Installation and Startup Guide | About Envision for BACtalk and this guide

About Envision for BACtalk and this guide

Envision for BACtalk is an operator workstation software package for BACnet-
compliant systems. Envision, which runs on a Windows personal computer,
enables BACtalk operators and developers to monitor and control BACnet-
compliant devices in their building automation system (BAS). The Envision for
BACtalk operator workstation communicates with BACnet-compliant field
equipment using BACnet over local area networks (LANs) and wide area
networks (WANs).

From the Envision for BACtalk operator workstation, operators can access any
BAS data made available on the network using the BACnet protocol standard—
even if it originates in another manufacturer’s device. Developers can use the
Envision for BACtalk operator workstation to program custom direct digital
control (DDC) sequences that run locally in BACtalk controllers. They can also
configure other site operational details.

In addition to the Envision for BACtalk operator workstation, Alerton offers a

complete line of BACnet-compliant equipment controllers (VLCs) and global
controllers (BTI, BTI-100, and BACtalk control modules). All BACtalk
products exchange messages in compliance with the BACnet protocol and
communicate on LANs as specified in ASHRAE Standard 135-2001, BACnet.

What’s new?
Envision for BACtalk v2.6 supports the following added features and
functionality:

• bd6 Support The bd6 DDC format provides enhanced descriptor

information and new math functions. This is a new DDC file format that
supports BACnet Advanced controllers starting with Alerton’s new
VLCA-1688.

• Advanced VLC DDC Editor Use this new (Green) character-based

editor instead of VisualLogic to configure VLCA-1688 DDC (bd6
format) if you do not have Visio installed or if you prefer a DOS-based
editing environment.

• VLCA-1688 support Envision for BACtalk v2.6 supports the new

VLCA-1688 (Advanced VisualLogic Controller). It is a
BACnet-compliant unitary controller with 16 universal inputs, 8 binary
outputs, and 8 analog outputs.

• Buffer Ready Event Type New Event Enrollment event type. Use it
when the selected Property is the total-record-count for a trendlog
object. Specify the notification threshold and send it to the controller.

• Change of Value (COV) trendlog support Supports devices that use

BACnet COV trendlogs starting with the VLCA-1688 controller.

• Custom Trendlog Instance When creating a new trendlog, Envision for

BACtalk automatically assigns it the next available trendlog instance for
the selected device. You can now override the default instance and
specify the trendlog instance when it is created. Note: You can not

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