Home     9.5   16   Multi-gauge   17.5   28   Pix   Miscellany

NEWCOMERS

CINERDISTAN  is about:

Narrow-gauge projectors (tho' occasionally 35mm), which are my principal interest, so this is the main topic. I prefer this term to "sub-standard", which sounds wrong.

                                Film                                  i.e. cellulose acetate, celluloid, mylar, polyester or whatever

                       9.5mm                                        This is where I started and remains a major interest            

                               17.5mm                            Although I had 17.5mm long ago, this is a much more recent obsession

                       28mm                              I think it must be something about the idiosyncrasy of Mr. Pathé's gauges

                       8, 16, 35mm                           I like to be able to dabble in all gauges, but  these just don't do it for me like the others.  I don't try to get into the really obscure stuff

                                                                                        like 22mm or early 17.5 gauges like Biokam - not enough machines

Cine technology                    and it's history

                                Document Archival          The scanning of old documentary material is becoming increasingly important in Cinerdistan. Old projector manuals, catalogues, adverts etc

                                                                                        are becoming increasingly rare and fragile. I think failure to share material has been one of the besetting sins of the cine world

                       Film Preservation                and anything else cine-related that catches my interest.   Links to other sites are in Miscellany.

 This site is not for people who just want to watch films on DVD. Go away. There is a place for DVD's, but this ain't it.

(There’s not really much about cameras/film-making either, tho' some cameras are quite nice)

To contact me, click here for details.

The Contents Page is designed to give you a quick guide to what is here, and has special navigational features to allow you to look

at the guide itself as well as links to all the main sections. Finding your way around is easy; just left click on any blue underlined text to go

there. To return, click the left or back arrow in the top LH corner of your screen. Alternatively, you can use the blue links at the top and

bottom of most pages to skip around. Some older pages still use a list on the left of the screen which acts in the same way

SAFETY

It occurs to me that there may be people viewing this site who have only recent experience of matters electrical. Please

BE WARNED - old projectors etc were not built to modern safety standards and can be dangerous.

240v and 110v will kill if you let them. Electrical shorts can be explosive. I have had

mains  shocks and was lucky to survive; it is most unpleasant.

Follow a few simple rules:-

-never plug anything in without checking it first. You could damage the machine and yourself

-use a transformer wherever possible, not the original resistances many projectors used

-don't trust any old wiring; it decays, gets brittle, breaks and causes short circuits

- do add an earth - most old machines and transformers don't have one

-after checking, test by setting projector controls to ON then, without touching the machine,

switch on the mains from a safe distance

-get a mains tester screwdriver and use it before touching machines you are not certain of

-use an RCD (Residual Current Detector), a safety device readily available from DIY stores

If in doubt, get expert help.

Home     9.5   16   Multi-gauge   17.5   28   Pix   Miscellany