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

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » Murphy's Luck bit my ass today

Author Topic: Murphy's Luck bit my ass today Jason Black Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1723 From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 01-25-2003 11:11 PM                        Tonight was the epitome for Murphy's Luck. Not only did we have a sneak of Chicago (how can it even be classified as a sneak when it's been out for weeks now?) that was agency placed in the paper with INCORRECT time, but on start up my operator reported no sound output from the CP500. They call me at home and I run down the list of things to check to no avail. I arrive abck to work about 40 minutes later to find that a sold out house went down for the show, which I knew was happening anyway, so it was no surprise bt I hoped for a miracle anyway! At any rate, I get to the booth and run thru the things I know to check, solar cell (LED type) is lit, reboot the CP500, try bypass, mono, SR to no avail. The DTS processor power supply took a shit so no luck there. The solar cell power supply could be bad.. I start the print back up and VOILA, sound in SR-D only. By this time, it was into reel 2. I cut the print and ran R1 thru again. No SR-D encoding! With no DTS to fall back on and no SR out, I have nothing.... At any rate, that bastage Murphy got me again. I will admit, it doesn't happen that often but when it does... it BLOWS!!!  |  IP: Logged Gordon Bachlund Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 696 From: Monrovia, CA, USA Registered: Aug 1999 posted 01-26-2003 11:34 AM                        Jason, I feel for you. However, experiences like yours make me all the more appreciative of the excellent support we old timers had from the likes of Altec and RCA service back in the days of changeover carbon arc booths when projectionists were expected to keep the equipment in their charge in top condition, but were not expected to be electronic whiz kids, just competent electricians and mechanics. I recall a few (thankfully) instances where the sound service guys (who remembers Howard Strait of RCA, a real gentleman) responded within 20 or 30 minutes of being called and had the sound equipment up and running within minutes of their arrival.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 01-26-2003 02:30 PM                    DTS might not have saved you if the 500 is acting up depending on the specific problem. I presume by solar cell power supply you mean you have a reverse scanner with a powered pre-pre-amp in the sound head with an LED light source. That's a likely culprit. Does the power supply have an LED indicating power? (My KELMAR basement reader supplies have indicators for analog and digital LED's and for the amp.) With some cable and another, similarly equipped booth nearby you could possibly have run a line over to it and tapped plus, minus, and ground off the other one. The tiny amp doesn't draw much and the supply ought to be able to run two with no problem. It would have taken awhile to do this but might have saved the show. 20/20 hindsight of course. This assumes your emergency power supply for the 500 is working and no problem with the preamp or output cards. Part of a bad pre-amp card can be by-passed by plugging the solar cell input lead into the Projector 2 position.  |  IP: Logged Jason Black Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1723 From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 01-26-2003 07:42 PM                        Steve, The culprit was the pre-amp for the reverse scan solar cell. The cat 661 chekce dout good after swapping to another CP500. I determined that there was no SR-D track found (for reasons unknown) on R1 of the print I have. The DTS p/supply was already bad so I had only SRD and optical to resort to. With the pre-amp for the solar cell down, I was screwed for the first reel. The show is up and running with no problems today (in another house). I must note that this brings up a past discussed topic.. When the print was screened, it was played in DTS with no problems.. how would one have known that there was going to be problems with the SRD track? And isolated to R1 to boot! The SRD track appears to be there, between the perfs, but the reader saw nothing until R2. These things, unfortuantely, will happen and as the theatres get more and more 'electronic' these problems will only compound themselves, IMO. I wish I knew everything about the tech side of my equipment, but, unfortunately, I don't. I try and learn as much as I can, and I know more than a lot of "our" managers, yet in still, things of this nature might still happen on a freak occurence. Not good for our reputation because we all know that no-one remembers all the flawless presentations, but F* up ONE TIME....  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 01-26-2003 08:46 PM                    Ah so the 500 was ok all along. Too bad you couldn't have moved a DTS box or stolen a power supply off an older PC. Obviously it's always easy to think of solutions once the problem is conclusively determined and often figuring out exactly what it is is most of the battle. Of course Murphy has been at this a lot longer than we have so he's bound to win a few!  |  IP: Logged Jon Bartow Master Film Handler Posts: 287 From: Massachusetts Registered: Nov 1999 posted 01-26-2003 10:25 PM                     Gordon, The days of Altec and RCA are not entirely lost. AFAIK the former RCA service co. is now owned by National Cinema Service out of New Orleans. And I myself work for the former Altec Service Co. (now ASC Technical Service). I even have a carbon arc changeover booth on service Jonathan  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-27-2003 09:40 PM                        Maybe you invited Murphy a little bit? If the dts power supply has failed, why haven`t you replaced or fixed it? It is just a PC power supply.  |  IP: Logged Jason Black Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1723 From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 01-27-2003 11:07 PM                        Michael, You present a good point. I did, in fact, know that the DTS power supply was bad, and I have no valid reason for not getting it taken care of immediately. I don't think that this was an 'invitation' for Murphy however. As you may know and as I have found out, the reverse scan LED readers will still show the LED illuminated even if the preamp P/S is dead. End result, NO ANALOG, without knowledge. I know my equipment to a degree, altho I am not a tech. I wish I knew more that I do, but I learn more each time something happens. The times that I miss a show are very few and far between and sometimes things will happen. BUUT, how would I have known that the SRD track wasn't encoded to the film? The track appeared tp be there, yet it was not able to be read. The prescreening was fine in DTS, but we all know that you can't possibly screen in all formats for continuity.... Hindsight is 20/20 and this was a blunder created by a myriad of unforseen problems, sans the DTS unit.  |  IP: Logged Gordon Bachlund Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 696 From: Monrovia, CA, USA Registered: Aug 1999 posted 01-28-2003 06:10 PM                        John, you have brightened my day! Should your carbon arc booth house encounter difficulties acquiring carbons in the future, let me know. I am researching overseas sources.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-28-2003 11:24 PM                     Jason, The manager of the Carmike in my town feels your pain. His theater did a 7:00pm sneak of "Chicago" with "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind." Our local paper listed "Chicago" with a full set of four showtimes for all day, including matinees! There were a lot of really pissed off people. And of course, they blame the theater and not the newspaper for the mistake. And then here's another funny thing. After the sneaks were done they tore down the film and put it back into the cans --only to find out they're going to have to sneak preview it again this coming weekend! I'm sure anyone would like having to tear down and rebuild the same film twice. To add insult to injury, once the film is done with its sneak preview, the print gets torn down yet again so it can be moved a couple miles down the road to the Wallace Theaters Cache 8 dump for its regular engagement. In case anyone is wondering, that theater's sign is still not repaired (coming up on 2 years now).  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

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.