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Author Topic: GS 800 questions
Chip Gelmini
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1733
From: Brooksville, FL
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted November 22, 2019 04:48 PM      Profile for Chip Gelmini     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Does anyone have experience with this model

I have just received 2 of them appear to be in very good shape
Yes i am aware of basic limitations was wondering about any information that can be shared.

One model has a built in antenna calling for 78mghz I assume this is wireless sound to a FM receiver for sound amplification?

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

- posted November 23, 2019 03:10 AM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have an Elmo GS-800M. It was bought described as nearly new, but soon developed problems probably due to being unused in storage.

1) NO SOUND. Traced to poor contacts on the magnetic push switch.
2) MOTOR STOP. Traced to dry joints on speed control PCB plug.

But since rectification of the above in 2014 it has behaved faultlessly. This model is often described as a GS-1200 without its bells and whistles. [Big Grin]

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Maurice

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

- posted November 23, 2019 03:18 AM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Chip, I have also a GS 800 with an antenna. It seems it was made for the Japanese market. Make sure your projector has the right voltage. Mine is a 100 volts one. Since your voltage is 110 volts you should not have major problem with an extra 10 volts but the bulb will last less longer than expected. Sound troubles seem to be common on the GS800. Unlike Maurice, I haven't been able to fix that permanently. Otherwise, good projectors.

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Dominique

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Graham Sinden
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1131
From: Kent, UK
Registered: Aug 2005

- posted November 23, 2019 08:27 AM      Profile for Graham Sinden   Email Graham Sinden   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
HI Dom, I have a GS800 and like it a lot but it doesn't have an antenna. Does this transmitter still work with modern equipment and is it any use? Sadly never seen one in the UK with the antenna they seem to be very rare outside Japan.

Graham S

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

- posted November 23, 2019 12:37 PM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hello Graham. 78 mghz is not available on the FM radios available in Belgium (and in all Europe, I assume) as they start at 87 mghz so I could never test that function.

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Dominique

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted November 23, 2019 01:09 PM      Profile for Steve Klare   Email Steve Klare   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Wikipedia 'sez the FM Radio broadcast band in Japan is 76-95 MHz. and there is an active FM station broadcasting on 78 MHz. too.

(What a wonderful way to annoy your neighbors! "What happened to my MUSIC?!")

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

- posted November 24, 2019 03:33 AM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Indeed, Steve [Big Grin]

This thread made me use one of my GS 800 last night and try something I read on this forum : I plugged and unplugged all the jack plugs (so far, I "only" switched the record and sound/silent buttons). Well, time will tell if it's permanent but it looks like it cured the sound problem (the sound used to disappear from time to time) [Big Grin]

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Dominique

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

- posted November 24, 2019 04:09 AM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The FM (VHF) frequency band in Europe is 87.5 to 108.

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Maurice

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Graham Sinden
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1131
From: Kent, UK
Registered: Aug 2005

- posted November 24, 2019 04:49 AM      Profile for Graham Sinden   Email Graham Sinden   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I did wonder If you could buy a FM radio from Japan to try out the GS800 transmitter. Whether its worth the cost and effort is another matter.

But I suppose you have to try to find out [Roll Eyes] .

Graham S

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted November 24, 2019 08:24 AM      Profile for Steve Klare   Email Steve Klare   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Dominique,

It's no more permanent than washing your windows: as soon as you clean the switches, the crud starts forming again!

Here and there, before I power anything up, I work the record keys a bunch of times as a preventative measure.

I had one machine (since deceased) that gradually built up oxides like this. Since it was an active machine I didn't completely lose sound. What happened is without realizing it I was twisting the volume knob further and further to get the same sound. Then all of a sudden I realized I was maxed out with low volume.

-worked the record key: back to normal.

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

- posted November 24, 2019 11:45 AM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks for the warning, Steve.

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Dominique

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Adrian Winchester
Film God

Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004

- posted November 24, 2019 07:32 PM      Profile for Adrian Winchester     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'm intrigued by this mysterious antenna and hoping that a forum member in Japan might be able to explain it. It's not unusual for devices such as cassette players to incorporate radios, so I can just about imagine someone thinking a particular Super 8 projector could benefit from one, but if I've understood this correctly, only one station would be heard, so what would be the benefit of this?

If someone could kindly take one or two photos showing the difference(s) in comparison to the standard model, that would be very interesting.

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Adrian Winchester

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted November 24, 2019 09:20 PM      Profile for Steve Klare   Email Steve Klare   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I'd say the goal is the ability to broadcast to a radio or stereo receiver instead of a direct hookup.

Something is telling me it didn't go over very well or we would be seeing a lot more of it!

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

- posted November 25, 2019 02:35 AM      Profile for Maurice Leakey   Email Maurice Leakey   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It would save laying out a speaker cable, and then tripping over it in the dark. [Big Grin]

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Maurice

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

- posted November 25, 2019 02:36 AM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
-

This is the beast.

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A picture of my other ("standard") GS 800 projector ; no antenna but same outside design.

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The antenna model.

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The "standard" model.

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It's written 100 volts but when I bought it (in a cine fair in Belgium), I had no reason to believe it was not a 220 volts projector so a blew several bulbs (and fuses) before noticing what was "wrong".

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Dominique

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted November 25, 2019 08:44 AM      Profile for Steve Klare   Email Steve Klare   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I would have guessed operating one of these set for 100VAC at 240VAC would blow up the electronics on the sound board, but maybe Elmo was smart and allowed for that possibility when they designed them. (Good for them!)

It's interesting that the model number is the same. If this was an option, you'd think there would be some suffix like "GS800R" so they could tell the piles of boxes in the warehouse apart.

I don't think this would work for me: I often run two identical machines with the audio blended through a small mixer panel. Something is telling me two transmitters operating on the same frequency would make all sorts of interference.

-still the same, that's a sweet machine!

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Chip Gelmini
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1733
From: Brooksville, FL
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted November 25, 2019 10:50 AM      Profile for Chip Gelmini     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Perhaps a drive-in theater FM transmitter would work the idea here is any super eight sound projector could broadcast locally up to 150 feet on an FM signal as long as you could tune it in however from the projector via aux out into a main receiver The transmitter would be connected to an output from the receiver to receive it signal of which you could then broadcast to FM I've never tried this but I'm pretty sure it would work

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Adrian Winchester
Film God

Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004

- posted November 26, 2019 10:45 AM      Profile for Adrian Winchester     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks Dominique for the photos. The one with the antenna is certainly a surreal sight - like an image that someone might create for fun on 1st April!

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Adrian Winchester

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Chip Gelmini
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1733
From: Brooksville, FL
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted November 27, 2019 12:59 PM      Profile for Chip Gelmini     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I don't know I think maybe I got lucky

I've been playing around with the pair that I have and they are running beautifully although one has optical sound that does not work and I will soon get that fixed it does have a exciter bulb that I have never seen before it is definitely not your typical optical lamp

The real big thing I noticed is how whisper quiet let me be clear whisper quiet these things are when they pull a film through the drive train

I've been film collecting since early 1970 with Super8 and these GS 800s are the quietest machine I have ever used when the film is being played, PERIOD.

CG

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

- posted November 27, 2019 01:30 PM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Oh, I never had a look at the exciter lamp. Different from the usual models, indeed.

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Dominique

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Chip Gelmini
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1733
From: Brooksville, FL
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted November 27, 2019 08:14 PM      Profile for Chip Gelmini     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I used both of my machines tonight to run a feature film and they both performed flawlessly I still think maybe I got lucky and bought a pair that have very little use on them and these happened to be like new out-of-the-box hardly used

They were both separate purchases under $300 each and one purchase also included Elmo's motorized 912 S editor that once I figured out how to use it it also performed flawlessly and I am glad to have it in my collection of gear

So honestly so far all I can detect is the nonworking optical on one machine which is not a problem for me because I can just swap projectors around to run an optical show with changeover

CG

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