8mm Forum: Interesting 18-5 Super

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Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on January 05, 2011, 10:54 PM:

I recently got this Bolex 18-5 Super on Ebay. It came with a Bolex Sychronizer. What I didn't realize was the modifications that were made to the projector to work with the Sychronizer.

On the back there is something to make adjustments, I think it controls the speed a little.

When I opened up the back I found a lot of extra electronics.

There is an extra plug between the rear feet that the Sychronizer plugs into.

When I plugged the Synchronizer in it didnt do anything until I turned one of the wheels. Then the red light started flashing on it and the projector started changing speed.

I did find mention of it in the manual, it says: "The reasonably quiet operation of the Bolex 18-5 Super makes it particularly suitable for sound synchronization. The Bolex Sunchronizer 18-5, designed especially for your projector, makes it easy to add sound to your films by means of a regular tape recorder."

It has a picture of the Synchronizer attached to a reel to reel tape recorder. It looks like the modifications to the projector were done in the factory because everything looks like it was made to fit the projector.

I don't see using it since I don't have a reel to reel tape recorder or any desire to add sound to my movies. I just thought this was interesting enough to share with the forum.

Posted by Jim Schrader (Member # 9) on January 06, 2011, 09:39 AM:

would this be used to transfer movies so the flicker is eliminated?

Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on January 06, 2011, 10:33 AM:

I think it's for fine tuning the synchronization. It only makes very small changes in the projector speed. I don't know what it will do if the Sychronizer is hooked up to a tape recorder and running.

Posted by Alexander Vandeputte (Member # 1803) on April 15, 2012, 10:18 AM:

Hello Brian, as I came upon the exact same projector + synchronizer recently, I wondered if there is any follow up on this story ?
Did you get this unit to work ?
As a test, I am planning on installing the synchronizer on a tape deck and make a sound track to one of my home movies.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on April 15, 2012, 02:07 PM:

Hello Brian,the little machine you've just got looks like it uses
what is known as pulse sync,thats where an electronic pulse
keeps the sound from either a reel to reel or modified cassette
tape recorder synchronised with a projector.There were lots of systems devised like the Carol Cinesound,the Synchrodek(that was compatable with Bolex,Eumig and Norris projectors) the Cirse,the SimSinc and many others.Some used
pulse others used strobe and sprocketed tape,and the thing is,they all worked.That was when tha amateur built up his soundtrack on tape and then transfered it to stripe,especially if he wanted to enter film competitions.Thats how the Pro's would
build up a soundtrack as opposed to doing it directly onto
stripe,and it reduced wear and tear on your precious film.

Posted by frank arnstein (Member # 330) on April 15, 2012, 06:09 PM:

Thanks to Jean-Marc Toussaint,
who was able to identify an unknown synch box that came into my possession recently.

I originally had thanked Maurizio but really should have given the credit to Jean-Marc who kindly provided the information.

I had never seen one of these boxes before and didn't know what projector it was designed to fit.

Jean-Marc says this was made by Braun and suits the silent 8mm Elmo FP projectors that had the special socket hidden in the back, to suit the synch box cable and plug.

I don't know what to do with this very clean sync box because I don't have such an Elmo projector to hook it up to.
It looks very complex inside, with many relays and a lot of wiring. Complete with magnetic tape head and all cables. Interesting technology from the 1970's but useless I guess, without the right projector.

dogtor frankarnstein
[Smile]

[ April 23, 2012, 06:13 PM: Message edited by: frank arnstein ]

Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on April 15, 2012, 10:17 PM:

Alexander, I have done nothing with the synchronizer. I use the projector to watch movies but don't have any need to sync sound with any of my films. I don't have a reel to reel tape player to use it with anyhow. If I can use the adjusting screw on the back to control the projector speed enough I may use it to transfer some movies to digital.

Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on November 03, 2016, 06:44 PM:

The reason I'm dredging up this old thread is because it has to do with the projector pictured above. I got this projector out for Halloween to project some horror movies. I rarely use this projector so I thought I'd give it some exercise. I had everything tested and set up the day before but when I went to use it on Halloween it was completely dead. It worked fine the day before. I checked the fuse and it was fine and yes, it was plugged in. I switched it out with my 18-5L and the show went on without any problems.

Yesterday I was going to open it up and see if I could figure out what was wrong with it but it was working perfectly fine again. I was worried because it has a bunch of non-standard electronics in it that I thought could be causing the problem. Is this a symptom of something going bad on the projector that I should be concerned about? Has anyone experienced this?

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