— 17 —
As the data-entry screens change according to which encod-
er is selected, the intended encoder should be selected prior
to data entry.
With the 703 encoder disconnected from the computer USB
port, you can sample the features of the other Inovonics
RDS encoders by clicking on the different models. All en-
coders are addressed by a uniform protocol, so even if a
.rds
setup file is sent to the wrong hardware, the connected en-
coder will accept only those commands that it can use.
Tools
The
Tools
menu-bar item se-
lects only those special fea-
tures that are available in
more advanced encoder mod-
els. The entries here are
grayed-out to show that they
are not applicable to the 703.
Format
There are three setup selections
made in the
Format
drop-down
menu. You can click on each availa-
ble heading to view and to check the
appropriate boxes.
The first selection,
Station Type (M/S)
sets the RDS ‘Music/Speech’ switch.
Although this flag is little-used, it is best to check the ap-
propriate box, depending on whether your station “plays
the hits,” or carries strictly News/Talk programming.
Likewise with
Txmtr Type (DI)
selection, confirm that
Stereo
is checked. This may seem pointless, as the 703 encoder
cannot be used for monaural transmissions, but it’s best to
play the game by the rules.
The RDS/RBDS selec-
tion is critical as it
defines operation of
the 703 encoder be-
tween the European
RDS and the North
American RBDS stan-
— 18 —
dards. This must be set correctly before the encoder can be
programmed with other options.
For North America (US, Canada and Mexico) the
RBDS (N.
America)
box should be checked, as shown in the illustra-
tion. For the rest of the world, check the
RDS (Europe)
box.
Again, this is important, both in consideration of the PI
code and with regard to the proper PTY list.
Help
The
Help
tab allows the user to turn on and off the ‘hover-
over’ information balloons like the one shown below.
When the
Enable Popup Help
box is checked, helpful infor-
mation will appear for several seconds as the mouse pointer
is positioned over most data entry fields.
When
Read on Startup
is checked, 703 software will ask
whether data should be downloaded from the encoder as
soon as the program is loaded. Particularly if the software
program has been used with a different encoder in the inte-
rim, it is a good idea to bring what is being transmitted cur-
rently onto the data entry screen. This box is checked as a
factory default.
A PDF version of this
Manual (703)
can be found under
Help
,
and information
About
software and firmware versions can
be called up also.
Entering Data
The data entry screen is largely self-explanatory. The illu-
stration at the top of the next page depicts a Model 703 da-
ta entry screen filled-in for a typical US ‘Adult-
Contemporary’ rock station, ready to be uploaded to the en-
coder. The various RDS features and functions will each be
discussed separately.
