Operator's Handbook
Welcome to the Walla Walla Community College Interactive Television System. As an ITVS operator you are an important part of the success of the instructor. There are two permanent ITV sites at the main campus and two sites in Clarkston. The two sites on the main campus are in rooms 243 and 285. The ITV system in room 243 is Vtel. The ITV system in room 285 is Polycom. Sometimes you will hear people talking about the IVC, Interactive Video Conferencing. IVC and ITV are the same.

The operator is responsible to see that the room is in order, the necessary equipment is on and working, and to assist the instructor, students or conferees as needed. During the first few weeks with a new instructor, the operator will need to operate all or most of the equipment. As the instructor becomes comfortable and familiar with the equipment, he will begin to take over control of most of the operation. If the instructor moves a lot and the camera is to stay on him, the operator may need to continue to operate the pan/tilt head for the full term.

The operator should also be familiar with the WWCCITVS Instructor Manual and Student Manual.

Reference to any actual wording used on remote controls or panels is underlined.

Room 285

The Polycom codec in room 285 is located on the West wall in front of the room. It has a camera attached. This camera is used as a student and conference camera. A green light on the front of the codec should be slowly flashing when not in use. When in use but not connected to another site the light is a steady green. If the green light is not on or flashing, check to see if the power is connected and turned on. During a connection the light is a steady yellow.

A. Powering up equipment

1. Press the power switch on the multiple outlet strip in the teaching console.

2. Press white switches 1 & 2 on the white Radio Shack power control in the teaching console. Switch 1 applies power to the instructor camera. Switch 2 applies power to the ceiling microphone mixers. These switches will not work if the power switch on the multiple outlet strip is not activated. (step 1)

3. On the front left side of the instructor camera next to the lens is a switch. Press the green button and move the switch up to the Camera position.

4. Turn on the power on the Tascam audio mixer in the closet.

5. If instruction is from this end (near end), turn on the ComTek wireless microphone receiver in the closet. Be sure to check the 9 volt battery in the wireless microphone transmitter located on a shelf in the teaching console.

6. Press the power button on the remote control for the Mitsubishi video/data projector in the center of the room. It takes about 1 minute for the light to come to full brightness. Be sure the screen is down.

7. Press the power switch on the Sony 32” video monitor in the Northwest corner.

8. If instruction is from the near end, press the on-off switch on the remote control for the Sanyo video projector. The remote control is usually located on a shelf in the teaching console. The Sanyo video projector is not needed if the instruction is from the far end or the ITV use is a conference.

9. In the closet is a gray box with a toggle switch on top. If the instruction is from the near end, the toggle should be leaning toward the label: Near End. If the instruction is from the far end or the ITV use is conferencing, the toggle should be leaning toward the label Far End.

10. Turn on the Panasonic VCR in the closet.

B. Making a Call

All functions of the Polycom codec are controlled with the Polycom remote control.

1. Highlight the Video Call icon. This is normally highlighted when the codec is powered up or the menu button is pressed.

2. From the main menu press the green Call Hang-up button or the red button with the round dot.

3. If you are calling a new number (not listed in the address book) enter the number using the number key pad. Do not enter spaces or dots unless specifically instructed to do so.

4. Check the speed. It should normally be at 384 (kbps) although we may runs some connections at 768.

5. When the number and speed are correct, press the green Call٠Hang-up button. The screen should say it is dialing and show the call destination and the data rate or speed. The speed is in kilobits per second (bps).

Speed Dial

If the dialup number is already in the address book you can speed dial.

1. From the main menu, use the red arrow keys to highlight Address Book in the lower left corner of the screen.

2. Press the center red button.

3. Use the arrow keys to highlight the destination.

4. Press the green Call٠Hang-up button.

Calls outside K-20 system

To call locations not connected to the K-20 system key in 1 and the 10 digit number. Do not use dots, spaces or dashes. Keep in mind that when making a call the system needs six lines. During busy times there may not be enough lines available. If you cannot make a connection in a minute or two, hang up and call again.

Hang Up

Press the green Call٠Hang-up button. A Hang-up choice menu will appear. Press the green Call٠Hang-up button again.

C. Controlling the camera on the Polycom codec

1. If the camera icon is pointed away, press the gray Near button.

2. Control the camera pan and tilt functions with the red arrow keys. Control the zoom with the Zoom button.

D. Changing video sources on the codec

There are two video sources connected on the Polycom codec; the main camera and the VCR.

1. Press the gray Near button. Three icons will appear at the bottom of the screen. These icons stay up only a short time. If they disappear before changing sources press the Near button again.

2. Use the left or right arrow keys to select either the camera icon (default) or the VCR icon. Currently, nothing is connected to the visual presenter icon (between the camera and VCR icons). The camera icon is the camera on the codec. The VCR icon connects to the JVC A/V switcher in the teaching console. The video sources connected to the A/V switcher are:

(1) Instructor camera (up by the rear pro jection screen)

(2) (not used)

(3) (not used)

(4) VCR

(5) Computer

(6) Elmo visual presenter

(7) DVD

These can be switched on the unit or with the remote control.

E.Video/Data Projector

The projector hanging in the middle of the room is a Mitsubishi video/data projector. It is connected to the codec through the aluminum box switch and video distribution amplifier in the closet. There is also a direct connection to the computer. To switch to a direct computer connection press RGB on the video/data projector remote control. The input is RGB 1. To switch to the codec output press Video on the remote. The input is video 2. Normally, the projector is left of the video 2 input.

F. Audio

There are two types of audio in ITV, near end and far end, or, outgoing and incoming.

The far end audio is heard from one speaker above the codec. It is controlled by an Radio Shack amplifier in the closet.

The near end audio is controlled with two mixers. The 12 ceiling microphones are controlled individually with 2 Radio Shack microphone mixers in the black cabinet in the closet. They feed into input 1 on the Tascam audio mixer. The wireless microphone feeds into input 2 on the Tascam audio mixer. The audio coming from the teaching console feeds into input 8 on the Tascam audio mixer. All of this feeds out of bus 2 on the Tascam to the codec. These mixers have no effect on the incoming audio.

F. Shutting down

1. Be sure the call is hung up, that is, disconnected from the far end. When left on the menu screen the codec will shut down automatically when not in use.

2. Power down the following:

a. Instructor camera (wite control button 1 in console)

b. Audio mixers (white control button 2 in console)

c. Sony 32” monitor (in the corner)

d. Multiple outlet in teaching console

e. Tascam mixing board (in closet)

f. Wireless transmitter and receiver if used.

g. Sanyo video projector. Press the power button twice.

h. Mitsubishi video/data projector. Press the power button twice.

Do not turn off or unplug the main power buttons on the Sanyo video projector or Mitsubishi video/data projector. If it is necessary to turn off or unplug these projectors, wait until the fan has quit running; takes about 2 minutes.

G. Instructor camera control

Two remotes control the instructor's camera.

1. The instructor camera remote controls the zoom. Focus is automatic.

2, The instructor camera pan/tilt remote controls the pan (side to side motion) and tilt (up and down motion). There is also a sliding control on this remote.

Generally, the zoom can stay fixed, usually as wide as possible.

The pan/tilt remotes is only needed if the instructor moves a lot. In this case, the wire for the pan/tilt control can be run out the front of the instructor console so the operator can be out of the picture.

Room 243

The Vtel codec in room 243 is located in the rolling cabinet marked “Vtel.”

A. Powering up equipment

1. Open the front of the Vtel cabinet and push on the amber Power switch in the upper right corner. The switch should light up. This will power up the codec, sound mixer, wireless mike receiver and the amplifier for far end audio.

2. Press power on the three big screen TV's.

3. Turn on the power on the multiple outlet in the teaching console. This powers up the two monitors in the teaching console.

B. A/V switch 1

Press the ITV button.

C. Wireless keyboard

Pull the wireless keyboard out of the Vtel cabinet and place it on the teaching console. The mouse function is on the keyboard. Rolling the ball on the right of the screen moves the arrow. The buttons on the left are the left and right mouse buttons. If the keyboard/mouse does not function be sure the infra-red light emitters on the side of the keyboard are not blocked and one is pointed toward the receiver. The receiver is a little black unit with some red lights on the Vtel cabinet ledge. Also, the keyboard operates on batteries which need to be replaced periodically.

D. Making a call

There are two ways to make a call. When you first boot up, a speed dial connection interface window should appear. If not, click on the man-in-the-green-window icon on the toolbar. This is the show-connection-interface icon. The first tab (default) is the speed dial.

1. Scroll down and highlight the location to which you want to connect.

2. Click on Dial. A window will appear informing you about the status of your call.

If the desired location is not on the speed dial list:

1. Click on the Hand Dialer tab.

2. Use the mouse to dial in the number on the number keypad. Do not key in spaces or dots.

3. Set the line speed which is usually 384 (kbps).

4. Click on Dial.

Calls outside K-20 system

If you are making calls outside the K-20 system key in #0071 plus the 10 digit number. If the call does not go through in a minute or two there may not be enough free lines. If that happens, hang up and try again.

E. Hang up

1. On the Speed Dialer or Hand Dialer click on Hang up.

-Or-

2. Click the Disconnect-Video-Call icon on the toolbar. It is the one with the yellow slash across the man next to the microphone icon.

F. Camera control

The cameras can be controlled with the keyboard mouse or with a remote control.

1. To control the pan/tilt from the keyboard, move the arrow so the arrow points in the direction of movement and press the left mouse button.

2. To zoom in, move the arrow to a position somewhere near mid-screen until it becomes a magnifying glass with a plus. Press the left mouse button to zoom in.

3. To zoom out, move the arrow to a position somewhere mid-screen until it becomes a magnifying glass with a minus in it. Press the left mouse button to zoom out.

4. To control the far end camera, move the arrow across to the far end monitor and perform above steps 1, 2 or 3.

5. To change video near end sources: On the main toolbar click the first camera icon. This will bring up a secondary vertical toolbar with more camera icons. Camera 1 is the student (default) camera located on the side of the big screen TV in the front of the room. Camera 2 is the instructor camera located on top of the big screen TV centered next to the east wall. Camera 3 is the Elmo Visual Presenter. Camera 4 is not used.

6. To change video sources on the far end: on the main toolbar, click the second camera icon. The camera selections in Clarkston are the same as room 243. Not all sites will allow you to control their cameras. You cannot control any far end cameras during a multipoint conference

G. Audio

You deal with two types of audio in the ITV environment: Incoming and outgoing or far end and near end. Far end audio can be controlled two ways.

1. Move the mouse until a horizontal sliding bar control icon appears in the lower right corner of the near end screen above the main toolbar.

2. Click and hold the slider and move it with the mouse.

-Or-

3. Adjust the volume on the Radio Shack amplifier in the bottom of the blue cabinet.

Microphones

The ceiling mikes are controlled by the Mackie audio mixer on the Vtel cabinet. The first nine mixer input control numbers correspond to the numbers on the microphone box covers on the ceiling. Input 10 is the wireless microphone.

The Mackie audio mixer controls all near end audio, that is, audio that is being transmitted to the far end. It looks complicated but most of the buttons need no attention unless someone messes with them. The only indication of an audio transmission problem will be detected at the Mackie audio mixer.

If the far end cannot hear the audio you are transmitting:

1. Check to make sure the audio is not muted in the codec. The mute indication is a slash across the mike icon on the toolbar.

2. Check to see if the Mackie audio mixer has power. Both the yellow Phan (phantom) and the red Pwr (main power) LED's (lights) should be lit.

3. Check to see if:

a. the trim buttons (along the top) are turned up. The should be pretty close to 60.

b. The buttons 1-2 in the slider bank are pushed in.

c. The slider controls are up to the gray area, about ¾ up.

d. The sub slider controls 1-2 are up.

e. The main L-R mix slider control is up.

f. The Subs 1-2 button is pushed in.

If the far end still receives no audio the problem could be on their end. Sometimes, there is a problem in the connection. In that case it is necessary to disconnect, shut down and reboot the system.

H. Shutting down

1. On the main toolbar, click the red Vtel ball until a computer icon appears.

2. Click the computer icon.

3. Click Start.

4. Click Shut down.

5. Select Shut down the computer.

6. Click Yes. A warning will appear.

7. Click OK and wait for the bottom bar to clear.

8. Repeat steps 3 – 6.

9. When It is now safe to turn off your comptuer appears turn off the amber power switch in the Vtel cabinet.

10. Turn off the power on the multiple outlet in the teaching console.

11. Turn of the power to the big screen TV's.