8mm Forum: My New Elmo HD purchase

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Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on October 23, 2010, 07:25 AM:

First time i ever decided to have a go at an ebay purchase.
I saw this Elmo 1200HD Magnetic only model, the images were too good to be true, i watched it go up to £50-£60 so plonked in a max of just over a 100 and won it.
Once i got the e mail to say i had won it i thought S**T. now what?
When it arrived i could not believe how absolutly mint it was. a superb machine in every aspect not a mark on it, it did need three new belts (as per the sellers ad) which i have done, and unfortunatly the shutter rubber fell apart as they do, so with all this in hand i got a top bargin, i now have two great machines which will hopefully last me thru the years ahead. and what a gent the seller was, he threw in a 400ft copy of Tarka the Otter narrated by peter Ustinov,
I'm well happy, [Cool]

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on October 23, 2010, 08:43 AM:

Congratulations - looks like you got a bargain, especially as you're well-equipped to sort out problems of the sort mentioned!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on October 23, 2010, 11:56 AM:

Good Deal, Tom!

I have this projector and this film and like them both.

That's a Walton 400 footer, correct? I like the story enough I really should take in the feature someday.

I'm curious how you feel about your machine's "24"FPS frame rate. Many, including mine aren't getting above 23 and I'm working on why this is. There are an amazing number of theories out there.

I'm building an interface between my projectors and my stereo and I picked up some connectors for it this morning. The ST-1200HD is twin track, but it comes out on two separate monaural jacks. Radio Shack has an adapter to use headphones on airliners that takes two 1/8" mono plugs and connects them into a single 1/8" stereo jack. I'll use this as the input to the circuit I'm building. (I bought another single mono plug to single stereo jack adapter for my ST-800)

With a little work I should be able to hear my stereo soundtracks the way they were meant to be heard soon.

Posted by Mark Williams (Member # 794) on October 23, 2010, 12:49 PM:

Tom

You got a real bargain there,congratulations!!!

Cheers MW

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on October 24, 2010, 08:47 AM:

Cheers Mark/Adrian,
Steve, ive never really measured the FPS rate, so far, (touch wood) ive not had a problem with running speed, it does alter somewhat if the rubber is removed form the circumfrence of the shutter but again, ive always compensated this by either a new lower pulley made of a slightly smaller diameter or, easier, get the original pulley shaved down by 1mm, though what ever turner you use, he/she will need to be very good at it so as not to damage it.
A few years back i had a few new items made but these are now all gone, i'm on the look out for a belt manufacturer, i believe there is a company in Exeter, who can make new belts with the original specs rather than the rounded belts, though these do seem to do the trick, i always prefer original specs parts.
The Tarka the otter film was a Walton release,narrated by the great Peter Ustinov.
Does anyone know what the very last catalouge number was that Walton produced, i wouldnt mind trying to get a copy, i think i have number 29, It has a picture from Twins of Evil in the centre of it.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on October 24, 2010, 03:49 PM:

When I got mine last year I got the impression that the bass tones were a little deep...the actresses sounded a little on the manly side (...not the kinds of girls you want to bring home to Mom!), and the music a little somber. I cobbled together this rig to measure the frequency of the pulses coming out the lens and I got 22 and change FPS versus 24 for my other machines.

These days when I run with my ST-1200 for a while it sounds bassy at first and then OK after a while. Then I switch over to the ST-800 and it sounds tinny at first and then OK after a while. I'm pretty sure the ST-1200 has better bass response and it just sounds wrong at first. (There's a lot of perception at play here.)

The music doesn't seem as somber any more, so I'd say I've picked up some speed just from running it.

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