How To Set Up Silence Detect on a Blade
Every WheatNet-IP Blade has silence sensors on every output. Here's how to set one up.
Enable Silence Detection
In Navigator, go to Destinations. Highlight the destination you want to monitor. Click Edit.
Check the Silence Detect box. Then click Finish.
When you do this, the Blade will create a B destination and a L source. (Your destination label + B and your destination label + L)
The B destination is for Backup Audio. You can route a backup source to this destination and the Blade can fail over to this when silence is detected.
The L source is for Logic. Logic applications for a silence detector range from starting playback of a clip player or other device to triggering notifications or remotely controlling switching from the A/B source.
NOTE: The Blade does not automatically fail over to the B destination by default. You must turn this feature on!
Silence Detect is only available on Blade outputs. It is not available on fader inputs.
Setting Silence Parameters
Once Silence Detect is enabled, you can set up how the sensor will function.
Click on the Blade, then select the Silence Detect tab.
Destination Signals is a list of all destinations on this blade with a silence sensor enabled.
The Settings will apply to the highlighted destination:
Detector Threshold: the minimum audio level that must be present to be considered not silent.
Failed Duration: how long the primary destination needs to be below the threshold before the Blade considers it silent and go into an alarm state. This is in milliseconds. Default is 20000 ms, which equals 20 seconds.
Failback Duration: how long the primary destination needs to be above the threshold to be no longer silent and in an alarm state. This is in milliseconds. Default is 20000 ms, which equals 20 seconds.
Auto Failover: when checked, automatically switch the output to be fed by the secondary (B) destination when the primary is silent.
Auto Failback: when checked, automatically switch the output back to the primary after audio has returned for the Failback Duration.
In the Status section, the L/R indicators show audio presence on the output. As with the other level dots in Navigator, green is nominal level, red is high, blue is silent.
The Primary and Secondary indicators show what source is routed to Primary and Secondary. The line shows which destination is feeding the output. Click the button to manually switch between the two.
Using Logic
When the Silence Detect function is turned on, a Logic Source named (destinaion name)L is created:
This source has 4 functions, which cannot be edited. You can create a logic destination in the opposite direction to create relay closures (or SLIOs) to work with the silence sensor.
SDet Failure - Use this to drive a relay output to latch a closure when the output set for Silence Detect is in a failed state. (In other words, when the source routed to the primary destination has been silent longer than the Failed Duration value.)
SDet Mux Pos - Use this to drive a relay output to latch a closure when the output set for Silence Detect is using the backup audio source.
SDet Force Pri - Connect this to a contact closure to force the output to the Primary audio source.
SDet Force Sec - Connect this to a contact closure to force the output to the Secondary audio source.
Use Cases
Use the SDet Failure to start a backup audio source, trigger warning lights, and alarms.
Use the SDet Mux Pos to trigger alarms.
Use the SDet Force Pri and SDet Force Sec to remotely switch between Primary and Secondary.
How To Set Up The Relay
As with all WheatNet-IP Logic, there is a logic source that connects to a logic destination. One end will have the input direction and the other end will have the output direction. The function on both the source and destination need to match, and the source and destination need to be connected in the Navigator crosspoint grid. For example, let's set up a relay on SDet Failure.
The Logic source is pre-defined as the input direction:
Therefore, we will go to the blade where we want the relay to fire and create a LIO Only Destination:
1. Click on the Blade.
2. Click the Destinations tab.
3. Click Add.
4. In the edit window, name the destination and click LIO Only,
5. Click the LIO Info tab. Then click Add.
6. Highlight the pin you want to wire to. Click Direction: Output. Choose the SDet Failure function. Click Apply. Click Close. Click Finish.
7. Connect the Logic source to the destination in the crosspoint grid.
Using Silence Detect With A Blade Clip Player
WheatNet-IP Blades equipped with the optional Clip Player can be configured to automatically start a playlist when silence is detected. Here is how to set this up.
Let's go back to the example above where we set up a relay to fire when silence is detected. That relay might be hooked to a siren, warning light, or both. We can also tie the same logic destination to control a clip player. Here's how:
1. Click on the Blade where you created the LIO Only Destination. Then click the LIO Info tab for the Blade.
2. On the far right is the Clip Player column, and it currently says <none> because no function has been defined. On the line where your SDet Failure relay is, double-click on the <none> in that column. The Clip Player Actions window appears.
3. Click Add. The Add Clip Player Action window appears.
The Blade drop-down will show all Blades in the system that have Clip Players. The Player drop-down will let you choose which player to use on that Blade.
Once the correct player is selected, choose the Play function, then click OK.
Click OK again. The LIO Info tab will now show there is one Clip Player action associated with the relay pin.
Now, when silence is detected on the output, the relay will fire to trigger the warning light and siren and the Clip Player will start the playlist.
Tip: If you don't want to use a wired relay because you only want to start the clip player, set up the SDet Failure on a SLIO, then set the Clip Player to run off the SLIO. The process is the same, the only difference is clicking on a LIO pin or a SLIO number to set up the SDet Failure function.Related Articles
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