Help with monitor.

[Tomas]

Hey everyone I'm new to this site. Hoping you guys can help me out. I'm the student tech director at my high school. We have an old ETC Idea 24 built in 1994. When I became (STD) I noticed we had no monitor hooked up. So I took a look into it and someone has removed the plug there is just a big hole where the plug should be. SInce it is built in 1994 I did open it up to see what was going on thinking it was somewhere lost inside but no hope. It would really make my life easer if I had a monitor. Since my high school doesn't put much money into our equipment. I would have to pay for it myself. So any ideas on how to fix this would be great. (I took a few pics when I opened it up)

 

[DaveySimps]

Hey Tomas. First of all, welcome to CB. When you get a chance, stop by the New Member Board and introduce yourself.

I cannot tell by the pictures how to remedy your problem. I just wanted to caution you against making any circuit board level repair yourself, unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing, and have the proper tools to do the job. Since you are tight on money and resources (from the sounds of your post) you could end up making your situation worse if something goes wrong when making the repair, and end up with a nonworking board, with no backup lighting control source.

~Dave

 

[fredthe]

Wow, that's odd. It almost looks as if the connector was never there. The Idea is supposed to have a VGA interface, though be warned that I've found from experience that not all modern flat-panel displays will work with it. So if you do get the connector sorted out, you might do well finding an old CRT VGA display that someone's throwing out... probably for free.

As for the required cable, and where it connects, you might call ETC.
(800) 688-4116.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

 

[icewolf08]

Best thing to do is to call ETC Tech Services, they will be able to tell you exactly what you need, or maybe even sell you the part. After that, I would not suggest doing this with your own money. I know that you feel like it probably isn't a big deal but it sets a really bad precedent which could come back to bite you later. I have found that once you start putting your own money in, people start asking you to do it more, and you may not want to. So, you should find a way to make the case to the school to pay for it.

 

[MSLD]

Is the monitor built in? From what im hearing i take it that it is

 

[fredthe]

Is the monitor built in?

There should be a built-in VGA connection for an external monitor. If you look at the 5th picture he posted, you'll note near the top of the photo a red DIP-switch, a connector, a hole, and the power connector (if you are used to looking at the back side of things). The hole is where there should be a VGA connector.

The board does have a small LCD display, which makes it usable without the monitor... but it's much nicer with.

-Fred

 

[willbb123]

I think I've used this console. Its very handy to have a monitor if you're gonna do anything fancy, like writing cues.

I think its weird that there is nothing in that slot. If there wasn't supposed to be a monitor then the hole would be covered. But it looks like there was a plug there and someone removed it. Which leads me to believe that there was a problem with it and it can either not be fixed, or the guy never finished.

 

[waynehoskins]

Now, I haven't been inside this board, nor can I figure out quite how Tomas has it apart (though it looks a little more apart than it needs be). My guess, though, since there don't appear to be holes and pads and traces on the circuit board by that panel hole, is that the connector mounts there (duh) and there's a tail with a header on it that plugs in somewhere on the circuit board, or perhaps to a daughterboard if it was an option or a later addition. Some of the jacks on the back of my Strand LB/M are that way, as I believe some are on my Obsession.

 

[lieperjp]

To me, it looks like the VGA out was optional. If there was a video out on your board, wouldn't there be holes in the circuit board where the plug should have gone? It might be too late to add one. Definitely give ETC a call to see if you can even add a monitor out to this particular board.