Gilderfluke&Co Pb-DMX - Manual (Page 20)

Pb-DMX/32 Serial Port Commands
The Pb-DMX/32 can be accessed through the serial port from any computer running just
about any modem program. The computer you are using doesnʼt even need to have any
PC•MACs software installed on it. This is a feature that most users should never need to use.
We prefer to use our own ʻmodemʼ program, GilderTerm. If you donʼt have or canʼt down-
load a copy of GilderTerm, then you can use just about any other terminal program. Typical
modem programs you can use are Terminal.exe (which comes with Windows 3.1) and Hyper
Terminal.exe (which comes with Windows ʻ95 and ʼ98, W2K, and XP). If you can, find a copy of
Terminal.exe, as it is a better program than the later Hyper Terminal. You can not download
files to a Pb-DMX/32 when using Hyper Terminal.
To use the Pb-DMX/32 with a terminal program, just connect it as you would normally with
a straight nine position male to 1/8” stereo male cable. Configure your terminal program for
9600 baud, no parity, eight data bits, one stop bit and ʻxon/xoffʼ handshaking. GilderTerm de-
faults to these settings.
If the Pb-DMX/32 is not currently running a show, it will be printing the character ʻ.ʼ about
once a second. This is the ʻheartbeatʼ that you can see on the ʻheartʼ LED on the Pb-DMX/32.
When running a show, it will print the name of each show as it is started, and the frame num-
ber on each frame update. If you do not see any of these characters, then there is a problem
with your physical connection or configuration.
Reset ʻJ5AA500ʼ
This command will erase the EEprom on the Pb-DMX/32. The Pb-DMX/32 will also
determine the type and quantity of memory chips installed and report this and the soft-
ware revision number when it accepts this command.
Status ʻi00ʼ
When it receives this command, the Pb-DMX/32 will respond with the following in-
formation on the Pb-DMX/32 (It will also print this information out when the Pb-DMX/32
is first powered up or after a successful AutoDownload):
a) Firmware revision number and copyright.
b) Running status: Whether the Pb-DMX/32 is running, looping or stopped. What show
it is (or was) playing and the frame number into that show the Pb-DMX/32 is on.
c) Input status: Whether each input is opened (ʻOʼ) or closed (ʻCʼ).
d) Name of the AutoDownload file that has been downloaded to the Pb-DMX/32.
Unlike most Gilderfluke & Co. products, the address for the Pb-DMX/32 is fixed at
ʻ00ʼ. This is why the address in this command is ALWAYS ʻ00ʼ.
AutoDownload ʻsA5A500ʼ
This is the format of the file that the Pb-DMX/32 will receive and load into its EEprom
memory.
An AutoDownload file is a binary file. Any AutoDownload file that has previously
been saved can be sent to a Pb-DMX/32 by selecting the ʻsend binary fileʼ on your mo-
dem program and selecting the AutoDownload for sending. You must be sure that the
modem program has not been set to ʻgobbleʼ any special characters (carriage returns,
line feeds, etc.).
Gilderfluke & Co.• 205 South Flower Street • Burbank, California 91502 • 818/840-9484 • 800/776-5972 • fax 818/840-9485
Pb-DMX/32 v1.+ Manual / 10/31/13 / page 14 of 37