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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

OFFHOLLYWOOD HOTLINK + HOT TAP + HOTBOX R/S WIFI for RED DSMC cameras

Chris McKechnie said:
It could be a bad serial cable. I had a bad one, exchanged for a new one, works perfectly now. Email Mark..he's got AMAZING customer service.
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I have tried 2 different serial cables. Both from Mark. Customer service is great, testing the things thorough before they ship would be better. Took me 4h to test-and re-test my faulty unit. Not very happy about that.
 
Hello Janne

Mark is probably on a plane or lost in some blurry jet lag birthday timezone but he'll hopefully be back soon to help you...

Did you try to put phone in airplane mode before just turning on WIFI and connecting to HOTLink ?

Drop outs could be due to some network interference in your area... I use this Mac OS X wifi scanning app to check surrounding networks to adjust if necessary the camera WIFI channel :

[url]wifi scanner[/URL]

screen800x500.jpeg
 
Hi Mikael.
Yes you are probably right regarding Mark.
- Yes I tried going to airplane mode and then just enabling wifi. Still drops wifi after 2-30 sek. Tried on my ipad also, same.
- No network interference. Did scan and I just have the Hotlink turned on.

scan.jpg


Mikael Lubtchansky said:
Hello Janne

Mark is probably on a plane or lost in some blurry jet lag birthday timezone but he'll hopefully be back soon to help you...

Did you try to put phone in airplane mode before just turning on WIFI and connecting to HOTLink ?

Drop outs could be due to some network interference in your area... I use this Mac OS X wifi scanning app to check surrounding networks to adjust if necessary the camera WIFI channel :
Click to expand...
 
OK, let's wait for Mark to get back to you if it is the HOTLink dropping connection on both your device without any nearby network or other source of interferences...
 
Unfortunately, I have less than satisfactory news to report, as well. I received my HOTLINK per the projected delivery date, but was only just able to test it out starting on a production last Thursday. I figured, "What could be the harm in testing in a live environment, after all, if the unit doesn't perform we can always just yank it from the mix." Hmm. Famous last words. Haha.

I powered my HOTLINK via RED's Quickplate Module and connected via a Teradek 2-pin to 2-pin Lemo cable. Yes, I RTFM'd (per my standard operating procedure), and had the unit working on set for the first 1/4 of a day. Everyone who had half a clue was ooo'ing and ahhh'ing at the speed at which I was able to dial in the camera, and I could see instantly we were onto a new workflow methodology. The poor 1st was feeling lost.

Until...

Until, nothing. The unit just quit working, and further I started getting an error message from the DRAGON -- "Rear Battery Power Out Fault. Rear Battery over current detected. The power source has been disabled."

I live close to Teradek's HQ, so I picked up another cable to start the testing process today and received the same error message. The HOTLINK's blue power indicator also does not turn on. Next up, I tried connecting via USB to a MacBook Air to see if that would resurrect the HOTLINK. It didn't. As a matter of fact, I received the following error message from my Mac -- "USB Devices Disabled. Unplug the device using too much power to re-enable USB devices."

I tried resetting the HOTLINK. I called OFFHOLLYWOOD from set, and spoke with Solomon, and his response was, "Hmm, it shouldn't be doing that." Hahaha. Right. Copy that. Nice guy though.

And NOW, I had the HOTLINK plugged into my cam as I was writing this and started to smell the acrid smell of smoldering electronics. Hmm. Yeah. Caveat emptor for the time being. Putting it in the mail tomorrow AM for a rush back to the mothership.
 
Eryc Tramonn said:
Unfortunately, I have less than satisfactory news to report, as well. I received my HOTLINK per the projected delivery date, but was only just able to test it out starting on a production last Thursday. I figured, "What could be the harm in testing in a live environment, after all, if the unit doesn't perform we can always just yank it from the mix." Hmm. Famous last words. Haha.

I powered my HOTLINK via RED's Quickplate Module and connected via a Teradek 2-pin to 2-pin Lemo cable. Yes, I RTFM'd (per my standard operating procedure), and had the unit working on set for the first 1/4 of a day. Everyone who had half a clue was ooo'ing and ahhh'ing at the speed at which I was able to dial in the camera, and I could see instantly we were onto a new workflow methodology. The poor 1st was feeling lost.

Until...

Until, nothing. The unit just quit working, and further I started getting an error message from the DRAGON -- "Rear Battery Power Out Fault. Rear Battery over current detected. The power source has been disabled."

I live close to Teradek's HQ, so I picked up another cable to start the testing process today and received the same error message. The HOTLINK's blue power indicator also does not turn on. Next up, I tried connecting via USB to a MacBook Air to see if that would resurrect the HOTLINK. It didn't. As a matter of fact, I received the following error message from my Mac -- "USB Devices Disabled. Unplug the device using too much power to re-enable USB devices."

I tried resetting the HOTLINK. I called OFFHOLLYWOOD from set, and spoke with Salomon, and his response was, "Hmm, it shouldn't be doing that." Hahaha. Right. Copy that. Nice guy though.

And NOW, I had the HOTLINK plugged into my cam as I was writing this and started to smell the acrid smell of smoldering electronics. Hmm. Yeah. Caveat emptor for the time being. Putting it in the mail tomorrow AM for a rush back to the mothership.
Click to expand...

I don't knowhow it's made but I would open it see if there is any loose wires, as thats what it sounds like. loose wires thay short trough the metal housing or such. Worth to take a look before shipping things around atleast.

But first thing to do would be to use a volt meter and check the cables. Then jump into the thing.
 
For the record, I'm not "blaming" OffHollywood per se, but it is apparent a little more R&D / cross-pollination / testing should be happening between RDC and the HOTLINK dev team. Solomon on the OffHollywood team informed me that there could be an "issue" with the Aux power on the Quickplate Module, but I have not had an issue until powering the HOTLINK. Now I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to send in the Quickplate Module for a diagnostic. As an indie, literally every penny hurts, and it sucks to think I will likely need to spend dollars on testing something that neither party will ultimately be trying to take accountability for. Which I get. Again, it just sucks to be on that end of things.

Guess this is what the bleeding edge is all about. Hahaha.

But again, for the brief time the HOTLINK was operational, it COMBINED WITH FOOLCONTROL is pretty AWESOME. Everyone will want to operate in this manner. Guaranteed.
 
Björn Benckert said:
I don't knowhow it's made but I would open it see if there is any loose wires, as thats what it sounds like. loose wires thay short trough the metal housing or such. Worth to take a look before shipping things around atleast.

But first thing to do would be to use a volt meter and check the cables. Then jump into the thing.
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Yo, Bjorn...thanks for the quick reply, bro -- super appreciate your suggestion.

I'm not going to crack open the device because that would likely only create one more area of "You did this, so this, that, and the other happened as a result of your actions." Prefer not to play that game.


EDIT: And to be preemptive -- no, I was NOT using lemos with Bartech polarity.
 
I had the HOTLINK mounted to the outside of my TACTICAL CAGE during production. While screwing around looking for mounting points, I landed on putting it INSIDE the cage. Thought I would share the placement for anyone looking to conserve space in a similar mounting option.

Given the way the CAGE is milled, there actually aren't too many positions INSIDE that allow for a comfortable placing with cables attached.
 

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Eryc Tramonn said:
For the record, I'm not "blaming" OffHollywood per se, but it is apparent a little more R&D / cross-pollination / testing should be happening between RDC and the HOTLINK dev team. Solomon on the OffHollywood team informed me that there could be an "issue" with the Aux power on the Quickplate Module, but I have not had an issue until powering the HOTLINK. Now I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to send in the Quickplate Module for a diagnostic. As an indie, literally every penny hurts, and it sucks to think I will likely need to spend dollars on testing something that neither party will ultimately be trying to take accountability for. Which I get. Again, it just sucks to be on that end of things.

Guess this is what the bleeding edge is all about. Hahaha.

But again, for the brief time the HOTLINK was operational, it COMBINED WITH FOOLCONTROL is pretty AWESOME. Everyone will want to operate in this manner. Guaranteed.
Click to expand...

We are working hard to track down the issue that has caused a handful of units to die shortly after customers got them.

There is NOT any issue with Aux power on the Quickplate module. There is an issue with the +1 Module's aux power depending on which firmware you are on - RED is aware of it - but it is NOT anything that can cause a HOTLINK to die.

If you plug in the HOTLINK via USB power source and do not get a blue power indicator - which is part of the PCB - that means the board is "dead" and we need to get your unit back asap.

I've been traveling (back in NYC on 26th) and the shop is a bit swamped right now - so if you DO have any issue with your HOTLINK and have not been in contact with me already - email me directly - mark (at) offhllollywoodny.com - and I'll get you sorted ASAP.
 
Not wanting to add any noise to this thread : If you put a metal cage around around a wifi transceiver - the holes must be larger than the wavelength of the signal (or the cage absorbs some of the electo-magnetic signal).

AJ
 
Antony Newman said:
Not wanting to add any noise to this thread : If you put a metal cage around around a wifi transceiver - the holes must be larger than the wavelength of the signal (or the cage absorbs some of the electo-magnetic signal).

AJ
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Good call, Antony, obviously didn't think about that. :) I was just giddy with the prospect of having found a way to free up valuable real estate.

Also, I was only messing around with possible mounting solutions, seeing I don't have a working device currently. Once I have another HOTLINK in my possession, I will test to see how it performs mounted this way. You're likely correct and if it loses connection, causes instability, or otherwise impairs functionality -- c'est la vie, it will go back to living on the outside.

Thanks again, sir.
 
Isaac Marchionna said:
Mark, I know you're heading home from Reducation, but any time frame fo the hotboxes? We obviously missed thanksgiving.

Any rays of hope?
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Back in NYC and yes I'm deep in the doghouse re: shipping HOTBOX & HOTTAP 2 w/USB.

Just finished QC of revisions to HOTBOX enclosure & a new PCB - small number of units (including yours) hit the anodizer Tuesday AM. So .. VERY soon. Trust me - I'm pushing hard.

And we will ramp up quickly over the next few weeks to get all existing orders out. Lots of lessons learned and growing pains. But very close.

I have a wicked new product in development - a few actually, but one is crazy mad cool special - but I'm not gonna take any orders until there are 100 of them in boxes ready to ship - might hold it back for NAB - and I will give a nice discount to all our early customers who waited longer than they should have for our initial products.

But first - need ot get out of the dpghouse and get all these HOTBOX and HOTTAP 2 w/USB orders shipped.
 
Thanks for the update, Mark!

Standing by for the Hotbox. Do give me a heads up so I can order some of your awesome lemo-to-device cables. Please!

Hoping to see the ET WMD cable as well, so that'll play nice with the Hotbox. Email me when ready so I can order those cables so all that goodness can head up here in one go. Sound good?
 
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On location now and after changing from an iPhone 5 to a 6 I don't have the default password for the hot link network…..Anyone have it handy?
 
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