615 Remote Control Panels
The Penta 615 Remote Control Panels are designed for remote control of the Penta 720/721s, DAD AX32 and DAD DX32R either through a direct connection or in combination with the 635 Router Controller
In the following we will refer to direct control of a Penta 720, but the description applies equally for the Penta 721s, DAD AX32 and DAD DX32R.
Direct Control Mode
The Penta 615 Control Panel will communicate directly with the Penta 720 Audio Router via Direct Control Mode (DCM), i.e. there is no need for any further devices or software.
The DCM mode is ideal for small and simple router solutions based on manual control. This can be for example be router solutions where only occasional routing is required or for confidence monitoring solutions.
Each key is programmed for a certain function such as source select, output select or crosspoint select.
The following functions are supported:
- Route input channel(s) to output channel(s)
- Digital gain control on outputs, e.g. for volume control
- Analogue input control, mic pre gain, phantom power, mic/line switching
In addition to these commands that are specific for the Penta 720, there are also some system commands such as key colour, display text/graphics, shift function, etc. providing a relatively elaborate programming capability.
A solution can be based on one or more control panels so it is even possible to have multiple user stations to control the Penta 720.
Models
The Penta 615 Control Panels are available in three different versions:
615-600A, 19” 1U Panel with 24 user-programmable keys and displays:
615-610A, 19” 1U Panel with 18 user-programmable keys, 4 rotary encoders and displays:
615-620A, 19” 2U Panel with 42 user-programmable keys and a large display:
All panels can be powered via PoE or from an included power adapter.
Applications
The Penta 615 Control Panels can be used in a wide variety of applications. In this example, a Penta 615-610A Control Panels is added to a Penta 720.
The Penta 720 is configured as a Dante to SDI Embedder/de-embedder with a delay insertion card to provide lipsync in case the video is delayed.
In order to monitor incoming feeds, whether that is from Dante or SDI embedded audio, a pair of AES speakers are connected to the built-in AES outputs on the Penta 720.
A Penta 615-610A Control Panel is programmed so the keys are used to select the source that goes to the AES outputs for monitoring. The 615-610A has 18 keys so 18 sources can be programmed for direct access. Alternatively, one key can be programmed to switch between up to 8 “layers, thereby providing up to 8 x 17 = 136 sources. As source can be defined as either mono, stereo or even surround format.