Establish Communications


   Configuration may be done via a USB connection directly to the relay driver or any ShackLAN-4 unit as long as that unit is connected to the network. You first need to establish communication with the network.

   The next step is to establish communications with the relay drvier you wish to configure. Open the Relay Driver Configuration window by selecting Setup on the menu bar followed by Relay Driver. Select the address and click the Connect button. The Driver indicator should turn green after a few seconds. You are now ready to start configuring the switch.



Relay configuration



The flexible configuration of the relay drivers gives you options not found on any other antenna control system. Before you begin, it is recommended that you make a chart of which relays are connected to the outputs of the relay driver and which of those you want activated for each macro (antenna selection).


Naming the relay outputs


   Start by selecting the address of the relay driver you want to configure. Next, provide a name for each of the relay outputs you intend to use. Name the button by right-clicking on the button and entering a name. These names are saved for each relay driver address. This will make the configuration process go a lot smoother.


Assigning relay outputs to the macros


   Now on to defining the macros (the actual mapping of relay outputs  to the antenna selections). You must be connected to the relay driver before you can start this process. First, be sure you have set up the Network Communications and that the Control Center is communicating with the ShackLAN-4 network. The Network indicator in the window will be green and indicate "Active" if network communication has been established. Next, select the address of the switch you wish to configure using the Address control in the upper left of the window and click on the Connect button. If successful, the Driver indicator will turn green and indicate "Ready". If both indicators are green you are ready to proceed. Here are the steps to map the relay outputs to a macro (antenna selection):


  1. Select the Radio and Band you wish to configure and wait for the "Data received" message to appear. This confirms the current configuration for this Radio and Band has been downloaded from the relay driver. Click on the Read button if the current data does not load automatically. The macro buttons should also show the names you have given each macro (antenna selection). If these names do not appear, be sure you entered the antenna selection names for this band.
  2. Click on the button in the Macro panel for the macro (selection) you wish to configure.
  3. Select the desired relays in the Selected Relays panel. These buttons are push on/push off.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each macro (selection) for this radio and band.
  5. Click on the Write button when finished with each radio/band combination to save to configuration to the relay driver and wait for the message saying the update was successful.
  6. Repeat steps 1 thru 5 for each radio/band combination.


Configuring the frequency segments


The frequency segment function of the relay drivers is used to automatically control matching networks, primarily on low band antennas. These segments should NOT be used to select an antenna, only for control of matching networks. Use the band configurations for antenna selection. Start by clicking on the Freq tab in the upper center of the window and then click on the Load Segments button to load the current segment settings in the relay driver. There are eight frequency segments you can configure to your frequency preferences. Set the frequency range of a segment by right-clicking on the button for the segment you wish to change, enter the upper and lower limits for the segment and click on the OK button. Wait for the message that the update was successful. Do this for each segment you intend to use in your system. Configuring the relay outputs for each Macro in a segment is identical to setting the relay outputs for each band, the only difference is you select a Segment button instead of a band. There are eight macros available for each segment but you would normally use the same macro that selects the antenna used with the matching network. Click on the Write button after configuring the relays for each segment and wait for the message that the update was successful.