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Author Topic: Control cp650 with rs232 Claus Christensen Film Handler Posts: 2 From: soellested lolland denmark Registered: Apr 2010 posted 05-01-2010 01:48 PM                        hey, in our cinema we have a CP650 sound processor, is it possible to control the volume with some sort of RS232 commands? have anyone ever tried that?  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 05-01-2010 02:48 PM                        Yes it is possible, and Yes we do it here. We have our 650 connected to an AMX via rs232 and can control format, mute, and volume as far as how to program it I cannot help you there.  |  IP: Logged Claus Christensen Film Handler Posts: 2 From: soellested lolland denmark Registered: Apr 2010 posted 05-01-2010 05:00 PM                        i did manage to find the commands to control fader level and format on this page http://www.iceco.com/Dolby/CP650%20%20Serial%20Control.pdf *note to self* must remember to google the right keywords before posting a topic* sorry  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 05-02-2010 11:58 PM                     Yep you found the right stuff..but two notes: #1: DO NOT try the method using the "REMOTES" bus, it is very flaky on RS-232, the "REMOTES" bus should only be used for Dolby's remotes. #2: You MUST remember to disconnect your RS-232 control when using a laptop to run the Dolby setup software. I have AMX program code to fully control the formats and volume, as well as provide level feedback info to the AMX for display on the touchpanel. Works great.  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 05-03-2010 11:47 AM                        Is there a freeware program that you can use to send rs 232 commands? Either one where you can type out each command or one where you can program buttons on screen to send a certain command? I am interested in trying to control a cp 650 from a pa sound/lighting booth below the main projection booth using a pc.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 05-03-2010 12:03 PM                     Sean, None that I am aware of, but if you're just after CP-650 control I can set you up with a pre-programmed AMX master, 8 or 16 button keypad and power supply cheap. Send me an email and we'll talk.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 05-03-2010 01:13 PM                     As for just a serial spitter program...Ray Derrick of Panalogic fame wrote one (Serial Talk) for testing/debugging. It has been my favorite. You can create command sets for different processors and then just hit one button to execute. I sent it in a long time ago...I guess it hasn't hit the top of the list yet. There are many devices out there that will allow you to have pushbuttons that let you send serial commands too. One of the ones we sell are by Mediatech (Buttonmate). Steve  |  IP: Logged Demetris Thoupis Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1240 From: Aradippou, Larnaca, Cyprus Registered: Apr 2001 posted 05-03-2010 04:53 PM                     There is a nifty program called Docklight. Google it. I use it for testing rs232 control when programming crestron. Demetris  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 05-03-2010 08:29 PM                        Thanks guys! Tony I have an AMX I could sell you! It seems like maybe steve's suggestion might work. I want to be able to have a window on a pc with buttons that I can label and program to send ascii instructions out of the serial port.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-04-2010 07:55 AM                        Look at the Mediatech box that Steve sells. I have used them and recommend it. The major limitation with it is that it is a one-way-only device. It can send commands, but cannot interpret responses. Note that you will have to disconnect any existing RS-232 control devices from your CP650 in order to attach something else. If you have an existing AMX system, this may be a problem, unless it uses contact closures instead of RS-232. Also, RS-232 does have length limits. Anything longer than 50 feet at 9600 baud may not work reliably (slower speeds will work over longer runs). There are some RS-232 to IP converter boxes, but they have issues as well. Depending on what you want to do, the Dolby remote boxes might actually be a better option.  |  IP: Logged Robert Minichino Master Film Handler Posts: 350 From: Haskell, NJ, USA Registered: Dec 2005 posted 05-04-2010 09:17 AM                        If you must use RS-232 over long distances, you can get a simple differential line driver/receiver pair to extend the line over Cat5 to hundreds of feet. Gefen makes a set for about $100.  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 05-04-2010 11:54 AM                        Is there software available that will allow you to use a pc over cat 5 to control an amx in addition to the touch screen? This way the touch screen would be the primary controller but we would have the option to control the 650, dma-8, all our decks, and the auto patch from our downstairs sound booth?  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-04-2010 12:14 PM                        Well, you could always get another AMX touch panel. They even make wireless touch panels. I hate touch panels, but I'm not sure how a computer with a mouse would be much better. Talk to whoever installed your AMX system--there may be some option for web interface or something like that. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the people who install these systems really have no concept of how they are actually used in real life, and the result is buggy software combined with poor ergonomics. Rant on. Colleges seem to love these things (Crestron or AMX touch panels) for some reason. Almost every college lecture hall or screening venue has one now. (This stuff was just starting to come in when I graduated from college a decade ago; before then, classrooms just had an overhead projector, a slide projector, and maybe a ceiling-mounted CRT video projector and/or 16mm projectors in a booth. Oh, and a good professor who could make the material intersting without over-the-top visual aids.) A typical setup would have separate pages for house lights, video projector, sound system, DVD player, slide projectors, microphones, etc. The problem with this setup is that starting or ending a film/video show requires stepping through several different pages, which can make the timing awkward. Worse, the "dangerous" options (e.g. power off video projector) are often located near the important options (e.g. video projector douser open/close). Many of them even neglect important options (such as the subtitle on/off button for a DVD player), which means that the actual remote control for the unit is still needed (but often is missing batteries or just plain missing). And of course the "35mm film" and "16mm film" buttons always get buried somewhere in the menu structure, and often do not work as intended. These are all issues that could be fixed easily enough if the people who programmed the devices ever had to actually work with them, but this never seems to happen. The separate-functions-on-separate-pages approach is probably OK for a professor who wants to show a DVD to his class, but it is nearly impossible to put on a professional show with a system that is set up in this way, especially since manual controls (e.g. for houselights) are often not provided or conveniently located, and these systems rarely have the appropriate guest inputs for equipment that may need to be rented for special shows (Digi-Beta, HDCAM, etc.). Rant off.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 05-04-2010 02:35 PM                     Scott, you wouldn't be ranting if you saw my AMX programming for the screening room I just finished at UC Irvine. They have a lot of "Smart Classrooms" that have the exact problems you talk about. (That and the morons who installed them have no clue how to wire audio at all, none of the shields are connected anywhere and they wonder why they have hum and noise issues. ) Sean, for the older Axcess platform AMX makes AXlink bus to RS-232 converter boxes (Axlink is good for at least 500 feet.) The newer Netlink platform of course uses CAT 5e/6 so distance is not a problem. So it would be possible to situate that RS-232 box at your computer and feed Axlink/Netlink to your AMX system to do what you want. Cool thing about AMX/Crestron is that pretty much anything you could want to do is possible with the right programmer and hardware.  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 05-04-2010 03:30 PM                        Yeah Scott I hear you loud and clear. It is very frustrating that you are left with a closed system that cannot be modified. If you have seperate video and audio inputs that are programmed to be switched together you cannot split them. It is very frustrating. Tony, would adding another touch screen mimick the control's of the one installed or would it have to be programmed seperately from scratch?  |  IP: Logged

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