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BW Broadcast rds2 Technical Manual

Rds encoder
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RDS2 RDS Encoder
Technical manual
No part of this manual may be re-produced in any form without prior written permission from BW Broadcast.
The information and specifications contained in this document is subject to change at any time without notice.
Copyright 2009 BW Broadcast
www.bwbroadcast.com

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  • Page 1 RDS2 RDS Encoder Technical manual No part of this manual may be re-produced in any form without prior written permission from BW Broadcast. The information and specifications contained in this document is subject to change at any time without notice.

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    3.6 ‘Radiotext’ Configuration Screen .................. 25 Figure 3.D BW RDS2 Software Radiotext Configuration window......... 26 The RDS2 will be programmed with this information next time the SEND button is pressed..............................26 IV - Installing the RDS2 in your Broadcast System ............27 4.1 Pilot Synchronisation .....................
  • Page 3 3.4 RADIOTEXT Configuration ..................38 4.0 Connecting the RDS2 to your Transmitter..............39 Happy Broadcasting!........................ 39...

  • Page 4: I - Introduction

    (AF). The BW RDS2 is a low cost stand-alone RDS encoder that allows small or large broadcasters to implement any of the following RDS functions:...

  • Page 5: Bw Rds2 Equipment

    1.1 BW RDS2 Equipment The following items are shipped with the BW RDS2 unit, 1. RDS2 1U rack RDS Encoder. 2. Mains IEC lead 3. DB9 Serial lead (9 Pin IBM PC compatible). 4. BW Software CD. 5. Instruction manual All equipment should be unpacked and checked before any attempt is made to setup the equipment.

  • Page 6: Installation And Setup

    TA, TP, DI, CT, PSN, RT). Alternative software is available for programming the more complicated RDS features. Please contact BW for more information. The software for the BW RDS2 is supplied on the CD-ROM shipped with the unit and is designed to run under Microsoft Windows (9x/NT/2000/XP). This is also available for download from the BW website, http://www.broadcastwarehouse.com/downloads/BW%20RDS2.zip...
  • Page 7 Once this is complete the screen will be filled with information that has been read from the RDS2 unit and the status message will change back to Ready. Your unit is now correctly connected and ready for programming.

  • Page 8: Programming The Bw Rds2

    III - Programming the BW RDS2 3.1 BW RDS2 Software The software supplied with the BW RDS2 has been designed to provide the user with a simple way of configuring the most commonly used functions on the RDS2 - (PI, PTY, MS, AF, TA, TP, DI, CT, PSN, RT).
  • Page 9 Figure 3.1 BW RDS2 Software Basic Configuration Window. The main program window has four pull down menus always present for configuring program based settings.
  • Page 10 Send All Send all settings in screen menus to the Encoder unit. After successfully connecting to an RDS2 unit using the BW RDS2 software it is best to load the current configuration in the RDS2 unit by selecting the ‘Read All’...

  • Page 11: Configuration Screen Operations

    An operator should remember that the information displayed in the software application is internal to the software application and only represents the data in the RDS2 Encoder unit immediately after a “Read” or “Send” option has been used to communicate with the unit.

  • Page 12: Basic' Configuration Screen

    The PI code should not be left blank or randomly filled with data. If the BW RDS2 is to be connected to a station that is part of a regional or national chain broadcasting the same programming content then the PI should be the same for all transmitters in the chain.
  • Page 13 The RDS2 will be programmed with this information next time the SEND button is pressed. 3.3.2 Traffic Announcements (TP, TA) RDS traffic flags allow users with RDS enabled receivers to identify stations that broadcast traffic information. Users can configure their RDS enabled receiver to automatically tune to stations that provide traffic announcements for the duration of the announcement only.
  • Page 14 Note The BW RDS2 also has the ability to trigger the TA flag using hardware triggers located on the CONTROL port on the back of the unit. See Appendix XXX for more information.
  • Page 15 3.3.4 Time and Date - The RDS2 Internal Clock The BW RDS2 unit contains an internal clock that is primarily used for triggering the PSN Scheduler (See Scheduler Configuration Page) but can also be used for broadcasting time and date (CT) information.
  • Page 16 PC field into the RDS field. It does not copy the information into the BW RDS2 unit until the data is sent by either the SEND button or the “Connection > Send All” operation.
  • Page 17 Avoiding Changes to Time and Date Immediately below the two Time and Date fields is a checkbox “Send (CT) Information”. This checkbox controls whether the time and date information indicated on the screen is sent to the RDS encoder when the SEND button is pressed or the ‘Communications >...

  • Page 18: Psn' Configuration Screen

    Program Type (PTY) field is changed accordingly then the Dynamic PTY check box should be checked. The RDS2 will be programmed with this information next time the SEND button is pressed.
  • Page 19 3.4.1 Understanding PSN Pages in the RDS2 The BW RDS2 ‘PSN’ configuration screen allows you to configure up to 10 pages of information. Each PSN page has 50 available lines - grouped across 5 columns - with each line having 8 characters.

  • Page 20: This Cycle Will Continue For As Long As Page1 Is 'Active

    This cycle will continue for as long as Page1 is ‘ACTIVE’. Dynamic PSN The ability of the RDS2 to broadcast a sequence of PSN lines each for a set amount of time makes it possible to overcome the previous restrictions of only having 8 characters in which to display any message.

  • Page 21: Direct Entry

    1 second. This clears entries on the screen only and does not have any effect on the page information stored in the RDS2 unit until the SEND button is pressed. To clear any PSN page information stored in the RDS, select the required PSN page and press the CLEAR button.

  • Page 22: Note

    Usually 2 or 3 seconds is adequate. Updating the RDS2 After all information for a PSN page has been set, the SEND button should be clicked to save the configuration in the RDS2 unit. It is good practice to click the READ...
  • Page 23 SEND process has completed to read back the settings to make sure all was saved correctly in the RDS2 unit. If the RDS2 is part of a broadcast system and the page you have updated was already being broadcast (ACTIVE) then the changes made will be transmitted immediately. If not you will have to click on the MAKE ACTIVE button to make the page active and see the new broadcast.

  • Page 24: Schedule' Configuration Screen

    3.5 ‘Schedule’ Configuration Screen A useful feature of the BW RDS2 is the ability to program PSN pages to become ACTIVE at particular times throughout a week. This feature is set using the ‘Schedule’ configuration page. The scheduler makes all changes based on the RDS2 internal clock (See section XXX).
  • Page 25 Before entering any values on the Schedule configuration page it is best to perform a ‘Read-All’ operation using the menu selection ‘Communications > Read All’ in order to fill the schedule page with all current settings in the RDS2 unit. After this has been done, configuring the Schedule can be done in the following simple steps: 1.

  • Page 26: Radiotext' Configuration Screen

    Time (secs) that the text should be displayed 3. Text Text to be displayed as RT Setting up Radiotext in the RDS2 is as simple as filling in the time and text information for each line required: Entering Text Text can be entered or edited on any line simply by clicking on the line. The line will fill with a text box and a cursor will appear to indicate the line is being edited.

  • Page 27: Figure 3.D Bw Rds2 Software Radiotext Configuration Window

    Figure 3.D BW RDS2 Software Radiotext Configuration window. The RDS2 will be programmed with this information next time the SEND button is pressed.

  • Page 28: Installing The Rds2 In Your Broadcast System

    IV - Installing the RDS2 in your Broadcast System After the BW RDS2 encoder unit has been programmed it can be added to an active broadcast system. When including the RDS2 into a broadcast system you must consider two important points: 1.

  • Page 29: Rds Level Control

    Connect only the RDS signal to the input of the exciter. Using a small pot, adjust the output level of the RDS signal on the back of the RDS2 such that the deviation is 3.5% of the total peak deviation. This equates to approx +/-2.65kHz This is approximately the correct level for the RDS output.

  • Page 30: Hardware Configuration

    V - Hardware Configuration 5.1 Dip Switches 5.2 Control Port Configuration 6.0 Glossary 7.0 Troubleshooting X.0 Glossary The list of terms below are often found in RDS/RBDS documentation. Frequently they are not detailed, and it is assumed the reader is familiar with their meanings. The explanations given are for guidance and the user should consult the RDS/RBDS Standards for a full explanation.
  • Page 31 EON Enhanced Other Networks information. This is an extension of the basic RDS system and allows suitably equipped receivers to perform program type searching. The extended features include Traffic Announcement, Program Type Search, and Interrupt Program service name display, Alternative Frequency tuning and Program Item number facility. EWS Emergency Warning System.
  • Page 32 This is a modification of the RDS protocol to allow it to co-exist with existing MBS services in the U.S. by time multiplexing the two data streams. MJD Modified Julian Day This is the date format used by the Clock Time and date (CT) sent to the receiver. If MJD is set to zero then the receiver should not use the information to update it’s local clock.
  • Page 33 Essentially it is passed on the European RDS standard EN 50067 with little or no modification. Radio Data System. The RDS standard is a European Union standard issued by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) issued as document EN 50067. Radio Paging.

  • Page 34: Troubleshooting

    Troubleshooting: Configuring your PC’s serial port Configure the PC Serial port being used (see step 5 above) with the default serial port configuration values (see Table 2.1). BAUD RATE 9600 Data Bits Parity None Stop Bits Flow Cont None Table 2.1 Default Serial Port Configuration This is usually done through the MS Windows Hardware Device Manager window which can be opened via the control panel (Start ->...

  • Page 35: Bw Rds2 - Quickstart Guide

    9-pin connection on the back of the RDS2. Check the switches on the back of the RDS2. The first switch should be ‘on’ and all others should be ‘off’. This sets the RDS2 for serial communications at 9600 baud.

  • Page 36: The Default Setting For Communication Is Connection On Com1 At 9600 Baud Rate

    The default setting for communication is connection on COM1 at 9600 baud rate. Click on the ‘Read’ button in the bottom-right hand part of the screen. This will read information from the RDS2 and update the screen. If the connection is not successful you will see the following message: If this occurs, try changing the COM port that is used for the connection.

  • Page 37: Important

    RDS2. Important: Time and date will only need to be programmed once to set the RDS2 internal clock. Once the clock has been set, ensure the ‘Send CT Information’ checkbox is not selected. This will prevent the TIME &...

  • Page 38: Configuring A Static Psn

    Many stations only require one static PSN message to be displayed. This can be configured in the RDS2 by filling only one line in one of the 10 pages and then configuring that page to be active at all times. Follow these steps to configure a static PSN using PSN Page 1.

  • Page 39: To Make Sure This Page Remains 'Active' You Will Need To Disable All Time Slots In The Psn Scheduler

    2. Repeat this for other days of the week. This will disable the scheduler from changing the ‘active’ PSN Page. 3.4 RADIOTEXT Configuration Radiotext (RT) info can be up to 30 characters long. The RDS2 has the capacity to hold up to 40 lines of Radiotext data.
  • Page 40 4.0 Connecting the RDS2 to your Transmitter Now that the RDS2 has been programmed you can integrate it with your broadcast chain. Connect a MPX or Mono output from a stereo encoder or limiter into the RDS2 MPX Input port.
  • Page 41 B W B r o a d c a s t R D S 2 Ma n u a l A d d e n d u m D I P S w i t c h S e t t i n g s C o n t r o l P o r t P i n o u t...
  • Page 42 www.bwbroadcast.com...

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