Alcorn McBride Knowledge Base

Category » Show Controllers

There were 23 questions found in this category:

1. Can a V16+ or V4+ be the 'brain' for an entire facility?
   Any of our show controllers has sufficient computing power to process hundreds of events per frame. Devices can be controlled completely asynchronously, so a single controller can handle several attractions within a given area. The limiting factor is generally I/O, not processing speed. You faci ...
2. Can I use a SMPTE Machine or Binloop with an AMX or other controller?
   Possibly. The SMPTE Machine can be controlled in 3 possible ways - RS-232, Midi, or Contact Closures. To control the SMPTE Machine via RS-232, your controller must be able to speak 9-bit RS-232 (you should contact your controller's manufacturer to verify that it can do so - 9-Bit control is als ...
3. Can I use a Touchscreen with my Alcorn McBride Show Controller?
   Yes! Using the StarDraw software, you can quickly and easily create user interfaces which run on any Windows XP platform. See the following page for more details: http://www.alcorn.com/library/appnotes/stardraw/index.html
4. Can I use my CD player with the Show Controller?
   As long as the CD player is able to communicate via RS-232 communications and you are able to obtain a protocol document for it.
5. Can I use the Show Controller to receive data from a motion sensor?
   Yes, the Show Controllers contain Opto-isolated digital inputs the can help control the flow of a show system. These can be used with many devices including motion sensors.
6. Can I use your equipment with a Mac, Sun, or Silicon Graphics computer?
   All of our equipment communicates using RS-232. The protocols are open and are defined in the equipment manuals. So although our show controllers are designed to be programmed using our Windows-based front end, Winscript, all of our equipment can be controlled using almost any type of computer.
7. Do you make any products that can control my Videowall?
   Yes. Our show controllers (V16+, V4+, V2+, Interactivator) have protocols built in for several different Electrosonic video wall processors. If we do not have the protocol, it can be easily implemented as long as it is RS-232, RS-422 or MIDI. Our Digital Video Machine 2 can also be used as a sou ...
8. Do your show controllers sync to SMPTE and EBU timecode?
   Yes and no. Our SMPTE Machine allows sequences in any of our show controllers to be triggered at individual times. This is different than 'jam' syncing or 'scrubbing' to timecode. Usually, when people think of their show in terms of timecode, what they really want is accurate timekeeping relativ ...
9. Does the SMPTE Machine support Video Interval Timecode (VITC)?
   Unfortunately, it does not currently support VITC.
10. How can I control the volume according to the number of people by making presets?
    This is accomplished by a VCA, of which there are hundreds. Radio Design Labs makes small 'Stick-Ons' which can accomplish this for under $50. At the high end, we often use Peavey MediaMatrix to do complete audio processing of an entire facility (this is the theme park standard). You can also pu ...
11. How do I control a device that responds to Sony 9-pin control?
    To use such a device, it will be necessary to configure the first four ports on your show controller (V16+/V4+) for RS-422 control. If you have more than 4 RS-422 devices, you can purchase an RS-232-to-RS-422 converter. When programming your show using WinScript, use the Sony Pro-VTR protocol. T ...
12. How do I control my SMPTE Machine with and external RS-232 or MIDI device?
    The SMPTE Machine can accept MIDI show control protocol messages through either its MIDI port or its Port 2 RS-232 connector. Refer to the SMPTE Machine MIDI protocol document for complete details located in the 'Manuals' section under 'Library' on the Alcorn McBride WEB site.
13. How do I get my show controller to respond to incoming messages?
    Alcorn McBride show controllers can be controlled using several different serial protocols. Alcorn 8-bit protocol is the easiest RS-232 protocol to send, while the Alcorn 9-bit protocol is virtually bullet proof. Additionally, they can be controlled by MIDI messages on the MIDI port, but can als ...
14. How do I interface my control system from another vendor to your Show Controllers (V16+, V4+, etc.)?
    There are two basic ways to interface other controllers to Alcorn McBride controllers: Voltage/Contact Closures and RS-232. When interfacing using Voltage/Contact Closures you can wire directly to the rear panel inputs of the controller and start sequences from these triggers. If you need more t ...
15. How do I synchronize a SMPTE Machine to MIDI Timecode?
    Set Jumper W1 to SMPTESet Jumpers W2 and W3 to MIDIOpen WinScriptSelect from the menu "Configuration" -> "SMPTE"Select "SMPTE is used in this Script..."Select Device Type "SMPTE Machine"Select SMPTE Read/Generate Option "Generate SMPTE-No Genlock to Vide"Select Show Control Port "MIDI" and ch ...
16. How do I terminate/un-terminate the sync signal on a V16+/V4+/V2+/InterActivator?
    There is a jumper near the Video Sync BNC on the circuit board inside each of these products. To terminate the sync signal, make sure the jumper is installed. To un-terminate the sync signal, remove the jumper. When the jumper is installed, it makes a 75Ohm termination.
17. USB-to-Serial Adaptor
    USB to RS232 adaptor canc be used with the Show Control Line. One that has been tested and works with our show control protocol is made by Saelig Corp. http://www.saelig.com Link to one tested: http://www.saelig.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=U003&Category_Code=U
18. What is the difference between a V16+, a V4+, a V2+ and an InterActivator?
    Not much. Well, actually, some of them are a lot more expensive than others. Seriously though, the all have exactly the same ScriptOS operating system and are programmed using WinScript. The major difference is that they have different numbers of inputs, outputs and serial ports. As a point of i ...
19. What is the largest distance you can place a contact closure away from a show controller? 24V?
    Our guess is about 100 feet, although depending on the type of type of cable (shielded, twisted versus cat5, etc.), you might get away with 200-300 feet. Current draw is on the order of 15-20 mA, so line drop should not a big factor if you use 22Ga or larger wire. The environment is also a facto ...
20. What is the pinout of a Pioneer laserdisc/DVD control cable?
    Pioneer laserdisc/DVD players use an unusual connector for RS-232 communications, a DB-16 (but not the high-density kind used for video). The pinout to go from the DB-9 on one of our show controllers to this DB-15 is shown in the appendix of our show control manual:http://www.alcorn.com/library/ ...