Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Longest You´ve Ever Run in Bypass

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Posted by Andres Briano (Member # 4621) on 06-20-2008, 09:38 PM:

It turns out that today I heard over dinner about this theatre who had a problem with CAT 150 in a CP65 and (for some reason that was not explained) had to ran for six months in bypass until they got the board back fixed.

This made me think about what is the Guiness world record for the longest time any auditorium has run in bypass.

I´m all ears.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-20-2008, 09:54 PM:

Well there are still theaters running mono. Does that count?

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 06-20-2008, 11:28 PM:

I admit I'm not the most observant person but occasionally I'll look at one of my processors and notice the unit is in bypass. I'll take it out of bypass to hear what the problem was. Often the unit is functioning properly. I then suspect the center eq card had a bad connection or short and eventually switch eq cards with right or left and note it for our tech.
Then I read and re-read our booth incident log to determine when the complaint or processor short-out occurred and IT'S NOT LOGGED! I begin to corner my booth staff to determine who and when the event occurred. Often, one of them will admit that he put the unit in bypass but forgot to log it or TELL ME WHEN HE SAW ME.
Some remote theatre running a processor in bypass for 6 months does not surprise me. I would not be surprised if some theatres that don't see a tech on a regular basis isn't running in bypass in their smaller auditoriums for years.

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 06-21-2008, 03:38 PM:

I've been in auditoriums before and there are clearly surround speakers on the side and rear walls. However, when the film starts up, it's in analogue optical; I can hear clicking and popping noises caused by dirt and damage to the analogue track! There doesn't even seem to be any Pro Logic decoding going on - just the front speakers are active.

Like James said, I'm guessing there was a problem and the projectionist on duty just put the unit into bypass mode without logging it. The next projectionist reloads the film, or makes up a new print to run in there, and the unit remains in bypass.

I think at the very least, the projectionist should look at each CAT 150 unit when they come on duty, before any movies start. If there's one in bypass, and the reason is not recorded in the log book, they should query it!

Perhaps the projectionist who puts the unit in bypass should put a sticky note on the unit itself (or on the main noticeboard), saying why it's in bypass [Wink]

Posted by Andres Briano (Member # 4621) on 06-21-2008, 04:18 PM:

Brad, what I meant was Bypass as a last resource rather than Bypass as a measure of quality, you know? So no, I guess that doesn´t count.
I think that six months is a decent first offer. I´m just curious to see how far we can take it...

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 06-23-2008, 09:41 AM:

quote:
I've been in auditoriums before and there are clearly surround speakers on the side and rear walls. However, when the film starts up, it's in analogue optical; I can hear clicking and popping noises caused by dirt and damage to the analogue track!

Analog doesn't automatically equal bypass [Roll Eyes]

. There is a analog surround sound system called Dolby SR, it's still quite common in theatres. Especially at Cineworld Bradford that your so fond of. [Big Grin]

-----------------------------------------
I've known sites that have had broken digital sound, so have been running in Dolby SR for months before the digital has been restored, but that still doesn't beat Andres. 6 months in bypass is bad news bears. [Frown]

Was this a single screens or a plex?

Posted by Andres Briano (Member # 4621) on 06-24-2008, 06:14 PM:

Michael,
I can´t remember if it was a 9-plex or an 11-plex. It wasn´t one of my theatres. Coincidence? [Razz]

Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 06-24-2008, 07:20 PM:

This is a good one. An AMC theater I am servicing now had 3 screens running in bypass. One was in bypass because the CAT 241 card was missing and they thought it needed to be in bypass. The second screen was in bypass because of the right channel constantly going in and out. The third screen was in bypass because of a funny sound in the left channel. The in and out sound was a bad CAT242 card. The funny sound in the left channel was a bad CAT22 card. So I went to the smallest house and took out the CAT22,242,and 241 cards to fix the 3 screens that were in bypass. They were in bypass for at least a year. Now only 1 screen is in bypass with a bad CAT22,242, and no 241 card. There are no plans right now to order replacements.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 06-24-2008, 08:37 PM:

Cat 22 = Cat 222? If not, I'd like to know the processor that uses ALL three cards you mention...certainly not the CP55 which would have used the Cat 222.

Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 06-24-2008, 09:00 PM:

Okay so I left out the extra 2....lol

Posted by Andres Briano (Member # 4621) on 06-25-2008, 08:43 PM:

Omitted 2s aside, he holds the Guiness world record for Longest Run in Bypass... for now! [evil]

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 06-25-2008, 09:44 PM:

He bypassed the 2's.

--jhawk

Posted by Andres Briano (Member # 4621) on 06-26-2008, 05:01 PM:

[thumbsup]

Posted by Jose Nunez (Member # 4086) on 06-29-2008, 01:48 AM:

Andre my Friend!!! What about your experience in Los Angeles??

Posted by Andres Briano (Member # 4621) on 09-27-2008, 07:20 AM:

Jose,
Check your private messages, buddy!
Hope to hear back from you.

Andrés

Posted by Oliver Harper (Member # 4245) on 09-28-2008, 07:14 AM:

The max time we ran in bypass was like 2 days, we had to wait for a spare 650, the cross overs in the amps failed at the start of the weekend and we had none spare.By monday afternoon everything was back to normal.

Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 09-28-2008, 11:47 AM:

Hi Folks:

Worked at the Belmont Theatre in Belmont, CA from 1989-1994. We ran our Christie console's automation unit manually for about 1.5 months because it was not working.

So we finally get a tech out and you won't beleive what the problem was. The unit was turned off! Someone must have bumped the on/off switch and with all the indicator bulbs burned out no one noticed that the unit was turned off. Boy did we feel foolish.

Mike

Posted by Danial Simmonds (Member # 4638) on 09-30-2008, 04:59 AM:

Okay here is a winner;

In Malaysia a cinema in Malaysia has ran CP65 Sound processor on bypass for about 22months yup almost 2 YEARS!!!!

why? because they did not contact any technician to solve the problem, it was just a burn fuse :-( such a waste of sound quality...

Dan.