Jump to content

Lectro SRc field reports?


jonathan chiles

Recommended Posts

Weird question but hang in there with me... Did you by chance have any G3 RECEIVERS switched off hanging off the side of your bag when you noticed these RF hits?

 

I've found that having a powered-off G3 IEM receiver sitting next to hops transmitters wreaks havoc with my Lectro receivers. Will create spikes all across the block. When you remove the G3 receivers from the bag and get them a few feet away or even just turn them on all the troubles go away. Totally bizarre.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is whacky. I'm gonna test that

 

13 minutes ago, Derek H said:

Weird question but hang in there with me... Did you by chance have any G3 RECEIVERS switched off hanging off the side of your bag when you noticed these RF hits?

 

I've found that having a powered-off G3 IEM receiver sitting next to hops transmitters wreaks havoc with my Lectro receivers. Will create spikes all across the block. When you remove the G3 receivers from the bag and get them a few feet away or even just turn them on all the troubles go away. Totally bizarre.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Derek H said:

Weird question but hang in there with me... Did you by chance have any G3 RECEIVERS switched off hanging off the side of your bag when you noticed these RF hits?

 

I've found that having a powered-off G3 IEM receiver sitting next to hops transmitters wreaks havoc with my Lectro receivers. Will create spikes all across the block. When you remove the G3 receivers from the bag and get them a few feet away or even just turn them on all the troubles go away. Totally bizarre.

 

 

That's weird! 

 

I didn't have any in the bag. Only scripty and dir had receivers, they were on and in their pockets. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought I chime in with an eMail I got from Lectros Service Manager in September, after having my SRc-C1 send in.

 

"We have a pending change to the circuit board of the SRC-C1 to improve the exact problem that you have been experiencing.  The issue is that the new wideband units, with the wider tuning range, have been more susceptible to outside interference – outside the tuning band of the unit.

 

When your SRC was here last month, the scan settings were off and were adjusted, however that did not address your entire problem.  This new PCB will have much better protection against this interference which causes symptoms of short range, bad scans, etc.  However, we do not have the final release of these improved PCBs from our engineering department yet.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a firm ETA from them either. "

 

I recently asked for an update on the case

 

"No updates as of yet.  This is a top priority in our engineering dept and we hope to have them soon.  However, we want to make sure the update it is optimal with thorough testing before releasing it.

 

I have you on my list to contact as soon as we have them available to make the repair."

 

So they are on it. Hopefully they have the new boards soon...


Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/5/2017 at 6:31 AM, Derek H said:

Weird question but hang in there with me... Did you by chance have any G3 RECEIVERS switched off hanging off the side of your bag when you noticed these RF hits?

 

I've found that having a powered-off G3 IEM receiver sitting next to hops transmitters wreaks havoc with my Lectro receivers. Will create spikes all across the block. When you remove the G3 receivers from the bag and get them a few feet away or even just turn them on all the troubles go away. Totally bizarre.

 


Very very very strange, why on earth would powered off devices have any impact whatsoever?!?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So after another day of poor performance, I went ahead and emailed Lectro the following....

 

Quote

Hi there, 

 
Long time Lectro user here, have had the pleasure of meeting Karl at various events too!
 
I have owned an SRC and SMDWB in A1 since the beginning of November, purchased at Trew Audio in Los Angeles (wasn't able to get a second transmitter for it, since they're out of stock everywhere!). Sadly, over the several jobs I've used this combo on, I've noticed significantly worse performance than my SRB/SMQV (Block 21). 
 
By comparison to the latter, both running at 100mW, I get worse range and a lot more hits/noise. I've also noticed that any loss of line of sight can result in interference. As well as being close to certain cameras, like the Sony FS7. Again, by comparison, the SRB/SMQV channels will be clear as a bell in all these scenarios (even when there appears to be LESS activity on the SRC's scanned frequency). 
 
Is it possible I have a defective SRC or SMDWB? I would have thought that, with a tracking front end filter, there would be BETTER performance. 
 
The other contents of my sound bag, for reference, 
 
Sound Devices 788t / CL8
SRB
AudioRoot Power Distro
Sennheiser G3 Tx in band B (so 100mhz+ away from the SRC in A1 and these performance issues happen regardless of whether or not the G3 is on)
Using DPA4060 and Slim lavs. 
 
I'd like to go ahead and purchase another windeband transmitter soon (SMWB), but really need to have these performance issues fixed first. Let me know if I should the receiver/transmitter/both in or what the best plan of action is. 
 
 
all the best, James

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Very very very strange, why on earth would powered off devices have any impact whatsoever?!?!


I have found some devices that go into a bizarre “sleep mode” when powered off. You would think that there would be no power at all, and no emissions, but that doesn’t always seem to be the case. Not sure if the G3 system is one of these (I have never used one), but might be worth talking to Sennheiser ((assuming you can find somebody there these days that actually knows engineering details).

-Scott


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone having a problem with a flickering backlight on their SRc?  My SRc just got back from the shop a month ago and now it's intermittently "flashing" the backlight.  It seems the backlight will dim / shut off randomly then come back on, but then be fine for an hour or so before doing it again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Scott Smith said:

I have found some devices that go into a bizarre “sleep mode” when powered off. You would think that there would be no power at all, and no emissions, but that doesn’t always seem to be the case. Not sure if the G3 system is one of these (I have never used one), but might be worth talking to Sennheiser ((assuming you can find somebody there these days that actually knows engineering details).

 

 

Yes, would be interesting to see if physically removing the batteries (or not) makes a difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎2017‎-‎12‎-‎11 at 11:11 AM, codyman said:

Anyone having a problem with a flickering backlight on their SRc?  My SRc just got back from the shop a month ago and now it's intermittently "flashing" the backlight.  It seems the backlight will dim / shut off randomly then come back on, but then be fine for an hour or so before doing it again.

 

Funny, I got that with my receivers (WMs) and I have to send'em to Lectro so they fix it (for free).

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
On 1/17/2018 at 10:30 AM, It's All Waves said:
  • I suppose it's possible that both of my transmitters, a B21 SMQV and an LT have issues? They were both purchased brand new with the SRc and shipped from Lectro to my dealer at the time of the order, as my dealer does not keep these in stock. Both times I purchased.


Have you tried borrowing other people's transmitters? That should quickly show up if it is an issue with the transmitter, or a bigger problem with the receiver itself. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I sent my SRc-B1 back to Lectrosonics late Nov 2017. Here's the latest update from Lectro (last week):

 

"I didn’t see the post (*referring to this JW thread*), but it is at least partially right.  We were applying a component update to correct the range issues with SRC, however during that time, our engineering dept was working to have a new pcb made which would implement the update as well as other improvements they wanted to incorporate to better its performance. The boards are close to being ready, but it could be awhile before we have boards available for the units I currently have in-house to receive the update. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific, but I don’t have a firm ETA from engineering yet.  I know they are still in the testing process. If you’d like, I can return your receiver, or we can continue to hang on to it to wait for the new pcb."

I'm happy to leave it there until it's figured out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I sent my SRc-B1 back to Lectrosonics late Nov 2017. Here's the latest update from Lectro (last week):
 
"I didn’t see the post (*referring to this JW thread*), but it is at least partially right.  We were applying a component update to correct the range issues with SRC, however during that time, our engineering dept was working to have a new pcb made which would implement the update as well as other improvements they wanted to incorporate to better its performance. The boards are close to being ready, but it could be awhile before we have boards available for the units I currently have in-house to receive the update. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific, but I don’t have a firm ETA from engineering yet.  I know they are still in the testing process. If you’d like, I can return your receiver, or we can continue to hang on to it to wait for the new pcb."

I'm happy to leave it there until it's figured out.
That's so weird. I thought past a certain serial number, the SRCs were certified to be good.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, JimKeaney said:

I sent my SRc-B1 back to Lectrosonics late Nov 2017. Here's the latest update from Lectro (last week):

 

"I didn’t see the post (*referring to this JW thread*), but it is at least partially right.  We were applying a component update to correct the range issues with SRC, however during that time, our engineering dept was working to have a new pcb made which would implement the update as well as other improvements they wanted to incorporate to better its performance. The boards are close to being ready, but it could be awhile before we have boards available for the units I currently have in-house to receive the update. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific, but I don’t have a firm ETA from engineering yet.  I know they are still in the testing process. If you’d like, I can return your receiver, or we can continue to hang on to it to wait for the new pcb."

I'm happy to leave it there until it's figured out.

This sounds like a recall will happen on SRC for a board change at somepoint...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Well, 

Larry F, Gordon M and Karl W have all participated in this thread.

This has also been openly discussed on the Facebook group.

 

I understand from postings on the Facebook group that there has recently been a breakthrough in finding the cause of these issues. 

 

Your claims of internal communication problems are not in line with my experience with Lectrosonics at all. They are not a huge company like Sony or Sennheiser. They have been very responsive any time I have been in contact with them. They also participate here and on the Facebook group regularly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/groups/69511015699/permalink/10155840314545700/

 

 

10422130_10205233255422277_8229208668281
Gordon Moore to Lectrosonics

"Doug Pearson for the win! Doug recently posted pictures showing a discrepancy in the scans between a block 19 SRB and an SRC -A1. After several days of trying to duplicate the problem we finally found it (and are kicking ourselves for not catching this sooner). This answers the problems you ALL have been having with getting interference on "good frequencies" as shown on the scan of the SRC-A1.

 

There is a bug in the firmware that runs the scan. It was improperly indexing the channel selection in the scan and the hexadecimal value for the frequency was off by 9.2MHz! That's why Dougs pictures showed clear at EE on his SRB and messy EE on his SRC. The SRC receiver was working fine, the scan firmware was not. This also skews the values in the SmartScan by 9.2MHz. (not so smart, huh!)

 

So, while we will continue with beta testing the SRC new rev boards for their improvements - there ARE improvements there - we have FINALLY found the smoking gun for the majority of weirdnesses the SRC-A1 has shown.

 

This will require a firmware update for ALL SRC-A1's . We are investigating the B1 and C1 as well to make sure there isn't a similar offset problem.

It will take some time (not too long we hope) to program the bug out and get it tested to make sure we don't break something else with the firmware.

Stay tuned - we will post the new firmware on the website as soon as it is fixed, tested and released.

 

In the meantime, next time you see Doug, buy him a drink. His post helped us zero in on this bug (which has been plaguing the A-1 from the beginning). Thank you Doug, and all of you for the constant feedback/nagging/patience."

 

 

I never use the SRc scan function because I use a frequency analyzer for scanning, but it is interesting to learn about this discovery and planned fix. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, alenK said:

I never use the SRc scan function because I use a frequency analyzer for scanning, but it is interesting to learn about this discovery and planned fix. 


So would people who always enter in their own frequencies (rather than using the built in scanner) then never experience these troubles others have been experiencing with the SRc?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe, but I can only relate my own experience.

 

I do not think I can make a truly logical conclusion based on the limits of the premise, yet it seems like a comfortable intuitive assumption. 

 

 

I am very interested to learn about the improvements made to the PCB layouts etc. I have two SRc A1 and two SRc B1 receivers and I thought I had waited long enough before buying them. When the improvements go online, I will be eager to learn if my radios can be upgraded to be the very best they can be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, IronFilm said:


So would people who always enter in their own frequencies (rather than using the built in scanner) then never experience these troubles others have been experiencing with the SRc?

Correct. If you use the SRc scanning function to select a frequency, it can incorrectly put you in an RF active region, 9.2 MHz away from the intended quiet frequency. If you manually select a frequency, the frequency and RF level displays are all valid. You can single step through frequencies or select frequencies from an external scanner and get valid frequency and RF level results.

This problem may have been in existence for many months but the Lectro crew has only understood the cause for less than a week. It takes a few days to rewrite the firmware and proof it. Then a day to bring the service people up to speed. Pull out a weekend and one can see the response has been pretty quick and open. Check out Allen K's Facebook link above to get the latest info and the planned and logical fix.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...