Yes, I use water-cooled gates for any installation with a lamp 3000W and greater.

>>I'd also like to have a huge picture window in my booth so that everyone can "see the action".<<

We have a booth in our Angels Theatre that used to be a cry-room so it has a big picture window in it and its low enough to see everything inside. We designed one of the booths in our 16-plex (that unfortunately we had to sell off to Pacific) that had a 'show booth' with a glass wall that patrons could see the workings as they entered the main hallway to the auditoria. Pacific must not have like that idea as the wall was ultimately built solid.

Aaron
http://www.cinema-west.com

It would be kind of neat if the audience could see the 'magic' that puts the film on screen by having huge windows by the machines, but I don't even want to think about what kind of sound-proofing measures would have to be taken! >_<
Heh, bigger portholes would be nice though. In my Dungeon, there are three portholes by each machine, one for the slide projector, one for the film projector, and one for the projectionist to spy on the autiorium. Relatively small portholes too. The third porthole is relatively useless to me.
I'd like them to be a twisker lower on the wall. Because I'm short. Well, sort of. (5'5") And the bottom of the porthole is exactly eye-level for me. Meaning that I have to stand on my toes to see the screen from the booth! (Unless I want to glimpse through the same port from which the image is projected, then there is a nasty glare to cope with...)
Oh well, maybe I ought to just get a nice pair of platform soled converse all-stars...

~Gracia *The projectionist with the purple hair* Babbidge

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The sound running thru the photocell has more bass than it did before. I was worried about not having enough brightness for the cell, but this seems to not be a problem. Stereo prints sound better, too.

I'm still using the 1156LL 12v lamp for the exciter. And STILL have not had the first one burn out! I'm impressed considering the amount of film that I run here. I am on the 3rd DPW lamp in the lamphouse!

Oops! there's a reelchange! gotta go get a slug...

Shoestring doesent begin to describe this set-up. Kite string, or maybe bailing wire more likely.

The solar cell Holmes was run thru an old EQ that helped drastically. The new PE cell system has the original fidelity controls (with new caps in the circuit thanks to the demise of an old stereo amp this weekend,) and they sound great. The reason stereo prints sound better, I think, is because the whole slit beam is being picked up on the face of the PE cell, and not just a portion, which was the case with the solar cell.

Speaking of 1st changeovers...
The last weekend was one of the most exciting weekends for me so far. Me and my friend got our FIRST commercial show last friday and continued at saturday with Mission: Impossible 2. We were a little bit afraid of the changeovers, but we managed them somahow... Not smoothly, but anyway. Practice makes us better.

We had four shows and total 18 patrons. Not bad, because the theatre is in small town and there haven't been films shown regularly for many, many years. I hope it will get better when people get used to go movies again. Because it's a small theatre, I have to take care of any other things in the theatre, not just projection. All the paperwork, ordering the films, etc.

Stephen - Hi, I'm a few years up on you since my last changeover was about 2 years ago. Monash uni still runs on 2000 or 6000 footers and I know the guy there so will probably do some more soon.

Bruce - talking about manual changeovers, I was once in the bio box of a cinema where a changeover involved two people, one to turn the exciter lamp off in one projector, the other to turn the second one on, the actual changeover mechanism was a piece of curtain rail with two pieces of wood on it which slid from side to side in front of the projectors thus blocking the light from one or other of them.

Dave re: end of reel alarms, I still get films where people have put "clickers/clackers" on which is basically three pieces of tape or small round stickers evenly spaced on the film a short while ahead of the changeover. The projectionist hears a "click click click" as the film travels through the projector and knows to get his butt into gear. Or you can wind a roller bearing into the film near the tail of a reel, when it gets to that spot it falls out and you hear it drop onto the fire trap rollers, you have to make sure that it is big enough so that it doesn't wedge between the film and the trap rollers or else you will damage the film. I'm sure the old timers on the site have many other easy suggestions.

Dave re: picture window. We have a glass door to projection room three where the customers can see our Vic 8's and platter going. It is very popular as many people have no idea what actually happens inside. I overhear many funny comments such as "That is the Dolby Digital system" as they authoritively point to the platter, or as I was talking to a lady the other night she asked if we get the film in big pizza boxes!

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I've worked at such a place and I can tell you that it can drive you nuts at times, with people staring at you as you thread a Victoria 5. I wish they would have built a wall there instead.

The first theatre I ever worked at had a somewhat similar c/o system, with spring-loaded hatches in front of both projectors. The hatches were cleverly synchronised with each other using wires and hooked to the exciter lamps through the buttons used to open the hatches.

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I once saw a "Colombo" TV drama that involved a murder comitted in a screening room.

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