Nathan Sauer's Blog

Fall Update

After a tremendously busy summer, things have finally slowed down... a bit. I thought I might actually update my blog, since it has been awhile. Although, when I looked at my last entry I couldn't believe that it has almost been a year since blogged - A YEAR! - really?! Man time flies.

Well anyways when I look back at what has been accomplished in the last year, it is incredible.

First of all, we have a brand new 300 bed residence hall (Ackerman), with two new classrooms - the buzz term is a live/learn center. Basically it leaves students little excuse for being late to class when it is just a short elevator ride down to the first floor or down the hall.

Second, we also remodeled the Social Science building classroom wing, which was actually phase two of the remodel of that building. It required me to tear all 10 of those smart classrooms apart, and then re-wire and re-install all of the equipment right before fall classes. Another big project.

Third, OPE was remodeled with updated offices, network wiring, a new Smart Classroom in room 202 (formally known as room 106). New paint, new flooring, and new fixtures really helped to make the "old" section of OPE much nicer.

Lastly, we had a number of smaller install projects that were funded with year end money from the President's Office. These included:

-a very nice new sound system in Maple Hall (it really rocks in there now!)
-a new audio and video system in NPE 201
-a new A/V system in the ED 201G conference room -
-a flat panel TV in the Human Resources conference room
-Hammersly Room 210 was upgraded to a smart conference room
-NS 004 was completely gutted and made into a great Smart Classroom lab w/ 12 computer stations
-Todd 106 was upgraded with a new installed projector, speakers, and a console with a computer
-we also put up several more digital signage units across campus

That's it. Just a few things going on... Well that and our new $30 Wellness Center with 6 smart classrooms, 4 multipurpose rooms, a kinesiology lab, locker rooms, rock wall, indoor track, etc... I'll save that for the next blog though.

VHS resurrected, but hanging on by a thread

In my last post I wrote about the fact that the VHS format is essentially being discontinued. However, there are still a lot of VHS tapes out there that are being used. So, Panasonic released a new Blu-Ray/VHS combo deck to transition people out of the format and allow them to use the newest disc format - Blu-Ray. I have been replacing some of the older equipment in the oldest Smart Classrooms with this new combo deck, and will continue to use it until it is discontinued completely.

In addition to adding this new Blu-Ray/VHS deck, I have also been replacing projectors, monitors (with new widescreen Hitachi Starboards), video scalers, and the VGA matrix in these rooms:

CH 101 (partially completed)
ED 118
MOD 104 (completed)
SH 122
Sta 102B (next)

VHS is dead

VCRs were first introduced in the early 1970's and VHS went on to win the VHS - Betamax war in the mid-70's. For several decades, VHS was the standard for video playback both at home (VHS stands for Video Home System) and in the office. VHS camcorders made it easy to record video and take it to a VHS machine for playback. However, when DVDs were introduced to consumers in 1996, it triggered a new war for video. By 2006, the United States had stopped releasing new movie titles in VHS format, opting for others such as DVD and Blu-ray. On December 23, 2008, the last major United States supplier of pre-recorded VHS tapes, Distribution Video Audio Inc. of Palm Harbor, Florida, shipped its final truckload.

Last year, we decided to stop using VHS camcorders altogether since we can no longer purchase replacement machines to replace our aging units. Instead we offer MiniDV camcorders to be setup in classes requiring them. This year, because many manufacturers are no longer making VHS decks, we have decided to stop installing these machine in Smart Classrooms. All new Smart Classroom installations will have Blu-Ray/DVD players installed instead. If you need to play a VHS tape in your classroom that does not have a VCR, please call Classroom Support or submit an equipment request to have us deliver one to your room (I will keep some units on hand for this).

Digital Signage

We have recently purchased a new digital signage system that will allow us great flexibility in displaying campus and department news and events. The system will be implemented in stages. Look for the new monitors in UCS (ITC 009) and Natural Sciecne (NS Lobby) to be installed over the next couple of weeks. We are really excited to be able to bring this new technology to the campus, and hope that other departments will be interested in creating dynamic content to show off the creativity of their respective areas.

Continuing Education

The past couple of weeks I've been bouncing around on different projects. I've been installing outdoor webcams for the new construction projects going on here- one for the Wellness Center, and the other for the new Residence Halls. I've also been working on the emergency notification system, and a new alarm system replacement.

The latest project was programming the control system for an upcoming Smart Classroom - NS 017. Now this should have been easy, but this project had something new which I've never dealt with - a PTZ camera that uses RS-485. I have connected hundreds of RS-232 devices, some of which proved a challenge, but RS-485 is very different. First of all, RS-232 is for one device, whereas RS-485 can connect many devices on one port - they just daisy chain together. The communications protocol addresses which device you want to connect to.

The challenge was figuring out the wiring of the cable. Out of the camera was an RJ-11. The Crestron port is DB9. So I had to make a cable from CAT5e with an RJ45 on one end and DB9 on the other, figure out the pinout of the RJ11, and try to relate that to the pinout on the DB9. Problem was the manual for the camera was not correct, and the Crestron info was wrong. Apparently RS-485 does not use a wiring "standard" like RS-232. It can vary by manufacturer. Finally downloaded a cable schematic that told me to tie the pins together - huh? So essentially I make a 4 wire connection into a 2 wire connection with no ground... did not make sense to me either, but it worked! Weird. Anyways, I continue to learn this stuff.

Summer Projects

We completed all of the 08-09' fiscal year Smart Classrooms in late June (all 20 of them!), so now we are onto the 09'-10' fiscal year projects. This summer (before fall term) I'm upgrading:
NS 101
NS 017
Todd 349
HL 108
and the WUC Columbia Room.

I have also been working on a classroom emergency notification system. This system will automatically turn on projectors, and switch to a dedicated video channel that will broadcast campus wide over IP multicasting. It has already been installed in several rooms, and testing has shown it to be very effective. Our goal is to be able to notify the campus community quickly and effectively in case of an emergency. This will work in conjunction with the phone/text system that we have already implemented on campus.

THE BELLS ARE BACK!!!

In case you missed them, the carillon bells are back up and running on the HSS roof. We are still working on the music, but the hourly chimes are now working again. They have been down since the HSS west wing remodel, but with the help of Joe Harchenko, and Rhawn Krogh, I was able to get them operational today starting at 11AM. They will chime every hour on the hour from 8AM to 5PM Mon - Sun. We hope to add an 8AM, 12PM, and 5PM song in the near future. Let me know what you think.

The last couple of months have just been non-stop. Continuing on my one new Smart Classroom a week(ish) mission, I have added 6 new Smart Classrooms since Spring Break here is what I have completed.

MOD 102
MOD 103
MOD 107
OMA 101
OMA 102
OMA 103

Thanks to all of the faculty who have moved their classes out of the MODs and OMA during those weeks to allow us to complete the work. Next week we are upgrading HSS 235 with new equipment and a new console, since this is one of the oldest SCs on campus.

Spring Break 09'

It has been a busy past couple of weeks (ok months, I haven't updated for a while). We have been able to upgrade NS 123 and Todd 347. The total number of Smart Classrooms on campus now stands at 60 (hard to believe there are that many...). I was also able to build the MNB Theater plasma TV cart with document camera and VCR/DVD combo. I updated all of our classroom delivery laptops with the latest Sophos connections and definitions, as well as all of the latest Windows updates. We were not able to do as much maintenance in the classrooms as I would have liked, but most of the Smart Classrooms were updated and checked for problems.

Just FYI, the next rooms I will be working on starting on April 6- April 24 are:
MOD 102
MOD 103
MOD 107.

Then in May, I will begin working on OMA 101, 102, and 103. After that HSS 235, and NPE 114 will get some new equipment and consoles. APS 212 will be made into a full Smart Classroom probably end of May or in June. There's more, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Winter Break 2009

Over the past couple of months, we have had a lot of requests for Smart Classrooms to be installed. I think the total of projects I'm working on now is about 13 or so. I have 3 rooms which will be completed before Winter term - ED 240, HSS 108, and HL 107. ED 240 will be a single projector room, HS 108 will be a dual projector surround sound room, and HL 107 is just being upgraded with control system, new projector, amplifier, and a HD teleconferencing system. The rest of the rooms will be completed as we have time for them during the next 2 terms.

Summer Progress

The summer is quickly slipping away, but we have made good progress on our projects so far. I am just finishing up the last(!) Smart Classroom which ended up being MNB 130. The newly added rooms are:

APSC 301
MNB 103
MNB 104
MNB 110
MNB 130
MNB 205
MNB 222
MNB 223

Construction on MNB is finishing up this week, and the Math and Nursing departments are starting to move in. This building will be a great addition to the campus, and a long awaited upgrade to the Math department. With all new Cat6 wiring, Gigabit connections throughout, 802.11N wireless access points, and a beautiful complete remodel this building will be the flagship classroom building on campus. Several other Smart Classrooms have had minor remodeling as well:

Smith 121
ITC 305
ITC 310
ITC 311.

Continuing Education

I have just completed my first year as a Limited Energy Technician Class A apprentice. I started as a class B, but mid-year WOU became a training for the A license so I joined that program. I have also completed the continuing education necessary to renew my Certified Technology Specialist certification through InfoComm back in April. This is a 3 year certification which requires a minimum of 30 credit hours to become re-certified. Just last week I completed the continuing ed. for my Extron A/V Associate program which is an annual online class that keeps you updated on Extron technologies. Technology changes very fast, so I am trying to stay up to date on the newest advances.

Lights, Cameras, Action

Ok well maybe not the lights, but we have been busy installing new security cameras around campus. We have installed cameras on the outside of Admin, Education, MNB, OPE, and Rice to cover the parking lots at each location. This will help not only with security but safety as well. We will probably be adding several other cameras as well in the near future.

Smart Classrooms - Summer 07'

The first of 8 Smart Classrooms to be installed over the summer - APS 301 - was completed the first week of June. The rest of the rooms are in MNB and should be starting here about the middle of July. Smith 121 - the auditorium - is also being completely remodeled. New seats, lighting changes, curtains, the console and structure of the Smart Classroom is being modified and moved as well. A new mixing board will reside now in the center of the room to better control sound for performances.

Down at the Stadium - a new sound system has been installed to significantly upgrade the system that was there. Cascade Sound designed and installed the system.

On the Telecom side, we have been busy installing new security cameras on the Education and Administration buildings. The new cameras will cover the parking lots and East side entrances to the buildings. We are also working on cameras for OPE, Rice, and MNB. Lastly, we are continuing to make progress on the wireless networks down at the the dorms. There is a lot of conduit and wiring infrastructure that must be installed before an access point can be brought online. We hope to have the majority of this completed by the end of the summer.

Campus Wireless

Telecom and UCS have been working together to complete the campus wide Wi-Fi project. So far nearly every building on campus has wireless access inside and out. Currently we are working on the dorms, (Gentle, Butler, Barnum, etc.) We are testing some antenna locations to see what will work the best to have signal to all rooms. Because of the number of access points needed to cover such large areas, this will take some time. It is ironic that wireless access takes so many wires to make it work. Each access point has a home run wire back to the switch which is usually located in the basement or first floor of every building. Technology continues to change, and so the current access points we are installing in the dorms are 802.11N (they also support A, B and G connectivity). 802.11N is the newest standard and will allow faster speeds up to 300MB connections and greater range.

OPA to MNB

In case you are not familiar with the acronym, MNB is the new Math and Nursing Building. Construction is well under way to transform this building from the Police Academy to the Math department and New Nursing program. On my end this means coordinating and installing 7 new Smart Classrooms - two of which are computer lab classrooms, and working with Education Management Solutions on the Nursing Simulation Laboratory. The building with be completed over the summer with fall 08' classes already scheduled. As you can imagine this is an ambitious undertaking that has required many meetings and a lot of coordination.