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Posted by Richard Quesnelle (Member # 391) on 04-23-2000, 02:59 PM:
Hi Everyone!I was curious on how to go about putting together a home screening room.
What size of room is needed? Type of screen used? Projector layout?
Thanks
Rich
Posted by Martin Frandsen (Member # 74) on 04-23-2000, 03:54 PM:
Me to, i've been thinking about that to: how would the ideal screening room for home or professional use be? It can be a problem focusing at short range, how do you deal with that?
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-23-2000, 04:34 PM:
What's the biggest room you've got available? Is there an adjacent room on the back side you could knock a hole in the wall to serve as a projection booth? Otherwise, a free standing tiny booth will have to be built to house the projector (possibly 2 or a platter).Setting up with short throws and large images is not really a problem assuming you've got the correct lenses. Just look at these multiplexes today commonly using 30mm and 25mm lenses! It's nothing more than your situation on a larger scale.
Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 04-23-2000, 05:43 PM:
I have a friend who has a small screening room. It is 12' wide by 24' long and 8' high. The screen is 4.5' tall by 11.5' wide. Check out the Gary Stanley room in Pictures. He has 11 seats.I was recently at Century's Corporate screening room which has the same size screen as Gary in a shorter room. It has 24 seats. Brad has the photos.
What is the smallest screening room you have heard of?
Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 04-23-2000, 05:45 PM:
What is the most compact projection system you can think of?
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-23-2000, 06:20 PM:
Assuming you are talking about staying with a full sized and not a portable projector for home use in a small room, Century SA with ORC 1000 running either 6000 foot reels with an intermission (ewwwwww!) or ideally the same equipment with a platter. Assuming the platter was in a nearby room with a couple of guidance rollers, a room of about 4x5' would be cramped, but would get the job done, including a sound rack. If the platter was to be in the booth, then you would probably have to have something along the lines of 5x10'. If there was to be no platter and changeovers, that same 5x10' room should still do the job. Only problem there is the keystoning from two off-axis projectors in a small room with such a short throw. I've set up screening rooms like this in apartments and small houses where we simply broke out the drywall and built a free standing booth around it that was better insulated than most commercial theaters.Of course, a rewind/inspection table would have to be in another room.
Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 04-23-2000, 06:55 PM:
Mine is 16' wide has a 27' throw and 9.5' ceiling. I have a 6'x14' Hurley screen. The booth is 16' wide and is 15' deep. I have raised the floor about 2'. No problems with focus and I'm using a 1kw bulb and it's plenty. I actually designed the house around it.
Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 04-23-2000, 07:58 PM:
I'm in the process of setting up a small home screening room in my basement. Screen will be 8' wide with about a 30' throw. Currently I have a pair of DeVry XD portable machines with 450 watt xenon lamps. Changeovers only, no platter. I'm working on re-building a pair of full size machines, Simplex E7's with RCA 1040 sound heads and ORC1000 xenon lamps. One of my problems has been to short a distance from projector to screen to allow the scope lenses to be adjusted correctly. The solution was to use a pair of good 16mm scope lenses until I can move the wall back a little more. I've been experimenting with using two mirrors in front of each projector to raise the booth port as high as possible to clear the tops of heads. I only have a 7' ceiling. If this works it would also help with the off-axis projector problem by allowing me to use one port for both machines.
So far its been a lot of fun, and I've only had to sell my soul to Edw. Wolk Inc. for parts! Seriously, the older equipment can be quite inexpensive, but parts prices can kill ya. So can good lenses! With a little work and TLC the machines should be good for another 50 years.
A friend of mine is running one of the nicest home theaters I've ever seen. Two full size 35mm machines (Christie consoles, Simplex XL and RCA Sound heads) in a finished third floor attic with about a 40' throw. Also 16mm and Video. Fantastic setup, but just thinking about getting that stuff up to the third floor scares me.
Pete
Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 04-23-2000, 08:11 PM:
Pete:Please get pictures of both yours and your friends' screening rooms posted here on the picture warehouse.
Posted by Harry Robinson (Member # 265) on 04-23-2000, 08:46 PM:
Boy, it looks like somebody finally came up with the subject I've been waiting for. I, too, am building a screening room. We had the architect design the whole house around this thing. It will come as no surprise to anyone on this forum that I have taken some pretty severe kidding from my non-film handler friends about my obsession.I actually added three feet to the wing of the house in order to get a 25' throw. The actual screening room is 24 by 16 with a 16 by 8 projection room/recording studio control room/office attached. The screening room steps down from an eight foot ceiling at the projection room level, to 10 feet at the screen. I am planning a 13 by 6 screen with a curve based on the radius from the projection source. John Harvey in Dayton OH was a great source of ideas on how to accomplish this.
I also plan to install a D-ILA video projector because of it's single lens configuation and xenon light source.
I'm using a Super Simplex with an RCA 1040 sound head and 6000' reels. I plan to get a stereo reader when I've completed the rebuild on the gear. I have access to enough recording gear to improvise mic to line level amplification and Dobly A noise reduction. Maybe I'll be able to go digital in the future.
It's fun to share all this with someone who can appreciate it, and at the same time I'd love to hear any feeback on ideas that work (or don't) when you get into something like this.
We break ground the first of May. (Of course my lovely wife, Debbie, has gotten her way with every other aspect of the design of the house.)
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 04-24-2000, 07:44 AM:
Unfortunately I have no room for a booth. The projector just sits in my workshop/hobby room. Fortunately I have 200+ watts of audio and large speakers to overcome the racket from the projector. I'm running a 2" lens that gives about a 7 foot wide flat picture with a 15 foot throw. At this distance the rear of the lens nearly touches the Brenkert gate when it is open.
For scope I have been able to adapt a 16mm anamorphic adapter to a B&L 2.5 in lens and have good results focusing at 15 feet.
Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-24-2000, 05:43 PM:
I would be interested in the screen sizes and the viewing distances from the 1st "row".I've been collecting equipment for the last couple of years and now I want to put it all together...
Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 04-24-2000, 05:50 PM:
If you go over to Schneiders' home page you can down load a nifty little progam that will let you play "What if" games with throw, screen size, etc. It's free and accurate. You can pick out the lenses you will need for different formats with it (I'm sure its intended use)
Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-24-2000, 10:31 PM:
ISCO has a calc program too. Both the Schneider and ISCO programs are excellent and can be downloaded from their websites.
Posted by timothy johnson (Member # 83) on 04-25-2000, 07:14 AM:
it's all I could do in my home until I can afford to move, I have a 12'wide X 17'long screening room with eight rocker seats w/cupholders. My screen is 10 feet wide in scope, my projector is in my dining room, the screening room is the former living room. The walls are dark blue, with a black ceiling and black masking all around the screen. My lenses make the 18 foot throw possible, they are awesome, isco scope and schnieder flat. I have a Gearless Christie 35PG with a XE-Lamp 1600 watt.I use large reels that hold 8,000 feet, I can get an 8 reel film on two reels. The picture is mind-blowing, it's better than sitting in a large auditorium with a 60 foot wide picture, because I like the tight focus and small grain in my personal screening room, it has gotten to the point I don't see movies in the theater much, I wait to see it in my house for the first time. As for sound I am running the reverse scan from the christie to a CP-65, with Dolby SR,A, and SRD, as well as DTS. I have 1,500 watts of sound all around, with a yamaha 18 sub, and a clark sythesis sub sonic seat shaker (matrix will rock your bones) If anyone is interested in DTS, CP-65, and SRD(DA-20) in their home, please feel free to contact me. tjohnson@lifetouch.com 612-826-4491
Posted by Erich Loepke (Member # 166) on 04-25-2000, 10:59 AM:
I'll be setting up for 35mm once I get my own place (which will be pretty soon). I'll be using a Motiograph AAA with SH7500 soundhead, an ORC 1000 lamphouse, and glorious mono sound, all sitting on a very heavy Simplex Heavy Duty base. My lens (probably will be used for scope) is 3.75". I've scrounged up just about everything except a pair of rewinds, scope aperture plate, and a takeup reel belt.I don't know what kind of room I'll be using yet as I will be looking for my new place pretty soon. But I'll be happy to get anything at all on the screen, even if it's only a few feet wide.
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 04-25-2000, 12:09 PM:
The Schneider Theatre Design Pro software is available at:
http://www.schneideroptics.com/theatre/desprodn.html The IscoOptic Cinema Lens Selector software can be downloaded at:
http://www.iscooptic.de/english.html under menu item "download".
------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Posted by Michael West (Member # 428) on 04-25-2000, 09:55 PM:
i plan to convert an old garage/barn into a small screening room, i have two century model "c" projectors with northern electric master soundheads and upper/lower magazines, for changovers. i too will use mono sound generated from a cinemeccanica c/200pt 2e amplifier. i don't have bases/pedastools yet. most people think i am crazy for this - but i do not see the difference in restoring an antique projector than some one restoring an antique car.
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 04-26-2000, 02:42 PM:
Mike, you will have a great time restoring your old equipment. I can tell you first hand that getting an old machine up and running again provides a great sense of accomplishment. When you get everything going again, you won't be able to tell the difference between the presentation in your home and the local cinema. Actually, from what I've seen here in my town, it may be an order of magnitude better!
Good luck on your project.
Jeff (fellow tinkerer)
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 04-26-2000, 02:53 PM:
Hi Jeff,
Now that you have the Brenkert up and running whats going to be your next 35mm equipment restoration project?
Thanks and Take care,
Mark
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 04-26-2000, 03:26 PM:
Hi Mark! Next project is Brenkert number two. That guy and it's soundhead are still sitting on my workbench. Probably this fall. BTW, it would be fun to do a Simplex machine of some sort one of these days.Gosh this stuff is contagious!
Jeff
Posted by Larry Shaw (Member # 388) on 04-26-2000, 03:55 PM:
Ian, For current stuff Kinoton's FP25D (or E) is pretty compact -especially in height- when equipped with the 1-2 kW LH.
http://www.blsi.com/kinoton/fp25d.htm . For even smaller booths the FP23T (or X) was nice. http://www.blsi.com/kinoton/fp23t.htm
-Larry
Posted by john bishop (Member # 36) on 04-26-2000, 05:54 PM:
larry-- how much do those Kinoton's cost used in good shape? just curious--thanks!
Posted by Luther M. Spencer (Member # 442) on 04-26-2000, 06:27 PM:
Well nowI am registered...I can describe...What Im doing...I am converting My garage to a 16/35mm..Home theater...seating 20 seats..it is 18 X 32 feet in size...the projection room will be 18 X 5...I currently have a couple pre Ballantyne 35's...ModelWB79 Which are like the Simplex/simplex super...I have the gearboxes redone...and all oil changed(I picked these up from an old drive-in my wife & I used to date at )...They were just rebuild before the drive-in shut down in 1980....They are now purring like a kitten...I was going to have a change over system..but I have a friend who is supposed to get me a deal on a potts platter system....Pardon me if I pronounce something wrong but I have only been messing with 35mm for a very short while......I am also workimg on getting a couple of theORC-1000's for the light source.....And I have optained a 8oz pop-a-lot theater popcornpopper...Now to get it all together...The projection room is just about done....I have yet to remove the garage door and build a wall in its place..I will be doing that starting next weekend...If anyone has any suggestions..OF doing somthing in the first stages of construction please let me know.....MIKE------------------
Posted by Ben Kehe (Member # 319) on 04-26-2000, 08:53 PM:
My screening room has a throw of 23 feet on
to a 5.5' x 12.0' wide screen. The room is
14' wide. When I run 70mm in this room the
image is the same as my 35mm scope image;
5.5' x 12.0' Beautiful image.
The projection room is a converted bedroom off of the viewing room. A Norelco AAII is my projector of choice and I'm running a Cinemeccanica 4x4 transport that runs 36" reels. The reels get quite heavy when loaded with 70mm film. My light source is a
Strong Super Lumex with a 1600 watt xenon bulb. DTS, Dolby Digital, Ultra JSX1000S along with five QSC MX1500a power amps are biamping JBL 4670D's, 8340 surrounds and 4645C subwoofer. Pretty nice movie going experience for anyone that wants the ultimate film experience. I recommend it!!!
No focus problems at 23' throw with the image sizes described.
Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 04-27-2000, 08:11 AM:
Mike
I hope "...the projection room will be 18 X 5..." is a typo. That's awful short for a booth. If you still can I'd double that 5' or even triple it. Otherwise you'll be climbing thru your projector all the time
Posted by Martin Frandsen (Member # 74) on 04-27-2000, 08:54 AM:
Ben, the picture must be fantastic when projecting 70mm on your small screen, i guess that's why most home screening rooms produce such sharp picture (35mm as well) compaired to the large 'big-screen' theaters, the image just does not get magnified that much.------------------
It's the new small talk. You do it so awfully well! - My Fair Lady
Posted by Luther M. Spencer (Member # 442) on 04-27-2000, 04:13 PM:
Gezzse!!! Greg...Your right the projectors are full size...and from the motor to the back of the lamphouse is around 5 feet...I can get 3 more feet..so if the projectors are up aganist the port..I will have 3 feet to get around the back of them...I really don't know what I was thinking..To elaborate more on my setup....I have the Ballantyne 2500 bases..and the Model 6 sound heads...I have adapted one to a solidstate Solar cell....(Mono) for now....This I scavenged from an old 552 B&H 16mm projector..I also used the pre amp/amp...I am going to try to use just the pre amp and solar cell to connect to a 100 watt amp..untill I can do it right.....Mike
Posted by Martin Frandsen (Member # 74) on 04-29-2000, 04:44 AM:
About small projection rooms, we once had a small theater in my area were the room was so small that the projectionist had to stand IN the door-way to thread the projector, he just could not get in the room were the projector was! 
------------------
It's the new small talk. You do it so awfully well! - My Fair Lady
Posted by Richard Quesnelle (Member # 391) on 04-29-2000, 12:54 PM:
Thanks guys for all the responses. I was curious as to going about doing one up someday (as it seems to be a little bit of an investment but hey anything for the movies.)Like Martin had mentioned, my biggest worry would be focus problems. Are there projectors avaliable that could be hooked-up to a DVD machine?
Thanks
Rich
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 04-29-2000, 03:25 PM:
Luther, I think you will have ample gain from your solarcell with a microphone preamp stage. Here I am using a preamp with magnetic phono stage which has been modified for 'flat' response. I didn't want the RIAA phono playback EQ adding additional unknowns - thus I clipped out the equalization caps in this stage. However, I find that significant high frequency boost is needed with this setup. Thus I'm tailoring the frequency response with an ordinary "Hi Fi system" equalizer that was rescued from a garage sale for $5.
Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 04-29-2000, 04:28 PM:
I expect my screening room is one of the smaller home cinemas as I live in a ground floor flat, the living room is only 14ft x 9ft and the projection throw is about 10ft, the screen size is about 6ft wide for cinemascope and 70mm.The projector I use is a Westrex 5000 35/70mm with a 700kw Xenon in a Orcon 1000B lamphouse.
As for sound I use a Dolby CP50 with an SRA5 Adapter for Dolby SR.
Both picture and sound looks quite good even on a screen at this size, but I have found some problems, mainly the critical picture focus and found that the Orcon 1000B even with a beam spreader you will never get a proper flat light for 70mm, the mirror is just too small for this.
I have mounted the projector base on four heavy duty castor wheels and when not in use the projector can be moved out of the living room to put the room back into normal living room mode, I do get some amazed looks from non-cinema people when they visit on occasions!.
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 04-29-2000, 05:23 PM:
Erich Loepke posted <<I'll be setting up for 35mm once I get my own place (which will be pretty soon). I'll be
using a Motiograph AAA with SH7500 soundhead, an ORC 1000 lamphouse, and glorious
mono sound, all sitting on a very heavy Simplex Heavy Duty base. My lens (probably will
be used for scope) is 3.75". I've scrounged up just about everything except a pair of
rewinds, scope aperture plate, and a takeup reel belt.>>Be carefull as the Motigraphs (aa and aaa) as well as the century c's can have problems getting short focal length lens to slide far enough back to focus
Posted by Gordon Bachlund (Member # 124) on 05-03-2000, 07:22 AM:
For what it's worth, I placed some thoughts on "home theaters" on Sheldon Harris' web site. Visit www.film-center.com and scroll down to "Film Collecting Basics" if you are interested.
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-03-2000, 08:26 AM:
Jeff - Luther,
If you're not setup for stereo playback then you're missing alot of the fun.
Firstly, You really need a preamp with appropriate slit loss adjustments, especially if you are going to play back stereo. Older 1.5 mil slit lenses are about as good as AM radio, perhaps just a little bit better, and I've seen them perform worse(BTW: Really good AM radio actually does sound excellent). Replacing the slit lens, even in a home situation, is a great but not so cheap thing to do. You can add at least a couple if not three full octaves of HF response to your system. And with proper slit loss eq on a proper preamp I've seen response to slightly beyond 16khz. With an LED scanner it can be even better and there is almost 0 crosstalk and much lower distortion. The only negative is that LED scanners can have higher distortion with certain old optical tracks. Also, a mic preamp does have enough gain even when feeding it with a stereo cell output.
Mark
Posted by john bishop (Member # 36) on 05-03-2000, 02:31 PM:
Hi folks-- what exactly is the "slit lens"? is that the metal plate in front of the exciter bulb with a slit punched-out of it? or is that the slit mask? i'm running a 1945 DeVry w/ a stereo cell but all original sound optics and was wondering if i even had a slit-lens! thanks for any answers you can provide---john
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-03-2000, 03:26 PM:
Hi John,
Yes, The DeVry has a slit lens. I don't remember if its a standard lens or not though. We have a pair still sitting out in the dreaded shed and I'll take a look.
Basically the slit lens is an optical tube assembly that has a metal slit in between 2 sets of objectives. The filament from the exciter lamp is focused on the metal slit(the height of this slit determines ultimate high frequency response) by the first objective pair and the second pair on the film side focus the intenseley illuminated slit on the film. Pretty simple ha? Actually not......these are extremely high precision assemblys that are permanently aligned at the factory. Some slit lenses even have minature anamorphic elements to squeeze the exciter beam height!! I'll let you know later if the DeVry takes a standard lens assy or not.
Mark
Posted by Luther M. Spencer (Member # 442) on 05-03-2000, 06:19 PM:
So I can optain a stereo cell and run it through a couple mic preamps...to get stereo...and If I change the slit lens it will even sound better?....MIKE
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-03-2000, 06:47 PM:
Yep! Cleaner, more extended high end. If you decode for surround channels which you can do with any pro logic decoder you should get decent results,although a bit compressed without the proper noise reduction.
Mark
Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 05-03-2000, 08:29 PM:
Hi John,I'm currently using a pair of DeVry XD's, old Navy machines from the 40's. The slit lens on these is a cylinder about 1" long and 5/8" Dia., much smaller than those in the RCA type soundheads.
The biggest problem I've had is they were half full of oil when I got them. Just like every other part of these machines, inside or out! It completely killed the high frequency response. Not having any replacements, I managed to carefully take them apart and clean them. Some of the strangest optics I've ever seen. Lots of very small half-cylinder lenses, spacer rods, and aperture plates. They do come apart fairly easily and can be cleaned, but make a drawing as you go or you may never get them back together. Be very, very careful, it's not recommened for the faint of heart. However, now they are clean, the fidelity is great. I don't think that narrow slit versions are available for DeVry's.
Pete
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-03-2000, 09:30 PM:
Sounds right Peter,
You'd have to adapt an RCA or Cinemeccanicca style lens to it. The LED route might actually be easier.
Mark
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-04-2000, 08:23 AM:
The slit lens in a Devry is 1.5mil high and in fact barely scans the width of the track the same one was used in there 16mm machines
The FP20 slit lens will fit The others will not as there isn't enough clearance for the excitor
Posted by john bishop (Member # 36) on 05-04-2000, 10:18 AM:
thanks for all the help guys. gordon-- where could i get an fp20 slit lens to use on the ol' devry? and how much? thanks!! john
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-04-2000, 10:43 AM:
new ones are available from Boston Light and Sound
good used ones are hard to find
Posted by Richard Quesnelle (Member # 391) on 05-04-2000, 03:14 PM:
I am so happy!! I have my first flaming thread. What a day?
Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 05-04-2000, 07:25 PM:
Richard,
Congratulations! You may end up with a real Booth Burner before it's over.Gordon,
From your post: "The slit lens in a Devry is 1.5mil high and in fact barely scans the width of the track the same one was used in there 16mm machines"
I don't doubt what you say about the 1.5 mil slit width. They are much to old for narrow slits.
However on the width, I just ran a loop of Buzz Track on one of my DeVry XD's. There is a very small 'dead zone' when neither tone is heard, so I have to disagree with your statement that it barely scans the track width. Seems just about right to me.
On both slit lenses I have they engraved "35mm" in the side of the barrel. If they were the same as the 16mm ones why would they bother with the engraving?
John,
I'm absolutely sure you won't like the price of a new fp20.
Pete
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-04-2000, 08:06 PM:
The three machines I have (model 10)(mark has seen these machines when at my shop) all allow about 1 1/2 turns of the lateral guide and I tried the uniformity illumination test and granted the high frequency band was above the width of the slit the lowest band was not read
The slit lens had no markings on them at all
I replaced them with some kinotones when I replaced the scanners in some FP20's with reverse scanners so I kept the slits
And they did make a large difference
These machines were purchased directly from a Navy surplus auction one was still crated in the original devrey crate unused.
A clever machine We rent them with a M1000 on the back but with only mono cells and a shaftencoder to drive a Amega dubber
Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 05-04-2000, 09:56 PM:
Gordon,
I haven't taken any serious measurements. All I can say is I get about 1/8 turn on the lateral adjustment between high tone and low tone on the buzz track. Fidelity is good, but still mono. These things went through a few owners before I got them. Maybe someone found an upgrade, but I doubt it.Your rental machines sound very interesting. Are they used often or to they mostly sit in the shop? I'm surprised there is a commercial use for a portable this old.
Pete
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-05-2000, 06:37 AM:
They go out about once every two months I have several co that like them for there steady image in a "semi" portable compare to the MicroCine(mignon's) and Portacine (cinemecanica) that we have
Posted by Harry Robinson (Member # 265) on 05-05-2000, 09:32 AM:
Pete, are you going to replace the slit lens in those 1040's you're rebuilding? After reading these posts I am beginning to wonder what I've gotten myself into. JA Duncan down in Decatur AL told me that any kind of upgrade will start at 350 dollars (for a newer slit lens) to nearly 1000 for the new LED system. Is there a compromise there for those of us on a serious budget? Right now I have my 1040 in about four boxes while I'm repainting the inside. I'm using epoxy enamel. I hate to be the one to bring this up, but it looks to me like a "personal screening room" forum would be a pretty good idea. There are evidently quite a few of us out here who are rebuilding gear as a hobby. It would be great to be able to swap ideas in a dedicated venue.
Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 05-05-2000, 07:40 PM:
Harry,
For the time being I'm going to live with the ones I have. At least until I get the rest of the equipment up and running. $350 and up for new ones is about what I've seen also. When I do upgrade it will be some sort of reverse scan system. Probably partly homemade. I'd like to hear from Bill Purdy of Component Engineering on what he thinks my chances are. I need a little guidance with the optics, the electronics are no problem.I completely disassembled and stripped the paint from the castings on one sound head. Then repainted it, white inside and black outside. Looks real nice. I haven't received the replacement parts I ordered yet, so it's not completely re-assembled. The second head is in the works.
Since this came up I took a real close look at the two RCA 1040 slit lenses I have. Yup, they show signs of oil inside just like the DeVry's did. Harry, you should take a careful look at yours. Now I know that not all of that Simplex oil ends up on the floor. 
Any advice from you guys who service these things? "Throw them away" is not one of the options.
A "personal screening room" forum would be neat. We just have to convince Brad, it's more work for him.
Pete
Posted by Serge Bosschaerts (Member # 298) on 05-06-2000, 01:55 AM:
My screening room has the following set-up :
Screen throw of 10 metres with screen size in Scope of 4.5 x 1.8 metres.
I use for 35mm two Bauer B12 projectors with 1.6 Kw Xenon lamps. I show 1200 metres reels (2 reels) and then change over to the other projector. I have a Bauer rewind system that can show up to 2 1/2 h of film but I prefer to use the change over, much more fun.
For sound a I have a Dolby CP50 with the Dolby SRA5 installed and I'm currently planning to install a Subwoofer.
For 16mm I have a Bauer Multi Selection II 0 with 1.0 Kw Xenon lamp.
I also have a Cinemation IV unit that I use for controlling the lights, sound format, curtain and tabs.