quote: Mark Gulbrandsen

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Don't waste your money and what could be revenue generating time waiting for a Christie! Look into the NEC Series 2 projectors. NEC has now left all the others in the dust. You will also save big $$ if you are doing a full complex with digital. The NEC Series 2 projectors are VERY impressive! Go with either GDC or Doremi server. Anything else is a waaste of time.

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Mark,I have noticed you really do change your mind on things quite a bit... I think I can find posts from you endorsing and hating every piece of equipment ever made on here!
 

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Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-12-2010, 05:21 PM:
 
LOL Brendan I was thinking the same thing....and Mark has also gone from pro-digital to anti-digital back to pro-digital again.

I guess it depends on who he's working for at the time.

I have worked with the NEC and it is not bad at all, but I would still use Christie for their support is better than the others.

Don't even get me started on Sony...
 

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Posted by Ian Parfrey (Member # 5122) on 05-12-2010, 05:28 PM:
 
Tony.

...what about Sony?
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-12-2010, 09:20 PM:
 

quote: Tony Bandiera Jr

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I would still use Christie for their support is better than the others.

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quote: Sam D. Chavez

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Mark honestly believes whatever he believes that day.

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quote: Sam D. Chavez

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Nothing to do with anything practical like who pays his salary.
A totally free agent.

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I donno, the same people have been paying my salary for about the last 8 or 9 years. So not necessarily a free agent... I prefer to keep costs down and still offer my customers a top quality product. NEC has allowed that to happen more so than the other two manufacturers. Not such a bad thing really.
 

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Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 05-13-2010, 10:14 AM:
 
It's a gentle joke son. No harm intended. We all have our style.

By getting paid by the same people, you are referring to the end customer, not your employer, I'm thinking.
 

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Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-13-2010, 12:56 PM:
 
Mark, I have the advantage of living within 25 miles of Christie Digital so getting support is never a problem.

My primary criteria is how quickly I can get parts/replacement lamps, and with Christie I can make a phone call and have the parts ready for pickup within a few hours.

Ian, One merely has to look at any thread involving Sony (or SDDS) to find out how I feel about them.

Do a search under my user name and you'll see.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-13-2010, 08:53 PM:
 
Sam,
I realize it. It is interesting though how those same customers have been paying my salery all these years with the funds just going through different channels to get to me.

Tony... Just went though a big ordeal with Christie on a ZX. They sent multiple FFIB boards that were bad to the tech before I was asked to look at the projector. The projector acted up about once every 10 days like clockwork. The method of diagnosis was uber simple... just swap boards between two of projectors and see if the problem followed. It did not follow so the light engine was at fault. Diagnosis took less than 10 days of run time. So why didn't Christie support have the previous tech do that? Pretty basic stuff that they missed IMHO. Sadly, the problem went on for 8 months before the simple diagnosis and the light engine was finally replaced under warranty.

Mark
 

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Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-13-2010, 09:53 PM:
 
Sorry Mark, I have to disagree with you on the "simple diagnosis/basic stuff" part of your story. First off, if it is possible that the boards were causing the problem, I too would have swapped them first as I'm pretty sure the board is a LOT less costly than the light engine.

And if the problem didn't follow I'm having some confusion on how you posit that "multiple FFIB boards that were bad"...if the boards were bad wouldn't they have failed out when swapped to another machine? Or failed right off the bat? Or perhaps was the faulty light engine killing the boards?

First principle of good troubleshooting is check the simple stuff first. You don't replace the rectifier before you try a new bulb first, right? (Or for that matter make sure the rectifier is working before changing the bulb.)

If the light engine was the obvious solution to you, did you suggest it to the tech anytime during that 8 month period? Any good tech would not be insulted and would be grateful for the tip, as no one is perfect. (I frequently sought out advice during my service days. Still do if I run into something odd.)

Also, one tech who was deficient in knowledge in your opinion does not necessarily mean that a company's total support is bad.

Finally, remember that this whole D-Crapema circus is an immature technology unlike film which is proven with well over a century of world-wide usage.

All of the above is just my perspective based on what is written in your post. Your actual mileage may vary.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-14-2010, 01:02 AM:
 
Sorry Mark, but I have found Christie's support to be EXCELLENT. Rodney Dye as well as the entire crew I have dealt with in California and Canada has been nothing but a pleasure.

NEC on the other hand...ummm, not so much.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-14-2010, 08:08 AM:
 
Tony,
It was Christie Tech Support that elected to send out every board one at a time for the first tech to see if that fixed the problem... And they sent HIM three FFIB boards in a row that were bad. With another projector located in the next town south that was available to swap boards between their idea was a big time and money waster. Boards were finally swapped and the problem nailed in just a few days time when the original projector acted up again all things then pointed to the light engine.

Brad,

Every company has their own Rodney Dye!

Mark
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-14-2010, 02:29 PM:
 
Mark, every company has their crazy repair story. Regardless I give it 6 months to a year and you will be on the Barco bandwagon, or back with Christie, or maybe film. Your opinions change radically.
 

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Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 05-14-2010, 07:51 PM:
 
Rodney Dye just came through for me today on a tough issue involving a CP2000 M and a lens that would not come into focus. We talked to customer service and they had suggestions but Rodney was the one that knew exactly the answer. It took only one call

As mark says, every company has one of these guys, Lonny, and me back in the day.

Rodney is one of the best out there today and Christie benefits from it.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-14-2010, 11:16 PM:
 
Sounds like Sam had to do a "boresight" adjustment! I've been there with the CP2000-M. Also had an issue with an M where the Red and Blue cables were crossed feeding the DMDs.

Rodney, both times, was fast, clear and had the problem figured/explained. Nevermind I had to fix a factory new machine!

Yep...all companies seem to have their golden folks and the ones to avoid.

I was installing a Barco system yesterday...had a quick question...received a quick answer. In fact, when I've had Barco issues (no matter how small), I've normally received a "team" response, complete with follow up calls to ensure the problem(s) were resolved.

The DP2K-20C I just put in was nothing short of excellent...possibly the best unit I've installed from any digital company. Barco really has got the convergence thing figured out...it is fast and accurate...especially if you have the USL Convergence camera (or two).

Steve
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-14-2010, 11:36 PM:
 
Did several of those including temporaily installing one very early pre-production loaner from Christie that had been cranked on in training classes. The boresight on the M was a literal bitch! Never turn the screws more than about an eigth of a turn either way or it may never be right again! Very primative lensmount!!! Good that they discontinued it.

Mark
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-15-2010, 10:10 AM:
 
When I did the boresight on the "M", before turning any screws, I marked them to note their relative positions. This made finding the sweet spot for the focus issue a breeze without disturbing the boresight itself. I then was able to improve the boresight even more and achieved a very uniform focus everywhere on the screen.

I'm finding that the "M" can loose track of its lens position though, with respect to focus/zoom.

Steve
 

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Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 05-15-2010, 10:29 AM:
 
Our problem had to do with not being able to install the lens into the projector deep enough to get into focus.

Has to do with some sort of lens plate on the lens itself.

I was not on-site but supporting a technician way north of me so I'm sketchy on the details.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-15-2010, 03:36 PM:
 
Yeah...that is it...you adjust ALL of the boresight screws EQUALLY. Hence, I marked all of them to ensure they stayed the same, relative...also I could meter how much it was turned.

I found that 3/4 of a turn allowed me to set the projector focus to "0" and have focus pretty much from one end of the zoom range to the other.

However, that came at the price that the image did not get as large as I needed it for Scope. As such, I backed it off about 2/3rds (so 1/3 of a turn from factory) and I had enough focus and zoom range. And since I was in there already...I tweaked the boresight so all targets were tack sharp.

The pain was that it was an M because it was a small theatre/booth. I had to stand in the theatre and work through the port hole to adjust it!

Steve
 

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Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-17-2010, 12:09 AM:
 

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen

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Tony,
It was Christie Tech Support that elected to send out every board one at a time for the first tech to see if that fixed the problem... And they sent HIM three FFIB boards in a row that were bad. With another projector located in the next town south that was available to swap boards between their idea was a big time and money waster. Boards were finally swapped and the problem nailed in just a few days time when the original projector acted up again all things then pointed to the light engine.

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quote: Mark Gulbrandsen

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They sent multiple FFIB boards that were bad to the tech before I was asked to look at the projector.

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quote: Tony Bandiera Jr

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why did it still take 8 months?

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As I understood his original post, he was was not the first tech to try and solve the issue. It was after about 8 months of the other tech trying to diagnose the problem that Mark was brought in to solve it. That's how I read it anyway. It also sounds like the other tech didn't want to take the time swap boards since the other machine was several miles away or even perhaps he/she didn't have access to it.
 

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Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-17-2010, 12:55 PM:
 
Ahhh, thanks Jeremy. That makes sense to me. My apologies to Mark in that case.

Yeah hard to diagnose from the beginning if you weren't involved from the beginning.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-18-2010, 04:49 PM:
 
Jeremy... You get the gold star! Although in fairness to the other tech he did consider doing the swap but Christie tech support insisted he try the FFIB boards among others they sent out first. Those three boards were dead dragging the time to repair out even further. The two ZX projectors are about 50 miles apart... no big deal. In fact a ZX and CP-2000 reside in the same town and use the same FFIB!! So in theory it could have been done locally but I thought it best to keep the cards moved between the same model. In all fairness to Christie the light engine they sent did fix the problem and the convergence was dead on.

Mark
 

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Posted by Brendan Penny (Member # 5041) on 05-19-2010, 03:57 AM:
 
Anyway, getting back to topic.

Is anyone experiencing delays OUTSIDE of NEC?
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-19-2010, 04:05 PM:
 
Yes, everyone is. NEC isn't backlogged because nobody wants them. Very simple.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Althaus (Member # 5042) on 05-19-2010, 06:00 PM:
 
We have 2 Barcos being installed in 5 weeks, and with all the problems we had on our single install, I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
 

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Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 05-20-2010, 12:45 AM:
 
Are they installation problems or equipment problems? Is like automation systems. If the programming is shit the equipment is uselless!
Demetris
 

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Posted by Jonathan Althaus (Member # 5042) on 05-20-2010, 12:30 PM:
 
Most of our problems were caused by a bad digital site survey done months earlier and not verified before equipment was ordered. Wrong size lens, wrong size bulb, confusion on in-pedestal dimmer, broken dimmer, stuck blue pixel. And we had issues with the Christie guys doing the install, not setting things up like we requested. Hopefully we have a smoother install with Barco installers.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-20-2010, 02:22 PM:
 

quote: Brad Miller

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NEC isn't backlogged because nobody wants them.

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quote: Mike Moreno

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Mark, it is posoble for you to know how many NEC´s are in Mexico?

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