Telex 38109-977 manual How old is Too Old?, Expandability, Interoperability, Maintenance

How old is Too Old?

Should you completely replace your existing system? Probably not! The RTS™ TW system has been around for a long time. As such, there are products that have been in constant service for 20-25 years. The good news is the newer two-wire conference products are completely compatible with the older two-wire products, as long as the older units are Phase 3. Phase 3 (circa 1979) means that operating power is required on only one channel, not both. Adding a source assignment panel and more user stations can be done rather easily as long as the existing power supply (a PS10 or PS50) can handle the increased capacity. Even an 803 system can be added to an old system with little or no modification, as well as the addition of a front-end matrix to the older system.

In the case of older matrix systems, such as those currently in use worldwide, existing keypanels can be used with a new system. Even those panels used as far back as the CS9400+ disk based system, can be used with a new ADAM™ matrix with a little modification.

Expandability

As discussed earlier, one of problems with the extended medium and larger two-wire conference systems is you will need to know precisely what you need in advance of the purchase. This is more apparent when specifying IFB, ISO, and Point-to-Point forms of communications. If you have purchased the 4001 4-channel IFB system, you will find yourself in a bit of a pickle the day you need six IFBs! In the case of conference channels, you can certainly add more belt packs or master stations without much of a problem. This is because the RTS™ TW system is a current based system rather than a voltage based one. All TW stations exhibit high impedance to the line, and hence, do not load it down.

In terms of the matrix systems and their expandability, it depends on the application. A Zeus™ matrix is expandable up to a 24x24, and indeed comes with the maximum 24 ports. Therefore, additional panels or other devices can simply be added without having to do anything to the frame. The ADAM™-CS can be ordered in groups of eight ports to a maximum of 64. It is a good choice for medium applications where a Zeus might work initially, but expansion is foreseen. Finally, the standard ADAM can be used in larger applications from 8x8 to 136x136 and beyond via frame expansion.

Interoperability

One of the key things to consider in determining intercom needs is when a television station is owned by a network or has a mobile vehicle already with an RTS™ matrix. Additionally, if there is a need for trunking to other intercom systems, which are of the ADAM or Series 9000 vintage, a similar system should be specified. With trunking, as described in other sections of this book, up to 20 intercom systems can work intelligently with each other, as if they were one very large system. This sets up the ability to use the scroll list on a given matrix keypanel to access the Director in another intercom system, either locally or halfway around the world.

Maintenance

Less is more, so they say, and so it is with the intercom (i.e. less wiring the better). In the age of the digital matrix, even with its fewer wires, comes another welcome arrival, AZ- Edit. Virtually, anything regarding the health of the system may be determined through this intuitive program. Gone are the days of troubleshooting audio because any keypanel can produce a tone to follow. The crosspoint screen can be displayed to show why people are hearing at any given point. You can even show what keys are activated on a miniature keypanel at the configuration terminal. Recent advances also include software upgrades to keypanels and matrix via active download, audio level control, and other interesting features.

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