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Section VI
CONNECTING THE 730 ENCODER
TO AUTOMATION
A serial (RS-232) connection is the easiest and thus the pre-
ferred method of communicating with the 730 Encoder when it
is co-located with the station playout system, or whenever an
RS-232 link is available between automation and the encoder.
IP-network connection of the 730 Encoder is detailed in the
next section of the manual.
The software that already has been detailed in the USB discus-
sion is the same used for serial communication. As previously
recommended, initial setup is easiest with a USB link. The fol-
lowing tutorial will give instructions on serial connection with
the 730 Encoder.
SERIAL CONNECTION
If currently connected, disconnect the USB cable from the en-
coder. Using the DB9 serial cable provided, connect the com-
puter to the 730 Encoder.
The factory default for RS-232 serial communication speed is
9600 baud. Acceptable baud rates are 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600,
19200, 38400, 57600 and 115200. The 730 Encoder may be
addressed at the highest, 115200 baud speed, but the trifling
amount of data that is ever uploaded to the encoder really
makes the highest speed a matter of supreme overkill. Even the
default 9600 baud setting is lightning-fast for encoder pro-
gramming. Modest baud rates may prove far more dependable,
especially with long data cable runs. The lowest baud-rate set-
tings are useful when the encoder is addressed using a dial-up
modem or a slow data channel that is part of an STL radio link.
In the Menu Bar, click:
Device
and then
730
and finally
RS-232
. This will bring up
a box labeled
RS232 Settings
. In this box
the baud rate of the computer and encod-
er ports may be set manually using drop-
down menus, or a handy built-in utility
will automatically determine settings.
COM Port
Auto-Detect
Clicking:
Auto-Detect
starts a software utility that will interro-
gate all computer COM ports, determine which one is con-
nected to the 730 Encoder, and set the computer’s baud rate to
match the encoder. A valid connection will be confirmed by a
notification at the bottom of the window showing auto-
detection progress. Keep the on-screen warning in mind; this