8mm Forum: Help with Bell & Howell DCT with gate problem

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Posted by Steve Ashby (Member # 171) on December 05, 2012, 03:12 PM:

Hi All

I'm getting back into Super 8 again after many years away and have just purchased a Bell & Howell DCT.
I gather from some of the posts on the forum is the same or similar to the Sankyo 702.

When I tried out the projector with a few films this evening for the first time there seems to be a problem with the alignment or size of the gate. With a projected film the sprocket holes are visable on the picture.
I cannot see any way the gate could be moved to cause this problem or adjusted to rectify the problem. With no film projected and focusing to produce a clean image the edges do not look very straight either.

Do you think someone in the past could have opened the gate with a needle file for telecine, this projector has a speed adjustment? or can a dirty gate cause this problem?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on December 05, 2012, 03:19 PM:

Welcome to the forum Steve.

Is that a dual gauge machine. It sounds like you may be watching super 8 film in Regular 8mm mode or Regular 8mm in Super 8 mode. That can damage the film. It wouldn't hurt to clean the film path as well

Posted by Steve Ashby (Member # 171) on December 05, 2012, 03:34 PM:

Thanks Bryan

No this machine is Super 8 only. The film runs through very smooth and the image is nice and stable. Its just the gap at the side of the picture (about the width of a sound stripe) so the edge of the sprocket holes are visable on screen. The gate looks slightly bigger than that on my Elmo ST-600M, but that may be down to the design.

Not sure.

Posted by Maurizio Di Cintio (Member # 144) on December 05, 2012, 05:30 PM:

What kind of film are using? Commercial (print) or camera original?

The problem you described may occur with not perfectly slit printed film. Also perhaps you are not seeing the actual sprocket holes but a reflection of it due to light refracted through the film gate: this may happen and you shoud see the sprocket as if it were in a shaded area rather the real light from the lamp coming through the holes. If this is the case, it is no fault, especially if you say the image is steady: it's just the aperture a little too wide and/or the film is not printed 100% spec compliant. (a lot of) Dirt may cause the aperture edges to look irregular - no issue at all, use a very soft small brush or a q-tip to clean it.

Posted by Steve Ashby (Member # 171) on December 06, 2012, 04:44 AM:

Thanks Maurizio

Thanks for your help. The prints I'm using are commercial, Walton, Ivor Films, Universal 8... The side of the picture with the sprocket holes visable is a bright white line as if the film is sitting to one side and light is being projected through the edge of the film.

I'll give it a clean to see if there is any improvement. I've never seen this before on any projector I've owned in the past.

Will return it to the dealer I purchased it from if I have no Joy. This may have happened due to damage in transit.

Thanks all for your help

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