IP control of various devices

JohnMichnr

I did some control over IP 3-4 years ago and have not done any since. The product at the time was a Sony projector that would close down the IP port (timeout) after a while, so I got in the habit of openeing the TCP/IP client up - sending commands, waiting for responce, checking for new commands and closing the client.

I ya'lls experience, is opening and closing the port really necessary with different pieces of gear? I have an Extron router in a new project that I will need to control, and a Peavey Nion in another project.

Do people open and close, or jsut open and keep open?

DHawthorne

Some gear requires it (including the MAX). You connect, send one command, it responds and closes the connection. It's an accepted way of doing IP, but not by any means universal.

JohnMichnr

So I am assuming that like everything else, in the imortal words of Pat Brown (if you don't know - never mind) It Depends...

THere is going to be a different soultion for each piece?

DOes teh gear let you know that (other than by slaming the connection closed?) At elast with the sony the protocol manual said the connection would timeout. But I was reading the Extron manual and they didn't even tell what port they operated on, much any information on connection closure. (I am assuming they use 23 as they kept mentioning telnet.)

dchristo

I've worked with the Nion, and have had no problems keeping the port open. I am, however, polling for status once per second, and I don't know if it times-out if you're not polling.

--D

[Deleted User]

JohnMichnr wrote:

So I am assuming that like everything else, in the imortal words of Pat Brown (if you don't know - never mind) It Depends...

THere is going to be a different soultion for each piece?

DOes teh gear let you know that (other than by slaming the connection closed?) At elast with the sony the protocol manual said the connection would timeout. But I was reading the Extron manual and they didn't even tell what port they operated on, much any information on connection closure. (I am assuming they use 23 as they kept mentioning telnet.)

I have controlled Extron via IP on the Telnet port 23. The port will stay open.

Yes, each device tends to be different.

[Deleted User]

I prefer connecting and maintaining the connection vs only connecting when you have something to send, just because the MSG ON telnet sessions get all garbaged up with socket status messages. The downside is you have to maintain the connection by polling, if you don't get the responses you expect, reestablish the connection, etc.

For systems with a high number of IP devices it may be better to only connect when you have something to send as long as you aren't blasting commands to a bunch at the same time.

JohnMichnr

Thanks for the responces.

dchristo wrote:

I've worked with the Nion, and have had no problems keeping the port open. I am, however, polling for status once per second, and I don't know if it times-out if you're not polling.

are you pooling for volume/mute status etc? I am just starting my coding for the unit and have not decided what way to go with it. They help files mentioned something about command groups, I have not gone into that too far and was wondering how they could be used.

[Deleted User]

JohnMichnr wrote:

They help files mentioned something about command groups, I have not gone into that too far and was wondering how they could be used.

The command group 'scheduler' on the Peavey Nion is pretty cool. Bascially you tell it what aliases you want to report feedback and time in 1 second increments. You can have different groups that report back in different time increments. Using this means you don't have to poll for updates.

It situations where you have room combining and large numbers of levels being updated (a large room consisting of multiple smaller rooms for example) you want to increase the report time (like maybe 5-10 seconds) so the master doesn't get slammed when levels are ramping. Otherwise I usually just put the report time at 1 second for mute buttons and whatnot.

It will also provide updates when they use the Peavey GUI.

Kurt

IP control

Just did a job where I am monitoring 9 projectors via IP. The projectors will keep the port open most of the time. They will however close it from on occasion. Thing like a power loss will also disconnect the connection. In the Netlinx code I monitor the connection. If it goes away then I close up my end, Wait a few seconds and try to re-open. This worked well. Not all the projectors were installed when I started and they all came online once they were installed. Data gathered is sent to Meeting Manager so I want to be connected all the time. I also suspect for many items no activity may lead to a disconnect. Polling at regular intervals will help keep connection.

dchristo

JohnMichnr wrote:

are you pooling for volume/mute status etc? I am just starting my coding for the unit and have not decided what way to go with it. They help files mentioned something about command groups, I have not gone into that too far and was wondering how they could be used.

Yes, I'm polling for various status using a command group. I haven't used the group scheduler yet, because I'm reusing a module I wrote for the previous MediaMatrix, and haven't had a chance to look into the new Nion RATC2 protocol.

Command groups are nice, because you can poll the group, and not individual controls.

--D