Remote Switches - usage detail (hw and sw)

[kgallen]

Hi Edward,

I'm after a little more detail on how the console interprets the FLX Remote Switches inputs.

• I understand from the Manual a "falling edge" caused by connecting the Remote Switch input to the common is equivalent to pressing the configured console button/operation (internally this will be a "logic 1" caused by a pull-up resistor changing to a "logic 0" caused by the remote switch being activated which effectively connects the remote switch input to common, or what will be zero-volts - or maybe you're achieving the same with an ADC input as was the case on Frog.).

So:

• Q1: If the "falling edge" is the trigger, is it OK to keep the Remote Switch input "low" (shorted to common) for an extended period of time (many minutes)?
  • Both: electrically - which I suspect is fine, the external "remote switch" is just sinking a few milliamps of current from the FLX remote switch terminal to 0V;
  • And: software wise: I don't want this "long press" to make the desk move multiple cues or go into "pause" or "go back" mode or anything else crazy.
• Q2: Is the point (in time) of the remote switch release (effectively the "rising edge") irrelevant (other than needing to go high again at some point
• Q3: Can I make FLX sensitive to the Remote Switch input for specific cue "GO"s and ignore the Remote Switch input on other cues?
  • I will want the Remote Switch to only trigger certain cues and at other times use the GO button on the console as normal.
• Q4: What is the situation with the front panel buttons if the Remote Switch is held "pressed" (Q1)?
  • (a) Will the front panel "GO" button still work normally if a Remote Switch input that is also assigned to "GO" is still held "pressed" (Remote Switch input is still shorted to common, hence "logic low").
  • (b) If (a) is applied, will the desk ignore a Remote Switch assigned as "GO" until it releases ("logic high") whence a subsequent Remote Switch "falling edge" will trigger GO again.
    • I believe all of this should work fine if ZerOS is looking explicitly for a "falling edge" on the Remote Switch as the trigger point and ignores the steady-state of the Remote Switch input.

In essence if I have a piece of a-n-other equipment that has an open collector output that goes low (let's say for sake of illustration, the PLAY remote control output of a Sony MDS-E12 minidisc player 😉, spec below) then this should be able to trigger the FLX Remote Switch input [OK let's say I may well put an opto-isolator between the two, but the operation is the same].

Hope that makes sense!

Thanks, Kevin

ps I'd prefer to trigger the minidisc from the FLX on pressing GO, but since the FLX has no outputs other than DMX (or DMX over 'X') I would need to design a DMX decoder with the required outputs and map this as a fixture on FLX and programme the required trigger into a cue. I will look into this approach too...

    

[Edward Z88]

Hi Kevin,

ZerOS will recognise a remote switch "press" and "release". ZerOS only listens for the press, to trigger either a specific cue or a macro.

44 minutes ago, kgallen said:

is it OK to keep the Remote Switch input "low" (shorted to common) for an extended period of time (many minutes)?

Keeping the remote switch "pressed" is fine. ZerOS will not register a "repeat" instruction and do something different.

45 minutes ago, kgallen said:

Q2: Is the point (in time) of the remote switch release (effectively the "rising edge") irrelevant (other than needing to go high again at some point

Correct - potentially if we add the ability to map remote switches to front panel keys, we would listen to both the repeat and the release, but currently the release is ignored by ZerOS.

47 minutes ago, kgallen said:

Q3: Can I make FLX sensitive to the Remote Switch input for specific cue "GO"s and ignore the Remote Switch input on other cues?

Remote Switches can either trigger a cue, or a macro. Therefore your Remote Switch could always trigger a single specific cue number, or it could trigger a go button press via a macro. If you wanted the remote switch to behave like the go button, but with the remote switch disabled at certain times, you could program a macro to enable/disable the remote input. This would simply consist of a series of arrow keys and enters, which takes you into Setup, enables/disables the option, and then exits Setup. This macro could then be triggered by the cue, prior to when you want to disable/enable the remote input.

54 minutes ago, kgallen said:

• (a) Will the front panel "GO" button still work normally if a Remote Switch input that is also assigned to "GO" is still held "pressed" (Remote Switch input is still shorted to common, hence "logic low").

Yes - as the macro to press the go button will have already been triggered, the "repeat" and "release" of the remote switch will have no effect on the go button.

Hope this helps,

Edward

[kgallen]

Hi Edward,

Fantastic, thank you for the quick and thorough response! Specifically thanks for the detailed response on Q3 - I'm looking forward to some detail in this respect in the upcoming Macros webinar 🙂 [if not too cheeky a request, maybe you could include this one as a worked example 😉 ]

Much appreciated!
Kevin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Kevin,

23 minutes ago, kgallen said:

Fantastic, thank you for the quick and thorough response!

No problem.

23 minutes ago, kgallen said:

Specifically thanks for the detailed response on Q3 - I'm looking forward to some detail in this respect in the upcoming Macros webinar 🙂 [if not too cheeky a request, maybe you could include this one as a worked example 😉 ]

Yes good idea. We can use that as an example.

Edward