Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems

I remember when the unit was tested here. Its output remained within 2
dB from cold start to running for 1 hour or more. It was within spec. I
would be happy to talk to you about it off group. If we missed somthing
when we checked the unit I would like to take care of it for you. This
is not a common complaint for any of our wireless systems. I will run
some tests to confirm the performance.


Glenn
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

There is nothing wrong in discussing it here as long as it is not a
service issue with a specific unit. In that case it should be handled
in our service department off line. As I have stated in the past I
don't want the Ramps group to be used as a public extention of our or
any other companies service department.

I will post the conclusions of the tests tomorrow.

Glenn
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

gs RemoveThis @zaxcom.com writes:

> I remember when the unit was tested here. Its output remained within 2
> dB from cold start to running for 1 hour or more. It was within spec. I
> would be happy to talk to you about it off group.

And what exactly is the problem with discussing it right here in this
newsgroup?

By the way just letting something run is not sufficient, it should be
thermally cycled and checked over whatever temperature range you'd like
to claim it'll remain functioning correctly.
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

On 31 Mar 2005 15:08:12 -0800, gs DeleteThis @zaxcom.com wrote:

>There is nothing wrong in discussing it here as long as it is not a
>service issue with a specific unit. In that case it should be handled
>in our service department off line. As I have stated in the past I
>don't want the Ramps group to be used as a public extention of our or
>any other companies service department.

Ehh, you don't want ramps to be used by *other* companys as a service
department ? :-)
Personally i think these , what you call service mails or postings,
are far more interesting than your average Advertisement, or whatever
strange so called ""test'"" published here. It's one of these postings
that actually tell something realistic about your products.

What's interesting about a usergroup, is that one can find out if the
complaint he/she has is from a specific unit, or is a general thing.
Saves one hours and hours of searching for the cause.
Look at the SD thread, that is very interesting for many of us, even
though some of the people answering are not even SD users.

R
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

I have been using a new streamline as a link daily for the last three weeks
and on the camera audio meter, tone level checks through out the day have
revealed no Tx level variation .

Don Anderson

"David Brown" wrote in message

> I have been using the Zaxcom as a mixer-to-camera link for the last 8
> months. I noticed that we had to change the input gain levels on the
> camera most times we striped a tape, somthing we rarely had to do when
> using Lectros as links. A little testing revealed this: the output of
> the Zaxcom transmitter goes up by as much as 8 dB as the tx warms up.
> The level indicator and input gain reading remain the same but the
> output heads up as the unit warms up. I'm guessing this is due to the
> use of photoresistors in the tx. Most of this change occurs in the
> first five minutes of use but, depending on the ambient temperature,
> the change can continue over a half-hour. Zaxcom had my unit and said
> there was no problem but there is-not occasionally or intermittently
> but every day that we use this unit. I spoke this morning with a
> colleague who is using the Zaxcom to see if he was experiencing the
> same problem and he is. I'm curious to hear from other users to see
> whether I have a bad unit or if this, as it seems, a design issue.
> While I have been delighted with the audio quality, I have been rather
> dissapointed in the range, not more than 50 yards in the clear and
> sometimes less than 50 feet inside. And is anyone planning on making a
> waterproof cover for the external, filtered antennae?
>
> David
>
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

gs DeleteThis @zaxcom.com writes:

> There is nothing wrong in discussing it here as long as it is not a
> service issue with a specific unit. In that case it should be handled
> in our service department off line. As I have stated in the past I
> don't want the Ramps group to be used as a public extention of our or
> any other companies service department.

Yea but you don't mind using it as a public extension of your marketing
department, do you?

> I will post the conclusions of the tests tomorrow.

And exactly which tomorrow might this be?
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

Don Anderson writes:

> I have been using a new streamline as a link daily for the last three weeks
> and on the camera audio meter, tone level checks through out the day have
> revealed no Tx level variation .

And what sort of environment are you in? Inside, outside, cold, hot,
sun, shade, ambient temperature varying a lot, or not?
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

Due to NAB obligations I have not been able to run the tests I was
planning to. However several customers have commented that they are not
experiencing this problem nor has it been reported by different
customers. I do have some suggestions for David and will continue it
with him privately. I am sure he will keep the group apprised of the
results.

Glenn
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

Thanks for the great post Thom.
I'm a 1st time buyer of a Zaxcom product and, overall, I'm happy with
my purchase. The changing levels are, as you stated, an annoyance, and
I haven't dealt with Zaxcom so I have no opinion on the company but I
do find Glenn's sales pitch on this group a bit heavy. For the record,
I get a 3-4 db drift so now, I just leave the transmitter on all the
time - it solved my problem.
You make a great product Glenn, it's just not perfect.
André
Montréal
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

The reason I posted this was to see if this problem was widespread. It
appears that it is. I hope that Zaxcom will do a better job of
addressing this than they have so far. When I attempted to have this
problem fixed "off-group" by sending my unit to Zaxcom I had the
unpleasant experience of hearing how 'atrocious" my mixer was and a
flat rejection of any problem with the Zaxcom. Of course, my
"atrocious" mixer had no problems interfacing with Lectrosonic's
wireless units and the problem we have with the Zaxcom occurs with the
PSC M4-MkII (aka "atrocious") the SD 442 and SD MixPre. The only
work-around I've come up with is keeping the unit powered-up. I
encourage other users to post their experiences with this issue,
positive or negative.
David
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

Dear David


I just got finished running some extensive tests on some of our
production units.

>From freezing to running hot I could not get more than about a 1.5 dB
variation in gain. This is what I would expect due to the photocells we
use in our DSP controlled gain adjust circuit.

The tests I performed were not taken lightly. As of this last Thursday
I was unaware that this problem had not been resolved with you. The
tests that I thought would be complete last Friday had to wait until
today due to prior obligations relating to customer service and NAB. I
am certain there is no design issue regarding audio gain over
temperature on the Stereo transmitter. I would be happy to pay for the
shipping and service of your unit based on the fact we could not find a
problem the first time it was here. If we cannot isolate the problem we
will replace it for you.

The change in gain over temperature is worse in the middle of our gain
scale. Minimum or maximum gain settings are less sensitive to
temperature changes.

Your PSC mixer was problematic for us as the pots are heavily worn and
"scratchy" making it difficult to measure any problem relating to
gain.

As this is a service issue you may contact me or our service department
directly to arrange for the unit to be returned for service.

We take our service and support very seriously. Many customers have my
cell phone and home phone numbers. I answer email questions on this
group as well as the DEVAII group and the Zaxcom wireless groups 7 days
a week. Our service department is available to take calls all day long.
The one thing I hope all will understand is that individual service
issues will not be dealt with on a public forum such as ramps. The
conduit for such individual conversations should be a private one. Any
one is free to post what ever they want on any topic. If there is a
need for us to communicate with our direct customer base it is done on
our customer news groups.


Glenn
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

On 4 Apr 2005 09:48:48 -0700, "David Brown"
wrote:

>The reason I posted this was to see if this problem was widespread. It
>appears that it is. I hope that Zaxcom will do a better job of
>addressing this than they have so far. When I attempted to have this
>problem fixed "off-group" by sending my unit to Zaxcom I had the
>unpleasant experience of hearing how 'atrocious" my mixer was and a
>flat rejection of any problem with the Zaxcom.

Well, one of the most irritating things is when you suspect that your
gear is not doing what it should do, and the mfg's or the vendor is &
keeps pointing at your setup.
The time and effort it takes to prove that one is right can take days
of asking, phoning, mailing, measuring, etc etc.

Zaxcom offered here to test a unit, but, and how typical, did not
have time because of a coming trade show ... Short on staff i presume.
Was that your unit , aka did you send your unit back in
the last week ?
If not, and i expect that, they are testing a new unit.

Now, if that new unit does not have these complaints, Zaxcom should
offer you to ( Free, without cost ) replace your 8 month old unit for
a new one that does operate within specs.


R
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems 

Hi Glenn,

If I understand your post, your are offering to pay for the shipping
and sevice of my unit and will replace it if you cannot isolate the
problem. You may not remember that you had the unit at the beginning of
the year, could not find or replicate the problem with levels that we,
and (based on the replies here) others, encounter on a daily basis and
charged me $150 for service.The service included modifying the TX input
and power cables which did improve the performance of the unit. I also
paid for shipping. Please let me know when would be the best time for
you to look at the unit. You can contact me off-list with your shipping
account information.
BTW, I applied last week to be a member of your customer news group. I
am still waiting approval.

David
 >> Stay informed about: Zaxcom stereo ENG wireless problems