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Author Topic: JNIOR Redesign Bruce Cloutier Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Gibsonia, PA, USA Registered: Aug 2016 posted 10-18-2017 07:59 AM                        quote: Buck Wilson We'll soon be switching to eCNA automatons in order to allow automated bulb shutdowns based on zero ticket sales. By the way this is something that we can easily handle. It just doesn't appear as a default function. You just need to tell us which POS system you are using so we can track down the protocol. I think that one thing with us that most of you are missing is that you can ask and tell us what you need. We won't tell you that the JNIOR is what it is and that you can go fly. Rick and Kevin are constantly working unique solutions for customers and I am sure that we are not charging them for any of it. We probably should as its revenue left on the table. But, really it is all about making the JNIOR perfect. We are all engineers here and not really business people. We like to be a part of the team. That goes for physical mounting. You know you can easily get rack mount trays through Amazon these days. We would be happy to create a specific configuration but for us to keep costs down we need to produce it at least in the 100s. That is a lot (especially when there might be steel involved and weight) to inventory without knowing what kind of demand there is or how quickly they will move. And there is the question as to how that might impact the current JNIOR inventories. We 100% manufacture in the USA by the way. Ask yourself too, when you call the others for support do you get a real person, better yet do you get the president and an owner of the company? If you leave a message does it forward immediately to that person's cell phone or is it picked up by a support tech on Monday morning? INTEG is really unique in that sense. Rick has supported customers while standing on the sidelines of his kid's soccer fields. Maybe he is crazy. Look I hate to 'sell'. I am really looking to define my next project with help from you all here. Also, there are no proprietary secrets with the JNIOR. So if you want to know how something works just ask. I'll show you schematics. I'll show you JANOS operating system code. If the others will do all of that then I accept defeat. Is it worth anything to you?  |  IP: Logged Harold Hallikainen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 906 From: Denver, CO, USA Registered: Aug 2009 posted 10-18-2017 10:57 AM                        Interesting discussion! It's always interesting to hear how to make products better. The POS lamp control is interesting. Is automation the best place to handle this, or should it be handled by the SMS? The SMS could just not run a show if it knew no tickets were sold. Is POS API information readily available? Is it somewhat standardized, or does everyone do their own thing? Thanks! Harold  |  IP: Logged Bruce Cloutier Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Gibsonia, PA, USA Registered: Aug 2016 posted 10-18-2017 11:20 AM                        Let me relate my perception of this POS stuff so you can set me straight. If a theater is going to be showing a film soon after the completion of the prior show it is better to keep lamps lit in standby or whatever than to shut them down and restrike them. The automation can get involved with that. If it gets an indication from the POS system that the next movie is going to indeed be run then it keeps the lamps at the ready. Otherwise it allows them to shut off. It does seem like this can be done by the media server if it talks with the POS system. The automation can be used to work-around any limitation. One advantage of using the automation would be potentially more flexibility for the theater to tune how it works. For instance it might matter what the temperature in the projection booth has become. The automation would be in a better position to take that additional parameter into consideration in deciding whether to keep the lamp active. Anyway, JNIOR can be easily programmed to do all of this. I am told that a few years ago we had an inquiry and so we talked to a couple of POS systems. At that time the only information available from them would be the sales numbers and they (rightfully) were protective of those. So there wasn't a ready-made protocol. There might be something now where you can ask the POS about an upcoming show status. If anyone wants this on their JNIOR, just call and ask Rick for it. Give us a contact for your POS vender and we can make it happen. Heck, we can even put something up front so your cashiers can green-light a show. A JNIOR can run all of that. Um, well let's be a little cautious as to how much we can do with a Series 3. The current product (Series 4 - 410, 412 and 414) can be all over this in a millisecond.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-18-2017 11:34 AM                     I have an opinion on that too (big surprise ) The automation is the best place to handle this, not the SMS server. You don't want to cancel the show, you just want to keep the lamp off to preserve life. If someone comes in late, once that ticket is sold, the lamp can turn on to the show "already in progress." As for the POS systems. There are a range of no standards to quasi-standards like the "blode" file. Every POS system that wants to sell in the DCinema world HAS to provide a schedule export in order for TMS systems to be able to parse the film schedule. Most POS systems will have in that file remaining seat count (at least from what I can tell of the ones I've looked at). You may need to know what the total potential seats are to know when that first one is sold. Most any of the POS companies will happily send you their schema for their respective export files. I have no doubt that some do NOT have ticket sold information in them but many do. It may be on a case-by-case basis. Heck Film-Tech's TMS system monitors the seat count to alter the volume level of a particular show (fuller theatres get more volume than nearly empty ones).  |  IP: Logged Buck Wilson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 894 From: St. Joseph MO, USA Registered: Sep 2010 posted 10-18-2017 03:13 PM                     quote: Bruce Cloutier By the way this is something that we can easily handle. It just doesn't appear as a default function. You just need to tell us which POS system you are using so we can track down the protocol. I figured that might be the case, but alas, it's completely out of my hands. I'm not sure why they feel the need to switch then, especially considering I've been told "They're not even going to hook up the masking because the new automation doesn't have a way of handling it" That's gotta be a crock of shit. SO DUMB.  |  IP: Logged Dave Macaulay Film God Posts: 2321 From: Toronto, Canada Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-18-2017 03:17 PM                     I could take a lot of pictures of where we've installed them, but description is enough. - attached to the inside of the sound rack, generally with machine screws but maybe some with tek screws to remind ppl not to walk too close to it. - Attached to the inside front of projector pedestal, same mounting method. Those are chosen according to the location of the auditorium network switch and/or server and UPS. - booth wall beside the port, screwed to the wall. Power supply gets tricky here but some clients want this. They can see the "heartbeat" LED and function LEDs. - hanging on wire tie inside the rack or pedestal. Poor choice but I see this. - just laying in a mass of wires and dirt inside the pedestal. Really poor choice. I have come across a few MIT rackmounted ones. This mount is pretty much a PITA, the default wiring has never been useful, the Jnior is annoying to connect to since the tray has to come out, and it's invisible when installed. I have no problem with the unit as is. As far as functionality it's incredible. We generally use them just as network controlled relays and event inputs but have used some of the more advanced features. The downside to that is easy swapability... with them unmodified except for addressing it's a snap to replace one. Having them with devices, cues, TCP/IP to serial enabled, etc... you then need a system to save the configurations and keep those saves up to date so replacement doesn't turn into a head shaker. Support is amazing. Rick may indeed be crazy.  |  IP: Logged Bruce Cloutier Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Gibsonia, PA, USA Registered: Aug 2016 posted 10-19-2017 08:19 AM                        As an aside, one of the issues that we see with the JNIOR is that brief power interruptions and dropouts say from nearby air conditioning compressors kicking in cause the controller to reboot. The solution as you all probably know is to run these critical circuits on a UPS. Using a separate UPS is not always cost effective and the lack of stable power can be an issue in a lot of cases (where the JNIOR is employed. Right now I am developing the 412DMX JNIOR. We have a functional prototype and will have a few more shortly. This model replaces the AUX port with a DMX512 Universe and we can control stage lighting fixtures directly. Some of you are moving towards those in some of your theaters. As part of the design I am testing new internal power circuitry that, well, tends to ignore the loss of power for several seconds. This takes power dropouts and glitches out of the equation. I am thinking of rolling this into all new versions of our products. Here's a short video of the 412DMX prototype. This will screw you guys up who like to reboot the JNIOR by yanking power. You'll have to be patient. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vadk-6R4oh8 What do you think? Seems like a valuable feature for an automation controller. If power is restored before the saved energy runs out the JNIOR just keeps on doing its thing. Nothing is interrupted. I log both the loss of power and its return. Kind of cool, eh?  |  IP: Logged Bruce Cloutier Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Gibsonia, PA, USA Registered: Aug 2016 posted 10-19-2017 10:27 AM                        How often do you need to access automation wiring? Would a 1U/2U rack mounted drawer arrangement be worth anything? I am thinking of a JNIOR in rack mounted form with indicators across the front and maybe the COM (RS-232) diagnostic port connector. Inside you would have the relay and input connectors, options for expansion modules (sensor port), the AUX port connector, LAN and maybe a 12V supply (to eliminate the wall wart). This could be in a lockable drawer to where when you pull out the drawer all of your connections are revealed. There would also be strain reliefs inside to stabilize cabling prior to the connectors. So maybe this would have the ride-thru supply thing, use 10A NC/NO relay outputs, and a power switch on the front. Comments?  |  IP: Logged Buck Wilson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 894 From: St. Joseph MO, USA Registered: Sep 2010 posted 10-19-2017 01:30 PM                     That ride-thru is very cool! I like the idea of it being a drawer with switches etc on the front. More "ready to go" than it was, without sacrificing customization possibilities. But I'm honestly no expert.  |  IP: Logged

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