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Ian, Please restrain from badmouthing a product when you have one product out of two fail.

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Hey, that's a 50% failure rate!

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Better Projection Pays!

Hi-Tech HTD-11 serial #1329

The first time we noticed something was wrong was when the film shut down in the middle of the performance. We spent some time looking for errant cues.

It shut down in the middle of shows for about a week usually one or two shows per day. We just started them up again.

The problem was that it shut the shows down randomly but multiple times per show. The it would shut down but continue motor so by the time the audience got restless and sent someone out to find an employee and they found us and we went to the back booth 10 minutes of the film had run through the projector.

Then it would close the dowser and run merrily along.

Then, and I really like this one, it would turn off the projector motor and leave the lamp on, thus treating the audience to the melting, burning film show. Of course with polyester film it didn't break and drop the fail-safes.

I called Megasystems and they told me it was a power supply issue. I tried all the connections but that didn't seem to solve the problem. Megasystems didn't offer to send a new power supply to find the problem.

Finally we ran manually for two months before we could get the units replaced with the afore mentioned 20 year old Kelmar Maxi 10 C Automations.

Now the films start and stop with pleasant assuredness and we no longer risk cracking a lens because the xenon light is shining through the unprotected lens. And we no longer have pissed off audience because there show was ruined. We don't have to give out canceled show passes anymore.

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Better Projection Pays!

If Megasystems doesn't want to be bashed in a public forum (or via private conversations), they SHOULD have made the attempt to take care of you. Had they offered to send you out a new power supply and your original one was defective from years and years of use, I'm sure you wouldn't have minded footing the bill. Of course, if your automation was only a couple of years old, they should be paying for it. Now I have no problem believing MegaSystems puts out a good product and for all we know you have the ONLY unit that has ever failed. However, since they basically didn't offer anything to help you, as rude as this may seem...they've got it coming. I guess it's a good thing Joe doesn't have one of those units to review.

By the way, those Kelmar automations may not do 1000 different functions like some of the new fancier ones can, but they are pretty darned reliable!

IF ANYONE IS ON THIS TOPIC, READ THIS STORY, YOU MIGHT RELATE TO IT.

Oscar from Smart,
I called that number you gave and talked to a guy named Don about my audio problems. He gave me several solutions, including sending out a Smart technition. I told him we did have a regional tech. from Carmike who works on all our equipment, but is hard to get out here and has not fixed our audio problems in the past. I think Don understood that this was not an emergency, I just wanted some suggestions as to what I could do. Then tell my manager. He gave a number and told me to call a lady at Carmike's technical service. Apparently that was a HUGE mistake. I called the lady and briefly explained the problems. She told me to call our tech. back(we had called him a few weeks ago) and that he should be available, and if their were any problems just to call her back. She also told me our supply company,'Capitol City', was not at the time available for getting the booth supplies we need, which was important information.

Anyway, 10 min. after what I thought was a well understood conversation, one of the managers comes up to the booth and tells me the city manager just called told us never to do that again.
Apparently the lady from Carmike had immediatly called our city manager and informed him of my conversation. But I have no clue what she sayed. I then later got bashed by our so-called booth manager for making calls like that, especially to the home office. I thought I was talking to the technical department? He and everone else that knows that our Carmike technition is the most difficult person in the world who blames every single problem on the projectionist and then doesn't fix it. But he's under contract and is union, so nobody can touch him. I was simply trying to get some second opinions from people who ACTUALLY MADE THE THING!
I appreciate Don's help, but it backfired! This is what I get for trying to improve the booth.

First of all, PLEASE do not give up on trying to improve your presentation. Your customers are paying their hard-earned money, and they deserve the best you can do for them.

I do want to discuss your problems with you, but in view of the difficulties you encountered, I would be happy to discuss this privately with you if you will call and ask for Oscar at 1-800-457-6728.

I don't understand why management sometimes gets so upset when people are trying to do the right thing and make things better, but it happens. Sometimes the chain of command comes into play, and you have to play within the rules. I do not know what Carmike's rules are concerning projectionists getting directly involved with calling manufacturers, but you might want to investigate this to make sure you are handling it correctly.

My MAIN concern is that you have SMART equipment which you say is not working correctly. This does at least 2 things: it makes your customers and me unhappy, and it reflects badly on SMART's reputation. I do NOT want to be unhappy, and so I want to make sure we get this resolved to everyone's satisfaction. If you are so inclined, give me a call, or if you are hesitant, ask your manager to call me. One way or the other, we will get this taken care of.

Best regards,

Oscar Neundorfer
Chief Engineer
SMART Devices, Inc.

oscar@smartdev.com

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