Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DTS Problems

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Posted by Glenn Conatser (Member # 970) on 01-22-2002, 10:02 PM:

Hi Folks,

Im having various issues with my DTS ( DTS6 ) units and could use some help troubleshooting the issues. All units seem to have had the upgrades over the years but could be wrong .

House #1
DTS reader will blink ramdomly and the time code light on the unit will keep blinking along and then goes solid along with the CD rom light . The system light will not be on. This seems to happen with all movies.

House #2
DTS top drive seems to not play the single disc movies unless they are put into the lower drive. When a disc is loaded into the top drive it ends up giving me the time code and system light staying solid and wont switch to digital with the reader light not coming on. But everything works fine when put into the lower drive. Im thinking the top drive is bad but not sure.

Hope this is enough info.

Ive been working for UA for about five years and was a theatre manager for about 2.5 years. Ive always had strong interest in projection and sound and recently took over the booth at the Emery Bay 10 in Emeryville Ca.

Thanks for the help. This site is going to be a big help.

Glenn

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-22-2002, 11:14 PM:

It would help if you would give us a rundown on your booth equipment. Things like make/model platter and projector actually come into play with things like this.

House #1, the reader light and the "timecode" light on the unit is the same thing. The system light should be flashing. Are you turning the power off and then back on whenever you eject discs? Give us more info for this one.

House #2, your top drive is bad.

Posted by Glenn Conatser (Member # 970) on 01-22-2002, 11:39 PM:

Brad,
Both houses are Christie p35c with Christie AW3 platters. Dolby CP55 processor. Automation is the UA inhouse i believe. QSC amps. There are no other digital units on the projector either. Pretty basic installation.

Thanks

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-23-2002, 01:09 AM:

Does your #1 house have the "do not remove under penalty of death" sticker on the operator side, or is there a visible flat head screw? Is there a date sticker where the cable plugs into the front of the reader? What is the date?

Is there a bounce from the feed platter to the projector?

Are you doing the reboot I mentioned earlier when you change discs?

After about a minute of being on, before you start the projector, does the "system" light blink on and off?

Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 01-23-2002, 04:44 AM:

Glenn,

Brad is right.
The system led MUST be flashing. If it is not flashing so you have some problem.
I had a bad drive on my DTS6 and when I put a disk in the upper drive, the unit tried, tried, tried and then the system light stop flashing.
So I beleive that your upper drive is gone. But you told that only with "one disk" movie you have trouuble: does it works properly with two disk movie???

Timecode blink: pls read a previous post "Attention DTS experts: help needed" by Cory Johnson.

Also, read the troubleshooting manual from DTS (you can download it from www.dtsonline.com techcenter area). It contains a lot of useful tips!

Bye
Antonio

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 01-23-2002, 12:56 PM:

Glen,

1. The SYSTEM light MUST blink or the unit will never work - no matter what kind of timecode it gets. If the SYSTEM light does blink and the timecode light blinks a lot - that is another issue.

2. Bad drives need to be replaced. All the drives are in parallel and you can put the disc in any drive and in any order. However, you can put only one movie title in at a time.

If you need more details, please send me an email.

Karen at DTS
khultgren@dtsonline.com

Have you lost your DTS manuals? Do you want the latest techincal updates? Do you want troubleshooting help from a DTS engineer? Check out our on-line techcenter! Its free to all DTS cinema customers. Go to www.dtsonline.com and click on 'cinema' and then 'techcenter'. Fill out the application to receive an instant password. We will NOT share the information you supply us with anyone and we will not SPAM you!

Posted by Glenn Conatser (Member # 970) on 01-24-2002, 12:54 AM:

Brad,

1. Yes there are dated stickers, and did not see a visible flat head screw.
2. #6 - 4/97 reader / 12/22/95 for the DTS unit. Also there was 9 written in the dac/bin box on the back. I tried the unit again today and it worked fine for a bit but the time code light and reader light kept coming on and off. However the system light would stay on and blink.

One of my other houses not mentioned is #4 and is having similar problems to #6. But not nearly as bad. This unit is running the same projector and platter but there is a cp200 for the processor. 11/96 reader - 12/22/95 DTS unit.

3. The bounce from the feed platter might be an inch or two. But doesent seem severe.

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 01-28-2002, 02:05 PM:

Glen,

Please send me an email. You are having timecode problems that need to be resolved. Please do not make any adjustments to the reader without guidance from DTS or else it could void your warranty.

Karen at DTS
khultgre@dtsaonline.com

Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 01-28-2002, 02:06 PM:

oops, wrong email address, it really is

khultgren@dtsonline.com

Karen at DTS

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-04-2002, 03:56 PM:

I would really take a long hard look at the reader head and insure the flanges are clean and free of wax and dirt buildup. If the adjustment is made with the lateral adjusting screw with cruddy flanges, you could add insult to injury. Make sure it is absolutely clean before such an adjustment is made.

Because of the precision of the reader head, it should not go out of adjustment unless it is abused or not kept clean.

Just a note...