CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

Hi all. Looking for a little help (possibly).

I pulled out my LD player and HDQ from my closet where they were carefully stored for about 5 years in their boxes. It's a cool, dry place, practically dust free. I recently upgraded my VP (Emotiva UMC-1 to the Emotiva MC-700) and decided to use the UMC-1 in my game room/man cave and put together a mini theater for kicks.

Upon hooking up the HDQ, I'm getting no picture. The LED turns on, but nothing outputs (neither via DVI or composite). When I tried to use the remote (it was stored with NO batteries and I'm using brand new batteries now) to possibly turn it "on" or put it in standby or otherwise get any response, I noticed the LED did not flicker, like it use to do when you send commands to the unit. It seems like it's not responding to the remote either.

I tried upgrading the firmware (using the null modem cable), in hopes this might resolve any issues or, possibly, reset the unit (?). However, my PC does not recognize the unit whatsoever. I tried this in Win 7 and Win XP.

One odd issue I'd like to mention for possible trouble shooting is that when I plug the power cord into the HDQ and the UMC-1 is already on, the LED on the HDQ turns on for like 10 seconds and then turns off. If the UMC is off, the LED on the HDQ comes on and stays on. If I then turn on the UMC-1, the LED remains on. I get the same behavior when I connect the HDQ straight to the display (VIZIO 55" 4K).

Right now the chain is pretty simple:
LD player Panny LX-900 (tried both composite and s-video) >>> HDQ (tried both DVI and component) >>>
Emotiva UMC-1 >>> Vizio 4K TV (or straight to the TV, not using the UMC-1).

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

**kal** · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 5:03 pm Post subject:

Hi and welcome to the forum!

A blast from the past - Been a while since we've seen or talked about a VisionHDQ (assuming that's the model you mean) as it's almost 20 year old.

Does the remote have a light on it to show that it's working when you press buttons? Just to make sure the remote actually works as I believe it's the only way to turn on a VisionHDQ?

If the remote does show as working first thing I'd suspect is something with the VisionHDQ power supply. Do you have a voltmeter to test it?

Though that said...

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

Thank you so much for your quick response.

I had tested the power supply with a voltimeter. It reads 5.15v-5.18v. However, I had not thought of testing the amps. Upon testing that, it's jumping all over the place. I tested a battery with the voltimeter and it's reading correctly. So I think you're right, the psu is shot. :[

I'll try to get a new psu before I waste more of anybody's time on this issue.

Thanx

**kal** · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:58 pm Post subject:

No time wasting at all!

Just out of curiosity how did you test it under load to test the amps?

Kal

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

El Duderino · Joined: 23 Jan 2011 Posts: 4627 Location: Portland, OR

If you want to make sure the IR remote control is good, many (most) cameras on smart phones can 'see' the IR LED on the remote blinking. However, some do have an IR filter but it's not usually on both the front and rear cameras. Try it with a IR remote you know is AOK then try it on the one in question.

Also, when you measure volts with a DMM, you measure the voltage across (parallel to) something. When you measure current with a DMM you need to measure it going through (in series with) something. If you're trying to measure current across something with a DMM, you're probably creating a short with the meter and would explain why the power supply isn't happy with that DMM caused short in place and it's causing the supply to crowbar.

**kal** · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:46 pm Post subject:

El Dude explained why I ask: Current is measured in series so I was curious if you had an electronics background and measured the power supply output in series while hooked up to the processor. No need for input/outputs connected. I was wondering how exactly you measured current draw as it has to (usually) be done evasively by breaking into the circuit and measuring in series.

You can also measure current though coil rings if you don’t want to measure evasively.

Kal

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

I really appreciate you gentlemen hopping in to help.

I apologize for the lazy description of how I measured the amps. I do NOT have extensive electronics background, but I have put together some simple devices (nixie tube watch, numitron tube watch...I've also built 3 custom lightsabers Wink

), so I would say I'm a little more knowledgeable than the average guy...just throwing that out there so you know you can throw some suggestions at me.

The reason I went through the inside is so I could contact the leads carefully to the +/- of the unit (I couldn't think of another way to do it safely externally).

So basically: (+) lead of the DMM into the (+) aperture of the psu barrel. I wrapped a wire, tightly, around the outside of the barrel to use as the (-) lead. Then I contacted the (-) of the DMM to (+) on back of unit and wire from (-) of psu barrel to ground on the unit. If this is not correct then I will have to re-measure following any instructions you can provide.

I did this on my brothers DVDO HD+ unit a while back.

El Duderino · Joined: 23 Jan 2011 Posts: 4627 Location: Portland, OR

I can't really tell from your description if you actually broke an existing connection to insert the DMM ammeter in series, but if the observed operation changes when you connect the DMM, that's a big clue that you're not doing it right. If you use a DMM properly, it shouldn't be changing the behavior of the device under test (except under small/rare Heisenberg type influences) when you connect it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE3eQ6q39f4

I'll defer to Kal on what measuring the current is really going to net you it terms of a fix, but the way I read your initial description, you haven't really ruled out if the IR remote is actually working or not. Tearing into the unit and measuring currents would be kinda folly if it turns out your IR remote is what is at fault . . .

**kal** · Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:58 am Post subject:

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

El Duderino · Joined: 23 Jan 2011 Posts: 4627 Location: Portland, OR

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

El Duderino · Joined: 23 Jan 2011 Posts: 4627 Location: Portland, OR

I don't think it's likely that only the IR receiver in the HDQ 'burnt out' and I missed the fact that you also couldn't establish communication via the RS-232 port per: http://www.lumagen.com/docs/Tip0011_RS232CommandInterface_072009.pdf

It may well be a gonner.

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:45 pm Post subject:

Change the E'lytic caps in the power supply, or order a new PSU from Lumagen.

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

**kal** · Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2021 1:53 pm Post subject:

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

**kal** · Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 12:08 pm Post subject:

Mechromancer · Joined: 19 Jul 2021 Posts: 22

Well, a little more "odd" behavior. (Sorry guys, I'm tinkerer/hacker by nature and I love problem-solving)

In the first post I mentioned that the unit did not seem to be responding to the remote, (because when I plug it in, the LED stays on and if I hit the standby button, the LED is not blinking in response to the button press and will not turn off).

Now, in the Lumagen firmware updater utility, a warning pop-up box mentions that within the first 10 seconds of plugging the unit in, its in "boot mode". So I decided to try to press and hold the STANDBY button on the remote during the first 10 seconds after plugging the unit in. Lo-and-behold, the LED comes on briefly (after boot-up finalizes, I'm assuming) and then turned off. I then pressed the ON button and the LED came on.

So it seems to be responding shortly after boot-up to go into standby and then responds to the ON command. HOWEVER, after the unit turns back on, it becomes unresponsive again. It's almost like it's hanging after boot-up (just a guess from my programming experience).

Just throwing all the symptoms I come across out there to see if it triggers a light bulb for anyone. Wink