EPAC 300

Actuated NEMA Traffic Controller Unit

Basic Programming Guide

Prepared By: Nick Basilico
Version: 1
Date: 10/2014
2

Overview

This guide is intended for traffic signal collectors that are new to the EPAC 300 traffic
controller or any controller unit operating SE-PAC software. It does not include all the
features available on the controller unit, nor does it provide any information on NEMA
cabinet hardware other than TS1 operation of the controller unit.

The purpose of the guide is to get the collector programming a pre-timed intersection
of up to 4 sequential phases plus 2 leading overlaps. It will also include how to set up
night flash as well as choosing a second time plan.

Further more advanced programming would be covered in a later version of this guide.

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Table of Contents

Starting Out with a Used Controller Unit----------------------- 4

Programming Start Up Operation ------------------------------- 6

Timing Vehicle Phases----------------------------------------------7

Timing Pedestrian Phases----------------------------------------- 8

Initializing the Phases-----------------------------------------------9

Pretimed Cycling or Actuated? ------------------------------------10

Leading Overlaps----------------------------------------------------11

Time of Day Operation---------------------------------------------12

Programming MAX 2 -----------------------------------------------14

Programming Remote Flash----------------------------------------15

Viewing Active Status----------------------------------------------- 16

Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------


4

Starting Out with a Used Controller Unit

This section is intended for someone who has just bought an EPAC.

Upon powering up the controller unit, on EPACs M42 and older, the controller will run
self-diagnostics before powering up. Once all the diagnostics pass, the controller
displays the main menu with the manufacturer name (Eagle or Siemens), and software
revision information.

First, check to make sure the controller does not have an internal pass code. From the
main menu, go into UTILITIES and then into ENABLE ACCESS

You want to see this: ACCESS IS ENABLED

You do not want to see this, if you do not know the password: ACCESS IS DISABLED
ENTER THE FOUR DIGIT CODE AND PRESS E

If the latter is the case, it will be much more difficult and may require new firmware
with access enabled. If its the prior, and you do not know the access code, press F to
return to UTILITIES, and choose CHANGE ACCESS.

Now, enter a four digit code that youll remember should it disable itself. Any four digit
code from 0000 through 9998 will work.

Code 9999 establishes perpetual access which disables the access code feature.

Not entering the access code, or establishing perpetual access to the controller will
prevent data to be altered. ACCESS IS REQUIRED PRESS E TO RETURN will appear at
the bottom of the screen you are trying to change.

Once access is enabled, the next step is to clear out garbage data in the controller
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Still in UTILITIES, go to LOAD DEFAULT. Depending on the version of the EPAC, this
screen may allow you to select different options. In older EPACs, press E to load default
parameters. In newer versions of the EPAC, select FULL FUNCTION EPAC, likely the
current mode.

FULL FUNCTION EPAC is standard operation, another option is TX DIAMOND or Texas
Diamond Interchange operation which is an advanced, confusing algorithm for diamond
interchanges developed by Texas DOT.

Once the default parameters for FULL FUNCTION EPAC or similar are loaded, the
controller will be reloaded with factory settings and any data from its use out in the
field, garbage data as I call it, is cleared out.
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Programming Start Up Operation

After access is enabled, and default parameters are loaded, press F until you return to
the main menu.

Select UNIT DATA from the main menu and then select START UP & MISC.

This menu is intended to tell the controller how long to wait to start timing and what to
do at the end of the wait period. Start up requires a flasher pack to operate flashing. If
no flasher is present, set the START UP TIME to zero so that it immediately begins
timing. Otherwise, 5 to 10 seconds of flashing is sufficient.

START UP STATE tells the controller what it should be in at the end of the flash cycle.
Either flash until start (FLASH) or flash and then go to an all red state (RED).

The other parameters can be left at zero or their default state for a basic operation. The
only two needed to be modified are START UP TIME and START UP STATE.

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Programming Vehicle Timing

Now, we are finally into the meat of basic programming: programming the vehicle
traffic signal times. From the main menu, select PHASE DATA and then VEHICLE TIMES.
If default data was loaded, this menu should be packed with factory data across.
The rows are timing parameters, the columns are phases. From the top corner Enter
0 and then press E repeatedly and the controller will start clearing out everything.
The controller may go into an error flash, ignore it while programming is going on.
When you reach the Yellow Change row (YEL/10) you will receive an error that it
cannot be zeroed. Yellows cannot be lower than 3.0 seconds (30 tenth seconds)
Move the cursor to the RED/10 row and zero everything out so that the entire menu is
zeros except for YEL/10. Yellows are ignored without other timing in place.
Minimum Green (MIN GRN) and Passage (PASS/10) are for basic actuated control. This
guide is for pretimed operation so the only rows we will worry about are Maximum Time
1, eventually Maximum Time 2, Yellow and Red.
Maximum Time 1 (MAX1) is your total green time in seconds. Examples could be phase
1 is 15 seconds, phase 2 is 30 seconds, phase 3 is 12 and phase 4 is 45 seconds.
YEL/10 is the yellow time for the phase, in tenth seconds. This means an entry of 40 is
4.0 seconds, 45 is 4.5 seconds, etc
RED/10 is the all red clear time for the phase before changing to the next. 20 is a good
choice for a 2.0 second all red. An entry of 0 will switch the phases immediately without
an all red.
Maximum Time 2 (MAX2) is another maximum time option that uses more advanced
time of day programming, used to run different signal timing lengths at different times
of day.
In the case of the guide, phase 1 and 3 are left turn arrows, phase 2 and 4 are thru
phases that oppose the left turn movement. If only 2 phases are needed, only 2 and 4
need programming (or 1 and 2 for small cabinets)

At the end of this section there should be data at least in MAX1, YEL/10 and RED/10

8

Programming Pedestrian Timing

Return to the PHASE DATA sub menu by pressing F after programming vehicle times.
Select PEDESTRIAN TIMES. This menu also will have factory data in the default (even
numbered) thru phases, 2, 4, 6, and 8.
Clear out the menu in the same manner as vehicle times so that the menu is a clean
slate. In this menu all rows will zero out.
If you chose 2 and 4 for thru phases, those will require ped times where applicable.
Otherwise smaller cabinets use 1 and 2.
WALK is self explanatory: it is the walk timing in seconds. An example would be 10.
PED CLEAR is the pedestrian clearance, flashing dont walk. An example would be 15
Enter data in all applicable phase columns with pedestrian signals.
The other data is optional. FL WLK is flashing walk operation, EXT PCL is an extended
pedestrian clearance to flash the dont walk through yellow. ACT RIW is Actuated Rest
in Walk for dwelling the signal in walk in semi actuated operation.

By the end of this section, you should have data in at least WALK and PED CLEAR for
the phases that have pedestrian signals.

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Initializing the Phases

Your vehicle and pedestrian timing parameters are set at this point, with the exception
of MAX 2 if interested, next is to tell the controller which phases are in the sequence.
Still in PHASE DATA, select INITIALIZE AND NA RESPONSE. This is where we tell the
controller what phases to cycle and what condition they should be in following the start
up operation. Typically it is main street green.
In the row INITIALIZE, for phase 2 and 4 operation, phase 2 will be the main phase.
Enter a 4 for GREEN. So following startup this is the phase where green will start. All
other phases in this timing ring of phases 1 through 4 will be 1s which means
INACTIVE, or phase not green or cycling

For ring 2 phases 5 through 8, we will enter 0s so they do not appear in the cycle.
The controller may reset each time this menu is changed.

NA RESPONSE refers to the Non Actuated Response inputs from the controller. When
active the controller will go into a Non Actuated mode, and there are two. In this setup
they do not need to be changed, or could be zeroed out to keep the menu clean.

At the end of this section, the first 3 of the 4 phases (or 1 of the 2 depending on the
operation chosen) will need to be INACTIVE, and 1 phase should be GREEN to start. All
else are set to NONE
10

Pretimed Cycling or Actuated?

Still in the PHASE DATA sub menu, select V & P RECALLS.
This menu determines whether or not a vehicle and pedestrian actuation.
Three rows are here, V RECALL, P RECALL and DELAY. We will ignore DELAY as its
function is not known.
For V RECALL you select which phases you want to run pretimed or actuated. If
actuated is needed, a 0 is entered so that the controller looks for a detector input. For
continuous cycling, select 3 (MAX) for all applicable vehicle phases.
For P RECALL, select 2 (PED) for continuous pedestrian signal cycling on applicable
phases. The other options, NA (Non Actuated) and NA+ (Non Actuated Plus) operate
similarly to PED but have more advanced recycling options for dwelling in a coordinated
phasesomething that we are not touching in the beginners guide.

At the end of this section, MAX and PED options should be selected for the applicable
phases.

If 2 or 4 phase sequential operation without extra timing is all the end user wants this is
the end of the guide.

The next sections cover timing two overlaps for each direction, programming a load
switch driven flashing operation, and programming basic time of day operation to run
MAX2.

11

Leading Overlaps

This section is used to create a leading green arrow / green ball operation while the
opposing direction remains red until the left turn clears out. It builds upon what is
discussed in the previous sections, and is designed to run with a 4 phase sequential
operation.
From the Main Menu, select UNIT DATA, OVERLAP STANDARD.
This menu is inactive for programming when first entered and using the A and B keys
(or arrows on M40 and newer EPACs) you can cycle through the list of overlaps. Only A,
B, C and D have hardware outputs. Other overlaps require advanced pin mappingnot
going to touch that in this guide. We are only going to deal with Overlaps A and B for
this guide.
In the Overlap A menu, press E to activate Edit mode. You will see three rows:
OVERLAP PHASE, PHASE and OVERLAP CHANNEL.
To overlap a sequence over two or more parent (standard) phases enter a 1 over
applicable phases. For Overlap A, OVERLAP PHASE should have a 1 over PHASE 1 and
2, the rest zero. Do NOT update OVERLAP CHANNEL in this case. OVERLAP CHANNEL
remaps an overlap output to a phase output. There are overlap outputs preset on the
controller.
After that press E to return to the inactive menu, and scroll to Overlap B, in this case
putting a 1 in OVERLAP PHASE, over PHASE 3 and 4.
After A and B are set, press F, accepting the changes if necessary, and return to UNIT
DATA.

For basic overlaps, you will not need to enter data in OVERLAP SPECIAL, press F again
to return to the main menu.

The program entered now would be tied to a green ball, with phase 1 being a left turn.
Phase 2 would be a signal opposing the green ball and green arrow. After phase 1
cycles to yellow and red, phase 2 will turn green with overlap A still remaining green,
cycling to yellow along with the last phase in the list which was phase 2.
Same operation for Overlap B, but with 3 being the left turn and 4 being the opposing
thru.
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Time of Day Operation

This section walks through basic time of day operation to select a different timing plan
from 7:00AM to 9:00AM and again at 5:00PM to 7:00PM, then going into flash mode for
overnight operation 9:00PM to 6:00AM.

First you need to make sure the controller unit battery and clock are good. No low
battery conditions or clock problems should be present.

From the main menu, select TIME BASE DATA, SET TIME AND DATE. Make sure the
date is current and the time (in MILITARY TIME) is correct. DAY refers to the day of the
week. Sunday is Day 1. The other data in this menu can remain zero for sake of
programming.
After the current date and time are set, press F to return to the TIME BASE DATA sub
menu. Select TRAFFIC EVENTS, then press E at the menu that comes up to bring up
the Traffic Event database. This is where we tell the controller to do different things at
different times of the day. We only need to schedule one set of events, as we will
repeat them in another step.
The cursor will be on the left center of the screen over an > symbol. Press 1 to ADD an
event. DD is the day, start with Day 1, enter 01, the cursor will move to HH, or Hour.
Remember, it is military time so starting with the first event at 6:00AM we will enter 06.
MM is minute we can set to 00. DL SP and OF are next, for Dial, Split, and Offset
respectively. These are terms for choosing a coordination plan, but you can run
uncoordinated (FREE) timing by scrolling over to OF, and entering a 4. Then press E to
save the event.
Dont be alarmed! There are not 3 events! The controller is just filling places. Only one
event is created and saved. Your cursor should be back on the left side. Press 1 again
to add another event. You are not going over any saved data. The middle row is the
editable row. The controller will save your new event. In this case lets make HH:MM,
07:00. Same day.
Now we are going to scroll all the way across and put in 1s in the P column 1 2 3 and
4. This is for any advanced time of day operation and is defaulted to select MAX2
timing. But along with MAX2, they can be selected to turn on and off detectors and
other functions that will be covered in another guide. Right now we are dealing only
with MAX2 timing. The 4 in OF should disappear. Press E and it should now appear.
Youll be able to scroll up and down through these two events.
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Now we want MAX2 to run until 9:00AM and then go back to MAX1. Create another
event for 09:00 and put a 4 back into OF.

MAX1 will run until 5:00PM where we will create yet another event to run MAX2 timing
again in a similar way as before. Being military time, HH:MM is 17:00.

Finally at 6:00PM we will go back to MAX1 again, HH:MM is 18:00.

Lastly we will set up a new event to select flash mode for overnight. Create an event
similar as before for DD 01, HH 21, MM 00. DL enter a 5, and SP should automatically
enter a 5.

A recommendation would be to create two sequential flash events. One at 9:00PM like
above and another at 00:00 (12:00AM)

So as of now, the controller has a schedule of events to follow through for Sundays.

Press F to return to TIME BASE DATA and select EQUATE/TRANSFER. You want to
EQUATE, FROM DAY 01, TO 02 E 03 E 04 E 05 E 06 E 07 E
Now go back into TRAFFIC EVENTS and scroll up and down, youll have 7 days of
events.
The schedule programmed would be as follows:
6:00 AM to 7:00AM: Signals come out of flash mode and run MAX1 timing
7:00AM to 9:00AM: Signals run MAX2 timing
9:00AM to 5:00PM Signals run MAX1 timing
5:00 to 6:00PM Signals run MAX2 timing
6:00PM to 9:00PM Signals run MAX1 timing
9:00PM to 6:00AM Signals run REMOTE FLASH program

This case would make MAX2 your rush hour longer phase times
14

Programming MAX 2

After setting up a sequence of events in the controller, the next step is to put in timing
for MAX2. This is done by going into PHASE DATA, VEHICLE TIMES, and enter data for
MAX2 on applicable phases.

MAX2 is typically used for rush hour timing.

It doesnt stop at MAX2, there are three more available MAX times (MAX3, MAX4, and
MAX5) in the controller, that require even more advanced programming, and also
several DMX (Dynamic Max) options that adjust the maximum green time based on how
many vehicle detector calls are placed while the signal is red.
15

Programming Remote Flash

Remote flash is the EPACs internal load-switch driven flashing operation selected by
time of day plan 5, 5, 0. It is typically used for off peak or overnight operation.

From the main menu, select UNIT DATA, REMOTE FLASH. This menu can differ slightly
between older and newer EPACs. I am going to explain how the newer menus are laid
out. Older menus are just arranged a little differently but serve all the same functions.
TEST A can be selected as 1 for Yes or 0 for No. Test A is an input on the A NEMA
harness. When selected yes, it will trigger the REMOTE FLASH input. Setting it to 0 will
make it a useless input for this controller unit.
FLSH 2=YEL selects the flash state for the phases. 0 means dark, 1 means flashing
red, and 2 means flashing yellow. Scrolling across this row, the controller will read out
what phase or overlap it will flash.
ALT FLASH selects which phases will be in the off state at the start and which are in the
on state. Effectively creating a wig wag operation. Anything set to 1 will alternate
anything set to 0
FLASH ENTRY selects the phase that will be the last to cycle before going into flash
mode. Usually its the side street green thru phase.
FLASH EXIT selects the phase that will be green coming out of flash, typically the main
street green.

The controller will often skip short phases to get it into flash. Also, remote flash does
flashing through the load switches, so a flasher is not needed to run overnight or time
of day flashing.
The controller will remember the time and event even after power is removed. Plugging
the controller back in, after a short lock out cycle should return it back to its last event.

16

Viewing Active Status

If you havent figured it out by now you can view a variety of active status parameters
by going from the main menu, ACTIVE STATUS, you can view any of the ring timers by
going to RING TIMERS (single ring phases select the first in the list). This displays real
time cycling in seconds, which phases are on, which are next. Vehicle and Pedestrian
Calls or Recalls.
Also in the ACTIVE STATUS sub menu, you can select INTERSECTION for a basic
graphical display of active outputs. Lower case outputs are flashing. It will not display
remote flash as the controller timers are off line.
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Conclusion

I hope that this guide helped beginners and people with a base knowledge of EPAC 300
controller units get a better grip on programming the basic stuff.
The controller can do much more than what is called out in this version of the guide.
In future guides we will tackle detection, coordination, more time of day stuff, reporting
and other things.