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Author Topic: Replacing the white power switch on NEC NC2000 Philip Jones Film Handler Posts: 90 From: England Registered: Dec 2011 posted 03-22-2014 10:58 AM                     How much is a replacement white switch and how easy are they to change? Are they standard between models (we have a 2000 and a 1200)  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-22-2014 11:38 AM                     The failure mode in every instance for me was it breaks in the off position. Then you have no way to power up the projector. There were still no loss of shows though at any of the sites that had failures. The switch is uber easy to temporarily bypass till a new one arrives. Sites with multiple projectors all have a spare switch. No issues with failures on NC-900 or the NC3200/3240's. I still personally prefer to have the projector left in standby and servers shut down (you have to if using an IMB anyway). I am the NOC for many of my customers and it allows me to to do remote updates. I can wake the servers up remotely too. The power consumption from these booths when running is almost always way less than the film booth it replaced. So no reason not to leave em in standby. But again assuming it is on a UPS. Some on here think they can get away with out them... Those that are out to save power consider installing LED light bulbs in your auditoriums if you want to see a real difference in your power bill. If you have Kelmar dimmers there are a number of inexpensive LED lamps that work just fine on them. All but a few of my customers use the Kelmars and many have already converted over. Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 03-22-2014 03:30 PM                     We have automated the power to the projectors so they can be remotely powered too. The end user turns on the projector with the automation...this extends to the sound and other booth functions. Furthermore, it can be placed on a schedule or even done via the POS schedule so that maximum energy savings can be had. Though I think Film-Tech is the most advanced in this respect.  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 03-22-2014 05:11 PM                        Mark, do your locations that power down the servers use an LMS? With the LMS we leave our servers on so content can be transferred during the night. I believe the Strong NOC requires the servers to be left on anyways.  |  IP: Logged Joe Elliott Master Film Handler Posts: 497 From: Port Orange, Fl USA Registered: Oct 2006 posted 03-24-2014 11:59 AM                     I have found that when they fail, they are actually sticking, not usually a mechanical failure. You can sometimes, in an emergency, smack the projector on the top above the switch and it will then work. This only works once or twice before it will not work any more. Also as a note, violence and technology . . . not good bedfellows. Only do this in an emergency, and only in the presence of trained stunt professionals.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-24-2014 07:13 PM                     Steve, Yes, that's very easy to do with the ECNA-5 for sure but is an added expense. It's even easy to auto power up the entire booth if really necessary. I have one theater on two different levels of a three story building where that might be advantageous, but they still have 2 full time projectionists there that split the week and that's not going to change. In fact most of the theaters I service still have a projectionist, though some are just part time. I find that my customers that have multiple screens and or multiple locations would rather employ real people than rely on automation for the most part. And that is strictly their choice. And I will have to admit that many of the projectionists are very competent with the digital gear where they were not with film. Justin, All of my customers that are on VPF are on the GDC VPF program and as such they do not require the equipment to be left on. It is far less hassle than Christie or Cinedigm and there is no uber expensive TMS required. I built all of the TMS systems for my customers. They are simple and affordable, yet very reliable with a zero failure rate so far. And once the VPF contract is met the TMS software an be easily upgraded to anyone else's if desired. They cost about 1/3 the price of a Strong/Cinedigm rack and have very similar build quality. If you have IMB based servers and you leave the servers run then to power up the gear the next day you have to first power down the server then boot up the projector.... then boot the server up again. IMB's get their power from the projector, so power down the projector and you loose the media block and the Security Manager connectivity. Hence, it is generally just the projectors left in standby. No one I currently service is using any contracted NOC. Nor do I offer service contracts because frankly, my customers have so few problems that it would be a waste of their money. That might change as the equipment gets older though. Only time will tell that part of the story. GDC does not require a contracted NOC either as long as your service tech is looking after the gear. So I am the NOC for close to 50 of my customer's locations that are on the GDC VPF program and I just bill it out on a time spent basis. Many of these customers were among GDC's first ones and their equipment will already be paid up by the end of this year! The other 150 locations I service are also looked after even if there is no TMS and they are billed on a time spent basis. All locations except for one Drive in have a "Cinema Service Care" remote computer that all equipment can be accessed through if any issues arise or if updates need to be done. On another interesting note, almost all my customers still prefer that I visit the site at least one time a year and some two or three times depending on the hours the equipment runs. Some are in important locations that Hollywood people frequent. So much of the updating of equipment I do is actually done on site. I also check all sound systems and other ancillary equipment. Power connections get checked every year for tightness, etc. Since we actually get to go on site we try to do as much preventative stuff as is feasible. Mark  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 03-24-2014 07:22 PM                        Interesting to know about the GDC VPF program. Unfortunately, I think we were already signed up with Cinedigm/Strong by the time GDC came on-line with their program. I do like having the Cinedigm TCC software, so that is one upside of their program. I haven't even seen the TMS software for any other vendor, so I have no idea how they compare. The main downside with using Strong for our NOC is they are charging $35(?) per screen per month to do nothing more than pull logs - they offer no tech support services.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-25-2014 03:24 PM                     Yes, GDC came along a little later on. I did some Cinedigm racks for customers that HAD to convert right away... but most those sites were ultimately sold off. I have only one Cinedigm site that I maintain at present and they also use the Strong NOC. For pulling the play logs GDC has their own "Daily Reporter" app that is always running in the background on the TMS server. So there is no need for any NOC to do this. It seems to work really well as all my customers have been getting paid. So no one in effect has to go in and pull the daily play lists, it's all automatically done. As far as software the Cinedigm stuff is overly complicated and not in the least self intuitive, although it is very comprehensive. I really dislike the stupid cueing system you are stuck using with Cinedigm. It is beyond retarded!! Plus, their sowtware is both difficult to teach to, and difficult for newbies to learn. GDC is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum where it is probably way too simple and doesn't offer quite enough options. But it has been stable when run on a capable server. The latest version that was recently released is by far the best of the lot. Once you are contractually done with your GDC program you can keep using the TMS as is if you want to or you can delete their program and install some one else's program if you like. The GDC software is pretty inexpensive on a per screen renewal basis though. So I think many of my customers will stay with it. Mark  |  IP: Logged Joe Elliott Master Film Handler Posts: 497 From: Port Orange, Fl USA Registered: Oct 2006 posted 03-27-2014 05:53 PM                     I agree with Mark's comments. I explain it to my customers that the Cinedigm software is more automated therefore less time investment each week, and the GDC TMS requires more time, but gives you more creative control.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-27-2014 07:05 PM                     I donno Joe... Scheduling films on the GDC stuff is pretty dang easy and so is making changes in case you decide to drop a show. I have several customers that transfer six or more shows around their complex all at once and it gets done without error. Perhaps if you have a 14 plex the Cinedigm software might be of more use but in a normal smallish plex it's generally just more nightmare trying to keep people trained in it's use. I don't get any complaints from any customers using the GDC software although we did have three installations with just dual-dual core servers and those have all been upgraded to dual quad core servers. GDC needs at least a single quad core to run stable and dual quad cores work even better. Helps dong multiple screen transfers along considerably! Mark  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 03-27-2014 08:09 PM                        For my situation, the Cinedigm software is pretty painless once the configuration is done. I do my scheduling in my POS management software, and this automatically syncs to the LMS. All I have to do is build the trailer and ad packs, and attach them to the affected CPL. I don't do any scheduling on the LMS with the exception of the occasional special showing. The only thing I have to do to the CPL is enter the show template to use, credit offset and sound (5.1, 6.1, 7.1)(which should be handled by metadata). I don't deal with automation cues or format changes. In terms of ingesting, I have to put in the hard drive when it doesn't come by satellite. Then I have to map the CPL to the appropriate title - this is the link between the POS data and the LMS data for those who don't know.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-27-2014 09:22 PM                     It's nice when it works but not all ticketing systems do work that way. With some ticketing systems you have to manually import the schedule... Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 03-27-2014 11:59 PM                     All of our Cinedigm systems have been working pretty painlessly for years now. There really isn't a comparison between the two ...Cinedigm is more full-featured...GDC has a lot of manual work to it. Both do function as a TMS but Cinedigm is going to do more of the work.  |  IP: Logged

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