Orban OPTIMOD-FM 8500 Quick start guide

8500 to 8600 Upgrade
Instructions
Table of Contents
8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS .................................................................................1
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS .....................................................................................................................1
I NTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................................1
This kit (8500->8600UPGRADE) contains: ............................................................................1
Tools and equipment you will need:.........................................................................................2
F IELD I NSTALLATION I NSTRUCTIONS : 8500Æ8600 U PGRADE ......................................................2
Figure 1: Circuit Board Locator ...........................................................................................................6
Introduction
This kit contains parts needed to upgrade one Optimod-FM 8500 to have the same func-
tionality as an Optimod-FM 8600. Depending on the vintage of your 8500, you may need
to replace the DSP board.
There are three versions of this upgrade kit. One converts an 8500FM to 8600FM func-
tionality, the second converts 8500HD to 8600HD functionality, and the third coverts
8500FM to 8600HD functionality. (HD units contain two processors—one for FM analog
transmission and one for digital radio transmission. FM units have one processor for FM
analog transmission.)
This kit (8500->8600UPGRADE) contains:
QTY Description
1 Installation Instructions: 8500 to 8600 Upgrade Manual.pdf (this document)
1 8600 DSP2 Dual-Core DSP Circuit Board.
1 Hasp 8600 upgrade USB key for use with the upgrade software for 8500. This
key can only be used to upgrade one 8500 unit and will then expire.
1 CD-ROM (contains: Installation Instructions, 8500 Version 3 PC Remote and
Upgrade software, 8500 to 8600 PC Remote and update software for 8500,
HASP drivers.)
1 CD-ROM (contains: 8600 PC Remote software and documents.)
1 Front-panel sticker
1 Rear-panel sticker

2 OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
Tools and equipment you will need:
•Computer with 100 Mb/sec or higher Ethernet connector and at least one free
USB port. Supported operating systems are Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
•#1 Phillips Screwdriver
Field Installation Instructions:
8500Æ8600 Upgrade
The upgrade Hasp USB key can only be used for one upgrade and will then ex-
pire. Read and follow these instructions carefully. While we have attempted to
build in safety checks that prevent the key from expiring if the upgrade fails, care-
fully following these instructions will maximize the likelihood that the upgrade will
go smoothly.
We strongly recommend running both your Optimod and the computer from an
uninterruptable power supply during the upgrade. Moreover, network connectivity
must not be interrupted during the upgrade. Do not disconnect the Ethernet cable
from either your Optimod or the computer during the upgrade.
1. Check your software version, DSP board version, and available memory.
A) From your 8500’s front panel, navigate to S YSTEM > D IAGNOSTICS . Your 8500 may
have either a version 1 or version 2 DSP board. If you have a version 2 DSP
board, the following information will appear in the sixth line on Diagnostic Screen
3:
DSP board Version: 2
If you have a version 1 DSP board, the line will be absent or will state:
DSP board Version: 1
In addition, the screen will display the version of software that your 8500 is
running.
•If you have DSP board V1 and your software version is below V3.0.1, you
must first upgrade your software to 8500 v3.0.1 or higher.
Please note that some of the setup control values will not be updated automati-
cally when you upgrade from software V2.0.6 or lower to software V3.0 and
above. Write down these values before upgrading to software V3 [step (2.B) on
page 3]. Then enter them manually on the PC Remote or 8500 front panel [step
(3.H) on page 5]. Finally, back up your settings again after upgrading to V3 [step
(3.I) on page 5].
After successfully upgrading to V3.0.1 (or higher) and backing up your settings,
replace the DSP board in your unit with the DSP included in this kit (step 4, start-
ing on page 5). Finally, run the 8500Æ8600 upgrade software (step 5 on page 7).

OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS 3
•If you have DSP board V2, you do not need to upgrade your 8500’s software to
version 3 because all 8500s with DSP board V2 have version 3.0 or higher al-
ready installed. Moreover, you do not need to open your 8500 and replace its
DSP board because the correct DSP board is already installed. (You may re-
serve the DSP board in the kit as a spare.) All you must do is run the
8500Æ8600 upgrade software, carefully following the instructions below.
B) In Diagnostic Screen 3, check the Available Space line. Any amount less than
3000KB is insufficient for the upgrade and is likely to cause it to fail.
Low amounts of available space are usually caused by large numbers of User Pre-
sets. If you have less than 3000KB of available space, back up your user presets
using 8500 PC Remote software and then delete these presets from your 8500. If
this fails to increase the amount of available space to more than 3000KB, consult
Orban Customer Service. (Contact information is located at the end of this docu-
ment.)
2. Back up your settings, automation, and user presets.
A) Establish an Ethernet network connection between your computer and your 8500.
You can do this via a TCP/IP network or directly between your computer and the
8500. For a direct connection, you must use a crossover Ethernet cable and you
must give your computer a fixed IP address (turn DHCP off). For details, refer to
Networking and Remote Control starting on page 2-57 of the 8500 V3.0 Operating
Manual and To initiate communication on page 3-79 of the 8500 Manual. You can
access this manual by launching the 8500 PC Remote software that you installed
in step (3.C) above.
B) During the upgrade to v3.0 software from v2.06 or lower, the settings of the setup
controls in the list below are not retained and cannot be restored automatically
from PC Remote. Write down their values in the table below before upgrading so
that later you can set them via PC Remote or your 8500’s front panel.
CONTROL NAME VALUE CONTROL NAME VALUE
Analog Out Level dB Analog Out Source
Digital Output 1 Level dB Digital Output 2 Level dB
Digital Output 1 Source Digital Output 2 Source
Digital Output 1 Pre-Emphasis Digital Output 2 Pre-Emphasis
Digital Output 1 Word Length Digital Output 2 Word Length
Digital Output 1 Dither Digital Output 2 Dither
Digital Output 1 Sample Rate kHz Digital Output 2 Sample Rate kHz
Digital Output 1 Sync Digital Output 2 Sync
Digital Output 1 Format Digital Output 2 Format
C) Using PC Remote, back up your Setup and Automation files and your User Pre-
sets. It is important to save these in plain text, not in encrypted form. See To back
up User Presets, system files, and automation files onto your computer’s hard
drive starting on page 3-80 of the 8500 V3.0 Operating Manual.
When you back up your settings to PC, write down the backup path so you can
easily find the backup files later. The backup path will appear just before you dis-
miss the backup dialog window.

4 OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
Note that these files and settings will be erased completely from your 8500
when it is upgraded to 8600 functionality, so backing them up in plain text is
important—otherwise, you will be unable to complete step (6.I) on page 10,
where you restore the settings to your upgraded 8600 by using 8600 PC Re-
mote software.
3. Install 8500 software version 3.0.1 or higher.
[Skip this step if your 8500 is running v3.0.1 software or higher.]
A) After upgrading to V3.0.x from an 8500 version below 1.3.0, the Diversity Delay
Trim is reset automatically to 8.0000 seconds and the Diversity Delay is set to
OFF. If you use the Diversity Delay and your current software is lower than 1.3.0,
record your current Diversity Delay Trim setting (I
NPUT /O UTPUT 7screen). From
this recorded setting, subtract 0.00815625 seconds and use the result to re-enter
this value after the upgrade.
For example, if your delay setting before the upgrade was exactly 8.0 seconds, the
value to be entered after the upgrade is 7.991843750, calculated as follows:
8.000000000
– 0.008156250
= 7.991843750
B) Using Windows Explorer or a similar file manager, find
setup8500_3.x.x.x_pc_remote.exe on the included CD (“x” represents nu-
merals indicating the minor revision and build numbers.) This is in the 8500 folder.
Double-click this file to run the installer.
C) Follow the 8500 PC Remote Setup Wizard step-by-step instructions to install com-
ponents for the Optimod 8500 PC Remote application.
D) View the README file for information about the 8500 version history and about
updating the 8500 software. Most of the version history in the 8500 README ap-
plies to the 8600 too. It will be of interest if you are familiar with an older version of
8500 software and want a compact overview of what improvements occurred over
the years. The 8600’s improvements over the 8500 are discussed in the 8600
README, but the 8600 README does not cover improvements made to the 8500
before the 8600 was introduced.
E) Open an Ethernet network connection between your computer and your 8500.
[See step (2.A) on page 3.]
F) Update your 8500’s software via 8500 PC Remote. Updating your 8500’s Software
starting on page 2-66 of the 8500 V3.0 Operating Manual provides instructions.
G) Verify proper 8500 operation prior to continuing with installation. In the unlikely
event that you encounter problems with the update, discontinue installation, and
please contact Orban Technical Support:
phone: [phone]
fax: [phone]
email: [email protected]

5
OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
H) Important: If you updated from version 2.0.6 or earlier, use 8500 PC Remote or
front panel GUI to manually set the values of the controls shown in the table in
step (2.B) on page 3.
I) Using 8500 PC Remote, back up your Setup as you did in step (2.C) on page 3.
You can later use this file to automatically restore your setup controls after the
8500Æ8600 upgrade process is complete.
4. Install DSP Board Version 2.
[Skip this step if your 8500 already had DSP Board Version 2 installed.]
IMPORTANT!
Perform the installation under static control conditions. Simply walking across a rug can gener-
ate a static charge of 20,000 volts. This is the spark or shock you may have felt when touching a
doorknob or some other conductive item. A much smaller static discharge is likely to com-
pletely destroy one or more of the CMOS semiconductors employed in OPTIMOD-FM. Static
damage will not be covered under warranty.
There are many common sources of static. Most involve some type of friction between two dis-
similar materials. Some examples are combing your hair, sliding across a seat cover or rolling a
cart across the floor. Since the threshold of human perception for a static discharge is 3000
volts, many damaging discharges will not even be noticed.
Basic damage prevention consists of minimizing generation, discharging any accumulated
static charge on your body or work station and preventing that discharge from being sent to or
through an electronic component. A static grounding strap (grounded through a protective re-
sistor) and a static safe workbench with a conductive surface should be used. This will prevent
any buildup of damaging static.
A) Disconnect power and all audio inputs and outputs, any composite outputs, and
remote interface connections.
B) If your 8500 is mounted in an equipment rack, remove it from the rack and place it
on an anti-static workbench.
C) Using a #1 Phillips screwdriver, remove the screws that secure the top cover. Re-
serve these screws for reassembly.
a) Remove the top cover, and familiarize yourself with the appearance and
location of the various circuit boards (see Figure 1 on page 6).
D) Remove the V1 DSP board.
a) Carefully remove all interconnecting cables to the existing DSP board, noting
their positions for reassembly later. Note that J601 and J602 ribbon cables are
socketed at their connection to the I/O board; these ribbon cables are soldered
on to the DSP board and not intended to be removed at this end. Remove from
the I/O board side only.

6 OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
b) Avoid bending any circuit boards when disconnecting or re-connecting the
cable; it is possible to damage the fragile traces of multi-layer boards through
excessive bending.
c) Remove and reserve six Phillips-head screws from the DSP board. Remove the
board and place in an anti-static bag, or other appropriate storage. Retain this
board for possible future use as a spare; do not return the board to Orban.
Baseboard
DSP Board
CPU Board
I/O Board
UART Board
Figure 1: Circuit Board Locator
E) Install the V2 DSP board.
a) Observing the appropriate anti-static handling precautions, remove the V2 DSP
board from its anti-static carrier.
b) Orient the DSP board over the mounting points and fasten using the screws
reserved above.
c) Reconnect all cables to the DSP board.
d) Check all internal connections carefully for any loose or partially seated
connections.
e) Before replacing the top cover, test the installation to verify that the 8500 is
properly recognizing the new circuit board that you just added.
Apply power to 8500. During the boot-up process, observe the front-panel

7
OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
power LED. If the LED blinks RED, immediately disconnect power from 8500.
Refer to Table 4-1 on page 4-10 of the 8500 V3.0 Operating Manual for a table
of blink codes for the power monitor LED. Then carefully review all steps of
these instructions without skipping steps. Normal operation is indicated when
the LED shows steady GREEN color.
5. Apply upgrade stickers to the converted unit.
Your kit contained two upgrade stickers, one for the front panel and one for
the rear panel. Please affix them to your Optimod according to the photos be-
low:
6. Upgrade the 8500 software to 8600 functionality.
Your upgrade kit (FM or HD) must match the model of the 8500 you are up-

8 OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
grading (8500FM or 8500HD). If there is a mismatch, the upgrade software
will emit an error message and refuse to complete the upgrade. It will not
cause the HASP key to expire.
Model 8500HD was called “8500” in some earlier software versions; 8500FM
was always called “8500FM.”
A) Make sure that the appropriate network cable is connected to your Optimod and
that the Optimod is powered up.
B) If your 8500 is now connected to 8500 PC Remote software, close 8500 PC Re-
mote.
Any open connection to your 8500 will prevent the upgrade software from
connecting to the 8500. This will cause the upgrade software to emit an error
message but will not cause your HASP key to expire.
C) Insert the Hasp 8600 Upgrade key that came with kit into any available USB port
on your computer. The Windows “Found New Hardware” dialog box should open
automatically. If you are connected to the Internet, you may accept the default (let
Windows search the Internet for the driver).
If Windows cannot find the driver automatically, use the driver that is included on
the CD provided with this kit. When you insert the CD in your computer’s drive, the
CD’s Autorun routine will start up and will offer to install the driver. Follow the in-
structions on the screen.
If your computer is set up to prevent Autorun from starting automatically when a
disk is inserted into your optical drive, use a file manager like Windows Explorer to
navigate to the CD’s Sentinel_HASP_Run-time_setup folder. Then double-
click HASPUserSetup.exe.
Wait until Windows indicates that your new hardware is installed and ready for
use.
D) If you successfully installed version 3.0.1 software or above (step 3 on page 4),
this proved that the Ethernet connection between your Optimod and your com-
puter can reliably support the upgrade process and you may skip to step (E) be-
low.
If you did not need to install version 3.0.1, before you proceed further it is wise to
verify that your network can reliably support the upgrade process. This will prevent
the single install available on the Hasp 8600 Upgrade key from being wasted and
will save you the trouble of contacting Orban customer support to get a replace-
ment key if this occurs.
A good sanity check is to ping your Optimod multiple times from your computer us-
ing a packet size of 4000 bytes:
a) Click on the Windows Start button and choose Run.
b) Type cmd in the box and press your computer’s Enter key. A command window
will open.
c) Type
ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx –l 4000 –t

9
OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
Then press the Enter key. (Note that “l”is not a numeral; it is the lowercase let-
ter “L”.) xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of your Optimod.
The ping will repeat until you stop it. Allow it to repeat at least 20 times. You can
stop it by pressing your computer’s CTRL
and C keys simultaneously. (You must
stop it before you can run the upgrade.)
Except for the first reply (which might time out), all subsequent requests should
receive replies. The result should look something like the following:
C:\Documents and Settings\myname.DOMAIN >ping 192.168.155.179 -l 4000 -t
Pinging 192.168.155.179 with 4000 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Reply from 192.168.155.179: bytes=4000 time=3ms TTL=60
Ping statistics for 192.168.155.179:
Packets: Sent = 11, Received = 10, Lost = 1 (9% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 3ms, Average = 3ms
Control-C
If any request but the first one times out, the reliability of the network connec-
tion between your computer and Optimod is suspect and you should use a
different connection. Usually, the most convenient thing to do is to make a di-
rect Ethernet connection between the Optimod and your computer via a
crossover Ethernet cable. Note that to support a direct connection to your Op-
timod, your computer must be assigned a static IP address.
E) You are now ready to upgrade your 8500 to an 8600.
a) Find the upgrade executable on the CD that came with your kit. This will be
named 8500fmto8600fm.exe, 8500HDto8600HD.exe or
8500fmto8600HD.exe depending on the upgrade kit you are installing.
b) Double-click on the upgrade executable and follow the instructions that appear
on the screen.
Until the screen indicates that your Optimod has been upgraded, DO NOT
INTERRUPT POWER TO YOUR COMPUTER OR OPTIMOD and DO NOT
INTERRUPT THE NETWORK CONNECTION. This can cause you to lose the
one available installation in your HASP USB key. We strongly recommend us-
ing an uninterruptable power supply for your computer and Optimod.
c) The upgrade process will erase all user presets and will reset all network
parameters and passwords to their default values. (The default password is
ADMIN.) To connect to your upgraded Optimod, you must therefore
appropriately set the security and network parameters from the Optimod’s front
panel before you can connect to 8600 PC Remote software.
F) Install 8600 PC Remote software.

10 OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
a) Find Setup8600_X.X.X.X_PC_Remote.exe on the 8600 software CD that
came with your kit or go to ftp://ftp.orban.com and download the 8600 software.
We recommend the latter because this will always provide the most current
version.
b) Double-click Setup8600_X.X.X.X_PC_Remote.exe and follow the
instructions that appear on the screen.
G) Set up a connection to your new 8600 using 8600 PC Remote software. See To
set up a new connection on page 3-87 of the 8600 V1.2 Operating Manual, which
is available from the Help menu of 8600 PC Remote.
8500 PC Remote software will no longer work.
H) Once you have successfully connected to your 8600 using 8600 PC Remote soft-
ware, you may use this software to restore the automation events and user pre-
sets that you saved in step 2 on page 3. See To restore archived presets, system
files, and automation files on page 3-90 of your 8600 Operating Manual. This is
available from the Help menu of 8600 PC Remote software.
For Windows XP, the default location of your V3 8500 files is:
C:\Documents and Settings\
All Users\Shared Documents\Orban\
Optimod 8500 PC Remote\my 8500\backup
For Windows Vista and 7, the default location is:
C:\Users\Public\Shared Documents\Orban\
Optimod 8500 PC Remote\my 8500\backup
For the FM version, the Optimod folder name is
Optimod 8500fm PC Remote
For 8500 earlier than V3, the default location for your saved 8500 files is in a
subfolder of the folder where you installed 8500 PC Remote. Please see step
(2.C) on page 3 to locate the backup path of your saved files.
I) This version of 8600 PC Remote software does not accept 8500 setup files. (We
expect to implement this in the future.) There are two ways to restore your settings
like input and output levels: manually and automatically.
•Restore automatically (the easy way) by editing two lines in the 8500 setup
file, saving the file as an 8600 setup file, and restoring it to your 8600 using
8600 PC Remote software. Note that this only works for 8500 setup files
saved in plain text from version 2.07 or higher.
a) Use a plain text editor like Windows Notepad to open the Setup.orb85setup
file that you saved in step (3.I) on page 5. Make sure your text editor is set to
view all file types, not just text files. See step (H) on page 10 for the default
locations of the files.
b) Using the text editor, change the first line from
OptimodVersion=<8500.40>
to
OptimodVersion=<8600.10>

OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS 11
c) Change the fifth line from
Preset File Name= <Setup.orb85setup>
to
Preset File Name= <Setup1.orb86setup>
d) From the text editor, save the edited file to the directory of your choice (usually
the default directory in step (a) above) as
Setup1.orb86setup
If you are using Notepad, make sure the file type is set to All Files types prior to
saving it. If you save it as a text file, it will not be recognized by 8600 PC Re-
mote.
e) Using 8600 PC Remote, find Setup1.orb86setup and restore it to your new
8600. The will restore all of the old 8500 setup parameters including network
settings. See To restore archived presets, system files, and automation files on
page 3-90 of your 8600 Operating Manual.
•Restore manually (the hard and error-prone way):
a) Use a plain text editor like Windows Notepad to open the Setup.orb85setup
file that you saved in step (2.C) on page 3. Make sure your text editor is set to
view all file types, not just text files. See step (6.H) on page 10 for the default
locations of the files.
b) You will see all of the settings in plain text. Each line contains the setting of one
setup parameter. Most lines show the settings in the same way that they appear
in the 8600’s GUI. In a few cases, numbers that contain decimal points in the
8600 GUI are represented as integers (without decimal points) in the text file.
For example, a setting of 9.00 dB would appear as 900 in the text file .
Use this data to manually set the setup controls in the 8600’s GUI or in 8600
PC Remote. In each line, if you see “D:”, ignore the numbers following it.
This concludes the update. If you experienced any problems with the update process or
have any other 8600 questions that the 8600 Operating Manual cannot answer, please
contact Orban Customer Service. However, before calling please try to find the answers
in the manual.
phone: [phone]
email:
[email protected]

12 OPTIMOD-FM 8500 TO 8600 UPGRADE INSTRUCTIONS
If you wish, you may recycle the USB key by sending it to:
Attn: USB key recycling
Orban
8350 E. Evans Road - Suite C-4
Scottsdale AZ 85260 USA
or
Attn: USB key recycling
Orban Europe
Business Park Monreposstr.55
71634 Ludwigsburg, Germany
8350 East Evans Suite C4, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 USA
Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; E-Mail: [e-mail]; Site: www.orban.com