Altinex AC301-109 User manual

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109 EDID Blaster/IR Learner109 EDID Blaster/IR Learner
109 EDID Blaster/IR Learner User’s Guide
400-0547-002
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Welcome!
We greatly apprec ate your purchase of the AC301-109 EDID Blaster/IR
Learner. We are sure you w ll f nd t rel able and s mple to use. Super or
performance for the r ght pr ce, backed by sol d techn cal and customer
support s what ALTINEX has to offer.
We are comm tted to prov d ng our customers w th S gnal Management
Solut ons
®
to the most demand ng aud ov sual nstallat ons at compet t ve
pr c ng and we welcome you to jo n the ranks of our many sat sf ed customers
throughout the world.
1. Precautions and Safety Warnings
Please read th s manual carefully before us ng your AC301-109. Keep th s
manual handy for future reference. These safety nstruct ons are to ensure the
long l fe of your AC301-109 and to prevent f re and shock hazards. Please read
them carefully and heed all warn ngs.
1.1 General
•Qual f ed ALTINEX serv ce personnel or the r author zed
representat ves must perform all serv ce.
1.2 Installation Precautions
•To prevent f re or shock, do not expose th s un t to water or mo sture.
Do not place the AC301-109 n d rect sunl ght, near heaters or
heat-rad at ng appl ances, or near any l qu d. Exposure to d rect
sunl ght, smoke, or steam can harm nternal components.
•Handle the un t carefully; dropp ng or jarr ng can cause damage.
•Do not pull any cables that are attached to the AC301-109.
1.3 Cleaning
•Never use strong detergents or solvents such as alcohol or th nner. Do
not use a wet cloth or water to clean the card. Do not clean or touch
any component or PCB.
1.4 FCC Notice
•Th s dev ce compl es w th Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operat on s
subject to the follow ng two cond t ons: (1) Th s dev ce may not cause
harmful nterference, and (2) th s dev ce must accept any nterference
rece ved, nclud ng nterference that may cause undes red operat on.
•Th s equ pment has been tested and found to comply w th the l m ts for
a Class A d g tal dev ce, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These
l m ts are des gned to prov de reasonable protect on aga nst harmful
nterference when the equ pment s operated n a commerc al
env ronment. Th s equ pment generates, uses, and can rad ate rad o
frequency energy and, f not nstalled and used n accordance w th the
nstruct ons found here n, may cause harmful nterference to rad o
commun cat ons. Operat on of th s equ pment n a res dent al area s
l kely to cause harmful nterference n wh ch case the user w ll be
requ red to correct the nterference at h s own expense.
• Any changes or mod f cat ons to the un t not expressly approved by
ALTINEX, Inc. could vo d the user’s author ty to operate the
equ pment.
2. Installation Procedures
Note: Download the latest vers on of the control appl cat on from the ALTINEX webs te at www.alt nex.com to beg n us ng your AC301-109 mmed ately.
Step 1. Install and launch the AC301-109 control appl cat on. Before connect ng the AC301-109 to the computer, nstall the USB dr vers follow ng the
nstallat on w zard nstruct ons. Th s prov des a v rtual COM port us ng a USB connect on. See sect on 7.3.2 of the onl ne manual for deta ls.
Step 2. Connect the AC301-109 to your PC or laptop us ng a standard USB type A-M to type B-M cable. The power l ght turns on and red.
Step 3. In the AC301-109 control appl cat on, select e ther EDID Blaster or IR Learn from the ma n page n the appl cat on.
EDID Blaster - Read/Wr te
Step 1. Determ ne f the EDID source data s from a prev ously saved f le, or from a d splay dev ce. If the source s from a saved f le, use the load EDID from
f le opt on and then go to Step 4.
Step 2. If the source s from a d splay dev ce, connect one end of the VGA cable prov ded to the AC301-109 and the other end to the dev ce w th the EDID
memory you want to read; mon tor, TV, projector, etc.
Step 3. Select the read EDID from dev ce opt on to read and store the data n temporary memory. D sconnect the VGA cable from the d splay.
Step 4. Connect the VGA cable from the AC301-109 to the nterface dev ce; sw tcher, DA, etc.
Step 5. Select the wr te to dev ce opt on to program the nterface w th the EDID read prev ously.
NOTE: Not all dev ces rece ve power for EDID memory through the 15-p n connector. Some dev ces requ re power to be appl ed.
Step 6. In order to use th s EDID data n the future, use the save to f le opt on.
Learn IR from Remote Control
Step 1. In the control appl cat on, select a f le to store the IR data, and then enter the type, manufacturer, and model of the dev ce.
Step 2. Select the output format for the IR data to be saved; raw data, Neutron, or Showt me.
Step 3. Select the Learn IR opt on, a m the remote control at the IR IN port, and press the remote control funct on to learn.
Step 4. Next, enter the funct on name just learned and then save t to the f le. Repeat for each remote control funct on des red.
Step 5. Use the saved codes to program your ALTINEX dev ce.
3. Limited Warranty/Return Policies
Please see the ALTINEX webs te at www.alt nex.com for deta ls on warranty and return pol c es.

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4. Technical Specifications
Spec f cat ons are subject to change. See www.alt nex.com for up-to-date nformat on.
Features/Description
AC301
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EDID Blaster/IR Learner
General
Inputs
Control USB type B F (1)
IR IR Receiver (1)
Outputs
EDID Read/Write 15-pin HD F (1)
Compatibility
Altinex Devices Showtime, Neutron, etc.
Accessories Included
VGA Cable 15-pin HD M-M
Table 1. AC301-109 General
Mechanical
AC301
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109
EDID Blaster/IR Learner
Material/Color ABS Plastic/Black
Height 1.0 in (25 mm)
Width 2.3 in (58 mm)
Depth 2.4 in (61 mm)
Weight 0.2 lb (0.1 kg)
Shipping Weight (approximate) 1.0 lb (0.5 kg)
Connector Panel Black Anodized
T°Operating 10°C-50°C
T°Maximum 75°C
Humidity 90% non-condensing
MTBF (calc.) 38,000 hrs
Table 2. AC301-109 Mechanical
Electrical
AC301
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109
EDID Blaster/IR Learner
Communication/Control Signals
Data I/O USB
EDID Read/Write
Digital Data TTL
Signal Level 3 - 5 Vp-p TTL
Power (from USB)
+5V 100 mA
Total Power 0.5 W max.
Table 3. AC301-109 Electrical

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5. About Your AC301-109
•Learn IR Codes d rectly from remote control
•Read EDID memory from mon tor or f le
•Wr te EDID memory to dev ce from memory or f le
•Free custom appl cat on download for mmed ate operat on
Learn IR codes d rectly from a remote control for use n ALTINEX products such as Showt me Solut on n a Box or Neutron Controllers. The AC301-109
el m nates the need for l brar es and nternet access dur ng nstallat on. S mply learn then necessary codes and then transfer them to your system. Create and
organ ze your own custom l brar es for use n future nstallat ons us ng dev ce formatted commands or save the raw data for use anywhere.
The AC301-109 EDID Blaster enables the read ng and wr t ng of EDID memory from one dev ce to another. Read the EDID memory from your mon tor and
wr te the data to your d str but on ampl f er, sw tcher, etc. In add t on to d rect read and wr te among dev ces, the AC301-109 appl cat on allows the read ng and
wr t ng of EDID data d rectly to and from f les for use n future nstallat ons or at other s tes.
VGA/EDID
AC301-109 EDID BLASTER/IR LEARNER
USB PWR
IR IN
USB Input
Type-B F
Power LED IR Receiver
EDID Read/Write
15-pin HD F
15-pin HD F
EDID Read/Write
IR Receiver
IR Activity LED
Type-B F
USB Input
Power LED

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6. Application Diagrams
Diagram 1: Typical Setup

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Diagram 2: Internal View

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7. Operation
Download the latest vers on of the control appl cat on from the ALTINEX
webs te at www.alt nex.com to beg n us ng your AC301-109 mmed ately.
7.1 EDID Reader/Writer
The AC301-109 reads and wr tes EDID memory n the address range A000
to A0FF. The control software prov ded on the ALTINEX webs te allows
the EDID memory to read EDID data d rectly from a mon tor or f le and
wr te the data to another dev ce or save the data to a f le for use aga n and
aga n.
7.2 IR Learner
The AC301-109 can learn the IR dev ce code from a remote control and
save t to a l brary f le for use w th ALTINEX systems such as Showt me
and Neutron. Follow the nstruct on w th n the control appl cat on to
beg n bu ld ng l brar es mmed ately.
7.3 USB Control
The AC301-109 ut l zes a v rtual COM port through a USB Type-B
connector.
7.3.1 USB Connection
The Type-B USB port allows ser al commun cat on through a standard
computer USB port. The USB port allows the use of the same
commun cat on software as a standard RS-232 port but does not requ re
the DB9 ser al connect on.
7.3.2 Drivers
The AC301-109 USB port requ res the CP210X V rtual Com Port dr ver to
be nstalled pr or to connect ng to the computer. Launch the USB nstaller
from the appl cat on's start page and follow the nstallat on w zard.
Close all open appl cat ons.
Once the necessary f les have been cop ed to the computer, the nstaller s
ready to beg n nstallat on. Allow the InstallSh eld w zard to launch the
nstaller. For best results, use the default paths suggested by the nstaller.
If prompted, allow the nstaller to restart the computer.
After the nstallat on s complete, connect the AC301-109 to the computer
and launch the control appl cat on. The computer w ll recogn ze the new
hardware and d splay the ava lable COM ports. In some cases, the
computer may prompt aga n for the dr vers. Select the browse opt on and
d rect the nstaller to the path shown below and f n sh the w zard as
normal.
C:\Program F les\S Labs\MCU\CP210x\x86 OR
C:\ Program F les\S Labs\MCU\CP210x\x64
The control appl cat on has a feature to run through the ava lable COM
ports and d splay those ava lable. If not us ng the control appl cat on, v ew
the Dev ce Manager (Control Panel/system/hardware/dev ce manager) n
order to see wh ch COM port number was ass gned to the v rtual port. In
the example below, COM7 was ass gned.
7.4 RS-232 Control
The AC301-109 has many advanced remote-control capab l t es access ble
through standard RS-232 commun cat on us ng the AC301-109's nternal
v rtual com port. Control may be accompl shed through a computer,
control system, or any dev ce capable of RS-232 commun cat on.
The RS-232 commands n th s manual are prov ded as reference only.
ALTINEX prov des control software for the AC301-109 wh ch allows IR
Learn and EDID programm ng capab l ty.
7.4.1 RS-232 Serial Port Settings
The AC301-109 commun cates us ng standard ser al commun cat on
software such as ALTINEX's free for download AVSnap.
Baud Rate ................. 19200
Data B ts ................... 8
Stop B ts .................... 1
Par ty ........................ None
Flow .......................... None
7.4.2 RS-232 Interface
The control commands for the AC301-109 are n a s mple ASCII
character format.
1. Square brackets "< >" are part of the command.
2. Use uppercase letters for all commands.
3. Spaces are not legal characters.
7.5 Description of Commands
Each command cons sts of an open bracket "<
<<
<", a funct on name,
parameters, and a close bracket ">
>>
>".
Example: < V E R >
< = Start
VER = Funct on
= Parameters ( f any)
> = End of funct on
1. <VER>
Th s command d splays the f rmware vers on of the AC301-109.
Command Format: <VER>
Example:
Send <VER> to the AC301-109 and rece ve feedback s m lar to the
follow ng:
[690-0338-001 AC301-109]

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2. <RDXXYYZ>
Th s command reads EDID memory from the dev ce connected to the
AC301-109's 15-p n HD connector.
Command Format: <RDXXYYZ>
XXYY = Start ng memory address (range A000 to A0FF)
Z = Memory locat ons to read (dec mal 1 to 8)
Example:
Read the data n memory locat on A000 by send ng the follow ng
command:
<RDA000> or <RDA0001>
Read the data n memory locat on A000 through A007 by send ng the
follow ng command:
<RDA0008>
3. <WRXXYYZZ>
Th s command wr tes EDID data to the dev ce connected to the
AC301-109's 15-p n HD connector.
Command Format: <WRXXYYZZ>
XXYY = Start ng memory address (range A000 to A0FF)
ZZ = Hex data (1 to 64 bytes)
Example:
The follow ng example sends a s ngle FF byte to locat on A000:
<WRA000FF>
The follow ng example requ res 2 commands to send 128 bytes to the
attached dev ce. The f rst sends 64 bytes (A000 through A03F). The
second command sends 64 bytes (A040 through A07F).
<WRA000
<WRA000<WRA000
<WRA00000FFFFFFFFFFFF0041D009FF820301012D0A01020C241DF
FFFDE50A3544C99260F5054FFFF808BC081807140A940814081C0D1
C0D140047480D072A03F50A2D0>
>>
>
<WRA040
<WRA040<WRA040
<WRA0402300720E110A011E302A00B05120243050881300671F1100
001E011D568051001A3038881300671F1100001E000000FE00414C544
94E4558204544494431003E>
>>
>
4. <LRNIR>
Th s command rece ves IR data from a remote control to be used for
programm ng ALTINEX systems such as Neutron and Showt me. The
IR IN LED flashes red wh le data s be ng rece ved. If an IR s gnal s
not rece ved, the command w ll t me out n about 10 seconds.
Command Format: <LRNIR>
Example:
Send the command <LRNIR> and the AC301-109 responds as follows:
READY TO LEARN
At th s t me, po nt the remote control at the IR rece ver and press the
funct on on the remote control you want to learn. The AC301-109
processes the IR data and returns the 1,000 character IR code str ng
ns de "[ ]" brackets as n the follow ng example.
[0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000003FFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF8003FFE001FFF8003FFC000FFF000FF
FC001FFE0007FF8007FFFFFFFFF8003FFFFFFFFF0007FF8001FFF
FFFFFF8003FFFFFFFFF8007FFE000FFFFFFFFFC003FFF0007FF80
01FFE000FFFFFFFFFE000FFFFFFFFFE000FFFFFFFFFC003FFF000
7FF8001FFE001FFF8003FFFFFFFFF0007FFC001FFE0007FF8003F
FFFFFFFF8003FFFFFFFFF8003FFFFFFFFF0007FFFFFFFFF0007FF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000007FFFFFFFFFFFF000FFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF]
5. <HELP>
Th s command d splays nformat on ava lable for the AC301-109
nterface commands.
Command Format: <HELP>
Example:
In order to d splay the RS-232 commands ava lable for the AC301-109,
send the command<HELP>. The commands along w th a br ef
descr pt on w ll be d splayed.
7.6. Summary of Commands
1)
1)1)
1) <VER>
<VER><VER>
<VER> D splay f rmware vers on
D splay f rmware vers onD splay f rmware vers on
D splay f rmware vers on
2)
2)2)
2) <RDXXYYZ>
<RDXXYYZ><RDXXYYZ>
<RDXXYYZ> Read EDID data from dev ce
Read EDID data from dev ceRead EDID data from dev ce
Read EDID data from dev ce
3)
3)3)
3) <
<<
<WRXXYYZZ>
WRXXYYZZ>WRXXYYZZ>
WRXXYYZZ> Wr te EDID data to dev ce
Wr te EDID data to dev ceWr te EDID data to dev ce
Wr te EDID data to dev ce
4)
4)4)
4) <LRNIR>
<LRNIR><LRNIR>
<LRNIR> Learn IR from remote control
Learn IR from remote controlLearn IR from remote control
Learn IR from remote control
5)
5)5)
5) <HELP>
<HELP><HELP>
<HELP> D splay ava lable commands
D splay ava lable commandsD splay ava lable commands
D splay ava lable commands

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8. Troubleshooting Guide
We have carefully tested and have found no problems n the suppl ed AC301-109. However, we would l ke to offer suggest ons for the follow ng:
Symptom Resolution
Power LED s OFF
Note: The AC301-109 rece ves power d rectly from the USB port.
1. Make sure the un t s plugged nto a work ng USB port on a PC or laptop.
2. Make sure the USB cable s plugged all the way nto the connector on the AC301-109.
No Commun cat on 1. Make sure the dev ce dr vers are nstalled.
2. Make sure the baud rate s set to 19200.
Learn IR Not Work ng
1. Make sure the AC301-109 s connected to the PC through the USB connect on. The Power LED must be
ON and RED.
2. Send the command <LRNIR> and then a m and press the remote at the AC301-109's IR IN port/rece ver. Ver fy the
IR IN LED flashes RED nd cat ng t s rece v ng IR data.
3. Check the remote control and make sure t has fresh batter es and s funct on ng properly.
Rece ve ERR
Read ng/Wr t ng EDID
1. Make sure the AC301-109 s connected to the mon tor (or other dev ce) from wh ch you are try ng read/wr te data.
2. Some dev ces requ re power for the r EDID memory to be operat onal. If th s s the case, apply power to the dev ce,
turn on power, and repeat the read/wr te procedure.