Bartok RS232 port as trigger

Support
1

Hi

I’ve recently bypassed my Chord preamp and fed the Bartok Apex direct to my Constellation power amp (v interesting!).

I’ve been using the 12v trigger on the Chord to start up/shut down the Constellation.

Question: Can the RS232 port on the Bartok be used to take the Constellation out of standby? (It has both a RS242 and a usb port).

Thanks

Kevin

2

Hi Kevin,

That might work if the Constellation and the Bartok RS232 interfaces are wired in the same way.

From the dCS manual:

RS232-interface
RS232-interface1215×618 62.4 KB

3

To add: from the Constellation manual:

RS232

This DB-9 style serial connection can be used to interface
the amp with third-party control systems such as those
from AMX, Crestron and Control4. It can also be used to
update the firmware. For more information, contact
your dealer

4

Hi Kevin,

You can’t just hook the RS232 ports together and the Constellation power up and down with the Bartok … Both the Bartok and the Constellation have their own serial command protocol (imagine the protocols as a “spoken language” in people terms) and just connecting the two RS232 ports together will not mean that they are able to speak the same language to each other…

It’s certainly possible to do with a microcontroller in between the two that checks the status of the Bartok and when it is shut down it sends the Constellation a shutdown message (assuming that both protocols are documented and support that functionality).

Best Regards

Phil

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