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SRa Pilot tone blinking w/ SMDWB receivers, same compat mode & freq, help please!


ijb

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Hi everyone,

 

Kind of an urgent issue because I have a shoot tomorrow morning, and I’m hopeful that this is simple user error as I’m still relatively new to lectros. 

 

I rented out a 4 channel system earlier today. 4 smdwb transmitters. 2 sra dual receivers.

 

The pilot tone light is blinking on both SRA’s, all 4 channels. They don’t see the transmitters at all. I’ve tried scanning thru smart tune, I’ve tried it manually. They are set to the same frequency, by hand and IR sync.

 

I’ve verified the transmitters and receivers are both set to NU HYBR compatibility mode. I’ve turned off the pilot tone to get static in on the SRa’s and gone thru all the different compat modes. Still no signal, only static. 
 

I assume this is my own error since it’s happening with all 4 channels and not just one faulty channel or something? Would appreciate guidance ASAP. 

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The SRa‘s don’t have SmartTune nor IR sync. 
If it’s actually an SRc I can only suggest you re-install the firmware. Even if it’s the same version I have found that sometimes this helps with issues 

Also, check the antennas. Are they fully screwed on? The center pin hasn’t broken off? The folding typ can sometimes break or come loose...

Feel stupid to ask, but you waited long enough on the transmitters for them to fully boot, right? You’re not in the „rf off“ mode?

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Yes, it has to be an SRc if it has IR.  Make sure you are on the same BLOCK, not just the frequency.  This bit a friend a few weeks ago and had to walk him through it.  He has an A1 wideband(blocks 470, 19, 20) like I do, and the frequencies overlap from, I believe 470 and 19, so you can actually be on the “correct” frequency, but wrong block and the receiver will not open up, because it’s not receiving the correct pilot tone tied to that block.

 

And I’ve seen get guys get bit, as Constantin said, by not fully booting up the Tx’s.  You have to hold the buttons down for three seconds to fully turn them ON(RF ON/Transmitting).  Otherwise they are on, but not transmitting.  I’ve never liked this “feature” and wish it could be turned off(maybe an option in a firmware update).

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On 3/6/2021 at 11:39 AM, RunAndGun said:

You have to hold the buttons down for three seconds to fully turn them ON(RF ON/Transmitting).  Otherwise they are on, but not transmitting.  I’ve never liked this “feature” and wish it could be turned off(maybe an option in a firmware update).

This "feature" is helpful when you are shooting a reality show with 15-20+ mics and have to tune a transmitter backstage. Having the ability to change the freq on a tx without stomping on a frequency being used is a good idea. It's sort of like the UM400a days where you could tune the tx with a tweaker before turning it on. This is sort of the same, but different, as you have to turn these packs on to change freqs.

Having the ability to turn this off...never thought about that.

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3 hours ago, Eric said:

This "feature" is helpful when you are shooting a reality show with 15-20+ mics and have to tune a transmitter backstage. Having the ability to change the freq on a tx without stomping on a frequency being used is a good idea.

To be a smart ass, there are 86,400 seconds in a day. Using three of them seems like a reasonable trade for not stepping on a mission critical transmitter.

When you pick up an "off" transmitter, there is no way of knowing if it is clashing with an important channel. The "quick on, RF off" mode allows you to see what frequency it is on and adjust if necessary. And when you adjust the frequency you don't rip through a critical channel. As far as turning the feature off, that's fine 'till you forget that it's going to come on "hot".

Finally, there needs to be some button combination that allows you to start up in RF off or RF on. A short press and a long press is a simple way to do that.

Perhaps a shorter delay would be more palatable. A one and a half second delay would leave 86,398.5 seconds remaining. 

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

 

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I guess many people would prefer it the opposite way round (I would!):
Short press = working instantly! (well, RF would pop on after three seconds, but I wouldn't need to do anything extra for that to happen)
Long press = on but no RF output

Of course, wouldn't be a good idea for new products to do this! As everyone would then find this "back to front" (even if they'd ideally prefer it!), after being used to the current way it is for many years. 

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