Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 861 & 800 rack versions and RS-232

I bought the rack versions of both the 861 and the 800 and mounted them succesfully in my Middle Atlantic 19" rack.

Now I want to prepare them to be connected to a Crestron system (over RS-232). A few questions pop to my mind:

1-Should I connect both the 861 and the 800 to the Crestron system or can I connect only one of them and then have the commands send through Meridian Comms to the second unit?

2-How useful is the frontal RS-232 connector when you realise that the connector on the back should be permanently connected to the Crestron system? Does this mean that I have to slide out the rack whenever there is an upgrade I want to install and then unplug the RS-232 connector on the back (that is connected to the Crestron system) to replace it with the RS-232 cable that goes to the pc?

I noticed that M delivers a nice front cover (when you order a rack version of the 861/800) that can be mounted to hide the front connectors from view. However, whenever you want to use the front connections, you need a screwdriver to get acces to those connectors. Couldn't M provide a flip-open kind of panel as on high-endish AV-receivers?

i can't speak to the 800, but i have an 861 and 598DP setup and only my 861 is connected to the crestron - works fine with passthrough to the 598DP. no clue if the 800 takes more commands than will be passed through. there's not particular reason (in theory) that you couldn't connect the 800 as well - you just might never use it for control - or only very very rarely for special functions the 861 doesn't pass through.

i find this annoying on my setup. i do not have a rack-mount 861, so no frontal RS232. i have made it so that there's enough room UNDER my 861 so i can get my (long) arm in there and swap the cable without pulling my rack. but it's annoying.

fwiw,
doody.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why don't you plug in a second serial cable then? Always easier than changing the cable at the backpanel.

just a thought,
Ron

How should I plug in a second cable? The cable connection on the back can be connected to the cable connection on the front so you can plug in a second cable to the front that is then connected to the back, but as far as I know, you can not connect a cable to the back (for RS-232 messages over a Crestron or AMX system) and a cable at the front at the same time.

ThomasBelgium:

You can do what I did...I connected/mounted to my rack a old serial/RS-232 switching device so that I have two "in cables" (i.e. one fopr upgrades and one for RS-232 to my RTI_ and one "out cable" to the 861 pre/pro.

I have, as has been suggested, also left the two cables permanently, but neatly, in my rack so that upgrades are a snap...

Hope that helps.

I don't have first hand experience. But if you run serial to each and no Comm cable to the 800. You may get around the annoying issue that the 800 has to be on (which will load and play what ever is in it) when you turn the system on for other sources (TV, Radio, DVR etc.).

I don't know if this would work or it's important to you. I suspect it would work and always drove me nuts with 861 and 598 setup.

2-How useful is the frontal RS-232 connector when you realise that the connector on the back should be permanently connected to the Crestron system? Does this mean that I have to slide out the rack whenever there is an upgrade I want to install and then unplug the RS-232 connector on the back (that is connected to the Crestron system) to replace it with the RS-232 cable that goes to the pc?


If you have the Meridian supplied rack, there will be 2 places to connect RS 232 cables to, in the bottom inside of the rack. 1 is for your control system and the other is to connect to your 800 series equipment. There is another Rs 232 connector on the front of the rack as well as a switch. The switch stays in the one position connecting your control system, until you want to preform some maintaince on the piece then you connect you cable to the front RS 232 and flip the switch to connect the front connector to the piece of equipment.

Marc

@ Joelc: If I understand this right, you suggest to use a kind of merger device that merges RS-232 information that comes from and/or goes to two different devices (e.g. the pc and the Crestron system?) Sounds like a good idea, I didn't realise that RS-232 merging devices existed. Which brand/type are you using?

@George Mills: Ok, thank you for your advice.

@MarcK: Yes, I have the Meridian supplied rack. So you are saying that the M rack actually performs as an RS-232 merger? That would be great.
However, the next problem to solve then is the panel that is supplied with the rack that covers the front connectors. Looks cool, but it is not quiete user friendly that one needs a screwdriver to open it...

Thomas:

The device I am using was designed to switch between the serial connection for two printers and, as I understand things, is 7+ years old.

It was supplied to me by a friend who works with PC who gave it to me after I explained my problem to him and asked whether such a device existed...in any event, it was/is manufactured by Kingston.