Setting Up The Projector

The apparatus is delivered ready to use.

The lamp is already fitted, all you have to do is fit the winding handle on its shaft after unpacking. Nonetheless, it would be sensible to check the lamp has not been displaced in transit. Open the lamphouse by loosening the knurled knobs (A) on either side. Pull the lamphouse cover backwards, using the nickel-plated knob (B in Fig. 4) and check that the T piece for locating the lamp is pushed right down into its slot at the rear of the lampholder, tighten the knurled retaining screw (not too tight), then replace the cover, tightening the knurled knobs (again, not too tight).

Connecting the Projector

The machine is delivered with a mains lead. Check the precise mains voltage and move the cursor (C) to the corresponding figure on the resistance before connecting to the mains.

The lamp will come on immediately but the automatic shutter prevents the light passing through the film.

It is therefore necessary to crank the handle to get light on the screen.

Adjusting Picture Height

Adjustment is by turning the two feet (D) at the front of the projector. The feet of the Coq d’Or are fitted with rubber to avoid damage to furniture.

This arrangement also allows the projector to be levelled if it is used on an uneven surface.

Threading

Now the machine is ready for use. To load film, proceed as follows.

1. Open the upper cover (E) and place the film cassette on the spindle, with its opening facing the lamphouse. After closing the cover, adjust the cassette slightly until the lugs on the cover engage with the slots on the cassette, locking it in position.

2. Open the lamphouse by pressing the catch (G) on the upper right hand side of the projector, as viewed from the back.

3. Pull about 20 cms of film from the cassette, open the lower chamber cover and attach the end of the film to one of the slots in the take-up core. The film should pass over the upper roller (J), between the gate guides and then under the lower sprung roller (K). Close the lower chamber cover.

4. Holding the film in position, close the lamphouse by simply pushing it forward until it automatically locks in place.

5.Turn the handle, holding the projector steady to avoid vibration affecting the steadiness of the picture.

6. Focus the picture on the screen with the lever (N), raising or lowering the lever to get maximum sharpness.

7. To show a still at any point in the film, (for a maximum of four seconds), simply press the small lever (O) to disengage the mechanism. To stop for longer, press the lever again once the previous frame has moved on.

8. Continue cranking to the end of the film; titles will stop and the film will restart automatically and the film will stop automatically at the end thanks to the patented cassette system.

Rewinding

Once the film has ended, open the lamphouse as for loading, disengage the claw by gently moving the crank handle, then turn the upper crank (P) anti-clockwise. In a few seconds, the film will be completely rewound into its cassette , ready for another showing.

Maintenance

From time to time, remove the guard by loosening the three knobs (R) and put a drop of the special Pathé oil (Ref F 21) on the cam and the bearings.

After each show, clean the fixed and sprung gates to remove any particles of film that may have built up.

It is advisable also to clean the condenser (from inside the lamphouse???) and the lens which can be accessed from inside the mechanism guard???

From time to time, oil the shutter bearing inside the lamphouse.

Properly maintained, the Coq d’Or will last indefinitely, no part being susceptible to breakdown.

Super Attachment for the Coq d’Or

The Super Attachment for spools of up to 100metres consists of two arms fixed to a bracket, which has a "buttonhole" at the top and a slot at the bottom. Mounting is extremely easy, just loosen the two nickel knobs on the front of the machine by a few millimetres to insert the bracket and then re- tighten.

The lower arm carries a pulley to take the drive belt, which runs from the pulley (U) beneath the crank handle. This drives the film take-up.

The upper arm also carries a pulley (V) which, after projecting the film, should be connected to the upper pulley (X) next to the rewind handle (P) with the rewind belt. This pulley, driven by the rewind handle turned anti-clockwise will very quickly rewind the film onto the empty spool on the upper arm.

NOTE. The same belt serves both to take up the film onto the lower spool and then to rewind onto the upper spool.

Special Coq d’Or Motor

The special drive motor for the Coq d’Or is mounted on a base for instant attachment to the rear of the projector.

Two nuts and bolts (Z) are provided with the motor. These are fitted to the two holes in the base of the projector, after loosening the soft nuts (???)almost completely, then re-tightening by a quarter turn to ensure they don’t fall off. (???).

To fix the motor, simply connect the power plug in the base to the two pins at the rear of the projector, pushing it well home, then move the two bolts (Z) to the rear (???) and tighten them securely. Finally, connect the motor pulley (Pm) to the large projector pulley (Pp) to complete assembly.

The base of the motor has a switch (Ir) on the right and a rheostat (Rh) on the left for controlling the speed of the motor. The switch controls the current to both the lamp and the motor.

Connection to the power supply is made in exactly the same way as for the projector itself.

Coqs d'Or are supposed to be rare, but there seems to be a small breeding colony somewhere south of the Midlands; Bob Andrews has one, used to illustrate the instructions above, Willem Hackmann seems to have two, (one of which can be seen below), and I, too, now have one, albeit a humble hand-cranked machine with no Super Arms.

Those Super Arms look as if they might be copyable.......

Lux instructions - extracts

Pathé did a pretty flash-looking instruction booklet for the Lux...........

.......but would you really want that grinning loony showing films to your kids? He's obviously some sort of psycho. A typical nine-fiver, in fact. (Just kidding, guys!)

Cinegel Silent

Did you ever have one of those days? There was I, innocently trying to run a bit of 9.5 I'd just checked, repaired and cleaned. I thought, "What a good opportunity to try out that little Cinegel". So I did; all well, quite a bright pic I thought from the 250v 300w A1/37, tho' the projection lens leaves a bit to be desired tho' of course nothing else will actually fit. Then a sudden clonk. Funny, I thought. Stopped (First Commandment) and checked. Projector turning over OK, concluded I had joggled the projector (I was tensioning the feed reel by hand). Tried again, OK for a moment or two then big clonk and projector stops.

Nothing for it now but to take it apart. Above are the projector, then a naked rear view with the lamp housing detached, then a close-up of the claw mechanism (which looks quite a bit like a Vox claw). What had happened was that part of the condenser lens, ie one of the two elements, and the spring separating them, had fallen out into the mech. They were supposed to be held in place by a circlip affair, ie a springy bit of wire in a ring bigger than the hole, squashed to fit and so grip. Clear? The circlip was still in place, it was just not doing its job. How or why I know not, but the missing bits were still able to fall out when I re-fitted them.

So, into my trusty gander bag to find something to replace it. Remember one should never throw anything away (Second Commandment) ? Well, I keep all sorts, and found an odd bit of spring wire that turned out to be just right when bent to shape. That was the easy part. When I put the machine back together, narrowly avoiding forgetting to re-fit the drive pulley and belt, came to put the lamp back in and it wouldn't fit. I'd put the back element of the condenser in the wrong way round and it was fouling the lamp. Open it all up again, re-fit lens, then spot that I had broken off one of the lamp wires in all my fiddling. Re-solder, struggle to re-align lamp. Other end of wire breaks off. When I finally get it all back together ready to test, I found that, this time, I had not managed to avoid missing off the main pulley and belt. By the time I finally got it all working, I was a bit peeved. Not one of my better days.

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