Some help with a Barco 701 please

[crispybig]

Hi Guys,

I need some help with a Barco 701MM (R9000740) I’ve just acquired. I know a thing or three about NECs, but this is the first Barco I’ve had and I’m a bit stuck.

It’s from a presentation room where I work and I know it is (was!) in good shape. I powered it up for a quick check, just looking in the lenses. I don’t have the remote so I was using the onboard keypads and “nipple”, but the contacts seemed quite intermittent. I ramped the contrast up and then right back down, with no signal, just the built-in cross-hatch.

Unfortunately, when the contrast was right down and I couldn’t see anything on the tubes, the nipple decided it was a good time to stop working!!! So I wiggled it and pressed exit, enter, adjust, etc., but couldn’t get anything on the tubes.

Because the contrast is right down, I can’t see if the menus are actually coming up. I tried following the correct sequence of presses blind, but because the keys are intermittent that got me nowhere. On the NECs the menus are independent of the contrast, etc., and always full brightness. Am I right in thinking that’s not the case with the Barco, and it’s just the zero contrast that’s giving me grief?

Then I noticed there was a amber LED lit on the front of the PJ. I don’t know whether or not it was lit before I lost the contrast. It’s the one at the end – opposite all the green ones. I think it’s the “COINC” LED. I say “think” because the Owners and Installation manuals say COINC is the second LED in, but a flimsy sticker on the PJ says it’s the end one.

I don’t have the service manual, so can anyone tell me what COINC means? It IS the yellow LED at the end, right?

I need to know if there’s something more serious than just the contrast wound down.

Thanks!

[kalW]

No mention of what the COINC does here, but maybe some of the other info will help:

http://www.curtpalme.com/Barco701.htm

Kal

[Roland @ B4]

You really need to get hold of a proper remote.
In the mean time I wouldtake the metal plate off the controller/ remote and clean up the contacts with a bit of alcohol.
The coincidence light will come on when the projector is working normally ie has found an external or internal source to lock up to.
As a VERY short measure you could turn up the G2 on the green channel to see if that makes the menu visable

[crispybig]

Roland - thanks. I'm very glad to hear the COINC LED lights up on an internal lock-on too. That means all is in order and I just have to concentrate on getting the brightness back "working in the blind".

I'll clean the switches as you suggest, then try some more blind switching. If that fails I'll download and use the control programme from your website. G2 is a very last resort.

So it does seem the menu brightness is supposed to go down along with the raster brightness. I got used to the NECs, where it doesn't. I've often thought how clever it is that they can have a stable menu when the actual video is a scrambled mess.

Kal - good to see you in this time zone. Thanks for the link - the site is coming along very nicely. That stuff wasn't there the last time I looked. He's got you doing marketing now as well then?

There actually was a description of what the LED means, though it didn't refer to it as COINC. It said locked to an external signal - which is true, but not as useful as Roland's answer.

A small correction - the site says 701s were produced 92-94. Well, mine's stamped April 1997, so they were still being manufactured in 1997, if not later still.

Thanks all.

[kalW]

Originally Posted by crispybig

Kal - good to see you in this time zone. Thanks for the link - the site is coming along very nicely. That stuff wasn't there the last time I looked. He's got you doing marketing now as well then?

There actually was a description of what the LED means, though it didn't refer to it as COINC. It said locked to an external signal - which is true, but not as useful as Roland's answer.

A small correction - the site says 701s were produced 92-94. Well, mine's stamped April 1997, so they were still being manufactured in 1997, if not later still.

Hey Chris! If you're referring to the CRT FAQ page then yes, it says 92-94 for the 700/701, but not the 701s. I've added a few extra lines describing the 701s and the 708. Thanks!

And yes, he has me doing some of the monthly marketing as well. I have to earn my keep for the nice projector I'm getting.

Kal

[crispybig]

Cleaned the contacts, but still too intermittent to work the menus "blind". So used the PC software with some success to bring the contrast back up, and now everything is fine except the onboard control buttons. It's just the so-called "disc" that's very intermittent, the other buttons are fine. The black carbon paint (or whatever it is) on the back of the rubber switch pads looses its conductivity. I’ve had the same problem many times with various remote controls, and a dab of conductive paint usually does the trick.

The PC software sort of connects. It finds the PJ OK, and can power it up, but keeps saying “ACK not received!” and going into a 60 second timeout. Baud rates match. However, I can get in at odd moments to adjust settings, as I did with the contrast, but it’s largely unusable. It sees the PJ as a BD701 when it’s actually a 701MM. I wonder if this is why, as I believe the BD701 is a much earlier projector.

Interestingly, the PJ’s on screen menus differ from those shown in the manual in several places, even though it’s (allegedly) for the correct model (R9000740). For instance, the manual states baud rate setting is in the service menu, but it isn’t. It’s actually h/w DIP switches.

The main thing, though, is I discovered it’s only 3K hours and no visible tube wear. I just have to repair the control buttons, and I’ll have a very decent little projector. The 701MM has component input, onboard LIDO, and HD145s. I might pop on my spare set of colour filtered 145s to see what the difference actually is.