Sundrax AGC-X-2DE, AGC-X-DE, AGS-X-4D2E, AGA-X-2D2E, AGA-X-4D2E User Manual

Version 1.11

January 09, 2018

User manual

ArtGate
DMX-Ethernet
converters

AGC-X-DE, AGC-X-2DE, AGC-X-DE-OEM,
AGS-X-2D2E, AGS-X-4D2E,
AGA-X-2D2E, AGA-X-4D2E,
AGP-X-2DE, AGP-X-4DE, AGP-X-8DE,
AGPD-X-12DE, AGPD-X-16DE,
AGD-X-4DE, AGD-X-8DE, AGD-X-4D2E, AGD-X-8D2E,
AJP-X-8DEF

10
10
11
12
12

Table of contents

Visual appearance

1

Specifications

1

Safe operation

2

General information

2

Merging

3

Connection types

4

Web-settings

6
7
8
9

•Main settings

•Advanced settings

•Network settings

•Profiles settings

•Firmware update

Getting started

Operation
Technical maintenance

Visual appearance

Pic.1 ArtGate devices appearance

Specifications

DMX512 interfaces 1,2,4,8 or 16

Supported protocols

D M X d a t a r e f r e s h r a t e 44 Hz default, may be changed if necessary

I/O connectors Depends on the modification

Max current consumption 0.1 A

Setup Web-interface

Power supply ~90-250 VAC, 50/60 Hz or Power-over-Ethernet

Fuse 0.1 A

Setup

ArtNet (I,II,III,4), sACN (E1.31, draft and released), RTTrPL, etc

Web interface, specialized ArtGate software,

DMX512, RDM (E1.20),

standard ArtNet tools

1

Safe operation

WARNING!

The device uses hazardous voltage AC 230 V

In installation, operation, preventive maintenance and repairs of

the device, the requirements of the safety rules must be followed.

To ensure safe and reliable operation of the devices, please ob-

serve the following requirements:

• Use the device only for its intended purpose;

• Do not use devices that shows signs of malfunctioning;

• Avoid strong physical impacts on the device;

• Protect devices and cables from contact with moisture or other

corrosive liquids;

• Prevent any improper disconnection of the Ethernet cable from

the device being disconnected.

Whenever a fault is detected in the device, please contact the

manufacturer.

General information

ArtGate is the series of full-featured converters for converting
network protocols Art-Net and sACN to light fixtures control proto­col DMX512. Through their 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 or 16 DMX ports, LAN
interface and Optical port (ArtJet Pro only), the devices transmit
and receive DMX512 data streams via Ethernet LAN functioning in
10Base-T or 100Base-T mode (100Base-FX in ArtJet Pro).

Compatibility with Art-Net and sACN protocols enables the use
of ArtGate devices in a network of heterogeneous devices from

other manufacturers.

As well as the standard broadcast data transfer Art-Net, Art­Gate devices also support point-to-point data transfer in the local
network or via the Internet. Address settings of the device (name,
SubNet, Universe) and network settings (IP address, subnet mask,

2

UDP-port), standard software tools for Art-Net networks, such as
DMX Workshop, as well as using the Web-based interface.

Web-interface allows changing advanced settings of ArtGate
devices not covered by the Art-Net standard, such as:

• port mode (Input / Output / Loop / Off);

• physical characteristics (timing) of DMX512 signal;

• merge modes for each port;

• data stream transmission and reception modes in Art-Net net-

work.

In addition, specialized utility software allows advanced users to
assign custom MAC address to the Ethernet interface of the device
and restore default settings of the device. ArtGate series is powered
by AC ~90-250 V, 50/60 Hz, or from Ethernet using the Power­over-Ethernet technology (depends on modification).

Merging

Variable merging options: HTP (highest takes precedence), LTP
(latest takes precedence), AUTO (last modified takes precedence
– intelligent merging mode that provides availability to manage
installation from two consoles simultaneously), OVERLAY (merg­es custom slots from two ArtNet/sACN streams, fully customized
through web interface), PRIORITY (for network streams with priority
tag, console with the highest priority for a given Universe will be in
charge). Depending on Artgate model, each port can merge up to
2 or 4 network sources. Merged data may be outputted to physi­cal DMX ports, and also may be looped back to Ethernet as new
ArtNet/sACN stream.

Standalone merger

ArtGate devices may be used as standalone (without perma-

nent Ethernet connection) mergers. When 2 or more input ports are

configured with the same ArtNet/sACN universe ID, DMX streams
from them can be merged and outputted to another output port
which must have the same ID too to provide such feature. This con­figuration may work even if device is not connected to Ethernet.

3

Tracking protocols support

ArtGate devices can receive the data from tracking servers via
specialised protocols (RTTrPL, etc.) and merge them into output
DMX512 streams. For successful merging, universe number in track­ing control messges must be the same as ArtNet or sACN universe
number which is set on affected ports.

This feature can be used when merge mode on output port is
set to PRIORITY or AUTO. If PRIORITY merge mode selected, track­ing data have highest precedence over all other sources, while in

AUTO mode tracking data is treated as a normal merge source.

Trigger inputs

Some ArtGate models have trigger feature. When trigger is acti­vated, static scene stored in non-volatile memory is recalled and set
for all DMX ports. Trigger is activated via “dry contact” inputs, which
can be configured for working with normally opened and normally
closed sensors (smoke sensors, buttons, etc).

Each trigger input can be also configured as alarm input. When
alarm is activated, device returns to normal work only after power
cycle or manual reset, not just input deactivation.

By default, static scenes for all triggers are “all channels to
100%”. User can set up the custom scene on all used DMX ports
and then capture and save the scene for necessary trigger.

Connection types

Ethernet connection

Device is connected to the network via RJ-45. All ArtGate de­vices have two LEDs to indicate the status of the network connection.

Pic.2 Ethernet connector

If there is no Ethernet connection, both LEDs are off, if network
is connected, one LED is constantly on, the other one flashes when

4

data are transmitted and received over the network. Each device
has unique IP and MAC addresses. Device’s IP address, subnet
mask, and other network parameters can be changed, but even
in this case, the device is still available on the original IP address
(2.x.x.x) for ping and http requests. Thus, even in case of loss of the
new IP address, the device can be access on the network using the
original IP address through the web-interface.

Fiber optics connections

ArtJet devices are equipped with 100 Mbit fiber optics port (du­plex SC connectors). Fiber optics port works as another network
interface, with functionality similar to Ethernet port. When connected
both to fiber optics and ethernet, device acts as a network switch/
media converter.

100 Base-FX
Tx Rx

Pic.3 Fiber optics connectors

DMX connections

XLR 5-pin connectors are used to connect external master
and slave devices to DMX ports. If necessary, the device can be
equipped with XLR three-pin connectors. Each port on the 2 and
4-port devices has 2 connectors — one M connector and one F
connector, which allow the port to pass-through the DMX bus. On
8,16-port devices and ArtGate Compact, each port has single con­nector of type F. Using internal DIP switches, it is possible to connect

terminators (120 ohms) to DMX bus.

Pic.4 XLR(F) and XLR(M) DMX connectors (5pins/3pins)

5

Web-settings

ArtGate devices support configuring most of their parameters
through the Web-interface using HTTP protocol (TCP port 80).

Main settings

To access the settings page enter the IP address of the device
to the browser. Main settings page of the ArtGate device will be
displayed.

•Indication – switching LED indication modes:

Normal Indication depending on the current port status

•Device name – editable device name (up to 17 characters);

•Device description – editable device description (up to 63

characters);

•Device status – current state of the device;

•Ports – configuration and status of DMX ports:

6

Pic.5 Main settings

Blink Search mode

Off LEDs are off

Subnet Art-Net subnet number (0-15)

Universe Art-Net universe number (0-15)

I/O mode

Merge mode Merging mode (LTP, HTP, Auto, Priority, Overlay)

ACN unv.

Status Current state of the port

IN- input, OUT- output, LOOP- loop output with network loopback,

OFF- off

sACN stream number (from 1 to 65279, the value

of 0 disables sACN transmission and reception)

•To save the changes in main settings, click “Save settings”.

•To restore default values of main settings, click “Set default”.

•To reset to the current saved values of main settings, click

“Reset”.

Advanced settings

To edit the advanced settings of the device, click on the link “Ad­vanced”.

Pic.6 Advanced settings

•RDM devices – RDM devices list, connected to DMX ports:

Start discovery Searching connected devices

Refresh report Refresh search/list state detected devices

7

•DMX signal timing – sets the parameters of the output DMX

signal for all ports:

Break from 4 to 1000 ms

MaB from 4 to 1000 ms

Data slots 1 to 512

Pause from 0 to 10000 ms

•DMX line terminator – enables (selected) or disables (cleared)

termination resistor between D+ and D- wires of DMX line on each

port.

•Triggers/alarms (for ArtGates equipped with trigger inputs)-

setup the mode of trigger inputs.

Input Trigger/Sensor input

Mode

Delay, ms Delay for triggering in milliseconds

Status Current status of input (open, closed, alarm)

Action

Operating mode (disabled, alarm sensor normally open,

alarm sensor normally closed)

Save the current state of all DMX ports as scene to recall on

trigger activation

•Overlay/loopback settings – settings of overlay merging:

Src. universe Art-Net or sACN stream number for merging

Src.start,

Src.step

Dst.start,

Dst.step

Steps cnt. The number of steps of copying

Block size

Start slot number and sampling step in the merged stream

Start slot number and sampling step in the output stream

Size (in slots) of blocks for copying from the merged stream to the

output stream

•Port 0 mode (in ArtGate with splitter port) - sets the mode of

the additional port.

•To save the changes in advanced settings, click “Save settings”.

•To restore default values of advanced settings, click “Set default”.

•To reset to the current saved values of advanced settings,

click “Reset”.

8

Network settings

To edit the network settings of the device, click on the link “Network”.

Pic.7 Network settings

•MAC address – hardware address and secondary (permanent)

IP address of the device;

•Main IP – set the main network address of the device;

•Subnetwork mask – set the mask of the IP subnet;

•Gateway IP address – set the network address of the gateway

(if ability to operate via the Internet is required);

•ACN UDP port- set the UDP port for sACN protocol.

•Art-Net UDP port - set the UDP port for Art-Net protocol.

•Access login/password- login and password for access to
web interface of device. If password is empty, authentification is not
performed.

•To save the changes in network settings, click “Save settings”.

•To restore default values of network settings, click “Set default”.

•To reset to the current saved values of network settings, click
“Reset”.

9

Profiles settings

To edit the profiles settings of the device, click on the link “Profiles”.

Pic.8 Profiles settings

•Download current profile – download the current settings as a file;

•Profile for uploading – select the file of previously saved profile;

•Upload profile – to upload the selected profile in the device.

Firmware update

To update firmware of the device, click on the link “Firmware”.

10

Pic.9 Firmware update

•Reboot – device reboot button;

•Current firmware rev. – current firmware version number of the
device;

•New firmware file – select firmware file to upload to the device;

•Update firmware – upload the selected firmware file.

Please note! Selecting and installing any other

third-party file, may cause device malfunction.

After the firmware upload is complete, confirm the update by

clicking “Reboot”.

Getting started

1. Connect all DMX cables to necessary DMX port connectors.

2. Connect Ethernet cable to the device.

3. In ArtGate PRO devices connect the power cable.

4. Connect the power cable plug to a power outlet.

5. In ArtGate PRO devices 12DE and 16DE, turn the power

switch on. After few seconds, port status LEDs will indicate the state
and direction of the port. Also, few seconds later Ethernet status LED

must turn on.

6. Open device’s web-interface on the computer connected to
the same network as the ArtGate device.

7. Open the Network Settings tab.

8. IP field will display the address of the device, Subnet field

will display the network mask. If necessary, fill the IP and Subnet
fields for the required network settings (by default, devices are on IP
subnet 2.x.x.x and Subnet 255.0.0.0). Click “Save settings” so that
the new settings take effect.

11

9. Configure other settings of the device: direction of ports,
Subnet and Universe for each port, etc. If necessary, edit the name
of the device and its network settings, then click “Save settings” so
that the new settings take effect.

10. Status LEDs of DMX ports will indicate the selected port’s
configuration and its current state. The device is ready for operation.

Operation

ArtGate devices start their normal operation in a few seconds
after they have been powered up. Device always operates based
on last saved settings. Viewing ArtGate’s settings does not affect
normal operation until any of the settings have been saved. When
changes are saved, the device applies the new settings immediately,
without having to power it down. The status of each DMX port is
indicated by the corresponding status LED.

In the input mode, port status LED is steady on if there is valid
DMX input signal or flashes slowly the DMX input signal is invalid or
absent. In the output and loop modes, port status LED is steady on
when there is no data for output and blinks when new DMX data
are transmitted (updated). In the off mode, port status LED is off.

Current status of each port can be controlled through the Web-

interface.

Technical maintenance

Maintenance the device, search and troubleshooting should be
performed by service personnel. The device should be free from
dirt, dents, connecting cables and wires must be intact and securely
fastened.

12

Please send all your warranty-related questions to

[e-mail]

All Sundrax products are covered by a 36 months warranty.

13

Sundrax Electronics,
6008, First Central 200
2 Lakeside Drive, Park Royal, London
NW10 7FQ United Kingdom
+ 44 (0) 208 991 33 19
[e-mail]
www.sundrax.com