RC4 Features
Keep your RC4 devices up-to-date, and easily add new features as we release them.
RC4 Series 3 Harmonized Design™ started with development of the RC4 Series 3 CodeLoader™. Before any complex system code and functionality was created, we ensured that updates and custom features could always be installed with ease by users in the field.
The RC4 CodeLoader™ is resident in every RC4 Series 3 device and is carefully protected. RC4 firmware files are encrypted before release and decrypted by the CodeLoader™, inside the device. The RC4 CodeLoader™ also guards the device’s unique serial number and RDM address. (Every RDM device in the world must have its own unique address). Updating firmware in your RC4 Series 3 device will never corrupt this important device-specific information.
The RC4 CodeLoader™ facilitates firmware updating without corrupting user settings and configurations, provided the new firmware does not substantially change the range of available settings and their ranges (major version updates may require loading factory default settings). In most cases, a firmware maintenance release can be installed without affecting DMX channels, curves, and other application-specific settings.
Connection to a host PC for CodeLoading is done with an RC4 Series 3 USB CodeLoader Cable™. One end plugs into the DMX miniplug port on the Series 3 device, the other end plugs into a USB port on the PC.
The RC4 CodeLoader™ application runs natively in Microsoft Windows and is fully tested for all versions from WinXP to Win10. All you need is a working PC, the CodeLoader app, an Internet connection (to retrieve new RC4 code files), a USB port, and the RC4 CodeLoader Cable™.
See the RC4 Series 3 USB CodeLoader Cable product page or the Software & Firmware Downloads page to download CodeLoader software for Windows PC and MAC OS.
Did you catch that mention of updates or custom features?
Because the RC4 CodeLoader™ makes firmware updates easy, RC4 Wireless can easily deliver customized code to solve unique problems. We email you the firmware file, you install it with the RC4 CodeLoader™, and you’re up and running. No need for physical shipping of a new or updated device. For example, we don’t have standard code for running a stepper motor with an RC4 Series 3 dimmer, but it could easily be done using a 4-channel dimmer. Each dimmer would drive one of the four windings in a typical stepper. The high-resolution of our dimmers even supports micro-stepping for outstanding positional accuracy!