Ultra 2 monitor cutting out / HDSI

[axel ebermann]

My Ultra2 monitor likes to cut out randomly. Basically looses signal. Then re-syncs. Independent from camera or cables. (tested the hell out of it).

 

Basically the signal drops in and out. Might be connected to temperature / position of sled.

But could not detect a pattern yet.

 

It seems that bypassing the sled cabling (aka running a cable down the post) takes care

of the problem. Which is weird because this strangely likes to happen when I stand just waiting for a shot.

Which speaks against a loose/wonky cable connection.

Anybody knows if the HD line from the top stage to the bottom of the sled is just

a 'dumb' wire or does it run through any electronics ?

 

SD via decimator seems to work just fine.

 

Any advise much appreciated.

[Evrim KAYA]

hey axel,

 

i had a similar problem a while ago. the hd line on u2 is a strait line with no electronics involved. in my case the problem was the connection between the post cable and the stage bnc connector. the mini bnc connector came a bit loose after years of use. so i cut just a few centimeters before the connector, put a new connector on the cable side and done! i made this repair last year and never had anymore problems with it since. you might wanna check all the connections before cutting and slicing anything though. hope this helps.

[axel ebermann]

thanks. will definitely have a look at that.

 

strange thing is that this mainly seems to be happening whenever I am standing still.

[Kenny Brown SOC]

Check if it happens when someone keys a radio next to you. My Ultra loses signal when that happens - I presume because of some poorly shielded cables somewhere in the chain.

 

Kenny

[axel ebermann]

Will definitely check that Kenny. That would explain the randomness of the cutouts.

[axel ebermann]

so after quite a bit of testing here are my findings:

 

problem is actually two-fold:

 

yes, there is indeed some improperly shielded component - possibly a BNC cable -

in the sled / monitor chain.

If I tune one of the regular set Motorolas next to my sled the signal will drop out.

 

Ahem - Tiffen - REALLY ???

 

This sucks, especially considering how hard it is to replace cables in the wiring harness of the Ultra2 sled.

 

The 2nd problem is something that I encountered in my Ultra2 monitor before. The boards and the connectors

for the boards are actually not glued together. I know that in my laptops they always use some ultra sticky

clear tape to prevent them from separating.

 

What seems to happen is that repeated vibration (transport of the sled, air travel etc.) basically vibrates the board

out of its connector / socket. Which at one point becomes a loose contact.

 

Solution to that:

 

Open up the 'evil' component. Re-seat the cable or connector. Then put some thin electric tape on connector and

board hoping that they shall not vibrate apart again.