This is topic Does EVERYBODY get as many bad SRD reels as I do? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 05-09-2000, 04:16 AM:
We have an DA-20 with a CAT-700 Penthouse... and for the life of me I can't get ANY print to run right in there.We've gotten replacement reels and it still clicks in and out during portions of the film.
Is it likely that we actually get BAD REELS, or is it possible that something is actually wrong with the SRD? Because certain previews and reels run great... 1's 2's and 3's.... but then WHAMMO - one or two reels run 6-F-7-F-F-F-3-F-2-F-1-2-1-2-F-F-F. Random stuff like that.
I find it hard to swallow that EVVVERY single print needs replacement reels.
Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 05-09-2000, 04:22 AM:
OOh... I also wanted to mention...IT'S EVERY SINGLE MOVIE WE GET THAT DOES THIS.
ALSO - It's not always the ENTIRE reel. Sometimes the beginning of the reel will run fine - then in the middle of the reel it'll start spazzing out - and then be okay by the end of the reel.
SOMETIMES the SRD drops into Analog and runs fine.
SOMETIMES the SRD just drops into silence.
I want to love Dolby Digital but I don't have these problems with DTS - and believe it or not... I don't often have them with SDDS either.
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-09-2000, 06:47 AM:
Scott,
What type of projector and what kind of platter do you have? Sounds like you have a reader problem to me. The odds of getting that many bad reels are pretty slim. An ocassional reel does happen though.
Mark
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 05-09-2000, 08:14 AM:
CAT-700 / DA-20 are pretty reliable; I feel that there must be an alignment problem or some other cause, like an intermittent connection on the PC boards, (wire) connections, etc.The cable connecting the DA-20 to the CAT-700 is special, in that it must be a specified length. Although it's shielded, it shouldn't run next to AC lines, etc.
There was a service notice regarding the power supply in the CAT-700, which in posted in the "Manual" section here. I don't know if it applies to yours, must you might check.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-09-2000, 09:10 AM:
When is the last time the lamp was changed in the reader? Pull the back cover off of the cat700 and look at the lamp. Is it crytallized over? If the lamp looks fine, get a multimeter out and check the output of the cat700's power supply. Check those two things first and we'll take it from there.
Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 05-09-2000, 12:35 PM:
Thanks for the responses so far - hopefully Aaron Sisemore (our technician) has been reading up on the forums today. 
In answer to the question asked... we have a Century SAW and An AW3.
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-09-2000, 01:45 PM:
Scott, There is definately some problem either with the reader or a card in the processor. I've had several failures of the Cat 670 Video Front-End Card. Other than that they have been great. Be sure your techie uses a fresh Dolby loop to check things out on the reader. If you have other units in this location you can swap cards to eliminate that section.
Mark
Posted by Ken Jacquart (Member # 369) on 05-09-2000, 09:09 PM:
You provided a valuable clue when you said that sometimes the Digital drops out to 'Silence'. What most likely has happened is the DA20 power supply's internal molex connector pin's have burnt which is reducing the 5 volt rail to a critical threshold and causing the intermittent drop to silence scenario. There was a bad batch of molex connector pins years ago that would cause this problem. Also, your reader bulb should be changed if the reflector shows any signs of fog. This significantly reduces the video amplitude at the Cat. No. 670 card. Anyway, I have a feeling your problem is the molex connector. (The same bad batch of molex connectors also got in to some Cat. No. 700 reader supplies as well)Good Luck...
Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 05-10-2000, 04:37 AM:
Ken- The entire power supply was replaced a couple months ago, the 15v rails were intermittent on that particular DA20, the power supply molex was *not* burned or otherwise damaged. A new bulb was installed in the 700 at the same time, and the picture on the scope improved dramatically. The problem with the dropouts still occurs... I am thinking its still in the DA20 if its hardware at all... Hope to hear from you in the AM so we can get this mess resolved once and for all Aaron