Elan S Series User manual

12/17/04
S12 INSTALLATION / PROGRAMMING NOTES & TIPS
The following was compiled by our Technical Support and Engineering staff during the testing of the System12. A great deal of this
information was reported subsequent to the publication of the S12 Installation Manual, and therefore does not appear in it. There are some
very useful and very important tips in here, so please read it thoroughly and save it for future reference.
1. Incorrect settings of the INT/EXT jumpers on a PVIA4 or PVIA10 can result in the S12 jumping
into the following modes of its own accord:
• System Off
• Page Off
• Page On
• Doorbell Off
• Doorbell On
• WHM Link
• WHM Source Change
• WHM Unlink
The correct PVIA4/PVIA10 jumper settings are: INT if using an SC-4 and EXT if not using an SC-4.
2. Use a STEREO plug 3.5mm interconnect cable for the S12's Page Trigger Input. Although a Mono plug may work, intermittent
Page Trigger functionality may occur if it is not seated perfectly. Play it safe - use a stereo plug only.
3. When controlling a System12 with an SC4, it will be necessary to use a Male-to-Male “gender changer” on the DB9 end of the
cable that packs out with the SC4 in order to connect it to the S12. SC4s are now packing out with this part. If you have older
SC4s on your shelves and have to purchase this part, make sure to buy a NON NULL MODEM DB9 Male-to-Male gender changer.
These are also available from our Tech Support department.
4. The S12 has many, many outputs! Don't confuse the Buffered Source Loop Outputs, which are used to loop sources to additional
S12 chassis, with the audio and video Zone Outputs, which are run to your system's amplifiers, VIA!s and TVs.
5. When connecting the Zone audio and video outputs, remember that outputs for a specific Zone are not necessarily located
directly above and below each other. The S12's video switching is very flexible, and can be independent of audio switching.
Refer to the S12 programming section of VIAHELP in VIATOOLS to verify the correct connections.
6. When assigning component video inputs and outputs, start with Group A (13, 14, & 15) and work towards Group E (1, 2 & 3).
7. If you add a Source Button on a VIA! Panel, and the function buttons are programmed with matrix video switching commands
(e.g. a page with direct access to camera's and no audio switching selected on the Setup page), the programmer must verify that
proper video tracking commands are placed on the “Exit From Video Mode” button. To do this, go to the Router page, click and
highlight the Source Button in question, click on the “Exit From Video Mode” button in the center of the screen, and add a Video
“X” Track command to the sequence. The “X” will be one of the code sets, Video 1 thru Video 5, and will depend upon which
panel/monitor in the zone you are programming. See VIA!HELP for more details.
(continued on back)
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S12 INSTALLATION & PROGRAMMING TECHNICAL TIPS (continued)
8. When working with RS232 serial commands and the S12, you will notice that the serial library/code set is comprised of Zone
flags and serial commands. When you want the S12 to perform a serial command, you must first issue the Zone # serial com
mand, and then issue the actual serial command to be performed. Example #1: S12 key [ZONE 01], S12 key [SOURCE 2].
Example #2: S12 Key [ZONE 08], S12 Key [MUTE TOG]. Note that the Zone command must be issued each time.
9. a) The S12's two IR “ALL” ports are chassis-specific, meaning that IR commands issued from Zones 1-8 will only come out of
S12 #1's “ALL” ports and not the “ALL” ports of other S12's in a multi-chassis system. In applications where a device that is
connected to the “ALL” port needs to be IR controlled by Zones 1-8 and 9-16, for example, an ELAN dual-plug IR emitter or an IR
connection block would be needed to sum the outputs of multiple “ALL” ports.
b) It is not necessary to do (a) above with ELAN VIA!djs or DTNRs. The S12 has an IR mapping feature that allows you to route
IR from one source input to another IR output. For example: if a VIA!dj is connected to audio source inputs 1, 2, 3 & 4, you can
re-map sources 2, 3, & 4 so that their IR commands are all issued from IR output port 1. Because the S12's source-specific IR
output ports are NOT chassis-specific, all zones would be able to control the VIA!dj. This also leaves IR output ports 2, 3, & 4 free
for use with another device.
10. When downloading to keypads in a S12 system, it is important that each keypad have the correct Zone ID. When downloading
from VIA!TOOLS, make sure that your are downloading the keypad program that was meant for the keypad in that specific zone.
Example: Zone 2's keypad must be downloaded from the Zone 2 position/keypad in VIA!TOOLS software. The dipswitch setting for
every keypad in an S12 system is UP, UP, UP, DOWN.
11. In a multi-S12 system, all chassis will display Zones 1-8 upon initial power up even if the chassis ID dip switches have been set
for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th chassis. Only when the S12s are downloaded to from VIA!TOOLS, or when Factory Defaulted after the
chassis ID dip switches have been set, will the S12s display the zones that reflect their chassis ID settings.
Note: Factory Default erases all programming. Only use the Factory Default prior to programming, or if erasing the current
program is not a concern.
12. The IR output port on the Local Source Wall Plate (LSWP) emits system IR commands only. This means that if you have the same
model CD player as a whole-house system source and a local source, you would be sending IR commands that both sources
would respond to any time you tried to control either source. There are two ways around this:
a. Make sure that you are not using same make/model sources as Local Sources
b. In zones with VIA! Touch Panels, use the following wiring connections for IR instead of those published
in the S12 and LSWP manuals: connect LSWP IR+ and IR- to the VIA! Local Port IR & GND pins. In this way,
local VIA IR commands can be sent exclusively to the local source. Unfortunately, there is no wiring
'work-around' for zones with just keypads in them.
13. In RS-232-controlled multi-chassis S12 systems, where both Composite and Component video distribution are being used, we
recommend that you use S12 chassis #1 for up to 16 x 16 Composite video switching (which can be AutoBuilt in VIA!TOOLS), and
S12 chassis #2 for up to 5x5 Component video switching. The RS-232 programming of Component video switching for chassis #2
can not be AutoBuilt, as there are chassis-specific commands in the RS-232 code set that will need to be entered. An S12
Application Note detailing this advanced application will be published shortly.
14. When connecting more than one S12 chassis using multiple PS12 Precision Panels and a VIA!NET device such as the SC4 System
Controller, place the SS/SC4-NO SS/SC4 Dipswitch in the UPPER position on all PS12 panels. Connect the VIA!NET device to
PS12 #1. The PS12 Installation Manual p. 16 describes this incorrectly.
15. If the first note of the door chime is not heard, it is probable that the PG/DB trigger is not wired correctly. The S12 has audio
sensing, so when the first door chime note is heard, it then triggers the S12 to allow door chime audio. The S12 should instantly
react to the signal sent by the PG/DB trigger and allow the entire door chime to be heard instead of reacting to the door chime
audio (which only allows some of the door chime through).
S12 Technical Tips, Rev. 2/3/05