My Kodascope Pageant isn’t playing sound

[Silas Buchanan]

I’m wondering if it’s a scanning issue or an amplification issue. The speaker buzzes when the machine is turned off but plugged in and blares when the machine is turn on, even without film loaded. The phono jack doesn’t work at all, so I’m thinking it’s an amplification issue. I’m not sure the exact model, but it has dials for treble, bass, volume, amplification, phonograph, and the microphone. The photo is how it was when I purchased it. Any recommendations on fixing it? Thanks.

[Joerg Polzfusz]

Hi!

AFAIK, there have been several versions of Pageant projectors. Hence, I don’t know whether this manual is valid for your projector:
https://archive.org/details/KodakPag...tions/mode/1up
At least this version has two ways of threading the film - one for silent and one for sound films.

Keep in mind that there are four different types of 16mm films:
Double perf:
1) Silent only (unless you’re using SepMag etc.)
Single perf:
2) Silent (or at least no soundtrack on the film)
3) Optical sound
4) Magnetic sound

So you’ll only have sound when projecting correctly threaded films with optical sound - „3)“ (I haven’t heard of a Pageant model for magnetic sound.)

Please check whether the exciter lamp is really glowing and dust-free.

BTW: It‘s pretty normal that there are some strange noises when the projector is turned on. That’s because of their age (ancient design, aged electronics, …). You will normally have a short crackling/squeaking sound. And depending on the projector, you might even have some permanent hum (50hz in Europe, 60hz in the USA).

Good luck!

[Steve Klare]

This sounds like maybe the amplifier has gone unstable. When amplifiers get to the point where a certain amount of their output gets fed back to the input a little disturbance at the input gets magnified over and over and becomes a loud shriek coming out of the speaker. (Think about when you are at a concert and a singer walks in front of a big speaker carrying their microphone: "OUCH!")

This could mean some component (for example a capacitor) in the feedback network has gone shorted from years of operating time, and is now the path back from output to input. If that's the problem here, this one may be a challenge to fix. (There may be a schematic inside the back cover: mine has one.)

I have also seen things like this happen due to oxides on switches, and resolved by working audio related switches a bunch of times, maybe applying contact cleaner if you can access the switch contacts. There are no guarantees, but it's one of those things that cost nothing to try, so why not?

I have a much later Pageant than this one, actually in the final model number. It's got a transistorized amplifier and a much more modern lamp which is still readily available. It also has the take-up reel up high and in back, which means Kodak had to change the film path to bend downward, backwards and upwards to get to the take-up. -as a benefit, mine can sit on a table without the take-up having to dangle off a front edge, when such a thing may not be available.

-but what's striking is how little other parts of the machine have changed. The chassis for example is very similar to what mine has. It makes me think that rather than having different "generations" of Pageants, these may have kind of evolved!