Help a Non-Engineer who is in way over his head

[PopcornAC]

Ok. So i work at a small independant station that doesn't exactly have enough people for all the jobs. I started working here three years ago doing production and dj-ing, and since my resume now spans every thing from PD to Billing, and i have absolutely NO training (except for on the job/ RTFM and figure it out) Often times i will recieve a new project that is way above my ability level, but for some reason after a few days of reading manuals for people that are much smarter than me, I figure out the basics, and get the job done.

Most recently my task has been to take a satellite stream and get it on air. Ive figured out most EVERYTHING ive needed, one last thing... the satellite sends triggers and the engineer, who gets paid alot more than me and lives far away, wired up the DB 15 connector out of the back of the satellite with Relay 1-4 NO and Relay 1-4 Com I am plugging them into a measurement computing USB-1024LS. (http://www.mccdaq.com/PDFs/Manuals/USB-1024LS.pdf)

My question.

i have the relays 1-4 NO screwed into 21-24 which is triggers 1-4


What do i do with Relay 1-4 Com? I think im supposed to put them all in one. is it the PC+5V connector or do i need to wire each to a ground?

Or, should i put the thing down, and walk away?

any help is appreciated. thanks.

 

[ChiefOperator]

Okay, you're using the Measurement Computing Interface. Which receiver and automation system are you using? Also, what exactly do you wish the closures to do? Will they simply start the local stopset, then the stopset will time out and you'll return to the network?

 

[PopcornAC]

The reciever is a max satellite reciever from westwood one. The automation software is simian 1.8.5


I just need them to give a startnext signal and then the commercial is a pre determined time and at the end ill input a Vol up Macro... i know how to program all that in simian. (Like i said ive figured out a few things in my few years here with no training) I guess i should explain a little more

I have plugged in the interface. installed the instacal software and it is being recognized by the computer. I've checked, and the thing is working properly. Ive set it up for simian to recognize it. And everything is peachy, except i dont know where to plug in the relay 1-4 coms is it possible i dont need to plug those in and my engineer was just over zealous in his wireing? Do i only need the wiring for the four Normally open?

Update:Simian is recognizing different pins as triggers 1-4 so ill just move to those pins. But my question still remains... where do the common relays go? Simian sees a trigger as working when i take a wire and run it from that particular pin to the ground... so should the commons go in the ground?

 

[TomT]

Yes, the common wires go to the "common" connection on the blue USB device. Don't connect to the +5.

Some satellite receivers have all their commons tied together, but some don't. So each of the common wires need to be connected to one of the common terminals on the USB device. What is happening is that each of the 24 terminals is connected to a transistor in an integrated circuit in the USB device. When one of those transistor leads is connected to the DC ground circuit of the device, the circuit communicates to your computer which one of the 24 possible inputs has been "triggered." The relay in your Westwood One receiver provides that external connection between a trigger input and a ground.

Think of a circuit where you have a flash light bulb, with two wires connected to it. One wire to the + connection on a battery. Connect the other wire to the (-) connection of the battery, current flows, and the light comes on. Same thing here, except connecting the transistor inside the device to ground causes it to send a pulse to other circuits that then talk to the computer.

You probably have one of these:

http://www.mccdaq.com/usb-data-acquisition/USB-1024LS.aspx

If you don't have a book, you can register and download the manual to get the terminal numbers.

Once it is wired, then you need to go to the "async" tab and "edit triggers" to set up your trigger set so the satellite relay assigned as "break start" provides a start next event command to Simian.

 

[PopcornAC]

So i attach them to what on the blue usb device, i have the schematic here and nowhere on the diagram is there a "common" input. Do you mean i attach them to the grounds? There are also some inputs that on the diagram say "n/c"

here is a list of the inputs on the device

Pin Signal Name Pin Signal Name

1 Port C0 21 Port A0
2 Port C1 22 Port A1
3 Port C2 23 Port A2
4 Port C3 24 Port A3
5 Port C4 25 Port A4
6 Port C5 26 Port A5
7 Port C6 27 Port A6
8 Port C7 28 Port A7
9 GND 29 GND
10 n/c 30 PC+5V
11 n/c 31 GND
12 GND 32 Port B0
13 n/c 33 Port B1
14 n/c 34 Port B2
15 GND 35 Port B3
16 n/c 36 Port B4
17 GND 37 Port B5
18 n/c 38 Port B6
19 GND 39 Port B7
20 CTR 40 GND

So. The normally opens are plugged into ports 1-4

... if i understand you correctly you want me to plug the commons into the Grounds?

 

[SRP]

You will probably get more accurate help if you ask this question or search for this topic on the BSI support forum: http://support.bsiusa.com/forum (registration required)

 

[TomT]

When we say "common" we are talking about "GND" here---just connect your 4 common wires to 4 of the ground terminals, e.g. 9, 12, 15, 17.

A0, A1, A2, A3 will correspond to trigger inputs 1 through 4 on Simian. (Yes, I know--most normal people count from 1 up, not 0). Connect your relay leads #1 through 4 to #21, 22, 23, 24 respectively.

 

[PopcornAC]

did so. Simian actually recognized c0-c3 as the 1-4 but thats the answer i was looking for THANK YOU TomT

 

[bilco]

Common is not always ground but often. Some other terms you'll here for essentially the same thing are Earth (British), Rotor, chassis common, earthlground common and wiper. When in doubt, check withthe manufacturer. This board has great ideas, but some of them are off the wall. THe manufacturer has a horse in the race and a stake in you getting it right.