ACS Compact flash User manual

Compact FLASH
Digital Audio
System
Revision 2.1a
Friday, March 02, 2001
6233 E. Sawgrass Rd Sarasota, FL. 34240 [phone] FAX[phone]
www.acscontrol.com
Copyright(c)1992-2001 by ACS, Sarasota, FL ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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Table of Contents
Overview: ................................................................................................................................. 3
Features:................................................................................................................................................... 3
Connections ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Contact Input Connector Pinout ....................................................................................................... 4
DB-9 Serial Connector Pinout.......................................................................................................... 4
Power & Speaker Connectors...........................................................................................................4
Programming the Compact FLASH Card..................................................................................... 5
Installing and Removing the Compact FLASH Card...............................................................................5
Audio Rates Supported............................................................................................................................ 5
Filename Formats..................................................................................................................................... 5
Sample Filenames............................................................................................................................. 7
Compact FLASH Card Loading and Scanning................................................................................. 7
Background Audio track................................................................................................................... 7
RS-232 Serial Port Protocol ............................................................................................................. 8
Card Requirements .................................................................................................................................. 8
Diagnostic LED Indicator Codes (Red & Green LEDs)............................................................... 8
Green LED............................................................................................................................................... 8
Red LED Error Flashes............................................................................................................................ 8
Power Requirements ..................................................................................................................... 9
Digital Audio Recording Procedures ......................................................................................... 10
Procedure............................................................................................................................................... 10
Optional Contact Outputs ...................................................................................................................... 11
PC & Mac Card Readers.............................................................................................................. 12
Type (1) : ISA Interface.................................................................................................................. 12
Type (2) : SCSI Interface................................................................................................................ 12
Type (1): Parallel Port Interface..................................................................................................... 12
Type (2): SCSI Interface................................................................................................................. 12
Type (3): Universal Serial Bus (USB) Interface............................................................................. 13
PCMCIA to Compact Flash Adapters......................................................................................... 13
Sample Power Up Messages ...................................................................................................... 13
Sample Card Insertion Messages............................................................................................... 14
Kingston 8meg....................................................................................................................................... 14
Kingston 16meg..................................................................................................................................... 14
Centenial 8meg Card.............................................................................................................................. 15
Sample Directory Listings........................................................................................................... 15
Firmware Revisions..................................................................................................................... 17

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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Overview:
Thank you for purchasing the Compact FLASH Digital Audio System; be assured that it will provide
you with thousands of hours of trouble free, solid-state operation. You will also find that it is simple to
change audio themes or tracks and is easy to make your own recordings or “program” the device.
End users can change the audio themes or tracks simply by inserting another, different Compact
FLASH Card, as easily as the changing of a cassette tape. Multiple cards can be programmed with different
audio themes or tracks allowing daily, hourly, weekly or monthly changes. It truly is as simple as removing
the old card and plugging in the new one. Depending on the manufacturer, Compact FLASH Cards may be
re-used up to 10,000 times.
Sound files are easily copied onto the card via your PC or laptop, using a Compact FLASH to
PCMCIA, Compact FLASH to USB or parallel port adapter. Once the files are copied to the Compact
FLASH Card, they are renamed. This process instructs the Compact FLASH Digital Audio System how
and when to play the copied files.
Features:
The Compact FLASH Digital Audio System incorporates the following features:
• Uses inexpensive, industry standard Compact FLASH (CF) Cards up to 32meg in size.
• A 32meg CF Card provides up to 69 minutes of audio at an 8KHz sampling rate and up to 34
minutes at a 16KHz sampling rate.
• On board AC to DC rectification.
• On board 20 Watt Amplifier.
• Connector for external 12VAC/DC - 28VAC/DC power input
• Higher voltage levels raise the audio output levels.
• RS-232 Serial Port for controlling audio via computer or PLC.
• Eight (8) optically-isolated inputs for triggering individual audio tracks.
• Expandable with optional board for a total of 16 or 32 optically-isolated inputs
• Optional board for contact outputs activated with sound for sound steering
• Diagnostic LED’s to indicate operating status.

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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Connections
Contact Inputs
Operation & Card Indicators
Compact FLASH Card Slot
Front View
Rear View
RS-232 Command Port
Volume ControlLine Level Out Speaker OutAC/DC Power InAC/DC Wall Transformer In
+-
Contact Input Connector Pinout
DB-9 Serial Connector Pinout
Power & Speaker Connectors
Pin # Signal Name
1 Ground(GND) Left most pin
2 Ground(GND)
3 Input #8
4 Input #7
5 Input #6
6 Input #5
7 Input #4
8 Input #3
9 Input #2
10 Input #1
11 Ground(GND)
12 Ground(GND) Right most pin
Pin # Signal Name
5 Ground(GND)
2 TX (from unit)
3 RX (to unit)
Baud Rate 2400 N, 8, 1
Pin # Signal Name
1(Left) Power In 12V – 24V AC or +-DC
2(Right) Power In 12V – 24V AC or +-DC
1(Left) Speaker Out + 4 – 16 ohm
2(Right) Speaker Out - 4 – 16 ohm

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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Programming the Compact FLASH Card
The Compact FLASH Card is programmed by inserting it into the PCMCIA slot of a Compact FLASH
to PCMCIA adapter or a Compact FLASH adapter connected to your parallel port. Sound files are copied
to the Compact FLASH Card just as if it were a disk drive. The files used are the standard “*.WAV” files
typically employed by Windows and DOS audio applications for years.
When a new Compact FLASH Card is first installed into your computer, Windows (95 or later) should
recognize the device and install the software necessary to access the card. After the software installation is
complete, the Compact FLASH Card appears as a disk drive icon under My Computer. You may then use
Windows Explorer to drag and drop the sound files from your computer’s hard disk directly to the Compact
FLASH Card icon. It really is just that easy.
Please take care not to use audio tracks that are copyrighted. If you wish to avoid this issue, you will
find that many computer software outlets have CD’s with non-copyrighted music and audio sound effects
that you may use without limitation. They are commonly found in the multimedia section. Please be ad-
vised that the user himself is solely responsible for audio he both records and plays from the Compact
FLASH Digital Audio System.
Installing and Removing the Compact FLASH Card
Care should be taken when installing or removing the Compact FLASH Card. Please be certain to in-
sert the card with a straight and level motion. Please do not force the card to insert. Otherwise, some of the
50 pins in the socket may become damaged and the card and/or Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
may become unusable.
Before REMOVING the Compact FLASH Card under Windows 95 or later, Microsoft recommends
that you double click on the PCMCIA icon at the bottom of your computer screen. This will bring up the pc
card [PCMCIA] properties window. Click on socket status tab, then select the card you wish to remove by
clicking on it. Finally, click on the stop button. Windows will then tell you that the card socket services
have been stopped.
On the Compact FLASH Digital Audio System this will all happen automatically simply by removing
the card, although its not recommended that the card be inserted or removed while power is applied.
Audio Rates Supported
The Compact FLASH Digital Audio System supports mono 8-bit Wave files at a sampling rate of up
to 16KHz. Lower sampling rates are supported for longer play-outs. The Compact FLASH Digital Audio
System reads the sampling rates and formats encoded in the .WAV sound files whenever a card is first in-
serted. The Compact FLASH Digital Audio System will not play any file that does not meet these re-
quirements. Further, this error condition should be identified by the red led flashing twice every two sec-
onds.
NOTE: If high sample rate audio files play-out with skips or stop playing before completion, you may
need to re-format the Compact FLASH Card to eliminate the condition known as excessive file fragmenta-
tion. Compact FLASH cards must only be formatted using the FAT file system. FAT32 or NTFS formats
are not supported. The maximum supported partition size is 32meg.
Filename Formats
The filenames of the individual Sound files on the Compact FLASH Card control how and when the
sounds are played out by the Compact FLASH Digital Audio System. The filenames must start with the
input number they are associated with expressed as a two digit HEX number.

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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The Hex numbering system has a base of 16 as compared to the decimal system which has a base of
ten. A Hex numeric digit is 0 through F, 0 being equal to decimal 0, and F being equal to 15. The first digit
(MSB) of the two digit hex number is multiplied by 16. The second digit (LSB) is added to the adjusted
value derived from the first digit. The number 10 in Hex is thus equal to 16 decimal. The number 20 Hex
is 32 decimal, 21 Hex is 33 decimal, and 7F Hex is 127 decimal. For your convenience, a decimal to hex
conversion table is provided below:
LSB
→
→→
→
MSB
↓
↓↓
↓
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
00123456789101112131415
116 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
232 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47
348 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63
464 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
580 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95
696 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111
7112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127
For example, a sound file associated with input #1 would be named “01.WAV,” a sound file for input
#10 would be named “0A.WAV,” a file for input #16 would be “10.WAV” and a file for input #36 would
be “24.WAV”. There is no input #0 and so “00.WAV” is reserved and should not be used.
The two digit hex input number must be the first two characters in the filename.
Additional letter tokens are appended to the input # in the filename to determine when and how the audio
sound is played. The Compact FLASH Digital Audio System provides eight inputs in its standard con-
figuration and, by adding an optional board, can be expanded to either 16 or 32 total inputs. The inputs can
be wired to switches or other such devices, either normally opened or normally closed.
You can also connect the RS-232 port of the Compact FLASH Digital Audio System to the RS-232 port
of your computer or PLC to control up to 127 sound commands.
The filename letter tokens are described as follows:
If a “C” appears after the hex number in the filename, the sound file will be played on a closure of the
corresponding input or serial command. The sound will start playing when an input goes from an open to
closed state.
If a “O” appears after the hex number in the filename, the file is played on a opening of the
corresponding input or serial command. The sound will start when an input goes from a closed to an open
stateIf a “P” after the hex number in the filename, the file will play only while the “C”or“O” state is true.
If “C,” it will play while the input is closed and it will stop playing the sound when the input is opened. If
“O,” it will play while the input is open and it will stop playing the sound when the input is closed.
If an “R” appears in the filename, the sound is repeated, that is to say that the same sound file plays
over and over. If used in conjunction with the “P” command, the sound file will repeat the entire time the

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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“C”or“O” input condition is true. If “C,” the entire time the input is closed, if “O,” the entire time the
input is open. If triggered without a “P,” the file will play indefinitely or until another sound is played.
If an “S” is used in the filename, an optional contact closure will be activated when the file is played.
(version 1.5 and later firmware only)
Sample Filenames
“01C.WAV” - This file would play once, when triggered by input #1 closing
“02O.WAV” - This file would play once, when triggered by input #2 opening
“04CP.WAV” - This file would play once, when triggered by input #4 closing and play only while in-
put #4 was closed without repeating.
“07CPR.WAV” - This file would play and repeat, the entire time input #7 was closed
“01OPR.WAV” - This file would play and repeat, the entire time input #1 was open
Compact FLASH Card Loading and Scanning
Once programmed with the desired sounds and correct filenames, the card is inserted into the slot on
the front of the Compact FLASH Digital Audio System. The green LED indicator should begin to flash
indicating that the unit is scanning and loading the files from the card. When the card is correctly loaded
and scanned, the green LED should glow steadily. Problems are indicated by flashes on the red LED indi-
cator.
The contact inputs are debounced by sampling them using a periodic interrupt. The sample rate is 50
Hertz (20 milliseconds). Valid input closures are detected by reading a 0 - 0 - 1 (open, open, closed) sam-
ple sequence. Valid input opens are detected by reading a 1 - 1 - 0 (closed, closed, open) sample sequence.
After the Compact FLASH Card is loaded and scanned, the Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
forces a re-read of its contact inputs by clearing its sample history to activate any sounds associated with
contacts that are already active. Contacts on the optional expansion board read as closed when the board is
not installed, thus sounds assigned to those contacts as closures will play when the Compact FLASH Card is
inserted or the unit is reset.
The card may be removed at any time. In that case, both the green and red LED indicators should turn
off.
The status of the unit while loading and scanning is also displayed via messages sent out the serial port.
Using a PC with “HyperTerminal” or other terminal emulator software connected to the Compact FLASH
Digital Audio System the card loading and scanning messages may be viewed. The serial data format is
2400 baud, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. Samples of these messages are shown in the Appendix.
Background Audio track
If a sound file is copied onto the Compact FLASH Card with the name “BACKGRND.WAV,” this
sound file will play only when no other audio tracks are being played. It will cease playing when the com-
mand is issued to play another sound file. Once that sound file is finished playing, the BACKGRND.WAV
file will resume play from the point where it was interrupted and continue to play until again interrupted.

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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RS-232 Serial Port Protocol
Sound play-out may also be controlled via commands received via the serial port. The data format is
2400 baud, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. Sounds may be started, queued and stopped using a simple ASCII
protocol:
<SOH> p <+/-/&/~/!> XX <ETX>
where:
Up to 128 sounds may be queued. Sounds that are queued are played in succession in the order that
they were queued only when no other sound is playing until the queue is exhausted or flushed. Note that this
can occur at the end of the BACKGRND.WAV file before it repeats. A background or other sound that is
playing may be stopped by issuing a “<SOH>p-00<ETX>” serial command sequence to allow queued
sounds to be heard. The background sound will be resumed when the queue has emptied.
Card Requirements
The Compact FLASH Digital Audio System was designed to use only Compact FLASH Cards (CF
Cards) that support the true IDE ATA mode. Tested cards include San Disk, Kingston, Techworks and
Hitachi. The San Disk was tested, since they manufacture 90% of the retail cards on the market. Some
models of the San Disk cards will not work properly with input expansion modules installed. There seems
to be a problem with the San Disk card driving the extra capacitance of an additional expansion module.
Compact FLASH Cards are available in many local electronics or camera stores or can be ordered directly
from ACS.
Diagnostic LED Indicator Codes (Red & Green
LEDs)
Green LED
• Flashes twice a second while scanning or loading CF Card files
• Steady on when loaded, ready or playing
Red LED Error Flashes
• Once every six seconds - problem w/ATA interface, non-compatible CF card, bad CF card
• Twice every six seconds - error opening file for that input, incorrect filename, file does not exist
• Three times every six seconds - error when reading file, file corrupted, unsupported file type
• Four times every six seconds - no valid “*.WAV” files of a compatible format found on the CF Card
<SOH> = ASCII Start of Header character 0116 (Ctrl-A)
p= ASCII lower case letter ‘p’
<+/-> = ASCII plus character ‘+’ to start a sound, mi-
nus character ‘-‘ to stop a sound
<&/~/!> = ASCII ampersand character ‘&’ to queue a sound,
tilde character ‘~‘ to flush the queued sounds,
exclamation character ‘!’ to stop the current
playing sound and flush the queued sounds
XX = ASCII two digit hexadecimal number XX16 of the
sound (01, 02,...,7E,7F)
<ETX> = ASCII End of Text character 0316 (Ctrl-C)

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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Power Requirements
The idle current of a CFSound unit with an 8MB Kingston CF card installed is ~170mA @ 12VDC input.
With a background sound playing at a moderate level, the current consumption averages ~250mA @
12VDC.

Compact FLASH Digital Audio System
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Digital Audio Recording Procedures
Initially make all recordings (either music or voice) with a sample rate of at least 22KHz and 16bit.
This high quality, first-generation recording will later provide the greatest bandwidth and produce the best
sounding final audio.
Procedure
1. Record any audio clip of your choosing @ 22KHz, 16 bit Mono. Make sure that your samples do not
clip (go above or below the sample window). The peaks of your audio clip, should, however, fill verti-
cally at least 90% of the sample window. If they do not, you will need to boost your input signal by us-
ing a pre-amp or by some other means.
2. Edit the clip until satisfied. You can use a sound editor or filter program, such as Cool Edit to normal-
ize the amplitude of the sample. Use this command cautiously though, since it also tends to amplify
noise levels. It is always preferable to re-record your sound clip at a higher level to achieve better fidel-
ity.
3. After your editing is complete and you are ready to make a file for the Compact FLASH Digital Au-
dio System, use Cool Edit or a similar program to convert or down sample it to a 16KHz, 8 bit monau-
ral clip.
It is imperative that all initial editing and filtering be done to the audio clip while it is formatted at 16
bit and 22KHz or greater. Another important thing to remember when recording sound is that the back-
ground noise is amplified 256 times when down converting from 16 bit to 8 bit. It is, therefore, critical to
the quality of your final sound that there is no background noise while you are recording your clips or sam-
ples. The quiet noise of the fan on a PC for example, when amplified 256 times, can produce a very notice-
able hiss or static sound in the recorded clips or samples. Please be certain that your recording environment
is absolutely quiet.
Also remember that digital play-out devices do not introduce any static of their own other than quanti-
zation noise. They only play back exactly what was recorded. If there is excessive static in the audio clip or
sample, then there was probably static in it originally.