strange fault on 8200 optimod

[BROADCAST]

The 8200 was still processing audio but when i hit the escape button to override the display timeout,the lcd backlight did not come back on.

So i pull the power,leave a little while and re apply,display comes back on and asks have you changed the control board or software module,my initial reaction is the battery.
So i answer control board and the software with saved presets re loads,and audio back.
But after approx 30 secs the display shows vertical columbs of various thicknesses of stripes!
Audio is still processing,i am thinking this must be more than battery here!

Anyone had similar type of problem and what was the fix,i have a bad feeling it may be new control card!

 

[busyradioguy]

The 8200 was still processing audio but when i hit the escape button to override the display timeout,the lcd backlight did not come back on.

So i pull the power,leave a little while and re apply,display comes back on and asks have you changed the control board or software module,my initial reaction is the battery.
So i answer control board and the software with saved presets re loads,and audio back.
But after approx 30 secs the display shows vertical columbs of various thicknesses of stripes!
Audio is still processing,i am thinking this must be more than battery here!

Anyone had similar type of problem and what was the fix,i have a bad feeling it may be new control card!

The power supply likely needs to be replaced.

 

[BROADCAST]

2 years ago the psu was replaced due to the optimod firing up then resetting itself approx every 3 seconds,this is the switch mode part shutting down and restarting itself,this is caused by dried out electrolytics on the fet switcher side.

Unless one of the o/p rails is dirty,and because the psu is not that old,i am thinking it may be elsewhere.

One point i have noticed is that when the 8200 is up to temperature it does this fault shortly after re powering,but when i let the 8200 cool down for approx 1/2 hour then re power it did not go faulty after 10 mins.
I will have to test this out further to see if it is a thermal sensitive problem.

 

[Sgeirk]

Friend of mine works at a station w/an 8500. It's been slowing down like a 45 losing speed, audio dropouts...audio playing through it all kinds of messed up. Sounds I've never heard come out of a radio before. Fascinating.

 

[whit979]

Our 8400 had a similar display issue, not with the prompt you're getting, but with all kinds of weird stuff (vertical 'stripes', TV 'snow', etc) randomly showing up on the display. Turns out it was the display card that had to be replaced. Of course ours was caked with dust on the inside too, could that be causing an issue with you as well? Good luck

 

[wgliradio]

Friend of mine works at a station w/an 8500. It's been slowing down like a 45 losing speed, audio dropouts...audio playing through it all kinds of messed up. Sounds I've never heard come out of a radio before. Fascinating.

Is that another instance of something that can only be done in a digital domain??? ;D

 

[busyradioguy]

Friend of mine works at a station w/an 8500. It's been slowing down like a 45 losing speed, audio dropouts...audio playing through it all kinds of messed up. Sounds I've never heard come out of a radio before. Fascinating.

Is that another instance of something that can only be done in a digital domain??? ;D

Could be. But I can top it. I remember the weird audio sounds heard from an Arrakis Digilink audio file hard drive failing. Sometimes you'd hear two audio files overlapping, or the audio file skipping, or static bursts, files playing at the wrong speed (generally too fast, like chipmunks) and even a combination of any of those. Now that was something! Can't blame it on the Orban 8200 though. 8)

 

[Studio1]

Friend of mine works at a station w/an 8500. It's been slowing down like a 45 losing speed, audio dropouts...audio playing through it all kinds of messed up. Sounds I've never heard come out of a radio before. Fascinating.

Bloody digital crap ;D

You don't get weird stuff like this with REAL audio [analog] gear!

 

[busyradioguy]

Friend of mine works at a station w/an 8500. It's been slowing down like a 45 losing speed, audio dropouts...audio playing through it all kinds of messed up. Sounds I've never heard come out of a radio before. Fascinating.

Bloody digital crap ;D

You don't get weird stuff like this with REAL audio [analog] gear!

Yeah but you get a whole set of different sounds. There was that one time I heard what sounded like static breathing noises, after a lightning strike blew out an IC in the Orban 8100 Chassis. I actually caught that one on tape, by pure chance. I might have to upload that as an MP3 someday.

 

[rrsounds]

Friend of mine works at a station w/an 8500. It's been slowing down like a 45 losing speed, audio dropouts...audio playing through it all kinds of messed up. Sounds I've never heard come out of a radio before. Fascinating.

Bloody digital crap ;D

You don't get weird stuff like this with REAL audio [analog] gear!

Yeah used to be you had to pay extra for that crap! Now you can't get away from it!



Kind Regards,
David

 

[wgliradio]

Yeah but you get a whole set of different sounds. There was that one time I heard what sounded like static breathing noises, after a lightning strike blew out an IC in the Orban 8100 Chassis. I actually caught that one on tape, by pure chance. I might have to upload that as an MP3 someday.

Hey, but the 8100 stayed on the air. Any digital box would have folded up and left carrier

 

[busyradioguy]

Yeah but you get a whole set of different sounds. There was that one time I heard what sounded like static breathing noises, after a lightning strike blew out an IC in the Orban 8100 Chassis. I actually caught that one on tape, by pure chance. I might have to upload that as an MP3 someday.

Hey, but the 8100 stayed on the air. Any digital box would have folded up and left carrier

Well yeah it stayed on the air, but broadcasting nothing but the static breathing sounds, and lots of little clicks here and there. Other than that, it was dead air. Nice, eh? BTW this happened on a Saturday night, at a station that wasn't yet 24 hours. The night jock didn't bother to call it in, nor did she leave a note for the sunday morning guy that there was a problem. Nice touch...

 

[boiseengineer]

We also just had to have the video card replaced on an 8400!

 

[stace]

The lcd Displays on the 82/84/8500 boxes are much much better than the meters on the 53/8300 units. Guess its the price you pay

 

[BROADCAST]

Update on the 8200 locking up problem.......................

If i leave the 8200 powered up for approx 12-24hrs it locks up.
The display freezes showing the main display with the clock frozen in time.

Also at this point if i run the 8200pc software,the 8200 will not communicate with the pc.
So looks like the cpu has locked,but on pulling the 8200 power and letting the 8200 cool down and repowering,the 8200 asks has the software module or control card been replaced!

I would have thought that if the cpu had locked the ram would have been fine as this is battery backed up!

I have also tested the battery reading 2.9volts,so for good measure i have replaced the battery that now reads 3.25volts.

Is it possible that the ram could be thermally sensitive,or could the cpu do all of this?

 

[busyradioguy]

What kind of battery does it use? Is it one of those coin sized things?

This sounds somewhat similar to a problem I had with a Behringer unit. After about 5 years, one day I noticed the left channel meter wasn't displaying anything, even though audio was coming out of it. I figured a power down and restart would fix it, but I was wrong. Now the unit is problematic. It either won't power up properly, or when it does, it basically locks up after a few hours. After three battery changes, I gave up and threw the box into a closet.

 

[The F Mister]

If I relate these problems to computers (which they basically are) a few things come to mind:

- Faulty memory
- Faulty power unit/cables
- Faulty cpu/cooling fan
- Dust