My remote lost contact during show

  • Last weekend my band was playing a show and right as I was about click my solo channel the remote display went dark, defaulted to my clean channel, and I was unable to use the remote to switch channels. I changed the channel on the Kemper itself and in about 25 seconds the remote came back without any further issues. Later I found that the connection to the Kemper seems somewhat loose if I shake it and sometimes if I move the cable at the Kemper the remote loses connection and it takes about 30 seconds for it to connect. I am using a replacement CAT-5E 24 AWG cable but it also happens with my original cable that I do not use because that cable always becomes tangled and has the unprotected plastic tip. I wish the Kemper was built with the metal connector like on the remote. Do others sometimes lose connection or If your cable is moved where it meets the Kemper does it sometimes lose connection? My cable did not move at the show when it lost connection. This issue has only happened once but it worries me, my band plays out often and the thought of the remote possibly cutting out is frightening!!

  • Any connectors I have leaving the back of a rack ( for the rack KPA version, and any rack gear I have for that matter) that is going elsewhere I have some tie down so it does not move around at the connector. Cat5 stuff isn't the strongest connectors anyway, so you kinda have to improvise for real world abuse.

  • Last weekend my band was playing a show and right as I was about click my solo channel the remote display went dark, defaulted to my clean channel, and I was unable to use the remote to switch channels. I changed the channel on the Kemper itself and in about 25 seconds the remote came back without any further issues. Later I found that the connection to the Kemper seems somewhat loose if I shake it and sometimes if I move the cable at the Kemper the remote loses connection and it takes about 30 seconds for it to connect. I am using a replacement CAT-5E 24 AWG cable but it also happens with my original cable that I do not use because that cable always becomes tangled and has the unprotected plastic tip. I wish the Kemper was built with the metal connector like on the remote. Do others sometimes lose connection or If your cable is moved where it meets the Kemper does it sometimes lose connection? My cable did not move at the show when it lost connection. This issue has only happened once but it worries me, my band plays out often and the thought of the remote possibly cutting out is frightening!!

    I had the same issue happen during a reheasal the other night, other than mine did not come back on. My remote went blank when I went to change a bank. I unplugged the cable for 10 seconds, plugged it back in, all the lights cycled on the remote, then it got stuck in the "waiting to connect" mode and went blank again. I unplugged the remote and tried again and got the same result. I ended up turning the Kemper off for 10 seconds, turning it back on and the remote came back on, working fine for the rest of the evening.
    I called Sweetwater (I purchased from them) and the guy tells me it might be a cable issue. They are sending me out a new cable but I am sceptical to believe its the cable.
    This is the first time this has happened.
    The remote lives in the bottom part of a padded case (even on stage) and was very stable when the incident occurred.
    All of my connections are tight and secure.
    My fear is this going to happen when I least expect it when I am on the road.


    I should have the new cable on Friday. We will see what happens.

  • Very curious to hear any follow up to this.


    My (brand new) remote disconnected AND crashed the whole system the other day while I was just programming the Kemper in my studio...not even in a stage setting.


    The one thing I might add is that, right out of the bag, the captured ethernet connector (on the shielded connector end) of my supplied cable wasn't quite right... the ethernet connector RJ plug inside had to be kind of forced into the right internal position or it wouldn't even plug into the Remote... so I had a slightly funky cable supplied to being with (from the Kemper US Store directly).
    But that still doesn't prove it was the cable' "fault".... although it makes me suspicious when coupled with your story.


    did Sweetwater fix your issue with a new cable?


    thanks in advance


    I am thinking I should order a back up cable to be 'safe'

  • There are some great back up cables on eBay. I use these exclusively, as they are flexible like regular mic cables. Just make sure you order max. 10m in length, unless you have a PoE injector. And get the green boot ends :D :


    Click!

    Edited 2 times, last by sambrox ().

  • Hi all.
    I had to go two routes for this symptom.


    During rehearsals;
    in Performance Mode;
    and as activating a foot switch...


    1. Remote went dark
    2. Profiler froze on one rig
    3. Profiler controls were not functional.
    4. Had to pull power.
    5. Several quick restarts would not help.
    6. Waited one minute, and restart worked.


    This happened several times.


    I called for tech support the next morning.
    1. Was told to test with another Cat5 cable.
    2. Was told to try to capture the fault info file.


    And here was the interesting part of the discussion:


    Perhaps ignorantly, I always had my Profiler connected to Rig Manager (USB), and had the USB flash drive running in its port as well. I was asked, to not always have all three connections simultaneously. I’m not entirely clear if I understood the explanation thoroughly, and it was over two months ago so my memory has dimmed, but I recall it has something to do with with the logical management of the power and/or polling of the three systems simultaneously.


    Therefore:
    I acquired a replacement cable.
    I no longer power the USB drive and run Rig Manager when using the Remote for long periods.


    The “events” have not returned (knock on wood!).

    When will my talent upgrade be released?

  • When a tube head dies on stage you can't do a "restart".


    Up to now, we travel with a complete second rig as a back up for that reason


    So if I were willing to travel with TWO Kempers, that would be the same level of redundant protection.
    So far, I'm hoping, and fairly confident, that's not necessary; and we will carry an SVT as a back up.

  • When a tube head dies on stage you can't do a "restart".


    Up to now, we travel with a complete second rig as a back up for that reason


    So if I were willing to travel with TWO Kempers, that would be the same level of redundant protection.
    So far, I'm hoping, and fairly confident, that's not necessary; and we will carry an SVT as a back up.

    I don't think the kemper is any less reliable than a tube amp but I also don't think it's more reliable...

  • I zip tied a caribeaner clip about 10 iches in from the end of the cable. I just clip it to the strap on the toaster. This just means if theres any movement in the cable (or if it gets kicked) that the last 10 inches of cable stay slack and dont move.

  • There are some great back up cables on eBay. I use these exclusively, as they are flexible like regular mic cables. Just make sure you order max. 10m in length, unless you have a PoE injector. And get the green boot ends :D :


    Click!

    Hey thanks for the link, but I don't understand the desire to have min. 10m cable? I'm in a situation where a 5' cable would be nice! Are you saying 10m minimum for this?

  • Hey thanks for the link, but I don't understand the desire to have min. 10m cable? I'm in a situation where a 5' cable would be nice! Are you saying 10m minimum for this?

    No, it has to be 10 meters or less, otherwise it will need a PoE as a bridge, as the longer run will mean the signal will be too weak.