How does my sonifex hsx work?

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  • February 25, 2013 at 8:01 pm #10013
    BartB

      I got my Sonifex recorder, that was a big hurray!!
      I still need a 7 pin Din (that is being made now) to connect the record unit. Hope it will work.

      The machine plays my jingles but it doesnt stop at the que, like it does with my normal players (CQ20).

      Anyone knows why?

      Does anyone know what the switches “stop and fast” do under the word Cue do? See photo.
      http://www.boumanog.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/sonifex-hsx.jpg

      February 25, 2013 at 10:03 pm #88844
      PedroP72

        Regarding the primary cue non-stop: check the p/b head cleaning, check the carts pressure pads. do you have the service manual? If so, check the primary detection threshold trimmer and tweak it until the cart stops on the cue. The Stop and Fast switches, if my memory serves me fine, simply overide the cue tones detections (used for cart continuous playback)

        February 25, 2013 at 10:55 pm #88848
        GrahamCollins

          Bart, if you move the ‘stop’ switch down, the unit will stop at the primary cue. I can see from the photo that your switch is up.

          If the switch marked ‘fast’ is moved down then the unit goes into fast forward mode when a secondary tone is detected. Possibly useful in a control room where no mics are opened but in a self-op studio one or more units running at high speed to re-cue would be too noisy.

          Hope this helps

          GC

          February 26, 2013 at 5:35 am #88851
          PedroP72

            Why do I feel like Homer Simpson in duhhh mode? :-D

            February 28, 2013 at 6:41 pm #88895
            BartB

              PedroP, thanx the heads were pitchblack, now it can find the cue again! hurray.
              Soon i get my 7 pin DIN stecker, hope the rest will also work. Than its not that bad for 100 euro. ;-)

              March 2, 2013 at 2:42 am #88922
              PedroP72

                Great news! :-) Let’s hope it’s matched pair. Otherwise there might be some issues. But we’re here to help ;-)

                March 2, 2013 at 5:57 pm #88926
                AndyW
                Member

                  If the heads are clean then the unit should sound pretty decent now too.

                  March 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm #88927
                  Mark_Paxton
                  Member

                    A couple of my ITC 99B’s have stopped detecting the cue tones. Heads are clean. Anyone know what the problem might be? Thanks, Mark P

                    March 2, 2013 at 10:00 pm #88934
                    PedroP72

                      Does that happens with ALL the carts or just certain ones, is it a random problem or constant?

                      March 4, 2013 at 7:36 pm #88954
                      Mark_Paxton
                      Member

                        Does that happens with ALL the carts or just certain ones, is it a random problem or constant?

                        It’s all carts and constant. I’ve looked in the manual but that doesn’t give any hint to what the problem might be. Bit stuck really.

                        March 4, 2013 at 11:22 pm #88957
                        PedroP72

                          How many decks do you have? All with the same issue? Does the 99b have a trimmer for 1khz detection sensitivity?… Did you ran the carts on another brand machine and did they actually stopped?…

                          March 5, 2013 at 10:27 pm #88974
                          Mark_Paxton
                          Member

                            How many decks do you have? All with the same issue? Does the 99b have a trimmer for 1khz detection sensitivity?… Did you ran the carts on another brand machine and did they actually stopped?…

                            I have three decks and two with the same issue (i.e all cue tones are not being detected) Ran the same carts on my sonifex and both the stop and fast cues were detected along with the other 99B. Regards a trimmer for cue detection i’m really not sure im afraid as this goes beyond my level of knowledge. Sorry i’m not giving you much to go on here.

                            March 5, 2013 at 11:35 pm #88976
                            PedroP72

                              You have three 99Bs, one of them actually stops on cue. Try swapping the electronic cards between them and see what changes on their behaviour. I don’t have the manual but there must be 2 cards on each deck, one for audio (the one with tiny screws), the other for the logic. Focus on the logic card cards, put the one from the machine stops on a machine that don’t and vice-versa. Is the good one still stopping and the bad one still not stopping?… (seems that the ITC dont’ use any adjustement for tones threshold detection… Hurray Sonifex :-) )

                              March 6, 2013 at 8:52 am #88984
                              GrahamCollins

                                Mark, I think I would start by saving a daily search on eBay for ‘ITC 99B NAB cart player’ and bid genorously when you get a hit ! To find and then employ someone to check out the boards and maybe repair will cost more than the price of a complete replacement unit.

                                I have bought six Sonifex microHS units over the years in various states of dis-repair and have done much of what Pedro suggests by pooling and swapping parts to get three fully working units set up as a linked triple-stack.

                                March 6, 2013 at 9:33 pm #88989
                                Mark_Paxton
                                Member

                                  Hi Pedro. It was actually the first thing I tried when they started playing up. Three cards in the 99B and i’ve swapped them over every which way but loose and still the same result.

                                  Graham, i’ve actually got about four spare machines which ive ripped to bits over the years but the cards from those didn’t have any effect either. Got plenty of pinch rollers, bulbs, buttons and motors though!

                                  Think i’ll have to track down a good old fashioned bbc engineer for this one.

                                  Thanks again for your help guys. Mark

                                  March 6, 2013 at 9:54 pm #88990
                                  Mark_Paxton
                                  Member

                                    Sorry Pedro, I guess I should have mentioned in my original post that i’d tried to swap them, however you did spur me on to try swapping them again and with a variety of different cards this time! At least I now know for definite that the problem doesn’t lie there! Thanks again.

                                    March 7, 2013 at 12:01 am #88991
                                    PedroP72

                                      Tricky… I had a similar problem a few years ago with a Gates/Harris triple decker. One of the decks didn’t stop. I had a spare one and my first thought was swapping cards. Didn’t fixed it…
                                      I finally fixed it by changing the cable that conneted the p/b head to the mainboard. I don’t wanna give you hope because 2 machines with the same problem seems more than a coincidence. Do the machines show any signs of oxidation, are the circuit boards clean? Any sign of leaking components? If you had a manual you could try to trace the head cables and swap the mini-molex and the pins on the heads. I can’t help you regarding the manual. I can’t find it online.

                                      March 7, 2013 at 3:39 am #88993
                                      Mark_Paxton
                                      Member

                                        The other odd thing is that they both developed the same problem within days of each other! The plot thickens as they say. Condition wise once the top cover is off, the innards are very clean ideed, however i guess i could check underneath but all looks ok. Before i even think about placing them in the hands of a qualified engineer, i will give the technical manual a thorough as ive only skimmed it. Trawling a 200 page manual for me really is a last resort. Will keep you informed!

                                        March 7, 2013 at 10:15 am #88994
                                        PedroP72

                                          Good luck ;-)

                                          March 24, 2013 at 10:57 am #89347
                                          jinglejim
                                          Member

                                            I have a Sonifex micro HS player that now goes into fast forward when the play button is pushed. It was working fine last time I used it. Any ideas of the problem?
                                            Also I’m currently selling some Sonifex and ITC nab cart machines on ebay which are in perfect working order. Unfortunately the auctions are UK only due to the weight of these things.

                                            March 25, 2013 at 2:53 am #89361
                                            PedroP72

                                              Odd… I don’t have the manual, I don’t know the machine guts. Check the secondary tone portion of the pcb (perhaps there’s an IC) remove it and play the machine to see how it reacts…

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