LasrPlay Installation

  INSTALLING THE LASRPLAY

  1. If this is the first time that you have used the LaserDisc players with the LasrPlay, you need to make sure that the players all have their BAUD rates set to their maximum rates (and must match the BAUD rate set during programming of the LasrPlay. This is 4800 BAUD for the Pioneer 2000 series and 9600 BAUD for the 4000 and 8000 series. Refer to your LaserDisc player manual for instructions on how to set this. In addition, if you are using a 4000 or 8000 series player, you should set the "Termination Character" to <CR>. The 8000 series also have a few other parameters to set. The serial port should be set to 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity. The 8000's "Input Device" should be set to serial, and the "RS232 Function" should be set to controller.

  2. Plug the power cord into the back of the LasrPlay, and plug it into the wall or the power strip used by the Pioneer LaserDisc player(s) that you are using. There are two typical ways of setting up the power. One is to plug all the LaserDisc players and the LasrPlay into one power strip, and turn the power strip on and off to turn the installation on and off. The other method is to plug them all into the wall and turn the LaserDisc players on and off individually. In this method you can leave the LasrPlay plugged in all the time (it uses ten times less power than a night light).

  3. Connect the 15 pin cables from each channel of the LasrPlay to each of the LaserDisc players.

  4. Connect all of the video and audio cables to the LaserDisc players.

  5. If your LasrPlay has the optional sync reference out, connect it to the Comp. Sync input of the first laserdisc player. Now connect another cable from the sync loopthru output of that player to the sync input of the next player. Continue to chain all of the laserdisc players together this same way. Make sure that the termination switch on all of the players except the last one in the chain are set to HI-Z. The last one in the chain should be set to 75 ohms.

  6. If your LasrPlay has the optional Network Connector, and you are connecting multiple LasrPlay and/or DVDplay synchronizers together to act as one large one, connect them together using standard audio RCA (a.k.a. "phono") cables. If you are connecting 2 units, simply run a single cable between the Network Connector on each unit. If you are connecting more than 2, you need to use RCA/Phono "Y" adapters to split the cables so they can loop through each Network Connector, connecting all of them together.

  7. Turn on the power for the LasrPlay and all of the LaserDisc players.

  8. That's all. About seven seconds after the LasrPlay has been turned on, it will take over control of the LaserDisc players and the cycle will begin. If there are no discs in the LaserDisc players, the LasrPlay will open the drawers and wait for you to insert them. If you power up the LaserDiscs one at a time, or if you have to insert the discs into the players after powering up, you may have to hit the reset switch on the LasrPlay after the players have gotten up to speed. If you do this, there will be a 7 second pause and then the players will reset and a cycle will begin.

  9. When you are done for the day, you can just turn off the power strip and everything will stop. This is not the way that Pioneer recommends to shut the system down, but we have many customers who use this method regularly and have never had a problem (one museum show ran this way for 12 hours a day for 13 months using 38 LaserDisc players with no problems). The LaserDisc players must not be moved or bumped when power is turned off this way. Pioneer recommends that you park the players before turning off the power. To do this, you must wait until the cycle is playing and the status lights on the LasrPlay are all green. At this point you can hit the stop buttons on all of the players. When the park lights on all players are lit up, you can turn off the power. If you need to remove the LaserDiscs from the players, you will need to unplug the LasrPlay or hold the reset switch down on the LasrPlay while you eject the LaserDiscs, otherwise the LasrPlay won't let you remove the discs.
 

  EXTERNAL TRIGGERING

If you ordered your LasrPlay with the optional Network Connector, you can use it as an external trigger to start your synchronizer's playback loop. To do this you will need a special switch, or a control device that has a programmable set of contact closures.

The Network Connector is an RCA (a.k.a. Phono) connector. When it's center pin is connected to it's outer shell, the synchronizer will not start playing it's playback loop. Once the connection is opened, playback starts.

To do it with a switch, you need a pushbutton switch with "normally closed" contacts. This means that the switch's contacts are connected together until you push it. The more common type is the "normally open" type, so be sure that you get a "normmally closed" type or a "Single pole double throw" switch that has both normally open and normally closed contacts.

Simply connect the "common" and "normally closed" contacts of the switch to the center and outside of an RCA plug, and plug it into the Network Connector. When you push the button, the contacts are opened and playback starts.
 

  COMMON PROBLEMS

  1. The most common problem users of the LasrPlay have is forgetting to set the BAUD rate on their LaserDisc players. You need to do this before using the system for the first time. The BAUD rate of the LaserDisc player should be set to the highest rate supported by that player (4800 for the 2000 series, and 9600 for the 4000 and 8000 series). The BAUD rate programmed into a given channel in the LasrPlay using the LasrCust program must match the BAUD rate set on the player connected to that channel. The various channels on a LasrPlay can be set to different BAUD rates, as long as each channel matches the player connected to it. In addition, if you are using a CLD-V8000 you must also select 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity. The CLD-V8000 also needs the parameters for "Input Device" set to "serial", and the "RS232 Function" set to "controller". Both the CLD-V4400 and the CLD-V8000 should have the "Termination Character" set to <CR>.

  2. If you plan to not use all of the channels on your synchronizer, the unused channels must have the "Synchronize" parameter turned off. Otherwise they will prevent the rest of the channels from starting.

  3. A common problem with programming the parameters is not resetting the LasrPlay after moving the programming cable from one channel to another. The software will work most of the time without hitting the reset button, but it is only 100% reliable if you hit the reset button and wait for the red lights to turn orange.

  4. Another common problem with programming a multi-channel LasrPlay is forgetting to hit the "L" key to load or read the data from the LasrPlay before changing the parameters.

  5. Also when programming the LasrPlay, don't forget to hit the "S" key after changing parameters in order to save the new parameters. The parameters that you change are only updated in the LasrPlay when you hit the "S" key.

  6. Some customers have reported problems programming the LasrPlays on Windows 95 computers connected to specific Local Area Networks. This hasn't happened often enough for us to determine if this is specific to certain LAN cards or LAN software. If you have this problem, try using a different, stand-alone computer. If you can, please let us know the hardware and software you use for the LAN so we can try and duplicate this problem to solve it.

  7. We have included a special version of the software called LASRCUS2.EXE for those people that have problems caused by local area networks. This software is exactly the same as LASRCUST.EXE except that you can specify the COM: port when you run it. On the command line enter either:

  LASRCUS2  1            ( for COM1: )
        -or-
  LASRCUS2  2            ( for COM2: )