beaulieu and elmo

[cameraguy]

Yes, mine too is very picky on film loading. The larger the reel (when full of film) the less problem you will have.

[#Pedro]

Thank you for your reply, Tom. I think I resolved the loading problem. It is neccessary, in contrary of other projectors I know, that the start of the leader is not curled in winding direction. It must be straight on to get inserted under the pressure plate.
Besides, I succeeded to get the complete service manual of the machine by Soligor (Elmo germany) for $20. I will try to make it available for everybody as a pdf.
Has anybody expieriences of how long the live of the sound head is? Normaly, these sound heads in film pojectors show a heavy wear after short time which causes a sucking reproduction of high frequencies (gap getting larger). If the wear of the Elmo is as significant as the wear of the Bauer, it would be worth to get a few heads as spare parts...
After receiving the manual, I will try to design a resolver for easy sound recording, taking advantage of the 1 pulse per frame output and the remote control input. I want to "mark" electronically, at what frames the projector should switch from play to record and start external CD-players at the same time...

Pedro

[tom hardwick]

I bought a spare sound head a few years ago for the GS1200 but haven't had to fit it yet as the heads seem hard wearing.

Not so with my Noris Studio 2000! The stripe head wore out in less than a year and started to cut off my sound stripe! I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and my spotlessly clean films were all covered in tiny specks. It was sound stripe, chizzeled off by the worn head. UG!

I tried polishing the head (I took the machine apart) but the head gap material was so soft that in no time it was back to its old tricks. No wonder noris went under.

tom.

[Alex]

Pedro-

I think the Elmo Projector has a special leader splicer built into the front of the unit...(My GS-800 did)...

....you place the leader in the the slot, press down, and wala, you have rounded leader that slips through your projector effortlessly.

Some people autothread the leader through the projector with the side of the projector open so you can easily track the leader's path through the gate.

I remember on my GS-800 actually touching the film leader (especially worn or slightly crinkled film leader) as it went over critical angles to help the film make it through the projector...

...A small price to pay for such a neat projector (and I'm talking about the GS-800, which was the poor man's GS-1200!)

Don't the Elmo motors make the coolest whirring sound, especially when you change from 18 to 24 or back again!

-Alex

[tom hardwick]

Coolest whirring sound Alex? Can't say I agree with you. Projectors - like children - should be seen and not heard.

The first thing you notice when you make video films is how much more dynamic range you have. With little or no projector noise your sound tracks can have much more delicacy, as none of it is going to be drowned by intermittant projector clatter.

tom.

[#Pedro]

Well, I don?t think that the Elmo makes a heavy noise that disturbes the soundtrack. What?s new is the blower fan, that works independet of the film transport, like a slide projector. My model really has lines to mark the volume settings, so I guess it is the older version. The lower loop is really very small. But as I spliced all my films with a H?hnel Thermocoll splicer, the splices are very strong cannot be opended, even not by hand. The film would brake besides the splice, but the splice would keep together.
Pedro

[Alex]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Courier, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tom hardwick:
Coolest whirring sound Alex? Can't say I agree with you. Projectors - like children - should be seen and not heard.

The first thing you notice when you make video films is how much more dynamic range you have. With little or no projector noise your sound tracks can have much more delicacy, as none of it is going to be drowned by intermittant projector clatter.

tom.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe it's more of a cat purring sound.