Audio Board Problems in CNR14

The audio board in CNR14 seems to be having issues. Last night it stopped sending a signal from the wireless mic to the DVD/VHS devices. This morning, it was doing the same thing. Daryl caught the problem this morning, and it seemed to correct itself after he rebooted the board. Sadly, the problem last night went undetected, so the DVD we recorded of the class was completely without audio from the instructor.

As far as I can tell, this problem only seems to be an issue with the wireless mic.

 
MCU - 4/19/07

Tonight at 5:36pm the entire MCU had a major hiccup. I am not sure if it was purely an MCU thing or if the whole network had a problem. What I do know is that the conferences for both Sam and I totally shut down and reset. All the calls were hung up, but the conferences were also ended. Normally, this can only happen if the entire MCU resets, so it is possible that the MCU in the library lost power for a second. The strange part is that the MCU did not appear to reset. There was no downtime, it just booted all the members of the conferences and set every conference to idle. Very strange night.

 
Ag104 Scan Converter

The scan converter in Ag104 pitched a fit today. I am not sure what the cause of the problem was, but the result was that the scan converter would power up, but the system was not sending the signal to the control room. The big indicator was that the menu on the scan converter was not showing up. I tried to power it off and then back on, but that had no effect. It turns out that you need to go around to the back of the unit and unplug it fully for it to initiate a full reset. After that was done, the scan converter began working normally again.

(And a big "thank you!" to Daryl for figuring that out.)

 
Aberdeen Video/Audio Connection, connects at 384 and slides down to 192 with in 10 - 12 minutes. The last 4 times Ag 104 & AB have connected for the PLSC 547 class. The audio has become unstable, we'll wait small bit of time for it to clear up. It doesn't clear up, I disconnect and reconnect. A pattern, a clue has appeared, the audio has become unstable at 9:56 or 9:57 am PST, the last 3 times. Paula

 
Ag 104 - AB, 9:30 - 10:20, 2/12, Mon & 2/14, Wed. Aberdeen students complained that the audio was breaking up both days. I waited for the audio to clear and it didn't so I disconnected and reconnected. On the 14th, I had to reconnect twice before the audio would clear. The audio stayed stable after the reconnections. ph

 
LCSC's Doc Cam

We had problems with LCSC's doc cam again today. Basically the same problems that we had before with the camera shot appearing to be attempting to reload every few seconds. The normal LCSC operator was sick today, so we didn't have anyone on hand that could attempt a fix. I will contact LCSC and see if they have any ideas for how to fix the problem.

 
20077400, DOE Dept Mtg. Ed 103, B448, IF4, (Ed 103 to Bridge)
This morning, I was unable to add B448 to the conference. I opened B448 webpage, to check if the unit was on, it was. I called from Boise to Ed 103 and it connected fine. ph

 
Aberdeen

The connection rate at Aberdeen hasn't been steady for the last few days. Both Friday (2/2/07) and today the connection speed would begin at 384 kbps and the drop down to 192 kbps within 15 minutes. In both conferences, Aberdeen was the main site, so the rate shouldn't be dropping based on use alone. Perhaps the network is overloaded, but it may be something to keep an eye on.

 
Pocatello SBDC

I was unable to connect the Pocatello site (70.58.63.147) to the video conference this morning (IWC248, CDA1, and Pocatello). Each time I attempted to connect, it would look like a solid connection for about 30 seconds, then all the connection rates would drop to zero. The call would actually stay connected, but no data would pass between us. I called the Pocatello SBDC and worked with a man named Dave to try to fix it, but I was unsuccessful. I even tried to have him call me, but we still had the same problem even when he initiated the call.

Dave said that this has been a recurring problem for them.

 
Fax machine test in Ed103.

Harold just sent me another fax and it seems to work fine now. Not sure what the problem was before. Hopefully we just had a little user error and this is not a symptom of a real problem.

 
Connection between LCSC, WSU, and Ed103 on 1/31/07 (9 - 10:15am)

25 minutes into the class (9:25am) LCSC lost connection to WSU and could not re-establish it. I am not sure what was attempted to solve the problem (LCSC and WSU were doing talking because WSU is the bridge). After a few minutes they decided to attempt an ISDN call to UI and then have us bridge to WSU.

NOTE: Apparently it is not possible to dial ISDN into the system while a 768 call is active. I thought it would still be possible, so I stayed connected to WSU, but LCSC couldn't get into us. My thought was that the system would dial down the current call to accept the new call, but this does not seem to be the case. Either the system will not accept new calls when the current call is 768 or the system will not accept ISDN calls while an IP call is already established. (I will try some further testing at 12 today.)

Anyway, Chris from WSU called me just before 9:40 with Lawrence also on the line. I hung up my connection to WSU and then Lawrence dialed straight into me with no problems. As soon as he was in I dialed in WSU (using 134.121.239.191) and the class was rolling again.

One additional problem popped up too, Harold from LCSC was unable to fax anything to me for some reason. I was able to fax from here to the main office (on campus), and they could fax back to me, but Harold could not reach me. It is possible that the fax machine will not accept off campus calls, but that is just a speculation. I will talk with Harold after the class ends and see if he can attempt another fax.

 
ULEND Conf, Jeb 111, Utah Telehealth Bridge & MCU 1.
First Meeting today Friday 1/19/07. We were not able to connect into the conference.
Utah will need to dial into us. The Utah disconnected from our bridge about 1/2 hour after the meeting began, I called Pat Bryner to reconnect us. 801-585-2426. I did tell Pat for our future meetings that she could call into MCU 1 from 10:50 on.

 
Notes, re: testing for NEZP 102, Spring 2007.
WSU says we have to connect at 768.
We do not have to change our gatekeeper to WSU's. Hooray!
Testing went fine, here is the protocal for Spring 2007.
(Chris will work up a back up plan that we'll test when he's ready)

Ed 103 will dial into WSU, 07058, 768 kkb, and LAN.
the other sites will dial into WSU in the same way.

 
Ag 104, 4H Meeting, 11/20/06 Meeting and connections went fine.
I noticed that Cam 5 seemed much more grainy than Cam 2. Is usually like that ?

 
Ag 62, Sanford Eisenbrode, volunteered his computer for the Entomology Series. Everytime the presenter would come over to change the presentation slide he would step on the power cord and the presentation would go black for a second.
This room is just not suitable for VC presentations.... If this is a growing trend we need to either nip it in the bud or think about getting this room more presenter friendly. As a simple fix for now maybe we could get a couple of the walk over the cord on the floor pieces. I also worry about the mic, since it's usually on the table in the front. If someone is busy talking and walking, they could pull the mic off the table or get tangled in it? Tangling would definately lighten up the presentation! HaHa.

 
Ag 62, Parma, AB, WSU/UI Joint Entomology Series, at the beginning of the conference, Ag 62 could hear Parma, but Parma could not hear Ag 62, (AB room was empty), I had Maurine go into the room and all she did was touch the volume button on the remote and the audio issue was corrected. Can those remotes short out? Knomes in the Parma Conference Room?

 
Ag104 - Parma

Horrible connection with Parma tonight. I have no idea what the problem is, but the audio just wouldn't stay steady, it kept cutting in and out. The video appeared to be ok, just some minor tiling, but the audio was unusable.

I worked around the audio problem by using the phone line to connect to the Parma site and piped the audio through the phone while still using the codec for the video connection.

 
Ok, I called Matt and had him bump me up to an administrator so that I could fix some things on our blog (then I found out that Don is an administrator too.....slacker).

The UOVNSS link should be working again, I updated the hyper-link to our new site (meetingmaker.its.uidaho.edu/uovnss).

I have sent out invitations to all of our operators so they can join us on the blog. I didn't realize you had to get an invite to post, but apparently that is somewhere in the settings. Anyone can read our blog, but only invited members can post to our blog. I will keep digging around in the settings and see if I can find any other useful tools.

 
Maybe you know this info already. In September we had had telephone billing, that was a WSU code for PLSC 340.
I found out why that happened today! In our 129.101.195.220 MCU Bridge. When you enter in your WSU # (16091005) to dial, you have to choose Dial Profile: H323 instead of leaving it on auto. If you leave it on auto it will default to ISDN add a 208 and make a phone call, which disconnects immediately and puts a charge on the phone bill.
Today, I was trying to dial into WSU, the connection was not working, the last time I tried it I noticed the telephone symbol, eureka! After I chose H323 I connected immediately.

 
20065171, Ed 103, B162, IF1 TF Conf, and the MCU
Members Meeting Idaho Parents Unlimited,
IF 1 Tandberg was hosed up. It was holding an MCU call with Morril Hall and B448 for some unknow reason. I called Mike to get instructions on rebooting the Tandberg. After IF1 Tandberg rebooted I connected just fine.

 
LCSC, Ed 103, WSU, 10/25/06,
WSU could connect o.k. from their bridge to Ed 103 IP. LCSC could not connect via IP no matter what situation we tried. After Mike and Lawrence worked together, I tried to dial directly into the LCSC bridge, not a chance of connection there. Lawrence suggested he call us ISDN, this connection worked for LCSC. WSU then could not come in from their bridge to the Ed 103 bridge. Soooo. I dialed directly into WSU room 134.121.239.191, bypassing their bridge and it worked very nicely. We were connected about 9:30. I just heard Harold tell someone, it was a bridging issue at the U of I. Was it? ph

 
No Cel Phone signs in Ed 103, CNR 14. I'm doing an experiement in CNR14. I have a Power Point Side on the student monitor that requests individuals to turn their cel phones off, with an explanation of why. They see it when they first come in the room for at least 5 minutes. From first glance it may be helping in CNR. I thought about paper signs and then decided a large monitor may be more effective. If you try it let me know if you think it helped.
I did make a PP slide for Ed 103 also, it's on the desktop. ph

 
Ed 103, WSU Connection for the WWAMI Mtg, 20063013, I called WSU at 7:52 regarding the connection protocal for this event. I was told to register my gatekeeper and dial 0312653, after that didn't work a few times I was asked to dial 00114790312653. Chris teleconferenced me with the technician at UW, he told me to register my gatekeeper to 216 186 4 235 and dial 206-732-8660, this connection said the same thing, this connection is not possible. 1/2 an hour into the conference, I called into a phone bridge at 206-732-9451. The audio conference went well.
The moral of the story.... if it's not a regularly scheduled event with WSU, we'd better test a day or two in advance to make sure that WSU and UI are on the same page at connection time. ph

 
This is gonna sound nit picky. So I apologize in advance!

Appearance of our VC rooms. There are a few of our VC rooms off campus that are accumulating stuff. Chairs, electrical cords etc. If these rooms need to accumulate stuff, maybe it could be positioned down on the camera wall, so the VC participants don't have to look at it. See I told you it was nit picky. ph

 
Update on Aberdeen connection, we connect at 384k and within 15 minutes, it has dropped to 192k and stays consistantly there. The audio and video are very good. The only situation that needs attention is.... when the power point slide is advanced a pink and green shadow shows of the previous slide for a couple seconds.

 
Aberdeen IP observations, Connection begins at 384, within 10 - 12 minutes drops to 192. The audio sounds fine, the video isn't tiling.

Aberdeen Classroom Computer, is very slow.

Parma IP observations, The maiden voyage of Parma's IP was a bit rocky, the audio was cutting out. I put them in the phone book at 512 and have connected at that rate since. Connection begins at 512, and falls to 380. Audio and video have been consistantly fine the last 2 connections.

 
Hi All,
Just to keep you informed, the Ed 103 codec has been upgraded. Now runnig the most current revision, and it now has multi-site capability.

 
Ag62 Projector
-The projector in Ag62 has begun shutting itself off after approximately 1 hour of use. It has happened 2 times that I have confirmed in the last week, but I am not sure when the problem began. My first guess would be overheating problems, but I leave actual diagnosis to the experts.

 
GRIPLite on your Desktop
-Ok, recently I have had a few questions from those who want to know how to get Grip to show up on your desktop as a shortcut. The following is a quick and easy step-by-step walkthru on how to dig through your computer and get a Grip shortcut onto your desktop.
1) Open "My Computer".
2) Open the main hard drive on your computer (almost always the "C" drive).
3) Open the "Program Files" directory.
4) Open the "SVS" file.
5) Open the "GRIP" file.
6) Now you should be looking at a number of files and a few executables. There should be an executable file in here that will start-up GRIPLite. Do NOT drag this file out to your desktop. Instead, do the following:
A) Right click on the icon and select "Create Shortcut".
B) Drag the shortcut you just created out to the desktop.

-By following these steps you should now have access to GRIPLite from your normal desktop. As always, if you have problems, feel free to call me at any time.

 
MCU Protocol
-A good practice to keep in mind is to use MCU ports 2 & 3 before you use MCU port 1. Daryl and I have been trying to create classes from the bottom up in the MCU (meaning you use 3 first, then 2, and 1 last). By doing it this way MCU 1 will stay open longest and can be used for testing and in case of emergencies...like what happened last night with the connection to ISU.
-I will start setting a reminder alarm for myself on days that we have to register our MCU to WSU's gatekeeper so that I remember to double-check that we re-register to our own gatekeeper when all WSU events are completed. Please try to remember to reset the MCU to our own gatekeeper if your event is the last one scheduled with WSU and there is not another conference running. The reason we had so many problems with ISU last night is likely because our MCU was still registered to WSU.

 
9/11/06, MCU - PLSC 334, Ag 323 and TF stayed connected on the MCU for 6 hours yesterday.
I kept noticing it but did not investigate, I thought if it's in the MCU it must have been a scheduled event. As we are going in and out of the MCU let's try to be aware of what supposed to be in there and if a meeting or class hasn't disconnected we can catch it. I've been putting a time frame in each class I'm connecting into the MCU, just in case Murphy's Law decides to get me.

MCU connection with Pocatello did not work so well last night, Mike said in previous weeks we could call them fine. The MCU was registered to the WSU Gate Keeper. Sam and I worked together to figure it out with Pocatello. The final solution was I moved the ED Ad Class to MCU 3 and connected the CNR14, If, ISU Poc class into MCU 1 so that ISU could dial into us.

 
TF A-21
-More problems with Twin this morning. 10 minutes after I connected, my point-to-point connection with A-21 died on me. I immediately tried to re-establish the call, but was unable to connect. Then I tried to reach the TF Tandberg through the web, but could not establish a connection. Finally I called Amanda and had her restart the unit in Twin, and once that happened I was able to connect again.
-I have never before seen a unit stop a connection and need a restart in the middle of a conference. I have had to restart between conferences, but it is highly unusual that the unit would allow me to connect for a few minutes, then stop working while the conference was connected. This is the second or third time I have had problems with the TF A-21 Tandberg unit.

 
Registering to a Gatekeeper
-Ok, I am writing up this little outline because I keep seeing problems with our gatekeeper registrations for our connections to WSU. These guidelines will work for any gatekeeper you need to register, but I am going to use ours (129.101.195.222) and WSU's (134.121.239.201) as an illustration. I figure if it is here on Blogger, you can find it even anywhere as long as you have an internet connection...which shouldn't be a problem if you are looking to register to a gatekeeper.

MCU REGISTRATION
-Open the MCU webpage (129.101.195.220) and select "System Configuration" from the main menu and then "H.323" from the sub-menu.
-Make sure Gatekeeper is set to "Manual" in the drop-down menu.
-In the Gatekeeper IP Address line insert the address of the gatekeeper that you want to be registered to (134.121.239.201 in this case) and hit the enter key on the keyboard...then wait 10 seconds and hit "Save" at the bottom of the page.
-The box that shows H.323 Gatekeeper Status should update and show the IP number of the gatekeeper you just registered to. If it does not, wait a few more seconds and hit save again. If it still does not work, double-check the IP address you entered into the address field.
-When your event is done return the bridge registration to it's original settings (129.101.195.222).
NOTE: you cannot change the gatekeeper registration if a conference is going, it will either:
-a) fail outright (which is for the best)
-b) boot everyone from every conference in the bridge (which is really bad)

TANDBERG REGISTRATION
-Open the Tandberg web page and select "System Configuration" from the main menu, then select "Networks" from the sub-menu, then select "H.323 Settings."
-Make sure Gatekeeper is set to "Manual" in the drop-down menu.
-In the boxes next to the line that reads "Manual Gatekeeper IP:" insert the IP address of the gatekeeper you wish to register to (134.121.239.201 in this case) and hit enter on the keyboard.
-Scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the "Update Settings" button. Within about 10 seconds the bottom of the screen should read:
"GateKeeper Status : Registered to gatekeeper. 134.121.239.201: 1719"
I have no idea why the 1719 is placed in the line, but it is there everytime you register to a gatekeeper, I think it may be some sort of check code.
-If the line reads:
"GateKeeper Status: Registering to gatekeeper."
Then that means there is something wrong, either the system is not happy or the gatekeeper IP address you entered is invalid.
-Once you are done with the conference, return the gatekeeper registration to it's original settings (129.101.195.222).
NOTE: You cannot change the registration while a conference is in session.

 
Ceiling mics in Ag104
-WSU complained about the audio from Ag104 this morning. They were hearing a strange buzzing from our room everytime anyone spoke. After a couple minutes of messing around, I isolated the problem. It seems that the ceiling mics are broadcasting a slight buzz when they pick up audio. The strange part is that I cannot hear the buzz at all from the control room, but as soon as I turned the ceiling mics off, the buzz went away.
-The class on Wednesday went off without a hitch and I have never heard of any other site having problems with our audio from the ceiling mics, so this could either be a new problem, or an isolated incident.

 
TF A-21
-I have been having some problems with the TF A-21 room lately. Twice in the last 3 days I have had to reboot the system because it has stopped talking to the network. I am not sure if this is a symptom of something worse or if we just had a hiccup in the system. Whatever the case may be, TF A-21 had some problems today in the PLSC 302 connection. It dropped in the middle of the conference and after I connected it again, it dropped within 30 seconds. After I connected it a second time, everything seemed to work.
-At the moment the connection seems to be stable once again, but I am writing this so we have a record of some recent problems if everything goes wonky on us over there.

 
PLSC 404, 8/21/06, The instructor, Steve Love is in Aberdeen, the audio has a loud audio hum, the instructor sound like he's speaking from a tunnel. One of the students has hearing problems and cannot totally decipher what the instructor is saying. Steve maybe is standing on the other side of the audio science mic? Is there a podium mic or a lapel mic that he can use, instead of the room mic? ph

 
multipoint test
Mike and I tested calls via the multipoint in Ag104 after testing I think we could put a tandberg
non multipoint in Jeb. but CNR , Ed 103 could use them.

 
Hi all.
Did a test with Hawaii to day, They could not connect to us but we Can Call them with no problem
The ISDN# is (808) 449-0237 James Hamidou (808) 449-0202 cell # (808)3687853
Thank you

 
Alan Odenburg, Interiors shop has ordered matching laminate to repair tables in Ag 104. He said when the laminate comes in he'll plan to come into Ag 104 at 6am to complete the task. ph

 
Testing with WSU.
-I tested connections with WSU on Monday afternoon. I was able to connect Ag104, Ag323, and Ed103 to their system. All of the connections were established with full audio and video, and WSU would prefer it if we could connect at 768 kbps for the courses.
-To connect to WSU, the codec you are using needs to be registered to WSU's gatekeeper and then dial an alias number. The gatekeeper IP address is 134.121.239.201, and they will provide the number we need to dial for each class just before the semester starts (they are working on some last minute changes).

 
Testing with MSU.
-I tested with MSU on Monday afternoon. The connection was stable with a solid video and audio link-up. The connection will be an IP call between MSU, CNR 14, and several other sites; with MSU bridging the call.
-The contacts for MSU are Nadeen (406)994-6553 (she will be the main operator for the course), Bob (406)994-6839 (I believe he is a back-up operator for this class), and the secretary who can find either one of them if you aren't having any luck with their numbers (406)994-6550.

 
Tested with University of Wisconsin today. Dialed IP address 128.104.44.234, connection was fine, video and audio stable.

 
Tested with Boise on the Grove. I worked with Chris and Noah to get the rental unit (Polycom codec) up and running. The current IP address given and used was 207.170.244.25. This is for the event on Thursday broadcasting from Ag104 to Boise. Paula with operate this event, but Daryl should stay close until the connection has been made and is solid.

 
Daryl tested with Guangchao yesterday and they can connect for your Defense. One problem is that Guangchao does not have a camera so his connection will be just audio. He also has to keep his mic muted during the event except for when he speaks as it causes background noise. Guangchao said he was going to make some changes and would get back to Daryl again today. I'm not sure if he is looking into getting a camera or not. I'll keep you posted.
Anita

 
The Black Burst/Color Bar generator in Ag104 had some problems on Thursday (7/20). The colors of the color bars seemed to be shifting and bleeding over from bar to bar. I turned the generator off and then back on, but the problem seemed to persist, so I dealt with it through Greg Moller's class, but as soon as his class ended, I powered the generator down for about 20 minutes. When I turned it back on, the colors were all back to normal. My guess is that the generator will need to be turned off every night (I was leaving it on all the time because we left the old one on), I don't think it is heavy duty enough to run continuously.

 
The Interior Shop glued the formica back on the tables in CNR 14. I've left a message with Alan Odenburg about what facilites can do with Ag 104 or who we can contact to have those tables repaired. ph

 
FYI, Meeting with CNR14 & B248 this morning. The audio was did not cut out once. There is definately a big audio sound if the mic is not muted. Have we sent Eric a table mic yet? I'll send it if you bring me the mic you want to send!!

 
Did a test with Troy Ott at penn State. He has Net Meeting and could only connect at 128
for a defense on 7/25/06 at 9:00-1:00p pst in room 104 test went well for netmeeting.
He still would like to do a test in Room 104 We went thru the MCU with Ag6-AG6c
I gave him room 104 # and IP# he would like to do that on Monday His IP is 38.118.11.51
the phone # they called me from is (814) 441-2657

 
Hello All
I did a test with Wasif Con in DC for the 7-18-06 6:30-1:30p pst with BSU CVC meeting we can only Connect ISDN we call them (they were unable to call us) and will e-mail the ISDN # to use for 3 conferences that are planed. Wasif Con’s # is (301)686-2108
Daryl



Bill,
Just tested with Darryl and everything looked good. Only thing is that once again I could not dial into his 700 network. The dial in number to our bridge for 7/18, 8/10 and 8/11 conferences will be 301-686-2407. If you have any questions please give me or Mike a call at 301-686-2103.
Thanks
Wasif

 
Written at 9:10 am, 6/7/06
I tested with Janet Rose from Notre Dame, IP # 129.74.146.33
From the MCU tested both ways all worked fine.
The room # is 574-631-6716 this connection is This Friday
Thanks Daryl

 
Update on defective DVD's. Tape & Media Services will issue a call tag for 900 Maxell DVDs. Tape & Media will send out 900 Taiyuden DVDs. ph

History**Maxells purchased 3/23/06, we began using them about the first of May. 75 discs were used mainly in Ag 104. Problem arose when recording, on the Panasonic in Ag 104. The recorder would begin recording a minute or so later the machine would be powered off. When powered up the display would read, Recover. Sometimes the Pana would not even recogize the disc. A few times... For troubleshooting sake, I put the unrecognized disc in the Sony recorder and it would work fine, if the Sony did not accept the disc it would read, disc dirty or unformatted disc.

I've included this history, just in case, it's the Panasonic and not the discs. TTFN!

 
Tested with maryland, they called MCU one IP, all worked real well they will call us on 7-5-06
via MCU one, talk to paul he has my cell #. his # 410-455-1000 room

 
Ag 104 test with costa rica all went well they called us. we were unable to call them
the speed is only 128 and that is what it was last time we connected. relayed all info on to anita

 
MCU connection (Ag104, IWC248, and OSU: 9:00am)--OSU was a problem child this morning. I tried connecting the system 15 minutes early, but couldn't get through. I decided to wait 5 and try again, but once again I couldn't get through. I called John Wells (the OSU contact) and he said they had just started the system up and confirmed the IP number they originally gave me (140.211.16.6), but the connection still didn't work. John then connected his system to another unit to verify that his unit was working (it wasn't until later that I discovered he connected to a unit on the same network, so that really told me nothing).

Ok, time to enter problem solving mode: I disconnected Ag 104 from the MCU and tried a direct dial instead, still no go. Next, I gave John the IP number for Ag 104 and he tried to dial into our unit...failure. So, I asked John to reboot his unit to see if that would solve our problem. Once the reboot cycle was finished, John's unit refused to register an IP address, so we knew that his unit was the problem.

Luckily, they had a back-up unit available at OSU, so after plugging that one in we had no more problems. The meeting started about 10 minutes late and we used 140.211.16.5 instead of the original IP they gave us.

 
Paula, does the Niccolls codec actually go black, meaning no video? Or is being panned into the cabinet? Any idea?

 
Niccolls, CDA 2 connection, 4/6/06 3:36 pm. I received a call from Donivan regarding the connection. Niccolls was not able to connect. This is the 3rd week I've put this class into the MCU. I did not blog it.

**Niccolls Tandberg unit has been having a mechanical issue, When the camera is panned down, the video screen goes black.

 
Ag 104 & TF A21 - Had trouble connecting to Twin this evening. I ended up rebooting both codecs, which allowed me to establish the connection, but I could not get the connection speed to raise above 192 kbps. I still do not have any idea what the problem was, my best guess is network load.

UPDATE: I figured out that the problem was that I am an idiot. I left the WSU gatekeeper registered instead of switching if off, so we were actually going through WSU to establish the connection, that is what caused the slow connection.

 
Ag 104 - The fan inside the TBC 2 unit went crazy this morning. I was just sitting in the control room when it started getting louder and louder. I powered it down and back up, but that didn't solve the problem or even change it. I went around to the back of the unit and tapped on the fan casing and it seemed to quiet down a little bit. After about 5 more minutes it quieted down on its own. It seems normal now, but this may be a sign of coming problems.

 
LCSC, Nezp 102, 9:00 - 10:30, LCSC's video connection dropped 4 times during class today. Audio and Video were fine while connected. Nezp 202, 10:30 - 12:00, disconnected at 10:43 and 10:58. I had the Ed 103's Tandberg Call Status page up, Audio and video stayed steady.

 
Ag104 - Looks like we experienced a power outage over the weekend, and 2 pieces of equipment didn't handle it well. We lost the sync generator and the TBC 2 monitor. Don has a fix we are working on right now for the sync in Ag104.

UPDATE: TBC 2 monitor is working fine now, the screen flickering problems appear to have been a direct result of the lost sync. Now that we have a patch in, everything is working again.

 
MCU, Travel Mtg, Ed 103, Parma, AB,* IF Port (129.101.82.239), TF Port, MCU. The MCU would not let me assign floor control.
*I added IF Port to the MCU dirctory today.

 
Idaho Falls had no operators/technicians tonight for the Master Gardener class. No one in the room had any idea how to use the system, so I ended up trying to give tech support over the phone to the students in the classroom (not the best solution because I have no idea how the panel interfaces they use up there are layed out or how they work). We managed to work it out (got one of the 3 monitors there to show the correct image).

No one ever showed up in Aberdeen, Boise, or Parma. I know they had to cancel the CDA connection because they couldn't schedule an operator (which is kind of lame) so I hope something similar didn't happen at the other sites (ie. the doors were locked or something like that).

 
BAE 502, 2/28/06, 5 - 8 pm. 2nd week that the audio was really bad. Dr. Sheffield was a good sport, I asked him to move into the library. He and his student figured out how to hook up the computer and the audio is flawless. Class began at 5:30 due to the audio issue and the room move. Amanda was not there to help and she does not have her work cel phone with her.

The problem in TFA21 needs to be fixed before this class meets again. Or we'll have to put them in the library.

I did try all the trouble shooting things I did last week, and connected them also at 786, nothing helped.

PJH

 
Connection with Meridian tonight had some audio problems. The main problem appreared to be that the connection speed to Meridian from the MCU would not remain stable, it kept dropping from 384 to 192. I dropped the connection and reconnected and that seemed to clear up the problem. I will post again if I have more problems.

 
Operators including Mike, Jason, Daryl, Don and Paula


When you operate in CNR 14, Ed 103 or Ag 104, it is your responsibility to view the class lecture log (That is in the 3 ring notebook that's in the control room). Write down the date corresponding with this weeks lecture. It is also your responsibility to finalize the DVD's for meetings and for the last class of the week. Please label the post it with class name, date(s) and Lect(s). Call me if you have any questions about anything. These discs need to be on my desk by Thursday afternoon, earlier than later if possible. I need to have them labeled and packaged by 3:30 Friday Afternoon. (so I have a couple hours on Thursday afternoon and a
couple hours on Friday afternoon to get it all done.

Thanks, following these guides will help me immensely.

Paula

 
TF, BAE 502, 2/21/06, 6pm, Break time. Over the last hour the audio is really beginning to stutter, at break, I decided to disconnect and try to dial point to point at a higher resolution.
Tandberg gave me a message that, temporary network failure and disconnected, soooo I'm now back in the MCU 2 at 384. Class has started and the audio hasn't gotten any better. I give up. Have we been having issues with TF connecting point to point?

TF, AGED 306, 1/18/06, I had trouble connecting with TF that night, I think that was in the MCU, AG 104, TF, IF. ph

 
Thanks Mike for filling in for me at Ag 104 this evening. This is Annie's last High School Jazz Choir Concert. I appreciate it. ph

 
TF, BAE 502, 2/21/06, 5:00 - 8:00 pm. I called TFA21 Point to Point before 5pm. It had an error and was disconnected. I brought Ag 104 and TFA21 into the MCU 2 a couple minutes before 5pm. The video and audio connection to TF was really tiling, I disconnected and reconnected twice. Now that Ron switched to the power point (no movement) the tiling has subsided and the audio has stutter. I tried to bring TF in at a higher resolution, the MCU did not have a higher choice that 384. Just to let you know. Thanks! Paula

 
Ag104 -- The #2 microphone is starting to develop static again. It is like a soothing ocean wave that I just want to beat to death because it is driving me crazy! Anyway, the quick and dirty fix seems to be to just unplug the mic 2 cable from the amp and then plug it back in. This seems to clear out the static for awhile (anywhere from days to weeks).

Ag104 -- The #5 microphone was giving me troubles too, but seems to have fixed itself. I wish I had blogged it when it happened, because now I cannot remember what the troubles were.

 
TF 129.101.165.106 & Ed 103, were connected when I arrived at Ed 103 this morning. It looks like the class last night was in the MCU. Hmmmm. Could TF have called us back after Jason disconnected the conference? The puzzle for today. Wednesday, 2/15/06, 9:00 am Paula

 
FCS 411, Tuesdays from 3:00 - 4:50pm. Ag 104, TFA21, WSU Spokane. Please use MCU 1
WSU will call into MCU. Lonnie is the Tech, 509-358-7971. Paula

 
I agree Paula, this may still be the best way to assure that we all get important info. What a concept!

 
2/10/06, reporting on the UI MCU hosted meeting between CSI, ISU, BSU and LCSC. I did not have any issues, luckily it went as planned. ph

 
Today, when I booted up Camera 5 in Ag104, it started with no color, it was completely black and white. Once I rebooted, the colors came up fine. I wanted to post this just in case this is a symptom of something worse.

 
Had a tough time with the audio from IWC 448 today (I was in Ag104). Not sure why, but we were getting a lot of feedback and it seemed like the echo canceller was chopping out incoming audio from Boise. Keith tried lowering the volume in the Boise room, and that cut down on the problem, but definitely didn't clear it all up.

Both sides were having trouble hearing each other, but trying to increase the volume just exacerbated the problem. I spent the entire meeting trying to ride the volume sliders so that everyone could hear the speaker and not become overwhelmed in feedback.

Also, microphone 2 in Ag104 is acting up again.

 
Had some problems with a promotion and tenure workshop this morning. Somehow the scheduling in Twin Falls got messed up. The room we were scheduled to use was occupied by someone else. So, when I connected to TF, I ended up getting no picture and an audio feed that made no sense to me (turns out it was an interview going on in the room). I tried to call Jodie, but she was out of town. Apparently, Chris in TF was trying to contact us at the same time to let us know about the room switching error.

Chris was working his way down the phone list, trying to contact someone. He finally managed to contact Heather (who was filling in for Marilyn). The problem was made worse because I forgot my phone at home this morning, so it was very difficult to contact me.

I finally managed to contact someone in TF and they told me to use codec B in TF. However, codec B was off. They actually wanted me to use A, but they wanted to switch to A's secondary room. I called back and managed to get a hold of Chris and we worked out that he wanted to use the secondary feed of A codec. The problem with this was that the only way to switch A is to go in the room that was being used, and they were unwilling to allow Chris access. At this time Daryl was brought into the problem.

I am not exactly clear on what happened next, but Daryl told Chris that he could not be barred from the room, that he had to be allowed to go in there and switch the feeds. Somehow, Chris went in and explained to them that they were in the wrong room and they agreed to move so we could proceed as scheduled. All the problems were resolved and we were finally in...but that was 20 minutes after we were supposed to start.