skippy
New member
So my new DAW is up and running, and I decided that it was time to start flying tracks from the D1624 to the Hammerfall, so I could play with them a little. Time to pull out the TOSLINK cables and get started.
I hooked up the TOSLINK cables to the Hammerfall, with no problem. Then, I crawled around behind the rack, and pulled the dust caps off of the optical ports on the 1624. 3 of the 4 cables connected smoothly, but the 4th would not. It was on the output for tracks 9-16, so I bent over to look in to see if I could see the LED. Nope.
I examined the dust caps, and found the problem. There are 2 types of dust caps for these ports: a hollow type that fits coaxially around the "snout" collar that supports the fiber (the Sony style), and the type used on the Fostex- which just has a little convex pin that fits up *inside* the optical port itself. I looked at my caps, and 3 of the 4 had the little pin. But the fourth didn't. That's right: the dust cap that is supposed to *protect* the port was broken off up inside the snout, very effectively blocking it. Some protection, eh? Presumably, this happened during shipping- this is the first time I personally have touched the ports...
I pulled the unit back out of the rack, and took it out to the shop. Do I want to try to warranty the unit (which means waiting weeks, probably), or do I just want to fix it?
Well, I decided to fix it. The little stob from the plug that was broken off in the port was about .090" dia and about .075" long, just some cheezo thermoplastic goop. I chucked up an .046 wire drill in my pin vise, and very carefully drilled into the stob using just my fingers to spin the bit (so as not to overdrill and kill the LED). After about 5 minutes of very careful finger-drilling, I manged to get the remains of the stob to hang up on the bit (just like a teeny EZout), and pulled it out. Leaving a perfectly useable port, at only the cost of a whole bunch more gray hairs for me...
Word to the wise: if you have a Fostex machine with TOSLINK ports that are "protected" by these very poorly designed dust caps, and it is ever subject to any handling or whacks to the case, IMNSHO you should get rid of them ASAP and replace them with the Sony style. The Fostex caps break, and when they break they disable the port until you can dig the remains out. And it ain't fun, and it sure ain't safe for the box: not a task for the faint of heart. You can bet that I'll be making this suggestion to the Fostex customer service folks.
I hooked up the TOSLINK cables to the Hammerfall, with no problem. Then, I crawled around behind the rack, and pulled the dust caps off of the optical ports on the 1624. 3 of the 4 cables connected smoothly, but the 4th would not. It was on the output for tracks 9-16, so I bent over to look in to see if I could see the LED. Nope.
I examined the dust caps, and found the problem. There are 2 types of dust caps for these ports: a hollow type that fits coaxially around the "snout" collar that supports the fiber (the Sony style), and the type used on the Fostex- which just has a little convex pin that fits up *inside* the optical port itself. I looked at my caps, and 3 of the 4 had the little pin. But the fourth didn't. That's right: the dust cap that is supposed to *protect* the port was broken off up inside the snout, very effectively blocking it. Some protection, eh? Presumably, this happened during shipping- this is the first time I personally have touched the ports...
I pulled the unit back out of the rack, and took it out to the shop. Do I want to try to warranty the unit (which means waiting weeks, probably), or do I just want to fix it?
Well, I decided to fix it. The little stob from the plug that was broken off in the port was about .090" dia and about .075" long, just some cheezo thermoplastic goop. I chucked up an .046 wire drill in my pin vise, and very carefully drilled into the stob using just my fingers to spin the bit (so as not to overdrill and kill the LED). After about 5 minutes of very careful finger-drilling, I manged to get the remains of the stob to hang up on the bit (just like a teeny EZout), and pulled it out. Leaving a perfectly useable port, at only the cost of a whole bunch more gray hairs for me...
Word to the wise: if you have a Fostex machine with TOSLINK ports that are "protected" by these very poorly designed dust caps, and it is ever subject to any handling or whacks to the case, IMNSHO you should get rid of them ASAP and replace them with the Sony style. The Fostex caps break, and when they break they disable the port until you can dig the remains out. And it ain't fun, and it sure ain't safe for the box: not a task for the faint of heart. You can bet that I'll be making this suggestion to the Fostex customer service folks.