The TOMAR Strobecom II 4140 and OSPOC is a system designed to aid in the transit of designated vehicles through traffic control systems, to their destinations. It provides feedback on system status and Ethernet communications via its front panel, which also features a single pushbutton for on-site installation and verification operations.
Function Description:
The core function of the Strobecom II 4140 and OSPOC is to manage preemption events for designated vehicles. This involves enabling or disabling channels, enabling or disabling transit on channels, testing channels using either transit or emergency bands, and activating a ranging process. The system can also be reset to its default configuration.
Preemption events are tracked and logged as configured, but if a channel is disabled, no preemption output is allowed for that channel. Similarly, a transit disable operation will disable all transit band preemption outputs for a channel. The system is designed to be configured by the customer to respond to each vehicle type, and drivers must be educated on the expected response. It's crucial for drivers to understand that the system aids in transit but does not guarantee protected right-of-way. Drivers are always responsible for ensuring safe passage through intersections, regardless of the system's operation.
Important Technical Specifications:
The front panel includes several key components:
- On Indicator LED: This LED provides information on the system's health. It pulses at a 2-second rate, known as a heartbeat. During power-up, a red heartbeat indicates initialization. Once initialized, a green heartbeat signifies normal operation.
- Power Switch: Used to turn the Strobecom II 4140 and OSPOC on or off.
- Ethernet Connector (RJ45): Provides Ethernet connectivity for the device.
- Channel LED Display: Six LEDs, numbered 1 to 6, indicate the respective channel for preemption. In normal operation, these LEDs show the status of any preemption events. They are also integral to the menu system for accessing front panel commands.
- Select Pushbutton: This button is used to access and navigate the front panel command menus.
Usage Features:
The Strobecom II 4140 and OSPOC offers two command menus accessible via the front panel:
- Simple Command Menu: By default, this menu is enabled and provides only emergency band test functions for the channels. To execute a test, the pushbutton is used to select a channel, then held for at least 2 seconds.
- Full Command Menu: This menu provides access to a comprehensive array of system commands. It is enabled by navigating to channel 6 LED and depressing the pushbutton for at least 5 seconds. The same process toggles back to the simple menu. When the full command menu is enabled, the LED on channel 6 will slowly flash amber during pushbutton activity. If all front panel LED indicators are solid red (indicating a configuration corruption), the full menu system is automatically enabled, allowing the user to reset the system to defaults by pressing and holding the pushbutton.
The full command menu is structured in three levels:
- Command Group Selection: The first level allows selection of a command group.
- Command Set Selection: The second level comprises command sets within the selected group.
- Command Activation: The lowest level is the activation of the command on a specific channel or channels.
Menu navigation and selected items are indicated using the front panel LED display. Active LED locations at the top level of menu navigation are shown in green.
- Channel 1 LED (Enable/Disable Menu):
- Enable or disable channels (Channel 1 LED).
- Enable or disable transit on channels (Channel 2 LED).
- Channel 2 LED (Ranging and Test Menu):
- Test emergency band on a channel (Channel 2 LED).
- Test transit band on a channel (Channel 3 LED).
- Arm the ranging process on a channel (Channel 4 LED).
- Channel 5 LED (Reserved): Lights up as a simple progress indicator during top-level menu navigation.
- Channels 3 and 4 LED (Reserved): Remain off during top-level menu navigation.
- Channel 6 LED (Full Menu Indicator): Flashes amber when using the pushbutton within the full menu.
There are three types of pushbutton operations:
- Selection Press: A press and release within 2 seconds. Used to navigate the current menu level and select a channel. The next menu item is selected and indicated by the LED display.
- Utilize Press: A press held for more than 2 seconds but less than 4 seconds. Used to enter a sub-menu or select a command. The LED may change (e.g., to amber for sub-menu entry) upon expiration of the 2-second interval.
- Activation Press: A press held for more than 4 seconds. Used to activate a command on the chosen channel. The LED will change according to the selected command upon expiration of the 4-second interval.
Important Notes on Usage:
- The channel 5 LED is for navigational purposes only; it has no functional menu item.
- Channel 3 and 4 LEDs are not used at the top level but are used for submenu items.
- Log entries are created when enabling or disabling a channel and for tests of either band, except on channels 5 and 6.
- Within a submenu, selection presses cycle through submenu items only once. After the last item, the next press navigates back to the top-level menu item.
- When selecting a channel for activation, selection presses cycle through channels. An option to select all channels is available for some commands.
- The system has a 30-second inactivity timeout, after which the menu returns to the idle state. This is the only way to exit channel selection mode.
- Submenu items are displayed starting with the LED position inherited from the top-level menu item.
- During active preemption, the front panel menu system is overridden, and the pushbutton should not be used.
Maintenance Features:
- Reset System to Default Configuration: From within the full command menu, the system can be reset to its default configuration by pressing and holding the pushbutton for at least 12 seconds, or until the front panel LEDs display a pattern. The heartbeat LED will pulse amber during this process, returning to green pulsing once defaults are set.
- Abort Ranging: A channel armed for ranging has a 10-minute timeout. An activation press can be issued to abort the ranging process before this timeout.
- Determining Transit Band Disabled Channels: The front panel does not directly indicate which channels have transit band disabled. To determine this, the full menu must be used to navigate to the channel selection stage of the transit enable/disable command. The LED will blink red or green, indicating disabled or enabled transit, respectively. After checking, the user can wait 30 seconds for the menu to reset to idle.
The manual emphasizes the importance of allowing 30 seconds of inactivity on the pushbutton to ensure the menu system is in the idle state before initiating new commands.
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