How To Configure Redundant Mix Engine Blades

How To Configure Redundant Mix Engine Blades

In January 2024, Wheatstone added a Redundant Mix Engine to the Arcus Console, using Blade version 4.3.x and the Blade 4 TVE Mix Engine. This would fail over the Arcus within 3 seconds.
At the 2026 NAB Show, Wheatstone announced it has added hitless failover to the Arcus, Tekton, and Strata TV consoles as well as the LXE Radio/TV console. Contact Sales to learn how to upgrade your Blades to get this feature.

Configuration

To configure the blade, start with a fresh blade out of the box (or one that has been Factory Reset).

Set the Blade ID on both blades to the same number.

There are three choices for Blade Redundancy.
  1. Single - This is for a standalone blade that will not be paired with a redundant blade.
  2. Primary - This is for the primary blade in a redundant pair.
  3. Secondary - This is for the secondary blade in a redundant pair.
For the (network) Redundancy option, choose WNIP and WAN or Redundant Failover depending upon your network architecture. 

Set both blades to different IP addresses. These blades will be operating at the same time on the network, so they cannot be on the same address. If you are using the standard Wheatstone addressing scheme and have chosen the Auto function for the IP address, the last octet on the secondary blade will be automatically set to one higher than the primary.


Idea
Tip: If you are using auto addressing, skip the next blade ID number so you don't double-assign IPs.

After you click Submit on the front panel, the Blades will enter the system. One will show Primary and the other will show Secondary on the front panel. Primary will be set to Active mode and Secondary to Standby mode. There will also be a green READY indicator on the front panel when the blades are fully booted and on the system.

Now that the two blades are online, you will need to connect the console to both Blades. Open the Arcus GUI and connect to it.

Enter the Blade ID and the IP address of the primary and secondary Blades.
Also on this page is the Active Blade Heartbeat Timeout. The default is 5000 ms (5 seconds). We recommend using 2500 ms as a starting point; this will switch in fewer than three seconds.

Info
Tip: If you are using the Blade picker (button with the three dots), the GUI will only fill in the primary. You must type the secondary IP address so the console will connect to both blades.

Operation

You'll notice that the meters will track exactly the same on the front panel of both blades when they re operating normally. That's because the secondary blade is receiving and processing the same data as the primary, it's just not sending anything out.

When you start, the Primary will be marked as Active and the Secondary will be marked as Standby. If the Primary fails, the Secondary will become Active. When the Primary is returned to service, it will enter the system and be set to Standby and will be ready to serve if the other blade fails.

To manually switch between primary and secondary, click the button on the Blade Admin tab of Navigator.


If it is necessary to replace a TVE Blade that has failed, install an unconfigured blade. When it starts, follow the same setup procedure - set the blade to the same ID and IP address of the failed blade and under Blade Redundancy choose the same type (primary or secondary) of the blade you are replacing, then submit. You will be prompted if you want to replace the blade (yes) and if you want to restore its configration (also yes). The configuration will be copied to the blade and it will enter the system and assume its role.

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