my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » USL JFM20 Format Card Won't Select Digital (Page 1)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Author Topic: USL JFM20 Format Card Won't Select Digital Matt Close Expert Film Handler Posts: 226 From: Hervey Bay, QLD, Australia Registered: Sep 2001 posted 01-23-2005 01:12 PM                        I have a JFM20 that won't select digital from the front panel, nor from the automation inputs. Before I start chasing this, has anybody struck the problem before ... common perhaps? ... And could save me some time  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-23-2005 01:36 PM                        Yes, it happens when the power supply starts to fail because of the loose standby button. I don't know why this affects format selection, but we had a unit which would sometimes lock up in one format (I don't remember which) and you could see that some of the voltage present indicators on the PS were out. Resetting the PS cured the problem. It is a well known fact that the standby buttons can cause problems, that's why a lot people simply bypass them.  |  IP: Logged Matt Close Expert Film Handler Posts: 226 From: Hervey Bay, QLD, Australia Registered: Sep 2001 posted 01-23-2005 02:20 PM                        Maybe that's what caused it ... because the supply did have the problem when I powered it up ... (unit is 2nd hand) ..... BUT, I had already tried the JFM20 in another JS200 with the same fault So it has to be a fault on the format card itself .... any more ideas anyone?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-23-2005 07:53 PM                     The format card is about the most failure prone card in the JS series. USL has now discontinued production of these cards and almost all others for the JS series and only repaired cards are available on an R/A basis. Also rip out that POS power supply switch and put in jumpers in place of it, it'll make things alot more reliable. Mark  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-24-2005 03:54 AM                     quote: Mark Gulbrandsen POS power supply switch and put in jumpers in place of it Couldn't agree more...done a few of those to safe face.- Monte  |  IP: Logged Matt Close Expert Film Handler Posts: 226 From: Hervey Bay, QLD, Australia Registered: Sep 2001 posted 02-14-2005 06:56 PM                        Well .. I am back to this card again .... Mark, have you ever repaired one yourself? If so, some advice?  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-14-2005 08:12 PM                     I would sujest doing a repair exchange the cmos switching is touchy and you need a proper desoldering station  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-14-2005 09:10 PM                     Matt, Gord is correct on this, best to send it back in for R/A. The only part you could replace is the bypass switch. I've done that several times. The format cards among other things are some of the most unreliable pieces to ever come out of USL. We seem to do an RA on at least one or two a month! More so in the summer when its really dry..... Another thing to note.... USL has discontinued supplying any "NEW" cards for the JS series. There may be be a few of some cards left in stock that are avialable but after they are gone its strictly an R/A type of thing. There are I.C's in them that are now obsolete. USL has supposedly bought enough semis to be able to service them for some time to come but for those that still want to upgrade their units its just too bad..... and I really believe they really only have digital reasons for doing so. Makes it difficult for me to ever want to push any USL product at all in the future! With the gazillions of these units out there perhaps some other company will develop replacement cards for them. Sheesh... Even Dolby respectfully supports its old CP-50, and with new cards still available and Smart can still provide repair and parts way back to its first few products produced! Mark  |  IP: Logged Matt Close Expert Film Handler Posts: 226 From: Hervey Bay, QLD, Australia Registered: Sep 2001 posted 02-14-2005 10:19 PM                        Mark & Gord ..... thank for your replies ...... Mark, the situation for these cards does sound a little dire to say the least. I hope 'someone' produces replacements for them. Clint has kindly e-mailed me and offered to send schematics.... but they will be of little help if I can't get the chips Thanks anyway guys .......  |  IP: Logged Matt Close Expert Film Handler Posts: 226 From: Hervey Bay, QLD, Australia Registered: Sep 2001 posted 02-15-2005 02:48 AM                        If anyone can help me ... I need to know where to get a chip or it's equivilent. On the JFMP-20D board (the little board that plugs into the JFM-20) there are three chips that appear to handle the logic for two control lines each. They are marked IDL1 9444H Any ideas anyone?  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-15-2005 06:09 AM                     You might want to contact Ray Derrick at Panastereo as he could probably service it I beleive Panalogic does complete booth service so that would include brands they don't build One other item on those I have had to replace are the optofets  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 02-15-2005 08:05 AM                     Mark, USL had been planning to discontinue the JS series for years...I suspect that they truely ran into low semiconductor supply levels before it forced the issue. I would think that even if the JSD processor wasn't ready, they would have had a short-fall and couldn't supply processors. I think it just took longer than expected to get a working replacement processor out...digital or otherwise. They have been been toying with some sort of replacement processor for something like 10-years now. Lets face it, the JS series was pretty much unchanged since its inception with the 5/95 series. The dreaded format card(s) seeing the biggest changes and the addition of SR capability. They probably should have brought out a low cost analog processor though to have something in addition to the digital one. Then again, most any IC except the real common ones are bound to have a short production life. What was the reason for SMART to go though the recent MOD changes? Not just the move to off shore but obsolescence in rather short order. Anyone that is planning on making electronic stuff should be warned about not using Analog Devices...they will discontinue a chip as it is being brought out. Steve  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 02-15-2005 08:55 AM                     The USL series had a good run of 20 years. The new JSD Series seems like a winner based on the demo at the factory a couple of weeks ago...it has a nice feature of using a low cost PDA to do set-ups and checks. Smart had to redesign their MOD series due to the key supplier discontinuing a chip. Smarts's policy is to have enough reserves to maintain a customer's purchase for 10 or more years and indeed there are only one or two products which they can not support in the large range of products they have produced in the 26 years they have been around They did not go "off shore" to produce the present MOD 8, they where concerned with quality control, so the unit is made in the U.S.A.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-15-2005 08:58 AM                     quote: Steve Guttag Then again, most any IC except the real common ones are bound to have a short production life. Agreed on the obsolescence issue but there are also other ways and means to get around this. Designing a small micro circuit equivelent to the I.C. with the use of other available I'C.s is a possibility as well as designing all new cards, the latter would generally be a big advantage as per performance gain. And these are really pretty simple cards too!! With the tens of thousands of these units out there its plain stupid not to. Alot of our customers wanting to upgrade their units are pretty possed off at USL right now and the likelyhood of them purchasing other products from USL is about nil. With the number of JS units out there the ploy of semicondictor obsolescence is not any real excuse in my book..... As per the Smart problem keep in mind that there are very few MOD 7 processors out in the field as compared to all of the JS units and Smart will also be able to repair them for many years fown the road. The thing about the Smarts is that they already have everything in them and they have also already replaced it with an equivelent priced unit that exceeds the original by a mile. I guess for me its just the sheer scale of the USL abandonment and the pissed off customers that come to mind..... There are alot of JS units in this area and alot of these customers may well be buying some one elses processor down the road because of this. Mark  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 02-15-2005 09:23 AM                     Jack Cashin, the man behind the curtain at Ultra Stereo, said that when he designed the JS series times where easier and most of the product was designed by himself. the JSD involved around a five person group and changes as time marched on during the project to create something with a long shelf life. People like Jack at Ultra Stereo, Norm Schneider at Smart are trying to take care of present needs but are firmly looking at future opportunities.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.