Artistic Licence dataLynx II User manual

dataLynx II User Guide
Artistic Licence
Version 1-8
dataLynx II
User Guide

Page 2dataLynx II User Guide
Please read these instructions before using the product.
This product has been designed & manufactured for professional use only.
It should only be installed by a suitably qualied technician and in accordance with
electrical regulations in the country of use.
Unless directed in the instructions there are no user serviceable parts inside the
outer case of this product.
Always disconnect from the power supply when not in use.
Any specic IP rating, where appropriate, is given in the instructions. Unless
otherwise stated this product is designed for indoor use only. If used outdoors it
MUST be installed in an appropriate IP rated cabinet. Do not allow this product to be
exposed to rain or moisture. Do not allow liquid to penetrate the product.
Please recycle all packaging.
Copyright © Artistic Licence Engineering Ltd. All rights reserved.
Download the user guide by scanning the following QR code:

Page 3dataLynx II User Guide
Connections
Mounting Diagram
Ref. Type Description
1LED Indicators for Ethernet
2Data Connection Ethernet RJ45
3Conguration Factory reset button
4LED DMX indicator
5Data Connection DMX port
6Information User Guide QR
7Power Connection Universal Mains input

Page 4dataLynx II User Guide
Product Overview
dataLynx II is a rack-mounted bidirectional
gateway. It converts 12 universes of Art-Net
(supports all versions up to Art-Net 4) or sACN
ethernet into DMX512/RDM. The product also
supports DMX to Art-Net/sACN conversion.
Conguration is achieved over the network
using the internal web-server or DMX-
Workshop (free-of-charge software available
from Artistic Licence). DHCP is supported for
automatic IP address allocation.
dataLynx II o󰀨ers high levels of electrical
protection. All outputs are protected against
mains electrocution (all international voltages
including UK 3-phase) and are self-healing.
dataLynx II can be mounted in a 19” 1U rack
enclosure using the supplied rack ears. It is
supplied with a standard IEC connector.
dataLynx II extreme o󰀨ers all the features of
the standard product. The extreme model
additionally provides surge protection. This
feature is aimed at protecting the product
and connected equipment against voltage
surges of the type generated by lightning.
The protection is sacricial which means that
after a certain number of protection events,
the protection circuitry will be destroyed (see
the datasheet).
dataLynx II extreme is an ideal solution for
the sort of harsh environments that may be
encountered in live touring, or permanent
installations such as bridges or towers.
dataLynx II can be optionally ordered with
an SFP input slot, which supports gigabit
connections (N.B. SFP input module is not
included).
dataLynx II extreme
SFP variant
Summary of Key Features
y10/100BaseT RJ45 (Ethercon) input
ySFP model additionally supports
gigabit
y12 bidirectional DMX512 ports,
compatible with all variants of DMX,
including DMX512-A
yArt-Net 4 and sACN compatible
yRDNnet LLRP compatible
yRDM (E1.20 - 2010) compatible
yPower, Ethernet & DMX port LEDs
yFailsafe mode
yDefault IP address 2.x.y.z
yCongurable using internal web-browser
or DMX-Workshop
yDHCP supported
yIEC power connector
yRDM Integrity supported
yFactory reset and Squawk button
yStandard and extreme models feature
self-healing protected outputs - all can
withstand continuous connection to 425
VAC
yextreme model additionally features
electrical surge protection

Page 5
dataLynx II has an RJ45 (Ethercon) connection
on the front panel. The product supports the
latest Art-Net release (Art-Net 4) and sACN
(the standard managed under ESTA E1.31).
dataLynx II requires Cat 5 cable or better and
supports 10BaseT and 100BaseT.
Power Supply & Earthing
The internal power supply requires an input
in the range 90-250 VAC with an Earth
connection. The mains fuse should only be
replaced with a 3.15A slow blow fuse.
The table below summarises the internal
Earth interconnection and isolation.
(Please note that we use the term Earth-
Ground to avoid international confusions. In
Europe Earth-Ground is called Earth; in the
USA Earth-Ground is called Ground).
Circuit Description
Chassis Bonded to Earth-Ground
DMX512
Ports
Type Ground referenced
Pin 1 Connects to Internal Logic
Ground
Shell The connector shell is
connected to chassis
Ethernet
Type Transformer isolated
Screen
Connects to Earth-Ground
via 75 Ohm resistance &
100 pF capacitance, as
specied in IEEE standard
Internal
Logic
Ground
Connects to Earth-Ground via 10
Ohm resistance
Ethernet Connection
Ethernet Indicators
During boot-up
During operation
yPower
- Slow ashing green (1Hz) = booting
normally
- Slow alternating green/red (1Hz) =
factory start (settings cleared)
yPower
- Static green = powered, normal
operation
- Fast ashing green (5Hz) = identify**
- Occulting green = remote programming
command received
- Static red = fault condition
- Fast alternating green/red (5Hz) =
product is not commissioned (return
for service).
yNet+Link
- Yellow = network link established (but
no lighting data)
- Green = Art-Net or sACN detected
y10/100/1000BaseT
- Yellow = Ethernet link is 10BaseT
- Orange = Ethernet link is 100BaseT
- Green = SFP module
yNet Activity
- Green = No network data
- Occulting Green = Network data
yAll indicators
- O󰀨 = mute command received
The front panel features 4 LED indicators: 1)
Power; 2) Net+Link; 3) 10/100/1000BaseT; 4)
Net Activity. These give di󰀨erent informational
signals depending on whether the product is
booting up or in operational mode:
dataLynx II User Guide
1.
2.
3.
4.
**The Power LED will ash continuously
when the Identify command is sent by
DMX-Workshop. This enables dataLynx
II to be easily distinguished on a network
containing multiple nodes.
This LED will also blip briey in response
to any programming command received
via the network.

Page 6dataLynx II User Guide
DMX Outputs DMX Inputs
dataLynx II can convert a maximum of 12
Universes of data. Each port has a 5-pin XLR
female output connector.
Any of the DMX ports can be set to receive
DMX and generate either Art-Net or sACN.
Conguration is achieved with either DMX-
Workshop or the web browser.
When receiving DMX, the LED port indicator
illuminates to show that data is being received.
DMX512 Wiring
XLR
Pin
Function Colour RJ45
Pin
Cable
Colour
1Ground Black 7 & 8 White/Brown
& Brown
2Data - Blue 2Orange
3Data + Red 1White/
Orange
The DMX512-A standard species that Cat5
cable can be used to carry DMX data. The
table above shows which cores should be
used. It is recommended that Cat5E cable is
used. RDM data uses the same connections
as the DMX data.
All outputs are electrocution protected against
continuous connection to 425 VAC (self-
healing).
DMX Indicators
Failsafe mode
Each port has an individual LED indicator.
During operation, the LEDs illuminate green
to show DMX activity.
Failsafe mode allows the user to dene what
the DMX outputs will do in the event that
network data or connectivity is lost. Failsafe
mode triggers after loss of either network data
for 7 seconds or loss of ethernet link.
The options are:
yDo nothing, i.e. hold last state
yOutput all channels at zero
yOutput all channels at full
yOutput a recorded failsafe scene
Failsafe mode is congured using our free
DMX-Workshop software. Failsafe mode also
operates at boot up, so if the gateways power
on and there is no controller, they will execute
failsafe.
Universe Addressing
The universe (Por t Address) is used to uniquely
identify the DMX data on the network.
Art-Net allows universe numbers in the range
0 - 3 27 67.
sACN allows universe numbers in the range
1-65535.
For the avoidance of cross-protocol
confusion, users are advised to number
universes from 1.
Conguration
There are two ways of remotely conguring
the product:
1) Using the product’s internal web-server
2) Using DMX-Workshop (free-of-charge
network management software from
Artistic Licence.
In order to restore the product to its factory
default state, use a pin to hold down the reset
button on the front panel (see Connections
diagram) and cycle the power.
Web-Server
To congure dataLynx II via the internal web-
server, either type in the IP address of the
product or, if your web-browser supports
NetBios, then enter the name: dataLynxII. To
nd the IP address, use DMX-Workshop. The
home screen is shown on the next page:

Page 7dataLynx II User Guide
Figure: dataLynx II internal web server
The settings are explained on the next page.

Page 8dataLynx II User Guide
Port Settings
The settings for each DMX port can be
congured via the web-browser using the
following columns:
yPort: The DMX port number
yInput: Tick to set as DMX input
yDMX: Green shows changing data
yRDM: Tick to enable RDM
yDelta: Tick to enable delta transmission
(DMX frames are only sent when
network data changes)
yUniverse: Set the universe (port address)
for this output
yRate: Sets the DMX refresh rate:
- High = 24 ms frame time
- Medium = 32 ms frame time
- Slow = 48 ms frame time
yProtocol: Select either Art-Net or sACN
control over this output
yMerge: Select HTP or LTP merge when
2 controllers send data to this port (for
more information, see ‘Merging’ section
on page 10).
yPriority (active if Input & sACN are
selected): Set the Priority number (1-
200) that is used when converting DMX
to sACN
yLabel: Editable eld for port name
The indicator meanings are as follows:
yOnline: Green = live connection between
browser & product; Red = connection lost
yPower: Green = powered; Flashing
green = Identify; Red = Fault
yNet: Yellow = Link; Green = Art-Net or
sACN activity
DMX-Workshop
DMX-Workshop™ is a fully featured network
management, analysis, conguration and
diagnostics tool for lighting networks. You can
download the free software from our website.
When dataLynx II is connected to a computer
running DMX-Workshop, it should be detected
and displayed as an Art-Net node (click the
‘Node List’ tab to verify this).
The node can be expanded to show the
conguration and DMX output information,
as shown in the screen-shot on the next page.
Right-clicking on any entry brings up a menu
that o󰀨ers various functionality:
yThe ‘Congure Node’ option enables
conguration of the universe number
(port address), protocol (Art-Net or
sACN), sACN priority, failover mode,
product name and port labels.
y‘Copy to clipboard’ enables all the node
information to be pasted into a support
request email.
y‘Merge Controls’ (selectable only on
individual DMX outputs) enables the
choice of LTP (latest takes preference)
or HTP (highest takes preference) merge
modes.
y‘Indicators’ enables selection of normal,
locate or mute for the front panel
LED indicators. Normal is the default
behaviour, locate causes the selected
port ‘Stat’ LED to ash, and mute turns
o󰀨 all the LEDs.
y‘RDM Devices’ o󰀨ers options for device
discovery and conguration.
y‘Advanced’ leads to ‘Programme Upload’
and ‘Congure IP Address and DHCP’
as described in more detail below.
IP Settings
The IP settings for the product are displayed
in the top section of the screen. The Edit
control allows the static IP, subnet mask,
gateway address and DHCP settings to be
congured. (DHCP operation can be selected
via DMX-Workshop).
IP Address Conguration
Choosing the ‘Congure IP Address’ in the
‘Advanced’ menu brings up a window that
shows the IP address and Subnet Mask.

Page 9dataLynx II User Guide
The IP address uniquely identies any
nodes or controllers on a network, while the
Subnet Mask denes which part of the IP
represents the network address and which
part represents the node address. In a Subnet
Mask of 255.0.0.0 the rst byte denes the
network address and the remaining three
bytes dene the node address.
By default, the product has a static IP address
in the range 2.x.x.x. There are situations in
which the user may wish to change this - for
example, a 192.168.x.x address is generally
used in o󰀩ce environments.
Squawk
On a complicated network it is not always
easy to relate what is showing on screen to
the physical location of the nodes. A single
press of the factory reset button on dataLynx
II causes the product to send a message over
the network to the console.
Figure: dataLynx II as viewed in DMX-Workshop
A useful additional feature of dataLynx II is
the ability to enable automatic IP address
allocation on networks controlled by a DHCP
server (check the ‘Enable DHCP’ box to
activate this feature).

Page 10dataLynx II User Guide
Merging
dataLynx II is able to merge two streams of data to a DMX output. Depending on the settings,
merge can operate as HTP/LTP or Priority.
In HTP (highest takes precedence), the levels of each channel in the two streams are compared
and the highest value is used.
In LTP (latest takes precedence), the levels of each channel in the two streams is compared to
the output; if there is a change, that level is output.
In Priority, the sACN Priority eld denes which universe will be output.
Art-Net
If two streams from di󰀨erent IP addresses are directed to the same Port-Address, merging will
occur. If more streams are directed to the same Port-Address, they will be ignored.
sACN
Merging can operate with both unicast and multicast data.
If two streams from di󰀨erent IP addresses are directed to the same universe, the priority eld
is checked and the stream with the highest priority is output. If the priority eld in both streams
is identical, merging will occur.
If additional stream(s) are directed to the same universe, any additional stream with higher
priority will take precedence. If the priority is identical to the merging streams, it will be ignored.
DMX Input
A DMX input can be merged with an Art-Net stream, an sACN stream or another DMX input.
The table below summarises the merging operation.
Please refer to Application Note “0130 Gateway merging” for details:
https://artisticlicence.com/application-notes/
RDM Integrity
RDM Integrity is a software
product from Benjamin Electric
Co. designed for testing RDM
compliance. The product is
targeted at manufacturers and
developers wishing to ensure
that their products are compliant
before being placed on the
market. It provides a simple
pass, advisory, warning or fail
assessment, along with decoded
data that allow quick identication
of any problems.
Customers who have purchased
RDM Integrity can use dataLynx
II to unlock its powerful RDM and
Art-Net testing capabilities, as
shown in the diagram on the next
page.
Table: Merging operation