How To Turn Hardware Relay Closures From A Satellite Receiver Into Virtual Software LIOs To Connect To Automation

How To Turn Hardware Relay Closures From A Satellite Receiver Into Virtual Software LIOs To Connect To Automation

Use Case

You have contact closures coming into your system via relays from a satellite receiver.
Your automation system does not have a device to connect the relays, but it does have the WheatNet-IP Audio Driver, which has Software LIOs to send and receive logic.
You need to pass the contact closure from the hardware relay to a virtual software contact closure to perform automation functions such as firing liners, legal IDs, and commercial breaks.

Set Up The Hardware Relays

Choose a Blade to wire up the relays into a logic port. It can be any Blade in the system, but if you have logic ports available on the same Blade where you've connected the audio from that satellite receiver, that's a logical place to connect them up.

In the System tree, click on the Blade and go to the Sources tab. Click Add.

Under Signal Type, choose LIO Only. Name it something that's descriptive.

Now, click on the LIO Info Tab. Click Add. Highlight the first pin you will wire. Under Direction, choose Input. Under Function, choose an unused User x function. Click Apply. Click Close.

Info
The number in the User x function has no relation to anything else in the system. There are 500 user-defined functions available, so there are plenty to choose from. See the Housekeeping Note at the end of this article for an idea on how to keep track of them.
Repeat the process to add the next relay. Click Add. Highlight the pin you will wire to. Set the Direction to Input and the function to an unused User function. Apply. Close.

Repeat for all remaining relays that you are going to send to this WNIP driver. Use an unique, unused User x function for each relay.

Set Up The Software LIOs

In the System tree, click on the PC Driver Blade you want to send the closures to and then choose the Destinations tab. click Add.

The only Signal Type available will be LIO Only. Give it a name that makes sense to you. Click on the LIO Info tab.

Click Add. Highlight the SLIO Pin you want to assign. Set the Direction to Output. Set the Function to the same User x function that you used for the first relay. Click Apply. Click Close.

Click Add again and repeat the process: pick the SLIO you want to assign, Direction is Output, Function is the User x that matches the relay. Apply. Close.


Notes
What SLIO number to use? That's up to you and/or your automation's settings. But whatever SLIO number you set here needs to match what SLIO number your automation software is expecting.
Warning
Note that every Blade and every PC Driver Blade has SLIOs. You will need to make sure that the Blade you set the SLIOs on matches the Blade that your automation is talking to. Usually you will enter the Blade's IP address and/or Blade ID into your automation software so it knows where to look. If you are unsure where this is set, consult your automation system's manual and/or support team.

Connect The Logic

Now that we've set up the source with the hardware relays, we need to connect that to the destination we set up with the software logic. Go to the Crosspoint grid in Navigator and connect the source from the first step to the destination from the second step. When you connect this, you will see a square in the grid, denoting that this is a Logic connection.


Once this connection is made, your logic will flow from the satellite receiver to your automation PC.

Notes
Housekeeping note: You can rename the User x functions to something that describes what you are using it for. This will make it easier to see which functions you have already used. (Or, for that matter, functions you are no longer using and can reuse.)
Let's say that you are taking the Rickey Smiley Morning Show and you have a relay for the break start and a relay for the liner.
Click On System and then click on LIO Properties.
Scroll down in the list until you find the User function you are using (in our example above, we used User 10 and User 11). Click to highlight the function.
Change the text in the Name field and click Apply.


Now, when you are in the LIO Info tab, the text will appear as RS Break and RS Liner instead of User 10 and User 11.