my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » Automating JSX1000 to switch to digital with DA20 (Page 1)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Author Topic: Automating JSX1000 to switch to digital with DA20 Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-28-2006 01:24 PM                     So we have a problem with two of our Ultra Stereo units wanting to switch to the digital/ext with our DA20s. No matter what, the green digital light on the DA20 will not engage unless we manually press the digital/ext button on the Ultra Stereo. I've looked at the wiring on our 3rd DA20, but it uses an actual board, whereas the two that don't work have multicolor wires with spade connectors connecting to the Ultra Stereo. If it helps, this is how the connections are connected: Auditorium 1: Purple into Non Sync Nothing on Mono and Aux Red on Stereo Nothing on SR Black on E Gray on Digital Auditorium 11 (has SR card): Brown on Nonsync Red on Mono Nothing on Aux Yellow on Stereo Green on SR Black on E Blue on Digital All I want is for these units to switch to digital when it picks up an SRD signal. It's frustrating just because not everyone on the staff remembers to switch it manually, except a few of us. Thanks! AJG  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-28-2006 03:50 PM                     You have to have an "A" series board in the DA20 for it to "auto-switch" when it sees digital. (I can't remember the actual cat number.) This really isn't worth your time or expense to upgrade the card. Just move the automation wire that is connected to SR or whatever format your automation starts the show in to the digital terminal. That way when the automation switches out of non-sync, it will go right into digital. Problem solved.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 03-28-2006 06:35 PM                    Just remember that you must have digital information on the first trailer otherwise you have to switch it to stereo. On the one we have I have it set up like Brad suggests and it works great. Sometimes if the first trailer is not digital. wich in our case it's ads, the unit will switch to stereo but not all the time.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-28-2006 10:10 PM                     I'll give it all a try, but was wondering if the fact that our NCM ads run on the stereo input make a difference. I say this because they added a wire from the stereo automation input to another input that keeps it locked into stereo until the motor starts. Thus, we don't even use nonsync anymore. I was wondering if this has something to do with it? All our DTS houses and one of our dolby house are fine, except these two. I also forgot to mention that at one point, house 11, was setup so that the full dim cue also pulsed the processor into digital so that trailers played in stereo only. This was before the NCM was installed, and ever since it has been goofy because we don't use the spare cue anymore. Also, if I move the SR or Stereo wire to the digital input, will the unit revert back to stereo if the digital drops out since nothing will now be connected to the stereo/SR input? Thanks guys. AJG  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 03-28-2006 11:07 PM                    There should be one wire coming from the DA20 automation control hooked to the stereo or sr automation point on the Ultra stereo processor to pulse it to stereo when digital drops out. By the way are you using CFS consoles? Thats what we have and what I did was put the wire that used to go to the Mono point and moved it to the Stereo point and removed the stereo automation wire to avoid it pulsing to stereo while reading a digital signal. Note the ones you need to switch are the wires coming from your projection automation not the DA20. Do they have the NCM wired into the projector #2 pre amp inputs? They probably do and it is wired to think it is running a second machine so when you push the start button it switches over just like a change over thus staying in stereo. Unless there is another way around it you may have to thread early so that the dowser opens before the digital track enters the reader so that it pulses to digital. Maybe someone else has the answer on that one. We get the NCM stuff in a few weeks so the info will be good to know.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-28-2006 11:59 PM                     Darryl, we do have CFS consoles and the NCM is wired in as a second projector. I'm still wondering why using nonsync wasn't good enough. Anyhow, do you mean I need to switch some wires inside the console itself? I looked in there and it just looks like a big mess, but with direction I may be able to understand what to do. Thanks for all the help. AJG  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 03-29-2006 12:20 AM                    No no need to switch anything in the console. The wires are on the Ultra Stereo. Does the ultra stereo ever go into Non-Sync? Check the Switch on the automation panel that says stereo and SR or Mono on it. Make sure it is in the right setting. I am just not sure about the wiring and what they have done when they installed the NCM stuff. It sounds to me like it's just wired to pulse to stereo as if it was a changeover. The wire pulsing the stereo from the main automation needs to be moved from the stereo or sr point on the automation inputs to the Digital point so when the relay pulses the projector dowser to open it will pulse the processor to digital.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-29-2006 12:40 AM                     Let me outline what exactly is going on again. We have CFS consoles, the Ultra Stereo JSX-1000 and the DA20. We also have NCM running in between shows. Now, the audio information for the NCM ads are setup as a 2nd projector, and thus wired into input 2 on the Ultra Stereo. When one hits the start button, the lamp will light, motor moves, and the douser opens. The sound itself was already in stereo, and thus just stays there, with no pulse being sent to the DA20 to tell it to go digital. The only way to get the green LED on the DA20 to light up digital, one must manually press the DIGITAL/EXT button on the Ultra Stereo. I'm starting to think that the automation pulses NOTHING when you hit start now as far as sound goes. I switched the wire for Stereo from the DA20 automation from the stereo automation input on the Ultra Stereo to the Digital input, and I still have the same problem. In fact, nothing happens at all. I can't even manually put the unit in digital. So what exactly am I missing? Garrrr, frustration to the max! Makes me wish we had a DTS 6 in there, because those work fine throughout the complex, even with NCM. Thanks a bunch Darryl and I'll keep trying stuff! AJG  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 03-29-2006 02:28 AM                    Hmmmm on the DA20 we have the green led to indicate digital only comes on when digital information is being processed. There is no pulse to the DA20 from the automation. It goes into digital processing only when information is being read and pulses the ultra stereo into digital extension. There must be some wires that come from the automation connected to the automation on the ultra stereo. Basically how many wires do you have going to the stereo automation terminal. You should have two wires going to the Digital/Ext on the Ultra Stereo. One for the DA20 to pulse to digital if it were to drop out and the other for the main automation to pulse the ultra stereo processor on dowser open. Essentially it was the wire used to pulse the Ultra Stereo to stereo at start up. Why is the spare cue no longer used? In our case it is needed to pulse the lights from half to full dim. Otherwise with it out of spare cue the lights don't dim and the center cue at the credits is no longer functional. I still think either a switch is in the wrong place or a wire needs to be moved. Can you take a couple of photos and post them so we can look at the back of your units.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-29-2006 08:33 AM                     I'll grab some photos this morning. Also, the spare cue switch is still on spare cue, but we only use 3 cues now since the NCM ads run on full light. When we hit start, the lights automatically go to half now. AJG  |  IP: Logged Jason Miller Expert Film Handler Posts: 241 From: Little Rock, AR, Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-29-2006 11:28 AM                    Does the processor switch to Projector 2 when the changeover closes or when the motor stops?  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-29-2006 12:07 PM                     Hello all. Here are the two images I was able to capture of the backplane of the Ultra Stereo and the console itself. Forgive the blurry image, but the camera I used didn't work too well and the lighting situation was even worse. Looking at the backplane, there are two wires coming up from the DA20 on the left there. The red one is wired into the stereo automation input, the black one as a ground (I think), and the gray one wired into digital. That extra black one on the stereo input is part of the NCM system and locks the processor into stereo until the motor runs. On the right side, there are the black and green wires. The black is a ground I'd imagine, and the green is the changeover from the NCM system. If this is disconnected, there will be no sound for NCM. Here is the image of the console. I don't understand much of what is going on there, but it is here for anyone who is curious. To answer Jason's question, the processor switches when the motor stops. Thanks for all the help. AJG EDIT: I don't know if I mentioned it clearly, but when everything starts running, the DA20 is reading all the information as it should be, but the green LED for DIGITAL will not light up. The orange analog LED also will not light. So somewhere in there, something isn't kicking it into thinking it's in digital.  |  IP: Logged Jason Miller Expert Film Handler Posts: 241 From: Little Rock, AR, Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-29-2006 01:05 PM                    When the DA20 starts up it thinks it is in a non-analog format (like non-sync). You have to send a ground pulse across the same lines it uses to switch with (it monitors those lines as well as uses them to switch the processor). Since the NCM stuff was installed, someone removed the wire that was originally sent from the automation to switch it out of non-sync into Stereo. you will need to hook this wore back up so that the DA20 knows it has been switched to an analog format. now.. a possible problem that might be happening at the end of the show, is that when the changeover closes, does the processor stay in projector 1 and Stereo and blast the tail out through the sound system until the motor stops and the P2 card takes over?  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-29-2006 02:35 PM                     So, would this ground wire be one of the extra ones just hanging there from the console automation bundle (pictured on the right)? If so, where would I connect that one? To the digital automation input? Yeah, at the end of the show, we hear a bunch of junk until the motor stops. It's REALLY annoying and tacky if anyone is left in the auditorium. Basically, when the show ends, the last cue brings up the house light and closes the douser. When it actually drops, motor stops, projector 2 (aka NCM) audio changes over, and the masking sets itself to flat. AJG  |  IP: Logged Jason Miller Expert Film Handler Posts: 241 From: Little Rock, AR, Registered: Mar 2004 posted 03-29-2006 03:30 PM                    a better picture of the termination panel in the console would help.. but... it looks like a red wire is connected to NS (non-sync). and nothing is connected to STEREO. you need those 2 connections and a ground common. is there a spare wire in the console that runs back to the processor that you can hook up to STEREO? and if there is a wire connected to NS, is it connected to the processor on the back? I cant tell from the blur.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.