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GEAR TIMECODE SYSTEMS
the USB is mostly used to charge the internal li-polymer battery and for firmware updates. On the front of the :pulse is the radio antenna, a small, high- resolution OLED display and a knob with press-to-select. ULTRASYNC The UltraSync ONE is tiny – just 55mm x 44mm x 17mm. It also has a custom rubberised case available, which gives you Velcro and magnetic mounting options to the camera. An internal li-polymer battery will power the UltraSync ONE for 24 hours with all options turned on – it takes about three hours to charge up – which should do for most productions. The left side of the case has two mini coax connectors – one switchable genlock/ LTC/word clock output and an LTC input/output. There is also USB-C for charging the battery and firmware updates. The UltraSync ONE is supplied with a couple of cables to convert these miniature connectors to right-angle BNCs. On the front of the unit there is an OLED display, small up and down buttons and a larger select button. The UltraSync ONE is capable of acting as a timecode master, which you can manually jam to an external LTC source and will then generate accurate timecode. For users of DSLRs, for example, this would allow recording of LTC onto an audio channel, giving professional quality timecode at a very attractive price. Both units have a lock-out to prevent you turning them on or off by accident – the :pulse requires you to press the control knob and
make sure that you don’t have two masters on the same channel. It’s worth noting that an UltraSync ONE can also be an RF master – you can sync up a network of just these units without a :pulse, but the internal clock is more accurate in the :pulse (about 0.2 frames of drift per 24 hours) and you won’t get the benefit of the BLINK Network as there is no Wi-Fi in these units (see later). Now you set up the timecode stuff – framerate, drop/non-drop and so on – and the outputs you need (LTC/Word Clock etc) plug the units into the camera and sound recorder, and you are all locked up.
then turn it when prompted, and the UltraSync ONE uses a press on the Select button, followed by a couple of presses on the up/down buttons. Once powered up, the quality of the OLED displays on both units is lovely – bright, clear and high contrast, they can be read easily in the dark or in bright sunshine. It’s simple to navigate the user interface – just scroll to the option you need, select it and scroll the parameter you are changing. The first job is to set the :pulse into Master mode, and then set the RF channel on all devices. An UltraSync ONE will lock to the first :pulse it finds, so
ABOVE Users of DSLRs can record LTC onto an audio channel. BELOW Information can be displayed on your phone or tablet.
BOTH UNITS HAVE A LOCK-OUT TO PREVENT YOU TURNING THEM ON OR OFF BY ACCIDENT
DEFINITION AUGUST 2018
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