Utilizing NuVo s Paging & Doorbell Mute Capabilities One of the great benefits of multi-room audio systems is their ability to surround the home with music in every room. However when listening to your system you may not hear incoming phone calls or your door bell ringing. This paper will discuss 3 scenarios and explain how optional accessories can create an improved experience for your customer and more revenue opportunities for your business. Muting Your Audio System When the Phone or Doorbell Rings Most multi-room audio systems come with a mute input, including all of NuVo s systems. The simplest way to take advantage of external muting is to use a local interrupt that connects to the home s phone line and door bell. NuVo has an accessory called the MI1 (fig. 1) that will mute the audio playing through the home s speakers when a phone call is received or when the doorbell is pressed. Fig. 1 This inexpensive accessory is relatively easy to install. See Figure 2 for a wiring diagram which uses a Grand Concerto as an example. The MI1 includes a 3.5mm mono cable which you will connect from the front of the MI1 to the mute connection on the back of the amplifier. On the back of the MI1 will be two doorbell inputs, in case the customer has a doorbell for the front and back door of their home. Each doorbell input has two connections, labeled A & B. Polarity is not important for this connection. To use the doorbell mute feature you will run 2-conductor wire from the terminals on the doorbell chime to the back of the MI1. When the doorbell is pressed the system will mute. After a short time the music will begin playing at a lower level and increase to it its previous volume. If utilizing the phone mute function of the MI1 you will connect the MI1 to an open phone jack in the home using a standard CAT3 cable. If one is not located near the rack you will need to run CAT3 cable to a location where
there is a jack. Terminate the end by the MI1 with a RJ11 connector and splice the other end into the phone jack. No programming changes are necessary when using the MI1. Once properly connected the system will mute when the customer receives a phone call. Note: The system will only mute as long as the phone is ringing. Once the phone is answered the system will resume playing. It is advised that the customer first turn off the system, then answer their phone. Fig. 2 Doorbell Chime & Whole House Paging A more advanced option you can add to your multi-room audio system is paging. Both the NuVo Essentia (E6G) and Grand Concerto have paging
capability when used with an external paging device. The source 6 input on both systems can be programmed to work with a whole home paging system. While NuVo does not produce a paging system, we have found a device manufactured by Viking Electronics (www.vikingelectronics.com) that works well with our systems. The model number is the SLP-1 (fig. 3). This device has a multitude of benefits. First, it gives the homeowner the ability to pick up any phone in the home and make a page, which will then be heard through the audio system s speakers. Another advantage of this product would be its ability to produce a doorbell chime, and play this chime through the system when the doorbell is pressed. Lastly, the SLP-1 has stereo RCA inputs and outputs, so you can still use the source 6 input for an audio source while sharing that input with voice paging. Fig. 3 You will want to locate the SLP-1 close to the rack of audio equipment. See Figure 4 for a full wiring diagram. First you need to remove the circuit board from the metal chassis. Once removed look behind the connection labeled I.O. Com. You will notice there are two plastic jumpers covering 4 metal pins. Remove both plastic jumpers. Take one of the plastic jumpers and reinsert it over pins two and three. Installed correctly, you will have an open pin on each side of the plastic jumper. Reinstall the circuit board into the metal chassis. Connect the 2-conductor wire from the doorbell switch to the doorbell switch input on the SLP-1. Polarity is not important for this connection. For the next step you will need a mono patch cable (3.5mm). Take one end and remove the 3.5mm connector. There will be two wires in the cable. These wires will connect to the page trigger output on the SLP-1. The wire with a white line on it should connect to the (-) connection labeled page trig out. Connect the remaining wire to the
(+) terminal. The other end of cable with the 3.5mm connection will plug into the Mute input on the amplifier. Connect a stereo RCA cable from the Audio Output of the SLP-1 to the Source 6 Audio Input on the amplifier. Connect the power supply. Changes need to be made through the Configurator software (fig. 5). In the System Settings tab the External Mute factory default is System Mute Trigger. This needs to be changed to Paging Trigger when using the SLP-1. Confirm that Active Low (0-1V) or Closed is displayed in the highlighted box. While in the Configurator software you may want to make adjustments as well to the page/chime volume levels. There is a separate volume adjustment in the Zones tab for paging volume, and you can also chose to disable paging/chime from playing in certain zones. The SLP-1 is now set up to play a doorbell chime through the audio systems speakers when someone presses the doorbell. If you want to use the paging feature you will need to make additional connections. First run a CAT3 cable to a phone jack. Terminate the wires to the back side of the phone jack. The back of the phone jack will likely have four wires- red, green, black, and yellow. The two wires most often used for a single line installation are red and green. Connect any two wires from the CAT3 cable to the back of the jack. At the other end of the CAT-3 cable take those same two colored wires and terminate them to the C.O. Line Input on the SLP-1 (polarity is not important). There is also a Out To Phones connection that you can use to pass that telephone connection through to other phones. If you planned on using an audio source on the source 6 input take the RCA cables from the Audio Output of that source and connect them to the Audio Input on the SLP-1. The SLP-1 will act as an audio pass-through. Fig. 4
Using a Chime Generator Fig. 5
Another exciting feature you can add to your customer s systems is a doorbell chime generator. While the SLP-1 has a built-in chime generator the chime cannot be changed. NuVo has found another 3 rd party product that will mute our systems and also has a selectable chime. While it does not have the paging functions of the SLP-1 it does have eight selectable chimes to choose from. It is manufactured by RDL (www.rdlnet.com). The model number is FP-CH8 (fig. 5). Fig. 6 The FP-CH8 should be located somewhere near the audio rack. Just a few simple connections are all that is necessary to provide multiple doorbell chimes for your customers (fig. 9). You will need a 3.5mm mono cable for the mute trigger. Take this cable and remove one of the 3.5mm connectors. The cable will have two wires. Take the positive wire (usually marked with a white line) and connect it to the Chiming connection on the FP-CH8. Take the ground wire and connect it to the ground terminal, which is two terminals to the right of the chiming terminal. Take the other end of the cable and plug it into the Mute connection on the amplifier. The Audio output of the FP-CH8 does not use traditional RCA connections. So to allow audio from the doorbell chimes to play through the system s speakers you will need to remove the RCA connections from one end of the RCA cable and remove the insulator, exposing the wires and shielding (fig. 7). Connect the red wire to the (+) Audio Output terminal. Connect the white or black wire to the (-) Audio Output Terminal. Take the shielding and connect it to the ground termination (fig. 8). Connect the other end of the RCA cable to the Source 6 Audio Input on the amplifier. Run 2 conductor wire from the doorbell to the location of the FP-CH8. Connect the power supply. As with the Viking SLP-1, Programming changes need to be made. Under the System Settings tab change the External Mute option to Paging Trigger (fig. 5). Make sure Active Low (0-1V) or Closed is displayed in the highlighted area.
Connect one end of the wire (polarity is not important) to the ground connection on the FP-CH8. The other wire will connect to one the chime selections, numbered 1-8. To choose the proper chime test each terminal, from 1-8, by pressing the doorbell until a suitable chime is found. Fig. 8 Fig. 7 Fig. 9