RS232 Protocol

ManualsBrandsRotel Manualsaudio & home theatreRA-11

Rotel RA-11 / RA-12 V02

RS232 ASCII Controller Command List

The RA-11 and RA-12 V02 support an ASCII based RS232 protocol. The RS232

hardware does not support flow control so care needs to be take when sending and

receiving data to avoid packet loss.

The below protocol is effective starting with V02 units that have the rear panel RS232

connection. Earlier models with the rear panel mini USB connections do not support this

protocol.

All commands sent to the attached Rotel device must have a terminating “!” character.

Example Command: power_on!

Note: Do not include any spaces in the command, and do not include a carriage return

or line feed after the command, only the “!” terminating character.

Status information from the attached Rotel product with either have a terminating “!”

character or a byte count for variable length text data that may include a “!” in the

returned message. It is up to the sending/receiving control application to properly parse

and process the packets.

Note: The byte count only includes the text data and not the length or “,” character.

Note about Rotel Link RCD feature: The input that has been selected for the ROTEL LINK

RCD option in the setup menu of the RA-11/12 will affect the response string from the

unit for that input. If the input has been set as the Rotel Link RCD input, the response

string for that input will be the second string listed in the table (i.e. if COAX1 has been

set as the Rotel Link RCD input, the response string will be source=coax1_cd! rather than

the standard response string of source=coax1!).

Connection Settings

Baud Rate Parity Valid Data Bits Stop Bit Value

Handshaking Data Type

115200 N 8 1 None String

Communication Protocol

Command and response messages are included on the following pages.

Automatic display update information can be enabled/disabled using the

“display_update_auto” and “display_update_manual” commands.

Date Version Update Description

June 12, 2014 1.00 Original Specification

September 16, 2016 1.01 Corrected volume scale from 1 - 86 to 1 - 96

Summary of content (7 pages)

PAGE 1
Rotel RA-11 / RA-12 V02 RS232 ASCII Controller Command List Date June 12, 2014 September 16, 2016 Version 1.00 1.01 Update Description Original Specification Corrected volume scale from 1 - 86 to 1 - 96 The RA-11 and RA-12 V02 support an ASCII based RS232 protocol. The RS232 hardware does not support flow control so care needs to be take when sending and receiving data to avoid packet loss. The below protocol is effective starting with V02 units that have the rear panel RS232 connection.
PAGE 2
In automatic mode each time the display changes the new display line(s) will be sent. In manual mode the display updates must be requested each time a refresh of the display information is desired. This primarily applies to Front USB metadata information. Basic status information such as volume, power or source changes will still be provided automatically.
PAGE 3
RA-12 ASCII Command Description fast_back! Fast Backward/Search Backward random! Random Play Mode Toggle repeat! Repeat Play Mode Toggle MENU CONTROL COMMANDS menu! Display the Menu exit! Exit Key up! Cursor Up down! Cursor Down left! Cursor Left right! Cursor Right enter! Enter Key NUMERIC KEY COMMANDS 1! Number Key 1 2! Number Key 2 3! Number Key 3 4! Number Key 4 5! Number Key 5 6! Number Key 6 7! Number Key 7 8! Number Key 8 9! Number Key 9 0! Number Key 0 TONE CONTROL COMMANDS tone_on! Tone Controls On
PAGE 4
RA-12 ASCII Command Description OTHER COMMANDS dimmer! Toggle display dimmer dimmer_0! Set display to brightest setting dimmer_1! Set display to dimmer level 1 dimmer_2! Set display to dimmer level 2 dimmer_3! Set display to dimmer level 3 dimmer_4! Set display to dimmer level 4 dimmer_5! Set display to dimmer level 5 dimmer_6! Set display to dimmest setting DISPLAY REFRESH COMMANDS display_update_auto! Set Display Update to Auto display_update_manual! Set Display Update to Manual Unit Response dimmer_#! n
PAGE 5
Command: Description: Return String: Return Description: Example: Command: Description: Return String(s): Return Description: Example: get_product_version! Request the main CPU software version product_version=##,text Rotel main CPU software version, must include 2 digit length of text string at beginning followed by "," and text string (no terminating character) product_version=06,V2.1.
PAGE 6
Command: Description: Return String(s): Return Description: Example: get_bass! Request current bass level bass=###! (+01-10, -01-10, 000) Current tone control bass level bass=+02! Command: Description: Return String(s): Return Description: Example: get_treble! Request current treble level treble=###! (+01-10, -01-10, 000) Current tone control treble level treble=-01! Command: Description: Return String(s): Return Description: Example: get_balance! Request current balance setting balance=###! (L01-15, R
PAGE 7
Command: Description: Return String(s): Return Description: Example: get_volume! Request current volume value volume=##! 2 digit current volume level volume=40! Command: Description: Return String(s): Return Description: Example: get_tone_max! Request Max Tone value tone_max=10! 2 digit tone max level tone_max=10! Section 3: Special Character Mapping Certain characters on the RA-12 display may be represented by a combination of 2-3 hex bytes in the feedback string provided by the unit.