Product Manual 232-STA Stereo TV Tuner Ver. 4.4 May 24, 2008 17630 Davenport Road, Suite 113 • Dallas, TX 75252 Phone: 972-931-2728 • Toll-Free: 888-972-2728 • Fax: 972-931-2765 E-Mail: Sales@crwww.com • Website: www.crwww.
Table of Contents Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 3 New Features (Rev 3.3-4.0) ....................................................................................................................3 Specifications ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Physical ...................................
Overview The Contemporary Research 232-STA is a versatile RS-232 controlled video tuner featuring stereo audio, 125-channel access in off-air, CATV, HRC, or IRC modes, front-panel operation and feedback, and intelligent control. Fully programmable, the unit can restore all settings on power-up from non-volatile memory. A list of accessible channels, called channel rings, can be stored in memory, used for convenient channel up/down control and to control direct access to unlisted channels.
Specifications T Physical Size: Weight: Enclosure: Mounting: 8.5" [216mm] wide x 1.75" [38mm] height (1RU) x 6.0" [153mm] deep 1.5 lbs [0.
Specifications U RF Tuner Frequency Range: Maximum Input: Video Gain: Video Phase: NTSC television 55.25 to 801.25 MHz, 62.5KHZ fine tune resolution Maximum Input: +20dBmV max, +10dBmV nominal* ±5% maximum, 2% typical ±3 degrees maximum, 2 degrees typical *All tuners with firmware V3.7 to V4.1 made between Apr and Nov 2005 should be upgraded to new V4.3 (or higher) to ensure higher RF input level specs and best video performance.
Troubleshooting Symptom: Front-Panel Channel Up does not operate, advances one channel when powered The RS-232 port has contact closures for Channel Up and Down on pins 4 and 9. Off-the shelf RS-232 control cables (such as consumer null modem cables) that include those wires can lock up channel operation. If the problem clears up when you unplug the RS-232 cable, use a cable with only 3 wires for GND, Transmit, and Receive.
Front Panel Programming Commands Mode 0-9 Parameters Mode 10+ Parameters RF Tune 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.x 3.0 CATV Broadcast HRC IRC 300 600 1200 2400 4800 9600 19,200 (V3.5) One Two Three Four – Nine (V3.5) Caption Type 10.0 10.1 10.2 Captioning off (fixed) No function No function Caption Mode 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.X No No No No No Video Detect 12.3 No function (fixed) AV Status 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 5.0 5.X 6.
RS-232 Control Protocol Overview The 232-STA full duplex RS232 scheme enables a system programmer to control all TV Tuner functions as well as monitor 3 groups of TV Tuner status. All commands are sent as ASCII strings. No delays between characters or commands are required, as data is interrupt driven and buffered. The 3 status groups are: Channel/Source Select, Audio Levels/Mode and Front Panel.
General RS-232 Commands Q Q-series commands Q0= Caption Mode Off (0-2) Included for compatibility with 232-STS programming. As the STA does not have on-screen text or video detection, most commands will have no affect in tuner operation.
General RS-232 Commands U VU VD VL VX VV VT VM U S0= Ramp volume up Ramp volume down Ramps volume to level (0 – 63) Volume Mute off Stop volume ramp Toggle Volume Mute Volume Mute on Example: ‘>VM’ Set tune mode S4= Set front panel lockout mode S5= Power-up volume S7= S8= S9= SS ST Set audio mode Set bass gain level (0-19) Set treble gain level (0-8) Request Front Panel status Request Channel status Example: ‘>ST’ Request A/V status SV Starts volume ramping up Starts volume ramping down Sets vol
Character Generator Commands Before the introduction of the 232-STS, 232-STA models offered an optional character generator, supporting an on-screen display that is 28 columns (characters) across by 11 rows (lines) down. An imaginary cursor represents the current screen write position. Writing text automatically increments the cursor to the next character space. The character text is always white. TM=
Keypad Channel Command If you’re using an external control system, this command will emulate the pressing of numeric keypad buttons for channel selection, which means you won’t need to use extra elements for capturing channel commands in your programming. The KC command will access any channel, KT will only access a channel stored in the Tune Ring. KC=0 KC=1 KC=9 KC KT=9 KT KD Emulates ‘0’ key, accesses any channel. Emulates ‘1’ key, accesses any channel. Emulates ‘9’ key, accesses any channel.
Tune Ring Commands and Replies $R Request Tune Ring $N=xxx Request Label Asks for reply with list of channels in Tune Ring Example: ‘>$R’ asks for list from Unit 1 Reply:’<1$TR2-31,35,52,126’ Asks for reply with channel text assigned to specific channel Example: ‘>$N31’ asks for label assigned to channel 31 Reply: ‘<1$TN038,ABC’ Terminal Communication Commands EF EN Echo Off Echo On ID Z! Product ID Zap Characters received will not be re-transmitted (power up default) Characters received will be re
Response Strings Typical: [Attention] [Unit#] [data ...data] [cr] [lf] 232-STA status response strings contain ASCII characters similar to those used for the same functions in command strings. An ASCII 'carriage return' and ‘line feed' follow each response string. Functions shown as N/A are not applicable; characters will appear in status strings as lower-case x.
RS-232 Cable Connections Single Tuner Control Wiring – Single Unit RS-232 Control Port 5 GND 2 RXD 3 TXD GND TXD RXD Channel Up Channel Down 5 3 2 4 9 9-pin D-sub female RS-232 wiring for control or programming should only use pins 2, 3, 5. Cables with all pins wired can lock out front-panel programming and data communication (Pins 4 and 9 are inputs). Multiple Tuners Up to nine tuners can be daisy-chained from one RS-232 control port.
Rack Mounting Two options are available for rack-mounting tuners. RK1 Rack Mount RK2 Rack Mount RK1 Single Unit Rack Mount Size Long Bracket: Size Short Bracket: Weight: Enclosure: Hardware: 9.5" [206mm] wide x 1.75" [38mm] height (1RU) x 1.75” [38mm] deep 1.0" [22mm] wide x 1.75" [38mm] height (1RU) x 1.75” [38mm] deep 3.25 oz [0.148kg] All aluminum with durable black powder coat paint Qty 4 CS, Phillip, Flathead, 82deg, Black, 8-32 x .
Safety Instructions Read before operating equipment. 1. Cleaning - Unplug this product from the wall outlet before cleaning. Do not use liquid cleaners or aerosol cleaners. Use a damp cloth for cleaning. 2. Power Sources - Use supplied or equivalent UL/CSA approved low voltage DC plug-in transformer. 3.
Limited Warranty and Disclaimer Contemporary Research Corporation (CR) warrants this product to be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use for a period of two years from the date of purchase from CR. Should such a defect occur CR will repair or replace, at their option, the defective product at no cost for parts or labor. This warranty extends to product purchased directly from CR or an Authorized CR Dealer.
