Just one more note. When it is working it seems to be consistent to the point where I can set the system in standby and wake up the TV again by pressing play on the Beocord several times in a row. But after a power cut i might need to re initialize.

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What I don’t understand is how I managed to get it to trigger the NL

Some further findings.. when the MCL2AV isn't responding to CD on the beo4 if I then send the L.OPT1 command from the beo4 the powerlink out comes back to life and the CD command works again! So does the NL when pressing play on the beogram.

It seems the MCL2AV's option programming gets reset back to option 2 each time the video master puts it in standby :(

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So it would appear that the PL trigger ‘breaks’ when the standby command’s sent from the video master/NL.

When you say that the standby command is sent from the Video master/NL is that because you have a IR eye connected to the NL/ML converter? And what happens if you press standby on the Beogram?

I have been trying a few things over the last days and I am being more and more sure that the option settings does not affect how this function works. I have tried the following with both my MCL2AV type 2020 and 2026:

• Working stand alone with only IR eye and Beocord 3500 and a set of powerlink speakers connected. regardless of option 0, 1 or 2 the powerlink speakers always turn on when I activate via the play button on the Beocord 3500. So the 5V on pin 4 of powerlink does not seem to be related to option settings.
• If I connect via 1611 to the BC6-23 the MCL2AV's IR eye will not react when the MCL2AV is in option 2 but it will in option 1 (I tested this by covering the TV IR eye). So the IR eye is deactivated when in option 2 and connected to a TV.
• Regardless if I use the MCL2AV type 2020 or 2026 the ability to turn on the TV with a press on the Beocord play button is inconsistent and might at best first work after several tries and/or if the remote has been used to activate the Beocord a couple of time

As I can't really conclude much from this I decided to try with the Beocenter 9300 again. Conncted it with powerlink and AUX cable to the 1611 still connected to the BC6-23 with Masterlink:

• Pressing CD or tape instantly turn on the TV in first try every time.
• Changing the option of the BC9300 to 0, 1 or 2 does not make any difference. The TV will allways turn on. The options only seem to affect how the passive speakers conncted to the BC9300 reacts (muted or unmuted

So I tried again to connect the BC9300 -1611 - BLC NL/ML - Beoplay V1.

• Again. seems to start the TV playing the music every time I press CD or Tape.
• As before changing the option of the BC9300 to 0, 1 or 2 does not make any difference. The TV will allways turn on. The options only seem to affect how the passive speakers conncted to the BC9300 reacts (muted or unmuted)

So to me it seems that this functionality is much more stable in the BC9300 than it is in the MCL2AV. Maybe a flaw in the MCL2AV software the was newer fixed or discovered for that matter. I am wondering how many people back in the day would have a link room with the MCL2AV and a TV and a local CD/Tape/Phono connected to the MCL2AV and activated via the buttons on the device.   I have one more option I can check. I have a little analyser tool I can connect to the datalink pin in the AUX cable to see if a datalink command is sent along with the 5V in the powerlink cable. Also I can check if the datasignal looks different then the one sent from the BC9300. I know it is a rabbit hole as we will probably not be able to fix anything if the datasignal is missing or different, but it could maybe give some closure about why this functionality is flaky  

This may interest you.  I have recently been experimenting with an ML Gateway I got hold of a while ago, and I read on the old support site that it will work with a Beolink Converter 1611, with this caveat given:

BeoLink Converter can be used with compatible video master and old audio master in Option 2-0

So I set my BV8 to Opt 2, then connected my 1611 converter into the same ML network (which also has the ML Gateway), disconnected my BS4 and connected my BC8500 and BG8500.  Then I set my BC8500 to Opt 0.  I was then able to add the 1611 to the ML Gateway's devices - it was recognised.

I then created a macro in the ML Gateway, asking it to send the Phono/N.Radio command to my BV8 if I hit the LIGHT button on my Beo4.  It worked! The BC8500 comes on in Phono, the BG8500 starts playing.  The sound comes from the BV8 speakers, but at least it works.

I could only get it to start the turntable with that command - I have so far been unable to find a way of getting a macro command that will move forward or back on the BG8500, but it's a start.

I'm wondering if I might be able to find a way of making this work with my current obsession of getting my Beo4 to control my BG3000, which is connected to my BS4.  I'm wondering if I could get a cheap BM5500 (in place of the BC8500 which needs to go back to the room it belongs in!), and somehow, with some clever wiring and link settings, use the LIGHT commands on my Beo4 to trigger macros in the ML Gateway that will start my BG3500, playing through the speakers connected to my BS4.  That's the dream.

 

Yes, the ML Gateway does allow various commands, to different devices, from the same macro, so that part would be achievable. I didn't realise that I could not have a Beomaster 5500 (in Opt 0) and also a Beosound 4 (in Opt 1) in the same ML network.  Getting a 4500 and setting it up as a link room would perhaps be the only solution then. Instead of connecting an output from the Beomaster to the Aux input of the Beosound, I was wondering if I could connect my Beolab speakers to the BV8 instead, and set it up with the BV8 in Opt 2 and the BS4 in Opt 0 (which is what the Beolink handbook seems to suggest if you want your speakers connected from the TV). But: if I did then also connect a Beomaster via my 1611, that would also need to be in Opt 0, so I'm guessing that wouldn't work, as the two audio masters would both be in Opt 0.  The Beolink handbook (v2.1) gives lots of examples of setups with more than one video master, but none with more than one audio master.