Sirius Connect (SSP) Tuner

XP-8 Driver

This driver was designed using version 1.09 (July, 2007) of the Sirius Standard Protocol and tested with the SCH2P and SCH2000 Tuner

The tuner uses a straight through serial cable. The RTI RJS-232 adapter can be plugged in directly.

IF YOU USE MULTIPLE INSTANCES OF THIS DRIVER

You should reschedule the refresh of the instances to happen at separate times.

Revision History

1.0: The initial release of the driver

1.01: The SCH2000 sometimes sends bad data when the driver requests the channel map, 1.01 recognizes a bad channel map and re-requests it until it gets a valid one.

1.02: Errors initializing the list refresh schedule caused the initialization, and along with it the lists, to fail.

1.03: Introduces separate preset recall functions for use in System Macros.

1.1: Adds the station preview function and incorporates it into the sample file. The original command to tune directly from the channel list remains.

If you read nothing else, read this

This unit will not play audio when powered up until a channel is selected. Even if a channel is displayed on the front panel, it will not play until another SetChannel command is sent (the driver cannot determine what channel is showing either)

SCH2000

Power: The power command is more of a sleep command for the SRH2000. Power must be turned on at the front panel (the button needs to be blue) in order for the driver to work.

RS232 Mode: RS232 Mode must be set from the systems menu. If you see '232' in the lower right corner of the display you are good to go.

Instant Replay: Play and Pause commands have been added (these are the only commands supported over RS232).

Config Settings

Connection Settings/Serial Port

This sets which of the XP unit’s serial ports the tuner is connected to. Serial port parameters are not configurable for this unit.

Sirius Tuner Settings

Sort Channel List: The driver will pull the current Sirius channel lineup from the tuner and display it in list format. The list can be displayed sorted by channel, in which case channels numbers will be displayed with the channel name, or it can be sorted by channel name alone, in which case no numbers are displayed. Driver commands exist to change this setting, but the initial setting can be set here.

Weekly Channel Refresh: This driver can poll the tuner for the channel list once a week in case the channel lineup changes. These settings schedule the time and day of the tuner refresh. If the tuner is not powered up it will power up the tuner before beginning the scan (no audio will be heard), and then power the tuner down when finished. The channel scan will be visible on the tuner front panel, but will not interfere with the audio operation of the tuner. The channel list is then stored in the

A driver command exists to manually perform this scan but there is no need for it to be on a panel as it will be run on the first start up and every week after. The command is retained in case an additional scan is need during installation and testing, or if additional automated (macro-based) scans are desired.

Metadata

Songs

The protocol defines 7 user displayable text fields for the current program material, but only three are typically used. Artist and title information are constantly updated and the composer field is used by several channels as a comment field. It is often used as date information for live events (The Grateful Dead Channel) or program type (The Coffee House). All the fields are available in case they come into use but there is no need for them to be used at the present time

Channels

The Channels have two variables for each channel: The channel name and the Sirius defined category of the station. Each of these variables is available in a short 8 character version, and a full length variable up to 24 characters in length. Channel and category numbers exist to allow for direct setting commands

Lists

The vast majority of tuning will be done through the lists, although keypad commands are included to allow channel numbers to be entered directly.

Channels

The channel list is extracted directly from the tuner and refreshed on a weekly basis. It can be displayed sorted by number or name. While sort order is globally set in the drivers configuration setting, it can be changed on a panel by panel basis using the 'Sort Channels by...' driver commands. Tuning to a specific channel is accomplished by selecting the channel from the channel list. The list initially contains all the channels but the list can be restricted to specific categories by selecting a category from the category list.

You can either tune directly to the channel selected from the list (sample file: RK-3) or use it to preview what's on the channel before before switching (sample file: K4)

Categories

The category list is also pulled from the tuner. Selecting a category refills the channel list only with channels from the selected category.

Favorites

The driver supports the creation of 16 channel favorites or presets which are permanently stored in the processor. Each favorite driver command has a matching text variable to be used as a label. The favorites are initially labeled 1 through 16 and tune to their namesake (numbersake?) channels. The favorites can be altered at anytime by sending the 'Save Favorite' command. This toggles the 'Saving Favorite' variable so you can show that you're in a storing mode. (sending it again toggles off in case you decide not to change any favorites). When the save mode is activated, sending a favorite command (pressing a favorite button) will store the currently tuned station as the station for that favorite, and will set the current station short name as the label for that favorite. Selecting a preset also writes all the current presets to processor memory; this can take a few seconds, but the Saving Favorite variable will be turned off when the process is complete.

SYSTEM MACRO BASED FAVORITE FUNCTIONS: There is a separate set of Favorite functions for use in system macros. The regular Favorite functions CANNOT be used in a system macro.

Keypad
The keypad commands serve two functions and so have two modes: alpha and numeric. They are initialized to match the choice in sort order. If you default to sorting by name then you will default to alpha mode on the keypad commands. This is changeable; in fact the demonstration file K4 setup puts them together as a macro when changing sort order on the second page. When in alpha mode the text returned from the keypad is used to filter the list, when in numeric mode the number is sent to the Channel Set command to directly enter the station channel number.
Keys
You can send in keys in two ways. The 'Key' commands let you specify a key to send and only works in alpha mode, you can use these commands to create a complete QWERTY keyboard if desired.
The demonstration file uses the 'Numeric Keypad' commands, both on the T2 and the K4. Alpha mode work like a cellphone keypad in that pressing keys rotate through the letters on that key, and a different character or a pause moves you on.

Other Commands

Power

The default power commands are on and sleep. Some models of tuner support different power modes but the default commands will work with all models. The SC-HP2 does not immediately play audio on power up but must be sent a channel set command before it will output audio

Tuning Commands

Besides selecting channels from the list there is a direct set command for more traditional, icon based channel buttons. Channel up and down tuning buttons come in two varieties, one that goes up and down regardless of channel category, and another that will skip channels not in the same category as the currently tuned channel.

Separate commands exist for rotating through, and directly setting (numerically) the category. Category changes will cause the tuner to change to the lowest numbered channel in that category.

Events

The driver supports four driver events: Power On and Off, and events for a change in channel and song. The song event is actually cued by a change in the title metadata so a program that does not change that field will not support song change events

Demonstration File
The sample file contains three remotes, showing the Sirius interface in several different situations and sizes. It is intended to show the capabilities of the driver, and as many of the options as possible. As such, it might be a little too dense for the average user and it should not be considered a 'reference design'

The K4 main page is a page displaying the current metadata, the first four favorites, and several manual tuning buttons. The center set of tuning buttons is for tuning up and down without changing category. The label is built using the 'Category Name' variable.
The second and fourth page focus on list browsing. The channel list is in the center, while the left switches between a scrolling list of categories and (by jumping to the fourth page) a numeric keypad that can operate either in numeric or alpha modes. Selecting a channel from the channel list always tunes to that channel. The rest of the controls change the contents of the channel list, On the far right are buttons to change the sort order and switch between the keypad and category list. The sort order buttons also change the keypad mode so the keypad buttons change to match the mode
finally, the favorites page displays all 16 favorites and a save button for changing the presets. The first four on the page are duplicates of the ones on the first page.

The T2 and RK3 layouts are very similar, using the same page layout. Because the channel and category list are on separate pages, the channel list header ("All Channels" by default) is a button that jumps to a page containing the category list. Once a category is selected the page returns to the channel list and refreshes with the new selected channels.
The T2 version also includes several functions assigned to its hard keys: The numeric keys manually enter the channel, the record key serves as a save key, and the menu row does several page jumps. The guide key goes to the category list, info takes you to favorites, and the menu key not only takes you to the channel list, but once there, it toggles between numeric and name sorting modes.