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Here are the frequently asked questions
that have been asked of our Technical Support Team.
HARDWARE INSTALLATION
FIRMWARE:
- The firmware download program
SOFTWARE:
HARDWARE INSTALLATION:
- My PIGS don't talk?
- verify controller set-up, booster ticks etc
- verify firmware revision
- put one pig on the bus at the controller without a booster
- if it won't talk verify its number (using PC3?)
- if it still won't talk try a different pig
- if it still won't talk replace chip /controller
- if it will talk, put a booster on the single pig, tick the box etc
and see if it will talk i.e. prove the booster is OK.
- if this works put the pig on a long run of cable and see if it
will talk
- When do I need to use a comms converter?
Comms converter converts RS232 (from the PC) to RS485 (which the
controllers use to communicate). The CS Controller incorporates an in-built
RS232-485 converter; however this in-built converter requires a special
signal to operate called DTR and this special signal is not driven by some
operating systems or software.
Accordingly:
Don't need comms converter:
PC3/Advent
- only one controller being communicated with
OR - more than one controller but not on winNT or win2000 PC
Do need comms converter:
PC3/Advent
- winNT or win2000 and more than one controller
- more than one controller being communicated with
- I have lost comms with
controller one but it is ok with the other controllers.
If
controller 1 is the 'master' with all three chips in place then we
know that U3 and U4 are OK because these are the ones which perform
the RS232 to RS485 conversion. The RS232 signals from the PC come
into the U3 chip (MAX232) and are converted to TTL levels. Then they
are converted to RS485 in the U4 chips (75176) and this is connected
to the 'bus' i.e. the IN_A, IN_B (and OUT_A and OUT_B) on the
connector on the board. These in turn connect to the other RS485
chip, U5 where they are again converted to TTL and linked to the
controller chip.
So, if controller 1 is the master, and all the others are talking
then U3 and U4 are OK, so the problem must be U5. Replace U5 and see
what happens.
- How can I check that the comms
converter is working and wired up correctly?
With the first controller being
the only one in the circuit i.e. the outgoing RS485 bus disconnected
from the first controller. The comms
converter can be checked by disconnecting
RX/TX from the converter and measuring the voltage on the RX and
TX lines both from the PC and also on the converter. When you do
this, one of the wires from the
PC should be between -5 and -11VDC, and the other should
be floating at about 0VDC. And on the converter similarly one should
be between -5 and -11VDC and the other should be
floating at about 0VDC. This
is how you can check that the RX and TX are around the right way -
they 'cross over' so that the
one from the PC at 0V connects to the one on the converter
at -5-11V and vice versa.
- I want to replace
the 485 communication chips. What type of chip shall I ask for?
the only rs485 chips I would recommend is the 75176
- Have an install that
requires in and out readers and door open to long relay and forced
entry relay. I would like to use a standard controller using out 3
and 4 for door monitoring with out 1 and 2 being used for the 2 door
LED's. Will
PC3 allow this and if so how do I configure it?
Standard 'R2' firmware will do this for you. With this firmware
you can program the separate relays for DOTL and Forced entry, and
you also have the ability to program readers as 'in' 'out' or 'don't
care'. So you configure it as follows: Hardware/controllers/door
options- make sure that 'programmable inputs' is ticked Hardware/
controllers/doors - in the 'reader options' section set up the A/P
for the reader as entry or exit etc. This is also where you set the
LED which operates from the reader. Also set up the forced door and
DOTL relays if necessary. With the antipassback you can either
'enforce' it or not. If 'enforce' is ticked, then someone who is
inside can only exit - if they try to enter again ('pass their card
back') they will be denied until they exit first. The antipassback
is global i.e. when PC3 records that someone is inside then it
transmits this status to all the other controllers to make sure that
they also know the person is inside. Of course this feature only
operates when PC3 is online.
-
Downloading Firmware:
Software
Trouble Shooting /
Set-up:
- I want to be able to have the
card numbers to also appear when I print a history report?
This can be done through >Administration>Titles>
and then ticking the check box 'Display Card Number in Log'.
If the printed page becomes to congested with the card numbers, you
may then also select in the same screen, the 'line 2' check
box. This will space the user name and card number onto two
different lines.
- My PC3 program is always
running in the back ground. I wants to know
if its possible to select a individual sounds using
wav format files for forced door or door open to long instead
of using the default window sounds.
Not at the moment. They can change the default windows sounds in the
control panel - the sound played by PC3 when an alarm happens is the
'exclamation' sound. If they change this to something else then
whatever sound it is set to will play when the alarm happens.
- I get the following message
appearing when I start up Advent 'Another workstation is currently running the same comms server number', what should i do?
This error usually occurs when Advent has not been shut down
correctly.
This screen appears because the Advent in session 'LOCK' file is
still present on the PC's harddrive. Shutting down Advent correctly
deletes this file for the next start up of the program.
You should select 'Override', to start Advent.
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