Gilderfluke&Co DMX-512, Serial, and MIDI Output Smart Bricks - Manual (Page 15)

BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks Configuration:
To communicate with the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks through the serial port, you can use just
about any computer or terminal which has a serial port on it. Some newer computer designs, like the
Apple Macintosh, come with serial ports which are directly compatible with the RS-422 / RS-485 signal lev-
els the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks wants to see. These signal levels are close enough to be used
with the RS-232 signal levels found on most older computers (like most IBMs and compatibles) with only a
simple adapter cable, so long as the wire isn't too long. To gain the full advantage of the RS-422 / RS-485
signal levels you will need to use a signal level adapter like our 232conv-09.
If you are using a computer as a terminal you will need to run a modem or terminal emulation pro-
gram. These will send everything you type on the keyboard out the serial port on your computer while
printing on the screen anything which comes in from the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks through the
serial port. Every copy of Windows 3.1 comes with TERM.EXE, which is just such a program. Windows Ô95 &
Windows Ô98 comes with a (not quite as good) terminal program called ÔHyper TermÕ
2 . Z-Term is available
as shareware (free) from most bulletin board systems and users groups for Macintosh computers. A
modem program will usually have the advantage over a terminal emulation program in that it will allow
you to save data to your computer's disk drives and then send it back to the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart
Bricks at a later date. The BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks uses no screen control codes or ESCape se-
quences (unless VT-52 compatible mode has been enabled), so it should work on any machine with an
eighty column by twenty-four line display. Machines with other display formats will work, but may not look
so neat on the screen.
When configuring your modem program, you should set it for 9600 baud, 8 data bits, one stop bit and
no parity. If your terminal emulation program supports VT-52 terminal emulation (they all do!), you should
enable it. This will allow faster screen redraws if 'VT-52 compatible' mode is enabled on the BS-DMX-Tx or
BS-Serial Smart Bricks. You should set your program NOT to insert an extra LineFeed (LF) character after
each Carriage Return (CR) it receives. You should also tell it NOT to scroll automatically after the eightieth
column is filled. If either of these are on, the screen will be displayed 'double spaced'. This won't cause
any problem, but may make it hard to see the whole screen at one time.
If you have hooked up the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks to your computer and it still doesn't seem
to respond to the keyboard, the first thing to check is that you are attached to the right serial port. The
easiest way to do this is to disconnect the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks and short between the Tx
data out and Rx data in pins on the serial port connector on the back of your computer. On all IBMs and
compatibles this means sticking a piece of wire, paper clip, or similar tool between pins 2 and 3 on the
'Com.' connector. While still running the modem program, anything you type should be shown on the
screen while this paper clip is in place, while nothing will appear when you remove it. If your computer
passes this test, then you are using the right serial port and the problem is most likely the baud rate setting
or in your wiring to the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks. If you get characters on the screen even with
the paper clip removed from the serial port, it means you probably need to set the 'echo' mode to 'none'
or 'full duplex' and try this test again.
To enter the configuration mode on a BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Brick, you need to ground the pin
shown on the connection diagrams. This can be done on the backplane or the connector on the front of
the card. Plugging in a six conductor modular cable from a Gilderfluke & Company RS-232 to RS-422 con-
verter will automatically do this for you and put the card into configuration mode.
Configuration mode uses the same serial port as any string or other special outputs. Entering configu-
ration mode will immediately stop the normal serial port outputs, force the card to 9600 baud, no parity,
eight data bits and one stop bit.
All numeric values in configuration mode are entered in HEXadecimal (0-9, A through F) or Decimal
numbers (0-9), as selected on the menu. Each number consist of one or more ASCII characters followed
by a <RETURN> (<ENTER> on some keyboards). If more characters have been entered before the <RE-
TURN> than are allowed, then the characters already entered will scroll to the left to make room for the
new entries. Once a command has been invoked, characters can be erased one-by-one by using the
<DELETE> key (<BACKSPACE> on some keyboards). An entire entry can be erased by hitting the
<ESC>ape key. A command can be canceled altogether by hitting the <RETURN> key (<ENTER> on
G ILDERFLUKE & C O .¥ 205 S. F LOWER S T . ¥ B URBANK , CA 91502 ¥ 818/840-9484 ¥ 800/776-5972 ¥ FAX 818/840-9485
15 of 48
2 If possible, copy Ôterm.exeÕ from your older PC and put it onto your Windows Ô95 or Windows Ô98
machine. After all, you probably already own it.