The Film Daily (1942)

8 • EQUIPMENT NEWS &*^ltin Friday, June 5, 1942J Theater Interests Hail Victory Carbon Replacements Status Acute Cole Compiling Facts at Their Source (Continued from Page (•) from the material point of view, because of their solid technical attributes and the saving of precious metal and electrical power, but also from the standpoint of patriotic cooperation, which showmen are happy to extend, understanding as they do the circumstances bearing upon the new carbons' introduction. NCC officials and engineers point out that reduction in thickness of copper coating lowers the upper limit of arc current at which these carbons can be operated with satisfactory results, and, because of this, theaters which have been operating their lamps at the maximum allowable current for the carbons of normal copper coat thickness previously available may experience some reduction in screen illumination. However, there should still be sufficient screen light for acceptable projection. The change in copper coating may also result in slightly less steady light and in a little longer spindle. On the other hand, these carbons will give as much light and essentially as long carbon life as that obtained at corersponding arc current from the carbon formerly supplied. In fact, those theaters which had not been supplied with the improved 8 mm. "Suprex" positive carbons will find that, at corresponding values of arc current, the 8 mm; thin coated "Suprex" positive, which is of the improved type, will give approximately 20 per cent more screen light and slightly longer life than the old standard 8 mm. "Suprex" positives they have been using. Possible Adjustments Operation of projection lamps at reduced arc current may also, in some instances, lequire adjustment of the feed ratio of the projection lamps in order to maintain correct position of the carbons with a minimum of manual adjustment. On some lamps it will be. necessary to use a larger negative carbon to adapt the burning ratio of the carbons at reduced arc current to the fixed feed ratio of the lamp. Some projection lamps are adjusted to obtain maximum efficiency in screen light production by focusing the crater image close to the dimensions of the film aperture when the lamp is operated at maximum allowable arc current. With such adjustment, reduction of arc current to the limit of the thin coated carbon may result in dark or discolored corners on the screen. If this condition is encountered, the lamp manufacturer should be consulted for instructions covering the mirror adjustment needed to correct this condition. ( Continued f situation to be so critical currently that he is personally making a survey nationally to determine what steps must be taken to alleviate the condition. He told FILM DAILY EQUIPMENT NEWS that "the unfortunate part of this is that the exhibitors as a rule are unaware of the critical shortage, and their first notice of it comes when something happens." "The average tube life," Cole declared, "is six months. Representatives of RCA tell me that they are very near the bottom of the barrel, and Western Electric representatives tell me that they still have some, but are cutting down orders to bare necessities. "For instance, one of the theaters at Bastrop, Tex., burned out an exciter lamp. Supply houses in Dallas did not have one in stock. However, one of the supply concerns borrowed one from a customer. As it happened the Batrop Theater was shut down for several hours. What about next time? "Rollers, in time, will wear. When this occurs, they are sent in to be ground. When this is done, the tolerance is changed; and while you cannot be absolutely sure in tracing the increase of fires to this, it is highly probable that it is the cause. rom Page (>) "Condensers may last three years or they may last only 30 minutes. After one starts to depreciate there develops a hum in the sound. The 1 general practice heretofore has been ! to replace them at once. Today, the 1 engineer makes the operator keep on using them until they burn out | entirely. Even if it does, there are I few condensers left on the shelves. Dip in Machine Parts "Machine parts are going down. No new gears are to be obtained. They are made of bronze. The only solution is that we close the theaterwhile we see if we can find some method of convincing the Government of the conditions. "Critical material to replace these repair items would not go into enormous tonnage. This is not a serious matter with Western Electric Co. and RCA, because their plants are i doubtless engaged in highly profitable work, but it is a serious problem with the motion picture indusI try." Cole left Dallas early this week for this city and has been stopping at the local Hotel Ambassador. On his agenda are visits to the RCA plant in Camden, and to Western Electric's New York offices, as well as to other equipment manufacturers i in the New York area. Film House Upkeep Holding Spotlight (Continued from Page 6) s being backed heavily by theate rnd their projectionists, particulai . in the wake of the recent mergiru of the IA and SMPE to accomplisl this. Substantiating the trend natij*" ally toward such conservation WL upkeep, Altec announces the expar? sion of its activities to the seivicinr of the 53 theaters, in Los Angele i and vicinity, formerly under th supervision of the Sound Maint<' nance Co. R. D. Barry, of the latte company, has been appointed to ac as special representative for Alte in that area. Additionally, United Detroit Thea ters, now under contract for sounand repair-replacement service, ha turned over to Altec Service the re sponsibility for booth maintenanc in their 19 theaters. F. C. Dickeh for Altec, arranged this added pre tection. The Cocalis Circuit has appointe Altec to service the sound equipmen' provide repair-replacement seivicj and furnish sound and booth pari to the entire circuit of theaters. Bei Sanford negotiated for Altec. Too, the Wometco Circuit ha signed an agreement with Altec f c , sound and repair-replacement sei vice to their 18 theaters in Florid; A. Fio; e negotiated for Altec. New Government Films Raise Tech. Standards WB Stand Re-Seats New Haven — Warners are re-seating the 2.076-seat Roger Sherman without closing the house. American Seating sold the chair&. {Continued from Pope (>) rocating object, particularly mechanisms operating at high speeds, serves to confuse the actual motion and mislead the viewer by reason of the apparent reversal action of the moving mechanism as depicted on the screen. Stroboscopic action is noticeably absent in both the films dealing with Operations on the Radial Drill which the Yorke Studio produced for the national training program. The elimination of stroboscopic action was achieved by Producer Yorke and Cinematographer Edward Hyland through the planned distribution of light timed to synchronize with the speeds of the revolving di ill and the camera. Thus the optical distortion, so prevalent in mechanical action films has been successfully overcome in these training pictures. Another important production development by the Yorke Studio is the utilization of lucite to demonstrate the action of a tap in steel. Heretofore, line animation has been considered the most practical method of portraying the action of any moving mechanical part in an opaque body and the usual formula consisted of graphing the desired action via a cross-section breakdown. Now, lucite, a transparent plastic possessing unusual light transmission properties, has most effectively served the motion picture camera as the medium through which the authentic action of a tap in steel can be illustrated. Did you know that National's regular service to theatre owners includes such unusual merchandise as * Emergency lighting systems * Shatter-resistant glass coating * Luminescent blackout signs * Reflectone cosmetic chairs * Boxoffice safes for blackouts *" Reel repair service and many other timely specialties created to meet today's conditions. National Theatre Supply Company always tries to give you that extra bit of service that makes it a pleasure to do business here. More than ever today, it pays to go National all the way. NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY COMPANY 1 J Lbl 2 3 a N IS H ± ♦? *7 M U Z "IS I cif ci CJMd •*! *W y\ 1 j M H 1 f\ ■ ) fci 1 *)M I"