RS232 Protocol

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Rotel RC-1570

RS232 ASCII Controller Command List

The RC-1570 supports an ASCII based RS232 protocol. The RS232 hardware does

not support flow control so care needs to be take when sending and receiving data to

avoid packet loss.

The below protocol is effective starting with the Main software version V1.1.8.

All commands sent to the attached Rotel device must have a terminating “!” character.

Example Command: power_on!

Note: Do not include any spaces in the command, and do not include a carriage return

or line feed after the command, only the “!” terminating character.

Status information from the attached Rotel product with either have a terminating “!”

character or a byte count for variable length text data that may include a “!” in the

returned message. It is up to the sending/receiving control application to properly parse

and process the packets.

Note: The byte count only includes the text data and not the length or “,” character.

Note about Rotel Link RCD feature: The input that has been selected for the ROTEL LINK

RCD option in the setup menu of the RC-1570 will affect the response string from the

unit for that input. If the input has been set as the Rotel Link RCD input, the response

string for that input will be the second string listed in the table (i.e. if COAX1 has been

set as the Rotel Link RCD input, the response string will be source=coax1_cd! rather than

the standard response string of source=coax1!).

Connection Settings

Baud Rate Parity Valid Data Bits Stop Bit Value

Handshaking Data Type

115200 N 8 1 None String

Date Version Update Description

June 13, 2013 1.00 Original Specification

July 16, 2013 1.10

Change to remove prefix requirement – requires

Main Software V1.1.8 and later

January 17, 2014 1.20

Added Tone Control, Display Update Commands –

Requires Main Software V1.2.9 and later

June 4, 2014 1.30 Added special character mapping

April 30, 2015 1.40

New get_mute_status command added with Main

Software V1.3.8

September 16, 2016 1.41 Corrected volume scale from 1 - 86 to 1 - 96

Summary of content (8 pages)

PAGE 1
Rotel RC-1570 RS232 ASCII Controller Command List Date June 13, 2013 Version 1.00 July 16, 2013 1.10 January 17, 2014 1.20 June 4, 2014 1.30 April 30, 2015 1.40 September 16, 2016 1.41 Update Description Original Specification Change to remove prefix requirement – requires Main Software V1.1.8 and later Added Tone Control, Display Update Commands – Requires Main Software V1.2.9 and later Added special character mapping New get_mute_status command added with Main Software V1.3.
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Communication Protocol Command and response messages are included on the following pages. Automatic display update information can be enabled/disabled using the “display_update_auto” and “display_update_manual” on units with Main Software V1.2.9 or later installed. In automatic mode each time the display changes the new display line(s) will be sent. In manual mode the display updates must be requested each time a refresh of the display information is desired.
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RC-1570 ASCII rcd! Command Description Source Rotel CD SOURCE CONTROL COMMANDS play! Play Source stop! Stop Source pause! Pause Source track_fwd! Track Forward/Tune Up track_back! Track Backward/Tune Down fast_fwd! Fast Forward/Search Forward fast_back! Fast Backward/Search Backward random! Random Play Mode Toggle repeat! Repeat Play Mode Toggle MENU CONTROL COMMANDS menu! Display the Menu exit! Exit Key up! Cursor Up down! Cursor Down left! Cursor Left right! Cursor Right enter! Enter Key NUMERIC KEY COM
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RC-1570 ASCII Command Description treble_-10! Set Treble to -10 treble_000! Set Treble to 0 treble_+10! Set Treble to +10 BALANCE CONTROL COMMANDS balance_right! Balance Right balance_left! Balance Left balance_L15! Set Balance to Max Left balance_000! Set Balance to 0 balance_R15! Set Balance to Max Right OTHER COMMANDS dimmer! Toggle display dimmer dimmer_0! Set display to brightest setting dimmer_1! Set display to dimmer level 1 dimmer_2! Set display to dimmer level 2 dimmer_3! Set display to dimmer leve
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Command: Description: Return String: Return Description: Example: Command: Description: Return String: Return Description: Example: Command: Description: Return String: Return Description: Example: Command: Description: Return String(s): Return Description: Example: get_display2! Request display line #2 to be sent display2=##,text Current display line 2, must include 2 digit length of text string at beginning followed by "," and text string (no terminating character) display2=20, Sample Text get_product_ty
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Command: Description: Return Description: Example: get_current_source! Request current source source=analog_cd! / source=cd! / source=coax1! / source=coax1_cd! / source=coax2! / source=coax2_cd! / source=opt1! / source=opt2! / source=tuner! / source=phono! / source=usb! / source=pc_usb! / source=aux1! / source=aux2! / source=bal_xlr! Current source source=pc_usb! Command: Description: Return String(s): Return Description: Example: get_tone! Request current tone control state tone=on! / tone=off! Current
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Command: Description: Return Description: Example: get_current_freq! Request current frequency for digital source input freq=off! / freq=32! / freq=44.1! / freq=48! / freq=88.2! / freq=96! / freq=176.
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Section 3: Special Character Mapping Certain characters on the RC-1570 display may be represented by a combination of 2-3 hex bytes in the feedback string provided by the unit. Refer to the chart below for a mapping of the different characters.