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RS-422 & The Akai DR8

the064cobrathe064cobra Posts: 8
in AMX Hardware
I'm hoping someone has an answer for me.
I have a Digital Recorder (Akai DR8) with a RS-422 adapter attached to it. I am using the AMX rs-232/rs-422 card (yes, its wired correctly), attached to it. I've tried communicating with it in many formats including typical Sony Protocol code to no avail. I'm getting no responses what so ever from the units. I actually have 3 of the DR8's and have tried them all.

I've contacted Akai but since they are newer owners, not everything was archived for their use therefore they have nothing about that unit except the instructions manual. The RS-422 is an add-on board (slot) that you plug into the DR8 so there's nothing in the manual about that card.

Does anyone out there know how to communicate with the DR8? If so, could you please provide a simple sample?

I'm pretty disparate.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

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    the064cobrathe064cobra Posts: 8
    OK.... Guess not.

    How about this:

    Does anyone know the proper code formatting for Sony RS422 protocol using AMX? Simple stop, play, rewind, preset location etc would be helpful...
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    huttencmhuttencm Posts: 23
    Hi don't know if this will help. comes from a sony vcr i did in 01.

    "STX,'OPL',ETX" (* PLAY *)
    "STX,'OSP',ETX" (* STOP *)
    "STX,'OPA',ETX" (* PAUSE *)
    "STX,'OPP',ETX" (* STILL *)
    "STX,'OFF',ETX" (* FAST FOWARD *)
    "STX,'ORW',ETX" (* REWIND *)
    "STX,'OSF:5',ETX" (* SEARCH FOWARD *) (the number is for speed of search)
    "STX,'OSR:5',ETX" (* SEARCH REVERSE *) (the number is for speed of search)
    "STX,'POF',ETX" (* POWER OFF *)
    "STX,'PON',ETX" (* POWER ON *)
    "STX,'OEJ',ETX" (* TAPE EJECTED *)
    "STX,'QOP',ETX" (* REQUEST TRANSPORT STATE *)

    just a starting point??

    michael
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    the064cobrathe064cobra Posts: 8
    do your strings require a checksum of any kind? How new is the unit. These units I'm working with are (geesh) 1996 models- I believe using checksums after any command that is sent to the unit.
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    huttencmhuttencm Posts: 23
    no did not need cksum. VCR's were about the same age. they were a broadcast quality VCR being used in classrooms.

    michael
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    the064cobrathe064cobra Posts: 8
    Thanks for the reply. Hopefully it wont be too different on a digital hard drive recorder. The Akai DR8's are very nice looking units. You'd look at it and think it was from this generation.

    I'll give it a shot and see if these units come to life via RS422.

    If it does, I'm sure this will help others in need!

    Rene
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    the064cobrathe064cobra Posts: 8
    One more question...


    "STX,'OPL',ETX"

    is the STX and the ETX variables? If so, what do they equal?
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    Joe HebertJoe Hebert Posts: 2,159
    STX = $02
    ETX = $03
    the064cobra wrote:
    One more question...


    "STX,'OPL',ETX"

    is the STX and the ETX variables? If so, what do they equal?
  • Options
    the064cobrathe064cobra Posts: 8
    Well, it was a no-go. I tried many variations to no avail.

    Does anyone know how to AMX using the Sony 9pin protocal that uses checksums?
    The play command shows as $20,$01. There's code in the front and checksum behind the play command. Anyone have any ideas?

    something like: send_string dr8, "????,$20,$01,CkSum"

    Any clues?
  • Options
    the064cobrathe064cobra Posts: 8
    Finally!!

    I finally figured out a way to get it to work. So, just in case someone else has this issue, you can try this:

    Akai DR8 with RS-422 AND SMPTE:

    The only thing the RS-422 is used in my case is to tell it to stop, so:


    (* this sends the time code to start at on the DR8 *)
    (* the DR8 is placed in 'sync' mode and play is pressed. *)
    (* you'll notice the DR8 just sits there waiting.... *)
    (* So when the unit receives the command below, it plays automatically *)
    (* at that precise time shown below. *)

    SEND_COMMAND SMPTE,'SEND ON-00:59:50:00'


    (* To stop, send the commands below. *)
    (* the 'stop_dr8' tells the unit to stop playing while the *)
    (* 'send off' on the smpte stops any more timecode from *)
    (* being generated. *)

    SEND_STRING DR8,"'STOP_DR8'"
    SEND_COMMAND SMPTE2,'SEND OFF'


    This made my day let me tell you. I hope this helps someone else out there with similar issues. For those that responded, thank you for your contribution!

    RG
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