1) Remote Pairing
Installation went OK, with the exception that on my first try I wired up J1R incorrectly. If you look at the board and not the support diagram there is a solder pad for LG and RG just next to the screw down posts for Left Ground (OK) and Right Input (doh!). After figuring this out all seemed to be fine except I am still completely unable to pair an apple remote. I've tried an old style and new style, both are fine with my laptop but are useless with the Tortuga right now. During the confusion with the J1L and J1R posts I now believe I may have fried the IR receiver (support document mentioned it's easy to kill) so I ended up ordering a few new ones from Mouser to try again.
So, is this mixup enough to have killed that IR receiver or am I giving up too easily?
J1R & J1L are the right and left audio signal terminals respectively. Looking at them head on (looking into the holes the wires go into) there are 3 connections on each. Going left to right they are input, output, ground. LG and RG are redundant solder lugs for connecting left and right signal grounds to star ground. I recommend these be used. Audio signal ground must be tied to star ground for autocal to function.
I'm hard pressed to connect the dots of how messing around with J1R and J1L could somehow bugger the IR receiver module but I realize all things are possible when connecting stuff up. I screw stuff up all the time especially the first time through. The IR module should only be connected via screw terminal J2.IR, J2.+5 and J2.G or alternatively to the on-board mounting location labeled IR1 which provides the same signals.
If you ordered additional IR receiver modules please be aware that there's no consistent pattern to which pins are what depending on what make/model IR receiver you use. We currently use Vishay TSOP31138.
Pairing of the remote is tried and true. When everything is hooked up properly it simply works. Press/hold encoder knob (or connect J2.ES to ground) for 20+ seconds and release, then press the center button on the remote and boom you're paired up. Of course if the encoder isn't connected right or the IR receiver isn't connected right or you toasted the IR receiver, or your forget to hold/press for 20+ seconds then you won't have a satisfying result. Oh, and the unit must be turned on first which means you need an active status light, preferably solid on.
2) Startup Procedure
Understanding now that I have only the encoder dial and no display modules or even remote functions at the moment, I have noticed a few quirks that are driving me nuts with regard to operation. The first is powering up the Tortuga, which is drawing its power from the pre-amps existing secondary for 12v. My issue is that I flip up the power for the Melos pre-amp and the LDR3x defaults to a powered but OFF state; I then have to depress the encoder to power on the board and go from there. On my first startup I actually thought something was wrong as I unknowingly rotated the knob only to put the LDR3x into auto calibration mode and then somehow blasted my eardrums off through some plugged in headphones. After I power the parent chassis, then the LDR3x, the status LED then blinks slowly; if I understand correctly this could be the status for learning mode for the remote which I am unable to perform anyways. Operating seems to be proper aside from the blinking of the LED; at no point has this LED lit up constantly indicating an ON state.
Would the absence of a stored remote cause this blinking state? More importantly though, is there a way to force the LDR3x into ON mode by default once it receives power?
Well here's to hoping, thanks in advance!
The preamp controller is designed to act as a preamp that gets turned on/off as the primary device with optional 12V trigger-out function to turn on the amp. It's not designed to work the other way around or just turn on when powered up.
It's been so long since we've checked the functioning of the status LED by itself that I can't give you a definitive explanation for why it's always blinking. It should only blink slowly at zero volume (muted) or full volume (step 70). It will blink differently under other modes but during normal volume control it should just be on solid. It will blink very briefly in response to volume control changes. It will blink during autocal.
You could rig up a timed relay such that when you turn on your amp the relay momentarily closes and then opens again. Connect this up to J2.ES and J2.G. That will emulate manual turn on via the encoder and turn on the preamp automatically.
As the LDR3x has evolved the focus has been on using it via visual displays. Running it with a single status LED, while possible, can be challenging unless and until you study the documentation very carefully and even then it's possible to get lost in the control options/modes.
