We are asked this question quite often and there is no single answer. The RFC-1/B is a very flexible device that can be configured many ways. This document assumes that you are simply trying to have the RFC-1 make voice mode telephone calls when an alarm condition occurs--this is the factory default behavior.

We cannot take into account all possible programming adjustments and desired behaviors in a single troubleshooting document. If you have a more involved setup, you should be familiar enough with the RFC-1 to be able to adjust it for the specific behavior required at your installation. This document can still be used to guide your troubleshooting efforts.

These procedures assume that you have functional RFC-1/B hardware that has not been hit by lightning or otherwise damaged.

The source for this document is the template that our tech support staff have used for quite some time when a customer calls with this question. We have refined it over time to address the items that are easiest items to check first, then we move on to items that are often overlooked but require more involved procedures to correct.

Please try using this resource. Every procedure that we can tell you on the phone is presented here in just enough detail. There is no magic button that we tell you to press when you call us for help. This is it. Troubleshooting is a process of elimination. Knowing how to troubleshoot is what makes you the station engineer. We just provide the tools to help.

Testing Procedure

We must start with making sure that your testing procedure for telemetry alarms is correct. This is a very common mistake so don't skip over this.

The only practical way to test the telemetry alarms is to be on site with the RFC-1. You cannot adjust the system to an out of tolerance condition from a remote location using the RFC-1 and then expect it to generate an alarm. If it worked this way you would never be able to shut down your transmitter without generating an alarm.

1. Setup your external device(s) to the normal operating condition--within the alarm limits that are programmed.
2. Activate the RFC-1 from the local phone or dial in and gain access to the system past the main security code.
3. Enter the hang up command 99. Alarms are not scanned when the RFC-1 is online with a user so you must hang up.
4. Wait approximately 30 seconds. This is critical! You must give the system time to hang up and make a baseline scan of the alarm channels in the normally operating condition. The scan is triggered by the hang up command in the previous step.
5. Adjust the device that is being monitored using the controls on the device itself. Hint: a zero voltage condition can be simulated by removing the pluggable connector for the appropriate telemetry source on the RP-8 relay panel.
6. Typically the RFC-1 will detect the alarm and begin dialing within several seconds. Note that the number of alarms in use will determine the worst case delay which is 10 seconds per alarm in use. In actual operation this rarely occurs but in testing it might happen. It is best to wait a couple of minutes if several alarms are used.

Restart this procedure for each new test.

Enabling and Disabling All Alarms

There are two master on/off switches for alarms in the RFC-1: one for the power failure alarm and one for the telemetry alarms. One or both of these settings must be enabled for the corresponding alarm(s) to function.

• use the command 81 to enable/disable the power failure alarm
• use the command 82 to enable/disable all telemetry alarms at once

These features use the settings: 0=disabled, 1=enabled. If making these adjustments from a remote location, you will need the basic programming security code for your RFC-1 system. The factory setting is 4088.

Telephone Numbers

If the phone numbers are not programmed correctly, the system cannot dial them. There are six telephone numbers available in the RFC-1. The first three are quite easy to program.

• use the command 86 to read/program the first telephone number
• use the command 87 to read/program the second telephone number
• use the command 88 to read/program the third telephone number

Use the telephone numbers in order, first, second then third. The RFC-1 dials the available telephone numbers in a loop as they are available. If the first number is left blank, no dialing can occur. If the second number is left blank, the third number cannot be called.

Program the numbers entering the digits as you would dial them from the site and using up to 12 digits. If the number is not 12 digits long, use the * key to fill the trailing end until all 12 spaces are filled. The * will be read back as a 10 when you read the number. This means that it is an unused digit.

If making these adjustments from a remote location, you will need the basic programming security code for your RFC-1 system. The factory setting is 4088.

Testing the Dialing Capability

If the power failure alarm is enabled (see above) and at least one (the first) telephone number is programmed, it is easy to test the ability of the RFC-1 to make calls. Unplug the main AC power supply to the RFC-1. Wait about 5 seconds then plug it back in. The power failure alarm should begin dialing several seconds after main AC power is applied.

If this test succeeds, the RFC-1 can dial the numbers when appropriate conditions exist. You can skip to the section of this document that discusses alarm settings.

If this test fails, there is either a hardware problem or a more involved programming issue--continue reading.

Dialing Method (Pulse/Tone)

The default dialing method for the RFC-1 is pulse dialing. This may sound odd but pulse dialing has been around a long time and it is very effective. RFC-1 systems with software version 5.07 and higher can dial using tone dialing. Specially generated DTMF tones are stored in the speech processor. These tones are primarily meant for dialing a pager. They are rather long in duration and offer no real benefit over pulse dialing in the RFC-1 unless a pager is being called.

Pulse dialing is the "safe mode". To set the RFC-1 to pulse dialing:

1. go online with the system from either the local or a remote phone
2. enter 80 to access advanced programming mode
3. when prompted, enter the advanced programming security code for your system
4. when prompted, enter 0999 for the four digit address
5. enter 0#, the system reads "zero"
6. enter * to exit programming mode--very important, the system says "exit"

You will need the advanced programming security code for your RFC-1 system. The factory setting is 4150.

Retry the power failure dialing test above.

A Quick Overview of the Alarm System

If you've come to this document for help and made it this far, you need this review so please don't skip this section.

Here is how the alarm system works when the RFC-1 is shipped from the factory. All alarms are set to trigger action sequence 1 when they are tripped. This includes the power failure alarm. An "action sequence" is what we call a stored series of instructions in the RFC-1. Action sequences are triggered by an alarm (or by the clock/calendar). Action sequence 1 has one instruction: call all available telephone numbers.

So when an alarm occurs:

• action sequence 1 is triggered
• the instruction to dial all available telephone numbers is executed
• telephone numbers are retrieved and dialed in order

Reprogramming Action Sequence 1

In the steps above we have already covered making sure that the telephone numbers are programmed and that the alarms are enabled. If the power failure alarm test described above fails, the most likely problem is that action sequence 1 has been changed and it no longer contains the dialing instruction.

Please be aware that we have no idea what programming changes have been made in your specific system at your installation. The following procedure may indeed fix the immediate problem but if, against our recommendations in both our manuals and online help, action sequence 1 has been reprogrammed in your system to perform another task, there may be side effects to this procedure that we have no way to predict.

For example, if you operate an AM station and use the RFC-1 to perform automatic power changes, and if action sequence 1 has been programmed to perform a power change function; then following this procedure will eliminate the power change behavior and replace it with telephone calls that would then be triggered by the clock when the power change should occur.

Make sure you have read the above warnings and understand the possible consequences of your actions before following this procedure. By following this procedure you accept full responsibility for your actions including any unexpected system changes and resulting behavioral changes that may occur.

To reset action sequence 1 to contain only the factory default dialing instruction:

1. go online with the system from either the local or a remote phone
2. enter 80 to access advanced programming mode
3. when prompted, enter the advanced programming security code for your system
4. when prompted, enter 0724 for the four digit address
5. enter 9#, the system repeats "nine"
6. enter 0#, the system reads "zero"
7. enter 15#, the system reads "fifteen"
8. enter * to exit programming mode--very important, the system says "exit"

You will need the advanced programming security code for your RFC-1 system. The factory setting is 4150.

If the power failure test failed, go back and retry the test now. If it fails again, the problem is most likely the result of a hardware failure.

Alarm Settings

If the power failure alarm test works and you have positive indication that the system is capable of dialing the telephone, the only remaining items are the telemetry alarm settings. Most of the settings are easy to read and program using basic programming commands.

• use the command 90 to read/program alarm A
• use the command 91 to read/program alarm B
• use the command 92 to read/program alarm C
• use the command 93 to read/program alarm D
• use the command 94 to read/program alarm E
• use the command 95 to read/program alarm F
• use the command 96 to read/program alarm G
• use the command 97 to read/program alarm H

The telemetry alarms can be used in any order and any alarm can be used to monitor any physical channel.

When reading the alarm settings, if the channel is set to 64 then that alarm is not being used. Channel 64 cannot exist therefore it is used to disable an alarm.

When programming upper and lower limits all four digits are critical. Take a reading on the channel that the alarm in question is monitoring. Ignore any decimal point. If you do not hear a four digit reading, pad the left side of the reading with zeros until the number is four digits long. This is the number that the RFC-1 uses for alarm testing.

For example, if a channel reads "100.0 percent" all four digits are accounted for so just drop the decimal. If, however, a channel reads "100 percent" then the leading zero has been suppressed and the actual reading for alarm purposes is "0100 percent". This is a very common programming error.

Alarm Action Sequence Setting

You need to have functional knowledge of the advanced programming mode of the RFC-1 to use the information provided in this section effectively. Review the Advanced Operation section of the RFC-1/B Installation and Operation manual for more information.

This is the final and most involved link in the process that connects an alarm to a corresponding system behavior. It is also the most difficult setting to adjust that is described in this document.

Each of the alarms A-H can be linked to a corresponding action sequence 1-8. As discussed above, the default is for all alarms to trigger action sequence 1 which holds the dialing instruction. Any action sequence can be used and any legal command can be programmed into the selected action sequence to generate a specific behavior. In this document, we only discuss the default settings because it is impossible to discuss all possible options.

The action sequence settings for each alarm can only be accessed in advanced programming mode. These settings are hidden when using the basic programming commands 90-97 described above to prevent casual users from changing them.

• the action sequence triggered by alarm A is stored at address 0855
• the action sequence triggered by alarm B is stored at address 0867
• the action sequence triggered by alarm C is stored at address 0879
• the action sequence triggered by alarm D is stored at address 0891
• the action sequence triggered by alarm E is stored at address 0903
• the action sequence triggered by alarm F is stored at address 0915
• the action sequence triggered by alarm G is stored at address 0927
• the action sequence triggered by alarm H is stored at address 0939

As an example, suppose you are using alarm A to monitor output power and you want reset this alarm so that it triggers action sequence 1 as in the factory default settings. Look up the address for the action sequence setting of alarm A in the list above--this address is 0855.

1. go online with the system from either the local or a remote phone
2. enter 80 to access advanced programming mode
3. when prompted, enter the advanced programming security code for your system
4. when prompted, enter 0855 for the four digit address (from the list above)
5. enter 1#, the system repeats "one" (this sets the action sequence to 1)
6. enter * to exit programming mode--very important, the system says "exit"

You will need the advanced programming security code for your RFC-1 system. The factory setting is 4150.

Telephone Number Call Mode (Voice/Data)

If the topics described above don't do the trick, we are quickly running out of options. An extremely minor point that can cause dialing failure is to program a telephone number to be dialed using a data connection with an RFC-1 that does not have any data hardware options installed.

Each telephone number A-F has an individually programmable dialing mode. Typically this should be set to 0 to indicate a voice mode call.

• the call mode for telephone number A is stored at address 0652
• the call mode for telephone number B is stored at address 0666
• the call mode for telephone number C is stored at address 0680
• the call mode for telephone number D is stored at address 0694
• the call mode for telephone number E is stored at address 0708
• the call mode for telephone number F is stored at address 0722

As an example, suppose you want to reset telephone number A to call in voice mode as in the factory default settings. Look up the address for the call mode for telephone number A in the list above--this address is 0652.

1. go online with the system from either the local or a remote phone
2. enter 80 to access advanced programming mode
3. when prompted, enter the advanced programming security code for your system
4. when prompted, enter 0652 for the four digit address (from the list above)
5. enter 0#, the system repeats "zero" (this sets the call mode to voice)
6. enter * to exit programming mode--very important, the system says "exit"

You will need the advanced programming security code for your RFC-1 system. The factory setting is 4150.

Conclusion

At this point we have covered all of the topics involved in repairing bad programming for the alarm system. If you have gone this far and the system is still not operating properly, either the hardware is damaged or the programming is terribly scrambled. If your system is messed up this bad, it is probably best to spend some serious time with the RFC-1/B Installation and Operation manual and become more acquainted with how advanced programming works so that you can determine exactly what your system has been setup to do.