ProAudio: Setting Up Paging System (PuTTY)

Modified on Thu, 17 Jun 2021 at 11:04 AM

When a page or doorbell is triggered (from now on just referred to as a "page"), all the zones switch to a predetermined source, and a predetermined volume. When the page is finished, all the zones are restored to their normal operation.

There are two page settings, with their own setups. For instance page '1' could be used for the front door, and '2' for the back door, and if you have two different sound generators you could have a different sound for the two doorbells, and setup the pages to connected to two different sources.

To make all this work, you will need to setup, in advance, all the things each zone should do when a page is triggered. This can be done by sending commands over the serial or TCP/IP port, using PuTTY.

These are the commands to setup a doorbell / page. It assumes:

ProAudio16 -- 16 output zones
Input 15 is the source of the chime generator.
Your using DB-1 on the back of the switch to trigger the doorbell.

Make changes to the command as needed depending upon you setup. For instance if you switch has 32 zones, then change commands that use @1:16 to setup zones to @1:32

If you are using a ProAudio16 and that the chime input is analog input 15.

It assumes the back panel doorbell connections are made using a switch or relay and that it is wired like this:

Assuming you want to use input 15 as the doorbell chime source, and you want to set the chime volume to 40%, these are the commands to send to the switch:

^pASZ 1,@1:16,15$ ; sets all zones 1 to 16, to source 15 during page (the door chime input).
^pVPZ 1,@1:16,40$ ; sets all paging volume levels to 40%
^pVMZ 1@1:16,0$ ; make sure all zones come on during page by un-muting them

^pDSW 1,1,1$ ; indicate you wish to use the DB-1 connections to trigger page 1.

To temporarily remove a zone from paging (like muting the kids room when the baby is sleeping) you can send a do-not-disturb command. For instance to set zone 5 to do-not-disturb:

^pADNDZ 1,@5,1$ ; do not disturb zone 5

^pADNDZ 1,@5,0$ ; re-enable zone 5

When all is setup and done, send this command to backup the settings in case of a power failure:

^SS 4096$

If your controller allows sending ASCII strings, instead of running wire to the back of the switch, you can send a paging command to trigger a page:

^pSET 1$ ; trigger page 1

^pSET 0$ ; turn off page and go back to normal

Or you can send:

^pSET 1,4000$ ; to ring the doorbell for 4 seconds (in milliseconds)

After 4 seconds the paging will automatically revert back to normal mode, and you don't need to send the "^pSET 0$" command.

It may be easier to send these commands than wiring up the contact connections.

To setup doorbell 2, change to the page number and use DB-2 to trigger the doorbell:

Assuming you want to use input 15 as the doorbell chime source, and you want to set the chime volume to 40%, these are the commands to send to the switch:

^pASZ 2,@1:16,15$ ; sets all zones 1 to 16, to source 15 during page (the door chime input).
^pVPZ 2,@1:16,40$ ; sets all paging volume levels to 40%
^pVMZ 2@1:16,0$ ; make sure all zones come on during page by un-muting them

^pDSW 2,1,2$ ; indicate you wish to use the DB-2 connections to trigger page 2

To temporarily remove a zone from paging (like muting the kids room when the baby is sleeping) you can send a do-not-disturb command. For instance to set zone 5 to do-not-disturb:

^pADNDZ 2,@5,1$ ; do not disturb zone 5

^pADNDZ 2,@5,0$ ; re-enable zone 5

Note: When all is set and done, send this command to backup the settings in case of a power failure:

^SS 4096$

If your controller allows sending ASCII strings, instead of running wire to the back of the switch, you can send a paging command to trigger a page:

^pSET 2$ ; trigger page 2

^pSET 0$ ; turn off page and go back to normal

Or you can send:

^pSET 2,4000$ ; to ring the doorbell for 4 seconds (in milliseconds)

After 4 seconds the paging will automatically revert back to normal mode, and you don't need to send the "^pSET 0$" command.