REDBACK A 4500C/A 24 Hour 7 Day Timer With Evac Tone Generator User Guide

REDBACK A 4500CA 24 Hour 7 Day Timer With Evac Tone Generator

Software Programming

Running The Programming Software

The PC software is provided on the supplied Micro SD Card and is named “REDBACKWEEKLYTIMERPROGRAMMERXXXX.exe”
In order to access the software, the Micro SD card will need to be connected to a PC. You will need a PC or laptop equipped with an Micro SD card reader to do this. If a Micro SD slot is not available then the Redback D 0371B USB Memory Card Reader or similar would be suitable (not supplied)

You will first need to put the timer in “Standby” mode or disconnect power. Next remove the Micro SD card from the front of the unit. To remove the Micro SD card push the card in and it will eject itself.
Make sure the PC is on and card reader connected and correctly installed. Then insert the Micro SD card into the reader.
Go to “My Computer” or “This PC” and open the Micro SD card which is usually marked “Removable disk”.
The software required to program the Timer is stored on the root folder of the Micro SD Card. The program can be run on the Micro SD card or it could be copied to the PC desktop or another folder and run from there.
Double click on the file – REDBACKWEEKLYTIMERPROGRAMMERXXXX.exe.
The programming screen should appear as shown in figure 1.0.
If the program doesn’t run then the .NET Framework might need to be updated on your PC. This must be updated to the .NET Framework 4, available on the microsoft website.

All 50 events can be accessed on the screen by scrolling up and down.
If timing information was previously saved using the buttons on the front of the timer (refer to the Timer Instruction Manual), then these times should be displayed. Otherwise the timing information should all be blank as shown.

PROGRAMMING THE TIMING EVENTS

Entering the timing events is very straight forward.

Double click on any line and a new window should pop up as shown in fig 2.1, which has the vent details outlined.

An event can now be programmed from this window. A description of the event can be added  if desired such as Pre bell, Morning Tea etc. The start time, finish time and days of the week can all be entered. Selecting the days of the week is as simple as clicking the desired days or selecting the weekdays box. There are 99 output folders available to choose from, which include the Bell, Prebell, Music and output folders 5 – 99. These folders contain the audio files to be played on event activation.

NOTE: The “Alert” and “Evac” folders can have only one audio file installed. The remaining folders can have unlimited audio files (depending on available storage) and will then randomly play the audio files in the folder any time the corresponding output is activated

The “Relay Only” Output option only activates the Bell 24V DC output without outputting any audio.
Figure 2.2 shown below illustrates an example. This event is the prebell for a primary school and is programmed to activate 5 minutes before the first bell of the day.
The audio track uploaded into the “Prebell folder” will be played at 8:55:00 and continue to play until 08:59:59

Once all of the details have been entered press “OK” The event should now appear in the programming window such as shown in fig 2.3.

Another event is added by following the same steps. Double click on a blank line and then enter the details required as illustrated in fig 2.4. This example is the first bell of the day for a primary school. The audio track uploaded into the “Bell folder” will be played at 9:00:00 and continue to play for 2 seconds.

Press the OK button and the second event now appears in the programming screen as shown in fig 2.5.

As the events are added they will be listed in chronological order. (I.e. In time order). If a new event is programmed, to start at 08:45:00 for instance, this new event would appear before the prebell event.
Continue to enter more events in this manner.
To save the program navigate to the file tab and then select save or save as.
Any number of programs and any name can be used for the saved file but it must have the .cnf extension. This might be handy if more than one program is required in a school year for example and these could be stored on a PC or elsewhere.
But note that the program that the timer will access must be saved as config.cnf and be saved to the Micro SD card.

SELECTING THE AUDIO FILES FOR THE OUTPUT FOLDERS

As mentioned previously there are a total of 99 output folders to select from for event playback. To move audio files to these folders the “Card Manager” will need to be opened. With the PC software running as outlined in section 1.0, navigate to the “File” tab as shown in figure 3.1.

Select “Card Manager” and then a browsing window should appear as shown in figure 3.2

The output folders are listed on the left side and the audio files available in the Library on the right.
From here the audio files in the library can be dragged into the required folders for the events programmed.
By default the output folders Alert, Bell, Evac, Music, Prebell and Voice should all house an audio file.
The timer checks these folders on power up, and if any of these folders are empty the timer will not operate.
Note: The alert and evac audio files meet the Australian standard for evacuation tones.
To check the contents, click on the folders and they should open and list the audio files inside as shown in figure 3.3

To add a file to a folder simply drag the file from the library to the SD card output folders, such as the example shown in figure 3.4 in which the file “Dream of You” is copied to folder 10.

ADDING AUDIO FILES TO THE LIBRARY

To add MP3 audio files to the Library, navigate to the “File” tab and select “Card Manager” as outlined in section 3.0.
Press the “Add Files” button and navigate to the location of the MP3 files to be added to the library. In the example below the Music folder is selected.
Note: The audio files must be of the .MP3 type

From here a single file, or multiple files as illustrated in figure 4.2 can be selected.

Once the required MP3 files are selected press the open button. The selected files should now appear in the Library as illustrated in figure 4.3.

These audio files are now available for use in the output folders.

RANDOM PLAY OF AUDIO FILES

The timer has the ability to random play audio files when a particular output is selected for an event. This is available with all folders except the Alert and Evac folders. These folders can have multiple audio files allocated which will play randomly when the output is activated. In the example illustrated in figure 5.1 extra audio files are dragged into the Music and prebell folders.

SAVING THE EVENT PROGRAM

Once programming is complete the configuration will need to be saved to the Micro SD card. The configuration file needs to be saved as config.cnf for the timer to recognise the program. The name of the open file is shown in the header bar of the programming window as shown in figure 6.1.
If the user wants to keep copies of different programs, use the Save As option and name the file something else while keeping the .cnf extension.
With the events now programmed on the Micro SD card, the card can be removed from the PC following windows safe card removal procedures. Make sure the timer is OFF and insert the Micro SD card into the slot in the front; it will click when fully inserted.
The timer can now be switched back On. If all is well, after the startup screen is displayed the current time and next event should be displayed on the screen.

REMOTE ACCESS TO THE TIMER

Note: An IT administrator or someone experienced with network protocols wil be required to setup the network access.
With the addition of the A 4498 Connection Pack, the timer can be accessed over an ethernet network (The connection details are covered in section 3.0 of the accompanying Timer Instruction Manual and the A 4498 manual).
This will make it possible to edit the timer events program remotely.
Note: MP3 Audio files cannot be added to the library using the remote connection. The Micro SD card needs to be removed from the timer and the procedures in section 1.0 and 4.0 followed to add additional files.

Once the connection has been setup the PC software will need to be run from a computer with  access to the network. The software executable file “REDBACKWEEKLYTIMERPROGRAMMERXXXX.exe” can be copied from the Micro SD Card and then run from the PC. Navigate to the top left corner and press the “Connect” button and the connection window should appear as shown in figure 7.1

This is where the IP address and port number supplied by the IT administrator are entered. (These were setup when the A 4498 connection pack was configured).
Enter the IP address and port number and the default password of 1234 as shown in figure 7.2. (The password can be changed by editing a text file named PASS.txt which is located on the Micro SD Card. Open the file using a text editor and change the password to another 4 digit number)

If the connection is successful, then the programming screen should look like that shown in figure 7.3 with the green “Timer Enabled” box visible. The connection address and time of connection are shown in the top right corner, and new options are now listed on the top left

If the connection is not successful there could be a number of reasons which are covered in section 11.0.

DOWNLOAD EVENT PROGRAM FROM THE TIMER

In order to make changes to the event program stored in the timer, the configuration file will need to be downloaded from the timer. Navigate to and select the “Download Config” tab at the top of the programming window.
A prompt window will appear to confirm the download as shown in figure 8.1. After downloading the file, the timing events will be displayed and can then be edited in exactly the same manner as outlined in section 2.0.
The file can be saved to the PC at any time, using the Save or Save As functions if a copy is  required. If changes are required to the audio output folders refer to the Manage Files section 9.0 or if the program is to be uploaded back to the timer use the Upload Config option outlined in section 10.0.

MANAGE AUDIO FILES REMOTELY

The library is accessed by selecting the “Manage Files” tab which will bring up the Remote Card Manager window as shown in figure 9.1. This shows the folders and audio files available on the SD card in the timer. The files are simply dragged into the required folders in the same manner as that outlined in section 3.0.
Note: MP3 Audio files cannot be added to the library using the remote connection as the file transfer is too slow. The Micro SD card needs to be removed from the timer and the procedures in section 1.0 and 4.0 followed to add additional files.

UPLOAD EVENT PROGRAM TO THE TIMER

The Event Program is uploaded back to the timer, by navigating to and selecting the “Upload Config” tab at the top of the programming window. A prompt window will appear to confirm the upload as shown in figure 10.1.

The progress bar will display the progress of the upload and a popup window will notify the successful upload. The timer is now updated with the new Event Program.

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR CONNECTION FAILURE

There are a number of scenarios where the timer might not be accessible to the programmign software.
ERROR MESSAGE: No connection available to your device

This error could occur if there is an issue with the physical connections ,or the power to the timer or Serial-To-Ethernet Converter. If this error occurs try the following remedies.
Check Timer power

1. Check the timer has power. If the unit already has power, put the unit into standby mode and then switch back ON. Try connecting again.
2. If the unit still doesn’t connect, try removing power from the timer completely by unplgging the power supply. Reconnect power and try again.
   Check connecting leads:
3. Check the leads connecting the timer to the adaptor board and D 4231 Serial-To-Ethernet Converter.
   Check D 4231 power:
4. Check that the Serial-To-Ethernet Converter (D 4231) has power. If the unit has power, disconnect and reconnect power and try again.
   If none of the above remedies work then the error might be because the IP address is incorrect. Check the IP address is correct with the IT administrator.

ERROR MESSAGE: Please enter the correct password

This error will occur when the password entered doesn’t match the password stored in the timer.
The password can be found in a text file named PASS.txt which is located on the Micro SD Card.
In order to access the text file, the Micro SD card will need to be connected to a PC. You will need a PC or laptop equipped with an Micro SD card reader to do this. If a Micro SD slot is not available then the Redback D 0371B USB Memory Card Reader or similar would be suitable (not supplied).
You will first need to put the timer in “Standby” mode or disconnect power. Next remove the Micro SD card from the rear of the unit. To remove the Micro SD card push the card in and it will eject itself.
Make sure the PC is on and card reader connected and correctly installed. Then insert the Micro SD card into the reader. Go to “My Computer” or “This PC” and open the Micro SD card which is usually marked “Removable disk”.
To change the password open the PASS.txt text file using a text editor and change the password to another 4 digit number. Save the file and then remove the Micro SD card from the PC following safe removal procedures. Insert the SD card back into the timer and try connecting again using the correct password.

SYNC TIME

When the timer is connected to the PC through the ethernet connection, the clock time on the timer can be synchronised with the PC. The times are visible on the programming window as shown in figure 12.1. The timer time is located to the right of the “Sync Time” button, while the PC time is located in the connection details above. Press the “Sync Time” button to sycnhronise the times.

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References

• redbackaudio.com - Crazy Domains

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