Arcam AV8 manual Setting Values, Query Commands, Command Processing

AV8 SERIAL PROGRAMMING INTERFACE

INTRODUCTION

This section of the document details the serial command set of the AV8 software.The serial port is set as follows:

baud rate	38,400
data bits	8
parity	none
stop bits	1
flow control	none

Command lines must be terminated by an ASCII line feed (0X0A hexadecimal) and be no longer that 64 bytes (including the line feed terminator).

For example: to turn zone 1on, send:

Z1PWR1<lf>

where <lf> is an ASCII line feed.

SETTING VALUES

As well as setting options directly to specific values, as described above, current values may be incremented or decremented by following the command with a + (increment) or – (decrement). For example, to increment the decode mode in zone 1:

Z1DEC+<lf>

If a zone is not specified, the command is carried out in relation to zone

1.For example, to decrement the THX mode:

Z1THX-<lf>

would produce identical results to using:

THX-<lf>

Multiple commands may be placed on a single command line if separated by a semicolon. For example, to turn on zone 1 and switch to the tuner, use:

Z1PWR1;Z1AUD2<lf>

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QUERY COMMANDS

The current values of a small subset of settings may be queried, by preceding the command with a ?. For example, to query the mute status of zone 2, use:

?Z2MUT<lf>

If zone 2 mute is ON, the AV8 responds with the message:

Z2MUT1<lf>

This response gives the zone it is reporting on (Z2 in this case), the setting (MUT), and the current value (a 1, showing it as ON).

In order to keep the RS232 controller informed of the current state of the AV8, certain changes in configuration/state will result in the AV8 automatically sending messages, just as if they had been queried using the method above. Changes in the following items will result in an RS232 response:

	Zone Status		THX Mode
	Zone 1 Audio		Zone 1 Volume
	Zone 1 Video		Audio Signal Type
	Decode Mode		Current Preset
	Effect Mode		Direct Mode

COMMAND PROCESSING

Command processing begins when the first semicolon separator of line feed terminator is received. If there is an error in the command an error message FAIL is sent back. If the command is executed successfully, the command is echoed back to the sender.

In the command tables below, one or more of the following parameters may be used:

Param. Description

?Query Option.The value can be queried by putting a ? before the command.

zZone selection.The zone can be selected by putting a z before the command.Values are Z1 (for zone 1) or Z2 (for zone 2).

xOn/Off,Yes/No.The value can be set by putting an x after the command.Values are 1 (for On/Yes) or 0 (for Off/No).

yValue.The value can be set by putting a y after the command. Values have various ranges, as described in the tables below.

iInput Source.The source can be set by putting an i after the command.Values are in the range 0 to 9,A,B as follows:

0 = None/Not Connected, 1 = Source, 2 = AUX, 3 = CD,

4 = TUNER, 5 = DVD, 6 = SAT, 7 = AV, 8 = MULTICHANNEL, 9 = TAPE, A = VCR, B = Follow Zone 1.

sChannel/Speaker Select.Values are in the range 0 to 8 as follows:

0 = Centre, 1 = Front Left, 2 = Front Right, 3 = Surr. Left, 4 = Surr. Right, 5 = Surr. Back Left, 6 = Surr. Back Right, 7 = Subwoofer, 8 = All/Master.