metering, the transmission engineer uses an oscilloscope, absolute peak-sensing meter, calibrated peak-sensing LED indicator, or a modulation meter. A modulation meter usually has two components — a semi-peak reading meter (like a PPM), and a peak-indicating light, which is calibrated to turn on whenever the instantaneous peak modulation exceeds the overmodulation threshold.

1-19

Line-Up Facilities

Metering of Levels

The meters on the 8300 show left/right input levels and composite modulation. Left and right input level is shown on a VU-type scale 0 to –40 dB), while the metering indicates absolute instantaneous peak (much faster than a standard PPM or VU me- ter). The input meter is scaled so that 0 dB corresponds to the absolute maximum peak level that the 8300 can accept (+26 dBu). If you are using the AES3 digital input, the maximum digital word at the input corresponds to the 0 dB point on the 8300’s input meter.

Composite Output Level

Orban 8300 Audio Processor controls instantaneous, absolute peak levels to a

The tolerance of approximately 0.1 dB. Composite modulation is indicated in percentage modulation, absolute instantaneous peak indicating. 100% is calibrated to the highest composite peak modulation level that the processing will produce, including the pilot tone, under any program, processing, or setup condition (except when the processing is switched to deviation.

Note that if the 8300’s subcarrier inputs are used, the meter will not indicate the subcarriers’ effect on composite modulation because the subcarriers are mixed into the composite signal in the analog domain, after it is metered. Therefore, you must mentally add the subcarriers to the meter indication, or refer to an external, calibrated modulation monitor.

BYPASS). 100% ordinarily corresponds to 75 kHz-carrier

Page 44

1-20

INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

Built-in Calibrated Line-up Tones

o facilitate matching the output level of the 8300 to the transmission system that it is driving, the 8300 contains an adjustable test tone oscillator that produces sine waves at 8300’s (analog or digital) left, right and composite outputs. The frequency and modulation level of the line-up tones can be adjusted from the front panel (as described in Section 3).

The stereo encoder is calibrated so that 100% left or right modulation will provide 100% modulation of the stereo composite signal, including pilot tone but excluding any SCA subcarriers.

The pilot tone stereo system has an interleaving property, which means that the ste- reo composite modulation is approximately equal to the higher of the left or right channels. Because the pilot tone is phase-synchronous with the stereo subcarrier, the composite modulation will actually increase about 2.7% when the modulation is changed from pure single-channel to L+R modulation while the peak audio level is held constant.

When the 8300’s left/right analog output is switched to F inserted between output of the 8300’s audio processing and its line output. Thus, as the frequency of the Test Tone is changed, the level at the 8300’s line output will follow the selected de-emphasis curve. In most cases, the pre-emphasis filter in the driven equipment will undo the effect of the 8300’s internal de-emphasis, so the 8300’s output level should be adjusted such that the tone produces 100% modulation of the transmission link as measured after the link’s pre-emphasis filter. At 100Hz, switching the de-emphasis out or in will have negligible effect on the level appearing at the 8300’s left and right audio outputs.

You can adjust the frequency and modulation level of the built-in line-up tone. You can use the front panel, the PC Control software, or the opto-isolated remote control interface ports to activate the Test Tone.

Built-in Calibrated Bypass Test Mode

ASS Test Mode is available to transparently pass line-up tones generated ear-

A BYP lier in the system. It will also pass program material, with no gain reduction or protection against overmodulation. It can transparently pass any line-up tone applied to its input up to about 130% output modulation, at which point clipping may occur.

LAT, a de-emphasis filter is

Monitoring on Loudspeakers and Headphones

In live operations, highly processed audio often causes a problem with the DJ or presenter’s headphones. Some talent moving from an analog processing chain

will require a learning period to become accustomed to the voice coloration caused by “bone-conduction” comb filtering. This is caused by the delayed headphone sound’s mixing with the live voice sound and introducing notches in the spectrum that the talent hears as a “hollow” sound when he or she talks. All digital processors induce this coloration to a greater or lesser extent. Fortunately, it does not cause

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

confusion or hesitation in the talent’s performance unless the delay is above the psychoacoustic “echo fusion” (Haas) threshold of approximately 20 ms and the talent starts to hear slap echo in addition to frequency response colorations.

The normal delay through the 8300 is about 15 ms. A 15 ms delay is comfortable for most talent because they do not hear echoes of their own voices in their headphones. Further, the 8300 offers a second, ultra-low-latency multiband structure with a delay of about 5 ms. Although this does not offer the same favorable tradeoff between loudness, presence, and low distortion as the optimum multiband structure, it is available for use in situations where a given individual cannot tolerate the 15 ms delay of the optimum structure. (However, management should carefully consider whether compromising the sound of the radio station for its entire audience is an acceptable price for indulging a given personality’s demands.)

Because of the availability of both optimum and low latency structures, customers can confidently replace an older, low-delay processor with the 8300 with no studio wiring changes. Moreover, off-air cueing of remote talent is routine.

A better solution to the monitoring conundrum is this: The 8300’s analog outputs can be switched to provide a low-delay monitoring feed while still keeping the optimum multiband structure on-air (by using the digital or composite output to drive the transmitter). The monitor feed has no peak limiting and thus cannot drive a transmitter, but its 5 ms delay is likely to be more comfortable to talent than the 15 ms delay of the optimum processing chain because of less acoustic comb filtering.

1-21

If the talent relies principally on headphones to determine whether the station is on the air, simple loss-of-carrier and loss-of-audio alarms should be added to the system when the 8300’s monitor output is used. The 8300 can be interfaced to such alarms through any of its eight its GPI remote control inputs, cutting off the low-delay audio to the talent’s phones when an audio or carrier failure occurs.

EAS Test

For stations participating in the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in the United States, broadcast of EAS tones and data can be accomplished in three different ways:

1. Run EAS tones and data through the 8300.

Note that 8300 processing may not allow the full modulation level as required by EAS standards. It may therefore be necessary to temporarily defeat the 8300’s processing during the broadcast of EAS tones and data. Placing the 8300 in its BYPASS Test Mode can defeat the processing. The BYPASS a fixed gain trim through the 8300. See “Test Modes,” on page 3-55 for more information.

2. Place the 8300 in Bypass mode locally.

A) Navigate to S

ETUP / MODE and set MODE to BYPASS.

GAIN control allows

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1-22

INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

You can set the bypass gain with the BYPASS GAIN control located to the right of the M

B) Begin EAS broadcast.

After the EAS broadcast, resume normal processing:

ODE control.

C) Set the M

This will restore the processing preset in use prior to the Test Mode.

3. Place the 8300 in Bypass mode by remote control. Then program any

two Remote Interface inputs for “Bypass” and “Exit Test,” respectively.

A) Connect two outputs from your station remote control system to the

REMOTE

the wiring diagram in Figure 2-2 on page 2-4.

B) Program two GPI ports for B

in Remote Control Interface Programming starting on page 2-36.

C) Place the 8300 in bypass mode by remote control.

a) Switch the 8300 into BYPASS

station’s remote control to the GPI port programmed as B

b) Begin EAS broadcast.

c) When the EAS broadcast is finished, switch the 8300 from B

a momentary command from your station’s remote control to the GPI port programmed as E

You may also choose to insert EAS broadcast tones and data directly into the transmitter, thus bypassing the 8300 for the duration of the EAS tones and data broadcast.

ODE to OPERATE.

INTERFACE connector on the rear panel of the 8300, according to

YPASS and EXIT TEST according to the instructions

mode by a momentary command from your

YPASS.

YPASS mode by

XIT TEST.

PC Control and Security Passcode

PC software control provides access to OPTIMOD-FM via network, modem or direct (null modem cable) connection, with IBM PC-compatible computers running Windows. PC access is permitted only with a valid user-defined passcode.

PC remote control can be ended from the front panel; this feature effectively prevents simultaneous remote and local control.

See Security and Passcode Programming (starting on page 2-33) for more detail.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INTRODUCTION

Warranty, User Feedback

User Feedback

We are very interested in your comments about this product. We will carefully review your suggestions for improvements to either the product or the manual. Please email us at custserv@orban.com

LIMITED WARRANTY

[Valid only for products purchased and used in the United States]

Orban warrants Orban products against defects in material or workmanship for a period of two years from the date of original purchase for use, and agrees to repair or, at our option, replace any defective item without charge for either parts or labor.

IMPORTANT: This warranty does not cover damage resulting from accident, misuse or abuse, lack of reasonable care, the affixing of any attachment not provided with the product, loss of parts, or connecting the product to any but the specified receptacles. This warranty is void unless service or repairs are performed by an authorized service center. No responsibility is assumed for any special, incidental, or consequential damages. However, the limitation of any right or remedy shall not be effective where such is prohibited or restricted by law.

1-23

Simply take or ship your Orban products prepaid to our service department. Be sure to include a copy of your sales slip as proof of purchase date. We will not repair transit damage under the no-charge terms of this warranty. Orban will pay return shipping. (See Technical Support on page 5-13.)

No other warranty

This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may have other rights that vary from state to state. Some states do not allow the exclusion of limitations of incidental or consequential damages or limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above exclusions and limitations may not apply to you.

, written or oral, is authorized for Orban Products.

INTERNATIONAL WARRANTY

Orban warrants Orban products against evident defects in material and workmanship for a period of two years from the date of original purchase for use. This warranty does not cover damage resulting from misuse or abuse, or lack of reasonable care, or inadequate repairs performed by unauthorized service centers. Performance of repairs or replacements under this warranty is subject to submission of this Warranty/Registration Card, completed and signed by the dealer on the day of purchase, and the sales slip. Shipment of the defective item is for repair under this warranty will be at the customer’s own risk and expense. This warranty is valid for the original purchaser only.

Page 48

1-24

INTRODUCTION ORBAN MODEL 8300

EXTENDED WARRANTY

Any time during the initial two-year Warranty period (but not thereafter), you may purchase a three-year extension to the Warranty (yielding a total Warranty period of five years) by remitting to Orban ten percent of the gross purchase price of your Orban product. This offer applies only to new Orban products purchased from an authorized Orban Dealer. To accept the extended five-year warranty, please sign and date below, and fax this copy along with a copy of your original invoice (showing date of purchase) to Gareth Paredes at (510) 351-0500.

I ACCEPT THE EXTENDED FIVE-YEAR WARRANTY

__________________________________________________________________________

DATE______________________________________________________________________

MODEL NUMBER: 8300

SERIAL NUMBER____________________________________________________________

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

Section 2

Installation

Installing the 8300

Allow about 2 hours for installation.

Installation consists of: (1) unpacking and inspecting the 8300, (2) checking the line voltage setting, fuse, and power cord, (3) setting the Ground Lift switch, (4) mounting the 8300 in a rack, (5) connecting inputs, outputs and power, (6) optional connecting of remote control leads and (7) optional connecting of computer interface control leads.

2-1

When you have finished installing the 8300, proceed to “Quick Setup,” on page 2-

16.

DO NOT connect power to the unit yet!

1. Unpack and inspect.

A) If you note obvious physical damage, contact the carrier immediately to make

a damage claim. Packed with the 8300 are:

Quantity Item

1 Operating Manual

2 Line Cords (domestic, European)

2 Fuses (½ A-250V Slow-Blow for 115V; 250 mA-250V for 230V)

2 Fuse holders (gray for 115V fuses and black for 230V fuses)

4 Rack-mounting screws, 10-32 x ¾—with washers, #10

1 Null modem cable (for software upgrades and PC Remote connection)

1 PC Remote Software CD

B) Save all packing materials! If you should ever have to ship the 8300 (e.g., for

servicing), it is best to ship it in the original carton with its packing materials because both the carton and packing material have been carefully designed to protect the unit.

C) Complete the Registration Card and return it to Orban. (please)

The Registration Card enables us to inform you of new applications, performance improvements, software updates, and service aids that may be developed, and it helps us respond promptly to claims under warranty without our having to request a copy of your bill of sale or other proof

Page 50

2-2

INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

of purchase. Please fill in the Registration Card and send it to us today. (The Registration Card is located after the cover page).

Customer names and information are confidential and are not sold to anyone.

2. Check the line voltage, fuse and power cord.

DO NOT connect power to the unit yet!

A) Check the V

The 8300 is shipped from the factory with the V to the 230V position. Check and set the V

OLTAGE SELECT switch. This is on the rear panel.

OLTAGE SELECT switch set

OLTAGE SELECT switch to your

local voltage requirements. To change the operating voltage, set the

OLTAGE SELECT to 115V (for 90-130V) or 230V (for 200-250V) as appro-

priate.

B) Install the proper fuse and fuse holder, per your country’s standards.

The 8300 is shipped from the factory with the fuse, and fuse holder removed. Select the appropriate fuse holder and fuse from the supplied parts in the accessory kit. Use the gray fuse holder for domestic / 115V operation, or the black fuse holder for European / 230V operation. For safety, use ½-A-250V Slow-Blow for 115V, or 250mA-250V for 230V.

TYPE 18/3 SVT COR, TYP

(3 x .82 mm2)

WIRE COLOR

NORMAL ALT

BROWN

BLUE

GREEN-YELLOW

BLACK

WHITE

GREEN

PLUG FOR

115 VAC

(USA)

CONDUCTOR

LINE

NEUTRAL

EARTH GND

TYPE H05VV - F - 0.75

PLUG FOR

230 VAC

(EUROPEAN)

C) Check the power cord.

AC power passes through an IEC-standard mains connector and an RF filter designed to meet the standards of all international safety authorities.

The power cord is terminated in a “U-ground” plug (USA standard), or CEE7 / 7 plug (Continental Europe), as appropriate to your 8300’s Model Number. The green / yellow wire is connected directly to the 8300 chassis.

CONDUCTOR WIRE COLOR

NEUTRAL

EARTH GND

LINE

BROWN

BLUE

GREEN-YELLOW

Figure 2-1: AC Line Cord Wire Standard

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

If you need to change the plug to meet your country’s standard and you are qualified to do so, see Figure 2-1. Otherwise, purchase a new mains cord with the correct line plug attached.

3. Set Ground Lift switch.

ROUND LIFT switch is located on the rear panel.

The G

ROUND LIFT switch is shipped from the factory in the GROUND position, (to

connect the 8300’s circuit ground to its chassis ground). If you are using the 8300’s composite output to drive an exciter with an unbalanced output, set the switch to L

This will break most potential ground loops. If you have an installation that does not respond to use of the G loop by using Orban’s CIT25 Composite Isolation Transformer. If the CIT25 is in use, the G

4. Mount the 8300 in a rack.

The 8300 requires two standard rack units (3 ½ inches / 12.7 cm).

IFT.

ROUND LIFT switch, you can always break a ground

ROUND LIFT switch will usually be set to GROUND.

2-3

There should be a good ground connection between the rack and the 8300 chassis — check this with an ohmmeter to verify that the resistance is less than 0.5.

Mounting the unit over large heat-producing devices (such as a vacuum-tube power amplifier) may shorten component life and is not recommended. Ambient temperature should not exceed 45C (113F) when equipment is powered.

Equipment life will be extended if the unit is mounted away from sources of vibration, such as large blowers and is operated as cool as possible.

5. Connect inputs and outputs.

See the hookup and grounding information on the following pages.

TOPIC PAGE

Audio Input and Audio Output Connections.............................................2-6

AES3 Digital Input and Output ...................................................................2-7

Composite Output and Subcarrier Inputs Grounding

6. Connect remote control interface. (optional)

For a full listing of 8300’s extensive remote control Control Interface Programming on page 2-36.

Optically isolated remote control connections are terminated male connector located on the rear panel. It is wired according to Figure 2-2. To select ate REMOTE and then connected to ground at pin 1 to create a Remote Common. A currentlimited +12VDC source is available on pin 25. If you use 48V, connect a 2k

..................................................................................................2-10

the desired function, apply a 5-12V AC or DC pulse between the appropri-

INTERFACE terminals. The () terminals can be connected together

..................................................2-8

provisions, refer to Remote

in a type DB-25

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2-4

INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

10%, 2-watt carbon composition resistor in series with the Remote Common or the (+) terminal to provide current limiting.

In a high-RF environment, these wires should be short and should be run through foil-shielded cable, with the shield connected to CHASSIS GROUND at both ends.

PIN ASSIGNMENT

1. DIGITAL GOUND

2. REMOTE 1+

3. REMOTE 2+

4. REMOTE 3+

5. REMOTE 4+

6. REMOTE 5+

7. REMOTE 6+

8. REMOTE 7+

9. REMOTE 8+

10. TALLY 1

11. TALLY 2

12. N/C

13. ANALOG GROUND

14. REMOTE 1-

15. REMOTE 2-

16. REMOTE 3-

17. REMOTE 4-

18. REMOTE 5-

19. REMOTE 6-

20. REMOTE 7-

21. REMOTE 822-24. N/C

25. +12 VOLTS DC

REMOTE INTERFACE

Figure 2-2: Wiring the 25-pin Remote Interface Connector

7. Connec

t to a computer

You can connect to a computer via the 8300’s serial connector or via an Ethernet network. (See Networking on page 2-37.)

Because procedures and instructions for connecting to a

PC are subject to devel-

opment and change, we have placed these instructions in a file called 8300_Vxxx_installation.pdf (where xxx represents the version number of the software). You can access this file from the Orban / Optimod 8300 folder in your computer’s Start Menu after you have run Orban’s PC Remote installer software.

You must have the 8300 PC Remote application installed on your computer before you upgrade your 8300’s firmware because 8300 PC Remote manages the upgrade.

You can use Adobe’s .pdf reader application to open and read this file. If you do not have the .pdf reader, it is available for free download from www.adobe.com

See Installing 8300 PC Remote Control Software on page 2-43 for more detail.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

This file is also available from the / 8300 / Documentation / Vxxx folder at Orban’s ftp site, ftp.orban.com.

8300 Rear Panel

The Ground Lift Switch can be set to connect the 8300’s circuit ground to its chassis ground (in the G (See Set Ground Lift switch on page 2-3.)

oltage Select switch can be set to 115V (for 90-130V operation) or 230V (for

The V 180-260V operation).

Fuse values can be changed to support 115V or 230V operation. For safety, use ½-A 250V Slow-Blow for 115V, or 250mA-250V for 230V.

The Power Cord is detachable and is terminated in a “U-ground” plug (USA standard), or CEE7 / 7 plug (Continental Europe), as appropriate to your 8300’s Model Number.

ROUND position). In the LIFT position, it breaks that connection.

2-5

An RS-232 (PC Remote) Computer Interface, labeled S connect the 8300 to IBM PC-compatible computers, directly or via modem, for remote control, metering and software downloads.

A Remote Interface Connector allows you to connect the 8300 to your existing transmitter remote control or other simple contact-closure control devices. The 8300 remote control supports user-programmable selection of up to eight optically isolated inputs for any one of the following parameters: recalling any factory- or user presets, tone or bypass modes, selecting stereo encoder modes (stereo, mono-left, mono-right, mono-sum), selecting analog, digital or digital+J.17 input, overshoot compensation, SCA modulation compensation, and clock synchronization. (See Re- mote Control Interface Programming on page 2-36.) The 8300 remote control accepts a DB-25 connector

The Ethernet Port accepts a 10Mb/second or 100Mb/second Ethernet connection terminated with an RJ45 connector.

Digital AES3 Input and Output are provided to support two-channel AES3standard digital audio signals through XLR-type connectors.

Analog Inputs and Outputs are provided to support left and right audio signals through XLR-type connectors.

Two Composite Baseband Outputs are provided, each with independent output level control. Each output uses a BNC connector.

ERIAL PORT, is provided to

Two SCA Inputs are provided for stations that use additional subcarriers (SCAs). Each input uses a BNC connector. The second SCA input can be reconfigured via an internal hardware jumper as a Pilot Reference Output useful for RDS (RBDS) subcarrier generators that require an external sync reference.

Page 54

2-6

INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

Input and Output Connections

Cable

We recommend using two-conductor foil-shielded cable (such as Belden 8451 or equivalent) for the audio input and output connections because signal current flows through the two conductors only. The shield does not carry signal and is used only for shielding.

Connectors

 Input and output connectors are XLR-type connectors.

In the XLR-type connectors, pin 1 is CHASSIS GROUND, while pin 2 and pin 3 are a balanced, floating pair. This wiring scheme is compatible with any studio-wiring standard: If pin 2 or 3 is considered LOW, the other pin is automatically HIGH.

Analog Audio Input

 Nominal input level between –14 dBu and +8 dBu will result in normal operation

of the 8300.

(0 dBu = 0.775Vrms. For this application, the dBm @600 scale on voltmeters can be read as if it were calibrated in dBu.)

 The peak input level that causes overload is +27.0 dBu.

 The electronically balanced input uses an ultra low noise and distortion differen-

tial amplifier for best common mode rejection, and is compatible with most professional and semi-professional audio equipment, balanced or unbalanced, having a source impedance of 600 or less. The input is EMI suppressed.

 Input connections are the same whether the driving source is balanced or unbal-

anced.

 Connect the red (or white) wire to the pin on the XLR-type connector (#2 or #3)

that is considered H wire to the pin on the XLR-type connector (#3 or #2) that is considered L the standards of your organization.

 In low RF fields (like a studio site not co-located with an RF transmitter), connect

the cable shield at 8300 input only—it should not be connected at the source end. In high RF fields (like a transmitter site), also connect the shield to pin 1 of the male XLR-type connector at the 8300 input.

IGH by the standards of your organization. Connect the black

OW by

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

 If the output of the driving unit is unbalanced and does not have separate

HASSIS GROUND and (–) (or LOW) output terminals, connect both the shield and

the black wire to the common (–) or ground terminal of the driving unit.

Analog Audio Output

 Electronically balanced and floating outputs simulate a true transformer output.

The source impedance is 50. The output is capable of driving loads of 600 or higher; the 100% modulation level is adjustable with the AO a –6 dBu to +24 dBu range. The outputs are EMI suppressed.

 If an unbalanced output is required (to drive unbalanced inputs of other equip-

ment), it should be taken between pin 2 and pin 3 of the XLR-type connector. Connect the L

OW pin of the XLR-type connector (#3 or #2, depending on your

organization’s standards) to circuit ground; take the H maining pin. No special precautions are required even though one side of the output is grounded.

100% control over

IGH output from the re-

2-7

 Use two-conductor foil-shielded cable (Belden 8451, or equivalent).

 At the 8300’s output (and at the output of other equipment in the system), do

not connect the cable’s shield to the CHASSIS GROUND terminal (pin 1) on the XLR-type connector. Instead, connect the shield to the input destination. Connect the red (or white) wire to the pin on the XLR-type connector (#2 or #3) that is considered H to the pin on the XLR-type connector (#3 or #2) that is considered L

IGH by the standards of your organization. Connect the black wire

OW by the

standards of your organization.

AES3 Digital Input and Output

There is one AES3 input and one AES3 output. The program input and output are both equipped with sample rate converters and can operate at 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96 kHz. The AES3 output can be switched to emit either the FM processed or HD (digital radio/netcast) processing signal. (See step (8.J) on page 2-29.)

Per the AES3 standard, each digital input or output line carries both the left and right stereo channels. The connection is 110 balanced. The AES3 standard specifies a maximum cable length of 100 meters. While almost any balanced, shielded cable will work for relatively short runs (5 meters or less), longer runs require used of 110 balanced cable like Belden 1800B, 1801B (plenum rated), multi-pair 180xF, 185xF, or 78xxA. Single-pair category 5, 5e, and 6 Ethernet cable will also work well if you do not require shielding. (In most cases, the tight balance of Category 5/5e/6 cable makes shielding unnecessary.)

The AES3id standard is best for very long cable runs (up to 1000 meters). This specifies 75 unbalanced coaxial cable, terminated in BNC connectors. A 110/75 balun transformer is required to interface an AES3id connection to your Optimod’s digital input or output.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

The digital input clip level is fixed at 0 dB relative to the maximum digital word. The maximum digital input will make the 8300 input meters dis-

play 0 dB. The reference level is adjustable using the

The 8300 is a “multirate” system and its internal sample rate is 32 kHz and multiples thereof (up to 512 kHz). The output is strictly band-limited to 16 kHz. Therefore, the output can pass through a 32 kHz uncompressed link with bit-for-bit transparency. Because sample rate conversion is a phase-linear process that does not add bandwidth, the 8300’s output signal will continue to be compatible with 32 kHz links even if it undergoes intermediate sample rate conversions (for example, 32 kHz to 48 kHz to 32 kHz).

DI REF control.

Composite Output and Subcarrier Input

There are two composite outputs. These carry the encoded stereo signal, the stereo pilot tone, and any subcarriers that may have been applied to the 8300’s subcarrier inputs.

Each output’s level is independently adjustable from –12.3 dBu to +12.0 dBu.

The output impedance of composite output #1 and composite output #2 can be set to 0 or 75 via jumpers J2 and J3 respectively (located on the I/O Board). As shipped, the link is on pins 3 and 4, yielding 0 impedance. To reset a given output to 75, place the link on pins 1 and 2 of its associated jumper. (See the schematic on page 6-49 and the parts locator diagram on page 6-46.)

Each output can drive up to 75 in parallel with 0.047F before performance deteriorates significantly (see Figure 2-3 on page 2-9). A G switch is available on the rear panel. This is useful to prevent ground loops between the 8300 and the transmitter.

ROUND LIFT

Connect the 8300’s composite output to the exciter input with up to 100 feet (30.5m) of RG-58 / U or RG-59 / U coaxial cable terminated in BNC connectors.

Longer runs of coax may increase problems with noise, hum, and RF pickup at the exciter. In general, the least troublesome installations place the 8300 close to the exciter and limit the length of the composite cable to less than 6 feet (1.8m).

We do not recommend terminating the exciter input by 50 or 75 unless this is unavoidable. The frequencies in the stereo baseband are low by comparison to RF and video, and the characteristic impedance of coaxial cable is not constant at very low frequencies. Therefore, the transmission system will usually have more accurate amplitude and phase response (and thus, better stereo separation) if the coax is driven by a very low impedance source and is terminated by greater than 1k at the exciter end. This also eases thermal stresses on the output amplifier in the stereo encoder, and can thus extend equipment life.

If the Orban CIT25 Composite Isolation Transformer is used, the exciter must present a 1k or greater load to the transformer for proper trans- former operation.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

Designed to be installed adjacent to each exciter, the CIT25 Composite Isolation Transformer provides ground loop isolation between the 8300 composite output and the exciter’s input, and presents the 8300 with a balanced, floating load.

Even when its composite limiter is being used heavily, the 8300 will always protect the stereo pilot tone by at least 60 dB (250Hz from 19 kHz) and will protect the region from 55 kHz to 100 kHz by at least 75 dB (re 100% modulation).

2-9

Figure 2-3: Separation vs. load capacitance

The subcarrier inputs are provided for convenience in summing subcarriers into the baseband prior to their presentation to the FM exciter

The subcarrier inputs will accept any subcarrier (or combinations of subcarriers) above 23 kHz. Below 5 kHz, sensitivity rolls off at 6 dB/octave to suppress hum that might otherwise be introduced into the subcarrier inputs, which are unbalanced.

The subcarrier inputs are mixed into the 8300’s composite output in the analog domain, after D/A conversion of the 8300 stereo encoder’s output but before the digitally controlled attenuators that set the composite output levels.

As shipped from the factory, the second SCA connector emits a stereo pilot tone reference for RDS or RBDS subcarrier generators. If you wish to reconfigure it to accept an SCA signal, move the link on jumper J400 (on the I/O board) from pins 3 and 4 to pins 1 and 2.

To access J400, remove the 8300’s top cover according to the instructions in step 1 on page 4-2. To find J400, see page 6-46 for the I/O board parts

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

locator drawing. To find the I/O board, see the circuit board locator drawing on page 6-29. The schematic showing J400 is on page 6-49.

Connect your subcarrier generator(s) to the 8300’s subcarrier input(s) with coaxial cable terminated with BNC connectors.

The subcarrier inputs have greater than 600 load impedance and are unbalanced. The two SCA inputs have different behaviors. SCA1’s sensitivity is variable from 220 mV p-p to >10 V p-p to produce 10% injection, while SCA2’s sensitivity is fixed at 772 mV p-p to produce 10% injection.

VR400 on the I/O board sets SCA1’s sensitivity. To access VR400, remove the top cover according to the instructions in step 1 on page 4-2. To find VR400, see page 6-46 for the I/O board parts locator drawing.

special variant of the I/O board is available having an added trimmer

A (VR401) to set the gain of SCA2. This variant should be specified at time of order. Please contact Orban customer service (see page 5-13) for more information.

You can use the 19K REF control in SETUP to determine whether the 19 kHz pilot reference output will be in-phase (0 ite output or will lead it by 90 degrees (90 tions. Use 90 cally requires this phase relationship.

DEG only if your RDS/RBDS generator’s 19 kHz reference input specifi-

DEG) with the pilot tone present in the compos-

DEG). 0 DEG is correct for most installa-

Grounding

Very often, grounding is approached in a “hit or miss” manner. However, with care it is possible to wire an audio studio so that it provides maximum protection from power faults and is free from ground loops (which induce hum and can cause oscillation).

In an ideal system:

 All units in the system should have balanced inputs. In a modern system with

low output impedances and high input impedances, a balanced input will provide common-mode rejection and prevent ground loops — regardless of whether it is driven from a balanced or unbalanced source.

 The 8300 has balanced inputs. Its subcarrier inputs are unbalanced, but fre-

quency response is rolled off at low frequencies to reject hum.

 All equipment circuit grounds must be connected to each other; all equipment

chassis grounds must be connected together.

 In a low RF field, cable shields should be connected at one end only — prefera-

bly the source (output) end.

 In a high RF field, audio cable shields should be connected to a solid earth

ground at both ends to achieve best shielding against RFI.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

 Whenever coaxial cable is used, shields are automatically grounded at both ends

through the terminating BNC connectors.

Power Ground

 Ground the 8300 chassis through the third wire in the power cord. Proper

grounding techniques never leave equipment chassis unconnected to power / earth ground. A proper power ground is essential for safe operation. Lifting a chassis from power ground creates a potential safety hazard.

Circuit Ground

To maintain the same potential in all equipment, the circuit (audio) grounds must be connected together:

 Circuit and chassis ground should always be connected by setting the 8300’s

ROUND LIFT switch to its GROUND connect position, except when the 8300’s ste-

reo encoder is driving an unbalanced exciter input. (Many older exciters have unbalanced inputs.) This is an unbalanced-to-unbalanced connection, so set the 8300’s G wise occur.

ROUND LIFT switch to LIFT to break the ground loop that would other-

2-11

Alternately, you can balance and float the exciter input with the Orban CIT25 Composite Isolation Transformer — see page 2-8.

 In high RF fields, the system is usually grounded through the equipment rack in

which the 8300 is mounted. The rack should be connected to a solid earth ground by a wide copper strap — wire is completely ineffective at VHF because of the wire’s self-inductance.

8300 Front Panel

 Screen Display labels the four soft buttons and provides control-setting infor-

mation.

 Screen Contrast button adjusts the optimum viewing angle of the screen dis-

play.

 Four Soft buttons provide access to all 8300 functions and controls. The func-

tions of the soft buttons change with each screen, according to the labels at the bottom of each screen.

 Next and Prev ( and ) buttons scroll the screen horizontally to accommo-

date menus that cannot fit in the available space. They also allow you to move from one character to the next when you enter data into your 8300.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

These flash when such a menu is in use. Otherwise, they are inactive.

 Control Knob is used to change the setting that is selected by the soft buttons.

To change a value, you ordinarily have to hold down a soft button while you are turning the control knob.

 Recall button allows you recall a Factory or User Preset.

Selecting the Recall button does not immediately recall a preset. See step 18 on page 2-21 for instructions on recalling a preset.

 Modify button brings you to list of controls that you can use to edit a Factory or

User Preset. If you edit a Factory Preset, you must save it as a new User Preset to retain your edit.

 Setup button accesses the technical parameters necessary to match the 8300 to

your transmission system.

 Escape button provides an escape from current screen and returns user to the

next higher-level screen. Repeatedly pressing Escape will always return you to the Idle screen which is at the top level of the screen hierarchy.

 Input meters show the peak input level applied to the 8300’s analog or digital

inputs with reference to 0 = digital full-scale. If the input meter’s red segment lights up, you are overdriving the 8300’s analog to digital converter, which is a very common cause of audible distortion.

 AGC meter shows the gain reduction of the slow two-band AGC processing that

precedes the multi-band compressor. Full-scale is 25 dB gain reduction. You can switch the meter so that it either reads the gain reduction of the Master (above200 Hz) band, or the difference between the gain reduction in the Master and Bass bands.

The latter reading is useful for assessing the dynamic bass equalization that the AGC produces, and it helps you set the AGC BASS COUPLING control.

 Gate LED indicates gate activity, lighting when the input audio falls below the

threshold set by the AGC gate threshold control (via the Full Modify screen’s AGC G prevent noise rush-up during low-level passages.

 Gain Reduction meters show the gain reduction in the multi-band compressor.

Full-scale is 25 dB gain reduction.

AT E control). When this happens, the AGC’s recovery time is slowed to

There is also an independent gate for the multiband compressor (2-band and 5-band). You can only see its action from the Optimod PC Remote software.

When the Multi-Band structure is operating, all the meters indicate gain reduction. When the Two-Band structure is operating, the two leftmost meters indicate gain reduction in the Master and Bass bands, while the

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

rightmost meters indicate the gain reduction in the two-band high frequency limiter.

 Multiplex Power / HD Gain Reduction meter is switchable via the METER

FUNCTION control in SETUP. In MULTIPLEX POWER mode, it indicates the action of

the ITU412 Multiplex Power controller. It shows how much the MPX Power Controller has reduced the clipper drive, thereby reducing the average power in the processed audio. It will show no gain reduction unless the MPX Power Controller is turned on. In HD tions in the left and right channel look-ahead limiters for the HD Radio / digital radio / netcast processing chain.

 Composite meter shows the output level of the stereo encoder before

the composite output attenuators. The meter’s reading is calibrated in percent modulation.

GR mode, the meter indicates the larger of the gain reduc-

Studio Level Controller Installation (optional)

[Skip this section if you are not using a studio level controller ahead of the 8300. Continue with “Quick Setup” on page 2-16.]

2-13

 As of this writing, the currently manufactured

as external AGCs are Optimod-PC 1101 and Optimod 6300. Their manuals contain instructions on how to use them in this application. They are the preferred choices because their AGCs are identical to the AGC in the 8300.

 Discontinued Orban products usable as external AGCs include the 8200ST, 464A

“Co-Operator,” 8100AST, and 1100 OPTIMOD-PC. In this manual, we do not provide step-by-step instructions for setting up all of these older products, although it should be easy to extrapolate from the instructions we do provide.

If you are using an Orban 8100AST (or 8100A/ST) external AGC, refer to page 1-16.

Orban products that can be used

If you are using Orban 8200ST external AGC

If the STL uses pre-emphasis, its input pre-emphasis network will probably introduce overshoots that will increase peak modulation without any increase in average modulation. We therefore strongly recommend that the STL transmitter’s preemphasis be defeated (freeing the STL from such potential overshoot), and that the 8200ST be used to provide the necessary pre-emphasis.

If the STL transmitter’s pre-emphasis cannot be defeated, then configure the 8200ST for flat output. In this case average modulation levels of the STL may have to be reduced to accommodate the overshoots.

8. Configure the 8200ST’s internal jumpers.

A) Remove all screws holding the 8200ST’s cover in place; then lift it off.

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2-14

INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

TOP OF MAIN BOARD

JFJE

Clipper Jumpers

CLIPPER ON CLIPPER OFF

JA JA

*PEAK AVG

LEFT

OUTPUT

JB JC

Figure 2-4: 8200ST Jumper Settings (*Factory Configuration)

Refer to Figure 2-4 on page 2-14.

LEFT

OUTPUT

JE JF

Line-up Level Jumpers

RIGHT

OUTPUT

LEFT

OUTPUT

JB JC

JAJB

Output Pre-Emphasis Jumpers

FLAT PRE-EMPHASIZED

RIGHT

OUTPUT

RIGHT

OUTPUT

LEFT

OUTPUT

JE JF

RIGHT

OUTPUT

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

A) Place jumper JA in the CLIPPER ON position.

B) If you have defeated the STL transmitter’s pre-emphasis, place jumpers JE and

JF in the P

C) If you cannot defeat the STL transmitter’s pre-emphasis, place jumpers JE and

JF in the F

D) Replace the top cover, and then replace all screws snugly. (Be careful not to

strip the threads by fastening the screws too tightly.)

2. Install the 8200ST in the rack. Connect the 8200ST’s audio input and out-

put.

Refer to the 8200ST Operating Manual if you require information about installation, audio input, and audio output connections to the 8200ST.

3. Set 8200ST Output Level with tone.

A) Press the TONE button on the 8200ST.

The TONE lamp should light and the modulation meters should indicate “0.” If they do not, re-strap jumpers JB and JC to “peak.” (Refer to Figure 2-4 on page 2-14.)

RE-EMPHASIZED position.

LAT position.

2-15

8200ST is now producing a 400Hz sine wave at each output. The

The peak level of this tone corresponds to 100% modulation.

B) Adjust the 8200ST’s L

ing driven to 100% modulation.

L OUT and R OUT controls are now correctly calibrated to the transmit-

The ter. If no significant overshoot occurs in the transmitter, the meter will now give an accurate indication of peak modulation of the STL.

C) Turn off the tone by pressing the T

If the STL transmitter suffers from bounce or overshoot, you may have to reduce the modulation caused by overshoots on certain audio signals.

4. Set controls for normal operation with program material.

The following assumes that a VU meter is used to determine 8200ST line drive levels with program material.

A) Set controls as follows:

HF LIMITER... Set to match the pre-emphasis of the transmission system

L&R Out ............................................................................... do not change

GATE ....................................................................................................12:00

RELEASE ............................................................................................... 12:00

VOICE ......................................................................................................OFF

AGC ..........................................................................................................ON

COUPLE ....................................................................................................ON

L OUT and R OUT control settings to avoid peak over-

OUT and R OUT controls so that the STL transmitter is be-

MODULATION

ONE button.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

B) Feed the 8200ST either with tone at your system reference level (0VU), or with

typical program material at normal levels.

C) Adjust the G

We recommend 8-15 dB gain reduction for most formats.

If the STL uses pre-emphasis, its input pre-emphasis network will probably introduce overshoots that will increase peak modulation without any increase in average modulation. We therefore strongly recommend that the STL transmitter’s pre-emphasis be defeated (freeing the STL from such potential overshoot), and that the 464A be used to provide the necessary pre-emphasis.

If the STL transmitter’s pre-emphasis cannot be defeated, configure the 8200ST for flat output. In this case, average modulation levels of the STL may have to be reduced to accommodate the overshoots.

AIN REDUCTION control for the desired amount of gain reduction.

Quick Setup

Quick Setup guides you through 8300 setup. It is appropriate for users without special or esoteric requirements. Following this section, you can find more detailed information regarding setup beyond the Quick Setup screens. In most cases, you will not need this extra information.

Quick Setup configures the 8300 for an analog-FM facility only. If you are setting up an digital radio facility (HD Radio or Eureka 147), you must use the detailed instructions found after this Quick Setup section.

For the following adjustments, use the appropriately labeled soft button to choose the parameter you wish to adjust. To change a parameter (like an output level), it is usually necessary to hold down the soft button while turning the knob. However, if there is only one parameter on a screen (like choosing 50 or 75µs pre-emphasis), you can change this with the knob alone. (You do not have to hold down a button.) Let the text on the screen guide you through the process.

1. Press the front-panel Setup button.

2. Press the Quick Setup soft button when its label appears on the display.

Quick Setup presents a guided sequence of screens into which you must insert information about your particular requirements. In general, the screens are selfexplanatory.

Use the N flash to indicate that they are active.

3. Set the time.

A) Press the N

EXT and PREV buttons to navigate between screens. These buttons will

EXT button.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

The set time screen appears.

B) Hold down the appropriate soft button while turning the knob to enter the

hour, minute, and seconds. Enter seconds slightly ahead of the correct time.

C) Wait until the entered time agrees with the correct time. Then press the

NTER TIME button to set the clock.

4. Set the date.

Hold down the appropriate soft button while turning the knob to enter the day, month, and year.

5. Set up Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time).

A) Turn the knob to specify the date at which Daylight Saving Time begins in

your area.

2-17

B) Press the N

C) Turn the knob to specify the date at which Daylight Saving Time ends in your

area.

6. Set pre-emphasis.

A) Press the N

B) Select the pre-emphasis (either 75S or 50S) used in your country by turning

the knob.

7. Set external AGC mode.

Most of the processing structures in the 8300 control level with a preliminary AGC (Automatic Gain Control). If you are using a suitable Automatic Gain Control at the studio (such as an Orban 8200ST OPTIMOD-Studio or 464A CoOperator), the AGC in the 8300 should be defeated. This is so that the two AGCs do not “fight” each other, and so they do not simultaneously increase gain, resulting in increased noise.

A) Press the N

B) Set external AGC mode by turning the knob.

 Set the field to Yes if you have an external AGC (such as an Orban 1100,

1101, 6300, 8200ST OPTIMOD-Studio, Orban 464A Co-Operator, or similar AGC) installed at your studio feeding the studio-to-transmitter link. This setting appropriately defeats the 8300’s AGC for all presets.

EXT button.

 Set the field to No If you do not have a external AGC installed; this setting

enables the 8300 AGC status to be determined by the selected preset.

If you are using an Orban 4000 Transmission Limiter, set field to NO (so that the AGC function in the 8300 continues to work). The Orban 4000 is a transmission system overload protection device; it is normally operated

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

below threshold. It is not designed to perform an AGC or gain-riding function, and it cannot substitute for the AGC function in the 8300.

8. Select your primary input (analog or digital).

A) Press the N

B) If your main input source is digital, turn the knob to select D

IGITAL+J17. Otherwise, select ANALOG.

EXT button.

IGITAL or

The only digital encoding that typically uses J.17 pre-emphasis (of which we are aware) is NICAM. D most anyone using the digital input.

IGITAL, not DIGITAL+J17, is appropriate for al-

9. Set operating levels.

You will set the operating levels of the 8300 to match the input levels it is receiving so the 8300’s AGC can operate in the range for which it was designed. There are separate settings for the analog and digital inputs. If you provide both analog and digital inputs to the 8300, optimum adjustment is achieved when the gain reduction meters show the same amount of processing for both analog and digital inputs.

This will allow you to switch between analog and digital inputs without sudden level changes.

A) Press the NEXT button.

B) Feed normal program material to the 8300.

C) Play program material from your studio, peaking at normal program levels

(typically 0VU if your console uses VU meters).

D) [Skip this step if you are not using the analog input.]

Hold down the A

NALOG soft button and adjust the knob so that the AGC

meter indicates an average of 10 dB gain reduction.

E) [Skip this step if you are not using the digital input.]

Hold down the D

IGITAL soft button and adjust the knob so that the AGC

meter indicates an average of 10 dB gain reduction.

10. Set the analog output source.

If you do not need the 8300’s analog output to drive a transmitter, you can configure it to receive the output of a special low-delay version of the multiband compressor. This signal is suited for driving headphones. The input/output delay is approximately five milliseconds. Even though normal 8300 presets have a delay of about 15 ms (which most DJs, announcers, and presenters can learn to use without discomfort, although they may need some time to become accustomed to it), the low-delay output will cause less bone conduction comb filtering. However, in most cases, the low-delay output will not be necessary to ensure adequate talent comfort.

The 8300 offers several low-latency (“UL”) presets having 5 ms delay and the ability to drive a transmitter. However, the audio performance of

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

these presets is not as good as the normal 8300 “optimum latency” presets. It is therefore preferable to set up a separate headphone monitoring chain as described below and to use the low latency presets only if necessary.

A) Press the NEXT button.

B) [Skip this step if you will not be using the analog output.]

To configure the Analog Output for low-delay monitoring, turn the knob to choose MONITOR. Otherwise, choose XMITTER.

If you configured the Analog Output for low-delay monitoring, sure that you set the analog output pre-emphasis control to F

CAUTION: The low-delay output has no peak limiting and is therefore not suited for driving a transmitter. If you use the low delay output, you must drive your transmitter with the AES3 digital output or with the composite output.

If you use the low-delay output to drive your studio monitor speakers as well as talent headphones (which may be necessary if your console has only one monitor input for both), then we recommend connecting a lossof-carrier alarm to one of the 8300’s GPI inputs. Program this input to mute the monitor output in the event that carrier is lost. This simulates normal “off air” monitor functionality and immediately alerts the staff if the transmitter goes off the air unexpectedly.

You can program any GPI input for Monitor Mute functionality. See step (21.C) on page 2-23 for information on how to program a GPI input.

Note that the low delay output, as processed with about 4 ms of delay, creates the HD-processed signal that the digital output can emit. See step (8.J) on page 2-29.

LAT in step 11 above.

by a look-ahead limiter

2-19

11. Set analog output to be flat or pre-emphasized.

A) Press the N

EXT button.

B) [Skip this step if you will not be using the analog output.]

Turn the knob to choose

PRE-E (for pre-emphasis) or FLAT.

If you will use the analog output to drive a stereo encoder, the best performance because the stereo encoder that receives the analog output does not have to restore the pre-emphasis. However, if you cannot defeat the pre-emphasis in your stereo encoder, or if you will use the analog output for monitoring, set the output Flat.

If you are sending the analog output of the 8300 through a digital link that uses lossy compression (like MPEG, APT-X, or Dolby), set the output

FLAT. Lossy codecs cannot handle pre-emphasized signals.

If you are going to use the analog output for headphone monitoring (see step 10 below), set the output F

LAT.

12. Set digital output to be flat or pre-emphasized.

(See the notes in step 11 on page 2-19.)

PRE provides

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

A) Press the N

EXT button.

B) [Skip this step if you will not be using the digital output.]

Turn the knob to choose

(for a J.17 pre-emphasized output), PRE+J17 (for 50 or 75µs pre-

J.17

PRE-E (for a 50 or 75µs pre-emphasized output),

emphasis cascaded with J.17 pre-emphasis), or F 75µs de-emphasis after the processing).

Regardless of the setting of this control, the processing is always internally pre-emphasized and thus always controls peaks to follow the 50 or 75µs pre-emphasis curve.

13. Set the digital output sample rate.

A) Press the N

EXT button.

B) [Skip this step if you will not be using the digital output.]

Turn the knob to set the Digital

OUTPUT SAMPLE RATE to 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2,

or 96 kHz.

The internal sample rate converter sets the rate at the 8300’s digital output. This adjustment allows you to set the output sample rate to ensure compatibility with equipment requiring a fixed sample rate. In all cases, the 8300’s fundamental sample rate is 32 kHz, ensuring that the output bandwidth is always strictly limited to 16 kHz and that the processed signal can be passed through a 32 kHz uncompressed STL without addition of overshoot.

14. Prepare to set output levels.

LAT (which applies 50 or

A) Press the N

EXT button.

You can use either program material or tone to set the output level (and thus, the on-air modulation).

 To use tone, press the Y

 To use program material, press the N

ES button.

O button.

15. Set the composite output level.

[Skip this step if you will not be using the composite output(s).]

A) Observe the modulation produced by the 8300’s C

OMPOSITE OUTPUT 1 on a

modulation monitor or modulation analyzer. Turn the knob to make the modulation monitor read 100% modulation (usually 75 kHz deviation).

If you are using program material, make sure that the program material is loud enough to produce peaks of frequent recurrence that hit the 8300’s peak limiting system, thereby defining the maximum peak level that the 8300 will produce. In the U.S., we recommend using 900s peak weighting on the peak modulation indicator, as permitted by F.C.C. rules. This will cause the monitor to ignore very low energy overshoots and will result in the highest peak modulation permitted by law.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

In other countries, use a peak-indicating instrument as specified by the regulatory authority in your country.

If you are required to implement the average modulation limits specified by ITU-R 412-9, you may seldom see peaks hitting 75 kHz deviation. In this case, we advise you to set the output level using the 8300’s reference 400Hz tone.

B) Press the NEXT button and repeat for COMPOSITE OUTPUT 2.

16. Set the digital output level.

2-21

A) Press the N

EXT button.

B) [Skip this step if you are not using the digital output.]

Turn the knob to set the desired digital output level corresponding to 100% modulation, in units of dB below full-scale.

The most accurate way to set this control is by observing a modulation analyzer connected to your transmitter.

17. Set the analog output level.

A) Press the N

EXT button.

B) [Skip this step if you are not using the analog output.]

Turn the knob to set the desired analog output level corresponding to 100% modulation, in units of dBu (0 dBu = 0.776 Vrms).

The most accurate way to set this control is by observing a modulation monitor or analyzer connected to your transmitter.

If you have set Analog Output Feeds: Monitor in step 10 on page 2-18, the peak level will not been applied to this signal.

be well controlled because no peak limiting has

C) Press the NEXT button.

If you activated the modulation setup tone in step (14.A) on page 2-20, the tone will turn off automatically

D) Press the N

EXT button.

You have now completed the guided Quick Setup procedure and are in the normal R

ECALL PRESET screen. However, if your country requires you

to comply with the multiplex power ceiling specified in ITU-R 412-9, you will also need to set up the 8300’s Multiplex Power Controller by following the instructions in step 20 on page 2-22.

18. Choose a processing preset.

A) Turn the knob until your desired preset is visible in the

play.

B) Press the R

ECALL NEXT button to put your desired preset on-air.

This step selects the processing to complement the program format of

lower line of the dis-

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

your station.

After this step, you can always select a different processing preset, program the 8300 to automatically change presets on a time / date schedule, use a GPI input to trigger preset changes, modify presets to customize your sound, and store these presets as User Presets.

Preset names are just suggestions. Feel free to audition different presets and to choose the one whose sound you prefer. This preset may have a very different name than the name of your format. This is OK.

You can easily modify a preset later with the 8300’s one-knob L

ESS-MORE

feature. Refer to Section 3.

Congratulations! You are now on the air with your initial sound. Feel free to read the material in Section 3 of this manual, which describes the various presets and how you can customize them to achieve your desired signature sound.

19. Complete Station ID (optional).

The Station ID is an optional setting that you can provide to associate the 8300 with the station providing the program material (e.g., “Z-100”). The name can be up to eight characters long. It is used to identify your 8300 to Orban’s PC Remote application, and it appears on the Main Screen when the 8300 is being controlled by the PC Remote application.

A) Navigate to S

B) Use the knob to set the each character in the ID. Use the N

ETUP / NEXT / TIME DATE AND ID / STATION ID.

EXT and PREV but-

tons to control the cursor position.

C) When finished entering your name, press the SAVE button. If you escape to

the main screen from Setup, you can now see the station name toggle on the main screen.

20. Activate the 8300’s ITU-R 412 controller (optional).

[Skip this step if ITU-R 412 is not enforced in your country. At the time of this writing, it is only enforced in certain European countries. If your country does not enforce ITU-R 412, set the ITU412-9 control to OFF.]

A) Navigate to S

B) Set the multiplex power threshold by holding the ITU412-9 button down and

turning the knob so that the display indicates 0.0 dB.

If your transmission system introduces overshoot in the signal path after the 8300 (including the transmitter), set the multiplex power threshold so that it equals the amount of peak overshoot (in dB) in the transmission system. If you do not do this, the 8300’s ITU-R 412-9 controller will set the average multiplex power too low.

The easiest way to measure system overshoot is to turn the multiplex power controller off temporarily. Then set the 8300’s output level (using its built-in 400Hz reference tone) so that the transmitter produces 75 kHz deviation. Finally, play program material with lots of high frequency energy and bass transients (like bright rock music with heavy kick drum)

ETUP / STEREO ENCODER / NEXT / ITU412-9.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

and observe the peak deviation produced by the program material. The overshoot is the amount (in dB) by which the deviation with program material exceeds 75 kHz deviation.

See the notes on the MPX POWER OFFSET control on page 3-35.

21. Set up modulation reduction to compensate for subcarriers, if needed.

In the United States, F.C.C. Rules permit you to add 0.5% modulation for every 1% increase in subcarrier injection. For example, if your subcarrier injection totals 20%, you can set the total modulation to 110% (82.5 kHz deviation). The 8300 has the ability to reduce audio modulation to compensate for subcarriers.

2-23

The advantage of using the modulation reduction function is that the

pilot injection stays constant when the audio modulation is reduced. However, using the modulation reduction function is slightly inconvenient because it requires programming and activating at least one 8300 GPI input. If you have the same sub- carrier injection at all times, a more convenient alternative is to set the desired modulation level by using the

COMPOSITE LEVEL control(s). Then turn up the pilot

injection control until the injection equals 9% modulation.

If you wish to use the modulation reduction function anyway:

A) Navigate to S

B) Hold down the appropriate M

to set the amount of modulation reduction produced by the M

ETUP / NEXT / MODULATION REDUCTION.

ODULATION REDUCTION button and turn the knob

ODULATION

REDUCTION 1 and MODULATION REDUCTION 2 functions.

You can program these to be activated via any rear-panel GPI input, or by the 8300’s clock-based automation.

When both modulation reduction functions are active, the modulation reduction is the sum of their settings.

To comply with FCC Rules, set the modulation reduction to one-half the injection of the associated subcarrier. For example, if your subcarrier injection totals 20% from two 10% subcarriers, set

MODULATION REDUCTION 1

TO “5%” and MODULATION REDUCTION 2 to 5%. This will reduce your audio

modulation to 90% (100% – 5% – 5%). When you add back the 20% modulation due to the subcarriers, you get the required 110% total modulation.

The Modulation Reduction function is active as long as signal is applied to its associated GPI input.

C) Program the GPI input(s).

a) Navigate to S

b) Using the N

ETUP / NEXT / NETWORK&REMOTE / REMOTE INTERFACE.

EXT button, scroll the screen until you see the button

corresponding to the GPI terminal you wish to program.

c) Hold down this button and turn the knob until you see

MOD. REDUCTION 2 as desired.

MOD. REDUCTION 1 or

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

To program clock-based automation to activate modulation reduction, follow the instructions found in “Using Clock-Based Automation” on page 2-30.

The following material provides detailed instructions on how to set up the 8300. If QUICK SETUP does not fully address your setup needs or if you wish to customize your system beyond those provided with QUICK SETUP, then you may need the additional information in the sections below. However, for most users, this material is only for reference because QUICK SETUP has enabled them to set up the 8300 correctly.

Analog and Digital I/O Setup

For the following adjustments, use the appropriately labeled soft button to choose the parameter to be adjusted. To change a parameter (like an output level), it is usually necessary to hold down the soft button while turning the knob.

1. Temporarily set the external AGC mode to “No.”

A) Navigate to S

If you are using a external AGC like the Orban 8200ST, you should restore this setting to Y

2. Adjust Input selector.

A) Navigate to S

B) Set the I

The 8300 will automatically switch to analog input if signal lock is unavailable at the AES3 input.

3. Adjust Analog Input Reference Level.



9 dBu to +13 dBu (VU), or –1 to +21 dBu (PPM)] in 0.5 dB steps

[

The reference level VU and PPM (Peak) settings track each other with an offset of 8 dB. This compensates for the typical indications with program material of a VU meter versus the higher indications on a PPM.

This step sets the center of the 8300’s gain reduction range to the level to which your studio operators peak their program material on the studio meters. This assures that the 8300’s processing presets will operate in their preferred range.

You may adjust this level with a standard reference / line-up level tone from your studio or with program material.

ETUP / NEXT / NEXT / EXT AGC and set EXT AGC to NO.

ES after the setup procedure is complete.

ETUP / IO CALIB / ANLG IN CALIB / INPUT.

NPUT to Analog.

Note that in this step, you are calibrating to the normal indication of the studio meters; this is quite different from the actual peak level.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

If you know the reference VU or PPM level that will be presented to the 8300, set the reference level to this level, but please verify it with the steps shown directly below.

2-25

A) Press the R

ECALL button.

B) Turn the knob until ROCK-MEDIUM appears in the lower line of the display.

C) Press the R

D) Navigate to S

ECALL NEXT button.

ETUP / IO CALIB / ANLG IN CALIB / AI REF (VU or PPM, depending on

which metering system you use).

E) Calibrate using Tone.

[Skip to step (F) if you are using Program material to calibrate the 8300 to your standard studio level.]

a) Verify E

XT AGC is set to NO.

Refer to step 1 on page 2-24.

b) Feed a tone at your reference level to the 8300

If you are not using a studio level controller, feed a tone through your console at normal program levels (typically 0VU if your console uses VU meters).

If you are using a studio level controller that performs an AGC function, such as an Orban 8200ST OPTIMOD-Studio, adjust it for normal operation.

c) Adjust the AI REF (VU or PPM) control to make the 8300’s AGC meter

indicate 10 dB gain reduction.

d) Skip to step (G).

F) Calibrate using Program.

this step if you are using Tone to calibrate the 8300 to your stan-

[Skip dard studio level — see step (D) above.]

a) Verify E

XT AGC is set to NO.

Refer to step 1 on page 2-24.

b) Feed normal program material to the 8300

Play program material from your studio, peaking at the level to which you normally peak program material (typically 0VU if your console uses VU meters).

c) Adjust the AI REF (VU or PPM) control to make the 8300’s AGC meters

indicate an average of 10 dB gain reduction when the console’s VU meter or PPM is peaking at its normal level.

If the AGC gain reduction meter averages less than 10 dB gain reduction (higher on the meter), re-adjust the AI

If the AGC gain reduction meter averages more gain reduction (lower on the meter), re-adjust the AI

REF (VU or PPM) to a higher level.

REF (VU or PPM) to a lower level.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

G) When finished, reset E

prior to setting AI

Refer to step 1 on page 2-24.

XT AGC to YES, if required (e.g., if that was its setting

REF (VU or PPM) level).

4. Adjust Right Channel Balance.

[Skip this step if the channels are already satisfactorily balanced.]

[3 dB to +3 dB] on right channel only, 0.1 dB steps

Adjust the R

CH BAL control to achieve correct left/right channel balance.

This is not a balance control like those found in consumer audio products. This control changes gain of the right channel only. Use this control if the right analog input to the 8300 is not at exactly the same level as the left input. Be certain that the imbalance is not caused by one program source, but is instead introduced through distribution between the console output and 8300 input. This adjustment is best accomplished by playing program material that is known to be monophonic or by setting the mixing console into mono mode (if available).

5. Adjust the Digital Input Reference Level and Right Balance controls.

[Skip this step if you will not be using the digital input.]

A) Navigate to S

B) Repeat steps 1 through 4 (starting on page 2-24), but use the DI

ETUP / IO CALIB / DIG IN CALIB / INPUT and set the input to Digital.

REF (VU OR

PPM) and R CH BAL controls for the digital section.

6. Configure Composite Outputs

A) Navigate to S

ETUP / STEREO ENCODER / NEXT / PRE-EMPH. Set the pre-emphasis

to 50µs or 75µs, depending on your country’s standard.

B) Set PILOT

LVL to 9%.

If you have to reduce the setting of the COMPOSITE LEVEL control to accommodate overshoots in the transmission path following the 8300 (including the transmitter), you may have to increase the setting of the

PILOT LEVEL so that the pilot is still at 9% modulation.

C) Press the NEXT button. Be sure that MODE is set to STEREO and XTALK TEST is set

PERATE. Reset these parameters if necessary.

to O

D) Using the C

posite output to produce 100% modulation of the FM carrier on modulation peaks.

Alternately, you can use the 8300’s built-in calibration tone oscillator. To do this:

a) Navigate to S

b) Set the M

c) Set T

OMP1 LVL and COMP2 LVL controls, adjust the level for each com-

ETUP / TEST.

ODE to TONE.

ONE FREQ to 400 HZ.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

d) Set TONE LVL to 100%.

2-27

e) Press the N

f) Set T

g) Verify that P

h) When you have finished with the tone, set the M

EXT key.

ONE CHAN to L+R.

ILOT is ON.

ODE to OPERATE.

E) If you are required to meet the requirements of ITU-R 412-9 in your country,

activate the 8300’s ITU-R 412 controller. See step 20 on page 2-22.

F) You can specify the amount by which the 8300 automatically reduces

and stereo subchannel modulation to accommodate subcarriers within the modulation limits specified by the governing authority. See step 21 on page 2-

23.

7. Set analog output and configuration level.

A) Navigate to S

put pre-emphasis to P

If you will use the analog output to drive a stereo encoder, PRE-E provides the best performance because the stereo encoder does not have to restore the pre-emphasis. However, if you cannot defeat the preemphasis in your stereo encoder or if you will use the analog output for monitoring, set the output F

If you are sending the analog output of the 8300 through a digital link that uses lossy compression (like MPEG, APT-X, or Dolby), set the output

Flat. Lossy codecs cannot handle pre-emphasized signals.

If you are going to use the analog output for headphone monitoring [see step (C) below], set the output F

ETUP / IO CALIB / ANLG OUT CALIB / AO PRE-E. Set the analog out-

RE-E (for pre-emphasis) or FLAT.

LAT.

main

B) You can use either program material or tone to set your output level (and

thus, your on-air modulation). If you want to use tone, turn on the 400Hz calibration tone.

See step (6.D) on page 2-26 for instructions on how to turn on the calibration tone.

C) Using the AO FEEDS button, set the analog output source to XMITTER or

ONITOR.

See step 10 on page 2-18.

If have set the source to Monitor, be sure to set analog pre-emphasis to Flat. See step (A).

D) Using the AO 100% button, set the desired analog output level corresponding

to 100% modulation, using units of dBu (0 dBu = 0.776 Vrms).

The most accurate way to set this control is by observing a modulation analyzer connected to your transmitter.

If you have (inappropriately) set AO peak level will not be well controlled because no peak limiting has been applied to this signal.

FEEDS: MONITOR in step (C) above, the

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

In other countries, use a peak-indicating instrument as specified by the regulatory authority in your country.

In the United States, F.C.C. Rules permit you to add 0.5% modulation for every 1% increase in subcarrier injection. For example, if your subcarrier injection totals 20%, you can set the total modulation to 110% (82.5 kHz deviation). This implies that you must set the 8300’s composite output level for the equivalent of 90% modulation, not counting the subcarriers. (90% + 20% = 110%.) The pilot injection will thus be about 8%

modulation instead of the desired 9%. Adjust the

SETUP / STEREO

ENCODER / NEXT / PILOT LVL control as necessary to produce 9% modula-

tion (6.75 kHz deviation). This will ordinarily require you to set the

PILOT LVL parameter to “10%.”

8. Set digital output and configuration level.

[Skip this step if you will not be using the digital output.]

[See the notes immediately above.]

A) Navigate to S

B) Set the DO

C) Set the DO

The 8300’s fundamental sample rate is always 32 kHz, ensuring that the output bandwidth is always strictly limited to 16 kHz and that the processed signal can be passed through a 32 kHz uncompressed STL without addition of overshoot. However, the internal sample rate converter sets the rate at the 8300’s digital output. This adjustment allows you to set the output sample rate to ensure compatibility with equipment requiring a fixed sample rate.

ETUP / IO CALIB / DIG OUT CALIB.

PRE-E control to PRE-E (for pre-emphasis), PRE+J17, J.17 or FLAT.

RATE to 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, or 96 kHz.

D) Set the DO SYNC.

You can choose INTERNAL (the output sample rate is synchronized to the 8300’s internal crystal-controlled clock) or E rate is synchronized to the sample rate appearing at the 8300’s AES3 input).

XTERNAL (the output sample

E) Press NEXT. Then set the desired output WORD LEN (word length).

[14], [16], [18], [20], or [24], in bits

The largest valid word length in the 8300 is 24 bits

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

The 8300 can also truncate its output word length to 20, 18, 16 or 14 bits. The 8300 can add dither for input material that is insufficiently dithered for these lower word lengths (see the next step).

F) Adjust DITHER to IN or OUT, as desired.

[In] or [Out]

When set to In, the 8300 adds “high-pass” dither before any truncation of the output word. The amount of dither automatically tracks the setting of the W considerably reduces added noise in the midrange by comparison to white PDF dither. However, unlike extreme noise shaping, it adds a maximum of 3 dB of excess total noise power when compared to white PDF dither. Thus, it is a good compromise between white PDF dither and extreme noise shaping.

If the source material has already been correctly dithered (as is true for virtually all commercially recorded material), you may set this control to

ORD LEN control. This is first-order noise shaped dither that

OUT. However, particularly if you use the Noise Reduction feature, the

processing can sometimes attenuate input dither so that it is insufficient to dither the output correctly. In this case, you should add dither within the 8300.

2-29

G) Set DIGITAL FORMAT to AES or SPDIF

H) Set the O

I) Press the P

J) Set the DO

 If the O

analyzer, adjust the DO

UT SOURCE to FM or HD.

REV button.

100% control.

UT SOURCE is set to FM: Using a modulation monitor or modulation

100% control to make the modulation monitor

read 100% modulation (usually 75 kHz deviation).

See the notes in step (7.D) on page 2-27

 If the OUT SOURCE is set to HD: Adjust the DO 100% control so that the peak

modulation of the digital channel does not exceed 0 dB. Note that the look-ahead limiter may exhibit up to 2 dB of overshoot on certain program material, so set the level conservatively. You must use a preset without “UL” in its name to make this adjustment.

This should not cause any problems because matching the loudness of the FM and digital channels at the HD receiver permits the digital peak limiting to be much lighter than the analog peak limiting, thanks to the fact that receiver has 5 dB higher gain on the HD channel than on the analog channel.

9. End Analog and Digital I/O setup.

If you are using a external AGC and you temporarily set the E step 1 on page 2-24, set the E

XT AGC to NO in

XT AGC to YES.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

10. Select a processing preset.

See step 18 on page 2-21.

Automation Using the 8300’s Internal Clock

1. If you have not already done so, set the system clock.

[You can also set the clock automatically via PC Remote or the Internet. See Synchronizing Optimod to a Network Time Server starting on page 2-39.]

A) Navigate to S

ETUP / NEXT / TIME DATE AND ID / SET TIME.

a) Set hours and minutes.

b) Enter seconds slightly ahead of the correct time.

c) Wait until the entered time agrees with the correct time. Then press the

ENTER TIME button to set the clock.

B) Press the S

ET DATE button.

a) Set today’s date, using the days, month, and year buttons.

b) Press the

C) Press the D

a) Using the Daylight Saving (DT

and week when Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time) begins, or O

b) Using the Standard Time (ST

ENTER DATE button.

AYLIGHT TIME button.

MONTH and DT WEEK) buttons, set the month

FF.

MONTH and ST WEEK) buttons, set the month

and week when Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time) ends.

Note that setting DT MONTH, DT WEEK, ST MONTH, or ST WEEK to OFF will defeat Daylight Time functionality.

c) Press the Escape key to back out of the daylight saving screen.

D) (Optional) Press the S

TATION ID button to specify your station’s identifier (call

sign or call letters).

a) Use the knob to select characters. Use the P

the cursor.

b) When you are finished, press

2. Navigate to Setup / Next / Automation.

If the A

UTOMATION button reads DISABLED, hold it down and turn the knob to en-

able automation.

This button allows you to easily enable or disable all automation events without having to edit individual automation events.

REV and NEXT buttons to move

SAVE.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

3. To add an automation event:

2-31

A) Push the A

DD EVENT button.

B) Choose whether you wish to program an event that occurs only once or an

event that follows a daily or weekly schedule.

C) For events that occur only once:

a) Use the

and turn the knob so that is reads “

b) Use the P

PREV and NEXT buttons to move the cursor over the word “DAILY:”

DATE:” instead.

REV and NEXT buttons to move the cursor to the day, month, and

year when the automation event will occur. Set the desired values with the knob.

c) Use the P

REV and NEXT buttons to move the cursor set the hour, minute,

and second (in 24-hour format) when the automation event is to occur. Set the desired values with the knob.

D) For events that occur on a daily or weekly schedule:

a) Use the P

REV and NEXT buttons to move the cursor the each day of the

week in turn, and use the rotary encoder to turn the day on or off.

You can program the event to occur on as many days of the week as you wish.

b) Use the PREV and NEXT buttons to move the cursor set the hour, minute,

and second (in 24-hour format — e.g., 18:00:00 for 6:00 PM) when the automation event is to occur. Set the desired values with the knob.

Automation events have a “start” time but no “stop” time. The 8300 will indefinitely remain in the state specified by an existing automation event until its state is changed by another automation event or by another action (such as a user’s interacting with the front panel or PC Remote software).

E) For all events:

a) Press the

SELECT EVENT button.

b) Turn the knob to set the desired event. The available events are:

 Recall factory preset

 Recall user preset

 stereo mode

 mono-from-left-channel (MONO-L) mode

 mono-from-right-channel (MONO-R) mode

 mono-from-sum-of-channels (MONO-SUM)

 bypass mode

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

 exit test (restores the operating preset that was on-air before a test

mode was invoked)

 mod. reduction 1

 mod. reduction 2

 exit mod. reduction

F) When you have programmed an event to your satisfaction, press the S

EVENT button.

You will return to the automation menu.

4. To edit an existing event:

A) Press the V

B) Turn the knob until you see the event you wish to edit.

C) Press the E

D) Edit the event as desired. Use the same technique as adding an event.

E) Press the SAVE EVENT button to store your edits.

5. To delete an event:

A) Press the D

B) Choose the event to delete with the knob.

You can search by date or by event (i.e., recalling a given preset). Use the

EXT button to navigate from one type of search to the other type.

C) When you have located the event you want to remove, press the D

EVENT button.

IEW / EDIT EVENT button.

DIT EVENT button.

See step 3 on page 2-31.

ELETE EVENT button.

AVE

ELETE

This action will immediately delete the event. There is no “are you sure” warning message. To abort the deletion, press the E

Security and Passcode Programming

[Skip this step if you do not plan to use PC Remote software or do not plan to lock out the front panel locally.]

The 8300 has several levels of security to prevent unauthorized people from changing its programming or operating state. Security controls access to the front panel and to anyone connecting to the 8300 through a direct serial connection, dial-up networking (through modems), or its Ethernet port.

The security levels are:

SC button, not the

ELETE EVENT button.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

1. All Screens (i.e., administrator level)

2. All Screens except Security

3. All screens except Modify and Security

4. Presets, Modify, Save, Memory, and Automation

5. Presets and Automation

6. Presets

There is no default passcode. The Optimod’s front panel cannot be locked out unless the Optimod has been assigned at least one All Access

passcode.

Your Optimod secures User Presets by encrypting them (using the Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm with the session passcode as its key) when PC Remote fetches them. Hence, a packet sniffer cannot intercept User Presets in plaintext form. PC Remote then writes the fetched User Presets in encrypted form on your hard drive, where they remain for the duration of your PC Remote session.

If PC Remote exits normally, it will erase these temporary User Preset files from your computer’s hard disk. If it does not exit normally, these files will remain in encrypted form. However, the next time that PC Remote starts up, it will automatically clean up any orphaned files.

2-33

To Create a Passcode:

A) Navigate to SETUP / SECURITY / ADD PASSCODES.

If the front panel is already password protected, you can only access this screen by entering a passcode with All Access privileges.

B) Use the four soft buttons, labeled“1,” “2,” “3,” and “4,” to create a passcode.

Passcodes can be up to eight characters long but can only contain the characters “1,” “2,” “3,” and “4.” This limitation makes it easy to enter a passcode using the four available soft buttons.

C) When you have finished entering your new passcode, write it down so you do

not forget it. Then press the N

If you wish to discard the passcode you just entered, press the ESC button instead. Then return to step (B).

D) The PERMISSIONS screen appears. Turn the knob to choose the permission level

for the passcode you just created.

If you wish to discard the passcode you just entered, press the PREV button to return to the Enter Passcode screen or E rity screen.

E) Press the NEXT button to save your new passcode.

EXT button.

SC to return to the Secu-

To Edit a Passcode:

A) Navigate to S

ETUP / SECURITY / VIEW-EDIT PASSCODES.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

If the front panel is already password protected, you can only access this screen by entering a passcode with A

LL ACCESS privileges.

B) Turn the knob until you see the passcode you want to edit.

C) Press the N

EXT button. The Permissions screen appears.

D) Turn the knob to set the desired permission level for the passcode you are ed-

iting.

E) Press the N

EXT button to confirm your choice.

Your new permission level is stored and the Security menu appears.

To Delete a Passcode:

A) Navigate to SETUP / SECURITY / DELETE PASSCODES.

If the front panel is already password protected, you can only access this screen by entering a passcode with All Access privileges.

B) Turn the knob until you see the passcode you want to delete.

C) Press the N

D) Press the Y

EXT button. The Confirm Delete screen appears.

ES soft button to delete the passcode. Press the NO or ESCAPE

buttons to abort deleting the passcode.

To Lock the Front Panel Immediately:

After you have adjusted the processor, to maximize security you will often want to lock it immediately without waiting for the timeout. To do so:

A) Press the S

B) Press the L

ETUP button.

OCK NOW soft button.

To Program local lockout:

A) Navigate to SETUP / SECURITY.

If the front panel is already password protected, you can only access this screen by entering a passcode with A

B) Hold down the AUTOLOCK soft button and turn the knob to set the desired

lockout time (if any).

You can program the lockout delay time (in hours:minutes) from 15 minutes to 8 hours, or O local front panel control and when the front panel automatically locks itself out, requiring entering a passcode to obtain front panel control of the 8300.

Autolock can only be turned on if at least one passcode exists with A ACCESS privileges because an ALL ACCESS passcode is required to fully unlock the panel or to turn off the Autolock function.

FF. This is the time delay between the last access to a

LL ACCESS privileges.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

C) Press the ESCAPE button to leave the Security menu.

To Unlock the Front Panel:

A) On the 8300 front panel, operate any button or the knob.

The P

ASSCODE screen will appear.

B) Enter a passcode using the four soft buttons.

The 8300 functionality that you can access depends on the security level of the passcode that you entered.

After you have finished working, the panel will automatically re-lock after the time delay you set in S new delay at any time if you have an A

ETUP / SECURITY / AUTOLOCK. (You can set a

LL ACCESS passcode.)

Dial-up Networking and the Passcode

When you make a Windows Dial-up Networking connection, Windows will ask you for your passcode. To allow the connection to occur, enter any passcode that you set at the 8300’s front panel. Once your PC is connected to the 8300, you will be able to access the 8300 functionality corresponding to the security level of your passcode.

2-35

If you have not set a passcode, leave the Windows dialog box blank.

If You Have Forgotten Your Passcode

You can reset factory defaults and wipe out security passcodes (in case you forgot

LL ACCESS passcode).

your A

A) Remove power from the 8300.

B) While pressing both the E

The Restore Defaults screen appears.

C) To gain access to the 8300, press the E

D) Reprogram passcodes as necessary; see To Create a Passcode on page 2-33.

The RESTORE DEFAULTS button (in the Restore all System Setup and Input/Output parameters to their factory default settings. It also erases all passcodes. You should never need to use this button in an existing installation, although it is a convenient way to make the 8300 “factory fresh” if it is being installed in a different facility.

The RESTORE DEFAULTS button takes you to a screen that allows you to keep or erase any user presets that exist in your unit.

SCAPE and SETUP buttons, restore power.

RASE ALL PASSCODES soft button.

Defaults screen) restores

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

Remote Control Interface Programming

[Skip this step if you do not wish to program the GPI (contact closure) remote control interface.]

1. Navigate to S

2. Program one or more remote control interfaces.

A) Navigate to the desired Remote Interface button (1 through 8) by repeatedly

pressing the N

B) Hold down the button while turning the knob to select the desired function

for the interface.

Use either button below the appropriate graphics; both work the same.

A momentary pulse of voltage will switch most functions, except as noted.

 Preset Name: switches the named preset on the air. The control interface

can recall any factory or user preset.

 Input: Analog: selects the analog inputs.

 Input: Digital: selects the digital input and but does not apply de-

emphasis to it.

 Input: Digital+J.17: selects the digital input and applies J.17 de-emphasis

to it.

 Bypass: switches the Bypass Test Mode on the air.

ETUP / NEXT / NETWORK & REMOTE / REMOTE INTERFACE.

EXT button.

 Tone: switches the Tone Test Mode preset on the air.

 Exit Test: If a test preset is presently on the air, EXIT

ous processing preset.

 Stereo: switches the 8300’s stereo encoder on. In conjunction with mono mode

controls (below), iIt also determines the operating mode of the audio processing (S

TEREO, MONO-FROM-LEFT, MONO-FROM-RIGHT, or MONO-FROM-SUM.)

 Mono from Left, Mono from Right, or Mono from Sum: switches the 8300’s

stereo encoder off, using the Left, Right, or Sum (L+R) respectively as the program source. This also determines the feed to the entire processing chain so that facilities that do not use the 8300’s stereo encoder can change stereo/mono mode and select the source when in mono mode.

 Mod Reduction 1, or Mod Reduction 2: reduces the program modulation by

the percentage programmed in S on page 2-23). When voltage is removed, these functions are deactivated.

ETUP / NEXT / MODULATION REDUCTION (see step 21

TEST reverts to the previ-

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

 Reset Clock To Hour: resets the internal clock to the nearest hour. For exam-

ple, 3:03:10 would be reset to 3:00:00, while 3:53:40 would be reset to 4:00:00. Use this function to periodically re-sync the 8300’s internal clock to your station’s master clock.

 Reset Clock to Midnight: Resets the clock to 0:00:00. You can use this function

to periodically re-sync the 8300’s internal clock to your station’s master clock.

 No Function: remote input is disabled.

3. End remote control interface programming.

When you are finished programming the remote control interface, press the Escape button to return to higher menu levels.

Networking and Remote Control

[Skip this step if you do not wish to connect to your 8300 remotely, either for downloading software upgrades or for PC Remote Control.]

2-37

The 8300 has a built-in Ethernet connector that can be used with 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps networks using the TCP/IP protocol. You can also connect a PC to the 8300 through the 8300’s RS-232 serial port, either by modem or directly through a null modem cable.

1. Prepare the 8300 for an Ethernet network connection:

[Skip this step if you will not be using an Ethernet connection.]

 See your network administrator to get the data required in the following

procedure.

 Note that if you wish to do this from the 8300 PC Remote software, then you

must first be able to connect to the 8300. Therefore, you will usually perform this procedure from the 8300’s front panel to prepare it for connection.

A) Navigate to S

B) Press the S

The IP Address Screen appears.

a) Use the N

IP address. Use the knob to set the digit to the desired value. Repeat until you have selected all the numbers in the IP address assigned by your network administrator

ETUP / NETWORK & REMOTE / NEXT.

ET IP ADDRESS soft button.

EXT and PREV keys to move the cursor in turn to each digit in the

b) Press the

C) Set the Subnet Mask assigned by your network administrator if necessary:

SAVE soft button to confirm your setting.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

a) Press the

SET SUBNET MASK soft button.

b) Use the

NEXT and PREV keys to move the cursor in turn to each digit in the

subnet mask. Use the knob to set the digit to the desired value. Repeat until you have selected all the numbers in the subnet mask assigned by your network administrator

c) Press the

SAVE soft button to confirm your setting.

D) Set the Gateway Address assigned by your network administrator if necessary:

a) Press the

b) Use the

GATEWAY ADDRESS soft button.

NEXT and PREV keys to move the cursor in turn to each digit in the

gateway address. Use the knob to set the digit to the desired value. Repeat until you have selected all the numbers in the gateway address assigned by your network administrator

c) Press the

SAVE soft button to confirm your setting.

E) Set the IP Port assigned by your network administrator if necessary:

a) Press the

b) Use the

IP PORT soft button.

NEXT and PREV keys to move the cursor in turn to each digit in the IP

port. Use the knob to set the digit to the desired value. Repeat until you have selected all the numbers in the IP port assigned by your network administrator

c) Press the

SAVE soft button to confirm your setting.

F) Connect your Ethernet network to the RJ45 jack on the rear panel of your

8300.

 If you are connecting to a hub or router, use a standard Ethernet cable.

 If you are connecting directly to the Ethernet jack on a computer, use a

“crossover” or “reverse” Ethernet cable.

G) Press the N

EXT button.

2. Prepare the 8300 for modem connection through the serial port:

[Skip this step if you will not be using a modem connection.]

A) Navigate to S

B) Hold down the PC

ODEM on the display.

C) Press the M

D) If the string that appears in the display

SCAPE button and skip steps (E) and (F) below.

S0=4 is the 8300 default setting. This activates auto-answer functionality

in the modem.

ETUP / NETWORK & REMOTE.

CONNECT soft button and turn the knob until you see

ODEM INIT soft button.

is S0=4, this is correct. Press the

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

E) Set the INIT STRING to S0=4. Use the NEXT and PREV KEYs to move the cursor in

turn to each character in the modem initialization string. Use the knob to set the character to the desired value. Repeat until you have set all the characters in the initialization string.

2-39

F) Press the

3. Modem setup:

You will need two modems and two available phone lines, one of each for your PC and your 8300. Orban Customer Service supports only the 3Com / U.S. Robotics® 56kbps fax modem EXT on the 8300 side of your connection, although other 56kbps modems will often work OK.

You can use either an internal or an external modem with your PC.

A) Connect the telephone line from the wall phone jack to the wall connection

icon on the back of the modem (modem in).

B) Connect the modem to the 8300’s serial port with a standard (not null) mo-

dem cable.

C) Set the modem to AUTO ANSWER and turn it on.

4. Prepare the 8300 for direct serial connection through the serial port:

SAVE soft button to confirm your setting.

The cable provided with your 8300 is a null modem cable and will not work.

For 3Com / U.S. Robotics® 56kbps fax modem EXT, set dipswitches 3, 5, and 8 in the down position to activate the A dipswitches should be set to the up position.

UTO ANSWER setting. All other

[Skip this step if you will not be using a modem connection.]

A) Navigate to S

B) Hold down the PC

IRECT on the display.

You are now ready to connect your computer to your 8300 through a null modem cable connected to your computer’s serial port. Refer to Installing 8300 PC Remote Control Software on page 2-43.

ETUP / NETWORK & REMOTE.

CONNECT soft button and turn the knob until you see

Synchronizing Optimod to a Network Time Server

[Skip this section if you do not wish to automatically synchronize your Optimod’s internal clock to a network timeserver, which may be part of your local network or located on the Internet.]

1. Navigate to SETUP / NEXT / TIME DATE AND ID / NEXT / TIME SYNC.

A) Use the P

ROTOCOL control to choose either TIME PROT or SNTP.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

 Select

TIME PROT if the Optimod is behind a firewall that does not pass UDP

packets. T

IME PROT selects the Time Protocol as described in the standard

RFC868. This method uses TCP on port 37.

 Select SNTP if your network timeserver supports the Simple Network Time

Protocol as described in standard RFC1769. This method uses UDP on port

123.

Ask your network administrator which protocols are available. SNTP is slightly more accurate.

B) Using S

YNC PERIOD, choose how often your Optimod will automatically update

its internal clock to the timeserver you selected.

The choices are O

If the connection to the timeserver fails (due to network overload or other problems), your Optimod will try once per hour to synchronize until it is successful.

FF, 8 HOURS, and 24 HOURS.

C) Set the OFFSET to the difference (in hours) between your time zone and Uni-

versal Time (UTC).

UTC is also known as GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time.

 The value can range between –12 and +12 hours. If this value is set to 0,

your Optimod’s time will be the same as UTC.

 You can empirically adjust this value until the correct time for your location

is displayed after you synchronize your Optimod to a timeserver.

2. Choose a timeserver.

http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/service/time-servers.html

provides a current list of timeservers available on the Internet. You network may also have a local timeserver; ask your network administrator.

As of April 2004, NIST’s list was as shown in Table 2-1.

Name IP Address Location

time-a.nist.gov 129.6.15.28 NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland time-b.nist.gov 129.6.15.29 NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland time-a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov 132.163.4.101 NIST, Boulder, Colorado time-b.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov 132.163.4.102 NIST, Boulder, Colorado time-c.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov 132.163.4.103 NIST, Boulder, Colorado utcnist.colorado.edu 128.138.140.44 University of Colorado, Boulder time.nist.gov 192.43.244.18 NCAR, Boulder, Colorado time-nw.nist.gov 131.107.1.10 Microsoft, Redmond, Washington nist1.datum.com 66.243.43.21 Datum, San Jose, California nist1-dc.glassey.com 216.200.93.8 Abovenet, Virginia nist1-ny.glassey.com 208.184.49.9 Abovenet, New York City nist1-sj.glassey.com 207.126.98.204 Abovenet, San Jose, California nist1.aol-ca.truetime.com 207.200.81.113 TrueTime, AOL facility, Sunnyvale, Cali-

nist1.aol-va.truetime.com 205.188.185.33 TrueTime, AOL facility, Virginia

fornia

Table 2-1: NIST-referenced timeservers

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

3. Press the NEXT button to set up timeserver parameters.

TIME SERVER button is located on the second page of the TIME SYNC func-

The tions. (You can access this function from anywhere in the Optimod menu tree by navigating to S

You can specify the timeserver either from your Optimod’s front panel or from its PC Remote software. From the front panel, you can only enter the timeserver’s IP address (for example, 192.43.244.18). If you specify the timeserver from PC Remote, you can specify either its named address (for example, time.nist.gov) or its IP address.

4. Specify the time sync parameters from your Optimod’s front panel:

[Skip this step if you wish to specify the timeserver and time sync parameters from your Windows XP computer.]

ETUP / NEXT / TIME DATE AND ID / NEXT / TIME SYNC / NEXT.)

2-41

A) Press the T

The timeserver IP Address Screen appears.

a) Use the N

IP address. Use the knob to set the digit to the desired value. Repeat until you have selected all the numbers in the desired IP address.

b) Press the S

B) Press the S

should indicate that it is connecting to the IP address that you specified. When the connection is successful, the Optimod’s clock will automatically synchronize to the timeserver.

 If the connection is not successful within five seconds, the display will indi-

cate that the connection failed. This means either that the timeserver is too busy or that your setup cannot connect to the timeserver. Double-check the IP address. If you are behind a firewall, make sure that port 123 is open.

 If your connection failed, the gateway address might not be set correctly

on your Optimod. The gateway address for the timeserver connection is the same gateway address that you set in step (1.D) on page 2-38. If you do not know a Windows computer to the same Ethernet cable that is ordinarily plugged into your Optimod. Ascertain that the computer can connect to the Internet. At the command prompt, type ipconfig. The computer will return the “Default Gateway.”

IME SERVER button.

EXT and PREV keys to move the cursor in turn to each digit in the

AVE soft button to confirm your setting.

YNC NOW soft button to test your settings. Your Optimod’s display

the correct gateway address, you can often discover it by connecting

5. Specify the time sync from the Optimod PC Remote software:

[Skip this step if you wish to specify the timeserver and time sync parameters from your Optimod’s front panel.]

Optimod PC Remote software can automatically set your Optimod’s local time,

FFSET, and TIME SERVER to reflect the Windows settings in the machine running

PC Remote software.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

If you are running Windows 2000, you cannot specify the timeserver from your computer. However, you can still set your Optimod’s clock and offset.

A) In Windows, navigate to the CONTROL PANEL / DATE AND TIME / TIME ZONE tab.

B) Set time zone to correspond to your local time zone.

C) In Windows, navigate to the C

ONTROL PANEL / DATE AND TIME / INTERNET TIME

tab.

D) If you are running Windows XP:

a) Check “Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server” to set your

Optimod’s S

YNC PERIOD to “24.”

b) Set “Server” to the desired timeserver.

c) Click the “Update Now” button to synchronize your computer’s clock to

the selected timeserver. If this is successful, this means that you can connect to the selected timeserver over your network.

 The I

NTERNET TIME tab is not available in Windows 2000. If you are running

Optimod PC Remote on Windows 2000, you must enter the timeserver from your Optimod’s front panel as an IP address (step 4 on page 2-41).

 If

the timeserver you selected in Windows is a named address not an IP address the 8300 will resolve it correctly, but the IP address that appears in your Optimod’s display will be 0.0.0.0.

 To use PC Remote to turn off your Optimod’s automatic synchronization,

uncheck “Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server” on your PC. Then click the “Update Now” button on PC Remote.

E) Navigate to Optimod PC Remote’s S

ETUP/ UTILITY tab and click the SET 8300

CLOCK button.

 If you are running Windows XP, PC Remote will download your computer’s

currently specified timeserver into your Optimod.

 PC Remote will adjust your Optimod’s O

computer’s time zone setting.

 PC Remote will synchronize your Optimod’s clock with your computer’s

clock.

F) It is wise to disconnect from PC Remote and then to press the S

ton on your Optimod [step (4.B) on page 2-41]. This is to test the ability of your Optimod to synchronize to the selected timeserver and to your Optimod’s clock is set accurately.

NOTE: Manually setting your Optimod’s clock via Set Time, Set Date, Daylight Time, and the remote contact closure Reset to Hour and Reset to Midnight will not work when the automatic synchronization function is active. To inactivate this function (thereby permitting manual setting to work), set the

FF.

FFSET setting to correspond to your

YNC NOW but-

ensure that

SYNC PERIOD to

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

Installing 8300 PC Remote Control Software

This section briefly summarizes the procedure for installing 8300 PC Remote software on existing 8300s. If required, you will find more detailed instructions in the .pdf file automatically installed on your computer by Orban’s installer program, Setup8300_x.x.x.x.exe, where “x.x.x.x” represents the software version you are installing. (For example, for version 1.0 software, this would be 1.0.0.0.)

The PC Remote software is supplied on a CD shipped with your 8300. You can also download it from ftp.orban.com/8300

Instructions for using the PC Remote software begin on page 3-60.

Installing the Necessary Windows Services

The 8300 PC Remote application uses Windows’ built-in communications and networking services to deal with the low-level details necessary to communicate with the 8300’s serial port. (These services are also used to upgrade your 8300’s firmware when updates are available from Orban.) The exact process will vary, depending on how you wish to set up the communications. That is:

2-43

 If you want to communicate through a local PC, you will need to establish a con-

nection between a serial (COM) port of the PC and the COM port of your 8300 through a null modem cable (supplied with your 8300). You will then use Windows Direct Serial Connect to make the basic connection.

 If you want to communicate through a pair of modems, you will use the Win-

dows Dial-Up networking service to make the connection.

You must install the appropriate communications services in Windows (if they are not already installed) before you can run 8300 Remote software. You may

therefore need to have access to the Windows install disk(s) — or have their image copied onto your computer’s hard drive — before you attempt to use the 8300 PC Remote application.

In all cases, regardless of whether your PC communicates to the 8300 through its serial port or Ethernet connector, it uses the ppp and the TCP/IP protocols to communicate with the 8300.

Check Hardware Requirements

To connect your PC to your 8300, regardless of the method you choose, you will need the following:

 Orban 8300 OPTIMOD-FM.

 If connecting by serial cable: a null modem cable (also called a “reverse” cable),

supplied by Orban with your 8300 when it was shipped. This cable has DB9 fe-

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

male connectors at both ends for connecting the 8300 to the serial port on your computer. If your computer has a DB25 connector, you will need to obtain an adapter.

 If connecting by modem: a 3Com / U.S. Robotics® 56kbps fax modem EXT and

normal (not null) modem cable for the 8300 side of the connection. Note that Orban Customer Service does not support any other type of modem for connecting to the 8300.

 If connecting by network: a standard Ethernet cable (with RJ45 connectors) to

connect to a network hub or router, or a crossover Ethernet cable to connect directly to your PC’s Ethernet jack.

 PC running Windows 2000 (SP3 or higher) or XP.

8300 PC Remote will not run on older Windows versions.

Recommended Components

Computer.................................................................... Pentium II or higher

Available Disk Space .......................................................................... 25MB

RAM .................................................................................................. 256MB

Display................................................................................. SVGA or higher

Microsoft Windows................. 2000 SP3 (or higher) or XP (Home or Pro)

COM Port .......................................................16550 (or compatible) UART

WARNING

When connecting your 8300, use shielded cable to protect the pins in the RS-232 connector from electrostatic discharge.

The following subsections provide steps for connecting to your 8300 OPTIMOD-FM software using the Windows 2000 / XP Direct Cable Connect or via modem connection.

Running the Orban Installer Program

Insert the installer CD into your computer’s CD drive.

The installer should start up and ask you if you wish to install the PC Remote application on your computer. If it fails to do so, navigate to Start \ Run on your computer, and type X:setup (where “X” is the drive letter of your CD drive).

Follow the prompts on your screen to install the PC Remote software automatically on your computer.

 You might have obtained the automatic installer application from some other

source than Orban’s CD, like Orban’s ftp site or another computer on your network. If so, just run the application and follow the on-screen instructions.

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

 This program installs the necessary files and adds an Orban / Optimod 8300

folder to your computer’s Start Menu. This folder contains shortcuts to the PC Remote application and to the documentation. If you accepted the option during installation, there is also a shortcut to the PC Remote application on your desktop.

You have now installed all files necessary to use the PC Remote software. If you are using a direct serial or a modem connection, the next step is to install and configure the Windows communications services that allow your computer to communicate with your 8300. Appendix: Setting Up Serial Communications on page 2-47 provides details.

Setting Up Ethernet, LAN, and VPN Connections

If you are using an Ethernet connection and your computer can successfully connect to the Internet through its Ethernet port, it already has the correct (TCP/IP) networking set up to communicate with the 8300. In most cases, all you need is your 8300’s IP address, Port, and Gateway number, as set in step 1 on page 2-37. You will enter

when you create a “connection” to your 8300 from the 8300 PC Remote appli-

these cation — see step (E) on page 3-63. If your computer does not have a working Ethernet port, you will need to add one and then following vided by Microsoft to set it up to enable TCP/IP networking.

the instructions pro-

2-45

If you wish to connect to your 8300 through your LAN or VPN (through a WAN or the Internet), consult your network administrator. Note that to cross subnets, you must specify a gateway. If the PC and 8300 are on the same subnet, then it is unnecessary to specify a gateway.

If you are behind a firewall, you must open the port you specified in step (1.E) on page 2-38. If the gateway, port, and firewall (if used) are configured correctly, it is possible to connect 8300 PC Remote to a 8300 via a VPN.

Conclusion

By carefully following the instructions in the Appendix, you should have successfully installed the necessary Windows services and connected to your 8300. However, if you experience any problems with this process, or have any other 8300 questions, please contact Orban Customer Service:

phone: +1 510 351-3500

email: custserv@orban.com

For details on your new 8300 software, from new features to operational suggestions, refer to our FTP site (ftp.orban.com/8300

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

[This page intentionally left blank]

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

Appendix: Setting Up Serial Communications

This appendix provides instructions for setting up both direct serial and modem connections from your 8300 to your PC. You must do this when you define a new connection from the 8300 PC Remote application. The appendix provides procedures for both the Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

Preparing for Communication through Null Modem Cable

1. Configure your 8300.

2-47

A) On your 8300’s front panel, navigate to S

B) Hold down the PC

IRECT on the display.

2. Connect the cable.

A) Connect one end of the null modem cable that we supplied with your 8300 to

the DB9 serial connector on the 8300’s rear panel.

Be sure to use a null modem cable. A normal serial cable will not work.

B) Connect the other end of the cable to your computer’s COM port.

CONNECT soft button and turn the knob until you see

ETUP / NETWORK & REMOTE.

Connecting Using Windows 2000 Direct Serial Connection:

Ordinarily, a direct serial connection through a null modem cable is used only when you are controlling one 8300 per available COM port on your computer. If you wish to control multiple local 8300s, it is better to use an Ethernet network connection. However, in principle you could control multiple 8300s serially from one COM port, using a hardware serial switch to select the 8300 you wish to control. In this case, you should set up a separate 8300 “connection” for each 8300 to be controlled, following the instructions below. All connections should reference the same COM port.

This connection is used both for upgrading your 8300 and for connecting the 8300 PC Remote application to your 8300.

Important: The Direct Serial Connection must have exclusive access to the PC COM port that connects to your 8300. Make sure than any software that monitors this COM port (such as HotSync manager, etc) is disabled before running Direct Serial Connection.

If you have already configured your direct serial cable connection, skip to step 2 on page 2-52.

you cannot access the Internet after making a Direct or Modem connection, you

If will have to reconfigure certain networking parameters in Windows. Please see You Cannot Access the Internet After Making a Direct or Modem Connection of the 8300 on page 5-7.

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

1. Add and configure a Direct Connection for Windows 2000:

A) Create a New Windows

2000 Direct Connection:

a) Launch 8300 PC

Remote.

b) Choose “Connect / New

8300”

c) Give your 8300 a name

(e.g., “KABC”) by entering this name in the “8300 Alias” field.

d) If you wish to have

8300 PC Remote remember the password for this Optimod, enter the pass-word in the “Password“ field.

e) Select “Serial Connec-

tion.”

f) Click “Add.”

g) Select “Connect Directly

to another computer.”

h) Click “Next.”

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

i) In the drop-down box, select the serial

port you will be using to make the connection.

j) Click “Next.”

k) Select either “For all users” or “Only

for myself.”

The correct setting depends on how your network and security are configured.

Your wizard may not display this field if your computer is set up for a single user only.

2-49

l) Click “Next.”

m)Enter a name for your Connection such

as: “Connection to 8300.”

n) Click “Finish.”

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

o) Click “Yes.”

B) Edit your new Direct

Connection properties:

a) Click “Settings.”

b) Click the “General”

tab.

c) Select the device you

set up in step (i) on page 2-49. This will usually be munications cable between two computers (COM1).”

“Com-

d) Click “Configure.”

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OPTIMOD-FM DIGITAL INSTALLATION

e) Set “Maximum speed (bps)” to

“115200.”

f) Check “Enable hardware flow con-

trol.”

g) Make sure that all other boxes are

not checked.

h) Click “OK.”

2-51

i) Select the Networking tab.

j) Make sure that “PPP: Windows 95 /

98 / NT 4 / 2000, Internet” appears in the “Type of dial-up server I am calling” field.

k) Make sure that “Internet Protocol

(TCP/IP) is checked.

You may leave “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks” and “Client for Microsoft Networks” checked if you like.

l) Click “OK.”

m) When the “Connection properties” window appears, click “OK.”

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INSTALLATION ORBAN MODEL 8300

2. Launch an existing Windows 2000 Direct connection.

Once you have set up a “connection” specifying Direct Connect in the 8300 PC Remote application (see To set up a new connection on page 3-63), choosing this connection tion to your 8300.

You can connect by selecting the desired connection from the drop-down list in the

ONNECT menu.

You can also connect by double-clicking the connection in the “Connection List” window.

A dialog bubble will appear on the bottom right hand corner of the screen verifying your connection if the connection is successful.

from 8300 PC Remote automatically opens a Windows Direct Connec-

If you have trouble making a connection, refer to OS Specific Troubleshooting Advice: Troubleshooting Windows 2000 Direct Connect on page 5-8. If you have trouble the first time after creating a connection according to the instructions above, try restarting your computer to clear its serial port.

3. To change the properties of an

Right-click the connection in the “connection List” window and choose “Properties.” The “Connection properties” window opens (see page 2-48).

existing connection:

Connecting Using Windows XP Direct Serial Connection

If you have already configured your direct serial cable connection, skip to step 2 on page 2-

1. Add and configure a Direct Connection for Windows XP:

56.

If you cannot access the Internet after making a Direct or Modem connection, you will have to reconfigure certain networking parameters in Windows. Please see You Cannot Access the Internet After Making a Direct or Modem Connection to the 8300 on page 5-7.

A) Create a New Windows XP Direct Con-

nection:

a) Launch 8300 PC Remote.

b) Choose “Connect / New 8300”

Orban Optimod-FM 8300, 8300J Operating Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual