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Timecode Preset / Regen issue on 1200A
Hi all,
Having an issue with the 1200A on location with a Varicam. What we’ve done a lot in the past is to send an SDI feed from the Varicam down to the 1200A to roll as a backup. We generate timecode internally so as to only send one cable out from the camera as it’s on a Steadi-Cam rig. Over the past year it hasn’t been a problem. Today we started a new shoot and we have the following problem.
Start with Tape 1.
Preset the Timecode to start at 01:00:00:00
Record all of Tape 1 perfectly fine.
Remove Tape 1 and insert Tape 2
Preset the Timecode to start at 02:00:00:00
Hit REC & PLAY, the NTSC monitor flashes white, the 02:00:00:00 TC flashes up with it, but then the TC reverts back to 01:34:05:00 which is the last TC off of Tape 1 and the tape starts rolling with the old TC.
No matter what we do, the newly preset TC will not take and it will only regenerate TC from Tape 1.
I have honestly never seen this before in over a year of using the deck and don’t have a solution as to what is happening. All the pertinent TC Menus are set as follows:
503 0002 AUTO
504 0000 REC
505 0000 TC&UB
507 0000 INT
514 0001 ON
515 0001 ONIf anyone has any thoughts I would sure love to hear them. Thanks!
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comDirector, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.comNow Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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4 Replies
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On page 20 of the manual it states. “The time code cannot be set when REGEN is set using a combination of menu items No.503 [TCG MODE] and No.505 [TCG REGEN].” So if you have the 503 setting as “auto” then REGEN is selected depending on the mode of operation in which case the factory default in menu 154 is #0001 “follow-on” recording mode or “auto back”. So if you set your menu 503 to Pre 0001, that should, in theory, allow you to reset the timecode. Just make sure to hold the reset button for a couple of seconds and then hit the set (rec) button after you punch in the new numbers.
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[Frank Nolan] “So if you have the 503 setting as “auto” then REGEN is selected depending on the mode of operation in which case the factory default in menu 154 is #0001 “follow-on” recording mode or “auto back”.”
That’s what we thought too, but it’s been set to Auto for the past year without an issue. I’m not sure if it was switched to Preset at all today, but we’ll try it tomorrow.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comDirector, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.comNow Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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Walter did you find out what the problem was?
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[Frank Nolan] “Walter did you find out what the problem was?”
Just got the deck back in the shop and it turns out there’s something wrong with the Auto setting in Menu 503, TCG Mode. According to the manual, if you set this to AUTO,
REGEN or PRE is automatically selected depending on the operation mode.
Follow-on recording mode: REGEN is selected.
All other modes: PRE is selected.Now this is exactly how the unit worked for the first year of operation. Go into Menu 530, preset the TC, hit REC+PLAY to set that TC for the first 30 seconds and the deck would automatically Regen the TC from there.
Well now, we have to manually set Menu 503 to PRESET, Set our TC with Menu 530, Hit REC+PLAY to lay down 30 seconds of TC, go back to Menu 503 and manually set that back to AUTO. This correctly regenerates TC for the remainder of the tape.
Obviously something now wrong with the electronics so I’ll be contacting my VAR tomorrow to see about getting it checked out.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comDirector, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.comNow Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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