RDS/RBDS Setup

To access RDS settings, select the "RDS/RBDS Setup" item in the navigation tree, located at the left side of the display. This page provides the means to enable and setup RDS/RBDS encoding, if desired. Be sure to review the documentation supplied with your RDS encoder for specifics on acceptable baud rate, etc.

RDS (Radio Data System) and RBDS (Radio Broadcast Data System) are, for purposes of this documentation, treated as equivalent. Over time, differences between the two standards have been reconciled and minimized.

Enable RDS/RBDS Data Send

If you check this item, information will be sent to the RDS encoder. The default is unchecked (disabled). If you enable data send to the encoder, you must select the appropriate items for each of the groups on this page to ensure proper operation.

RDS/RBDS Encoder

Select the brand and model of the RDS encoder you are using. The main purpose of this setting is to know what initialization string needs to be sent to the encoder, if the option is enabled, and along with the required format of messages sent to the encoder. The type of encoder selected also dictates the range of text scrolling speeds, baud rates you can select, whether or not the Text Send Options group box is enabled, and whether or not the Connection Type property is enabled.

Connection Type

If an encoder that supports both serial and TCPIP communications is selected, you can choose how you want to communicate with the encoder. If the selected encoder does not support TCPIP communications, this option is disabled.

Initialize Encoder on Startup

Some encoders reject text information sent to the RT field ("TEXT=") as a default when powered up. If this item is checked, an initialization string is sent to the encoder to override this default setting right after communications with the encoder are established. If unchecked, no initialization string is sent.

The initialization string sent when this item is checked is not the same as some encoder's "INIT" or "RESET" commands, which set the encoder to factory defaults or reset the encoder as though the unit had been powered off and on. Instead, crWebBB sends commands that ensure RT information will be accepted by the encoder and in some cases, sets a default text speed.

Radio Text Scroll Rate

The radio text scroll rate determines the speed of the text scrolling. When an encoder is selected for the first time, the default (manufacturer recommended) speed is set. Various encoders use different ranges of values for this field, so you can expect that the available speed ranges will change as you select different encoders.

RDS COM Port Selection

Here, select the COM port on the host PC that you will be using to send data (messages) to the RDS encoder. You can use the spin controls to change the setting or use the [Select COM Port] button, which will display a list of available ports.

If you are using a COM port to communication with the host audio system, the RDS port used must be different. If you attempt to save your preferences and the same port is selected for both tasks, you will be prompted to correct the problem.

COM Port Baud Rate

Select the baud rate you wish to use from the available list. Typically, you would select the highest available rate that is supported by your encoder. The baud rate selected here must match the encoder’s current baud rate setting or communications will fail.

No settings are made available for other serial communications parameters. The three most common you will find referenced in the encoder documentation, and crWebBB’s setting for them, include:

DataBits - set to 8

Parity - set to None

StopBits - set to 1

TCPIP Properties

If the selected encoder supports TCPIP communications, the TCPIP property group is enabled for data entry. If the selected encoder does not support TCPIP communications, these properties are disabled. Here are the available TCPIP properties and their usage:

Property	Description
IP Address	The TCPIP address of the host RDS encoder, typically entered as xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.
IP Port	The TCPIP port being used for the host RDS encoder for standard ASCII messages.
IP Password	If the host RDS encoder is password-protected, enter the password in this field. The password is displayed and stored as plain text. Typically, the host encoder allows only one connection to the selected port, so security is not a big issue. The password is sent to the host encoder only if prompted by the encoder.

General RDS/RBDS notes:

1.	There is a limit to the number of characters that a given encoder will accept as the message, typically 60-65 characters, with 64 characters being the most popular limit.

When sending information about a song, the song title and artist are combined, separated by a space, and truncated to the maximum number of characters the encoder will accept. If the Prepend Station ID option is enabled, the ID, song title and artist are combined, each separated by a space and truncated to the maximum number of characters the encoder will accept.

3.	When posting an alternate message to the encoder, the FIRST TWO LINES ONLY of the alternate message are placed together separated by a space, then truncated to the maximum number of characters the selected RDS/RBDS encoder allows.

4.	Typically, the name of the encoder field used for messages is "RT". You can check your encoder documentation for information on the specific length allowed.

5.	If an encoder does not support dynamic PS and you wish to send messages to the PS field, you must enable the Software Block Mode option. The Inovonics Model 711 is an example of such an encoder.