Sam Chavez has passed

[Steve Levy]

I am saddened beyond words to learn of Sam's passing. I met him in 1986 when attending a Dolby training seminar and remained friends with him since.
He was always kind, funny and happy to help with whatever project I was working on. In the past few years we would call each other once or twice a year to see how each other was doing and share a few jokes. Having both started our careers as projectionists then working our way up in the industry, we shared a common bond.
Rest In Peace my friend.

[Frank Angel]

So sad to hear this news. Even sadder to hear that he suffered with dialysis in his last years. We all will eventually pass, but it is hard to hear and so unfair that one should have to suffer. Especially someone like Sam who had a generosity of spirit that made him shine. I envy those of you who knew him personally; I never had the privilege, but in every conversation I had with him on the phone over the years, he never hesitated to offer his knowledge and his help. He was always remarkably patient and kind with my ignorance; he never was short on time, always spent whatever it took until i understood what he was explaining. Yes, he certainly did have and encyclopedic knowledge of all things cinema, but beyond that, he was a damn good teacher. Lots of people are very knowledgeable, and there are good teachers around, but few like Sam are both!

I love the idea that Terry put forth, that Sam will be running 70mm in that big movie palace in the sky -- and with Sam in the booth, every show will be a perfect presentation. It's a really sweet thought.

Requiescat in Pace, Sam.

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

This is indeed very sad news. I met Sam and he is a wonderful person, very kind and full of knowledge that is now lost forever. I can count on one hand the remaining true veterans of the film days, and soon they too will be gone. I was very fortunate to have met most of them in person and hope that what I learned from them can someday be preserved.

[Lyle Romer]

I only knew Sam through the forums here but he seemed like a genuinely good guy. He added great value to any discussion he was involved in and was always looking to help people as much as he could. He will be missed.

To Frank's point, it's terrible that he had to suffer. No good person should have to suffer for the end of their life.

[Laurence Hammett]

Sam was helpful to the very end. Last year He provided me with a card (scarce as hens teeth) so I could marry up a NEW 35mm install in a Dolby Atmos house. Allowed the CP 650 to spit out Digital to the CP 850 since it will not accept analog sound. Also provided a brand new unused CP 650 for another client. I have known him for years and he was always helpful. I missed him very much at Cinemacon this year. Truly a Stable Datum for the industry. He IS missed.

[Tom Horsfall]

I have known Sam since 1965 when I was his relief man at the Cinema Guild theater in Berkeley, CA. I should not be shocked but I am and it is just starting to sink in that I will never talk to him again.
I got out of the theater business in 1980 and went in a different direction but Sam and I stayed in touch and remained friends for sixty years. We could finish each others sentences and a phrase from a fifty year old movie was all it took to fully understand what the other was thinking. I talked to him on the phone Friday before Father's day and near the end of the conversation he said "I am shot to pieces Rooster"
You older projectionists will know where that comes from and what it means. This is my first post and I recognize a lot of your names from conversations with Sam over the years.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

The link is in the next post. The add link feature stripped his name off for some reason..

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

https://obituaries.neptune-society.c...havez-11867032

[Kevin Hewus]

Sad news. I never had any interactions with Sam but always enjoyed his posts. They were always very informative and in a friendly manner. He will be greatly missed my many.

[Tony Bandiera Jr]

Time expired to edit my last post, but I found my last conversation with Sam in my texts...it was Sept. 9 2022. He was in Telluride and we joked about a thread on here. He will be missed by all of us.

[Aaron Garman]

While I never knew or met Sam personally, his posts here were always filled with knowledge and insight. To see how he impacted everyone's life here is quite touching. May his memory be eternal.

[Leo Enticknap]

I did an install last week, part of which involved hooking the output of a CP200 to the multi-channel analog input of a Trinnov. Testing that the channel routing was OK was easier said than done, because there is no way (that any of us in the booth knew of, at any rate) to send either Dolby tone or pink to individual channel outputs from the 200. So all we could do was to hang a few reels and roll them. I brought a reel of mixed SR and SR-D ads and trailers, plus a mono short, and the customer had in the booth a 10-minute Dolby A-type promo reel from, I would guess, the late '70s or early '80s. It consisted of shots of marching bands, the Golden Gate Bridge, various street scenes in San Francisco, and, at the the end, Wendy Carlos (who was credited as Wendy, not Walter, which would place the movie at the mid-'70s or later, at a guess) playing a very psychadelic, synthesiser rendition of the Tannhäuser overture. Sam was on the end credits as a "with thanks to."

[Steve Guttag]

Leo, since Dolby Tone is generated in the CAT22s themselves (or Dolby Noise in the CAT280T), you could remove the individual NR cards, dial up Dolby Tone (66) and plug in the channel desired to check (they are hot-plug/unplug safe). And, you'd get to hear the tone generator ramp up too! Now, on a stock CP200, you only have 4 NR cards/slots so you just get L,C,R,S...if you have the Accessory Rack, then you get the other two to check Le/Re. Dolby Tone, which is around 800Hz (it's modulated so the frequency, by its design, shifts to create the unique tone)...so the various subwoofer LPF is going to mute that way down (depending on the card and possible mods and settings,180Hz, 120Hz, or 100Hz, as I recall). You'd have to create your own format to get the tones on and have discrete routing to the P&Q (BSl, BSr...Or Lrs, Rrs, if you prefer).

Most people would just use their handy CAT85 or SG-1 (Component Engineering) pink noise generator (and the SG-1 has a tone switch with frequency adjust knob) and get to the individual channels. The first CAT141 slot will allow access to the Subwoofer output, the second CAT 141 slot will allow for the 5-screen channels and a mono to all surrounds while the 3rd CAT141 slot will allow discrete access to the P&Q channels (back surrounds Left and Right).

As always, if this is a new installation or even if it is one that has been in for some time, I recommend pulling the CAT143 Non-Sync card and changing R129 from a 1/4W to a 1/2W (680Ω). It is dropping 24V to 10V (using a zener). Quick math shows it is trying to dissipate .288W (depending on how your 24V supply is doing). It is super-easy to find too...don't look on the component side...look on the solder side for the burn/high temp marks...that's it! The longer it has been in service, the darker it gets.

[Leo Enticknap]

Thanks Steve. I suspected that there could be a way of doing it by pulling cards in and out, but I didn't know it, and didn't have the cards.

Anyways, I found the Dolby promo on YT. It was made in 1982, so my guess wasn't too far out!

image.png

[Steve Guttag]

Dolby Listen... They had a whole campaign around it. They had stickers, T-shirts and all with the "Listen..." on it. I still have some. I believe we have a 35mm copy of Listen too. It is cool seeing Sam's name in the credits.