Follow these instructions to establish communication with your Multitasker and perform the basic configuration. There are two specific types of systems: Single MultiTasker Enclosure, and Multiple MultiTasker enclosures. Each one behaves slightly differently. In this tutorial we will review the Single MultiTasker Enclosure control.

Each MultiTasker has two RS-232 ports available for communications. These ports are independent and can be connected to a control system and to a control computer at the same time. The limitation is that only one port can receive signals at any given time.

1. Connect the Altinex supplied RS-232 cable to the front panel of a MultiTasker. All MultiTaskers with a Control Panel have a RS-232 connector on the front panel that can be used to configure the unit.
2. Make sure that the control RS-232 cable has only 3 wires. The Multitasker uses pin 2,3 and 5 straight through for communication. Since other pins are used for different functions, do not connect a standard RS-232 cable since it will not allow the MultiTasker to communicate.
3. Use AVSnap or HyperTerminal to communicate with the Multitasker. Setting up either software is described in other application notes.

Single MultiTasker Enclosure

1. Connect the power and control cables to the front panel of the Multitasker.
2. Start the communication software (HyperTerminal or AVSnap)
3. All commands for a Multitasker must be typed in capital letters and start and end with a bracket.
   - The reset command can be used to initialize the MultiTasker and is equivalent to Power ON .
   
   
   
4. Turn the MultiTasker Power OFF and then back ON. The feedback is similar to the[RES] command.
   
   
   
   The Multitasker will respond with “READY” and then display which groups are set up for the enclosure. Groups are set up to allow controling multiple cards with a single command.
   
5. The Multitasker is able to provide an unsolicited response to the control system about it’s status. Until most of the control functions are implemented, it is recommended that the unit be set with unsolicited response turned OFF or disabled.
   
   
6. The MultiTasker also has an Internal Rate command that determines how fast it communicates on the internal bus. For all MultiTaskers shipped after 05-05-05 the rate should be set to 0.
   
   
   
   If the rate is not set to zero, issue the command [RATE=0]
   
   
   
   
7. The next thing is to learn which card is in which slot. This is simply done by pressing the Enter key on a keyboard.
   
   
   In this case we have 4 cards located in slots 1,4,5 and 6.
   
8. The next step is to set the correct groups for cards. This is especially important when the Multitasker is designed as a Matrix Switcher.
   
   There are four commands that are used for grouping:
   

• Group Cards
  
  
• Remove Cards From Group
  
  
  
• Display Groups
  
  
  
• Clear/Delete Groups
  
  
  

1. Now you are ready to connect inputs to outputs on a the matrix switcher. The commands can be issued per card or per group.
   
   
   There are two basic commands:
   
1. Connect input to output on a specific card or group. For switching groups replace C with G.
   
   
   
2. Connect inputs to all outputs on a card or group. For switching groups replace C with G.
   
   
   
2. Finally when the switching is done it would be nice to see what actual connections were made. Use the card status command to see the connections. In this case Card 1 has connections as shown.
   
   

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