Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: CP200 & DA20 interfacing

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

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Film Handlers' Forum » CP200 & DA20 interfacing

Author

Topic: CP200 & DA20 interfacing

Serge Bosschaerts
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Schoten, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 11-07-2007 05:21 PM

I'm installing a DA20 into my screening room very soon.
Have a CP200 and DTS6 installed now and have been reading the manuals for connecting everything.
Since I don't have a cat 493, my question is : can I connect the DA20 to my CP200 to play SRD without a cat 493 ?
As far as I can tell the mods have been done on the cat 153 as described in the DA20 manual and the backplane mods 560 & 517 have been done for the DTS6.

| IP: Logged

Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 11-07-2007 05:31 PM

Cat 493? Is that the auto-digital thing? If so...don't worry...none of my installations have that installed...in fact virtually none of my installations utilize auto digital regardless of processor.

You should have no problem installing the DA20 together with the DTS-6. The audio paths daisy-chain. Depending on the vintage of the DTS-6 the subwoofer line will either use an external relay board or on later DTS6s the relay was internal. Most have the DA20 come before the DTS in the signal path since the DTS6 can switch the subwoofer line. Early DA20s (cat 611) can't switch the subwoofer from external sources, later DA20s (cat 611A) need to be modded to switch the subwoofer...either way, it is easier to have the DTS-6 come last.

At the AFI, we have XD10s and I set up a logic system where the operator (or studio) could have a preference with the flip of one switch choose when digital was given priority with the other being an automatic backup.

Steve

| IP: Logged

Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 11-08-2007 04:49 PM

quote: Steve Guttag
At the AFI, we have XD10s and I set up a logic system where the operator (or studio) could have a preference with the flip of one switch choose when digital was given priority with the other being an automatic backup.

I would love to know how to do something like that. I have a handfull of houses with two digital formats. But would it work when one of the digital formats is built into the processor? we're talking about an XD10 on top of a CP500, and a DA20 on top of a DTS-6AD.

| IP: Logged

Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 11-08-2007 05:38 PM

The logic system I designed into the AFI system was specific for their needs (the priority system was merely a convienent add on to the system) as the Historic theatre there is pretty sophisticated in many respects in its control system.

Ultimately, anything is possible but it is a whole lot easier if the devices you are controlling are external. For instance, the DA-20s only worry about calling for digital IF their control line goes low in a CP200 installation. This sort of control was necessary since the AFI's Historic theatre has four film projectors and it is essential that no matter which projector is in use or being changed over to that the sound follow seamlessly. So once you have that sort of control, it isn't too much more to have a priority system too.

I know that Ray Derrick was working on a priority system for his CSP1200 but I don't think it ever got to a release version of his firmware.

Another problem with the non-CP200 systems is that they use a pulsed logic...which means you need a memory system in there to keep track of who has said they have valid digital or not so that the fallback system does not have you fall back to silence! Again doable, but one has to think it out a bit. The CSP1200 modification was to keep track of that and allow one to choose the priority. The CSP1200, one of the most flexible processors of its kind has 3 digital inputs (for digital film formats, not PCM)...as such its CPU could be programmed to keep track of which formats were selected and when though I think there needed to be some external controls to know WHO faulted to SR. The CP200 doesn't have that to worry about...it is one of the many reasons that the CP200 was probably the best conceived cinema processor ever...it is very damn flexible and accommodating of heretofor unknown technology. Probably one of its biggest and obvious bad designs is not having the subwoofer output come from the control unit with the rest of the channels...yes the subwoofer was a relatively new signal back then and such but still for uniformity...all of the outputs should have come from the same point. There is no reason that the SW line couldn't have resided on the JM11/JM21 connectors. I can only surmize that they didn't want to have another line-amp system down with the, already established, Cat 117 nor add another one just to pick up one channel. But I have clearly digressed.

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

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.