Grass Valley DPM-700 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

jeremyabel · 23rd Dec 2016, 11:12 pm

So I made a bit of an impulse buy last month: A Grass Valley Group DPM-700, Digital Picture Manipulator. A giant 65lb. rackmount beast for doing various video effects and compositing. I got a great deal on it, but I can't find any info on it online beyond a sales flier / ordering guide. No manuals, nothing. I managed to get in touch with someone who has Volume 1 of the service manual, but other than that, I'm out of luck. I offered to buy it, but I haven't received any additional emails from them after that.

I still need to repair the power supply, but if anyone has used this thing or knows anything about it beyond the sales flier blurbs, I'd love to hear it!

Photos of my specific unit are here:

Freya · 24th Dec 2016, 11:02 am

All the information is on the grass valley site but you need to be a member to gain access.
http://www.grassvalley.com/search?q=...700&gsc.page=1
Being so specialised, I doubt it going to be very common in the pubic sector and the information elsewhere even less so.

dexterslab · 24th Dec 2016, 5:13 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremyabel

I got a great deal on it, but I can't find any info on it online beyond a sales flier / ordering guide. No manuals, nothing. I managed to get in touch with someone who has Volume 1 of the service manual, but other than that, I'm out of luck. I offered to buy it, but I haven't received any additional emails from them after that.

Do lots of searching on the interwebs, you will slowly unearth snippets of info from old magazine articles, press releases etc.

Searching for the name and then selecting images can help you track down sites that may have additional info that might not pop out in the normal search

Also, I just saw the front-on pictures and it doesn't half look like a similar chassis to the Sony DME-7000 that the EEVblog looked at a few years ago... could mean they (Sony / Grass Valley) shared products and might provide a 2nd avenue to accessing documentation. https://youtu.be/d9lZ2-a1P-E?t=52s

I would also actively make contact with Grass Valley and see what info maybe available to you directly from them

Did you get the control console as well or just the rack processor?

evingar · 24th Dec 2016, 5:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by dexterslab

Also, I just saw the front-on pictures and it doesn't half look like a similar chassis to the Sony DME-7000 that the EEVblog looked at a few years ago... could mean they (Sony / Grass Valley) shared products and might provide a 2nd avenue to accessing documentation. https://youtu.be/d9lZ2-a1P-E?t=52s

The "blurb" is branded Tektronix. I know that Tek and Sony had a collaboration around that time becuase I've seen a Sony/ Tek branded analyser - you may actually have it in your "haul" from Simon

... so the Sony unit may well be the same.

jeremyabel · 26th Dec 2016, 5:45 pm

Thanks for the tips!

Just to let y'all know what I've done so far: I've spent many an entire weekend googling, I've emailed GVG, (they have no documentation), I am familiar with the DME-7000 (it's not the same unit), and I don't believe GVG ever had a major business relationship with Sony, but they were owned by Tek for a time, and I emailed Tek as well. I'm currently in the "emailing ex-employees I find on linkedin and posting on tangentially-related forums" phase of my investigation. There's also a few TV stations I need to email, who have "rent some studio time" deals, and they list the DPM-700 in their list of gear.

I'm about to take that sales flier, print it out, and staple it to every telephone pole in my area, with the words "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BIG GREY BOX" on it :P

I do have the controller as well. What strikes me is that a new controller comes up on ebay EVERY DAY, but I have yet to see a new rack unit beyond the one I bought, and the one some reseller wants $900 for. I tried to get them to part it out and I offered $50 for the power supply, but they said I'm not even on the same planet in terms of price... To be fair, without the power supply that unit is a brick anyway, but I dunno who's gonna pay $900 for obsolete broadcast gear, so good luck to them.

BroadcastStore is selling a few for $1k+, which again seems insane. Do people buy this stuff at those prices? Hugely-obsolete gear with no manuals and no service? I'm a video artist, I want it for making weird art, and my budget for such things is well below the $1k mark!

red16v · 28th Dec 2016, 2:38 pm

Gerry Llewellyn is the GV man you need to contact. Top chap and has been at GVG through a lot of their ownership(s). I see he is on Linkedin so perhaps you may have already emailed him? He is UK based.

Edit: GV were a superb company product and support-wise. They were 'gold standard' and we held them up as an example of best practice along with Quantel. Well engineered and supported products. I even had the pleasure of attending a GV mixer course at their facility in California. Then it was sold to Tek and the rot soon set in (in the UK anyway). I don't think Tek ever really quite understood what they were buying even though they were well stablished in the broadcast market with 'scopes and waveform monitors etc. It was soon all sort of scaled down, especially the support side of the operation and it never recovered in 'our' eyes. We were big customers of their vision mixers and DPM kit (we had the successor to the 700 called the 'Krystal') but when it came to a major studio upgrade what let GVG down more than anything was the support side. It basically became a one man and his dog type of operation and if you rang up when they were out of the office you were likely to be met with not much really. I think it went through French ownership too at one stage. Good luck.

23rd Dec 2016, 11:12 pm	#1
jeremyabel Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Brooklyn. New York, USA. Posts: 2	Grass Valley DPM-700 So I made a bit of an impulse buy last month: A Grass Valley Group DPM-700, Digital Picture Manipulator. A giant 65lb. rackmount beast for doing various video effects and compositing. I got a great deal on it, but I can't find any info on it online beyond a sales flier / ordering guide. No manuals, nothing. I managed to get in touch with someone who has Volume 1 of the service manual, but other than that, I'm out of luck. I offered to buy it, but I haven't received any additional emails from them after that. I still need to repair the power supply, but if anyone has used this thing or knows anything about it beyond the sales flier blurbs, I'd love to hear it! Photos of my specific unit are here: Attached Thumbnails Last edited by AC/HL; 24th Dec 2016 at 1:02 am. Reason: Images uploaded

24th Dec 2016, 11:02 am	#2
Freya Octode Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Falmouth, Cornwall, UK. Posts: 1,991	Re: Grass Valley DPM-700 All the information is on the grass valley site but you need to be a member to gain access. http://www.grassvalley.com/search?q=...700&gsc.page=1 Being so specialised, I doubt it going to be very common in the pubic sector and the information elsewhere even less so. __________________ Stephen _________"It`s only an old telly" ___

26th Dec 2016, 5:45 pm	#5
jeremyabel Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Brooklyn. New York, USA. Posts: 2	Re: Grass Valley DPM-700 Thanks for the tips! Just to let y'all know what I've done so far: I've spent many an entire weekend googling, I've emailed GVG, (they have no documentation), I am familiar with the DME-7000 (it's not the same unit), and I don't believe GVG ever had a major business relationship with Sony, but they were owned by Tek for a time, and I emailed Tek as well. I'm currently in the "emailing ex-employees I find on linkedin and posting on tangentially-related forums" phase of my investigation. There's also a few TV stations I need to email, who have "rent some studio time" deals, and they list the DPM-700 in their list of gear. I'm about to take that sales flier, print it out, and staple it to every telephone pole in my area, with the words "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BIG GREY BOX" on it :P I do have the controller as well. What strikes me is that a new controller comes up on ebay EVERY DAY, but I have yet to see a new rack unit beyond the one I bought, and the one some reseller wants $900 for. I tried to get them to part it out and I offered $50 for the power supply, but they said I'm not even on the same planet in terms of price... To be fair, without the power supply that unit is a brick anyway, but I dunno who's gonna pay $900 for obsolete broadcast gear, so good luck to them. BroadcastStore is selling a few for $1k+, which again seems insane. Do people buy this stuff at those prices? Hugely-obsolete gear with no manuals and no service? I'm a video artist, I want it for making weird art, and my budget for such things is well below the $1k mark!

28th Dec 2016, 2:38 pm	#6
red16v Heptode Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Winchester, Hampshire, UK. Posts: 639	Re: Grass Valley DPM-700 Gerry Llewellyn is the GV man you need to contact. Top chap and has been at GVG through a lot of their ownership(s). I see he is on Linkedin so perhaps you may have already emailed him? He is UK based. Edit: GV were a superb company product and support-wise. They were 'gold standard' and we held them up as an example of best practice along with Quantel. Well engineered and supported products. I even had the pleasure of attending a GV mixer course at their facility in California. Then it was sold to Tek and the rot soon set in (in the UK anyway). I don't think Tek ever really quite understood what they were buying even though they were well stablished in the broadcast market with 'scopes and waveform monitors etc. It was soon all sort of scaled down, especially the support side of the operation and it never recovered in 'our' eyes. We were big customers of their vision mixers and DPM kit (we had the successor to the 700 called the 'Krystal') but when it came to a major studio upgrade what let GVG down more than anything was the support side. It basically became a one man and his dog type of operation and if you rang up when they were out of the office you were likely to be met with not much really. I think it went through French ownership too at one stage. Good luck. Last edited by red16v; 28th Dec 2016 at 2:54 pm.