Strand 200 problem

[Soundguy]

Any Strand 200 geniuses out there?

Our board is doing momentary "shutdowns." It just happens for a fraction of a second per time, just enough to see the lights dim and come back up. The board blacks out entirely, and emits the "you're an idiot" beeps. This happens with no input; no one touching the board. Sometimes, I've seen "BLACKOUT" on the display as this happens, but the board doesn't normally beep when you press the blackout button.

We've tried several power supplies, and even connected to a battery powered computer UPS, with no improvement.

Any thoughts or similar experiences?

 

[TheDonkey]

Could the power plug-in on the board itself be loose?

Otherwise, seems like a corrupted firmware. If you find a 32MB Compact Flash card, you can download an update/clean version off the Strand site(I think) and reinstall.

 

[gafftaper]

Question #1 Have you contacted the manufacturer yet?

David Park at Strand has taken really good care of me, send him an e-mail or call him.

 

[Darthrob13]

I would suspect the power supply or the connector from the power supply as was suggested. Other than that do call Dave.

 

[Soundguy]

You guys are great!

Alas, no help yet. I didn't find an area on the Strand site for updating firmware in the 200. I have sent requests into Strand, and am hopeful for a response.

I'm actually typing while we have a show going on, and the board has done its "beeping episodes" twice in the last 30 minutes. It gives our lighting students heart attacks when it happens.

 

[photoatdv]

What kind of dimmers do you have? If the problem is that the board stops sendind DMX for the 30 seconds then you could set your dimmers to hold last setting when DMX is interrupted for like 1 minute (don't think that's the right term for the setting, but there's something like that on most dimmers). If the board is actually sending out a blackout AKA all channels at 0, that won't help though.

Actually another thought(if its sending data for a BO)-- how many lighting cues are in this show? If it's like our BB and there are about 3 BOs in the entire show, you could set your dimmers to indefinite hold on last DMX and unplug the DMX line from the console except right before cues.

Not a permanent fix, but could get you through some shows until it can be properly fixed.

 

[waynehoskins]

(if its sending data for a BO)

Just a terminology note, we usually call that DBO.

the part about the problem

I would check power supply first. It sounds like a classic case of either poor connection or failing power supply.

 

[adude23]

I had EXACTLY the same thing happen to me when i was LD'ing at a college a little while back their 200 would just beep at you switch on and off and all fixtures would dim to BO and then return back to normal (Slightly Scary)
Anyhow i made sure the power supply was firmly in the back of the unit and it seemed to 'fix' the problem.
The thing is if it's a high school/college board it's going to be pulled around quite alot by different people (some of which have no knowledge of technical theatre) So the connectors can become dislodged quite alot!
As others have said give strand a call directly and if that doesn't sort it find somewhere in your area (possibly a rental house) that might be able to do a quick service on the board itself
Hope this helps!
~Adude~