Parameter Synchronisation, Controlling Devices

8.0 SOFTWARE OPERATION

PodWare communicates with VNET“ using a serial COM port as a network connection. When a network connection is open and actively connected to a compatible device, the system is said to be On Line . Whilst On-line, you can control the connected device in real time , and continuously receive status information from the device. When going online, the application will take a few seconds while it copies the settings in the device to the control panel. (See parameter synchronisation)

To go On-line, you can either select Device/Online from the menu, or press the Online toolbar button, which is a red triangle. If all is well, the triangle will turn green, indicating that you are On-line .

You can however operate your system without going On-line. You can send the current controls settings to a device using Device/Send (See Menus), or by clicking the Send toolbar button (see Toolbar). These actions clearly still require a network connection to be present.

Parameter Synchronisation

PodWare aims to always ensure that the control settings in the virtual control panel are always a faithful representation of the settings in the connected device. To achieve this, the parameters in the device are copied to the control panel when going online. This takes a few seconds to complete (see Communications). Whilst online, any changes to the control settings will result in changes in the stored parameters in the devices, thus retaining synchronisation. When a file is opened online, the new settings are not only set in the control panel; they are also transferred to the device.

Controlling Devices

When online the tree menus will show the connected VNET“ speakers on the network. Double clicking on the model on the tree view will open the control panel for each respective device. Each open panel will also appear on the tree view under panels . When online, Podware gathers information from the connected devices. Any parameters which have been adjusted by the user in previous sessions will be shown.

Each control panel can be positioned on the screen to represent its actual location position in the venue. When saving data the control panels co-ordinates are also saved so that it appears in the same location on the screen when data is recalled (see saving & recalling data)

The panels shown on the opposite screenshot allows you to view what is going on inside the VNET“ product. As well as a mute button, there are limiter meters which indicate signal level relative to the limiter threshold setting, input level meter, clip indicators which show when an amplifier is clipping the signal due to overly high levels, driver status indicators showing the status of each driver ( A is LF & B is HF), a temperature meter showing the temperature of the amplifiers, and a ’Status’ indicator showing when an amplifier is protecting itself from damage due to abnormal operating conditions.

The arrow button (>>) at the top right hand side of the control panel will expand the control panel to reveal a host of parameters which can be viewed & adjusted.