Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product 15 Falcon
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Operating manual Rel. 1.7 Sede BOLOGN A: Via Caduti Di Sabbiuno 6/F – 40011 Anzola Emilia - Bologna - Italy Tel. +39 051 736555 - F ax. +39 051 736170 Sede BERGAMO: Via Italia 1 – 24030 Medolago (Bg) – Italy e-mail: info@axeltechnology.com - web site: www.
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TABLE OF C ONTENT S ENG Page 3 1 T A BLE OF CONT ENT S 1 TABLE OF CONT ENTS .............................................................................................................. ................................. 3 2 INTRODUCTI ON ............
TABLE OF C ONTENT S ENG Page 4 12.5 SETTI NG TH E SPLIT MO DES .......................................................................................................................... .... 33 12.6 ADDITIONAL DATA AND SET TINGS.......................
TABLE OF C ONTENT S ENG Page 5 18.6.4 PS SCROLLING ................................................................................................................... ....................... 63 18.7 ALTE RNA TIV E FREQUE NCIES ........................
INTR ODUC TION ENG Page 6 2 INTRODUCT ION Thank s to its long experienc e in the DSP audio field, Axel T echnology is proud to present F alcon 15, a 3 band audio digital process or f or FM radio br oadcasting.
INTR ODUC TION ENG Page 7 2.1 FA LCON 15 - AVA ILA BLE VERSIONS Falcon 15 ST featuring pr ocessed stereo (bichannel) output only (i.e. separ ated Left and Right channels ). No stereo c oder built-in Falcon 15 FM featuring built- in stereo Coder and (opti onal) RDS / RBDS coder .
SAFETY WARNINGS / ISTRUZ IONI PER LA SICUREZZA Page 8 3 SA FET Y WA RNINGS / ISTRUZIONI PER LA SICUREZZA SA FETY WA RNINGS CONSIGNES DE SÉCURITÉ IMPORTA NTES ISTRUZIONI IMPORTA NTI PER LA SICUREZZA WICHTIGE SICHERHEITSHINWEISE INSTRUCCIONES IMPORTA NTES DE SEGURIDA D (Rel.
SAFETY WARNINGS Page 9 4 SA FETY WA RNINGS The installation and servicing instructions in th is manual are for use by qualified personnel only. - Read A ll Instructions.
CONSIGNES DE SÉCUR ITÉ IMPORTANTES Page 10 5 CONSIGNES DE SÉCURIT É IMPORTA NT ES - Lire ces consignes - Conser ver ces consignes - O bserver tous les aver tissements - Suiv re toutes les consignes - Ne pas utiliser cet appareil à proximité de l’eau - Ne pas obstruer les ouv ertures de ventilatio n.
ISTRUZIO NI IMPORTANTI PER LA SICUREZZA Page 11 6 IST RUZIONI IMPORTA NT I PER LA SICUREZZA - Leggere le pr esenti istruzioni - Conserv are queste istruzioni - O sservare tutte le avv ertenze - Seguire scrupolosamente tutte le istruzioni - Non usar e questo apparecchio in prossimità di acqua - Non ostruire alcuna aper tura per il raffreddamento .
WI CHTI GE SICHERHEI TSHI NW EI SE Page 12 7 WICHTIGE SICHERHEIT SHINWEISE - Diese Hinweise LESEN - Diese H inweise AUFHEBEN - A lle Warnhinweise BEACHTEN - A lle Anweisungen BEFOLGEN - Dieses G erät NICHT in der Nähe v on Wasser verwenden - KEIN E Lüftungsöffnungen verdecken .
INSTRUCCIONES IMPORTANTES DE SEGURI DAD Page 13 8 INST RUCCIONES IMPORTA NT ES DE SEGURIDA D - LEA estas instrucciones - CO NSERVE estas instrucciones - PRESTE A TENCION a todas las advertencias. - SIG A todas las instrucciones - NO utilice este aparato cerca del agua - NO obstruy a ninguna de las aberturas de ventilación.
FIRST INSTALLATION RECOM MENDAT IONS ENG Page 14 9 FIRST INST A LLA TION RECOMMENDA T IONS 9.1 POWER SUPPLY CA BLE A power supply cable of approx. 2 m t length is supplied with the device, which has a moulded IEC plug attached – this is a legal requir em ent.
FIRST INSTALLATION RECOM MENDAT IONS ENG Page 15 9.3 FUSE REPLA CEMENT The power supply sock et has an integr al fuse dr awer containing the AC power fus e and a spare, both of the sam e value. BEFORE REPLACING TH E POW ER F USE, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE T HE RIG HT TYPE OF FUSE FO R T HE VOLT AGE T O BE PRO TEC TED.
BLOCK DIAGRAM (FM & ST VERSI ONS) ENG Page 16 10 BLOCK DIA GRA M (FM & ST VERSIONS) 32,44.1,48,96 KH z A N A L O G I N P U T A N A L O G O U T P U T M P X O U T P U T D I G I T A L I N P U T M.
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 17 11 FM VERSION DESCRIPT ION 11.1 FRONT PA NEL VIEW 1 Multifunction display (LCD) mu ltifunction dis play showing the equipment operating conditions 2 LCD contrast: trimm er to adj ust the display contrast. Pleas e use a sm all sc rewdriver 3 Jog-w heel : for m enu s crolling and param eter settings.
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 18 11.2 REA R PANEL VIEW ( FM VERSION) 1 ON/OFF main switch , the led inside switchs on/of f accordingly. If it is of f while the switch is O N, please check the supplied AC c ord and the fus e. A C outlet : IEC power cord rec eptacle.
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 19 11.3 AC CONNECTION The Falc on 15 uses a power entry module with AC switch jus t closed to the IEC power cord rec eptacle.
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 20 11.6 A UXILIA RY INPUTS The Aux inputs allow the Mpx, SCA, RDS injec tion from external coders. T he resultant signal (f .i. external RDS+ se lf-gener ated MPX) is available on the Output connector. Remark s: W hen using an external RDS enc oder, the internal RDS one m us t be disabled.
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 21 11.8 DIGITA L A UDIO INPUT Trans for mer balanced XLR- ty pe and optic connec tors ar e used to input AES-3, S/PDIF, IEC60958, EIAJCP1201 digital audio. To avoid m alfunc tions, only one digital connec tor m ay be connected at a time.
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 22 11.10 DIGITA L DATA PORT 15-pin fem ale Inter face c onnector provides 3 optoinsulated “tr igger” inputs. Thes e inputs can be used to dynamically alter two RDS flags (T A and M/S) and to enable Split operating m ode in respons e to logic signal trans itions.
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 23 EXA MPLE N° 1 – controlling the SPLIT function from a TTL command Apply an external T T L signal through a 470 Ohm car bon resistor to the photodiode 1 (pins 6 and 1).
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 24 11.11 THE MENU TR EE The m enu tree f or the Falcon 15 MPX Version is shown on here below. It has all of the possible main m enu items listed along the lef t side. The branc hing sub-m enus and param eters are c onnected in the order they are encounter ed in the menu s ystem.
FM VER SION DESCR IPTION ENG Page 25 11.12 FRONT PA NEL OPERA TION As des cribed at par . 11.1, Falcon 15 us er interf ace cons ists of a f ront panel-m ounted jog- wheel, two buttons and an LCD s creen. The LCD s creen dis play s m enus, par am eter settings and s everal bargraphs (Level Meters or process ing activity).
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 26 12 IN & OUT SETT INGS (FM VERSION) Once the unit is installe d, here’s the proc edure to get y our Falcon 15 oper ating properly using factory presets. With proper calibration t he Falcon 15 will giv e you the most accurate results for peak cont rol and modulation.
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 27 12.1.3 CHOOSIN G THE P ROPER AGC OP ERA TION One of the m os t im portant proces sor f unction is the A utomatic Gain Control (A GC) sy stem, wh ich com pensates f or variations in the input level to keep the s ignal at 0 dB.
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 28 W e suggest us ing medium levels of around 2 to 3 dB / sec , and es pecially that y ou conc entrate on the audio sources connected to the pr ocessor , to obtain the m ost even sound pos sible.
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 29 12.3 HOW TO CONFIGURE THE MPX OUTPUT ( MPX MODULE SETUP ) 12.3.1 SETTING THE PREEMPHASI S The Mpx M odule Setup / Preemphas i s m enu toggles between 50uS and 75uS of preem phas is applied to the Falcon 15’s MPX output.
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 30 1 Escape f rom the Out put Level m enu and enter the Output M ode m enu. 2 Select the Peak Reference Tone option. The Peak T one identifies the max imum peak v alu e of the audio and MPX signals reached by the processor while it is operating.
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 31 12.3.6 NOISE GATE SETT ING (Nois e Gate) The Mpx Module Setup / Noise Gate func tion allows y ou to avoid the eff ects of back ground nois es while the input signal presents a lack of high f requencies .
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 32 12.4 A DJUSTING THE RDS / RBDS OUTPUT ( RDS MODULE SETUP ) The level of gener ated RDS / RBDS signal and its status On/Of f can be adjus ted by m eans of the RDS M odule Setup menu.
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 33 12.5 SETTING THE SPLIT MODES The MPX SPLIT mode allows Falcon 15 Output to toggle between an exter nal MPX signal applied to AUX 1 input and the MPX signal internally generated (see Switch SW 1 and SW 2 here below ).
IN & OUT SET TINGS (FM VERSION) ENG Page 34 12.6 ADDITIONA L DA TA AND SETTINGS 12.6.1 SERIAL PORT SETUP Serial Port Setu p displays the serial port 1 and Port 2 s tatus and allows to enable/disable them .
ST VERSION DESCRIPTION ENG Page 35 13 ST VERSION DESCRIPTION 13.1 FRONT PA NEL VIEW 1 Multifunction display (LCD) mu ltifunction dis play showing the equipment operating conditions 2 LCD contrast: trimm er to adj ust the display contrast. Pleas e use a sm all sc rewdriver 3 Jog-w heel : for m enu s crolling and param eter settings.
ST VERSION DESCRIPTION ENG Page 36 13.2 REA R PANEL VIEW ( ST VERSION) 1 ON/OFF main switch , the led inside switchs on/of f accordingly. If it is of f while the switch is O N, please check the supplied AC c ord and the fus e. A C outlet : IEC power cord rec eptacle.
ST VERSION DESCRIPTION ENG Page 37 13.3 AC CONNECTION The Falc on 15 uses a power entry module with AC switch jus t closed to the IEC power cord rec eptacle.
ST VERSION DESCRIPTION ENG Page 38 13.5 SERIA L PORTS Falcon 15 f eatures up to f our optoinsulated RS232 s erial ports ( port 3 and 4 are available as an option) which allow the rem ote contr ol and RDS progr am m ing both through loc al - or rem ote PCs, UECP program m er, etc.
ST VERSION DESCRIPTION ENG Page 39 13.7 A NAL OG A UDIO INPUT ( Female XLR) Balanced XLR-type connectors are used f or input analog audio. The stereo analog inputs are des igned for s t andard 0 dBu balanced s ignals. Individual channel gain and level setting is done us ing the sof tware param eter settings (see par.
ST VERSION DESCRIPTION ENG Page 40 13.8 FA LCON 15 MENU TREE (ST version) The m enu tree for the Falcon 15 S T-OUT Version is shown on here below. It has all of the possible m ain m enu items listed along the lef t side. The branc hing sub-m enus and param eters are c onnected in the order they are encounter ed in the menu s ystem.
ST VERSION DESCRIPTION ENG Page 41 13.9 FRONT PA NEL OPERA TION As des cribed at par . 11.1, Falcon 15 us er interf ace cons ists of a f ront panel-m ounted jog- wheel, two buttons and an LCD s creen. The LCD s creen dis play s m enus, par am eter settings and s everal bargraphs (Level Meters or process ing activity).
IN / OUT SETTINGS (ST version) ENG Page 42 14 IN / OUT SETT INGS (ST v e rsion) Once the unit is installed, here’s the pr ocedure to get y our Falcon 15 ope rating properly using factory presets. With proper calibration t he Falcon 15 will giv e you th e most accurate result s for peak control and modulation.
IN / OUT SETTINGS (ST version) ENG Page 43 14.1.3 CHOOSIN G THE P ROPER AGC OP ERA TION One of the m os t im portant proces sor f unction is the A utomatic Gain Control (A GC) sy stem, wh ich com pensates f or variations in the input level to keep the s ignal at 0 dB.
IN / OUT SETTINGS (ST version) ENG Page 44 W e suggest us ing medium levels of around 2 to 3 dB / sec , and es pecially that y ou conc entrate on the audio sources connected to the pr ocessor , to obtain the m ost even sound pos sible.
IN / OUT SETTINGS (ST version) ENG Page 45 14.3 HOW TO CONFIGURE THE A UDIO OUTPUT ( AUDIO MODULE SETUP ) 14.3.1 SETTING THE PREEMPHASI S The Audio Module Setup / P reemphasis m enu allows You to sele.
IN / OUT SETTINGS (ST version) ENG Page 46 14.3.2 ADJUSTING THE AUDIO O UTPUT LEVEL The proc essed audio s ignal is available on the XLR O UT c onnectors . The f actory preset for the output signal is 0 dBm . W here necess ary, this output may be tuned using the Audio M odule Setup / Output Level menu.
IN / OUT SETTINGS (ST version) ENG Page 47 14.3.4 MONO - STEREO O PERATION The Audio Module Setup / Pr ocess Mode menu selects the mono ver sus s tereo operation of the audio output. In particular: - Selecting Mono (Left ) the Lef t input channel only w ill be proces sed and output on both the L and R outputs.
IN / OUT SETTINGS (ST version) ENG Page 48 14.4 ADDITIONA L DA TA AND SETTINGS 14.4.1 SERIAL PORT SETUP Serial Port Setu p displays the serial port 1 and Port 2 s tatus and allows to enable/disable them .
CHOOSING THE PROCESSING CUR VE ENG Page 49 15 CHOOSING THE PROCESSING CURVE 15.1 INTRODUCTION Once you have adjusted the input levels and reached the cor rect AG C level , y ou m ay move on to select the process ing curve. T here are 30 f actory presets designed for various program m ing form ats.
CHOOSING THE PROCESSING CUR VE ENG Page 50 15.2 THE FA LCON 15 PRESET TABLE PRESET BA SS MID HIGH DENSITY TYPE 1 1 1 1 Low Flat 2 3 0 3 Low Pop 3 1 3 1 Low Live 4 3 1 1 Low Bass 5 3 3 1 Low Disco 6 1 .
CHOOSING THE PROCESSING CUR VE ENG Page 51 15.3 CHOOSING A CURVE As alr eady ex plained in other s ections of the m anual, the DSPs in the proc essor im plement thr ee com pressors, which aff ect the 3 bands: Bass , Mid and High.
THE R EMOTE PC CONTR OL SOFTWARE ENG Page 52 16 THE REMOT E PC CONT ROL SOFTWA RE 16.1 INTRODUCTION The Falcon 15 (ST and FM ver sions) c om es with a powerful and re liable software r unning on all Micros oft W indows ® o.s. (’95, ’98, ME, 2000, NT and XP) and specially conceived for equipment program m ing and control.
THE R EMOTE PC CONTR OL SOFTWARE ENG Page 53 16.3 RUNNING THE PROGRAM Open the sof tware f rom Star t -> Pr ogram s -> Ax el F alcon 15 v er s X.
ACCESSING THE TARGET FROM TH E PC ENG Page 54 - The Output page includes the controls f or the f unctions: MPX Output Level, Audio O utput Level, Pre- emphasis, Noise G ate, Output Mode, Output Sync and Input Mode (Stereo/Mono). T hese c ontrols m ay ba disabled, acco rding to Yr Falcon 15 vers ion (ST or FM).
ACCESSING THE TARGET FROM TH E PC ENG Page 55 17.1 THE SETUP PA NEL 17.1.1 SELECTING THE PC SERIAL PO RT First of all, it is neces sary to indicate which com puter ser ial port is dedic ated to the com m unication with the process or (CO M 1, 2, 3, 4 to 8).
ACCESSING THE TARGET FROM TH E PC ENG Page 56 17.1.2 O THER SETTINGS It is now poss ible to set up or m odif y some m odes r egarding the sof tware window display on the c om puter screen, and c om m unications between the com puter and the pr ocessor .
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 57 18 RDS / RBDS SET TINGS (FM Version only ) 18.1 INTRODUCTION The Falc on 15 FM suppor ts either RDS (Radio Data System) or RBDS (Radio Broadcast Data Sy s tem ) generation as an option (pleas e refer to the initial Chapter for fur ther infor m ation).
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 58 18.3 CHA NGING THE RDS / RBDS OUTPUT LEVEL This can be achieved f rom the RDS Settings m enu: You may also switch RDS generation on and off and enable/disable RDS output while the Falcon 15 FM is on split (i.
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 59 18.5 RBDS : CONFIGURING THE SERVICES PI, PTY, DI, RA DIO TEXT, TP, TA AND M/S Acces s the RBDS conf iguration sec tion click ing the ‘ MA IN ’ button in the RDS Section. This will open the m ain screen, where you can set the m ain param eters of the RBDS servic e.
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 60 18.5.1 RDS / RBDS SERVICES DESCRIBED PI - Programme Ident ification RDS: It contains f our hex adecim al num bers ( see ‘Code’ box ) : the firs.
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 61 18.6 PROGRA M SERVICE NAM E (PS) 18.6.1 SCOPE The PS f eature is intended to denote the Pr ogram Service Nam e. Both the Eur opean CENELEC and the Am erican NRSC spec ifications for RDS/RBDS operation expressly forbid Dy nam ic PS as it m ay be a distraction to the drivers .
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 62 18.6.3 PS SEQUENCES Falcon 15 allows You to easily create and broadcast s equences com posed by up to 8 PS Nam es. You can also set the ‘display speed’ (related to the tim e it will last on the rec eiver display).
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 63 18.6.4 PS SCROLLI NG PS Scrolling panel allows You to enter PS m ess age which will s croll on the receiver display. It m eans, text is moved r ight to left acr oss the dis play one charac ter at a tim e at the rate set by the user (SPEED).
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 64 18.7 ALTERNA TIVE FREQUENCIES The lis t(s) of alternat ive frequ encies give infor m ation on the various trans m itters broadcasting the sam e pro.
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 65 18.8 A F METHODS A AND B There ar e two way s to transm it lists of alternative f requencies : Method A and Method B. In both cases the lis ts should inc lude only those f requencies f or the near est transm itters and repeaters (with overlapping coverage ar eas).
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 66 AF1 AF2 f Tx B f Tx D Tx B lists (tuning frequency: f Tx B) f Tx D f Tx B Note that the frequency of transmitter C is not included in the list, sin.
RDS / R BDS SETT INGS (FM Version only ) ENG Page 67 AF1 AF2 f Tx B f Tx D f Tx B f Tx D Tx B (tuning frequency: f Tx B) f Tx D f Tx B Notice that the tuning frequency f T x B is repeated twice in list 1: in the first position, then paired with f T x D.
HARD WARE SETTINGS ENG Page 68 19 HA RDWA RE SETT INGS 19.1 CHA NGING THE INPU T A UDIO IMPEDA NCE ( FM VERSION) The analog input im pedance m ay be set to 600Ohm , rather than 10kOhm , by moving the tw o jumper s JP1 and JP2 on the analog input board (s ee figure below).
FIRMWARE E SOFTW ARE UPGRADES ENG Page 69 20 FIRMWA RE E SOFTWA RE UPGRA DES 20.1 FIRMWARE UPGRA DE Falcon 15 com es f rom the f actory with the most re cent firm w are installed j ust prior to shipping. W hen required, the firm ware can be updated with the latest available ver sion.
FIRMWARE E SOFTW ARE UPGRADES ENG Page 70 2) PC OPERAT ION F) Clos e all opened applications on the PC . G) Access the Fw UpGrades folder H) Double click the file associated to the desired upgrade: - .
FIRMWARE E SOFTW ARE UPGRADES ENG Page 71 K) Make s ure the Identif ication is c orrectly done ( Ready to s tart Firmware Upgr ade m essage + f irm ware code displayed in the right field), and click ‘ Program’ button . The upgrade will continue autom atically.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ENG Page 72 21 T ECHNICA L SPECIFICA TIONS GENERAL FEATURES Weight Around 4.5 Kg AC R at e 220 Vac / 110 Vac Dimensions 1 rack unit, 352 x 483 x 44 mm Preset curves 30, factory programmed ANALOG STEREO AUD IO INPUT D IGITA L A UDIO INPUT (optional) Conversion 24 bit Connector Ty pe XLR el.
WARRAN TY ENG Page 73 AUX INPUTS (1 and 2) (M PX version only) Connector Ty pe floating BNC, EMI suppressed Impedance 10KOhm Input Level - 40 to 0 dBm Purpose SCA, RDS inputs RDS / RBDS CODER (FM version only) Supported Standards : RDS ( Radio Data System), conf orm ing to the standar d CENELEC EN50067 RBDS (Radio Broadcas t Data System) conf .
WEEE Directive – Informativa RAEE ENG Page 74 23 WEEE Directive – Informa t iva RA EE In line with EU Directive 2002/96/EC for wa ste electrical and electronic equipment (W EEE), this electrical product must not be disposed of as unsorted municipal waste.
An important point after buying a device Falcon 15 (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Falcon 15 yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Falcon 15 - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Falcon 15 you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Falcon 15 will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Falcon 15, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Falcon 15.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Falcon 15. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Falcon 15 along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center