Gilderfluke&Co DMX-512, Serial, and MIDI Output Smart Bricks - Manual (Page 33)

a) First Addressed in Eprom: Any DMX-512 data that is sent to the BS-Serial will be passed
through at the same address at which it was received. This command is used to offset the
data from the on-board Eproms to match the addresses that were used when you were pro-
gramming. As an example, if the outputs you are using start at 10, then you need to create
the Eprom files set starting with a ÔstartÕ of 10 in the PC¥MACs program. When playing back
from the BS-Serial, the data will need to be offset to Ф10Х so that the channels are reproduced
at the same locations where they were when you were programming.
b) Baud Rate: This command sets the speed at which serial data is sent out of the BS-SerialÕs seri-
al port when the card isnÕt in configuration mode. The baud rates available on the BS-Serial
are:
1) MIDI baud rate (31,250 baud)
2) 2400 baud
3) 4800 baud
4) 9600 baud
5) 19.2 KBaud
6) 38.4 KBaud
7) 57.6 KBaud
8) 115.2 KBaud
The baud rate must be set to match the device you are trying to talk to. In the case of
MIDIÊ devices, you need to make sure that the baud rate has been set to ÔMIDIÕ. No matter
what baud rate you select here, the configuration mode will always run at 9600 baud.
c) DMX Rx Checksum: This toggle is used to enable and disable the error checking in data re-
ceived through the DMX-512 data input. Without it, the BS-Serial Smart Brick won't be able to
recognize errors in the incoming data, and may update the outputs with this bad data. It
should be left ON whenever running from a PC¥MACs or other DMX-512 source that supports
this checksum. All Gilderfluke & Company send this checksum. If this toggle is ON and the
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
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