Manual

Issue 2, July 2021 Model 5401A User Guide
Page 18 Studio Technologies, Inc.
Force Preferred Leader: This is a configu-
rable field with two choices: Disabled and
Enabled.
This function impacts how the Model 5401A
will control a Dante network’s selection
of which device is going to serve as the
Leader clock. As the main reason for the
Model 5401A’s existence is to serve as a
Leader clock, in most applications the unit
should be serving in that role. By forcing the
Model 5401A to be a Preferred Leader clock
it helps to ensure optimal Dante network
operation. By enabling this configuration,
users of the Dante Controller application
will not be able to accidentally disable the
Model 5401A as a Preferred Leader. One
can observe exactly what is meant by the
term Force Preferred Leader by unchecking
the Model 5401A’s Preferred Leader check
box in Dante Controller. After a short inter-
val the box will automatically return to the
enabled (checked) state.
How the Model 5401A handles forcing the
Dante network to be a Preferred Leader
clock and, if applicable, automatically sup-
porting an external clock input is not trivial.
This ability to control Dante network opera-
tion is part of the unit’s “secret sauce.” If the
Model 5401A’s clock source is configured
for Dante then the Model 5401A will force
off (uncheck) the Enable Sync to External
selection in Dante Controller. If the Model
5401A’s main clock source is configured for
Internal or Sync Input then the Model 5401A
will force on (check) the Enable Sync to
External configuration in Dante Controller.
This will apply as long as this specific Model
5401A is acting as Primary Leader, Leader,
or AES67 Leader.
Submit: A Submit button is located below
the Force Preferred Leader field. For any
changes made to the three configurable
fields on the Main menu webpage to be
saved and acted upon the Submit button
must be pressed.
Current Clock Source: This is a display-
only field with choices of Internal, Internal
(Failover Active), Sync Input, Dante, and
Dante (Failover Active).
The text Failover Active will display in red
as a warning of an abnormal condition that
warrants intervention. The current clock
source field can also display --- which in-
dicates a major hardware error and would
warrant contacting the factory.
When Internal is displayed it indicates that
the Model 5401A’s internal temperature-
stabilized oscillator is being used as its
timing reference. When Internal (Failover
Active) is displayed an abnormal condition
is occurring. In this case, the Model 5401A
has been configured to use an external
sync signal as the main clock source but
a valid one is not available; it is using its
internal temperature-stabilized oscillator as
the failover timing reference. If Sync Input
is displayed this indicates that an external
timing reference signal is connected to the
sync input BNC jack on the Model 5401A’s
back panel and it is being used as the main
clock source. If Dante is displayed this indi-
cates that the Model 5401A is using a timing
reference derived from its Dante network
interface. This is not an invalid condition but
would typically only occur in a troubleshoot-
ing situation. If Dante (Failover Active) is
displayed an abnormal condition is occur-
ring. In this case, the Model 5401A is using
a timing reference derived from its Dante
network interface. However, this is only oc-
curring because the configured main clock
source is not currently available.
Sync Input Status: This is a display-
only field with choices of Locked (Active),
Locked (Standby), Unlocked, and Idle. As
a warning of an abnormal condition the text
Unlocked will display in the color red.
If Locked (Active) is displayed this indicates
that a valid signal is connected to the Model