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Author Topic: DTS reader with bad LED Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 04-11-2010 12:39 AM                        So we seem to have a DTS reader with a dying or at least really, really tired LED. I checked the voltage (without film) and I got less than half of a volt with the pot all the way up. What should I be getting? I hear it should be closer to 4v? I assume there is no way to replace the LED in the field? The reader needs to go into the trash? How does one get this fixed and is it crazy expensive?  |  IP: Logged Phil Blake Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 558 From: esperance western australia Registered: Nov 2003 posted 04-11-2010 03:08 AM                        Joe think you are right 4volts is correct. probably cheaper to buy new one than fix old one.  |  IP: Logged John Wilson Film God Posts: 5438 From: Sydney, Australia. Registered: Dec 1999 posted 04-11-2010 05:36 AM                     They can indeed be fixed. Have had it done it several times. Just send it to Spiro at Intech Pacific here in Sydney. He'll sort it out for you.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 04-11-2010 07:21 AM                     DTS has an RX program for the readers. Yeah, it isn't cheap but it is cheaper than a new reader but it is like getting a new reader. They replace the worn parts (rollers), the LED and, most importantly, they replace the whole LED control circuit such that you won't need to fool with it again for a long-long time...there is no adjustment anymore, it auto levels. Steve  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 04-11-2010 11:42 AM                        Around $600 is the cost of this?  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 04-11-2010 12:42 PM                     Probably closer to half of that.  |  IP: Logged Jim Cassedy Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1661 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Dec 2006 posted 04-11-2010 01:46 PM                     Joe- I had the same problem last December. International Cinema/Magnetech in Florida will swap out your DTS reader with a re-bulit/re-calibrated & fully guaranteed DTS reader for only $200.00 when you send them your old one. I didn't want to wait for the DTS readers to make the round trip, so you can also send them 400bux, which is what I did, and they'll ship you one right away. As soon as they get your old one they will credit your credit card or Paypal account for the extra $200. They're really fast & will issue your refund as soon as they get your old DTS reader. You can reach them at 305 573 7339 PS I hate to pick nits, but I don't think it's the LED voltage you're meeasuring when you adjust the DTS reader to "4 Volts". I beleive what you're actually measuring at the test points is the output of the DTS "image sensor". You can confirm this by blocking the light path while taking the voltage reading. It will drop to "O" or close to it. If you were measuring the actual voltage across the LED, it would remain constant no matter if the light path was blocked or not.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 04-11-2010 03:01 PM                        Well, of course, since the test points are not even anywhere near the LED.  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 04-11-2010 03:40 PM                     Did you really measure it with no film? 0.5V is really low. We did have some success replacing the current-limiting resistor with a pot and jacking it up. After all, might as well get all the useful life out of it before we have DTS replace it. Oh, also, the best way to calibrate DTS is with audio and your ears! (Think buzz track). Much easier than watching a DVM or a scope. We set up our rack so you can patch the DTS audio into the booth monitor speakers and listen to it. This is great for those shrunken DTS prints (not very many of them, dts isn't that old, but we've seen a few!). I'll post some pics and soforth when I get a round tuit. --jhawk  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 04-11-2010 04:11 PM                        At first I measured with film and then I took the whole thing over to the bench and measured without film. There really wasn't much of a difference, but it won't see most timecode. I was able to get it working on Crazy Heart, but some reels kept dropping out. But most prints it refuses to see any timecode.  |  IP: Logged Bruce Hansen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 847 From: Stone Mountain, GA, USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 04-11-2010 04:57 PM                     Look at the LED. Is it dim compaired to LEDs in other DTS readers? If not, then clean the LED and the lens. Make sure that the LED has not been "wacked" out of alignment. The solar cell could be bad, even the op amp could be bad. Try swaping the reader with another.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 04-11-2010 05:04 PM                        Wish I could, but this is our sole reader. The LED lights up but I have nothing to compare it to.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-11-2010 07:23 PM                     For our own theatres ia have found a replacement LED that out performes the original but is only available in quantity and is not easy to replace  |  IP: Logged Edward Havens Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 614 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Mar 2008 posted 04-11-2010 08:41 PM                     Steve, do you have more info on where one can go to learn more about this RX program? I have a couple DTS units with bad LEDs. Thanks.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-11-2010 08:56 PM                     I rebuild them Joe... And my LED has longer life than theirs. I charge $100.00 flat to do it... well ok, for you a discount.... just $99.00 flat. Anyone charging $200.00 for this is raping you. I also guarantee the rebuilt reader for a year. In most cases the bearings and scanner drum are ok. If the scanner drum flanges are worn excessively then it has to go through an RA at DTS. I've done well over 50 of them... But no kidding... the new readers are really nice, track better, and never need adjustment. Mark  |  IP: Logged

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