8mm Forum: a BIG thanks to Leon Norris!!!

This is topic a BIG thanks to Leon Norris!!! in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on February 01, 2019, 11:54 AM:

Leon, my friend ...

Thank you for that incredibly GREAT advice about cleaning out that lense! I removed it out of my projecotr and cleaned both sides of the lense paying very careful attention to the side with the "pin hole" and i now have my optical sound back, and it's a lot better now, with a lot of bottom to the soundtracks that it didn't have before!!!

MANY THANX LOEN!!!!

Posted by Leon Norris (Member # 3151) on February 01, 2019, 01:29 PM:

OSI, I'm glad to see every thing worked out fine. Enjoy your optical films! Good luck! Leon.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 02, 2019, 03:06 PM:

I'm really surprised that Osi was able to remove and replace the lens system for the optical sound. I thought that the alignment of this assembly to the optical sound track on the film was so hypercritical that it was just about impossible to do without specialized equipment. Did Osi just luck out, or am I missing something here.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on February 02, 2019, 03:38 PM:

it is 100% criticle, normally once you interfere with this and try and put it back together without the correct gear to set it up it rarely works, so i think Osi was well jammy [Wink]

Posted by Chip Gelmini (Member # 44) on February 02, 2019, 05:00 PM:

There are two screws to adjust it for alignment and there is one screw to hold the assembly and I don't know what Kevin did exactly but if you removed it without playing with the adjustment screws cleaned it and put it back then I can see how that would work for him but I don't really know for sure I agree with everything set in this thread

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 03, 2019, 02:22 PM:

The design of the optical sound system on the GS1200 is about as bad as you could possibly conceive. The mounting of the optical relay tube is by three screws going through oversized! holes on the mount, with one screw used to push the mount out from the chassis wall and the other two used to pull the mount into the chassis wall. And the icing on the cake is that the screw pattern of the holes are not at right angles, so adjustment of any one screw affects the alignment in two axes - in other words the screw adjustments are not independent of each other. Now try doing all this with the blinding light of the exciter lamp, and aligning this optical tube to the tiny optical track on the film can then only be described as a nightmare. I will give Elmo a D grade on this design.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on February 03, 2019, 02:36 PM:

Really pleased it worked out for our Osi. I can only recall working on a bell & Howell optics mid 70''s and that was bad enough. Dad phoned London for advice at GHQ as it was a specialist job to align and we took it up on the train then tube. Kindly they set it up as we waited. They used some sort of optical gauge tool to align it. Once home full volume had returned. Long time ago but memorable as that 642 was a lump on and off the trains. ☺

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on February 04, 2019, 11:57 AM:

I think i really lucked out on that, but I experimented. I have a set of "pliers" that I used to, while the lense was loosened, to turn it just slightly back and forth, as well as in a slow clockwise fashion, as I had an old optical sound print running so as to get the sound back up to it's full spectrum. This was after i had removed the lense to clean it, of course!

Posted by Leon Norris (Member # 3151) on February 04, 2019, 01:23 PM:

Also what's good! Is to use headphones and turn the volume up all the way up! While your adjusting the optical lens! Remember to keep the photo diode clean! That's the one that has a little mirror on it! When it gets dirty it affects your optical sound. And also the rear of the optical sound lens. Try to keep clean. If you don't it will also affect the optical sound! It can be tricky at times. So just go slow! And you will get it ! When you do turn the screws SLOWLY! If you move to fast you will be off the mark!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on February 05, 2019, 10:52 AM:

I may have just figured out something else. A question Leon ...

Is the mirror you are mentioning separate from that actual lense, or is it a part of the lense "apparatus"?

That is, is the mirror within that lense apparatus, or is it a separate thing behind where the film is?

It would be super cool if i can not only elevate but make that optical sound even better, as I think that i have done as much as I can do with that "apparatus"! [Smile]

Posted by Leon Norris (Member # 3151) on February 05, 2019, 11:28 AM:

OSI, The photo diode is next to the Caspian. It is black and has two screws. Which mounts to body. It a little mirror or reflector! You can adjust it also! It moves up and back. Go slowly! To get better sound. It also has two wires soldered to it. Be carefull and go slow! When adjusting the photo diode.You get. Your better sound when you a just it just right!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on February 06, 2019, 10:37 AM:

Will most certainly do!!!! [Smile]

Posted by Leon Norris (Member # 3151) on February 06, 2019, 10:46 AM:

OSI, let me know how you made out!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on February 07, 2019, 12:21 PM:

It's going to be a few days. I'm in the middle of doing remixes and remastering of some of my favorite music.

Posted by Leon Norris (Member # 3151) on February 11, 2019, 03:30 PM:

Good Luck! Leon.

Posted by Leon Norris (Member # 3151) on February 13, 2019, 11:17 AM:

Also to get better optical sound. You can adjust the optical lamp! Best way to do this is use headphones! Turn volume all the way up! While adjusting! And loosening the lamp move it until it sounds the way you like it! Then tight up the screws! Go nice and slow when adjusting the lamp! To get it right!

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