Please clarify these and we'll take it from there...

You are never getting a number, only a "-" on the display...right?

What did this particular auditorium typically run error-wise at before this incident?

Also, it just happened very suddenly one day and this was not a gradual thing, right?

Was anything done to the machine when it died? (Such as changing to a new lamp.)

Are you certain the bulb is fully seated properly in the holder? Take the back cover of the reader off slowly and peek inside. Sometimes the wire can twist the bulb a little bit and knock the lamp just slightly out of the socket which kills the light onto the ccd.

-only a '-' no numbers, no 'F', in the past 9 days

-the theater opened in late winter this year, and was open for at least a month before we actually got the SRD working, but once it was all squared away, we had no problems with it until last weekend; as far as numbers displayed, film trailers & policy trailers could get anything from a 6 to an F, but the prints generally got from a 3 to a 6

-it was not gradual, the SRD was working for three matinee shows, then I came in for the evening shift, and when I started the first evening showing on that projector, I immediately noticed the problem

-the only thing done to the machine when this happened was that had I threaded the film, then hit the start button!

Now, I am not aware of the what full extent of the initial problem was with the equipment, though it seems that the initial problem was with the DA20. At that point we had a projectionist / tech working for us, and he eventually got the ailments worked out. That person has since gone to work elsewhere in the country.
The bulb that is in the reader has been there for just under 8 months, and I do have a spare, but I am 99% certain that the bulb is not the problem.

Now, I did try to open up part of the reader to see if the cable was loose, but I ran into a problem - not being able to remove a particular screw, as the top of the screw seems to have been stripped a bit. And for whatever reason, I have at least half a dozen flathead screwdrivers, in various sizes among the booth tools, but only one phillips head screwdriver - and its a relatively small one. So it was relatively useless to me.
I'll have to bring in some of my own tools to take that witch apart and see if my problem is only a loose cable!
And yes, I already opened up the soundrack and checked to see that everything was connected on that end!

~Gracia

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Aaron

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Even though you are getting a dash, go ahead and press the "soft key" assigned to Dolby Digital on the processor (assuming you are using a CP-500).

You will either see a pop-up message saying "not ready" or "not available".

"Not ready" simply tells you what you already know. No digital data seen.

"Not available" means a hardware fault. Check to see if the fault leds on the two 671 cards being used for aquisition are lit.

If the 222SR/A is faulty or mis-seated, digital will indicate "not available" as well.

You can also call Dolby on the phone and ask for Lonnie. If he can't fix it, then it simply isn't broken! (LOL)

He also speaks every-day English!

A ten minute phone conversation with him equals about 10 credit hours <grin>.

My SRD is working once again! :::does a happy dance:::
Here's what I did - (after bringing in my own, rather nice 2-in-1 screwdriver)
I had to loosen the bolts holding the electric changeover box, so I could move it enough to be out of my way. Then the back of the cat 700 was more accessible. Once I had the back off the cat 700, the problem was obvious. The cable that connects the reader to the processor had worked itself loose.

So after reconnecting the cable, and putting the rest of my machin back together, I tested it out by running our [generic] policy trailers on the machine. Granted, the policy trailers get used over and over and over and over, and as we have no film guard - the trailers are filthy. Even so, I got indication that the reader & processor are working...the first trailer bounced between an 8 and an F, the second one had a solid 7.
Hey, I'm just happy that it's working!

~Gracia

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