control View Sonic PJD 5112 projector from computer

[rbyroberts]

I have just bought the above projector and the remote will not control it due to the distance from the sound booth and the proj is mounted in the ceiling. I need software to be able to turn it on and off from the pc.
Help please. The maual for the proj. does contain the codes to accomplish this.
Thanks a lot
RB

[scmatthew]

The manual http://www.viewsonic.com/products/pjd5112.htm
refers to a ViewSonic CD Wizard. Maybe that contains the software that you need.

Steven

[Tekguy]

Use the rs-232 control port on the projector and connect it to your presentation computer via a serial cable or install a IR extender that uses cat5 cabling.

[rbyroberts]

I have tried the RS232 cable both ways direct and null. I have xp on the computer is there a com port or something i need to control it with?

[Tekguy]

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...Terminal.shtml

Look at pages 32 and 33 of the user guide and it has the commands you need to send to the projector and the settings for the Com1 port also it appears that you only need a straight thru serial cable. Use the link to downlaod the Free Serial Port Terminal it allows you to save typed in commands to reuse later. Hope this helps.

[waynehoskins]

I've successfully fired RS-232 down a couple hundred feet of cat5, at 115 kbaud no less, very reliably. At the slow speeds used for projector control (9600? 19200?), it should be very possible to run it many hundreds of feet.

I'm guessing it's a serial port configuration issue - word size, parity, handshaking, possibly even speed.

[Tekguy]

At lower speeds such as 9600 or 19200 the maximum length of the RS-232 cable can be as short as 50 feet also the quality of the cable can impair the distance a good signal may be sent. These are the settings for the Com1 on the computer that the projector wants, Baud Rate:19200 Parity Bit:none Data Bit:8 Stop Bit:1 Assign Port:COM1.
These are just a couple of things to look at.

[waynehoskins]

At low speeds, maximum possible length is longer. Official maximum length is 50 feet at any speed, but that's excessively conservative. One of my co-workers tells of running 232 over hundreds of feet of installed telephone cabling in a building years ago, at faster than 9600 reliably.

With suitable cable to minimize loss, it should be very easy to run many hundreds of feet at slow speeds like 19200. My first choice is cat-5; I used cat-3 at my church because I have about a ton of it and the loss in 100 feet of it would be negligible.

[Tekguy]

How far are you trying to send a signal?

[rbyroberts]

I only need to go a little over 50 feet max.

Also View Sonic advises I need a software program to accomplish this. They suggested Omnivex 4 which is a free program but I haven't been able to make it work maybe com1 settings need to be changed. Anybody with experience on this program

[daver2]

First of all - welcome to CMN!

The projector is controlled by an RS232 port. You will need the correct connector type as specified in the manual (look on the rear of the projector to double-check the type).

The manual shows the pin-out for the cable between the projector and the PC (page 33). It looks to be a simple pin 1 to pin 1, pin 2 - pin 2 etc. for all 9 pins and shield/body.

RS232 comes in different 'flavours'. There is the usual transmit and receive lines but there are also hardware handshake lines (RTS = Request To Send, CTS = Clear To Send, etc.). The manual does not make it clear if these hardware handshake lines are used by the projector or not. As the manual identifies a cable with ALL connections made, you should make or buy a cable as specified by the supplier to be on the safe side. If the projector does use hardware handshake lines - and you have not wired them up to the PC - then the projector will not be able to transmit data or may not think that an external device (e.g. the PC) is connected.

The other usual mistake is to connect transmit on the projector to transmit on the PC and receive on the projector connected to receive on the PC. This will not work for obvious reasons! Follow the correct pin-out given in the manual in the first instance.

You will need to connect the projector to the RS232 connector of a PC.

The RS232 port can be configured for different parameters (e.g. speed, parity, stop bits, number of data bits). The manual gives the configuration that the projector is expecting as 19200 bits per second (baud) no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. The serial port on the PC must be set to the same configuration.

You will also need some software on the PC to control the projector. PCs do nothing without software! I have not used the Omnivex 4 package but I have helped someone on CMN get a similar software package running. I can't find the message thread immediately - but I will have a look later and post a link to it. The protocol for your projector and the one I have helped with previously looks identical.

Some means should be provided within the software package on the PC to configure the serial port parameters. In addition, there are a number of different protocols in existence for driving projectors. You will have to configure the software package to either drive your specific make and model of projector - or identify another projector configuration that uses the same communication protocol as yours.

If your PC has multiple serial ports then they will be labelled as COM1, COM2 etc. It is important to connect the projector and configure the software to use the same serial port!

The PC software package may also have some configuration parameter for hardware handshake lines. If so, try the set-up with the lines ON and then (if that does not work) try OFF.

In terms of the length of cable - you can get away with anything providing it works! Personally I would stick to what the relevant Standard says in terms of cable type, connectors and cable length. If you use inferior cables or break the recommended distances then the safety margins will be degraded. This maybe OK at the time of the install - but if someone then adds some other electrical equipment to the room you may find that the system starts to become unreliable as the safety margins are now negative.

Hope this helps?

Dave