AUDAC ARU20 Series User manual

ARU20x
User Manual
www.audac.eu

2
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This manual is put together with much care, and is as complete as could be on the
publication date. However, updates on the specifications, functionality or software may
have occurred since publication. To obtain the latest instruction manual or obtain additional
product information, please visit the product page on www.audac.eu. For information about
software version updates, please visit www.audac.eu/software.

3
Index
Introduction 5
Precautions 6
Safety requirements 6
Caution servicing 6
EC Declaration of Conformity 6
Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) 7
Caution 7
Chapter 1: Pin connections and connectors 9
Connection standards 9
Chapter 2: ARU20x Overview 10
Connection description 10
Contact description 11
Internal settings 12
Connections overview 14
Chapter 3: Wiring up the system 15
Chapter 4: Application examples 16
Chapter 5: User interface & configuration 17
Login 17
Dashboard 18
Events 19
Settings 20
Chapter 6: IP basics 24
Chapter 7: Technical specifications 26

4

5
Introduction
Multi channel digital relay units
The ARU20x series are multi channel digital relay units which are especially designed with
flexibility and functionality in mind. Various ways of switching the relays are provided, including
an integrated web interface, optional paging consoles and analog contact triggering making
the ARU20x AUDAC’s smartest and most innovative relay modules.
With this ingenious device, switching between audio sources, signal routing, and even
customized automation setups are obtainable. The bipolar relays allow switching of balanced
mono signals as well as unbalanced stereo signals. Normal open and normal closed contacts
are provided as well.
Thanks to its modular nature, the ARU20x is perfectly suitable for small home or retail
applications as well as big installations. There is no limit to the amount of ARU’s connected to
one system. The TCP/IP functionality allows controlling the ARU20x over an existing ethernet
network through an integrated HTML5 webserver, achieving full control via any connected
PC, laptop or smart device. An RS485 control port allows them for being integrated with any
matrix or other controlling system.
They are housed in a DIN rail mountable enclosure, guaranteeing an easy and clean installation
and integration in electrical cabinets. The front of the black ABS housing provides a brief
overview of its connection possibilities, while the back is equipped with a spring mount
mechanism allowing easy mounting on widely available standard DIN rails. This way it’s
possible to easily integrate it in any electrical cabinet.

6
Precautions
READ FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY
ALWAYS KEEP THESE INSTRUCTIONS. NEVER THROW THEM AWAY
ALWAYS HANDLE THIS UNIT WITH CARE
HEED ALL WARNINGS
FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS
NEVER EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN, MOISTURE, ANY DRIPPING OR SPLASHING
LIQUID. AND NEVER PLACE AN OBJECT FILLED WITH LIQUID ON TOP OF THIS DEVICE.
DO NOT INSTALL THIS UNIT NEAR ANY HEAT SOURCES SUCH AS RADIATORS OR
OTHER APPARATUS THAT PRODUCE HEAT
DO NOT PLACE THIS UNIT IN ENVIRONMENTS WHICH CONTAIN HIGH LEVELS OF DUST,
HEAT, MOISTURE OR VIBRATION
THIS UNIT IS DEVELOPED FOR INDOOR USE ONLY. DO NOT USE IT OUTDOORS
PLACE THE UNIT ON A STABLE BASE OR MOUNT IT IN A STABLE RACK
ONLY USE ATTACHMENTS & ACCESSORIES SPECIFIED BY THE MANUFACTURER
UNPLUG THIS APPARATUS DURING LIGHTNING STORMS OR WHEN UNUSED FOR LONG
PERIODS OF TIME
EC DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY
This product conforms to all the essential requirements and further
relevant specifications described in following directives: 2014/30/EU
(EMC) and 2014/35/EU (LVD)
CAUTION - SERVICING
This product contains no user serviceable parts. Refer all servicing to
qualified service personnel. Do not perform any servicing (unless you
are qualified to)

7
WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE)
The WEEE marking indicates that this product should not be disposed
with regular household waste at the end of its life cycle. This regulation
is created to prevent any possible harm to the environment or human
health.
This product is developed and manufactured with high quality materials
and components which can be recycled and/or reused. Please
dispose this product at your local collection point or recycling centre
for electrical and electronic waste. This will make sure that it will be
recycled on an environmentally friendly manner, and will help to protect
the environment in which we all live.

8

9
Chapter 1
Pin connections and connectors
CONNECTION STANDARDS
The in- and output connections for AUDAC audio equipment are performed corresponding
to international wiring standards for professional audio equipment.
RJ45 (RS485, Audio, +24V DC):
For connection to paging consoles and/or other RS485 peripheral equipment
Pin 1 White-Orange Not used
Pin 2 Orange Not used
Pin 3 White-Green +24V DC
Pin 4 Blue RS485 A
Pin 5 White-Blue RS485 B
Pin 6 Green GND
Pin 7 White-Brown Paging audio +
Pin 8 Brown Paging audio -
Audio signal inputs and outputs must be connected with high-quality audio cable and
high-quality connectors.
RS485 / TCP/IP
The ARU20x has RS485 and TCP/IP control ports which all accept the same commands.
The complete command set to control the ARU20x is available in the commands user
manual which is freely downloadable on www.audac.eu

10
Chapter 2
ARU20x Overview
Connections description
Power supply (24V DC):
A 24 Volts power supply connection is provided on the left side of the ARU20x. An external
power supply should be connected to these terminal block connectors for powering the
device. Pay attention to the correct voltage and polarity when connecting the power supply.
Ethernet:
The ARU20x can be connected to an IP network using the ‘Ethernet’ RJ45 connector. When
connected in an IP network, all functions can be accessed over the network including
configuration, monitoring and control. The control of the system is possible through the
integrated HTML5 web-page which runs on the integrated web server, while control through
commands or the Audac Touch™ application is also possible. To ensure a reliable connection,
always use CAT5E (or better) cabling and 10 Mbit compatible network infrastructure.
RS485:
The RS485 databus is connected using RJ45 connectors and allows integration of the ARU20x
in any RS485 controlled system. It allows integration with peripheral devices connected to
your audio system or any other RS485 based network. The ARU208 contains two RS485
connections allowing daisy chaining of multiple units. The RS485 shall be terminated using
a bus termination jumper at the end of the line. More information about this can be found
in the next chapter.
Contacts inputs:
The contact inputs on the ARU20x are dry contact inputs which can be used for triggering
relays by external devices or actuators. These analogue dry contacts priority over the digital
functions / triggers. Typical applications are activations by external buttons, switches or alarm
contacts. Activation is done by making a contact between the ground and the contact for
the particular relay. When triggering the ‘A’ contact, all contacts will switch simultaneously.

11
NOTE
The use of the dry contact inputs will priority over the digital control functions. There won’t
be any direct feedback or monitoring possible through to the digitally controlling devices.
All connects must be “dry” contacts (voltage free)
Relay input contacts:
The relay input connections are available on the upper side of the ARU20x and are marked
with the x2 (x2’) and x4 (x4’) indicators. The x2 marked contacts are normally closed contacts,
while the x4 marked contacts are normally open contacts.
Relay output contacts:
The relay output connections are available on the lower side of the ARU20x and are marked
with the x1 and x1’ indicators where the ‘x’ stands for the relay number. Both contacts with
the same number are switched by the same relay.
Ground contacts:
When switching differential signals, the ground (common) shall be connected to the ‘G’
terminals.
Contact description
Line output APM:
When an APM1xx series paging console is connected to the ‘RS485’ databus, the analogue
line output signal from the paging console is available on this terminal. The line output is a
balanced audio signal.
This signal shall be fed to all the relay inputs which are meant for switching the paging audio
signal to the outputs and the connection should be done by external wiring. When connecting
the analogue output signal to an external amplifier, this terminal should be used as well.
Music / paging input:
All contact pairs are labelled with a double digit number, the first number indicates the
relay number, the second number indicates the type of contact. An example of such contact
configuration (relay 5) is shown below, contact 51 is connected to 52 for a normal closed
connection and 54 for a normal open connection.
Connections
x1 Out
x2 NC
x4 NO
G Ground
Multiple simultaneous connections (NO and NC) are possible. In neutal position, the relay
will return back to its idle state, which has the normal closed contacts enabled (contacts
x2). Same situation will happen in case of a power shutdown, which makes the relay return
back to the idle state, meaning contacts x2 are connected.

12
Internal settings
The following settings are configurations which might be required to get configured one
single time when setting up / configuring the system. They are configured through jumpers
which are located on the PCB of the ARU20x housing, requiring the top cover from being
removed before making any adjustment.
ATTENTION
These settings are only allowed to be made by qualified technicians and
the system must be fully disconnected before any of these adjustments are
being made.
Bus termination jumper:
When multiple ARU20x’s are used in one system and are daisy chained through the RS485
bus, the last ARU in the chain needs to have the bus termination jumper placed to terminate
it on the correct characteristic impedance, avoiding reflections and guaranteeing a reliable
signal transmission.
The bus termination jumper (JP1) is default configured as terminated (meaning only one
device connected to the ARU20x’s RS485 databus).
Terminated (default)
Not terminated
Ground lift jumper:
The input ground contacts are all connected together, and the output ground contacts are
all connected together. The in & output grounds can be connected / disconnected with each
other through a jumper (JP3). In default configuration, the jumper is configured as ‘connected’,
meaning the in & output ground contacts are connected.
Grounds connected (default)
Grounds not connected

13
Normal mode / paging mode:
These jumpers (JP2) allow selection of the operation mode between normal and paging
mode. The unit is default configured to be used in paging mode.
Paging mode (default)
Normal mode
Paging mode: At power-on, all relays will be activated and will be switched
to background music mode. In case of power interruption (emergency
situation) the relays will return back to their idle state. This configuration is
recommended when using the ARU20x in music / paging announcement systems.
Paging mode (music / paging announcement systems)
Contacts x2 and x2’ are paging inputs
Contacts x4 and x4’ are background music inputs
Contacts x1 and x1’ are audio outputs
Paging mode Relay condition Audio condition
Power on - output not activated 14 > 11 14’ > 11’ Music
Power on - output activated 12 > 11 12’ > 11’ Paging
Power off 12 > 11 12’ > 11’ Paging
In paging mode, the power off condition is equal to the output active condition.
Normal mode: At power-on, all relays will remain in idle state and they require a trigger for
activation. This configuration is recommended when using the ARU20x for triggering external
devices (lights, screens, ...)
Normal mode (e.g lighting control)
Contacts x2 and x2’ are not connected
Contacts x4 and x4’ are voltage inputs
Contacts x1 and x1’ are light outputs
Paging mode Relay condition Audio condition
Power on - output not activated 12 > 11 12’ > 11’ Off
Power on - output activated 14 > 11 14’ > 11’ On
Power off 12 > 11 12’ > 11’ Off
In normal mode, the power off condition is equal to the output not active condition.

14
Connections overview
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1) 24 V DC mains voltage input connection
2) Ethernet RJ45 connection
3) RS485 databus connection (RJ45) with linkthrough for daisy chaining (only ARU208)
4) Contact trigger inputs
5) Relay contact outputs
6) Analogue audio line out connection (balanced)
7) Normal open (NO) relay contact inputs
8) Normal closed (NC) relay contact inputs

15
Chapter 3
Wiring up the system
NOTE
Make sure the power of the system is switched off, when any changes to the connections
are being made.
RS485:
In case your system is using the RS485 bus protocol, avoid making any star structured
constructions in your cabling. In installations where multiple ARU’s are connected in a bus
structure it is important that the data bus is connected as a daisy chained structure and the
last device terminates the bus on its characteristic impedance through placement of the bus
termination jumper. All other devices connected in this bus structure should not have the bus
termination jumpers on off position.
The connection between the ARU’s (RS485) shall be made with twisted pair cabling (CAT5E
or higher). The Ethernet connection shall also be established with CAT5E (or higher) cabling.
Power supply (24 V DC):
The complete system can be powered using a single 24 V DC power supply. The voltage is
distributed through the RS485 databus connection and other connected ARU’s will be fed
accordingly when connected in daisy chained structure. If cable distances larger than 300
meters will occur, the cable length will make the voltage drop below the required level and
additional power supplies needs to get added locally.
Ethernet:
To establish a proper Ethernet connection, CAT5E (or higher) cabling needs to be used for
connecting the ARU to your Ethernet network.
Relay connections:
Any kind of signals within the systems limitations can be switched and controlled through
the ARU unit. Depending on the type of signal and the system regulations or restrictions, the
signals needs to be connected using the appropriate cable and wiring standards.
Contact inputs:
The contact inputs on the ARU20x are dry contact inputs which can be used for triggering
relays by external devices or actuators. The contacts are triggered by connecting the particular
terminal for the relay to ground. When triggering the triggering the ‘A’ contact, all contacts
will switch simultaneously.

16
Chapter 4
Application examples
Example 1:
The above diagram shows an example of a simple and basic setup with an APM1xx paging
console in an analogue paging setup, combined with an ARU20x relay unit. Besides the
APM1xx paging console, a background music source (ISP40 in this typical setup) is con-
nected.
The output of the relay unit is connected to a four channel 100V power amplifier (which
also could be four individual amplifiers) for amplification of the signals for each particular
zone.
In normal situation, the music coming from the background music source will be heard in
all zones (the relays will be switched to background music). In case of an announcement,
the ARU will switch to the signal from the paging microphone for the channels which were
selected through the APM keypad and the announcement will be heard in the selected
zone.
This setup has an individual amplifier (of channel) for each zone, allowing announcemets
to each zone individually, and allowing the dimensioning of the amplifier power to the re-
quirements for each zone.

17
Chapter 5:
User interface & configuration
The ARU20x contains a variation of remote control and configuration possibilities. Its functions
can be remotely controlled through the embedded web interface. This fully responsive
interface based on HTML5 technology can be accessed from any websocket supporting
device, offering cross-platform compatibility with Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android and
iOS without requiring any installed applications or web plugins. The fully adaptive structure
guarantees a clear viewing on all different kinds of screen sizes.
When application specific or total system control is required, the ARU20x can be controlled
using the Audac Touch™ application. This application allows to custom configure your control
panel (Dashboard) according to project or user specific requirements.
For using the remote web-control or Audac-Touch interface, the ARU20X shall be connected
to an ethernet LAN network and accessed by its IP address. The standard (factory default)
IP address of the ARU20X is 192.168.0.197, make sure this address is within the IP range of
the connected ethernet LAN network (subnetmask 255.255.255.0).
Start your default web browser and enter the IP address of the embedded web-control
interface in the address bar (The factory default IP address is http://192.168.0.197)
Login
When accessing the web-control interface of the ARU20x, a password should get entered
to control the functions of the system. Two different levels are possible for administrator
and user access.
When logging in using the administrator password, full access is given to all systems func-
tions and configuration possibilities. (The factory default password for administrator access
is ‘ARU’) When logging in using the user password, restricted access for only the basic
functions of the system is given, allowing system control and operation without authoriza-
tion for making any changes to the system configuration. (The factory default password for
user access is ‘user’)

18
After the correct password is entered, press the ‘OK’ button, and you will be redirected to
the main screen of the web-control interface.
NOTE
If application specific limitations or restrictions for certain functions are required, the system
control can be done through the Audac Touch™ freely available application, which allows
you to create customized control dashboards.
Dashboard
The dashboard (main) screen gives an overview of all the buttons, which are required for
triggering and activating the relays. Depending of the type of relay module, the number of
buttons indicated in this screen will vary (4 or 8 relay activation buttons).
On the bottom of the relay knobs, buttons for selecting all (All on) or deselecting all (All off) are
located, allowing to switch all relays simultaneously. The knobs will be indicated in a neutral
color (grey) when the relays are in the idle state, while they will turn blue when activated.
The text inside the relay knob is default shown as ‘Relayx’ where x represents the number
of the corresponding relay (1 up to 4 for ARU204 or 1 up to 8 for ARU208). This text can be
adjusted according to customers preferences, allowing to create a more clear and intuitive
interface for the user.
The text in the title balk in the top left corner indicates the name which is assigned to the
corresponding ARU20x, which allows customizing, for creating a clear and intuitive overview
when multiple units are being used in one system. The exit icon inside this title balk logs
you off.

19
Events
The events screen gives an overview and provides the possibility for programming up to 50
timer scheduled actions. Various actions such as switch on, switch off, pulse and radio can be
programmed. They can be programmed on single occasions (date) or recurring times (repeat).
NOTE
When using the timer scheduled events functions for the ARU20x, it shall be connected
to a network with access to a time server. In default configuration, an internet accessible
time server is configured. When access to internet is restricted, an internal network time
server shall be assigned.
Action:
The event which should take place can be selected through the ‘Action’ drop down list, which
is selectable between on, off, pulse and radio. When selecting ‘On’, the selected relays will be
switched in activated status and will remain switched on. When selecting ‘Off’, the selected
relays will be in de-activated status and will remain switched off. The pulse function lets
you give a pulse (activation) for a certain period defined in milliseconds and the radio button
will activate the selected relays and will switch off non-selected relays.
Pulse:
When the pulse function is selected, the corresponding relays will be activated for a certain
period defined in milliseconds. The duration of the activation shall be entered in the ‘Pulse’
text field. Example given: when the value ‘10000’ is given, the selected relays will remain
active for a period of 10 seconds and will return to their idle state afterwards.
The values for the pulse duration shall be within a range of 100 ms and 999000 ms. (with
a resolution of 100 ms / step)
Radio:
This function gives you the possibility for activating relays, while all the other relays (non
depending of their earlier state) will be switched back to idle state. This function is useful
when typically only certain relays at a time is allowed to be activated simultaneously. Select
the relays to be activated through the check boxes, and all other relays will be switched to
idle state at the set moment.
Date / repeat:
The events can be programmed on single occasions or at recurring (weekly) base. This can
be selected by the drop down list through selecting ‘Date’ or ‘Repeat.

20
For single recurring events the option ‘Date’ should be selected and the date shall be entered
in the format DD/MM/YY, where DD stands for day, MM stands for month and YY stands for
year. The time when the event should take place shall be entered in the format HH:MM:SS,
where HH stands for hour, MM stands for minutes and SS stands for seconds. The date shall
be entered by manual input into the text fields;
For weekly recurring events, the option ‘Repeat’ should be selected and the days when
the event should take place shall be selected using check boxes which are indicated from
Monday (MO) till Sunday (SU).
Relays:
The relays on which the programmed event should take place must be selected. Depending
on the used unit, 4 or 8 check boxes will be indicated each of them representing a particular
relay of the unit. Mark the check boxes to assign the event for this particular relay.
Save:
When all event settings are made, all events will be saved after clicking the save button on
the bottom of the screen.
Settings
The settings screen includes all configurable settings which can be made to the ARU20x.
This menu is only accessible in administrator mode.
Device:
In the device settings menu, settings such as the device name and the device address can
be configured. The device name is only used for convenience of the users of the system
and will be displayed on the top left corner of the main screen. A freely configurable name
up to 15 characters can be assigned here.
The device address is an unique address which shall be used when multiple units are daisy-
chained with each other and addressed through a single IP address. Each device in the chain
should have an unique device address which is selectable between ‘S001’ and ‘S099’.
Additionally the device MAC address and the software version on which its running is indicated
in this window.
Network settings:
The network settings can be adjusted in this screen.
The settings are changed by modifying the data which is entered to the text fields and saving
the settings afterwards.