Any menu or function available from the front panel controls of a PDM II unit can also be remotely accessed from any computer on the same network using a web browser. There are, however, certain features that are available only through the web GUI.

Logging Into PDM II from a Connected Computer

• Launch your preferred web browser on any Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.

• Enter "http://xxx.xx.x.x" where the "x's" are the IP address of the PDM II.

• Once connected, you will be prompted to enter a Name and Password. Enter "pdmweb" as the user name, and the password that you have set via the front panel or the initial web page. Passwords are case-sensitive.

Port Forwarding and GUI Communication

PDM II's web server connects at the standard http port 80. Once the connection is established, port 5444 is used for the WebSocket connections from HTML5. Both ports must be open and available for the remote GUI to function.

If you are trying to connect to your PDM II over a WAN or across the Internet, you will need to use a NAT router to route ports 80 and 5444 to the unit's local IP address.

If your facility has more than one PDM II, you may want to connect to each of them on the same network using a single external IP address. This can be accomplished with your NAT router and PDM II's built-in port offset feature. The key is to forward pairs of port numbers. For example, using two units we'll call "A" and "B" and using an example IP address of 10.11.12.100:

• Configure the ports on your router so that inbound browser traffic on port 81 forwards to port 80, and traffic on port 5445 forwards to port 5444 on unit "A".

• Configure the router so that inbound browser traffic on port 82 forwards to port 80, and traffic on port 5446 forwards to port 5444 on unit "B".

• To access unit "A" from the outside, enter http://10.11.12:100:81. To access unit "B", enter http://10.11.12.100:82.

Because the ports operate together in pairs, it is only necessary to specify the http port; the WebSocket connection for HTML5 will follow along. The browser will always contact the WebSocket at a port 5360 less than the web page's port.

Be sure to also set any necessary permissions in your firewall.

PDM II can be operated remotely in exactly the same way as you would from the physical front panel by selecting the Front Panel tab.

The display will match that of the physical front panel, and all lights and buttons will be in sync. This page is fully interactive, and the on-screen buttons can be activated with a mouse click. The following keyboard shortcuts are also supported:

• The Left, Right, Up, and Down keyboard arrow keys correspond to the front panel arrow buttons.

• The keyboard "Enter" key corresponds to the green "Checkmark" button.

• The keyboard "Escape" key corresponds to the red "X" button.

• The letters "B", "E", "C", "D", and "Y" respectively correspond to the Build, Exit, Cough, Dump, and Bypass buttons.

Front Panel "Mini Windows"

Clicking on the "Mini Front Panel" link at the bottom of the page just beneath the Build and Exit buttons opens a smaller version of the front panel in its own window. It can be re-sized as needed by clicking and dragging the lower right corner.

You can also simultaneously connect to multiple PDM II units from the same computer by clicking on the "Multiple Front Panel" button, which opens an "Add PDM II" dialog box in a new tab.

By default, the IP address of the unit to which you are already connected appears in the web address field. Click the "Add" button to open a Mini Front Panel for this unit. Enter the IP addresses of any additional PDM II's as desired, click "Add", and enter the user name and password when prompted.

As many as 20 panels can be displayed at once. The name of each PDM II (as set in the "Configuration" menu) will be displayed to help identify each specific unit.

The Audio Files page manages which audio files will be played by PDM II during Insert Build Mode or Overkill Dump Mode.

Files can be uploaded using the 'Choose File" button. Once uploaded, they can be renamed or deleted with the corresponding buttons, or auditioned by clicking on the file name.

The included "pdm_demo_insert.wav" is for testing and cannot be renamed or deleted.

Uploaded files should be linear (non-compressed) 16-bit stereo or dual-channel mono .wav files. As PDM II cannot change the playback volume of the files, please make sure the uploaded files are normalized to match your station's standards.

The maximum supported file size is 6MB. Up to 150MB of audio can be stored in total.

The Utils tab is used to upload and select firmware versions, to download logs when requested by customer support, and to reboot PDM II.

Upload and Switch Firmware

Two software banks, Bank 0 and Bank 1, are provided. The bank currently in use is indicated here.

To upload a new firmware version to the bank not currently in use, click on the "Choose File" button, navigate to the appropriate .pkg file, then click the "Install package on Bank" button to start the initialization.

To switch the active software bank and reboot PDM II, click on the "Reboot from Bank" button.

Download Log Packages

When instructed to do so by Telos Alliance customer support, you may download log packages covering the last 5 days, last 30 days, or all stored logs.

Maintenance

PDM II can be rebooted remotely by clicking on the "Reboot Unit" button. An "Are you sure?" page will open for verification before the unit reboots.

Clicking on the PD-Alerts tab will display the PD-Alerts e-mail log.

This log lists PDM II's recent attempts to send PD-Alert e-mails. If the message has been successfully sent, it displays the date and time it was sent, the recipient's address, the type of alert, and the size of the e-mail including any attached audio files.

Clicking on a Date entry will display additional details about the events, including links to the OnAir and OffAir audio dump files.

If the e-mail couldn't be sent due to a setup or network error, a message to that effect will be displayed.

Clicking on the Information tab provides an abundance of data about PDM II including audio, networking, and time format statuses, hardware-specific information, and unique identification numbers.

This is a read-only page and does not update automatically once loaded. To see recent changes, refresh the page manually.

The web GUI's Configuration Page lets you edit most of the PDM II's settings. It groups the settings into seven sections, each of which will be described below.

Whenever you change a value, it will be highlighted, and the "Revert" and "Apply" buttons will become available. Clicking "Apply" saves the edited settings back to the unit and causes them to take effect; clicking "Revert" restores the edited settings to their last saved values.

Identification Section

Each PDM II can be given a unique name of up to 19 characters including upper and lower case letters, numbers, and dashes. Spaces and special characters may not be used.

The name will be displayed on the Mini Windows when connecting with the web GUI. It will also be used when creating log file names and PD-Alert e-mails.

Control Section

By default, PDM II boots in Bypass mode, but this behavior can be changed from the "Boot mode" dropdown in the Control section.

• Bypass: Effectively connects the analog and AES3 outputs to their corresponding inputs and routes audio around the delay buffer. A delay cannot be built when the unit is in Bypass mode. The front panel will show "PDM II is in Bypass" and the Bypass button will be illuminated.

• Real-time: PDM II is active and capable of building a delay when the Build button is pressed. The front panel will show "PDM II is Ready."

• Building: PDM II begins building its delay immediately upon powering up. The front panel will first indicate that a delay is building followed by the "Full" message and the length of available delay time.

Hardware GPIO Section

Although hardware GPIO settings can be set from the front panel as described in the GPIO Menu section, the duration of the pulse for momentary output closures can only be set in the Hardware GPIO section of the Configuration page.

Livewire GPIO Section

GPIOs can be controlled via Livewire by first checking the "Enable" box, then entering a Livewire channel number or a valid multicast address. You may also enter an IP address and port number (such as 192.168.2.114/2) to reach out to another device on the network using a TCP connection (sometimes referred to as "snake mode" as it creates a GPIO "snake" between the two devices).

Use the dropdown menus to set the function of each Input and Output.

Delayed Data Streams Section

PDM II can delay two serial data streams such as PAD (Program Associated Data) to keep "now playing" or other information on RDS receives or web streams in sync with program audio. When this feature is turned on, incoming data is stored for exactly the same amount of time that PDM II is delaying audio before sending it out.

As the audio delay is slowly built or collapsed to return to real-time, each data delay is automatically changed to match. If PDM II is put into Bypass mode, data passes straight through. Pressing Dump while Data Delay is on sends the stored data out immediately to prevent important information from being lost.

Two separate delays, Data Stream A and Data Stream B, are provided to handle both internal cueing information and PAD for listeners. Inputs and outputs are available via network, can have different addresses and ports, and can be configured to function as client or server. Multiple devices can feed input data and listen to delayed output data on each stream.

Each stream has four input options:

• Disabled: input disabled

• Local TCP port: awaits incoming TCP socket connections, and then adds any incoming data from these sockets to the stream.

• Local UDP port: awaits incoming UDP packets, adding the packets' data to the stream

• Remote TCP port: makes a TCP socket connection to the specified remote address and port, and then adds any incoming data from those connections to the stream. If the connection fails it will reconnect.

The "Local TCP" and "Local UDP" options will accept input from multiple devices; the PDM II will merge all the incoming data into the delay stream. With these options, Stream A accepts data on port 5445, and Stream B accepts data on local port 5447.

Each stream has four output options:

• Disabled: output disabled

• Local TCP port: awaits incoming TCP socket connections, and then transmits delayed data from the stream to the sockets.

• Remote TCP port: makes a TCP socket connection to the specified remote address and port, and then sends delayed data from the stream to the connection. If the connection fails it will reconnect.

• Remote UDP port: sends UDP packets with any delayed data to the specified remote address and port.

The "Local TCP" option will accept connections from multiple devices; the PDM will send all delayed data to each of the connected device. With this option, Stream A sends data via port 5446, and Stream B sends data via port 5448.

To configure the delays:

• Choose Disabled, Local TCP port, Local UDP, or Remote TCP port from the Input dropdown menu. When using Remote TCP, enter the remote IP address and port number in the appropriate fields.

• Choose Disabled, Local TCP port, Remote TCP port or Remote UDP port from the Output dropdown menu. When using Remote TCP or Remote UDP, enter the remote IP address and port number in the appropriate fields.

PD-Alert Section

When the operator presses the Dump button, PDM II can automatically e-mail text alerts or actual audio files to anyone you designate. For security purposes, configuration of the PD-Alert settings must be done from the web GUI.

As PD-Alert uses standard Internet e-mail protocols, it is configured like a standard e-mail account with an outgoing server address, valid user name, and password. Any existing e-mail account can be used, but most users find it most beneficial to establish a dedicated address for these alerts. Since PDM II doesn't receive e-mails, it does not require an incoming POP server.

• Mail server address: Enter a valid SMTP server address, typically "smtp.yourdomain.com". With TLS disabled, the default mail server port is 25. With TLS enabled, it is 587. If your mail server uses a different port, specify it by adding a colon and the port number after the address (e.g. "smtp.yourdomain.com:465").

• Mail server username: Enter a valid e-mail account user name without the @ sign and domain name (e.g. "PDMStudio1").

• Mail server password: Enter the password associated with the user name. A password is required by the SMTP server. If your internal mail server doesn't require authentication, leave both the username and password blank.

• Use TLS encryption: Check to enable TLS encryption.

• Sender: Enter the complete e-mail address for the username (e.g. "username@yourdomain.com"). Even though PDM II can't receive replies at that address, mail servers use this data to verify the legitimacy of addresses.

• PD-Alert context: This value sets the amount of additional audio just before and after each Dump event saved in the log files. Include enough additional time to help identify the context of the Dump event, typically 5 or 6 seconds. If you are running very long delays, we suggest setting the context to its maximum value of 10 seconds.

• PD-Alert (attached audio) emails: Enter the e-mail addresses only of individuals or servers who should receive PD-Alerts with attached audio files. For more than one recipient, separate each address with a space.

• Attached audio file format: Choose the audio quality and data compression for the e-mailed log files. Regardless of your selection here, PDM II always keeps its internally-stored files in uncompressed WAV format.

  • Uncompressed WAV: Delivers the highest quality but also the largest files which may be inconvenient on mobile devices or with e-mail servers that cannot handle large file attachments.

  • High Quality MP3: 160 Kbps.

  • Voice Quality MP3: 40 Kbps.

• PD-Alert (text) emails: Enter the e-mail addresses of people who should receive text-only PD-Alerts, that is, alerts that a Dump event has occurred but without the corresponding audio files (which can be retrieved from the PDM II log files as needed). For more than one recipient, separate each address with a space.

• Retain dump files: PDM II purges old audio files to make room for new ones when more space is needed in its internal storage. The unit includes a generous amount of storage and dump files are typically kept for a very long time, so if your station's policy is to delete airchecks on a regular schedule, you can choose 30, 60, or 90 days instead, at which point PDM II will automatically delete files as they reach that age.

• Test PD-Alerts: This feature is used to verify that the PD-Alert feature is properly set up and working. A test message will be sent to the addresses in both PD-Alert e-mail fields. If one of the addresses is invalid, your ISP will relay an error message to the mail account set up for PDM II.

Note: To prevent tampering, the audio files saved on PDM II by the PD-Alert system cannot be edited or manually deleted. They can, however, be copied to your computer and be saved, forwarded, or deleted just like any other locally-saved file.

AoIP Synchronization

When using a Livewire clock as the clock source, choose "Livewire slave" from the dropdown menu.

When using an external PTP clock for reference, choose "PTP/IEEE 1588 slave" from the dropdown menu, which reveals several additional fields:

• PTP Domain: Valid values are 0 - 127. The AES67 PTP profile uses 0, which is the default setting.

• PTP Delay Mechanism: Both E2E (end to end) and P2P (peer to peer) are supported.

  • E2E calculates the latency directly between the master clock and the slave. It is generally recommended for networks using transparent clocks, non-PTP-aware switches, or both.

  • P2P calculates the delay between two slaved devices rather than the entire network. It is typically more accurate and efficient than E2E.

• PTP Clock Priority1: Priority 1 is the most significant of the six factors used by devices in the selection of a master clock. Acceptable values range between 0 and 255, with lower values representing a higher priority. The default value is 128.

• PTP Clock Priority2: Priority 2 is the fifth most significant of the six factors used by devices in the selection of a master clock. As with Priority 1, lower values represent a higher priority. The default value is 128.

• PTP Sync Interval: Sets the interval at which synchronization messages are sent.

• PTP Announce Interval: Sets the interval at which a PTP announce messages are sent.

Clicking on the Dump Archive tab lists all Dump files stored within PDM II. The most recent file is shown first. Files are built in pairs, one for the studio audio that got deleted (OffAir) and one for what the listeners actually hear (OnAir).

Clicking on any file name will play the corresponding audio through your browser. To download the files to your computer, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) and use your browser's "Save Linked File" command.

Files may not exceed 120 seconds in length. For stations running exceptionally long delays, the log file audio will start with the pre-context audio followed by as much of the delay buffer audio that will fit in the remaining available time.

As the OffAir file includes both the "safe" audio leading up to the Dump event plus the objectionable material itself. Unless you are using Overkill Mode (which covers the dumped material with an internal audio file of the same length), the OffAir file will be longer than the OnAir file. In the unlikely event that PDM II has zero delay available when the Dump button is pressed and you are not using Overkill Mode, both files will be identical in size and will contain only the pre- and post-Dump context audio.