Ambient Recording ACL 204 User manual

experience quality.
Lockit Timecode
Lockit
ACL 204
Rev. 4.10

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en
1
Table of contents page
1. Introduction 3
2. Package Contents 3
3. Safety Instructions 4
4. Powering 5
5. Unit Description 6
6. Connectors 7
7. Menu Description 8
Main Menu 10
Mode Menu 10
TC Menu 12
FPS 12
Jam 12
Output 12
Level 13
Mute 13
Offset 13
UB 13
Jam 13
Edit 13
Sync Menu 14
Video 14
Audio 14
PPF 14
Slate Menu 15
Display 15
LEDs 15
Sensor 15
ACN Menu 16
C-Jam Sync Modes 16
Ant 17

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
2
SYS Menu 18
Menu 18
Config 18
Display 18
Ant 19
USB / LemoACN 19
Bat 19
IR 20
Reset 20
Info 20
8. LED Blink Codes 20
9. Firmware Update 22
10. Application Notes 23
11. Physical Specifications 25
12. ACN Radio 25
13. Accessories, Cables, and Spares 26
ACM-204 26
ACM-TL 26
ACM-FS 26
TC-SYNC/EPIC 26
RCP-I/O 26
LEP 27
LEP/ALEXA 27
LEP/PC 27
ACL-T 27
14. Warranty 28
15. Approvals 28

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 3
1. Introduction
The Ambient ACL204 Lockit box continue the line of our highly accurate portable ynchronizer , which
have become an indi pen able tool in modern workflow where multi camera hoot and dual y tem
ound i the rule.
Like it predece or , it provide timecode with a deviation of le than +/- 0.1 ppm of a given reference
and a ync ignal locked to thi . The Lockit timecode product can be calibrated to thi reference in the
field u ing the Clockit Controller ACC501, providing the ame accuracy till after year , compen ating
the u ual aging of the cry tal , and opening po ibilitie which are unique to the Lockit approach.
What count on a et i that all recording device run on the ame peed, and with the Lockit method of
being able to tune the device , thi goal can be achieved.
The reference for tuning may be a GPS ignal, but ju t a well the timecode of the ma ter recorder or
camera or a video reference ignal generated by the tudio / OB-truck’ ynchronizer.
In addition to tho e cla ical feature of the Lockit product range, the ACL204 feature a wirele
network module and a erial data port, o the tatu of each unit on et can be monitored and
metadata of the connected device can be communicated to the Ambient Lockit Network ACN Ma ter.
ACN al o permit to ync the ACL204 remotely and write back metadata to the recorder .
2. Package Contents
-ACL204 ynchronizer
-ACL-T204, protective leather pouch
-LTC-OUT cable, Lemo JGG.305 to BNC right angle connector
-BNC cable, BNC to BNC right angle connector
-Manual

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
4
3. Safety Instructions
For your own afety and trouble-free u e of your Lockit ACL204 plea e carefully read through the
in truction below. Alway keep a copy of the e in truction and hand them out with the unit to other
u er .
Thi unit i exclu ively intended for indoor u e. Keep it afe and away from water, rain and humidity
and dry under all circum tance even when powered off. Clean gently with a lightly moi tened cloth
and never let water, detergent or liquid of any kind get into the unit a thi will imply the ri k of hort
circuit and electrical hazard.
Keep di tant from ource of heat and never expo e to direct unlight. Admi ible ambience
temperature i from +5° to +50° Cel iu .
Do not throw or expo e to mechanical impact and keep it afe from hard vibration .
Only u e genuine acce orie uch a cable antennae etc. which have been upplied by an authorized
dealer. Alway ob erve integrity and the pertinent compatibility with all unit connected to.
Do not perform oftware update in ituation the integrity of main upply can not be granted uch a
thunder torm and remove connection from and to all device directly or in directly connected to
main .
Only u e intended batterie type Mignon AA with 1.5V. Watch correct polarity when in erting the
batterie , in truction can be found in the manual and on the device it elf. Di regard of handling may
cau e battery leakage or even ri k of explo ion.
To maintain ecure electrical contact the batterie are loaded with high pring ten ion and can hoot
out of the compartment if opened without attention.
Alway ecure the outer battery contact and relea e lowly when acce ing the compartment.
Proper recycling of u ed batterie might mandatory be in tructed by local law. Plea e check for
requirement and di po e at fore een in titution . With regard to environment only di po e
completely di charged batterie .
When powering from external ource remove the batterie and put the power witch into the "OFF"
po ition. Pay attention to the u e of LPS ource in compliance to part 2.5 of EN 60950-1.
When u ing the wirele connection of the Lockit ACL204 place it centrally and keep it di tant from
ource of po ible interference uch a microwave or electrical device with large metal urface .
If po ible alway u e the integrated antenna. If the application of an external antenna eem
mandatory only u e the original part directly attached to the ocket. Exten ion or u e of 3rd party
acce orie i not licit.
Never open the unit. Inappropriate and unauthorized acce will void the warranty and imply po ible
ri k of harm to the u er.
When di po ing the unit follow the legal requirement for recycling electronic equipment.

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 5
4. Powering
The ACL204 can be powered:
-2 Mignon type ( ize AA) Alkaline, Li-Ion, or NiMH rechargeable cell . Thi will be indicated by a
battery icon in the upper right corner of the OLED that al o erve a a battery tatu monitor.
Set correct battery type in Sy /Config menu for reliable low voltage warning.
Important: Batteries loaded under spring pressure! To avoid risk of injury through batteries
being rapidly ejected keep contact hinge firmly pressed when opening slider and softly release.
Obey correct polarity as shown on label. ush down battery hinge and close slider.
-6 to 18 Volt DC via pin 4 of “A: TC/Tune” Lemo ocket.
-5 Volt DC via USB (under the lider near to power and configuration witch).
Applying powering from either Lemo or USB will bypa the power witch and turn on the unit. The
OLED creen will override the battery ymbol with “EXT” to indicate external power.
You may leave the batterie in the unit in thi condition to eamle ly witch over and keep the
generator running on power lo . External power ha alway priority over battery, o unit will
automatically witch over to external and no battery will be drained. However, there i no charging
function for rechargeable batterie when powered from external.

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
6
5. Unit escription
① Battery compartment slider to be pushed left/right for access to switches or batteries
② USB socket type Mini-B 5-pin
③ Configuration switch further “config switch”, ↓ for pushing in, ↔ for toggle left/right)
④ Power switch
⑤ IR transceiver, used to set and check the ACL204 from the ACC501 controller
⑥ Display
⑦ Signal LEDs
⑧ External antenna connector
⑨ Sync signal connector
⑩ Lemo 5-pin socket “B”: “Blue” ocket, timecode and metadata port.
Connect blue coded cable here.
⑪ Lemo 5-pin socket “A”: “Red” ocket, timecode, ext. DC in and Tune.
Connect cable with ext. power upply here.
① ② ③ ④ ⑤⑥⑦
⑧
⑩
⑪
⑨

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 7
6. Connectors
Lemo connector : erie 0B 5-pin (matching connector FGG/JGG.0B.305.CLADxx)
“A: TC/Tune” “Red” ocket, connect cable with ext. power upply only here
Timecode, ext. DC and tune port.
pin 1: GND
pin 2: LTC IN
pin 3: ASCII IN / OUT
pin 4: Tune reference 1.92 MHz out / DC-IN 5 to 18 Volt
pin 5: LTC OUT
“B: TC/ACN” “Blue” ocket, connect blue coded cable here.
Timecode and metadata port.
pin 1: GND
pin 2: LTC IN
pin 3: ACN / RS232 TX
pin 4: ACN / RS232 RX
pin 5: LTC OUT / 3.3 Volt DC OUT
“SYNC”: BNC coax 75 Ohm / 37.5 Ohm electable, Sync out genlock, word clock
or AES black audio ync out
“ANT”: SMA-F, unpopulated, for optional external antenna, u e only genuine
manufacturer equipment part ANT-2.4-SMA-M(90).
“USB”: Mini USB type “B”

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
8
7. Menu escription
The graphical interface of the Lockit Menu combine ea e of u e with maximum flexibility for
experienced u er and mo tly con i tent through all device . Con ecutive, interactive menu ea e fail
afe configuration, guiding the u er tep by tep through initial configuration.
Each menu pane with ubmenu feature a “Home” ymbol which will be pre elected, allowing the u er
to quickly move up one level when pre ing the wheel erratically or ju t checking the etting .
Complexity of adju tment i defined by a 2 tep menu depth which can be et from the Sy tem etting
Menu. Additionally you can “Lock” the graphical interface here after etup ha been completed. To
unlock, follow the prompt and hold the configuration wheel left for 3 ec until an according me age
appear .
Note: Due to the power logic on ACN-TL, ACN-LS, and ACN-ML, this message will also pop up
when shutting down these units with the required long press to the configuration wheel. It is
however not necessary to unlock the menu to power down. Just keep the button pressed for 3
seconds and the unit will shut down as desired.
“Standard” view will how the etting that have proven practical for the majority of production , o we
highly recommend leaving it itting here unle you run in apparent limitation to your required
configuration. In the above example of ACL204, when electing a video ync format the only applicable
TC frame rate will be pre elected on the tep-by- tep configuration and only thing required i to
confirm. When tarting with TC frame rate and then moving to Sync and choo e Video the fir t
matching project rate will be ugge ted for each video format. However, a video i on a higher priority,
change applied here will re ult in TC FPS being accordingly adju ted and the new frame rate will be
howed for confirmation.
Note: “Standard” will not allow for TC/video cross rates, each video format will only have 1
matching TC rate which will be preselected. Only exception are NTSC area rates 29.97 and 59.94
which will give you the option between 29.97 (non drop) and 29.97DF (drop frame).
Important: When using 29DF make sure the whole set does. NEVER run a setup with units mixed
on non drop and drop! 29DF will neither sync with 29.97, 30, or any other non drop rate.
“Extended” will grant acce to the complete option and allow for the mo t complex configuration to
uffice even the mo t avid TC and Sync Supervi or.
E.g. thi mode will unlock video and TC being “cro ed”, o you can pick 24 fp TC along with video rate
of 25, 50, or 60 fp . However, you till cannot pick invalid etting uch a PAL area TC rate along with
NTSC area video format (23.98, 29.97, 47.95, 59.94) and vice ver a. It will al o unlock ync output for
3D rig , more uncommon video and TC rate of 30 and 60 fp , PAL and NTSC SD ync. Additional
option include Audio and PPF ync option , and applying an Off et to the TC output for compen ation
of frame proce ing delay. Clearly, the e are option not required for mo t application and there will
be hardly rea on to unlea h thi level. “Extended” will di clo e additional etting . Value available only
on thi level will be marked (E) accordingly in the following de cription.
Note: Settings are persistent through a level change which allows you to start off with guided
default depth and tweak in “Extended” if required.

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 9
The Lockit Slate menu ha been enhanced with a guided Di play menu which replace the rigid pre et
of the information di played on clap on firmware 3.xx. With 4.xx, you can con ecutively a ign 0-20
econd to U erbit , Clapped Timecode and the generator’ Running TC to be di played for after the
late had been hit. Default will be et to ”UB:0s CT:10s TC:0s” which di play the clapped timecode value
and then blank the LED di play which exactly corre pond to the former default “Claptime” etting.
The menu de cription below will u e the e convention :
Underlined: mark a ( ub) menu, pre ing the navigation wheel will open the next lower level, which
may contain ubmenu or parameter .
“Quoted Italic”: mark a parameter etting. Thi i the lowe t level of a menu. Depending on the
available option the e will be li ted vi ible or can be crolled ( eparated by “/” in the explanation
below). Active value will be highlighted. To change u e the navigation wheel to elect and pre to
apply, to keep current etting ju t pre . Both will automatically jump up one menu level with “Home”
elected. So, intentionally or accidentally, you will alway quickly find your way back home.
Bold: mark the factory default etting of a parameter, the unit will load the e value on performing a
Sy /Re et.
(E): Only available when “Extended” i elected in Sy /Menu.
Some menu , parameter , or etting will al o be exclu ive to different device and marked accordingly
(1) ACL204 Lockit, (2) ACN-TL Tiny Lockit, (3) ACN-LS Lockit Slate, (4) ACN-ML Ma terLockit

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
10
Main Menu
↑ Mode TC Sync 1, E 2) / Slate 3) ACN Sys
Sync menu only available on ACL204 Lockit and ACN-TL Tiny Lockit (“Extended”), Slate Menu only on
ACN-LS Lockit Slate
To open the Main Menu pre the 3-directional configuration wheel in home creen, navigate by
toggling left/right. Menu are rotational, o you can go from the fir t to the la t etting by moving left.
Pre ing the highlighted election will open it ubmenu, pre ing the arrow up/hou e ymbol will take
you back again. When there i no further ubmenu the current active etting will be highlighted. If you
do not want to apply change ju t pre on the highlighted election and you will fall back to main
menu without alteration .
Mode Menu
↑ int TC C-Jam TRX ext TC E ) Reader 3)
Selecting the operation Mode will allow for one tep configuration when initializing your Lockit for a
new project. Ju t pick your application and all nece ary adju tment will be performed automatically
under the hood. Together with the “Full” Jam mode and auto frame rate etting there i hardly anything
left to do but choo e your ync option on ACL204 if applicable and Jam ync your unit via cable or ACN
after having put one unit into C-Jam Ma ter mode. Each mode ha a dedicated LED blink code of the
two colored LED above the OLED di play, which will al o how elected mode and active tran mi ion
direction.
“Int TC”: “Cla ic” Lockit mode, the unit will run on it internal generator with tandalone accuracy of
.1ppm, ACN di abled. MIDI timecode (MTC) will be put out over USB (ACL204 and ACN-LS) or Lemo ACN
(ACN-TL).
“C-Jam”: Default, a “Int TC” but with ACN enhancement. Thi i the recommended etting when
running any combination of ACN ready unit . The device can be jammed and TC framerate applied
over ACN, metadata tran fer with a Ma ter Lockit in Hub mode i activated. Additionally the unit will
automatically adopt their pace to a “Ma ter” unit for unprecedented zero drift accuracy and divergence
down to 10uS.
On powering up, Lockit device will generally tart up with un et generator and thu in idling lave
mode with a red fla hing LED. Then jam one (and only one) deliberate unit to time of day and enable
“Master” in it ACN menu and you never need to worry about TC for the re t of the day a long a the
Ma ter keep power. Thi Ma ter will be identified by a dedicated blink pattern and “M” will how up in
the lower right corner of the OLED. The other unit will then jam their generator and framerate and
follow a “Slave ” indicated by “S” and an according blink code. The intelligent C-Jam algorithm will
automatically improve the accuracy and e tabli h zero latency, zero drift lock between unit within the
ACN.
With an active “Master” already in range “Slaves” will automatically re-jam after powering on or a battery
wap. A ACN broadca t only happen every 6 econd , it may take thi long for a fre hly booted “Slave”
to pull in. If “Slave ” lo e connection to a previou ly pre ent “Ma ter” they will keep their loyalty for 30
econd and then witch over to “(S)” which mean you can move over “Ma ter” to another unit.
Note: Always make sure just one unit is set to “Master”.

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 11
“TRX”: ACN TC radio link. Unit will act a an auto-configuring tran ceiver. Without TC ource the unit
will idle lowly blinking red and wait for either phy ical TC injection or ignal via ACN. On detection of
an external SMPTE LTC or MIDI TC ource the device will tran form into tran mitter (indicated by “TX”
on OLED and according blink code) and end tatu and frame rate to other unit (marked “RX”) which
will automatically follow the ource. Source detection i fully automated, including bidirectional
MTC/LTC conver ion. TC will be di played on LED di play of Lockit Slate, clapped time broadca ted a
metadata.
“Ext TC”: In thi mode the device erve a a bidirectional LTC to MIDI TC convertor. TC will be di played
on LED di play of Lockit Slate. U eful in tudio environment to ync TC between external equipment
and digital audio work tation where ACN i a not required feature.
“Reader”: Only available on Lockit Slate, thi mode allow to vi ualize external LTC on the late. No
MTC conver ion, no output, no ACN, but the late will follow TC playback in low or high peed and even
rever ed which make it the preferred mode for pecial effect hot .
Note: As these modes are not suited for proper synchronization selecting a sync output is not
available in “TRX”, “Ext TC” and “Reader”.

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
12
TC Menu
↑ FPS Jam Output UB
FPS
FPS: 23.98/24/25/29.97/29.97 DF/30 E)
Select timecode framerate, toggle and pre . When changing an exi ting etting you will be a ked to
confirm or di card the new election. If video ync output i already enabled on ACL204 available
value may be limited or even locked depending on menu depth.
CAUTION! Switching between AL and NTSC or Non-Drop and Drop rates will restart the
generator with the new time base and interrupt the video or audio sync signal, doing this while
recording will result in a corrupted file.
Jam
Full Auto Once Edit Off
Determine how the generator can be jammed over ACN, cable, or IR (only via ACC501 controller).
“Full”: Automatic etting, unit will jam if generator i not et or external TC i different from generator.
Al o the unit will apply the external TC framerate via LTC or ACN to it generator with the exception
that video ync output ha been enabled on ACL204
In that ca e the Jam mode will fall back to Auto ( ee next parameter). Still, jam mode will be kept active,
o if you di able video ync “Full” will be hot again. Thi will effectively prevent mi adju tment during
operation while bringing maximum of ea e on initial configuration.
“Auto”: Unit will jam if generator i not et or external TC i different from generator.
“Once”: Unit can be jammed once and then lock input (cur or move to “Off”). Unlock again by
electing de ired jam mode.
“Off”: defeat jamming of the internal generator from external. Still, you can manually edit timecode a
per below.
Edit: Enter TC value manually hh:mm:ss:ff. Toggle to edit blinking value, pre to confirm and proceed.
TC generator will tart on from elected value after confirmation, o you can exactly trigger a certain TC
tart. Editing TC doe not change your jam mode in general. However, if edited manually and confirmed
generator will be et and hence “Full” will temporarily fall back to “Auto”.
Note: The active jam mode will be visualized upper left to the running TC on the main screen by
indicating “F” , “A”, “O” or a lock symbol for “Off”.
Output
Level 2)
Mute
Offset E)
Thi menu configure the TC output ignal available on both Lemo ocket . If Level i not applicable
and Off et hidden while in “Standard” view, entering Output will directly acce the Mute ubmenu a
only option.

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 13
Level
Select TC level: 0/-3/--6/-9/-12/-15/-18/-21/-24/-27/-30/-33/-36/-42 dB
Only available for ACN-TL Tiny Lockit
Adju t TC level on Lemo B in -3dB tep from 0 to -36dB plu -42dB. U eful when recording TC on audio
track of DSLR or non-TC capable recorder .
Mute
Mute on Gen Not Set:
No
/Yes
Di able the phy ical output of timecode in ca e the generator i not et (fla hing red) in int TC and C-
Jam mode . Thi can be u eful to leave the Lockit connected to your audio recorder with a bidirectional
cable and jam it to time of day from the recorder after tart up and then eamle ly becoming the
timecode ource. Al o with no TC output mo t camera will di play a warning in the viewfinder monitor
which provide immediate vi ual trouble hooting.
Note: No TC is as good or bad as inconsistent TC, therefore there is no drawback to have the
output muted. Rather, it will give you better indication if setup is not complete/correct.
Off et
Offset: +/-00.00
Extended Setting
Shift the TC output up to +/- 10 frame in .05 increment on both Lemo and LED di play on ACN-LS
Lockit late again t the generator. Thi allow for compen ation of frame proce ing delay on camera
and TC off et to 3rd party equipment (e.g. delayed TC out from audio track on playback).
UB
↑ Show t) Jam Edit
Show
Toggle u erbit to be di played in main creen, will reduce the font ize of TC.
Jam
On Off
“On”: U erbit will be jammed on change. Thi will happen on TC Jam but al o on every change without
the TC generator being interrupted. When C-Jam i enabled thi can be u ed to increment cene/take
on the fly via ACN.
Note: Update will occur with up to 6 seconds delay on the next C-Jam broadcast.
“Off” U erbit will be locked. U e thi mode to apply a fixed ID through u erbit .
Edit
Allow manual change to u erbit on the fly, enter 8 UB digit with hex-code value 0-F. On changing
exi ting UB value a prompt will pop up to confirm or di card the new value. Thi will override the
current value but not change jam mode it elf. So, for tatic ID et Jam to “Off”

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
14
Sync Menu
↑ Video 1) Audio E 1) PPF E 1, 2) Off
Sync Menu and output only available on ACL204 and ACN-TL (Extended mode).
Video
480i E)/576i E)/720P/1080i/Psf/P 23/24/25/29/30 E)/59/60 E) Single/Dual/3D E)
Available only on ACL 204. Selectable frame rate depend on elected video format. (E) only in
Extended mode
Con ecutive, interactive menu: “Genlock” video ync output on BNC. Select video line count fir t and
then choo e from matching framerate . In Extended mode you will then be able to elect ingle or dual
camera load (required for 3D rig ).
After etting video ync, the direct matching TC frame rate will be pre elected and di played for
confirmation. “Standard” menu depth only allow thi native TC frame rate, if you require cro - ync
rate , valid election are available in “Extended” view.
Thi logic effectively inhibit invalid area mixing uch a integer TC rate with non-integer video rate
and vice ver a.
Note: Genlock and TC output are hard locked against each other. If TC F S has been set before
entering the sync options, the first matching video frame rate will be preselected. However, there
are multiple video formats applicable for each TC framerate but just one native TC frame rate to
each video format. So, if you need genlock out, it is advised to select the correct format first and
then just confirm the correctly preselected TC rate.
Audio
Wordclock/Black Audio 31968/…/48000*/…/192192
Only available on ACL204 and in Extended mode
Con ecutive menu: Choo e between “Wordclock” (50% duty cycle clock at SR) or “Black Aud o” (AES3
carrier ignal with no ignal) and then pick ample rate from 32kHz through 192kHz incl. pull up/down
rate .
PPF
1/2/4x High/Low
Only available in Extended mode
Pul e Per Frame) i u ed to teer indu trial camera . Rarely u ed, hence Extended. Pick between 1, 2, or
4 pul e per frame with ri ing (“H gh”) or falling (“Low”) lope at frame tart.
Off
Thi will reduce current draw, o if not required, di able ync output.

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 15
Slate Menu
Thi menu i exclu ive to the ACN-LS Lockit Slate
↑ Display LEDs Sensor
Di play
Userbits: 0s...20s → Clapped TC: 0s…10s…20s → Running TC: 0s...20s/inf
Define the late di playing on clap. Succe ively apply 0 to 20 econd for Userbits, Clapped TC and
Running generator TC. Selecting a time will automatically move on to the next parameter and the
elected value will di play in the line above, led by the parameter indicator (“UB”, “CT”, “TC”).
LED
Flash LED: Clap/Clap+Seconds/Off
Configure the fla h LED on front.
“Clap” will light up the 2 bright LED only when the late i operated, allowing for clear identification of
the lated frame.
“Clap+Seconds” al o fla he LED on every econd tran ition.
“Off” defeat the fla h LED .
Sen or
↑ Tilt Brightness
Adju t Tilt and Brightness en or
Tilt “On/Off” enabling will revert the 7 digit di play when the late i operated up ide down for pecial
marker like end late e.g.
Brightness, choo e between “Man”, “Low”, “Medium” and “High”.
“Manual” let you adju t the di play brightne in 9 tep during operation by flicking the 3-function
wheel. Looking from the back, flicking left will de- and moving right increa e brightne .
“Low” enable the environment light en or with a dim etting u efull for late night hoot . Still, when
light fall on the late it will increa e brightne for better reading and dim down to not interfere with
the hoot.
“Med” i automatic dimming with maximum medium brightne .
“H gh” i applicable for outdoor hoot in bright light but till with a concern about battery life.

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
16
ACN Menu
↑
Slave Jam Master Ant
Only vi ible in ACN enabled mode “C-Jam” and “TRX”. “Slave”, “Jam”, and “Master” option are only
available in C-Jam mode
ACN Mode
“C-Jam” i an enhanced multidirectional radio connection between ACN enabled unit . Timecode i
continuou ly jammed via a ma ter without compromi ing the autonomou accuracy of the Lockit
device . Al o, thi mode erve for metadata networking when u ing a Ma ter Lockit. For more detailed
information plea e refer to the dedicated ACN background chapter.
“TRX” tran form the unit into an ACN ba ed TC radio link with a twi t. Each device i in hybrid mode
and will automatically turn into a tran mitter once LTC or MIDI TC i applied. The generator will then
jam ync, follow external timecode on it framerate and tran mit timecode, framerate and ource
tatu to the receiving unit which again kick in their freewheeling generator to follow: No TC output
with no TC connected or topped, “ tanding” TC (repeating frame at frame rate) with tanding TC on TX
input and running TC with TC ource running. Thi combine the tran parent action of a “cla ic”
timecode radio link with the drop-out proof concept of a freewheeling generator and the intelligent,
adju tment-free ACN algorithm.
Note: To further ease configuration and to avoid interference when running both modes in one
environment, selecting “C-Jam” and “TRX” have dedicated default channels which will
automatically be applied on switching the mode. Factory defaults are 18 for “C-Jam” and 11 for
“TRX” but you can select custom values for both modes in the Ant menu which will be valid until
a factory reset is performed.
C-Jam Sync Mode
“Slave”: receive mode. Thi i the default and on power cycling it will fall back to thi . If the unit once
had been jammed from a “Master” and initiated the dynamic C-Jam tune thi will be indicated by “S” on
the main creen lower right. If that ma ter i lo t but C-Jam tune i till in operation “S” will alter to “(S)”.
Keep thi mode for all unit but the dedicated C-Jam ma ter.
“Jam” fire off a One-Time Jam bur t, u ed be t when only etting the free running TC generator i
required. Quite imilar to the cla ic jam u ing a cable, you will need to re-jam unit after battery
change or power cycle. A thi i a ingular operation the unit will fall back to the “Slave” mode in idle.
“Master”: to enable thi mode the generator need to be et fir t (indicated by a green fla hing LED).
The unit will re end timecode pul e every couple of econd . “Slaves” will automatically rejam their
generator if not et and dynamically adju t their clock reference to be t match the peed of the
“Master”. Thu , an accuracy window of 10u i achieved, reflecting ynchronicity on video line level.
After replacing the batterie on either lave it will automatically jam to the et TC.

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 17
Note: Although each unit can serve as C-Jam master it is very important that just one is actually
designated as such and sending out broadcasts. All other units just set to C-Jam mode as slaves.
Changing from “Master” to any other mode will immediately stop C-Jam broadcasts from this
unit.
Ant
Select C-Jam ACN channel:18
→
Select TRX ACN channel:11
→
LNA: Off/On
→
Ant: Int/Ext
E1, E2)→
Power : 8 dBm
E , PIN protected)
The Antenna Menu i al o available under Sy /Config for configuration when no ACN mode i currently
elected.
Sequentially adju t the ACN RF etting . Fir t, elect individual default ACN channel for “C-Jam” and
“TRX” mode. Frequencie refer to channel 11 through 26 of the IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN tandard ( ee
Appendix for detail ). Afterward enable the Low Noi e Amplifier if required. Thi will improve the
reception with a light impact on battery life. In “Extended” menu view on ACL204 and ACN-TL you can
per i tently elect between internal and external antenna and la tly increa e the radiated power. Since
thi may not be legal depending on your local regulation the la t etting i PIN protected. Plea e
con ult your dealer if in doubt.
Note: Fitting an external antenna will give you the most noticeable range boost of all tweaks and
comes at no cost of battery life. As such, more recent ACN devices such as ACN-LS and ACN-ML
do not offer internal antenna. If you plan on using the ACN intensively, retrofitting an external
SMA antenna to Lockit and Tiny Lockit is highly recommended.

ACL204
Rev. 4.10
©2016, Ambient Recording GmbH
18
SYS Menu
↑ Menu Config Reset Info
Menu
Lock/Standard/Extended
Define the level depth and ophi tication of available option .
“Lock” prevent unwanted alteration to the etting . It i recommended to lock the unit after
configuration. To unlock you will be prompted to hold the configuration wheel left for 3 econd after
which a unlock me age will appear.
Note: Due to the power logic on ACN-TL, ACN-LS, and ACN-ML, this message will also pop up
when shutting down these units with the required long press to the configuration wheel. It is
however not necessary to unlock the menu to power down. Just keep the button pressed for 3
seconds and the unit will shut down as desired.
“Standard” will only how valid etting that have proven practical for the majority of production , o
we highly recommend leaving it itting here unle you run in apparent limitation to your required
configuration. In the above example of ACL204, when electing a video ync format the only applicable
TC frame rate will be pre elected on the tep-by- tep configuration and only thing required i to
confirm. When tarting with TC frame rate and then moving to Sync and choo e Video the fir t
matching project rate will be ugge ted for each video format. However, a video i on a higher priority,
change applied here will re ult in TC FPS being accordingly adju ted and the new frame rate will be
howed for confirmation.
Note: “Standard” will not allow for TC/video cross rates, each video format will only have 1
matching TC rate which will be preselected. Only exception are NTSC area rates 29.97 and 59.94
which will give you the option between 29.97 (non drop) and 29.97DF (drop frame).
Important: When using 29DF make sure the whole set does. NEVER run a setup with units mixed
on non drop and drop! 29DF will neither sync with 29.97, 30, or any other non drop rate.
“Extended” give you all available configuration option and reflect the complexity of previou
firmware. Thi mode will unlock video and TC being “cro ed”. E.g. you can pick 24 fp TC along with
video rate of 25, 50, or 60 fp . Thi will al o unlock ync output for 3D rig , more uncommon video and
TC rate of 30 and 60 fp , PA and NTSC SD ync. Additional option include Audio and PPF ync
option , apply an Offset to the TC output for compen ation of frame proce ing delay.
Config
Display Ant USB 1, 3) / LemoACN 2) Bat 1, 2, 3) IR E )
Di play
Brightness: 1…3*…10 → AutoOff:5sec…30sec*... never
Con ecutively adju t the OLED in brightne and timeout.

ACL204 experience quality.
Rev. 4.10
www.ambient.de/en 19
Ant
Select C-Jam ACN channel: 18
→
Select TRX ACN channel: 11
→
LNA: Off/On
→
Ant: Int/Ext
E1, E2)→
Power
E , PIN protected)
The con ecutive antenna ub menu i re tricted to Extended menu and offer equential tweak to the
ACN radio.
“LNA: Off/On” enable /defeat the Low Noi e Amplifier. Thi may improve receiving range on the
acrifice of battery life time, default i “Off”.
“Select ACN Antenna: Int/Ext” thi option witche between built-in and the optional available SMA
antenna for increa ed range (available on Tiny Lockit and Lockit ACL204 in Extended menu only, ACN-
LS and Ma ter Lockit do not have internal antenna).
Note: To accommodate for retrofitting of external antenna this choice will be permanently stored
and be maintained through a factory default restore. Only enable with genuine manufacturer
part firmly attached to unit.
“Select ACN tx power: 8dBm” re tricted to Extended mode and additionally PIN protected. A per
default the ACN i et to the globally maximum allowed ERP level for LR-WPAN of +8dBm. Con ult your
upplier only if your application legitimize higher etting up to 18dBm. Increa ing output power will
trongly affect battery life time, o even if applicable u e with good con ideration.
USB / LemoACN
MTC COM
Not available on ACN-ML Ma ter Lockit
Set the data port mode thi i a dedicated USB port on ACL204 and ACN-LS (hence labelled “USB”) and
available on pin 3 & 4 on the Lemo “ACN” connector on ACN-TL, ee pin out appendix for reference.
ACN-ML Ma ter Lockit ha no USB option for ACN and doe not how thi menu.
“MTC” put USB into MIDI mode. Connected to a computer the device will be mounted a a tandard
USB audio/MIDI device and recognized by upporting oftware. No driver or configuration required on
both, PC or MAC.
“COM” et the data port to USB erial. Thi i u ually only nece ary for updating.
Note: Although the setting is mode dependent and default to “COM” on “C-Jam” and “int TC” for
easy firmware update, you can enable “MTC” in these mode to make the device a MIDI TC
generator. If you want to convert LTC to MTC and vice versa, just select modes “TRX” or “Ext TC”.
Bat
Li Al NiMH
Not available on ACN-ML Ma terLockit
Thi menu let you tweak the battery telemetry read out to the cell type in u e. Pick from Lithium,
Alkaline primary cell , and NiMH rechargeable . Readout follow typical di charge curve and accuracy
may vary over different manufacturer and battery type , o take with grain of alt.