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How to identify a specific model 45dc, Level meters – Studio Technologies 45DC User Manual

Page 15

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Model 45DC User Guide

Issue 1, January 2015

Studio Technologies, Inc.

Page 15

How to Identify a Specific

Model 45DC

The Dante Controller software application

offers an identify command that can be

used to help locate a specific Model 45DC.

When identify is selected for a specific

unit the SYS and SYNC LEDs on that unit

will together light slowly on and off green.

This makes it a simple task to observe the

selected Model 45DC unit.

Level Meters

The Model 45DC contains four 5-segment

LED level meters. These meters are pro-

vided as a support aid during installation,

configuration, operation, and troubleshoot-

ing. The meters represent the strength of

the audio signals going to and coming

from the two party-line intercom interfaces.

General
Each interface has two meters associated

with it, one represents audio being sent to

the party-line circuit and the other repre-

senting audio coming from the party-line

circuit. The meters are calibrated to reflect

the level in dB relative to the reference

(nominal) level of the party-line circuit. In

the case of the Model 45DC the nominal

level of the party-line was selected to be

–14 dBu since that matches that of the typi-

cal single-channel party-line circuit. (Very

early single-channel Clear-Com systems

had a nominal level of -20 dBu but that’s

no longer true for contemporary units.)
As an example of how the meters function

let’s review the situation where the channel

A TO meter has its bottom three LEDs

(–18, –12, and –6) lit solid and its 0 LED

just barely lighting. This would indicate

that a signal with an approximate level of

–14 dBu is being sent to the associated

party-line intercom circuit. (Also note that

this –14 dBu signal on the party-line in-

tercom circuit will translate to a –20 dBFS

digital audio signal on the Dante interface.

This is due to Studio Technologies select-

ing –20 dBFS as the reference (nominal)

level for Dante.)
Each level meter contains four green LEDs

and one yellow LED. The four green LEDs

indicate party-line circuit signal levels at or

below –14 dBu. The top LED is yellow and

indicates a signal that is 6 dB or greater

than the –14 dBu nominal level. An audio

signal that causes the yellow LED to light

doesn’t necessarily indicate an excessive

level condition, but it does provide a warn-

ing that at some stage reducing the signal

level may be prudent. Typical operation

with normal signal levels should find the

meters lighting near their 0 point. Signal

peaks may cause the yellow LEDs to flash.

But a yellow LED that lights fully during

normal operation will typically indicate ex-

cessive signal level and/or a configuration

problem with associated Dante-enabled

equipment.

Non-Optimal Signal Levels
If the meters consistently display levels

that are lower or higher than the 0 (refer-

ence) point it’s possible that a configura-

tion issue exists. This would typically be

related to incorrect settings on the equip-

ment connected to the associated Dante

input and output channels. (This situation

is almost impossible to occur if two Model

45DC units were configured “point-to-

point” as no Dante digital audio level

adjustment is provided.) With a digital

matrix intercom system this problem could

be due to an incorrect configuration hav-

ing been made to a specific channel or

port. For example, the RTS ADAM system