The SCDC payout actually only really goes as fast as needed and, as I understand it, changes ranges thoughout the show so as to accomodate that it doesn't have to go as fast.

The take up ring can be changed if it such a big concern. That is more of feature thing than something that is inherent in the platter design. Having a larger ring would suit me just fine. Christie even came out with a Sooper ring for theirs.

The take up on the ground...got no defense for this one and don't really care. The extra roller for the top platter take up, so what? Haven't had any problem with it yet...though on the marvelous Christie take up I have had to replace countless stop pins that have sheered off or came out.

The take up rollers are adjustable (height) with slotted brackets.

Got no comback on the breakdown freewheeling thingy, but what do you expect from vaccume cleaner motors? The drive system with the two tires does need some work and how it engages the deck. But then again, I have changed countless Christie drive pucks with their constanly changing compound of the week or changing diameters.

The noise level of the Strong is definately higher than many platters, especially the Christie which runs quiet (with the right drive pucks that are round).

Sure the decks on the strong have those support ribs but then again the Strong is a significantly cheaper platter and based on one of the cheapest of them all (the Potts microswitch).

As far as the centerfeed goes...There is plenty of blame to go around. For the Strong...how many varients have their been? (Microswitch, carbon-pile, magnatronic (potts), optical (potts), phase-control, SCDC, and possibly others). Sure the film is captive but it doesn't unthread itself either. The Christie centerfeeds can and do unthread themselves if the curl of the film is right. On the main cluster it is only sprung from underneith causing the film to be pinched harder on the bottom and hense can be pushed right out of the top. This was a bigger problem with 70mm during the summer if emulsion in or winter if emulsion out. On of our operators put a plate across the guide posts to prevent it. Probably Kinoton wins the uncluttered centerfeed award...something like two rollers and no feedfingers and anti-wrap peelers.

Oh, and to the best of my knowledge, the "MK" make up table has no immediate plans for leaving us. It will be a market driven thing. The new gizmo allows for rewinding. They drilled in pins for a center ring so you can make up trailers right on it. There is talk of putting a clutch on the drive table so that in a pinch (when your #1822 lamps kill your transformer) it will function as a 6000' horizontal reel unit!

Oh, has anybody used Christie's new shutter design...the one that is half silvered half clear but with the same heat transmission on both halfs so the film doesn't get thermally shocked? I'm just curious as to how well it works (or doesn't)

Steve

Ok, first things first, there is a link at the bottom of the reply screen for longer threads "click here to review this topic" that will help you out in the future.

Now, the SCDC payout does indeed run faster than is required. I think you are misunderstanding my words there. I didn't say the platter would overfeed film, just that the "capability" of the feed deck spinning faster than is "necessary" for startup is a bad thing. Make sense? For example, 22RPM is plenty of speed for an AW3 with it's standard center ring, yet every tech seems to like setting them between 30-52 RPM! (Yes, I've seen 52RPM) Rarely do I ever even find them set at a measly 25RPM. This is what causes most people's problems with "thrown" prints and wraps. If Christie would modify their cards to allow for a takeup speed and a payout speed, that would be fantastic!

The desire for a larger takeup ring is to minimize curl of course, but most importantly to make it so the platter need not run at Warp 5 to be able to start up. Again, this goes back to the above argument. Christie's new mega sized center ring only requires 15RPM for startup! Think about the end of a Costner movie and how much smoother it would run if 100% on the feed was ONLY 15RPM! At that speed, it would be virtually impossible to toss a print.

Strong's extra roller for takeup on the top platter IS a problem for many, er, ahm, "projectionists" today. Yes I know it wouldn't be a problem for you, me or most anyone here on this forum, but I think you know the type of operators I'm talking about. I go into these theaters and see them running onto the bottom platter threaded through BOTH rollers (can we say "scratch"?) and I see film being stretched onto the top platter sideways because the operator skipped the second top roller. Having two different threading paths is yet again, a very bad idea.

I've not noticed the adjustment on the takeup rollers, but I also don't have a Strong platter handy to check it out. Is it adjustable enough so I could actually over adjust it so the film wouldn't even lay on the deck? If so, then the problem here is the way they are coming out of the factory.

Christie has supposedly corrected their "silly putty" motor drive belt/pulley (whatever you want to call them). I do agree though the ones from the last few years are a complete joke.

I cannot argue the price thing on the support rib argument, but I would think it wouldn't jack up the cost "too" much for another sheet of flat material to be mounted on the underside to prevent head injuries and breakdown wind.

Centerfeeds. You must run a lot of really crapped up film, Steve. I've not had the problem with film flying out of the Christie brains.

The "MK" table. It may be here to stay (yak), but is the GOOD old fashioned model here to stay as well???

I think the film coming out of the centerfeed thing is somewhat regional where humidity varies greatly.

Steve

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