TriCaster Broadcaster Record Profile Issues

[mpbcvtek]

Can anyone please provide us with some help! We have just used our Tricaster for the 3rd time for an event of over 2hrs and it has failed us again on the recording! We have tried the Regular Profile on the first two recordings and today we used the MPEG2 Studio Profile and during playback of the last half of the program the recording goes into fast forward! I have also noticed that the recording counter slows down and does not count in real time as clock should. We tried NewTek support and they gave us instructions on how to clear the cache which we did today before the start of the event. We also had 430GB of space free on the HD. This is bad for business do we need to replace this device as it was purchased in Dec. 2011?

[SBowie]

I am sorry you're having trouble. I seriously doubt, though, that this has anything to do with the MPEG-2 file format you're recording in. Something else is wonky. Is your system a stock TriCaster? Have you installed any other software or hardware on in (including codecs)? Is there anything unusual about the sources? Are you capturing from SDI, or analog? Have you tried a TriCaster Restore operation followed by a software update already?

[mpbcvtek]

Thanks for the reply, this is a brand new Tricaster purchased in Dec. 2011 and installed by a vendor. We have not installed anything on this device. We only used it 3 times so far and each time it has failed on the records.
We are recording SDI in from 4 Panasonic cameras. The only thing that we have done so far is to follow the directions from the NewTek tech support and clear the cache. We have not done a TriCaster restore operation followed by a software update yet. I think this will be the next step. Is this an easy step and where can I get the steps for this process as we have another show in 6 days?

[SBowie]

It's documented in the manual, but Customer Support would likely walk you through it too. If this doesn't help, you may have some sort of a hardware issue - a poor connection or faulty cable, or even a problem with the drive.

[mpbcvtek]

Steve thanks for your replies as we were on the phone with tech support for about 2hrs. They had me re-seat the VT card and try a restore and the unit would not even come up after re-seating the card. They have finally issued us an RMA to get it repaired. I asked about loaners and they said that they don't have any. We were a little disappointed on this as we paid quite a bit for this device to not have a little better support. We have an event scheduled for the 20th of March so we are sweating it out.

[SBowie]

Repair turnaround time is usually very good. I imagine if you ship by a direct route, you'll have plenty of time to spare, but in a pinch your local reseller might be able to help out.