The MCG-2 Micro Character Generator
Contents
1. 57 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Also if the command has more than one parameter a comma must separate each parameter This error may also be produced if a comma is misplaced This would be the case if a command wanted two digit parameters and was issued with single digit parameters Example The page position command PP needs two digit parameters The command sequence PP 9 6 would produce an error while the command sequence PP O9 06 would not 58 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator BATTERY REPLACEMENT Your MCG 2 uses a 3V Lithium watch battery BR2325 CR2325 or equivalent This battery should last 10 years 3 years if RTC is installed Battery replacement is indicated by one or more of the following 1 A flashing power LED condition whenever the unit is powered up 2 Time and date with the RTC option and buffer information is not correctly maintained when power is off for any length of time 3 Baud rate and other settings not correctly maintained when power is off If you take care in replacing the battery with the Power On then none of the stored data will be lost To replace the battery proceed as follows 1 Remove the two screws on the face of the unit 2 Gently pull the front cover plate forward and down 3 Slide the top cover forward and remove 4 The battery is silver about the size of a quarter and is sitting in a black holder Using a small screwdriver gently remove the battery being VERY ca2. C for command line is the Control Button on your PC Type F to toggle Flash Type B to toggle Background After issuing this command the MCG 2 asks for a line number Enter the desired line Line numbers are printed on the right side of the box The text line is reprinted in the second box and the third box down then is blanked Enter the text for this line in the third box then press return Now the new text is printed back to the first box Continue this process until all desired lines are entered To exit EDIT PAGE press C When entering a line of text you may press F to set a part of the line to flash Press F again to turn flash mode off The numbers on the left and top of the first box are a guide to indicate how many characters will fit across the MCG 2 screen for different character sizes For example in the above figure for character size 3 horizontal 4 vertical only the word THIS would be displayed on the MCG 2 screen Similarly if the character size were horizontal 2 vertical then the words THIS IS ATEST followed by PLEASE STAND BY would by displayed However the words on line 7 ONE MOMENT PLEASE would not be displayed When the MCG 2 is asking for a line number you may also enter a B to toggle the background for the page Notes This command edits pages in the MCG 2 memory only To display an edited page exit from EDIT PAGE and issue a DISPLAY PAGE DP command from the desired page To blank a
3. If the MCG 2 units will use separate video sources then connect each video source to its MCG 2 and leave the MCG 2 terminator jumper JP9 in place If it is not convenient to run video cables over a long distance and a black background video is acceptable you may consider placing a black burst generator at the MCG 2 remote location Burst Electronics manufactures a full line of black burst generators Call for more information 14 0 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator COMMAND REFERENCE Your MCG 2 may be remotely controlled by sending two letter commands The commands in this section are listed in alphabetical order All commands have the same basic format as follows CC X Y Where CC is the two letter command itself X and Y are operation parameters Parameters are information the command needs to operate These may be page and line numbers or something else Parameters may be one or two characters long Some commands take one parameter others take two and some don t use parameters at all An example The following command WRITE LINE will write a line of text to the MCG 2 memory WL 8 3 THIS IS A TEST This sequence will write THIS IS A TEST to page 8 line 3 of the MCG 2 To display the page that has this line use the DISPLAY PAGE command DP 8 In this case we used only one parameter To get started first be sure to read the remote control tutorial and WAKING UP the MCG 2 Then look over the command referenc
4. to have a different setup for each page Issuing a MASTER RESET will reset these items 53 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator NOTES ON MASTER RESET The MASTER RESET found on the UTILITY MENU resets the MCG 2 to factory defaults as follows for all 10 pages of memory Character size Smallest Display position Centered Background OFF Baud rate 9600 baud Device ID 01 Clock display OFF With the RTC installed Date display position horizontal 04 vertical 09 Time display position horizontal 13 vertical 09 Time and date display status OFF Time format set to 3 seconds display The MASTER RESET can be used to recover from a FLASHING POWER LED condition and may be needed after replacing the Lithium battery If after replacing the battery improper operation is observed then MASTER RESET is required Be warned that using the MASTER RESET will set all page attributes to the factory default setting It does not erase the text pages If you want to erase all the pages use CLEAR ALL PAGES on the SCREEN CONTROL MENU 54 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator TROUBLESHOOTING amp FLASHING LED s Your MCG 2 was designed to be reliable and easy to operate and features RAM Memory Error Detection If an error in the battery backed RAM memory should occur may be caused by the internal battery being run down after a loss of AC power or by a glitch on the AC power line the POWER green LED will flash rapidly indicating
5. If the RTC option is not installed issuing this command will produce a REAL TIME CLOCK NOT INSTALLED error EXAMPLE TF 3 Sets RTC for Seconds Display TL 13 09 Time to be displayed in lower right corner CD T Turn on Time display 43 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator TL TIME LOCATION PURPOSE Sets the display position of the time of day RTC display FORMAT TL Xx yy xx Two digit horizontal position 01 through 13 yy Two digit vertical position 00 through 10 DESCRIPTION Sets the display position for the time display maintained in the Real Time Clock option If this option is not installed issuing this command will produce a REAL TIME CLOCK NOT INSTALLED error The display position is stored on a page by page basis 44 MCG Micro Character Generator UP UPDATE PAGE PURPOSE Displays a page in the MCG 2 memory on the screen FORMAT UP p p Page to be displayed 1 through 10 DESCRIPTION The MCG 2 holds 10 pages of text This command copies any one page to the screen The contents of the pages in memory are unaffected If the character size for the page is larger than size vert 1 horz only a portion of the page may be displayed see the CS CHARACTER SIZE command for more datails This command operates exactly the same as DP DISPLAY PAGE only it doesn t cause a flash on the video screen Note that using this command to update a page that has a different character size than the currently displayed
6. MCG 2 memory only This command does not clear the MCG 2 screen See the CD CLEAR DISPLAY EXAMPLE CP 4 Clears page 4 in MCG 2 memory 22 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator CS CHARACTER SIZE PURPOSE Sets character size for a page FORMAT CS x y x Horizontal size 1 through 4 y Vertical size through 4 DESCRIPTION Sets character size for the current page There are 16 sizes available 4 horizontal 4 vertical Character size is stored on a page by page basis If there are more characters on a page in memory than will fit on the screen for the current character size as many characters as is possible from the upper left portion of the page will be displayed The following tables will show how many characters and lines will be displayed for different character sizes Horz size No of characters per line 1 20 2 12 3 4 Vert size No of lines per page 1 9 2 6 3 4 4 3 EXAMPLE CS 2 2 Sets character size to display 12 characters by 6 lines 23 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator CV CLEAR VIDEO PURPOSE Clears the MCG 2 Video Display FORMAT CV DESCRIPTION This command clears the MCG 2 Video display screen but not any of the ten pages of the MCG 2 memory EXAMPLE CV Clears video display of generated text 24 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator DL DATE LOCATION PURPOSE Sets the position of the date RTC display FORMAT DL xx yy xx Two digit horizontal position 01 through 13 yy Two digit ver
7. RL sc SD SP SR ST TF TL UP VN WK WL Sets background on off Clears all pages Turns TIME DATE ON OFF Clears PC Screen Clears one page Sets character size Clears only Video Display screen not CP Date location on video Displays page on video Allows editing of a page Displays help screen to PC monitor Displays MCG 2 network ID on video Sets Mixer to on or off line Sets Control for IBM Type PC Sets position of page on screen Runs diagnostic tests Displays MCG 2 text line to PC monitor Sets the current page Sets the date to Real Time Clock Puts all devices on network to sleep Turns responses from commands to on or off for high speed communication Set time of day of Real Time Clock Display format of Time of Day Time Location on Video Update Page No Char Size Change Displays ROM software version number to PC monitor Wakes up a device on the network Writes a line of text to the MCG 2 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator BG BACKGROUND PURPOSE Set the background video for a page FORMAT BG p p 1 for background ON p 0 for background OFF DESCRIPTION Sets the background status for the currently selected page Background status is stored on a page by page basis EXAMPLE BG 1 Sets background ON 18 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator CA CLEAR ALL PURPOSE Clears all 10 pages in the MCG 2 memory FORMAT CA DESCRIPTION Clears all 10 pages in the MCG 2 memory Thi
8. and a monitor and that the MCG 2 is turned on Next run your communications program You will need to set up the program for the following Set the COM port to either COM1 or COM2 Depending on what you chose earlier Baud rate 9600 baud Unless you changed it in the Utility Menu Stop bits 1 Data bits 8 Parity None Echo Off or Set Duplex to Full Note that other combinations may not work reliably or may not work at all so please double check your connections and communications program setup Also confirm that the MCG 2 Device ID code is set to 01 in the utility menu If you did everything correctly then when you type on your computer keyboard the REMOTE light should flash 11 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Networking Your MCG 2 may be used as a stand alone unit or in a network of linked MCG 2 s Networking allows more than one MCG 2 to be controlled from a single PC computer over a single RS232 link A MCG 2 network is much like a telephone party line where each subscriber may listen in but only one person is allowed to talk at any one time Because of this each MCG 2 may be put to sleep or woke up and in this way only one MCG 2 will talk at any one time Each MCG 2 in a network is assigned a unique ID number See Set device ID in the UTILITY MENU in Part One This number is used to wake up an MCG 2 so you can send it commands Waking Up the MCG 2 When first powered up the MCG 2 will be a
9. dot 102 f F 65 A A 103 g G 66 B B 104 h H 67 C Cc 105 i l 68 D D 106 j J 69 E E 107 k K 49 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator ASCII ASCII Displayed Code Char Character 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 null transparent space N lt xS lt CHMHDOVOZEHM own arrow ISIAN KX ES SCFH VOTO 5 37 i o Ma Note Codes from 0 through 31 and 128 through 159 are not used Codes 160 through 255 display the same characters as 32 through 127 except the characters will be flashing on the Video output 50 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator RTC REAL TIME CLOCK OPTION Introduction The RTC Real Time Clock option for the MCG 2 allows the MCG 2 to maintain the date and time of day and displays these on the video display Time keeping is battery backed so the RTC will maintain time and date information when power to the unit is off The RTC maintains date information as follows month date and year Leap year is detected and corrected for on leap years For time information the RTC maintains hours minutes seconds and AM PM status The RTC will work in miliary time 24 hour format or standard time 12 hour format Installation The RTC option is a small printed circuit board that installs on the inside of the MCG 2 Proceed as follows 1 Turn off the power to the MCG 2 2 Remove the two screws on the face of the unit 3 Gently pull the front cover plate forw
10. message then the RTC was not properly installed go to the beginning of this section and make sure that you did everything correctly Setting the Time and Date Go to the UTILITY MENU and select SET CLOCK Using the PLUS or MINUS keys set AM PM or MT for military time Note in setting the time AM PM MT must be set first Move to the other items to set hours minutes and the date To exit press either the MENU or DISPLAY key Upon exiting the seconds will be set to OO and the RTC will start when in the setting mode the RTC is stopped Turning on the Time and Date Display Go to the SCREEN CONTROL MENU and select CLOCK DISPLAY The items for time and date display position are self explanatory however the items TIME FORMAT and DISP STATUS will need some explanation TIME FORMAT sets the format for which the time of day is displayed 52 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator If set for 1 only hours and minutes are displayed 12 59 If set for 2 an AM PM indicator is displayed 12 59 AM If set for 3 then hours minutes and seconds are displayed 12 59 59 DISPLAY STATUS turns the Time and Date display On or Off Cycling through with the PLUS or MINUS keys produces T for Time display only D for Date display only T amp D for both Time and Date display and OFF to turn off both the Time and Date display Note that TIME POSITION DATE POSITION TIME FORMAT and DISPLAY STATUS are stored on a page by page basis so it is possible
11. page may cause a brief over write of the sync in the video signal Generally this over write is not long enough to cause any noticeable change in the displayed video The over write will not occur if changing to a page with the same character size The DP DISPLAY PAGE command will not over write sync EXAMPLE UP 7 Copies page seven to the screen 45 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator VN VERSION NUMBER PURPOSE Displays the ROM firmware version number to the PC monitor FORMAT VN DESCRIPTION This command displays the version number of the ROM firmware and a copyright statement to the PC monitor It is not displayed on the video out monitor EXAMPLE VN Version is displayed on PC monitor 46 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator WK WAKE PURPOSE Wakes up an MCG 2 that is in sleep mode FORMAT WK id id Two digit network ID code DESCRIPTION This command is used when you want switch control of the PC to another MCG 2 on the network The WAKE command causes the referenced MCG 2 s to start accepting data after previously being asleep See the SLEEP command Also see Waking up the MCG 2 in the Remote control tutorial The ID code may be a hexadecimal number in the range 01 to FF EXAMPLE WK 01 SP WK F7 SP 47 Unit 01 is awake Unit 01 is asleep Unit F7 is awake Unit F7 is asleep MCG 2 Micro Character Generator WL WRITE LINE PURPOSE Write a line of text to the MCG 2 memory FORMAT WL p 1 tex
12. the error To recover from a flashing POWER LED condition issue a MASTER RESET from the UTILITY MENU If the error was detected on power up the video screen will be blanked so that possible garbage won t be displayed Pressing the MENU button on the MCG 2 will automatically bring you to the MASTER RESET selection on the UTILITY MENU The MASTER RESET function is not available from remote control and a flashing POWER LED condition is not detectable by remote control The reason for this is that the serial baud rate information is stored in battery backed RAM if the RAM contents have an error the RAM scrambled then the baud information is likely to be wrong in which case serial communication would not be possible If your MCG 2 should not function as you think it should try switching the power off and on again Also you might try a MASTER RESET however be warned that character sizes baud rate and other information will be reset See the section NOTES ON MASTER RESET for more information If you are experiencing trouble with remote control check the following Are you using the proper 4 conductor RJ 11 cable Are the RS232 connectors plugged into the correct positions On the MCG 2 On the computer Does the baud rate you are using match the number set in the utility menu Be sure that your PC is set for 8 data bits 1 stop bit and no parity 55 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Be sure that the command s you are using
13. 1 connectors are for remote control of the MCG 2 from a PC computer RS232 port and not for direct connection to a telephone system The MCG 2 may be controlled over phone lines with the use of a modem Switch the unit on When the unit is powered up it goes to On Line status and displays the page it was set for the last time it was powered up The Green POWER LED and the red ON LINE LED should glow The page will appear blank if there is no text present If no text is displayed and the page is not blank or if the green Power LED is flashing see the section on troubleshooting The MCG 2 may be controlled either by front panel controls or via an RS232 link to a PC This section will discuss front panel control Remote control via a PC is discussed in Section Two Front panel controls use menus on the screen to guide the user in editing text or setting options There are 3 menus MCG 2 MAIN MENU SCREEN CONTROL MENU UTILITY MENU As each new menu is brought up move the arrow to the item of interest and read the manual description Press the MENU button now to go to the MAIN MENU The UP and DOWN arrow buttons will move the arrow to select the different menu items The following details each menu item 4 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Main Menu EDIT PAGE Move the arrow to EDIT PAGE Press the MENU key A flashing cursor will appear The cursor may be moved left or right with the arrow buttons and up or down by holding SHIFT a
14. 9 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator SR SET RESPONSES PURPOSE Turns responses from commands on or off FORMAT SR x x 2 gt prompt x 1 Responses ON x 0 Responses OFF DESCRIPTION When responses are set to off the corresponding MCG 2 will not send ANY data to the PC but will still accept commands Also the MCG 2 front panel controls become inoperative There are basically three situations where you might want to use this command First if you want to send commands to more than one unit at a time see the example below This way the MCG 2 s on the network won t try to all talk at once Second if you want to send commands at high speed 9600 baud no wait between characters Because the MCG 2 won t have to spend time echoing back received characters or processing the signals from the front panel controls it will have more time to process incoming characters at high speed The third situation is to lockout the front panel controls on the MCG 2 to prevent unauthorized use Caution When sending a WAKE command it is possible to think that an MCG 2 is hung up because the WAKE command didn t send a response when really the unit has had its responses set to off Also if a unit is in S 40 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator EXAMPLE The following sequence will send a command to more than one unit SP WK 01 SR O WK 02 SR O WK 03 SR O WL 1 1 TESTING SP WK 01 SR 1 SP WK 02 SR 1 SP WK 03 SR 1 SP 41 All uni
15. E Sets display overlay On or Off FORMAT MX x x 1 for Mixer On ONLINE x 0 for Mixer Off OFFLINE DESCRIPTION This command sets the ONLINE Mixer ON characters are present and OFFLINE Mixer OFF characters are NOT present status of the MCG 2 The looped though video is not affected other than the character overlay The contents of the MCG 2 page memory are not affected EXAMPLE MX 1 Sets MCG 2 to ONLINE ONLINE LED ON 32 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator PC SET FOR PC ORIENTATION PURPOSE Sets Edit Page command to use IBM PC extended Line Draw characters FORMAT PC x x 1 for IBM PC x 0 for non IBM PC DESCRIPTION Sets whether or not the EDIT PAGE command will use IBM PC XT AT extended ASCII characters to build the edit boxes This command is used when the MCG 2 will be controlled through non IBM PC equipment such as a dumb terminal The default for this command is for IBM PC This setting is maintained in battery back RAM 33 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator PP PAGE POSITION PURPOSE Sets the position of the page on the screen FORMAT PP x y x Horizontal position y Vertical position DESCRIPTION This command sets the horizontal and vertical position of a page on the screen The page position may need adjustment after changing a character size or you may want to position text over an object on the incoming video such as redoing a telephone number on a commercial The num
16. The MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Manual Version 2 01 Bans BURST ELECTRONICS INC ALBUQUERQUE NM 87109 USA 505 898 1455 505 898 0159 FAX Made in USA burstelectronics com Hardware software and manual copyright by Burst Electronics All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without the written permission of Burst Electronics MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Table of Contents Part One Introduction About The Manual Tutorial Main menu Screen control menu Utility menu Adjusting Display Brightness Part Two Remote Control Tutorial Waking up the MCG 2 Networking Notes on Cables Command Reference Part Three Technical Lithium Battery 3V Notes on Master Reset Troubleshooting and Flashing Lights Specifications Jumper Settings Error Messages ASCII to MCG 2 Display Convert Table RS232 Adapters 1 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator PART ONE Introduction The MCG 2 is a low cost B W character generator for adding titles or captioning to NTSC or PAL Color or Monochrome video The MCG 2 will automatically Genlock to either NTSC or PAL inputs with no adjustments or switch settings required The MCG 2 outputs black or white characters user adjustable appropriate for logging and documenting experiments video source I D camera and location display for security applications time and date stamp from a PC or the MCG 2 wi
17. ample Some cable has a rib along one side to aid in orienting the connectors Connecting the MCG 2 To connect several MCG 2 s together proceed as follows Run an RJ11 cable from the PC computer to the RS232 HOST connector on the first MCG 2 Next connect another RJ11 cable from the LOOP connector on the first MCG 2 to the HOST connector on the next MCG 2 The process repeats for all MCG 2 s on the network The RJ11 cabling should be a direct connection from one MCG 2 unit to the next Do not use Y connectors or try to double up units Also the computer MUST be first in line on the network If the layout of a building is such that the computer should be in the middle of the cabling you might want to split the network between two COM ports on the computer 13 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Video Cabling Video cabling is set up a bit different than the RJ11 cables If all units will be using the same video source then a cable may be connected to each unit s VIDEO IN connector using BNC T adapters Note however that the 75 ohm termination jumper on the MCG 2 JP9 must be removed on all but the physically last unit on the cable see JUMPER SETTINGS in Part Three The rules for connecting the video cables to the MCG 2 units are the same as for connecting several monitors without loop through to one video source The MCG 2 VIDEO OUT connector is connected to a video monitor The monitor should be terminated with 75 ohms
18. another page is being displayed EXAMPLE DP 1 Display Page 1 to Video Screen SC 5 Current Page is now 5 BG O Set Page 5 Background OFF PP 12 21 Set Current Page 5 to 12 Horizontal 21 Vertical DP 5 Display Page 5 37 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator SD SET DATE PURPOSE Sets the date maintained in the RTC option FORMAT SD mm dd yy mm Two digit month 01 through 12 dd Two digit date 01 through 31 yy Two digit year 00 through 99 DESCRIPTION This command sets the date maintained in the RTC option The Real Time Clock will automatically detect and adjust for leap year If the RTC option is not installed issuing this command will produce a REAL TIME CLOCK NOT INSTALLED error EXAMPLE SD 03 15 00 Sets RTC date to March 15 2000 38 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator SP SLEEP PURPOSE Puts all devices in the network to sleep FORMAT SP DESCRIPTION This command is used when you want to switch control from one MCG 2 to another MCG 2 on the network The sleep command causes all MCG 2 s on the network to ignore all data sent to them except for the WAKE command See the WAKE command The MCG 2 front panel controls are always active regardless if the MCG 2 is asleep or awake EXAMPLE The following sequence will access two MCG 2 s and send each some commands WEK 01 Unit with ID 01 is awake DP 10 Display page 10 on unit 01 SP Put all units to sleep WK 02 Now accessing unit 02 CP 5 Clears Page 5 of unit 02 3
19. ard 4 Slide the top cover forward and remove 5 Locate the lithium battery It is positioned towards the front of the unit it is silver about the size of a quarter and is sitting in a black holder Directly behind the lithium battery looking from the front of the unit is a black connector with 20 holes This is the connector for the RTC 6 Remove the RTC board from its plastic bag Note to avoid damaging the RTC and the MCG 2 by static electricity be sure to electrically discharge yourself before removing the RTC board from its bag 7 With the power off insert the RTC into the black 20 hole connector long end toward the rear of the MCG 2 You should still be able to see the lithium battery after the RTC is installed 51 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Be sure that none of the pins bend and that all of the pins and connector holes line up assuring that there is no misalignment 8 Reassemble the unit being careful not to over tighten the screws Do not tighten more than 1 8 turn past seated Resetting the RTC The very first time the RTC is powered up it must be reset this only needs be done once and then set to the proper time date Proceed as follows Press and HOLD the PLUS button of the MCG 2 unit WHILE turning on the power switch The screen should flash RTC INSTALLED followed by RTC SET TO ZERO This message indicates that the MCG 2 found the RTC and that the RTC was installed properly If you don t get this
20. are correct Look them up in the COMMAND reference In writing your own software be sure to have a short delay between lines sent to the MCG 2 See the README DOC file on the example programs diskette for more information If you are writing your own software the MCG 2 may be reporting errors that you don t know about your software may not read response information or responses have been turned off One thing that is highly recommended in writing your own software is to run a communications program on the PC computer execute the commands that you think might be giving you trouble one by one and see what responses errors come from the MCG 2 Executing the commands one by one also gives you a chance to see what exactly the MCG 2 does and or needs in your particular circumstance JUMPER SETTINGS The MCG 2 has two internal jumpers J11 and J9 J9 is the 75 ohm termination for VIDEO IN Jumper J9 installed terminates the incoming video with 75 Ohms If J9 is not installed the video input is HiZ J11 sets the loop through for the RS232 connections J11 is a two position jumper Inserting the jumper toward the middle of the unit buffers the RS232 line toward the outside is unbuffered See the section on Battery Replacment for instruction on how to open the MCG 2 From the factory the jumpers are set as follows J9 IN 75 Ohms J11 Unbuffered Position The 75 ohm termination is normally on The only time it would need to be cha
21. ay be daisy chained to form a network controlled by one PC computer Uses inexpensive RJ11 telephone cable Accessories RS232 to RJ11 adapter 3 foot RJ11 cable Remote control example programs diskette User manual 120Vac 12Vdc wall adapter Options Real Time Clock RTC Maintains time and date battery backed 60 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator
22. bers used to specify the vertical and horizontal positions are arbitrary Probably the best way to determine what position you may want for a given situation is to manually adjust an MCG 2 to the position you want and use the numbers on the screen in the SCREEN CONTROL menu to send with this command 34 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator RD RUN DIAGNOSTICS PURPOSE Runs diagnostic tests from a remote location FORMAT RD DESCRIPTION This command is exactly the same command used in the utility menu and as such it displays the results of the tests on BOTH the MCG 2 screen and the PC screen The results of the RS232 loop test are not sent to the PC as a loop plug cannot be installed while the PC is connected to the MCG 2 However if you would like your software to be able to conduct the RS232 loop test simply echo back all characters sent by the MCG 2 after the results of the ROM test The test string sequence in ASCII is as follows space 1234567890 space abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz space 1234567890 space ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Spaces are 32d ASCII Possible results of the RAM and ROM tests are as follows Testing RAM space RAM Test Passed Testing RAM space RAM Test Failed Testing ROM space ROM Test Passed Testing ROM space ROM Test Failed Each line ends with a carriage return 13d linefeed 10d One easy way to interpret the results of the tests is to look for either a period or an exclamation point
23. e to get familiar with the remote control commands If you will be controlling your MCG 2 manually then you will simply send the MCG 2 commands with a communications program If you will be 15 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator writing your own software to control your MCG 2 look at the example programs on the floppy disk that came with your MCG 2 These example programs show how to send commands and how to set up the serial port of a PC computer See the README DOC file on the floppy disk for more information The description of each command is formatted as follows PURPOSE Tells what the command does FORMAT Shows the correct format for the command Keep in mind Capital letters must be entered as shown lower case letters are variable information parameters commas must separate commands and all parameters DESCRIPTION Describes in detail how the command is used EXAMPLE Shows one or more examples of how to use the command 16 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Command List Command Action Name Background Clear All Clock Display Clear PC Screen Clear Page Character Size Clear Video Date Location Display Page Edit Page Help Display ID Mixer IBM PC Type Page Position Run Diagnostics Read Line Set Current Page Set Date Sleep Set Responds Set Time Time Format Time Location Update Page Version Number Wake Write Line 17 BG CA cD CL CP cs cV DL DP EP HE ID MX PC PP RD
24. ecall them Press the MENU key to exit 5 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator CHANGE PAGE This is another way to change pages Pressing the PLUS or MINUS keys will change the current page and show the page number SET BACKGROUND Pressing the PLUS key will change the background for the current page and pressing the MINUS key will turn it off Turn the background on or off and then go to DISPLAY PAGE to see what the page looks like SET VERT Vertical SIZE SET HORZ Horizontal SIZE This menu item sets the size of the characters displayed with DISPLAY PAGE Move the arrow to SET HORZ SIZE or SET VERT SIZE Pressing the PLUS or MINUS keys will change the character size for the current page After setting a character size go to DISPLAY PAGE to see what the characters look like Character size is stored on a page by page basis such that each page may have a different character size On a given page all characters are of the same size Screen Control Menu SET HORZ Horizontal POS Position SET VERT Vertical POS Position This menu item sets the display position of the characters on the monitor The display position may be set by either pressing the PLUS or MINUS keys or by pressing the MENU key 6 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator If you pressed the MENU key the current page is displayed You can move the page left and right by pressing the arrow keys or up and down by pressing SHIFT and the arrow keys Display p
25. ill set the baud rate 1200 1800 2400 4800 amp 9600 for the RS232 link The baud rate is stored in battery backed memory Default is 9600 SET DEVICE ID Pressing the PLUS or MINUS keys will set the ID code used to access the MCG 2 in a network of linked MCG 2 s The ID is stored in battery backed memory Values are 01 FF 1 255 MASTER RESET Resets MCG 2 to factory defaults as follows Character size is set to smallest size for all pages 8 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Display position is centered for all pages Background is set to ON for all pages Baud rate is set to 9600 baud Device ID code is set to 01 Clock display is set to OFF This menu item is useful if you want to start over from scratch This menu item should also be used after replacing the lithium battery or to recover from a Flashing Power LED condition See Section Three for more information Note that text pages are not erased by this menu item If you want to erase all the pages use CLEAR ALL PAGES on the Screen Control Menu VERSION NUMBER Pressing the MENU key will show the version number of the ROM firmware and a copyright statement You may need this information if you need to call the factory for technical support Adjusting Display Brightness On the back panel of the unit there are two adjustment controls for characters and background brightness they are adjustable from 7 5 IRE setup to 100 IRE These adju
26. just before the carriage return line feed 35 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator RL READ LINE PURPOSE Reads one line from the MCG 2 memory FORMAT RL p 1 p Page number 1 through 10 1 line number 1 through 9 DESCRIPTION This command reads any line in the MCG 2 memory given the page and line number Results are in ASCII However if a character is displayed in bold meaning BG Background is On or is flashing the corresponding ANSI SYS codes will also be sent Codes are defined as follows Function ANSI code Bold on ESC 7m Flash on ESC 5m All attr off ESC 0m Note that ESC is ASCII code 27d EXAMPLE If the string THIS IS A TEST is in the MCG 2 memory at page 1 line 1 and the word IS is flashing the sequence read by the command RL 1 1 would be THIS ESC S5misESC Om A TEST followed by a carriage return 13d and line feed 10d If there were no flashing or bolded characters the sequence read would be THIS IS A TEST again followed by a carriage return 13d and line feed 10d 36 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator SC SET CURRENT PAGE PURPOSE Provides a means of setting the current page without affecting the video display FORMAT SC p p page number through 9 DESCRIPTION This command is used in conjunction with commands that affect the current page This command allows the current page to be changed without affecting the video display so that undisplayed pages may be changed or edited while
27. line choose the line and enter a space Use the percent sign to set a non background transparent space This command is intended for use with a communications program and not with user written software Front panel controls will be inoperative while this command is executing 28 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator The communications software used must be ANSI SYS compatible most are also you must have the statement DEVICE ANSLSYS in your config sys file See the documentation that came with your communications program for more detail 29 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator HE HELP PURPOSE Displays a help screen to the PC monitor FORMAT HE or HELP DESCRIPTION This command displays on the PC a brief list of all of the remote control commands and their parameters This listing may be exited from at any time by pressing C on the PC keyboard Front panel controls will be inoperative while this command is executing EXAMPLE HE All available commands are displayed on the PC monitor 30 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator ID DISPLAY ID PURPOSE Displays the network ID code on the MCG 2 screen FORMAT ID DESCRIPTION The network ID code is the code used to access the MCG 2 with a WAKE command This command displays the ID code on the MCG 2 screen This is useful in diagnosing a network spread over a large area EXAMPLE ID Identification on video monitor 31 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator MX MIXER PURPOS
28. nd pressing the arrow buttons Holding the arrow keys for more than about a second will cause the key to repeat moving the cursor across the screen Characters may be selected by pressing the PLUS or MINUS keys Holding down the PLUS or MINUS keys will cause the characters to cycle up or down The cycling will stop briefly at the beginning and end of the alphabet the numbers the punctuation marks and the symbols Characters may be set to flash by holding the SHIFT key and pressing the PLUS key Flash mode is indicated by the cursor changing from a block to a special underline character Now all subsequent characters set will flash To exit flash mode hold down the SHIFT key and press the MINUS key The cursor now returns to the normal block character Individual characters that are already set on the screen may be set to flash by moving the cursor over the character holding the SHIFT key and pressing the PLUS key Press MENU to exit from EDIT PAGE This also saves your text Try setting some titles to get a feel for using EDIT PAGE To exit from EDIT PAGE press the MENU key DISPLAY PAGE Pressing the MENU key displays the currently selected page Pressing the DISP key will cause the unit to toggle between on line and off line Pressing the PLUS or MINUS keys will switch the unit to the next higher or lower page There are ten pages that may be selected Once you have set text on all your pages this is the menu item you will use to r
29. nged is if you are feeding several MCG 2 units from the same video source See VIDEO CABLING in Section Two for more information Normally the RS232 loop through is unbuffered The only time you might want to set J11 for buffered is if you are using several MCG 2 units over VERY long cables 56 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator ERROR MESSAGES The RS232 remote control ROM software has five error messages as follows 1 Error Unknown command The MCG 2 did not understand the command you sent it The command is probably misspelled Look up the command in the Command Reference Section 2 Error Bad parameter One or more of the parameters in a command sent to the MCG 2 is either too large or too small or of the wrong type letters were sent when the command wanted numbers or vice versa Also this error can occur if not enough or too many parameters are sent Look up the command in the Command Reference Section 3 Error Real time clock not installed This error occurs when a RTC command is issued but the RTC option is not installed 4 Error Command unavailable This is an error that you are not likely to see It is only produced with custom ROM software and for special purposes at the factory 5 Error Comma missing or misplaced This error may be produced by not having enough commas in a command sequence In issuing a command there must be a comma after the command to separate the command from its parameter s
30. osition is stored on a page by page basis such that each page may have a different display position Press MENU to exit CLEAR PAGE Pressing the MENU key clears only the currently selected page CLEAR ALL PAGES Pressing the MENU key clears all 10 pages Use this one with caution DISPLAY ID ON SCREEN Pressing the MENU key will display on the video in large print the ID code used to access the MCG 2 in a network of linked MCG 2 s This is useful in setting up a network of MCG 2 s Press MENU to exit CLOCK DISPLAY This menu item is used to set a display position for the Real Time Clock option If this option is not installed this item will default to OFF For more information see the REAL TIME CLOCK addendum that comes with the RTC option 7 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Utility Menu NO CLOCK INSTALLED This menu item will change to SET CLOCK when the real time clock option is installed For more information see the REAL TIME CLOCK addendum that comes with the RTC option DIAGNOSTICS This item tests RAM ROM RS232 Remote control port and checks if the real time clock is running if installed Note that the RS232 test requires a loop back plug See Section Three for more information on building a loop back plug Results of the tests will be either PASSED or FAILED Pressing the MENU key runs the tests To exit press the MENU key after the test SET BAUD RATE Pressing the PLUS or MINUS keys w
31. reful not to over bend the metal tab holding the battery in place 5 Locate the plus symbol on the new battery and insert the new battery plus side up BE VERY CERTAIN THAT THE PLUS SIDE IS UP 6 Reassemble the unit being careful not to over tighten the screws Do not tighten more than 1 8 turn past seated The battery may be replaced with the power on to maintain the buffer data and date and time with the RTC option 59 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator SPECIFICATIONS Power 12 to 15 volts DC at 300mA Polarity insensitive or via 120 Vac 12Vdc wall module Size 5 6W x 1 5H x 7 3D inches Video Input 1 volt PP composite terminated in 75 ohms Output 1 volt PP composite with text overlay short circuit protected Keyer Internal keyer overlay Background and character brightness separately adjustable from 7 5 IRE setup Black to 100 IRE 100 White Character Size 16 height and width combinations as follows Height 28 scan lines Height 2 56 scan lines Height 3 84 scan lines Height 4 112 scan lines Width 1 20 characters per line Width 2 13 characters per line Width 3 9 characters per line Width 4 6 characters per line Selectable background and blink modes Storage 10 pages of 180 characters each Battery backed Remote control May be remotely controlled or function as a stand alone unit Remote control via RS232 link to PC computer Simple two letter remote control commands Units m
32. s command does not clear the MCG 2 screen See the CD CLEAR DISPLAY command For obvious reasons this command should be used with caution This command needs no parameters EXAMPLE CA Clear All Pages 19 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator CD CLOCK DISPLAY PURPOSE Turns time and date display on or off FORMAT DS x x T for TIME display only x D for DATE display only x B to display BOTH time and date x O Not zero to turn OFF both time and date display DESCRIPTION This command sets the on off status for the date and time of day displays This display status is stored on a page by page basis If the RTC option is not installed issuing this command will produce a REAL TIME CLOCK NOT INSTALLED error EXAMPLE DS B Displays T D on selected page 20 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator CL or CLS Clear PC Screen PURPOSE Clears the PC Screen FORMAT CL or CLS DESCRIPTION This command will send back to the PC a CLEAR SCREEN code to clear the PC s video screen This is useful when the PC screen gets cluttered up from previous commands Note this command is used only when the MCG 2 is being controlled through a communications program and is not intended for use with user written software EXAMPLE CL Clears the PC monitor of text 21 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator CP CLEAR PAGE PURPOSE Clears one page FORMAT GP p p page number through 10 DESCRIPTION Clears the page indicated Page is cleared in the
33. sleep meaning that it will ignore any data sent to it except for a WAKE command However the front panel keypad will work whether the MCG 2 is awake or asleep The wake command format is as follows gt WK id Where id is the device ID number Range 00 to FF Hex After receiving a WAKE command the responding MCG 2 will send the following id READY COMMAND gt Again the ID is the device number At this time the MCG 2 is ready to receive commands To switch to another MCG 2 on the network first issue a sleep command as follows gt SP 12 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator This will put all MCG 2 s on the network to sleep Next issue a WAKE command using the ID number for the MCG 2 you wish to work with Note that the SLEEP command does not use an ID number instead the SLEEP command puts all MCG 2 s on the network to sleep Notes On Cables Your MCG 2 uses standard 4 conductor RJ11 modular telephone cable This type of cable was chosen because of its low cost and ease of use RJ11 cable with connectors is widely available in various lengths or custom lengths can be fabricated You can make you own cable Radio Shack stocks cable connectors and the crimping tool The cable has four conductors and uses four conductor RJ11 connectors The connectors should be attached so as to have the locking snap tab facing the same way on both ends of the cable Use the sample cable that came with your MCG 2 as an ex
34. stments are set at the factory for white 80 IRE characters on a medium gray 30 IRE background 9 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator PART TWO Remote Control Tutorial WARNING DO NOT CONNECT YOUR MCG 2 UNIT TOA TELEPHONE SYSTEM DAMAGE MAY RESULT AND YOUR WARRANTY MAY BE VOIDED The RJ11 connectors are for remote control of the MCG 2 from a PC computer RS232 port and not for direct connection to a telephone system The MCG 2 may be controlled over phone lines with the use of a modem Your MCG 2 may be controlled from a PC computer via the computer s RS232 serial port by sending the MCG 2 simple two letter commands See the command reference for more information on commands We provide 1 RJ11 cable 1 DB9 to RJ11 adapter You will need the following 1 PC computer with a RS232 Serial Port 1 terminal emulation program such as Procomm ANSI SYS compatible or Windows HyperTerminal You will need to determine if you have one or two RS232 ports and the name of the one you plan to use The names will be COM1 or COM2 If you have only one RS232 port then the correct name is COM1 We ll start by connecting the DB9 to RJ11 adapter to the RS232 port you have chosen Next connect one end of the RJ11 Telephone Type cable to the DB9 to RJ11 adapter and connect the other end to the RJ11 connector on the MCG 2 marked HOST It is assumed that the 10 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator MCG 2 is connected to a video source
35. t p Page number 1 through 10 of where text will go 1 Line number 1 through 9 of page where text will go text Text to be sent to page 20 characters max DESCRIPTION This command will send one line of text to the MCG 2 memory To cause a character to flash embed an underline _ in the text portion of the command The first underline will turn the flash function ON the second underline turns the flash OFF EXAMPLE WL 2 5 THIS IS A TEST Will write THIS IS A TEST to page 2 line 5 WL 2 5 THIS IS FLASH Will cause the text FLASH to flash note that the exclamation point does not flash 48 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator ASCII Code to MCG 2 Display Convert Table ASCII ASCII Displayed ASCII ASCII Displayed Code Char Character Code Char Character 32 space background space 70 F F 33 71 G G 34 R 72 H H 35 telephone 73 l l 36 foreground box 74 J J 37 transparent space 75 K K 38 amp amp 76 L L 39 i 77 M M 40 78 N N 41 79 O O 42 d 80 P P 43 81 Q Q 44 82 R R 45 dash dash 83 S S 46 84 T T 47 85 U U 48 0 0 86 V V 49 1 1 87 W W 50 2 2 88 X X 51 3 3 89 Y Y 52 4 4 90 Z Z 53 5 5 91 kanji Year 54 6 6 92 kanji Month 55 7 7 93 kanji Day 56 8 8 94 up arrow 57 9 9 95 underline dash 58 96 i hoarfrost symbol 59 F 97 a A 60 lt left arrrow 98 b B 61 99 Cc C 62 gt right arrow 100 d D 63 101 E 64 raised
36. t This Manual This manual is divided into three sections Section One is a tutorial and describes initial setup and MCG 2 front panel operation Section Two describes how to remotely control one MCG 2 or a network of MCG 2 s from a Personal Computer Also included in Section Two is a reference section describing how to use each of the two letter remote control commands Section Three has information on specifications troubleshooting etc When reading the next section the Tutorial it is best to have the MCG 2 in front of you to get a full understanding of the operation of the MCG 2 Material Supplied In the shipping carton you should find 1 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator 1 AC adapter 12 Vdc 500mA 1 Operations manual 1 Three foot modular telephone cable RJ11 Type 1 DB9 RS232 to RJ11 Telephone cord adapter 1 Floppy Disk Containing example software for remote control Operation Power up the MCG 2 using the AC adapter or an external source of 12 Vdc The MCG 2 has an auto polarity feature for the DC input 3 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator polarity is unimportant Connect a video source black burst VCR live video etc to the VIDEO IN BNC connector Connect the VIDEO OUT BNC connector to a composite monitor The REMOTE IN and OUT RJ11 connectors will be discussed in Section Two WARNING DO NOT CONNECT YOUR MCG 2 UNIT TOA TELEPHONE SYSTEM DAMAGE MAY RESULT AND YOUR WARRANTY MAY BE VOIDED The RJ1
37. th the real time clock option Patient monitoring Information displays and basic CG applications The MCG 2 requires a video input to operate The unit displays a maximum of 180 characters 9 lines by 20 letters Characters may be set to 4 widths and 4 heights for a total of 16 character sizes The character set includes upper case letters A Z numerals 0 9 and various punctuation marks and symbols as shown in the ASCII to MCG 2 Display Convert table Characters may be set to have background or to flash or both Characters and background brightness may be individually set with screwdriver adjusters on the rear panel The display memory holds 10 pages of text and is protected from power losses by a lithium cell that should last 10 years 3 years if RTC is installed Stored on a page by page basis for each page is the character size display position background on off status and the position of the Real Time Clock Display The MCG 2 may be controlled by either front panel controls or remotely by an RS232 link to a PC Multiple units may be chained together with standard 4 conductor RJ11 modular telephone cable and individually accessed from a PC Easy to use two letter commands are sent to the MCG 2 from a PC 2 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator running a communication program such as Procomm or Windows HyperTerminal or from user written software The MCG 2 has 3 LEDs Power RS232 Activity Remote and On Line status Abou
38. tical position 00 through 09 DESCRIPTION Sets the display position for date display maintained in the Real Time Clock option If this option is not installed issuing this command will produce a REAL TIME CLOCK NOT INSTALLED error The display position is stored on a page by page basis EXAMPLE DL 01 09 Places date on line 9 starting at 1st character position 25 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator DP DISPLAY PAGE PURPOSE Displays a page in the MCG 2 memory on the screen FORMAT DP p p Page to be displayed 1 through 10 DESCRIPTION The MCG 2 holds 10 pages of text This command copies any one page to the screen The contents of the pages in memory are unaffected If the character size for the page is larger than size 1 vert 1 horz only a portion of the page may be displayed See the CS character size command for more details EXAMPLE DP 7 Copies page seven to the screen 26 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator EP EDIT PAGE PURPOSE Edit a page from a remote location FORMAT EP p p Page to be edited 1 through 10 DESCRIPTION This command displays on the PC a copy of the referenced page to the PC and allows editing of the page on a line by line basis on the computer screen Page 7 IDOI 43 2 l Line THIS IS A TEST PLEASE STAND BY ONE MOMENT PLEASE O oo NAUA FWY ENTER LINE NUMBER __ Computer Monitor Screen 27 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator Type
39. ts asleep Unit 01 is awake Responses for unit 01 are OFF Unit 02 is awake Responses for unit 02 are OFF Unit 03 is awake Responses for unit 03 are OFF Write TESTING to all awake units Put all units to sleep Unit 01 is awake Responses for unit 01 are ON Put all units to sleep Unit 02 is awake Responses for unit 02 are ON Put all units to sleep Unit 03 is awake Responses of unit 03 are ON Put all units to sleep MCG 2 Micro Character Generator ST SET TIME PURPOSE Sets the time maintained in the RTC option FORMAT ST hh mm xx hh Two digit hour 01 through 12 or 01 through 23 for MT mm Two digit minute 00 through 59 xx MT Military 24 hour mode AM or PM DESCRIPTION This command sets the time of day maintained in the RTC option The Real Time Clock can operate in military 24 hour or standard 12 hour formats To operate in military time use MT in place of xx above to operate in standard time use AM or PM If the RTC option is not installed issuing this command will produce a REAL TIME CLOCK NOT INSTALLED error EXAMPLE ST 04 59 PM Sets RTC to 4 59 PM 42 MCG 2 Micro Character Generator TF TIME FORMAT PURPOSE Sets the display format for the time of day FORMAT TF x for no seconds displayed 12 59 x 2 for AM PM indicator 12 59 AM x 3 for seconds display 12 59 59 DESCRIPTION This command sets the time of day display format The time format is stored on a page by page basis
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