Placing specialized devices

Specialized devices can be placed on the drawing, or placed “in line” on a circuit, dividing the circuit where they are placed. Terminal panels have a special socket that can accept connections from either side.

If an existing jack (jackfield) or terminal panel device is already selected when placing a new device, the new device is sequentially numbered.

1. Click the tool that matches the type of required device from the Schematics tool set.

2. For jack (jackfield) and panel tools, click the Preferences button on the Tool bar to open the Preferences dialog box. By default, the values from the ConnectCAD settings are applied (see Specifying ConnectCAD settings), but they can be overridden here.

Parameter	Description
Group ID Series	Sets the sequence of the letters and numbers available from the Group list in the Term Panel Setup or Jackfield Setup dialog box
Panel ID Series	Sets the sequence of letters and numbers available from the Panel list in the Term Panel Setup or Jackfield Setup dialog box. The label type determines how these are used. For example, for jackfields labeled AB, CD, EF..., each character pair is taken from this list. For an A, B, C... label style, these are taken one by one.
Panel Sizes	Sets the maximum number of holes for the panel type
Delim	Specify the delimiter character for numeric styles

3. If placing the device over an existing circuit, the circuit is highlighted to indicate that the device will be inserted into the circuit. Click to place the device.

Depending on the tool type, one of the following dialog boxes opens automatically: VDA tool, ADA tool, Jackfield Setup, Term Panel Setup, or Connector Panel Setup. Specify the device parameters.

The Conn Panel Input and Conn Panel Output tools are special panel connector devices that can be associated with a Conn panel on the Rack Elevation layer. See Creating connector panel layouts.

Parameter	Description
Make/Model (ADA/VDA only)	Select the make and model number from the list
DA number (ADA/VDA only)	Select the DA number to start from, such as VDA01
Number of outputs (ADA/VDA only)	Select the number of outputs for the DA, up to the maximum for the model
Repeat	Specify the number of sequentially-numbered devices to create
Location (Jack and term panel only)	Select the equipment rack location and U location on the layout drawing
Jackfield data (Jack and term panel only)	Assigns the panel to a named group of jackfields or terminal panels. This extends the name space of large patching systems by adding a group prefix in front of the row/column value. The panel and port number are set according to the options in the ConnectCAD preferences.
Panel and Port Name (Conn panel only)	Select the connector panel to associate with the object, and assign a port code and number combination. The port name must be unique for each device.
Panel Connector (Conn Panel only)	Select the connection type; the preview updates automatically (green indicates an input connector, and red indicates an output connector). Specify the number of circuits to create, for a multi-circuit connector.

4. Specify the device parameters and labeling options, and click OK to place the device into the circuit or in the drawing.

If you continue placing the same jackfield or terminal panel device, the device number automatically increments.

VDA (video distribution amplifier)	ADA (audio distribution amplifier)
Video Jack (jackfield patch panel)	Audio Jack
Data Jack	Optical Jack
Video Jack U-linked	Audio Jack Full-Normal
Audio Jack Half-Normal	Data Jack Normal
Optical Jack Linked	Video Term Panel
Audio Term Panel	Data Term Panel
Optical Term Panel	Conn Panel Input
Conn Panel Output	DIN rail terminal