Quickstart guide for Alphawave CAM M&C software
Full description and operating instructions for the Alphawave CAM software are given in the CAM Manual.
The Alphawave CAM software is installed by running the CAM Windows Installer program, which includes a demo licence (filename licence) and example site configuration (filename config.txt) for one Paradise P300/P400 Modem. Both files can be found in the C:\Program_Files\CAM\CAM-Site directory after installation is complete. The demo licence will support up to five devices – a mix of modems, transceivers and other equipment as listed in the licence file (which can be read using a program such as Notepad or Wordpad).
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES MUST THE LICENCE FILE BE CHANGED AS THIS IS PROTECTED BY AN AUTHORISATION KEY. UNAUTHORISED MODIFICATION OF THE LICENCE RENDERS THIS FILE UNUSEABLE AND THE CAM SOFTWARE WILL NOT RUN.
The configuration file config.txt can be edited using a text editor program in order to add, remove or modify devices, provided CAM is not running. The device configuration formats used in the config file are given in the CAM Manual. The first time CAM is run with a newly introduced device in the config file, the address assigned to the device will be 1. The address for each device can be re-assigned to different numbers from within CAM. If CAM is required to connect to a single device via a RS232 connection then assign address 0 to the device. Non-zero addresses are interpreted as multi-drop using a RS485 connection.
To start CAM select Start, Programs, CAM, CAM Daemon on the host PC this starts what is called the backend CAM server which communicates with the device(s). Once the backend has started a CAM icon will appear in the System Tray area of the PC screen (lower right corner). Clicking on the CAM icon will display a list of choices including Start CAM-GFX (for full screen operation of the GUI frontend) and Start CAM-GFX in a Window. Click your preferred choice and the frontend will start, prompting the user to login. The default username is admin [ENTER] and the password is admin123 [ENTER]
Clicking progressively on the icons on the left of the CAM window will allow the user to see deeper into the current CAM network and the default Paradise Modem PModem icon will appear. Clicking on the icon labels on the left of the screen will open the appropriate window for the selected device in the main part of the CAM window. Once a device window is open, left and right clicks on different parts of the window will cause different actions to occur. A green moving squarewave in the lower right corner of the device window indicates communications received from that device. To edit an assigned device address left-click the green moving squarewave graphic and a window showing the device address will appear. The bus address parameter can then be edited directly.
Device/PC port baud rates are set in the device configuration descriptions detailed in the config file. If multiple devices are being monitored and controlled through multiple PC ports then a separate config file entry must exist for each device type/port combination. All devices assigned to a particular PC COM port must communicate at a single user selectable baud rate. The default communication speed for devices is 9600 baud unless otherwise specified in the config file.
If communications are not established with a device then check the M&C interface settings of the device agree with the CAM assignments (COM port, address and baud rate), and check the M&C cable integrity.