BeoLink Converter 1611 Innovative Configurations

[mdonald]

I finally managed to solve the problem and get the BC9300 derived from the BS3 to work.
The problem was the AV/Aux cable, I bought another 7 pin cable and now it works. I checked that the new cable has all pins wired, so just 4 (1,2,4, 6) is not enough.
I thank Madskp and Guy who gave me advice and guidance.
I would like to ask one last thing about the functioning of the Masterlink system:
if I press CD on the remote control with the devices off, BS# and BC9300 turn on in sequence and the CD starts and everything works, and when I press standby everything turns off, then if via remote control I switch from CD to TV (function of BS3 only) it activates TV and CD stops, but BC9300 stays on. Then if I press standby on the remote control the BS3 turns off but not the BC9300 which remains on the CD function.
It’s normal? Where can I find Masterlink instructions?

Thanks again to everyone.
Michele

[Guy]

Great news that you got it working – thanks for letting us know.

The behaviour when you press TV sounds normal. Effectively, the BC9300 is not turned off because it is part of the integrated AV system which is still in use, albeit for TV.  A long press on the remote’s OFF button is usually used to turn off the complete system.

[mdonald]

I would like to ask one more thing about the functioning of the Masterlink system:

if I load the cd pressing the buttons (touch) on the BC9300, and then I press PLAY, the CD start spinning but the BS3 doesn’t switch on and the music doesn’t fill the room :), and this is normal, so should I use the CD only by Beo4?

I have the Mastrlink Handbook, which has a lot of information about configurations and setup, but there is not much like this about using the system, other than through the beo4

[Guy]

Do you still have a powerlink cable between the BC9300 and BL1611 converter?  The setup needs this to pass control panel (not Beo4) commands from the BC9300 to the rest of the system.

[mdonald]

Thank you Guy,

yes I have a powerlink cable between the BC9300 and the BL1611, but it doesn’t work, maybe the cable is not the right cable, I have seen there are several type.

I’ll try other cables.

I have another question, in the BC930 Is there a function that turns the unit on to radio when there is a news broadcast? Sometimes I find the device turned on on the radio and no one has turned it on.

does it have a life of its own?

Michele

 

[Guy]

mdonald wrote:

I have another question, in the BC930 Is there a function that turns the unit on to radio when there is a news broadcast? Sometimes I find the device turned on on the radio and no one has turned it on. does it have a life of its own?

There is no function that will deliberately turn the radio on for a news broadcast, so there must be another cause.  Either:

• The remote radio button is transmitting on its own – unlikely but not unheard of, but you can test by putting the remote in another room and see if re-occurs.
• There is a timer set.  On the BC9300 press Programming and then Call.  If the top right display just shows ‘?’ then there is no timer set.  If it shows a source (Radio) and start time then a timer is set – this will have a ‘-‘ before the start time if it is set to repeat as yours may well be.  When a timer start time is showing, simply press Clear to cancel/clear.

[mdonald]

Thank you so much, you and the forum are an irreplaceable resource.
there was a timer, but unfortunately I don’t have the manual which I can’t find online so I’m just trying.

[Guy]

Try this link for the manual – you should be able to view as a Silver Member:  https://beoworld.org/?a=download&key=6bbded9353242b53701819d219f48699

EDIT:  Sorry, that was the Reference Guide – this should be the manual:  https://beoworld.org/?a=download&key=11cd18ccf1894f3bde4ebd45642b98e8

[SaltineSurfer]

Hi all, I bought a beogram 3500 earlier in the year which I have had, up until now, connected to my BS9000, but having seen this thread some months ago, I really liked the idea of being able to remote control the beogram via masterlink 🙂

I already have a 1611 converter, so I bought a MCL2AV off ebay and a 7 pin datalink cable from my local b&o service centre. Wired this up following the connection example earlier in the thread (thank you!) – Beogram to the CD din, and 1611 to the TV din – and the 1611 connected to my old Beolab 3500 for testing, and it worked! I could access the beogram on the CD source from my BL3500 and beo4 remote control of the beogram magically worked!

My next goal was to get this accessible on my newer network link products so I connected the 1611 converter to an NL/ML converter, which I configured as a Video Master. And this works! I can Join a playing vinyl from another room and the remote control also works (amazing!).

The next goal is to get the Beosound 2 NL speaker (that’s in the same room as the beogram) to turn on automatically when play is pressed on the beogram – but this is where I’ve not been able to succeed. The NL converter is configured with “Connect to Primary” set to the Beosound 2 – which is the setting needed on this converter to normally achieve this (this is what I use for my BS9000’s NL converter). So I am wondering if the 1611 converter is able to work in “Option 0” with the MCL2AV as it doesn’t trigger the NL converter (the Video master) when play’s pressed on the beogram.

I just tried adding a mk2 powerlink cable between the 1611 and the MCL2AV in the hope this may do the trick as it shows this connection in the 1611 manual when connected to an Avant ML TV and Aux-link audio system, but disappointingly, it made no difference. Perhaps theres a mode I need to enable on the MCL2AV to get this to work?

Many thanks!

Rob.

[SaltineSurfer]

I’m getting closer…. I just dug out a beolink passive amp and connected the powerlink to the MCL2AV powerlink and it turned the amp on when pressing play on the beogram! So, while still playing, I then pulled the powerlink from the amp and plugged it back into the 1611 powerlink input – and hey presto – it turned the Network link  speaker on and started playing! So I reckon it’s either a wiring mis-match between the two powerlink sockets (maybe different powerlink versions?) – or the MCL2AV can’t see the 1611 connected to it when powering up, so disables the PL out?

[SaltineSurfer]

A further development…  the next time I pressed play on the beogram the amp didn’t turn on (this was with the MCL2AV connected to the passive amp) . If I turn the MCL2AV off then on again, the amp triggers on correctly when play is started. So i just tested the powerlink back on the 1611, power cycled the MCL2AV, pressed play.. and the beosound2 turned on an the sound came out! However as with the amp – if I turn the BS2 off, and play the record again – the BS2 did not power up. So something weird is going on with the PL out of the MCL2AV.

[Madskp]

ebnrob wrote:

Hi all, I bought a beogram 3500 earlier in the year which I have had, up until now, connected to my BS9000, but having seen this thread some months ago, I really liked the idea of being able to remote control the beogram via masterlink 🙂

Glad to hear that it is usefull 🙂

ebnrob wrote:

My next goal was to get this accessible on my newer network link products so I connected the 1611 converter to an NL/ML converter, which I configured as a Video Master. And this works! I can Join a playing vinyl from another room and the remote control also works (amazing!).

Very nice. I did a test om something similar at one point where I controlled a Beocord 3500 from my Beoplay V1 TV via the converters and the MCL2AV.

ebnrob wrote:

So I am wondering if the 1611 converter is able to work in “Option 0” with the MCL2AV as it doesn’t trigger the NL converter (the Video master) when play’s pressed on the beogram.

The 1611 does not have option settings but the MCL2AV does. It has option 0, 1 and 2 but these are related to an IR eye connected to the MCL2AV, so might not have effect on what you are trying to achive.

ebnrob wrote:

I just tried adding a mk2 powerlink cable between the 1611 and the MCL2AV in the hope this may do the trick as it shows this connection in the 1611 manual when connected to an Avant ML TV and Aux-link audio system, but disappointingly, it made no difference

The intended use case from B&O for this powerlink connection is as far as I know to be able to use the buttons on a Beocenter/Beomaster/Beosound to ctonrl volume and activate sources when connected to a TV that has the speakers for the system. In those cases option 0 is used for the music system, so that could maybe be the answer for the above question. However as the MCL2AV does not have physical buttons it might not apply in this case.

ebnrob wrote:

So, while still playing, I then pulled the powerlink from the amp and plugged it back into the 1611 powerlink input – and hey presto – it turned the Network link  speaker on and started playing!

That sound odd that it would do that. Earlier in this thread we did some experimenting with the powerlink socket on the 1611 but newer got it to activate anything, but there might be something there…

ebnrob wrote:

So I reckon it’s either a wiring mis-match between the two powerlink sockets (maybe different powerlink versions?) – or the MCL2AV can’t see the 1611 connected to it when powering up, so disables the PL out?

Powerlink has two different action signals, sometimes named power on and mute, but with differences. These are on pin 1 and 4 in the powerlink socket. The Beolink Passive only use pin 1 to start up, and the 1611 converter only has a connection on pin4 of it’s powerlink socket. However in the MCL2AV pin 1 and 4 is connected internally, so there should not be any differences to the signals.

ebnrob wrote:

If I turn the MCL2AV off then on again, the amp triggers on correctly when play is started. So i just tested the powerlink back on the 1611, power cycled the MCL2AV, pressed play.. and the beosound2 turned on an the sound came out! However as with the amp – if I turn the BS2 off, and play the record again – the BS2 did not power up. So something weird is going on with the PL out of the MCL2AV.

There might be something with option 1 or 2 on the MCL2AV,. One of the older MCL manuals says that if an IR eye is connected as well as a TV (which in this case is the 1611 and NL/ML converter) it should be setup to option 1. I all other cases it’s option 2.

Hope this might give some inspiration/help. I have as mentioned a Beoplay 1 and a NL/ML conveter so I might try to do some experiments with that when time allows it.

One thing you can try if you have a datalink Beocenter/Beomaster/Beosound is to connect that instead of the MCL2AV and see how things are reacting

 

 

 

[SaltineSurfer]

Dear Madskp,

Thank you for the replies!

Madskp wrote:

The 1611 does not have option settings but the MCL2AV does. It has option 0, 1 and 2 but these are related to an IR eye connected to the MCL2AV, so might not have effect on what you are trying to achive.

Unfortunately though the white IR transceiver it came with doesn’t appear to be working. I’ve connected it up to the relevant screw terminals but it doesnt light up, or respond to IR commands from my beo4. I have a feeling this issue is to do with the mode the MCL2AV is programmed to.

I have an IR puck for the beolink passive amp (the one with the timer button) – do you know if this would work on the MCL2AV?

Madskp wrote:

One thing you can try if you have a datalink Beocenter/Beomaster/Beosound is to connect that instead of the MCL2AV and see how things are reacting

Unfortunately I don’t 🙁

Madskp wrote:

I have as mentioned a Beoplay 1 and a NL/ML conveter so I might try to do some experiments with that when time allows it.

That would be great – thanks!

Rob.

[Madskp]

ebnrob wrote:

Unfortunately though the white IR transceiver it came with doesn’t appear to be working. I’ve connected it up to the relevant screw terminals but it doesnt light up, or respond to IR commands from my beo4. I have a feeling this issue is to do with the mode the MCL2AV is programmed to.

Ok that is unfortunate. In one of the older MCL manuals it is mentioned that if no IR eye i connected to the MCL2AV and it is connected to a TV it will default to option 2. So maybe try without the IR eye.

ebnrob wrote:

I have an IR puck for the beolink passive amp (the one with the timer button) – do you know if this would work on the MCL2AV?

That should work as long as you only connect the three wires for ground, +5V and IR data.

But the fact that the white IR eye does no show any light could also be an indication of some missing voltage. If you have a multimeter you could try to measure if you get 5V between the 5V and ground screw terminals.

[Madskp]

I just remembered that at some point I did some testing of a MCL2A where the IR eye would not show no lights either.
It turned out the connection from the screw terminal to the print board was bad, maybe a cracked trace if I remember correctly. This can be caused by the screew terminal being handled too hard.

Could be worth checking the connections on the back of the print board

[SaltineSurfer]

Madskp wrote:

ebnrob wrote:

Unfortunately though the white IR transceiver it came with doesn’t appear to be working. I’ve connected it up to the relevant screw terminals but it doesnt light up, or respond to IR commands from my beo4. I have a feeling this issue is to do with the mode the MCL2AV is programmed to.

Ok that is unfortunate. In one of the older MCL manuals it is mentioned that if no IR eye i connected to the MCL2AV and it is connected to a TV it will default to option 2. So maybe try without the IR eye.

ebnrob wrote:

I have an IR puck for the beolink passive amp (the one with the timer button) – do you know if this would work on the MCL2AV?

That should work as long as you only connect the three wires for ground, +5V and IR data. But the fact that the white IR eye does no show any light could also be an indication of some missing voltage. If you have a multimeter you could try to measure if you get 5V between the 5V and ground screw terminals.

Thanks for the tips. I’ve just checked the voltage and it’s reading 7.4v instead of 5v! Also the same in the ir data to ground. Checking the power supply – it’s outputting 30v! It’s rated 15v Dc and is one of the old heavy transformers – I’m guessing it’s not regulated. Could this be the problem?

Just looked at the solder joints on the underside and all look good.

Thanks for your help!

[Madskp]

ebnrob wrote

Thanks for the tips. I’ve just checked the voltage and it’s reading 7.4v instead of 5v! Also the same in the ir data to ground. Checking the power supply – it’s outputting 30v! It’s rated 15v Dc and is one of the old heavy transformers – I’m guessing it’s not regulated. Could this be the problem? Just looked at the solder joints on the underside and all look good. Thanks for your help!

30V does sound to high a voltage even if it’s unregulated. I think Guy at one point mentioned that his original power supply was outputting 20V.

The 30V might be out of spec for the voltage regulator that on the older versions should output 5.5V and on the newer version 5.0V, so 7.5V also way to high.

I have done some tests using a 12V regulated pover supply for the MCL2AV and that does seem to work. Just be aware that the MCL2AV use reversed polarity. The easiest will be to use one of these universal power supples where you can replace and rotate the tips.

If you try this I will suggest that you measure the 5V again before you try to connect another IR eye ( and who knows maybe the white one will have survived).

Hope this helps

 

[Madskp]

Madskp wrote:

ebnrob wrote

Thanks for the tips. I’ve just checked the voltage and it’s reading 7.4v instead of 5v! Also the same in the ir data to ground. Checking the power supply – it’s outputting 30v! It’s rated 15v Dc and is one of the old heavy transformers – I’m guessing it’s not regulated. Could this be the problem? Just looked at the solder joints on the underside and all look good. Thanks for your help!

30V does sound to high a voltage even if it’s unregulated. I think Guy at one point mentioned that his original power supply was outputting 20V. The 30V might be out of spec for the voltage regulator that on the older versions should output 5.5V and on the newer version 5.0V, so 7.5V also way to high. I have done some tests using a 12V regulated pover supply for the MCL2AV and that does seem to work. Just be aware that the MCL2AV use reversed polarity. The easiest will be to use one of these universal power supples where you can replace and rotate the tips. If you try this I will suggest that you measure the 5V again before you try to connect another IR eye ( and who knows maybe the white one will have survived). Hope this helps

@ebnrob just out of curiosity did you happen to try with another power supply?

[SaltineSurfer]

Madskp wrote:

@ebnrob just out of curiosity did you happen to try with another power supply?
Hi Madskp,

Thank you for the message and for your help last week.

I had some time last weekend to play around with it again, and started by replacing the PSU with a 12v switch mode PSU. The MCL2AV worked, however the IR port still read 7V. It was at this point I spotted the multimeter low battery symbol was on – and I recall it giving erroneous readings when low, so changed the battery and the IR voltage read correctly at 5v!! I then switched back to the original PSU and this read 20v – same as Guy’s. With the original PSU connected, the IR pins were giving 5v so all good! Phew! I connected the 3 wires from the passive IR puck and this worked activating the CD source using a beo4 which was positive progress. So now I know the IR transceiver is faulty.

I then put all the connections back on to the 1611 as before, however the NL converter (as video master) wouldn’t activate when the beogram played (as it did before). I rebooted them etc in different orders, powered all down for 3 mins etc, all to no avail. So i changed the powerlink from the MCL2AV -> 1611 over to the passive amp’s PL input – so MCL2AV PL -> passive amp, and the amp turned on when play was pressed on the beogram! So I don’t know what the issue was with the 1611 not connecting to the NL converter.  I tried a few times to get it working again but couldn’t. It seems like the 1611 is activating into a video master mode when booting up now, not seeing the NL converter.

I then tried changing the Option mode of the MCL2AV, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Having only a Beo4 all I could do was go to the Option menu and tried both A.Opt and L.opt in option 0, option 1, and option 2 and option5. None of which made any difference, so at this point I gave up!

Maybe the MCL2AV needs the old beolink remote to change mode?

Rob.

[Madskp]

ebnrob wrote:

I had some time last weekend to play around with it again, and started by replacing the PSU with a 12v switch mode PSU. The MCL2AV worked, however the IR port still read 7V. It was at this point I spotted the multimeter low battery symbol was on – and I recall it giving erroneous readings when low, so changed the battery and the IR voltage read correctly at 5v!! I then switched back to the original PSU and this read 20v – same as Guy’s. With the original PSU connected, the IR pins were giving 5v so all good! Phew

Good to hear that the voltages are ok after all. I have also been fooled by a multimeter with low voltage before 🙂

ebnrob wrote:

I then put all the connections back on to the 1611 as before, however the NL converter (as video master) wouldn’t activate when the beogram played (as it did before). I rebooted them etc in different orders, powered all down for 3 mins etc, all to no avail. So i changed the powerlink from the MCL2AV -> 1611 over to the passive amp’s PL input – so MCL2AV PL -> passive amp, and the amp turned on when play was pressed on the beogram! So I don’t know what the issue was with the 1611 not connecting to the NL converter.  I tried a few times to get it working again but couldn’t. It seems like the 1611 is activating into a video master mode when booting up now, not seeing the NL converter. I then tried changing the Option mode of the MCL2AV, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Having only a Beo4 all I could do was go to the Option menu and tried both A.Opt and L.opt in option 0, option 1, and option 2 and option5. None of which made any difference, so at this point I gave up!

I will try to see what results I get if I make a similar setup with my Beoplay V1. And I can also see if it makes any difference with a Beomaster/Beocenter with datalink instead of the MCL2AV.

ebnrob wrote:

Maybe the MCL2AV needs the old beolink remote to change mode?

It should be fine with a Beo4 although I prefer using a Beolink 1000 for this task as it is faster to do it with a few button presses. Btw. the MCL2AV only reacts to L.opt, and only 0, 1 and 2 is relevant. Option 5 and 6 is something else on this than it is in masterlink terms and has to to with using a video recorder in the main room.

[Author]

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