The DTA2000-Interface (DTA2000I) is an addition to the Sony DTA2000-tapeanalyser. With the DTA2000I it is possible to connect a PC to the DTA2000. The DTA2000 can be fully controlled from the PC and the information on the DTA2000 display can be transferred to the PC. It can also send the DTA2000 printer output to the PC. The DTA2000I consists of a small printed circuit board (PCB) with a processor which controls the interface. The PCB is mounted inside the DTA2000 and connected to the connectors on the DTA2000 main PCB. No soldering is needed. The DTA2000I is connected to a PC by means of an optically isolated RS232 interface. The DTA2000I has an optional output for the ‘Start ID’ switch of a DAT recorder. This can be used to write ‘Start ID’s’ to a DAT tape when checking the PCM tape. Please refer to the schematic diagram below:
The DTA2000I is hooked-up to the display connector inside the DTA2000, via this connection the DTA2000I can read the timecode and error counters which can be shown on the DTA2000 display. When the DTA2000I is mounted the display can still be used. By means of an electronic switch, controlled by the DTA2000I, the DTA2000 can be controlled with its own keyboard or the PC can control the DTA2000. After a reset the default setting of the switch will allow operation of the DTA2000 from its own keyboard. The printer output is being read from the parallel output and converted into a RS232 data stream to the PC. In combination with the DTA2000I-PC program the DAT2000 + DTA2000I combination can be fully controlled. The PC will continuously display status information: timecode, error counters and status information. The printer output from the DTA2000 will automatically be saved into a file with a ‘.DTA’ extension and will be available for further processing.
A data file from a PQ-editor can be used as input. With this information the PC can show which track on the tape is currently being analyzed. This input information is also used for programming the DTA2000 for scanning a whole tape or a single track. As an option it is possible to generate a pulse at the start of each track. This pulse can be used to automatically write a ‘Start ID’ on a DAT tape. This can be used while making a copy of the tape being analyzed, when the DAT tape is played the same track numbers as on the CD will be available. There is also an option in the program to automatically execute a ‘re-test’ on a part of the tape with errors.
The control program gives you a menu choice for setting various options. This is how the PC screen looks like:
On the upper line you will see the menu bar with the following functions:
The frame on the left below the menu bar is used for showing the status information from the DTA2000: timecode, CRC-count, Average-count and mute-count. The operating mode will also be shown: RUN, START or STOP. The ‘TC’-indicator will tell you if timecode is present or not. When using dropframe timecode this will be indicated with the ‘DF’-indicator.
The frame right below the menu bar will show the timecode for the next ‘Start ID’, it will also show if this option is enabled or not.
When automatically programming the DTA2000 the begin and ending time will also be shown. The last bit if information shown will be the name of the output file for saving the report. The two large frames will show the DTA2000 printer output and the PQ data from the PQ-input file.
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