Specifications

Sicon-8 Technical Manual CircuitWerkes, Inc.
16
Programming mistakes while using DTMF
In most cases, if you make a mistake while programming the Sicon-8, it will not dump you out of the
current sequence. Anyone who has ever had to re-enter a long sequence due to a minor mistake
will appreciate this feature. Instead it will play a “grunt” tone, say “error or “Invalid”” and wait a short
while for you to finish entering the correct sequence. Most programming sequences time out after 5
seconds of inactivity, so if you get lost or you want to start over, just wait 5 seconds (20 seconds in a
few places) and you can begin again. If using the local programming port, entering or leaving the
local mode will exit programming mode. Just enter local mode again to restart the current function.
How words & phrases are used in the Sicon-8:
The Sicon-8 stores each voice response in its own distinct memory location, so instead of stringing a
list of predefined words together to generate the desired response, you simply record (either over
the phone line or program it using your PC) the desired response into the appropriate location. For
example, when the Sicon-8 answers the phone, it speaks the Site Label back to you. By default, the
Sicon will say, "Hello. Enter password." To change the Site Label, you only need to record a new
phrase into the corresponding memory location. In this way, the Sicon's voice responses are not
limited by the predefined words stored in memory. Rather, you can record any phrase you want into
any memory location.
It is important to realize, however, that certain phrases are re-used in various circumstances. For
instance, when reading a meter value back to you, the Sicon accesses the memory locations which
store the various numbers, the word, "point", and the channel's unit label. If the meter value is 4.89
kiloWatts, then the Sicon will say "four" "point" "eight" "nine" "kiloWatts", with each word being stored
in a separate memory location. For this reason, you generally do not want to change the meaning of
the phrases stored in these locations, though changing the language would be just fine. For
example, if the word "truck" were recorded into the location where "four" is normally stored, then the
Sicon would read back "truck" "point" "eight" "nine" "kiloWatts". Obviously, this doesn't make much
sense.
It is usually only necessary to re-record the phrases corresponding to the Meter Labels, Status
Labels, Unit Labels, and Site Label, since each user will configure their Sicon differently. Meter
Labels are spoken immediately before reading a meter value, so if Meter 1 corresponds to the
Transmitter Power Output, then you could record "Transmitter Power Output" into Meter Label 1.
Similarly, Status Labels are spoken before a given channel's status value is read. Each channel has
its own distinct Meter and Status Labels. A Unit Label is spoken immediately after the meter value
has been read, and is used to identify the units being measured. In the above example, the Unit
Label is "kiloWatts". The Site Label is the phrase that is spoken right after the Sicon answers the
telephone line. Some users may want to record silence into this location, so a malicious caller will
not recognize the need to enter a password. Audio is trimmed to its precise length when recorded
so a very short audio segment will not cause any delay in normal operations. Also the Sicon-8 is
constantly looking for incoming DTMF tones or serial commands and will respond even if speaking.
The factory programmed defaults for the Sicon-8 are as follows:
Passwords
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 DTMF Super-Admin PW = 6736
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 Serial Super-Admin PW = 12345678 (ASCII characters)
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 Remote/Local Toggle password = 1379
* Meters
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 All meters are configured for direct linear mode with units set to volts