Gilderfluke&Co DMX-512, Serial, and MIDI Output Smart Bricks - Manual (Page 24)

DMX-512 data received doesnÕt have the checksum in it, both the DMX LED and the ÔBoard
ErrorÕ LED will be ON.
d) Sequencer Enabled: This toggle enables and disables the BS-Serial Smart Brick to use the
Animation Data Eprom. When it is OFF, nothing will be output even when the Smart Brick
Network is active. If it is ON, then the data from the Animation Data Eprom will be sent out
when the Smart Brick Network is active unless the BS-Serial is receiving DMX-512 data, which
takes precedence.
e) Frame Rate /2: This toggle is used to drop the frame rate of the data being played back from
the Eproms or DMX-512 by half. This cuts the number of messages that are sent out the serial
and DMX-512 ports by half. When controlling many serial devices, the limiting factor in the
number of channels that can be controlled is often the amount of data you can jam through
at the highest supported baud rates. A secondary advantage of slowing the frame rate by half
is that the same sized Eprom can then hold twice the time as it otherwise could.
When this feature is used, the main part of the show is typically run at thirty FPS and the
outputs from the BS-Serial will update at fifteen FPS. The show that is used to generate the
Eprom data for a slowed BS-Serial Smart Bricks should be programmed at half the rate of the
rest of the show. This is done by programming the show as normal, saving a duplicate, and
then using the ÔShow InformationÕ dialog to drop the frame rate by half.
f) Numbering System: This toggle is used to select between HEXadecimal or Decimal numbering
systems for display and entries.
g) VT-52 Compatible Display: When this toggle is enabled, the BS-DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks
will use special escape sequences to clear the screen (<ESC>ape 'E'), clear the current line
(<ESC>ape 'l'), or position the cursor (<ESC>ape 'Y' ROW COLUMN). When disabled, the BS-
DMX-Tx or BS-Serial Smart Bricks has to redraw the entire screen to change any value, so it can
save a good deal of screen redraw time if you have a compatible display.
h) Operating Mode: This command us used to toggle through all of the modes that are available
to you on the BS-Serial. If you are just using the BS-Serial for sending serial strings or DMX-512
data, just leave the card in MIDI mode and donÕt set up any of the MIDI-Specific commands.
As of this writing, the modes available on the BS-Serial are:
1) MIDI: Sends MIDI key on and key off commands
2) Intelix: Sends strings to control Intelix brand matrix mixers
3)
Rexroth quick write: Supports serial control of Mannesmann Rexroth DCC Servo cards
4) Orpan (LSB first): One of two modes to support serial control of Orpan motion bases
5) Orpan (MSB first): One of two modes to support serial control of Orpan motion bases
6) Moog / DOF mode: One of two modes to support serial control of Moog electric mo-
tion bases
7) Moog / length mode: One of two modes to support serial control of Moog electric mo-
tion bases
i) Monitor Channel: This command is used to select a channel that is used to build up a serial
string byte-by-byte from the animation data, and then send it out at the appropriate time. It
can be used to send any ÔspecialÕ commands you might need to send to the equipment
being controlled by the BS-Serial. Any string of any length up to 256 bytes can be built up and
sent using this feature. It is typically used to send commands to the serially controlled equip-
ment that doesnÕt need to be sent regularly. Typical of these commands are initialization and
de-initialization strings.
This command asks for the address of an eight bit value in the animation data. If you enter
an address of 255/0FFh, this feature will be disabled. Once set (and configuration mode exit-
ed), the BS-Serial will begin monitoring this location for any non-zero values. Once it finds one
non-zero value, it starts buffering whatever values it finds in this location in each subsequent
frame of animation data into a buffer. If it then finds two consecutive frames of animation
data with a zero value in them, it will then immediately send out the entire string that has
been built up.
The advantage of using this mode of sending strings is that any string can be built up and
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