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...TCD Clock Control Software |
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TCD CC (Time Code Device Clock Control) Software
This software controls the display, settings and actions of the TCD26, TCD46 and TCD86 clocks by Masterclock. After their initial set-up, these clocks will retain their input settings until loss of power, so the software need not be kept running.
The software requires a Windows PC (2000, XP, Vista, 7 Release Candidate) with a COM port.
TCD CC is free, but for each clock two special adapters and a cable are required. These can be purchased from Masterclock.
Digit Brightness: Controlled by a slider (see below).
Mode: The display can switch between 1) Clock, 2) Counter and 3) Timer (see below).
1. Clock:
Set the display for either Time or Date. The time can be in 12-Hour or 24-Hour format. Tthe date can be in U.S. or European format.
The time zone can be set, the clock's time can be displayed,
and the date and time can be set whenever the clock is not locked to a Time Code reference.
2. Counter:
The direction of count, its limit and the action taken upon its limit can be set. The count can be incremented or decremented, started, paused, resumed and reset.
'Broadcast At Limit' causes a message to appear when the counter hits the limit.
This program must be running for that message to appear.
3. Timer:
Similar to the Counter, but includes Frames Per Second
and 'Trigger Time' (starting the Timer at a certain time).
Note that all 3 modes are operating in a TCD clock at the same time. The display will show only one at a time, but the other two continue to function.
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TCDS CC will only control the TCD26, TCD46 and TCD86 models,
not the TCD200, TCD24 or TCD44, because they don't have DB9 jacks. TCDS CC is not for any NTD clock.
Version Restrictions: Most of the controls that this program displays will work with any firmware version,
but the Counter controls will only work with versions 2.x.x and above. The 2007 U.S. daylight saving time rules will work only with some versions of 2.x.x and above. With version 2.1.0 a slight change was made in how the Timer controls work.
The current version of the clock's firmware can be displayed with TCDS CC.
Upgrades: The clock can be upgraded to the latest firmware at the owner's expense.
Contact support@masterclock.com.
The upgrade will be a replacement microprocessor, which the user can install,
or the clock can be shipped back to Masterclock for professional installation.
Adapters: Two special adapters and a 6-conductor telephone cable (RJ12) are required and available from Masterclock. Cables are available in several lengths.
The CA232 adapter must be on the DB9 serial port of the PC.
The CA232NM adapter must be on the DB9 serial port of the clock.
The cable ends must have standard 6-pin telephone plugs.
COM Port: Communication between the clock and the PC is via a COM port.
This program has been tested successfully with a USB-to-serial adapter,
so one of those can be used if the PC doesn't have a serial port,
but the port must appear as a COM port in the PC's Device Manager.
Only one clock is controlled at a time, but there can be a clock on every COM port
and this program can switch between them. No parallel wiring scheme will work.
Multiple Clock Control: If several clocks are to be controlled, then be aware that
there are PC cards available that have several serial ports.
Masterclock does not make such cards, but they are sold by many PC hardware vendors.
Should the user choose to have several COM ports he will have to have a set of adapters and cable for each clock. Once all are in place the user can
instantly switch between clocks simply by selecting the corresponding COM port
in the program's main window.
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Download the executable file and place it anywhere on your computer. There is no installer.
If the user wishes to he may put it in the standard location for Masterclock software:
C:\Program Files\Masterclock.
The program does not write to any file and does not get data from any file.
Settings chosen when using the program are saved in the Windows registry.
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If the cable and adapters are not already in place, then do this first:
Open your PC's Device Manager.
(Right-click on My Computer, choose Manage, choose Device Manager.)
Expand the Ports section.
(Right-click on the COM port you want to use and select Disable. Leave the Device Manager open.)
Plug a CA232 adapter (from Masterclock) into that port on the PC.
Plug a CA232NM adapter (from Masterclock) into the clock's serial port. The clock should be powered up. It need not be off to do these connections.
Back in Device Manager, right-click on the COM port and select Enable.
The parameters of the port in Device Manager will probably not need to be set. The program sets them when it opens a port. For the user's information they are:
Bits per second = 19200
Data bits = 8
Stop bits = 0
Parity = None
On the main window of this program select the COM port to the clock.
Move the brightness slider to see if the clock responds. Its brightness should change almost immediately,
and a 'Success' message should post at the bottom of the window.
If the COM port setting of this program did not match that of the clock
when the program opened then an error message would have appeared,
but the moment the setting matches the hardware installation
the program is in contact with the clock.
The setting is stored, so the next time the program is opened
the error should not appear if the hardware has not been moved.
If the clock does not respond then disable and re-enable the COM port,
be sure the CA232 adapter is on the PC and the CA232NM is on the clock,
and be sure the cable is a 6 conductor straight-through cable.
If the clock still does not respond then contact Masterclock.
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Use this program to control the display and behavior of the clock. The program starts by showing the general settings of the COM Port.
The user must select one COM that a clock is attached to.
Test that selection by clicking on the "Request Firmware Version" button.
The response should be immediate.
If there is no response or an error message displays
then something is wrong with the hardware or port. The port may be disabled,
the wrong adapters may be in place, or the wrong cable may be in use.
If the program opens by displaying an error message then the COM port in use has been disabled, or does not exists in the PC. The user should note the program's COM port setting and then open Device Manager and enable that port or change the setting to an enabled port.
The first time you use this program its settings will not match the clock's
because this program cannot get the clock's current settings.
The user should go through all of the program's windows
to make the settings match what he wants the clock's to be.
Many settings belong to groups for which there is a "Send Settings" button.
Every such button must be clicked to make sure the settings get to the clock.
The settings are written to the Windows registry when sent to the clock.
When a setting is sent that causes only an acknowledgement by the clock,
and not a return of data, the program displays a "Success" message at the bottom of the window.
There is only one collection of TCD Clock Control settings, so if every clock has unique settings
the user will have to change the settings in the program when he selects a new clock,
which he can do by selecting a new COM port or by moving the adapter to a new clock.
The displayed mode can be switched between Clock, Timer and Counter.
When in Clock mode the time or date can be selected to display.
Date formats are U.S.(month, day, year) or European (day, month, year).
Time format selections are 12-Hour and 24-Hour.
At the bottom of the Main Window is a message box. A message is posted there
as to the success or failure of the clock to accept settings.
If no message appears then the COM port is enabled, but no clock is attached to it.
Just above that message box is a checkbox to enable the playing of an alert sound when the Counter or Timer hit their limits. The "Broadcast At Limit" checkbox
on the window for Counter or Timer control must also be checkmarked to get that beep.
If the beep is not enabled a message will still appear in the box.
Everything else in the program is accessed via the menu bar.
The "Date and Time", "Counter" and "Timer" menu items display dialogs with more settings.
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Date and Time Control allows the setting of a custom date, time and time zone.
The clock must be disconnected from a source of Time Code to do this. The clock's time, date and status can be gotten in a snapshot
in the "Request Date and Time" section, or continuously, in the "Set Broadcast" section.
When broadcast is enabled the clock sends data to the program once a second,
so the user can see the seconds tick by.
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Earlier
TCD clocks were designed to allow a special-purpose switch or relay
on their DB9 jacks. When the contact of the switch or relay closes
the count goes up or down by one (depending on the mode the user selected).
Masterclock sells a DB9 breakout box
with which the switch or relay can easily be wired correctly to the DB9 jack.
Now, the user can still use that hardware approach or use this program to do it. The Counter window has an UP and a DOWN button on it for that purpose,
although it is not automatic, as it would be with the switch/relay setup.
One can use the Counter to track any event that the user is witnessing.
On the Counter window note the "Counter Settings" group. The "Direction" setting here is for the hardware switch/relay setup.
If "Direction" is set to Up then the count will increment with each closing.
Note the "Action At Limit" setting. When the count gets to the "Counter Preset"
the count will either "Reload" or "Stop", depending on this setting.
Should the user want notification that the limit has been hit
he can checkmark the "Broadcast At Limit" box.
Of course, the "Counter Preset" is the limit we have been speaking of.
It's set and sent via the group with that label.
The remaining controls are buttons for starting, pausing, resuming and resetting the count. Note that what the user will see when he hits Reset The Counter will depend on the direction of count. If it's down then the user will see the preset appear on the clock, and as the count proceeds the clock will count down to zero. If the direction of count is up then the clock will show all zeroes when the user hits "Reset The Counter" and as the count proceeds the clock will count up to the preset limit.
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The Timer and Counter have several things in common. There's a Preset, buttons for starting, pausing, resuming and resetting, direction setting (here called Mode), action-at-limit setting, and broadcast-at-limit ability.
Note, however that there are no Up/Down buttons, because the Timer works off of the passage of time, not of external events.
The Timer tells the user how long it's been since a certain time of day (preset) or how long the user has until the arrival of that time. In the first case the mode is Increment and in the second it's Decrement.
Unique to the Timer are frames and "Trigger Time." Frames have to do with the standards of the film and broadcasting industries.
"Trigger Time" is simply the time at which the user wants the Timer to start.
The current firmware version differs from the previous. That difference is what occurs when the user sends a "Timer Preset" to the clock. The previous firmware would immediately reset the timer, causing the clock to display the new preset. The current version (2.1.0) does not do that reset; it allows the current timer action to continue to its original preset limit, and then for the new preset to take effect.
The impetus for the firmware change was the request by a customer for a Timer that would count down 24 hours so that whoever saw it knew how long they had until a certain time of day arrived. The new firmware makes it quite easy to do this.
Let's say that it is almost 10 AM and the user wants to time down to 5 PM every day. The user enters a Preset of 07:00:00 00 (the time span between 10 AM and 5 PM, with the final two zeroes for Frame) and a Trigger Time of 10:00:00. He also sets the Mode to Decrement, the Action At Limit to Reload, and the Display Format to HH:MM:SS. After those settings are sent to the clock, and the clock display is set to Timer, the user will see the preset of 07:00:00 until 10 AM arrives, when the timer will begin ticking down.
At that point the user enters 24:00:00 as the Preset and sends it to the clock. Nothing on the clock's display changes because of that; it continues timing down. When 5 PM arrives the clock will display 24:00:00 - the new preset - not 07:00:00, and immediately start timing down to 5 PM, tomorrow, at which time 24:00:00 will again reload unless the user enters a different preset.
That last step is made possible by the change of the clock's firmware from version 2.0.9 to 2.1.0. A clock that has version 2.0.9 or earlier will immediately display 24:00:00, which is not what the user wants to happen.
So, should the user want his clock to store a new preset while the on-going one continues, and to switch to the new preset only when the on-going one times out, then he needs to contact Support@ Masterclock to arrange that. Either we will send a new microprocessor chip for the user to install in his clock or the clock can be shipped to us to get that done.
With older firmware the timer can still time down 24 hours. If the user does not wish to upgrade then he can use either of these methods:
1. Set the Timer Preset to 24:00:00 and the trigger time to the time of day to time down to, then simply wait until that time next arrives.
At that moment the Timer will start ticking down 24 hours.
The drawback of this method is that the Timer is at first waiting for the trigger time, not timing down.
2. Set the Timer Preset to the amount of time remaining until the destination time, and when that time arrives set the Preset to 24:00:00.
This method relies on the user being there at that moment to send the new Preset and to send it exactly upon the destination time.
Of course, at time before that the user could set the Preset to 24:00:00 and the Trigger Time to the destination time, but this would interrupt the on-going time-down.
The drawbacks of the above methods were the reasons for the change in firmware
from 2.0.9 to 2.1.0
Note that the Timer can be used as a stopwatch: make the preset some huge value, like 24:00:00, send that to the clock, set the Mode to Increment and send that to the clock, then hit Reset, and the Timer will wait for the user to start the stopwatch. The display at this point should be 00:00:00. Hit "Start The Timer" at the start of the event to measure and hit "Pause" at its end. On the display will then be the amount of time that the event took. Hit "Reset The Timer" to start over.
Finally, when using a clock with firmware version 2.1.0 and later, and when the Timer mode is Decrement, the user should set the Display Format before starting the Timer; changing the Display Format in the middle of timing down will cause the display to be off by 1 second.
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Under the TCDS CC Help Menu you may select to display the briefest possible number of setup steps.
Also there is "TCD Clock Control Help Page" which is a web page on www.masterclock.com. That page is what you are reading. It has the most thorough and up-to-date information.
Of course, you can get an answer from a real person.
Please use this button to see all of those options.
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