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Author Topic: Microswitch-controlled Brains Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-10-2008 06:19 PM                     quote: #1 - These were all originally phase control platters. A). YEP! And we had zero problems AFTER we converted them all over to micro. quote: #2 - if they are not stable enough for "linear feed" then they would not be stable enough to be used as take-up since it has no choice to be, you know, linear. B). Go ahead and time them as you normally would and let them run for 10 to 15 min... they will be way out of time from each other. If they're not then I owe you a bag of sliders from White Castle! The problem is that the motors are not constant torque nor speed. They are just vaccum cleaner motors. For take up the constant torque happens through the variac coupled through the slide trombone (time for a music lesson too!) which constantly takes care of any speed/torque offset. Payout is a totally different story... as the motors drift the linear control device can't detect this and hence can't control it fine enough by proper offset. Micros just do it by demand and as a result the timming can be a mile off (which is normal for this platter) and the thing can still pay out really well. The motor drift problem was the whole reason for the digital platter drive... it is actually a form of servo and the mpu looks at the AC feed to the motor and sees a slight pulse generated by the brushes. This pulse is the feedback signal to offset the servo and the actual speed the motor is running at stays constant with the actual speed itself determined by where the P.O. arm is at in its travel. Microswitch and DMC platter 2, Phase Control 0! Mark  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 08-11-2008 12:30 AM                        quote: Mark Gulbrandsen A). YEP! And we had zero problems AFTER we converted them all over to micro. These are not platters imported from Utah. I cannot comprehend why theaters do not just buy Christie platters or at least Speco LP-280 digital platters. The design on both is better through and through than anything that Strong can offer, period. This is fact, not opinion. That includes SCDC or "DMC". Why do people buy Strong... anything?  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 08-11-2008 03:31 AM                     quote: Joe Redifer Why do people buy Strong... anything? Cuz, they're cheap and made for K.I.S.S. booths ... This looks like a simple arguement between the usage between phase controls and micro with the simple reason on "why do one have to do a yearly maintenance on brains with one certain part, whereas a different part in the same place of the brain can remain for a long time and the brain can be maintenance free?", or "Other manufacture brains never need the maintenance attention as do the STRONG micro brains." It seems a trend that why Strong got into many locations around the nation is that these locations doesn't have quality booth personnel to handle the more complicated and maintenance prone makes of other company's equipment, thus it was equipment that can stand up to being mistreated, operated incorrectly and can still come up fighting. Plus, as with my locations, a lot of locations that were first constucted as small multiscreens in the 80's, about the only thing available domestically that had any backbone to it, were STRONG products. Yes, there were ORC who had Century, Cinemeccania V-5 with Xetron consoles, Ballantyne with their PRO-35's, et.al., but these didn't have the power as did Strong-Hanovia during this time. Granted, I fully agree with Joe, Brad and others about Christie equipment when it comes to film handling quality this one company has proven itself-totally convinced on how Christie can handle film, but their equipment is designed for a well qualified, on-location projection manager and technician. ..and sorry, I don't know anything about the European makes of Kinoton and Ernemann (even though I did run a FP-23 for one showing and was totally impressed on how this portable operated..), thus I can't make the fair comparison to our domestic makes and models. So anywhos, I have to work with what I got..and let my superiors know that one of these days, some STRONG products we use know are now dinosaurs, or will be dinosaurs down the road. Guess, digital is really approaching on the horizon for a lot of locations... -Monte  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 08-11-2008 05:52 AM                        However both the Christie and Speco LP-280 platters are far easier to thread than the Strong. The Strong requires navigating through more rollers and has more places where the film can be scratched and wrapped. Who thought that all of those little rollers around the brain would be a good idea? I see people accidentally threading around those all of the time. Of course that causes wraps-a-plenty. The payout arm is upside down as well. That's just retarded. I don't know why Strong never bothered to change this design to something more well thought out. Let's not forget about the ball bearing rollers. This is also not a good idea.  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-11-2008 06:17 AM                     Never had a problem with either phase controls or microswitchs. I replaced the carbon switches on 6 platters with phase controls in late 1999/early 2000 (my memory is a bit foggy) and they ran perfectly fine-no drifting to speak of-all the way up until our digital conversion 2 years ago. So call it a mininum of 6 years in service. The houses that are dual 35/digital still have the phase control brains and during the occasional use they get they still work fine. I'm sure the Christie platters are better-I wouldn't know, have never used them-but in the time I've used Strong platters I don't really see how they're *that* aweful as people make them out to be.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-11-2008 07:58 AM                     quote: Joe Redifer Why do people buy Strong... anything? Now thats certainly one of the finest most truthful statements I've seen posted here in the last several decades.  |  IP: Logged

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