Lance Design ADX-140 User manual

ADX-140
NETWORKED AUDIO INTERFACE UNIT
(Cobranet Version)
Installation and Operation Manual
Firmware Version 5.5
Lance Design / 27 Fairview Avenue / Ridgefield, Connecticut 06877
Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone]
www.lancedesign.com

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WARRANTY STATEMENT
This equipment is warranted to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for
a period of two years from date of delivery. Any necessary repairs resulting from
defects in materials or in manufacture will be made free of charge provided that the
equipment has not been subjected to mechanical or electrical abuse, or modification,
as determined by Lance Design, and also that the equipment is returned to Lance
Design with prior authorization.
No liability whatsoever is assumed for consequential damages resulting from the use
or failure of this equipment. This warranty is in lieu of all other warranties,
expressed or implied, including any implied warranty of fitness for purpose.
COPYRIGHT
All software and hardware designs are copyrighted to Lance Design, 2010-2017.

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ADX-140 Interface Unit Front Panel View
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The ADX-140 Interface Unit provides the 'field end' connections for many of the
common audio and communications requirements for live sports and other
broadcast applications, with all transmission to and from the mobile unit or studio
control room taking place via standard Ethernet.
It is intended to be used with a Lance Design ADX-2400N providing the 'truck end'
interface functions. One ADX-2400 operating in 'announce booth' mode will
support up to four ADX-140s or ADX-120 announce units in any combination. All
configuration of the ADX-140 hardware is done via remote control from the ADX-
2400 front panel.
INPUTS
The ADX-140 provides four XLR female connectors for inputting microphone or line-
level signals. Each input is equipped with a very high quality microphone preamp
with remote gain control. Phantom power is also available. An LED indicator
adjacent to each XLR indicates phantom power or line-in mode.
Inputs 1 and 2 appear as Mics 1 and 2 at the truck. Inputs 3 and 4 appear as
talkbacks 1 and 2, since these inputs make use of the paths used for talkback
signals in the ADX-120s. This does NOT represent any compromise in quality; they
are full quality paths, and intended to be used for mics or other on-air sources.
IFB OUTPUTS
The ADX-140 provides two IFB outputs on male XLR connectors. These can be
configured to be 2-channel wet (RTS-format) outputs, or +4 dBv balanced dry
outputs. In the dry output mode, either the ifb signal or the program (non-interrupt)
signal may be selected. In these modes these outputs may be used for SA
speakers, or other line-level transmission functions. The audio quality is extremely
high, making them suitable for on-air, program quality transmission.
An additional special option is to output a line-level direct output of the Mic 1 and Mic
2 preamps. This could be useful in special circumstances where an analog backup
of a microphone signal is desired.

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PL (INTERCOM) CONNECTIONS
The ADX-140 provides a high-quality interface for two channels of RTS-format TW
(wet) intercom. The ADX-140 provides power supplies and four-wire to two-wire
conversion internally, so no additional hardware is required. The PL connections
are available on three male XLR connectors. The first combines PL channel 1 and
PL channel 2 in the traditional RTS two-channel configuration. The other two
channels provide one channel of wet PL and one channel of program (non-interrupt)
audio. This prevents having to use a PL channel just to provide program audio on
the second channel of the beltpacks.
Each IFB and PL power supply is individually protected for shorts and overloads,
with a front panel indication of these conditions. The PL supplies can supply current
for up to three beltpacks on PL 1 or PL 2. The IFB supplies can supply current for
two beltpacks each. The total number of beltpacks (PL and IFB combined)
should not exceed 6 per ADX-140.
Special care has been taken in the design of the PL sections. The hybrids (two-wire
to four-wire conversion) are carefully designed to provide good bandwidth and noise
performance, as well as a high level of trans-hybrid loss. In addition there are noise
gates implemented in the dsp to provide additional quieting. Because the long-
distance portions of the intercom are transmitted via a digital path and in four-wire
format, the PL performance far exceeds what is typically achieved with two-wire
systems in terms of response, noise, distortion, headroom, etc.
TALKBACK OPERATION
The ADX-140 provides the option of using external talent talkback switches
(handheld switches or foot switches). These may be connected via the remote
connector, and enabled via menu item 15 (GPI enable). When talkback GPI 1 is
activated, MIC 1 is muted, and the mic 1 audio is routed to the MIC 3 (TB1) path.
GPI 2 provides the same function for MIC 2 via the MIC 4 (TB2) path.
See the REMOTE pinout on page 22 for connection information.
POWER
The ADX-140 may be powered in either of two ways: There is a wide-range AC
input on the rear panel (95-250 Volts, 50/60 Hz), or the unit may be powered via the
Cat5 Ethernet cable from an ADX-8000 switch/power supply.
Both methods may be used simultaneously if desired to provide redundancy.

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System Overview
The ADX announce system consists of the following elements:
One or more ADX-2400 frames which serve as the 'head end' or truck end of
the system, and provide all inputs and and outputs for the truck or control
room. These units are available with analog, AES, or MADI I/O.
One or more ADX-120 Announce Boxes or ADX-140 Interface Frames which
function as the remote units in the booth or other remote location.
ADX-8000 or other 48-volt power supplies as required to power the ADX-120
units. The ADX-140 and the ADX-2400 have internal AC-operated supplies,
although the ADX-140 may also be powered over the CAT5 cable from an
external 48-volt supply (such as the ADX-8000).
Network infrastructure as required, consisting of standard layer-2 Ethernet
switches, fiber optic elements, media converters, fiber and copper
interconnects, etc. This is referred to in this manual as 'the network'.
Each ADX-2400 unit can support up to four ADX-120 or ADX-140 units, in any
combination.
The remote devices are identified by the ADX-2400s by a SYSTEM ID number,
which is set by a two-digit rotary switch on the remote device (rear panel of the ADX-
120, front panel of the ADX-140). Each remote device must be set to a unique
system ID (01-99).
The desired remote devices are designated in the ADX-2400 menu to be 'UNIT A',
'UNIT B', 'UNIT C' and 'UNIT D' for that ADX-2400. This is what determines the
audio routing; for example which microphone signal comes out of the 'Mic A1' output
of the ADX-2400. The microphone signal that comes out of that output would be the
headset mic ("Mic 1") from the ADX-120 which has its system ID switches set to
match the number assigned as 'Unit A' in the ADX-2400 menus.
Note that network wiring has no bearing on the audio routing. An announce box
can be plugged in anywhere on the network, into any cable, and the routing will
remain constant. This could be very useful if you had to move an announce
position to a second location. All faders, IFBs, PLs etc. would remain the same at
the second location without any duplication or re-patching/routing at the truck.
As another example, if you needed to swap the color and play-by-play positions for
some reason, you could just change the System ID switches on their announce
boxes. All mikes, IFBs, talkbacks, etc. would be swapped automatically.
Note that the network which connects the system components is a true Ethernet
network, and may be as extensive and as distributed as required. It is not simply a
point to point system. Network nodes might be in a booth, mobile unit, locker room,
sideline, and interview studio; all connected by a combination of fiber and Cat5
cable.