Volt M-2| SDI Cable Meltdown & Port Failure | Ground Loop or Sled Power Issue?

[Joel Chivington]

I’m having a recurring SDI/power issue with my Steadicam Volt 3 sled and would appreciate input from anyone familiar with what i assume is grounding issues?

My original video path was:

Camera → top stage → bottom of sled → SmallHD 703 → loop out back through sled → top stage → Blackmagic 5" monitor.

One day, the SDI input on the Blackmagic monitor stopped working. A Tiffen tech suspected a possible grounding issue and recommended adding a Wooden Camera 4K 12G-SDI Distribution Amplifier rather than looping the signal through the monitors.

I installed the DA, but today on set one of the SDI outputs from the amplifier stopped sending a signal.

I’m now wondering whether the Blackmagic monitor could somehow be contributing to the problem due to it's run/stop capabilities, or whether this points to a grounding/power issue somewhere in the sled. Has anyone experienced SDI cables/connectors overheating or SDI outputs failing like this? What would you recommend testing to isolate the source?

[Ben Farisa]

I'm having the same problem right now, any help will be appreciated ?