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Author Topic: DA-20 How to set the A-Chain Bill Langfield Master Film Handler Posts: 280 From: Prospect, NSW, Australia Registered: Apr 2001 posted 08-25-2004 03:49 PM                        Ok, this a lame question, the topic and subject matter will proberly need editing. But at this point in time Im not in a postion to read a manual or do a FT search (which I DID try last night) and Im tired as hell. (its 7am, and I just finished a double, thank god I have today off, plus watching the Olymics, most good stuff is not here till 4.30am. Then there has been this crap on the radio all night about a UFO travelling over most of this state - No doubt just a high up comet) Oh the DA-20 and my A-chain question. Is there a way of working out how to set the 'levels' without an osiloscope? Is there any levels to adjust? Can I do it with a DMM? If I lace through the cat 700 reader, I get the F. If I bypass the reader I get '-' , so the DA-20 must be seeing something. If I turn the reader off I get the '-' So Im GUESSING the thing is working but just not getting a strong enough (video) signal somewhere on the chain. The 'tech's' decided it was 'just' the power supply, which I agreed with, because when turning it on, all the LED's, and mean all of them, just flashed on and off like a light show. With the new power supply everything looked OK, but the thing still doesnt work, as described above.  |  IP: Logged Kyle Watkins Expert Film Handler Posts: 185 From: Stuart, FL, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 08-25-2004 05:18 PM                     Have you replce the bulb, and if no messed with the aligment can turn up the voltage by the control on the inside the back cover. I done it this way( not the recomeded way) until i got my self a oscillscope.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 08-25-2004 07:18 PM                     quote: Bill Langfield Is there a way of working out how to set the 'levels' without an osiloscope? Is there any levels to adjust? Can I do it with a DMM? There are no user-adjustable items on a DA20 ouside of automation control and delays, and nothing that would affect the way the reader operates. Take out the bulb. Look at the reflector, it should be mirror-clear. Regardless of how bright it is when lit, if it has ANY fogging of any type on the reflector, chuck the bulb and install a new one (GE type EPT or Osram type EXZ are preferred) If you haven't monkeyed with any of the lateral, focus, or azimuth adjustments on the reader, things should come back to something resembling normal after the bulb change. If you have tinkered, a tech call (with a scope) will be necessary to properly rectify the problem. -Aaron  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 08-25-2004 08:57 PM                     I went from F to 0, 1s and 2s just from changing the bulb. definitely do that first  |  IP: Logged Dean Kollet Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 591 From: Florida State University Registered: Jul 2003 posted 08-25-2004 09:11 PM                     when u get an F or when you get the - do the Green Digital and Amber Analogue LEDs light up?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-26-2004 10:43 AM                     "I went from F to 0, 1s and 2s just from changing the bulb." _________________________________________________________________ That only happens in Texas! Since SRD has appeared I've only ever seen one print with one reel of zeros, the other five reels had 2's and 3's and that was a world premiere print I ran a couple of years ago. Typically we see 3's, 4's and 5's in this part of the world, many brand new prints even run through with solid 6's. If you're still having trouble after you change the lamp one thing to check is the four rows of green LED's under the front cover. All should be lit evenly and all should stay on 95% of the time, a couple of LED's blinking quickly is acceptable and is just an indication of normal errors. If they are all out or all blinking rapidly then a tech will be required to reset the reader, or diagnose whats wrong with the DA-20. Also check the edge of the lateral guide roller, see if its shiny alumnium colored instead of the nice Black hard coat it is supposed to be. I have seen many worn ones lately and that requires a re-alignment of the CCD camera board to compensate for the wear and resultant lateral shift of the film. When you have the back off to change the lamp its also a good idea to check the white molex's on the power supply board as almost all 700's around here have had(or would have soon had) failure of the Molex connectors. Just remove the connectors from both the board and the wires and solder the wires directly to the board. If you do this you will likely never experience a failure of a CAT 700 power supply..... Unless of course lightning is your enemy.... P.S. Bill, It is normal for all four of the rows of green LED's to blink rapidly when no film is threaded in the film path. Both the DA-20 and CP-500 will exhibit this. Cover the camera lens or light source and the blinking will stop. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 08-26-2004 11:24 AM                    I agree it must be a Texas thing. I pretty much see 3's 4's and 5's on our unit.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 08-26-2004 01:11 PM                       quote: Mark Gulbrandsen That only happens in Texas! Since SRD has appeared I've only ever seen one print with one reel of zeros Must be the way you all are setting them up. I routinely got 0's (on trailers, yet, running Cinemeccanica V5 basement readers), when I was doing the service thang in Boston.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 08-26-2004 01:20 PM                     Mark, I only see 0-1s at theaters that run cleaners with FilmGuard. We ran 0-1s on Christie P35GPS basement readers in Colorado, so it's not just a Texas thing. I think it's more of a film handling issue. If there is ANY shedding of the print, the track will read higher with each pass of the film. This isn't an absolute blanket statement, for older well worn projectors (V5s, Centurys, etc) are pretty gentle on film as well, but even with that virtually everyone reports the error scale gets knocked down a couple of points on used prints once they are passed through FilmGuard. Start keeping score next time you see a high error rate and let me know what lab you see it coming from. There is a pattern. Still a high error rate is "3".  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 08-26-2004 01:29 PM                     quote: That only happens in Texas! We had a print called "a day without a mexican" I do not know if it was a very big release or not. I kid you not, the entire print ran and never got above a 1. This was with two readers but one prcessor (on a roll around cart), did the same on both. Of course, Brad said he did some of the sound install at my theater and that could be why.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 08-26-2004 01:58 PM                     Nope, the auditoriums I did were all SDDS, one or two of them were definitely SDDS-8 to my recollection.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-26-2004 03:26 PM                     I guess I would agree Brad except that I've actually tried using some of those actual films to tweek the readers down to perfection. It just is that bad around here. One of the funny things is that the film that was running all 6's was with a BACP reader on a DA-20 so one can imagine that with a CAT 700 and CP-500 that it wouldn't have played back at all. I will make a log though as I go around and we'll see if it proves or disproves anything. I also agree that 3 is a high error rate and is what I used to see back in the Midwest area and out here when I first got here. Its gotten really bad in the last few years though. Thats why none of our customers really want to buy SRD any more. I have not noted any unusual projector problems either and I service such a wide variety of macines out here and see this happen in many places.... on Christies, on Simplexs, Centurys, Norelcos etc. I do see an ocasional low error reel in a print but its never consistant through the entire print. Now perhaps you can more understand why I've pretty much abandoned SRD. Tim, It was about the time you were laid off that the prints started reading high error rates out here. I really can't see that its the setup I'm doing wrong because I do on occasion see a very low error rate. Geez, I've setup hundreds of these things over the years. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Ferdinando Innocenti Film Handler Posts: 79 From: Genova / Italy Registered: Jun 2004 posted 08-26-2004 04:46 PM                     Bill, if you like, you can download Windras, a Dolby software that gives you the opportunity to watch at the quality of the print and the alignment of the reader. You need a PC and a M/F DB9 cable (pin to pin); if you are not sure, it's better not to modify the reader alignment, but it is possible to reach a not so bad result with it. But scope is the best for perfect digital reading! Ciao Nando  |  IP: Logged Dean Kollet Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 591 From: Florida State University Registered: Jul 2003 posted 08-26-2004 08:09 PM                     I'm going to that Dolby Training Seminar and they said to bring a cable with my laptop, is that the cable? Can I also use it for SDDS?  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 08-26-2004 09:01 PM                       quote: Mark Gulbrandsen Geez, I've setup hundreds of these things over the years. Mark, yes, I know you have. I was just ribbin' ya. Too bad the QC has denegraded since I've been out of the loop.  |  IP: Logged

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