F23 is here, and now i have some questions...

Mike Krumlauf

Mike Krumlauf

Award Winning Filmmaker
Okay first and formost, holy cow im an f23 owner.. next.. when i plug a monitor into HDSDI monitor out 1 and 2 all i get is a green screen and the red light above the run button is blinking. what does this mean?
 
According to the manual, those are error warnings indicating “abnormalities” with the respective boards. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds ominous.
 
oh man am i pissed. im scared to think these 3 boards are fried. This camera was a rental unit from VER (the irony given i worked there) and i bought it from the guy that purchased it from him. Is there anyway these boards are not responding due to lack of enough power in the unit or perhaps they are not put in place correctly? im so upset right now as you can imagine
 
I know this doesn't help now and I truly hope you solve any issues, but it needs to be said (as it's worth a reflection in the future) that you are always taking a tremendous risk purchasing these very old cameras.

I know you've been doing it for years and have been successful (as far as what we know about you from here), but this was without a shadow of a doubt going to happen one day.

Fortunately, a few people on here fix/build F35s (as I'm sure you know) so maybe you'll have some direct technical support ASAP.
 
NorBro said:
I know this doesn't help now and I truly hope you solve any issues, but it needs to be said (as it's worth a reflection in the future) that you are always taking a tremendous risk purchasing these very old cameras.

I know you've been doing it for years and have been successful (as far as what we know about you from here), but this was without a shadow of a doubt going to happen one day.

Fortunately, a few people on here fix/build F35s (as I'm sure you know) so maybe you'll have some direct technical support ASAP.
Click to expand...

No harm in your statements, totally understand. The seller said i can either return it or he can cover costs for repair ("within reason). To me, it seems like the boards being stupid are the ones which communicate the CCD block to the rest of the camera. the rest of the camera works.. menus are fine, IF box fine.. there is a disturbance from CCD block to processor.
 
Update: I think i figured out the issue. the firmware is not installed on the boards correctly. I was told by a friend at VER that V1.51 was put in in 2010 but after just checking the menus, this is how the software is seen

Main - V1.46
Net - V1.42
Boot - V1.25

PLD Version
TG - V1.013
AD - V1.10
Pre - VB. 4B4
Post - V0.0
TX- V1.04
RX V1.06
VDA - 1.04
AT - V1.06

My AT board has the suffix of 12 as stated in the upgrade manual so all i need to do is track down a memory stick asap and perform this upgrade. it seems the boards are fine, they are just not running the right software hense the lack of communication and the errors. I also noticed the AT board has a little circular battery in it and i wonder if i need to replace that as well. Its a step in the right direction. Not giving up hope yet!
 
It’s quite possible that is for the internal memory for WB, TC and the like, so settings aren’t lost when the camera is powered down/battery pulled. I never understood why Sony, on their expensive/high-end camera’s put the battery inside on a board and (sometimes) soldered it there, making replacement less than trivial, while on a lot of their lesser expensive cameras, it was accessible by a simple cover on the side of the camera.
 
I got these errors when top fan was unplugged by mistake. Check the fans are all plugged in. Don't pull the cards out, it's easy to break off components pulling them in and out. Is it possible it was swapped with F35 head because you need to flash firmware every time you swap. I have copies of all the boards also if they are broken but I highly doubt it. The errors don't usually correspond to the problem with these cameras.
 
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It's also a really good idea to have the lemo power cable - it seems everyone goes with the 4 pin because it is easier to get cable. The 4 pin XLR input goes through about 3 different connections, and powers the power supply in a different way. The LEMO connector does not even go to cables, it is literally soldered directly to the power supply. The cables are $79 on ebay and I think it is foolish to only have options to go in through the XLR IF box. Being able to know your power is not causing issues is a good way to not chase your tail.
 
I need to buy a few more things and repair parts as the lever for the top mount is broken but in terms of operation everything works great. My SRW1/DRPC1 combo arrived today as well and works great! Krum is happy :D
 
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