Axcent 3 and Projector

ryanww

Hey,

I am having some odd issues. I am trying to get a Sharp XG-PH50X to communicate with a Axcent 3 controller via serial. I have it set up right. The projector is set to 38,000 baud, and the port is set up to be 38000,n,8,1. I am able to communicate to the projector if I connect it straight to my PC using the netlinx terminal. I don't get it. I have used both small serial cables I have and both worked going between the computer and the projector. It doesn't require handshaking and it is also turned off on the port. I have even tried using one of those cat5 converters so I can swap the wires and I used a axb-em232 that I have and that isn't receiving anything back. Does anyone have any idea on what is going on?


Thanks in advance,

Ryan

Marc Scheibein

Please check the baud first:

DEFINE_START
SEND_COMMAND dvMyCom,'SET BAUD 38400,N,8,1'
SEND_COMMAND dvMyCom,'HSOFF' (* hardware handshake off *)
SEND_COMMAND dvMyCom,'XOFF' (* software handshake off *)

- if you connect pins 2+3 directly at the AXcent3 and send a string, will you receive something (TX and RX LED should blink simultanly)?
- is your serial cable only using pins 2, 3 and 5? Some of the other pins (1,4,6,9) are not RS232 standard

Regards,

NMarkRoberts

If you can get a reply using your PC and not using your controller, there is either a software or a hardware fault in the controller.

We need an FAQ to list all of the options to solve this, the most fundamental problem an AMX programmer has to solve!

Try this: connect your PC running HyperTerminal or similar (instead of the device in question) to your NetLinx, set everything up the way you expect it to be, see what comes through on the screen.

DHawthorne

I went out and bought an RS-232 breakout box for these situations. I can then see what lines are live when connected with a computer, and compare it to what's live when connected to my controller. The breakout box I use has jumpers you can use to rearrange and connect lines together on the fly; it doesn't usually take much to figure out what needs to be changed.

I have often found cases like this where the documentation was either wrong or used misleading terminology. This particular case sounds like the projector does require hardware handshaking, and those lines aren't connected at the Axcent3.

ryanww

I have confirmed with the Get Baud command that the settings of the port are correct. It does say in the manual that flow control is not needed. I am guessing that is software handshaking (X). I will try hooking up the Hardware handshaking and see if that works. I am using a pre made cable to go between the axcent and the projector and I also tried using a cable that I can connect the pins I want. That one is only using 2,3,5. I have tried swapping the xmit and receive pins to see if that solves it. And I can control it if I use a pre-made cable to go between my computer and it using just netlinx terminal out the serial port.

Thanks for the help!

Ryan

Thomas Hayes

Just some quick things to check, when you activate a function for the projector do you see the AMX Tx LED come on?
- Have you tried to swap the port.
-How far are you away from the projector.
-Can you lower the baud rate of the projector.

Chip Moody

If this is a "pre-made" cable as in "it probably has all 9 wires going through", then yeah - it will work perfectly off of your computer, but there's more than a good chance that it WON'T work if you plug it into a com port on an Axcent 3.

The DB-9 com ports on AMX processors ARE NOT wired the same way as PCs/Laptops!!!

When you're doing DB-9 RS232 cables between any device and an AMX controller you should NEVER use more than pins 2, 3, 5, 7 & 8 on the AMX side. (There are RARE occasions where you'll need to jumper pins 4 & 6 on the device end, or do some other similar hack with those two pins, but never on the AMX end of the cable)

This may be old news to you - I'm re-iterating it to be sure and for the benefit of anyone else reading this that may not be aware.

If your 2, 3 & 5 cable - even after trying the swap - doesn't cut it, there's a chance that the projector does in fact require hardware handshaking, in which case you'll need to get/make a cable that includes pins 7 & 8, and do a HSON command in your port setup instead of HSOFF. (I had this with a particular Sharp model a few years ago - after many happy years of just using 2, 3 & 5 with Sharps. Every other Sharp I've seen since then hasn't required it either - go figure...) If your "pre-made" cable has a male connector on one end, you could take some needlenose pliers or a tweaker even and snap out pins 1, 4, 6 & 9. I can pretty much guarantee you that you will never have a need for those, even if you kept the cable to use between your computer and other RS232 devices. (If you use it to program a Clear One DSP, the software will complain about DSR/DTR not being there, but it will still work!)

Just to be 100%, you could also post some of the program code you have that's sending commands to the projector - maybe there's something snuck in there that's throwing things off.

- Chip

ryanww wrote:

And I can control it if I use a pre-made cable to go between my computer and it using just netlinx terminal out the serial port

Dries Kaspers

You need to cross connect (or short at projector) pins 7 & 8 to enable Rx with this model. Please verify that the projector's energy saving option is disabled or it will disable the rs232 port in standby mode.

Chip Moody

You make it sound as if properly wiring a cable to include pins 7 & 8 to the control system won't do the trick?

Dries Kaspers wrote:

You need to cross connect (or short at projector) pins 7 & 8 to enable Rx with this model. Please verify that the projector's energy saving option is disabled or it will disable the rs232 port in standby mode.

ryanww

Ok, after investigating it further, this is getting weirder. I have tried xon and xoff, hson and hsoff, and even b9mon and b9moff. It still is not working. I took a cable that I made using the cat5-db9 so it is custom. I only connected pins 2,3,and 5 to my laptop straight and it is still able to communicate. That is all that is connected to the projector. I tried shorting 7 and 8 and also connecting them to the controller with hson and still nothing. I have used an axcent 3, em-232, axb-232++, and a axb-pccom. Nothing will work. It is transmitting and the xmit led does flash when I send out a string. The rx light does not come on though. It does though if I short the xmit and rx pins. Right now I am not using any code. I am just connecting to the master using terminal and sending strings out the device port. I am just using commands like 'POWR 1' (3 blank spaces and should power on the projector). I know that it is communicating in standby because when I connect it straight to the computer I can ask it the power status 'POWR????' and it replies with a 0 or 1. I have verified all the dip switches were all set to the On position for the axc-pccom and the axb-232++. This is really confusing me. I have never had this many problems with a serial connection. The only bad thing I had was trying to find the rs-422 pinout on a barco projector.

Could it be sending it too fast or something like that? I have tried doing a 9600 baud and still nothing. I will try that again though. It will also do the 115000 one or whatever that speed is but the system that will actually be controlling it will not have the ability to do that speed. I am going to be using a axcess card frame and an axc-232. Oh, and the cat5 is about 20' long and the stock cables I have are 5' and 10'.

Thanks again, Ryan

Hedberg

Right now I am not using any code. I am just connecting to the master using terminal and sending strings out the device port. I am just using commands like 'POWR 1' (3 blank spaces and should power on the projector).

I see these projectors all the time and almost never have a problem. I think they take a null cable and they do not require handshaking, though shorting 7 and 8 on the projector end won't hurt anything. A couple years ago there were some that would not communicate at certain baud rates, but that doesn't seem to be your problem. The famous RXON doesn't seem to be a problem either (you get a string return when you short 2 and 3).

Are you sure that you are getting the carriage return at the end of your string? the Sharp projectors, I think, will not respond if you don't include it.
Like so:

send_string dvProj,"'POWR 1',13"

Because you are getting it to work with your PC, I'm guessing that you are getting the "13"
transmittted from the PC, but not from the Axcent. I'm guessing.

NMarkRoberts

Cr,lf

Idea 1:

I wasted a LOT of time recently on a device that wanted both CR and LF in that order on sent commands which of course is automagically done by the terminal software but not by your controller unless you code it so.

Idea 2:

You still haven't confirmed that you can see strings coming out of the controller by plugging the port into your PC.

ryanww

You know what, I bet it is the cr that it isn't seeing. I am going to try that because I bet that is it. I will let you know. It makes sence because it would only reply to that from the computer.

Ryan

yuri

you NEED the CR (decimal 13, hex 0D), otherwise it just wont work.
But, it's not that your terminal client from your computer sends that out "automagically"

Hedberg

you NEED the CR (decimal 13, hex 0D), otherwise it just wont work.
But, it's not that your terminal client from your computer sends that out "automagically"

I just checked hyperterm to see what it does. It sends out the characters as they are typed and when you hit the Enter key it sends out 13 (hexOD). I never really gave it much thought, especially since I don't use hyperterm much. But, the few times that I have used it, it's seemed natural to me to terminate a string by hitting enter. So, while it's not magic, it's probably pretty easy to send out carriage return characters without realizing it.

ryanww

Yea, that is what I realized when you had send include the cr. I was just getting caught up on that. Well it works now, so thank you very much!

P.S. I wasn't using hyperterminal, I was using the netlinx terminal. I suppose it might be using the same system though.

Ryan