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3/6/08
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1-7
WARNING: Disconnect primary power prior to servicing.
Section 1 Introduction
Diamond Series™
1.2.4
Control Cabinet
The control cabinet houses the system controller, the Graphical User Interface computer
(GUI), single or dual exciters and RF driver amplifiers. The AC feed to the control
cabinet is independent from the PA cabinet(s) and with UPS backup for the GUI
computer since it is Windows® based. It also has the option of dual ac inputs for
maximum redundancy. Dual (redundant) low voltage power supplies are standard in the
control cabinet.
1.2.4.1
Control Architecture
The Control system is distributed among four different control boards:
•
Main Controller
•
Life Support
•
PA Cabinet Controller (in the PA Cabinet)
•
Module Controller (in each module)
The Main Controller primarily responsible for transmitter control and monitoring. It
sends out commands and gathers information via the CAN (Controller Area Network)
bus (a high noise immunity, serial communications link). This serial link allows the
Main Controller to communicate with the PA Cabinet Controller and each of the
modules. This greatly reduces the amount of wiring in the transmitter, while allowing
large amounts of information to be gathered from each PA cabinet.
The Main Controller is also responsible for communicating the information gathered to
the front panel GUI (Graphical User Interface) computer and to the parallel remote
control connections on the System I/O board. The GUI connects to the Main Controller
via a serial com port and provides metering, status, fault status, logging, configuration
and calibration. However, it is not actually in control of the transmitter, it simply sends
command request to the Main Controller. Also, keep in mind that while the GUI does
have some control functionality, it can be shut off without disrupting the transmitter
(except for the loss of status and metering).
The Main Controller has three RS232 serial ports, one is connected directly to a com
port on the GUI and the other two are Harris protocol to the Main Controller which can
be used for serial remote control. These are in addition to the parallel remote control
connections to the Life Support and Main Controller boards. The serial ports allow an
external customer supplied PC to be connected either directly or via modem using the
GUI software. This allows Remote GUI operation where the interface is just like the
transmitter GUI display, both aesthetically and functionally.