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Summary of Contents for Inovonics AARON 650
- Page 1 AARON 650...
- Page 3 AARON 650...
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Page 5: Table Of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS Section I – INTRODUCTION AARON 650 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION .......... Features AARON 650 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ........General Performance Rear-Panel Appointments Failover Audio Protection Audio Processing Features The User Interface Miscellaneous BLOCK DIAGRAM ................Section II – INSTALLATION GENERAL .................. - Page 6 ‘Instant Boot’ Brownout Detection NAVIGATING THE MENUS ............Graphic Display Jog Wheel and Back Button Menu Timeout and Screensaver THE AARON 650 MENU TREE ............AARON 650 READOUTS AND METERING ........The Now-Playing Screen Graphs and Metering Baseband FFT FM BandScanner...
- Page 7 RECEPTION TOOLS ..............IF Bandwidth FM Advantage vs. Stereo Disadvantage Stereo Blend High Blend Highcut Stereo/Mono Enhancers SETTING OUTPUT LEVELS ............COMPOSITE/MPX SIGNAL PROCESSING ........ALARMS ..................Audio Loss Low Signal Audio Muting RDS Error Pilot Loss ALARM TALLIES ................AUDIO FAILOVER ................
- Page 8 ACCESSING THE AARON 650 REMOTELY ........Dynamic DNS Network Status Section V – THE AARON 650 WEB PAGE CONNECTING WITH THE AARON 650 .......... THE WEB INTERFACE PAGES ............Tuning the Aaron 650 Station Presets Remote Listening THE MENU LIST ................
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Page 9: Section I - Introduction
Dual, selectable antenna inputs and dual, independent composite/MPX outputs. Balanced L/R analog and AES digital audio outputs; built-in test tone generator. The AARON 650 boots or resets in less than one second and draws only 5 watts from the AC mains. — 7 —... -
Page 10: Aaron 650 Technical Specifications
AARON 650 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Certain technical specs of the AARON 650 (and receivers in general) are either difficult to quantify in tabular form, or they do not adequately reflect receiver operation in a real-world en- vironment. Manual text further explains features and perfor- mance aspects in appropriate sections of the text. -
Page 11: The User Interface
90–130VAC or 200–255VAC, 50/60Hz; 5W. BLOCK DIAGRAM The AARON 650 is essentially a Software-Defined Radio (SDR) and is al- most entirely DSP-based. Virtually all its functionality is provided through firmware coding. The Block Diagram presented on the following page il- lustrates receiver basics, but has been deliberately organized as if the AARON 650 were a more conventional analog design. - Page 12 — 10 —...
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Page 13: Section Ii - Installation
Section II INSTALLATION GENERAL This section of the manual addresses the physical installation of the AARON 650 in its operating location, the ‘nuts and bolts’ of connecting the unit. This section also references pages where pertinent setup adjustments are discussed. -
Page 14: Mounting
AC ‘hot,’ blue for AC neutral and green with a yellow stripe for earth ground. Please keep these straight. RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE (RFI) Although it is expected that the AARON 650 will be co-located Location with FM transmission equipment, do practice care and common sense in locating the unit away from abnormally high RF fields. -
Page 15: Ground Loops
(Page 23), or Off for an output that will retain the transmitted FM pre-emphasis curve. Your selection will de- pend on whether an exciter fed by the AARON 650 has an in- ternal pre-emphasis network or depends on a pre-emphasized feed. -
Page 16: Composite/Mpx Outputs
COMPOSITE/MPX OUTPUTS There are two independent composite/MPX outputs on the rear panel of the AARON 650: MPX OUT 1 and MPX OUT 2. These are unbalanced BNC connectors with a resistive source imped- ance of 75 ohms. -
Page 17: Alarm Tallies
ALARM TALLIES Four reception-error alarms are available on this terminal block, which may be unplugged from the chassis for ease in wiring and maintenance. These alarms are: Loss of program audio Interruption (loss or reduction) of the RF carrier Loss or ‘hijacking’ of the RDS/RBDS data subcarrier Loss of stereo pilot Either an active-high or an active-low output may be pro- grammed under the Setup / Alarms &... -
Page 18: Section Iii - Setup And Operation
“QUICK START” TECHNOLOGY” ‘Boot’ (startup) time of AARON 650 is less than one second. ‘Instant Boot’ When AC power is first applied, or after any momentary power interruption, the unit is back in full operation almost immedi- ately. -
Page 19: Jog Wheel And Back Button
At any time, however you can press the jog wheel or Back button to bring the dark screen to life and display the last menu accessed THE AARON 650 MENU TREE The several levels of setup and operating menus are laid out in an intuitive and easy-to-manage fashion. The complete Menu Tree is shown and explained on the following couple of pages. -
Page 20: Menu Items
over a much wider range of choices, perhaps selecting between a number of options or adjusting some value in very small in- crements. (data entry) calls for alphanumeric character entry into data fields. Menu Titles are shown in a font that approximates that of the front-panel display. - Page 21 Stereo Regen (continued) Setup (continued) RDS Encoding Email Preferences RDS On/Off & injection SMTP Server RDS On/Off (set) Use SSL (set) Injection (select) Port: (data entry) RDS Regen Mode SMTP Server (data entry) Sender (4 RDS encoding selections) RDS Data (data entry) Username: (data entry) PS Scroll Speed (select) Password: (data entry)
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Page 22: Aaron 650 Readouts And Metering
Stereo- Regen mode (Page 24) of operation. Top row: 1) The frequency that the AARON 650 is tuned to; 2) The RDS PI code; 3) Station call letters (these are derived from the PI code in the US and Canada);... -
Page 23: Fm Bandscanner
The BandScanner is a handy utility for checking possible sources of adjacent-channel interference. It is normally used for aiming the receive antenna and other AARON 650 initial setup steps for the reason that follows. NOTE: When the BandScanner is in use, the program signal go- ing through the AARON 650 will be temporarily compromised. -
Page 24: Rds Information Display
The RDS Info utility has marginal bearing on the use of the AARON 650 as a translator receiver even though it is still a powerful RDS diagnostics tool. It has been included for the in- terest and convenience of ‘power users’ of the Radio Data Sys- tem and the many features that it offers in addition to scrolling song titles. -
Page 25: Quick Receiver Setup
QUICK RECEIVER SETUP The AARON 650 may be placed in operation in very short order. In situations with a healthy incoming signal, you can probably accept factory-default setup options and values. Of course the receiver must be tuned to the incoming carrier, but for straight-... -
Page 26: Pass-Through Vs. Stereo-Regen
‘Ultrasonic’ noise (USN) above the program sub- carrier compromises modulation efficiency, and regeneration removes this source of noise. The AARON 650 has a variety of Reception Tools that can prove very effective in reducing audi- ble noise and preserving the quality of the program as it is re- broadcast. -
Page 27: Stereo-Regen Mode Options
site Regen) or Off (Composite Pass-Through). You must base your decision as which mode to use on the overall quality of the re-transmitted program signal. This means that you must monitor the translator frequency off-air, as the front-panel headphone jack will not reflect the difference between modes. Alternatively, if you have a means of decoding and monitoring the composite/MPX feed at the exciter input, this allows an equivalent A/B comparison. - Page 28 When the Re-encode RDS with new PI Code option is selected, the AARON 650 strips the PI code from the incoming RDS data and substitutes the one entered by the user in the RDS Data menu (see next margin heading).
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Page 29: Entering The Rds Data
From the Stereo Regen sub- Entering the menu, navigate to RDS En- RDS Data coding / RDS Data. This brings data-entry screen shown at the right. Turn the knob to see how each of the data-entry fields may be ‘bracketed’ for further action. Beginning with the PI field, push the knob to enter this information. - Page 30 When the AARON 650 is programmed to Re-encode RDS, both flags will come through and the feature will function. But the AARON 650 cannot generate a TA flag on its own, so in the Ste- reo-Regen mode all the TP flag can do is let the radio know that, once it’s back in the range of the station’s main signal, it...
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Page 31: Reception Tools
When all RDS parameters have been set, then navigate to RDS Finally! On/Off & Injection and turn RDS RECEPTION TOOLS The SDR (Software-Defined Radio) front-end of the AARON 650 incorporates various means of improving reception under ad- verse conditions. A complete technical explanation of these... -
Page 32: If Bandwidth
RDS data is being regenerated from the incoming signal. In the Pass-Through mode, use the AARON 650’s built-in meter- ing to gauge the effects of bandwidth settings. Under Graphs and Metering, the MPX FFT will display reductions in ultrasonic noise, and the effects of bandwidth on subcarrier levels. -
Page 33: Stereo Blend
Another option is to roll-off the higher audio frequen- cies as the incoming signal deteriorates. The AARON 650 analyzes three independent properties of the incoming carrier to control the amount of L/R broadband blending, high frequency blending, and top-end program audio rolloff. -
Page 34: Stereo/Mono
Stereo-Regen mode. Setup guide- lines are the same for this function as outlined for blending, above. The Stereo/Mono setup menu simply allows the AARON 650 to Stereo/Mono be placed in Forced Mono in the Stereo-Regen mode. Normal Stereo (Auto). -
Page 35: Alarms
(or a drop in level) 3) RDS Error (subcarrier loss or ‘hijacking’), and 4) Loss of Pilot (stereo loss). These alarms are indicated on the front panel of the AARON 650 and are available as alarm ‘tallies’ (contact closures) on the rear panel. In addition, alarms may be set up independently to send e-mail or text messages to selected station personnel. -
Page 36: Audio Loss
from an SD memory card inserted into the front-panel slot, or from a LAN/Internet source of the main program or backup programming. This ‘failover’ feature is detailed on Page 36. From the Main Menu, navi- gate to Alarms & Notifications. This menu screen gives ac- cess to individual alarm set- ups, and to the Audio Failover,... -
Page 37: Audio Muting
The RDS Error utility may be pro- grammed to give an alarm when the incoming PI code does not match the code programmed into the AARON 650. The PI code of the incoming carrier shows up in the PI box at the lower-right of the menu screen. -
Page 38: Alarm Tallies
AUDIO FAILOVER The AARON 650 has an audio ‘failover’ (program audio substi- tution) feature that can replace the off-air program feed if the carrier is lost or the audio becomes unusable. From the Main Menu, navi- gate to Alarms &... -
Page 39: E-Mail Notifications
Push Stop Test to restore the normal program source. The AARON 650 will play audio files in the order they were SD Card recorded onto the SD card. After that it will repeat-play these Recording files indefinitely. -
Page 40: The Alarm Log
MIB file will have to be downloaded from the AARON 650 and uploaded to the SNMP Manager. Downloading the MIB file employs the AARON 650 Web interface and is de- tailed on Page 46. From the front panel, navigate to Setup / Network / SNMP, and SNMP Mode then select Mode &... -
Page 41: Snmp Security
650 and the SNMP Manager. Changing Mode: to Read Only allows the AARON 650 to be inter- rogated by the SNMP Manager so that stream metadata, alarms, etc. can be integrated with other equipment on the network. Setting the Mode: to Read & Write allows the SNMP Manager to send commands to the AARON 650. -
Page 42: Firmware Update
Enable the password when finished. times-out. Remember to To recover control of the AARON 650 if the password is lost, Lost Password you must do a “hard reset” of the unit. This is accomplished by... -
Page 43: Section Iv - Connecting To The Internet
Webpages can be brought up in a computer browser (see Section V). With the LAN jack on the back of the AARON 650 connected to DHCP IP your network, navigate from the Main Menu to Setup / Network / Assignment IP Settings. -
Page 44: Accessing The Aaron 650 Remotely
DHCP range. This is an easy matter with the aid of the router’s Help utility. It is also necessary to open a specific port for the AARON 650 on the network router. Within the router’s Port Forwarding util- ity you will be able to enter your static IP address for the unit (Internal IP), followed by a colon and a port number. -
Page 45: Network Status
There are three popular forwarding service providers available on the Internet. Their basic service (all you really need) may be free of charge, but advanced features may command a nominal annual fee. All services require registration on the appropriate Website. From the Main Menu, navigate to Setup / Network / Dynamic DNS. -
Page 46: Section V - The Aaron 650 Web Page
THE AARON 650 WEB PAGE Up to this point we’ve used the front-panel display and ‘jog wheel’ knob to get the AARON 650 receiver up and running. Nearly any function may be accessed in this manner, but enter- ing and editing text is much easier using the Web interface screen and a real-live keyboard. -
Page 47: Station Presets
Metering, listening options and alarm information will “tag along” and appear at the top of all AARON 650 Web pages. The receiver may be tuned by any of several means. You can: Tuning the 1) grab the tuning bar and slide it back and forth;... -
Page 48: The Menu List
A loudspeaker icon appears at the top of the Now Playing Remote screen. Click this to listen to the station from a remote loca- Listening tion. There are two audio quality options available. LQ has an MP3 data rate of 64kbps, and HQ is 128kbps. With marginal connec- tions, LQ may prove the better choice. -
Page 49: E-Mail Or Text Message Notifications
Alarms and Notifications menu page described earlier. The Time & Time Zone menu screen sets the internal timekeep- Timekeeping ing function of the AARON 650 to Internet time, including al- lowance for Daylight Saving Time as appropriate. Timekeeping is used to tag alarm notifications. -
Page 50: Section Vi - Updating Aaron 650 Firmware
A bootloader is a simple software routine that runs on any PC on the same network as the AARON 650. Refer to Section IV for specifics on assuring a connection between the AARON 650 and your computer. - Page 51 Next, click: Find All Devices at the top of the bootloader window. The IP address of your AARON 650 should appear in the Select: field, confirming that you are properly connected. If you do not see the IP address of your AARON 650, abort the update (de- scribed below) and troubleshoot connection issues.
- Page 52 HOWEVER, once the updater process is underway, if it does not complete successfully you may lose the existing firmware ver- sion. In that case you will have to return your AARON 650 to Inovonics for a factory firmware reinstallation. The various Webpages (menu pages) for IP remote communica-...
- Page 53 INOVONICS WARRANTY TERMS OF SALE: Inovonics products are sold with an understand- ing of “full satisfaction”; that is, full credit or refund will be issued for products sold as new if returned to the point of purchase within 30 days following their receipt, provided that they are returned complete and in an “as received”...
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