Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Big Sky Series 1 Miscues Lights at Show End

This is topic Big Sky Series 1 Miscues Lights at Show End in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Cody Martin (Member # 2523) on 07-23-2008, 10:13 PM:

Hello,

Trying to figure out a hopefully simple problem. I have 5 Big Sky Series One units that run in random cue order. The units read all cues that are put on by the film handler perfectly with one small exception. When the automation reads the lights up/end of feature cue the lights come up to full, but as soon as the feature tails out the lights are dropped either back to half or to low. I've replaced the diodes controlling the lights in the automation and the diode that controls which cue is showend. I'm trying to fix this soon as all the auditoriums are too dark with out the lights coming up.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Cody

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 07-24-2008, 12:59 AM:

I am not familiar witht the big sky but is show end film tailout or dowser close
On the TA 10 I set dowser close with light to full (event4)

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 07-24-2008, 10:23 AM:

How new are these units? It could be an error in the programming of the ROM chips if these are new units.

Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 07-24-2008, 10:27 AM:

I have installed 100's of these units. They work great. Hold up the failsafe when the tail runs out so it doesnt drop. See if the lights are going back down before the failsafe drops. If they go back down before it drops, make sure there isn't an extra cue on there by mistake. We run in sequential mode and we have had funny things happen when an extra cue was put on by mistake. I would think random mode would do similar things. If the lights only go back down when the failsafe drops, then there is something in the failsafe cicuit. I will check the manual.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 07-24-2008, 10:40 AM:

I think you are getting a "phantom" cue when the film ends or when the arms drop. How many rollers on your pickup? New ones are 2; old ones are 4. We modified all the old to be 2 rollers failsafes. MUCH better reliable cueing. Louis

Posted by Bryan M. Montgomery (Member # 4412) on 07-24-2008, 11:33 AM:

I've had the same problem with the same equipment. I have found that on certain cue readers, not all, that the small white barcode decals that the labs or depots put on the tails can give you a phantom "feature" ( dim lights ) cue. I either removed them or covered them to prevent this problem. Strange thing, but that seemed to be the problem for me.
The Series 1 is a great no-nonsense automation, especially for the operators Monte calls "boothclowns," very little to confuse them. I like to call them button-pushing platter monkeys myself.
Hope this helped. [thumbsup]

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 07-24-2008, 11:20 PM:

The safest way to configure any Opti-cue automation is to make sure you have NOTHING set to the "one" cue. Most people use "one" for house lights mid (credits), and since splices can often trigger the sensor, surprise! Lights up when they're not supposed to.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 07-25-2008, 06:20 AM:

The most common mistakes are:

Sensor set too sensitive (and also mis aimed)

Sensor aimed directly at a roller. (There is always a reflection tangent to the roller/sensor.) Louis

Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 07-25-2008, 11:51 AM:

Very good point Louis. I have had them set way to sensitive. They will pick up anything then.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 07-25-2008, 08:12 PM:

I agree with Tim, but Gordon also has a good point .. because some automations will ignore any cues after the c/o closes (and before the c/o opens.) That is, the automation must be show run mode. So if the lights are going down when the actual tail runs out, it might not be the automation. That's the way a Xetron MAXI12 works; the 'Series 1' couldn't be anything at all like it, maybe just a little bit, could it?

Although I admit it sure seems like the automation.

Posted by Cody Martin (Member # 2523) on 07-28-2008, 12:24 AM:

Hello all,

Thanks for your replies. The sensors/failsafes in question are 2 roller assemblies that use a MEKontrol IR reader. I covered up the barcodes on a print that was having the problem and the problem did go away for that auditorium. However, the same did not happen for the other auditoriums. I've checked to make sure it isn't catching the failsafe drop by moving the arms up and down and am not getting the visual red led light to light up so I don't think they are the problem. Sensitive could be the problem still. How do I adjust these properly? I don't want to mess with these without a little idea. Like always, when we get our tech in here we can't get the problem to occur, but since I'm here 6 days a week I'm constantly dealing with it. As always, your help is appreciated!

Thanks,
Cody

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 07-28-2008, 11:25 AM:

Disallow the "one" cue and your problems will disappear.

Posted by Eric Burrel (Member # 4882) on 07-30-2008, 07:05 PM:

Maybe it's not the "one" cue, but what the cue is set to do. On the MAXI 12XPC I worked with, our "one" cue was set to change the lens and masking to scope. We had no problems with phantom cues. Ours did read the cue before the C/O opened if the cue reached the reader before that happened.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 07-31-2008, 09:27 PM:

It all depends on the sensor, of course. FWIW, I did try switching the "one" cue to something else (lens change) while troubleshooting this problem years ago, to eliminate the dimmer as the problem. Sure enough, lens changes started happening in the middle of the show. [Frown]