there are times when the Philips 3576 will lock up and NOT be responsive to either front panel or remote control operation. for me, this usually happens during editing of material on the hard drive, and the only recovery method is to either unplug the unit from AC power for a few moments, or reset the controller using its on-board reset switch.
my DVDR installation makes it a major nuisance to pull AC power, so i elected to install a front panel controller reset switch, sacrificing the machine's DV input connector, since i never use it.
installation is a bit involved, but pretty straightforward, and results in a convenient ' front panel ' method to reset the controller and restore normal functionality to the machine.
note that resetting the controller will NOT affect configuration or channels stored, but WILL kill current date / time, as well as programmed timers.
the mod requires the following parts -
1 - small momentary pushbutton switch ( normally open contacts ).
2 - short length of 2 conductor wire cable.
3 - small rectangular panel ( made from either plastic, perf-board, or even a small piece of metal ).
the modification is accomplished as follows -
1 - carefully remove the unit's plastic front panel. this panel is held to the chassis with several small plastic tabs. gently lifting these tabs will free the front panel from the unit's chassis.
2 - unplug the DV input cable from the unit's main PCB ( see photo ).
3 - remove the 2 philips screws holding the DV input connector to the front of the unit's chassis, and remove the connector / cable from the unit.
4 - using the chassis as a fitting guide, fashion a small replacement flat panel from whatever panel stock you have chosen, drilling holes to accomodate the 2 mounting screws and whatever pushbutton switch you have chosen to use. i bought my switch from radio shack, which sells a package of pushbuttons for a few dollars, containing 4 pushbuttons.
5 - mount your pushbutton onto the flat panel you fashioned in step 4.
6 - mount the panel-switch assembly onto the chassis in the place vacated by the DV input socket, using the 2 philips screws that held the DV input connector in place.
7 - finally, solder the pushbutton contacts onto the board mounted pushbutton switch using the short piece of 2 conductor cable. this will put an extra pushbutton ' in parallel ' with the existing on-board reset pushbutton.
8 - re-install the front pael assembly to complete the mod.
i've attached several photos to show areas of pertinence.
rgds,
ron g
