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Author Topic: Motiograph Projector question Sam Hunter Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 779 From: West Monroe, LA, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 06-07-2004 10:30 PM                     I am considering getting back into film in a year or two and was pondering the idea of resurecting a motiograph AA and was curious about parts availiabilty, reliability, etc. Or should I consider a simplex or at least going back with my favorite, yep a brenkert?  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 06-07-2004 10:34 PM                     Gordon is the Guru on Moshees.... He'll clue you in.  |  IP: Logged Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 06-07-2004 11:20 PM                     Motiographs are good machines.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-07-2004 11:40 PM                     The AA and AAA was probably the best american made projector end of discussion  |  IP: Logged Jeff Stricker Master Film Handler Posts: 481 From: Calumet, Mi USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 06-08-2004 05:11 AM                     Sam, a lot of the Motios were in drive-ins. Therefore be sure the one you are considering doesn't have a DI shutter (as mine had). Finding a replacement won't be easy. My AA was just something to tinker with. Still like my BX-40's and BX-60 the best! Jeff  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 06-08-2004 05:34 AM                     Yup! Brenkerts rock!!! Moshee was an excellent machine as Gord mentioned...but parts are very expensive and hard to find. The only real bad thing I can say about the moshee was that stupid terrible inefficient hunk of crap they called a barrel shutter. Maybe I am biased, Gord. I serviced those things. Maybe I didn't have the magic touch like Gordon has, but I dreaded trying to time those darn things. Other than that, they were not very difficult to work on. Extremely reliable with a picture as steady as a rock-just like the Simplex E-7 and a good running Brenkert.  |  IP: Logged Sam Hunter Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 779 From: West Monroe, LA, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 06-08-2004 07:04 AM                     Thanks guys P.S. I hope all of you guys are well and wish all of you the best  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-08-2004 07:32 AM                     "The AA and AAA was probably the best american made projector end of discussion" I don't quite agree with that assumption. They were good machines, very reliable, but had too many gears pairs and developed too much lost motion when they did start to wear out. LOTS AMD LOTS OF BALL BEARINGS IN THEM! There was also a strange flicker in the beast that people that worked for Motiograph admitted could not be gotten rid of..... I don't think they ever knew what actually caused it. This flicker was not present in the older Model K. The model 7500 sound reproducer is a piece of junk compared to the 4 star Simplex or RCA 9030. Best American projector........ There is none. All american made projectors had some major problem or major disadvantage with them one way or another and still do to this day. The best are still the older European made machines of which some parts or sections of American machines were vague copies. BTW: There are no new parts available fomr Wolk for any Motiographs any longer. You probably ought to stick with a BX-60, a Century, or an X-L. There are still some new parts available for Brenkert from Wolk. Parts for the others are available from multiple sources. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 06-08-2004 09:56 AM                     John Eickhof had tons of NOS Motiograph parts.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-08-2004 10:22 AM                     There is a company in India who makes cams stars and sprockets for motiograph havent tried them and can't seem to find the flyer I had for them at the moment The flicker issue was caused by the different speed of light cutoff of the opposing edges of the barrel shutter The larger the barrel the bigger the difference expecially with lamphouse with a wide entry cone The K could not accept many of the faster lamphouses so it wasn't an issue The Vic10 and the Ernamann 8 and 9 also exhibited the same effect with certain lamphouses  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 06-08-2004 03:02 PM                     I'd pick a Motiograph over any other machine made then or now. Besides what Gordon mentioned there are enough of them around to come up with spare parts. But it's not like the thing will fall apart on you. Properly maintained they will outlast you. The Motio always gave me the smoothest picture of any brand and I credit the barrel shutter for that. It wouldn't hurt to have a spare machine ready to go.  |  IP: Logged Sam Hunter Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 779 From: West Monroe, LA, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 06-08-2004 04:55 PM                     One reason I am considering Moshee (?) is due to the looks. I think the thing looks cool. By the way, will a AA bolt up to a 9030 sound head?  |  IP: Logged John Anastasio Master Film Handler Posts: 325 From: Trenton, NJ, USA Registered: Sep 2000 posted 06-08-2004 05:27 PM                        Yes, it will Sam. You have to get the drive gear for it to replace the chain drive sprocket. It fits right into the same drive shaft slot. The nice thing about the Motiograph is that you don't need to invest in an oil well to keep it running. The ball bearings are not that difficult to replace and the gear train is simple to pull apart .Those big red gear caps look really cool, too. I've got a completely redone AA and a box 'o parts from another. I've only run it up once, but it was rock solid. I agree that they're beautiful machines and, like you, I'm a die-hard Brenkert fan.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-08-2004 05:56 PM                        Is anyone actually running Motiographs in a theatre? I've never seen them in use, though lots of theatres still have their Motiograph bases. Brenkerts seem to be more popular and I run Enarcs once a month or so. As most people here know, I'm a Century fan, but I'd love to have just one night to run a full-blown Brenkert booth, complete with "streamlined" magazines, etc. I agree that Motiographs look pretty spiffy as well.  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 06-08-2004 06:54 PM                       I ran these a lot and my best friend (now out of the business) was a huge fan of these. We had endless arguments about them. The picture was rock steady and every pad roller and everything else had some sort of vernier adjustment. Very intricate and very pretty. However, I've never seen a Motiograph without travel ghost, due to the lost motion Mark mentioned. Even without filed out shutters they had ghost. You just couldn't see it well in a drive-in. The original AA actually had double barrel shutters. The inner barrel was eliminated as the bearings kept failing due to heat from the light cone. There was also a Motiograph Drive-In base, which was heavy duty and somewhat Deco in design and meant for an upward projection angle. Went well with Ashcraft lamps. Then there was the Motiograph Miraphonic(sp) sound. All this makes me sound even older than I am.  |  IP: Logged

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