8mm Forum: Wanted: Pedro Box P1008 synchroniser

This is topic Wanted: Pedro Box P1008 synchroniser in forum 8mm equipment for sale/trade at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Pete Richards (Member # 2203) on February 24, 2015, 03:40 AM:

I am after a "Pedro Box" synchroniser that would suit a Bauer T610, or an equivalent, if such a thing exists.
Am looking to buy or even just rent one for a month.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 24, 2015, 04:21 AM:

They didn't work directly with a Bauer T610 Pete.
You had to have The projectors motor controlling board modified with further electronics that Pedro used to fit or he supplied it as a kit.

The Goko editors and Beaulieu 708el also needed a similar arrangement to work.

The only two machines that worked with the Pedro box as standalone units were the Elmo GS 1200 and the Braun Visacoustic 2000.

With the right digital video software and controller it isn't too difficult to do excellent synchronized recordings on any of the above mentioned machines without the Pedro sync box.

Posted by Pete Richards (Member # 2203) on February 24, 2015, 04:32 PM:

Thanks Andrew, I can work out the circuit to control the Bauer, I've seen one of those boards and can see what he did there, but I haven't seen the P1008 box itself, so not sure how he is achieving it there.
If I get a hold of a P1008, then I can solve the rest.

I'm not looking to sync sound, I need to control the speed of the projector itself very tightly.

I'd gladly just run a GS1200, but they don't often come up in Australia.

It is a shame Pedro isn't making these anymore, or offering the circuits etc. up for people to make their own. I'd happily pay for a digital download of PCB artwork and a parts list if he was supplying those.

Posted by Pete Richards (Member # 2203) on February 24, 2015, 09:01 PM:

It looks like a German company might have an equivalent for the T610:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telecine.de%2Fmain3.htm&edit-text=

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 25, 2015, 02:41 AM:

Interesting Pete and prices are reasonable but I am not sure how it would work compared to the Pedro box which is primarily for cine use to slave digital tracks to.

This is more of a telecine tool it would appear and therefore appears to just raise the speed to 25fps or slow down on the other kit to
16 2/3fps. no digital display telling you the exact frame rate of PJ and digital input source and then matching to one or the other as in the Pedro box.

Posted by Pete Richards (Member # 2203) on February 25, 2015, 04:19 PM:

As I mentioned, my needs aren't for audio, I just need to be able to keep the motor locked at a specific speed, any speed will do, as long as it doesn't drift.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 25, 2015, 04:24 PM:

Perfect for your requirements then Pete, sadly only a Pedro box to date would give me any service for my requirements.

Posted by Pete Richards (Member # 2203) on February 26, 2015, 09:43 AM:

What projector would you need to use it with, Andrew?

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 26, 2015, 09:48 AM:

A Bauer T610 and a Beaulieu 708el CD Stereo, Pete.

I would like to be able to ultimately project my optical prints through my Beaulieu. Only one cue point would be needed for syncing as all my optical features will fit on my 2200ft reels.

If I could do this I would be in heaven as I simply do not trust any optical sound projector out there to keep these prints scratch free with the exception of a Fumeo. Trouble is, it's finding one and even if I did it would cost me a whole lot more than modifying the Beaulieu to play optical prints with a DTS or Dolby Digital soundtrack.

Even with a Fumeo, it cannot work miracles and the optical tracks were never the best.

Had I had been fortunate enough to get my hands on a Pedro box before he stopped making them I would have had the Bauer speed control circuit modified first as this along with my Goko RM8008 is what I use to do all of my digital stereo recordings onto prints that it can either benefit or have sound track problems, or in isolated cases, prints that I purchase in a language other than English.

I manage to do my recordings without any issues, but obviously it is far easier if the whole thing were pulse synched than having to sync manually in the manner that I currently do.

Posted by Pete Richards (Member # 2203) on February 26, 2015, 10:57 AM:

I will be modifying my T610, so if I get a working solution I will post it here. What framerate would you want the T610 locked to, or would you prefer it sync to a pilot-tone or similar?

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 26, 2015, 11:09 AM:

It would suit my needs for it to lock down at precisely 24fps on the 24fps setting and 18fps on that setting Pete.

It would be fantastic if you can post some schematics etc once you have yours working. Are you having a PCB made or can you design them and manufacture them yourself?

Posted by Alexander Vandeputte (Member # 1803) on February 26, 2015, 11:30 AM:

If your intention is to sync against a video source, then ideally you would be able to program the speed between: 25 fps (the PAL speed), 24 fps (some Blu ray discs and 23,97 (most Blu ray discs and can also be used with NTSC DVD's)

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 26, 2015, 01:38 PM:

The Digital speed isn't an issue Alexander as I can tailor the speed of the video to whatever I like infinitely using my PCDJVJ software.

This is how I make up for minor fluctuations in the projector speed without sync pulse facility by simply adjusting the video playback speed minutely if the speed just starts to drift ever so slightly either plus or minus the projectors image.

I also convert all of my digital source material first to 24fps anyway just to have it as closely matched to the film as possible to begin with.

I do this using Any Video Converter software which is a free download BTW and I find it very useful and converts really well.

Posted by Pete Richards (Member # 2203) on February 26, 2015, 04:02 PM:

I should be able to sort something out to keep it at 24fps, it would require fitting a hall effect sensor or similar inside the projector to monitor the speed.
I can make my own PCBs, and I might use an intel Edison or Arduino board rather than doing it all traditionally.

For the other projectors it would also be doable in a slightly more Rube Goldberg fashion if the projector has a speed control pot that allows fine adjustements.
A sensor could be fitted to the projector, and the pulses monitored by an external board, if the projector begins to drift, a servo could automatically adjust the projector speed on the fly, and keep making micro adjustments to keep the projector at speed. I have retrofitted other types of equipment this way and it does work.
If someone who has a pedro box could forward me the fitting instructions, it might save me some time pouring over projector schematics.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 26, 2015, 04:17 PM:

That sounds fantastic Pete! Lets just hope someone will share the details of the Pedro box with you.

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