Renzo's box over on Film Tech looks an absolute dream of a box for any later GS 1200 owner.

With even the mandatory 23.976 frame rate now on board, perfect for synchronization with all Blu Ray discs, this sync box is even better than the original Pedro box in theory.

Really clever stuff this Ardunio gear for those who work with it!
Less than one frame per hour inaccuracy! 😊😊

Very well done Renzo, now just needs a 9v socket fitting for perfection, with an adaptor for a mains power supply for it.

Consider me a customer for one if you require advanced orders, even still using a breadboard if necessary.
Must have a mains power supply for it though!

I don't want to seem like the devil, who appears when you speak about, but I was surprised and curious that someone speaks about me in another forum of film passionates.
For this reason I decided to subscribe here, despite my poor english.

First I want to greet all the members of this forum, many of them I already met elsewhere, and from whom I learnt a lot about our hobby.
I hope with my little contribution to be useful to someone of you.

Andrew, coming to my sync box for Elmo GS1200, I want to thank you for your enthusiastic words about it, but it's still under test by another passionate who has the original Pedro's box and is an expert in dubbing super8 films.
If he will judge it at least equal in performances to the Pedro's one, I will decide if to rebuild it for others.
It is no problem to substitute the present battery with a 9V DC power supply through an appropriate socket.

I am willing to answer any question about my sync box or to evaluate all the suggests who someone wants to propose.

Thank you all
Renzo

I would be very much interested hearing more about this! I have bought the plug needed for connecting to the Elmo, and started to read about how things worked but I never got around doing any programming or soldering. I have played with arduinos myself, and this is very much of interest.

Hi Eivind, nice to meet you and thanks for your interest!

Sincerely I didn't think my sync box raised such an interest, because the original sync box can be substituted by a computer connection.
My sync box was born from an evolution of a personal project. Using an Arduino board at first I built a very precise tool for tuning the speeds of DC motor driven projectors. Since I repair myself all the film projectors I collect, I needed a stroboscopic light that helped me to fine regulate their speeds.
To test the accuracy of the stroboscopic light at different speeds, I used my GS1200 and my Visacustics projectors driven by a computer. I was surprised to verify a so high accuracy of the tool that afterwards I thought to try to reproduce the original Pedro's box, since I have never owned one.
At the moment, my prototype is equivalent to the P1008GS-Q original sync box, but, in addition to the four original frequencies, it allows to sync the projector also to the NTSC frequency of 23,976 Hz.

Renzo

You have done a magnificent job Renzo and if the box turns out to be "universally" accurate after extended testing, as I know you are currently actively doing, then I would be interested in pursuing this project with you further involving the necessary extra controlling circuits for motor drives for a wide range of DC electronically controlled machines.

I very much look forward to hearing of the initial outcome from your extended tests with your assistant on this.

I would like to make known the final results about the deep test of my new sync box for Elmo GS1200.
The box was employed for the whole redubbing of a Kempsky print of "Ben Hur" (8x180 reels) by a member of Film Tech Forum (Maurizio).
He is an expert in redubbing super8 films and owns an original Pedro's box he usually utilizes to carry out these tasks.
The test ended positively. In both phases, consisting of transfer by the camera to the computer of the entire film for redubbing and the final one of recording the sound from the computer to the soundstripes, the box drove in perfect sych the GS1200 with no lacks. No reels has been to rework twice.
Maurizio is such entusiast about the rerecording test that he desires one of my box to put beside his original Pedro's one.

Other Film Tech Forum's members contacted me private asking if I was willing to build other boxes. I replied I would have decided to build them only if the test had been positive.
Taking in account that I am not a professional, and I can build these boxes in my spare time, I wish to offer the same opportunity also to the members of this Forum.
So if someone is potentially interested in this sync box for Elmo GS1200, I wish he contacted me. This is useful to me
for understanding the total number requested, to plan the work and to establish a reasonable price.
If you are interested to know how my project was born and grown, please take a look at the following thread:

http://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ub...ic;f=1;t=011864

Thank you
Renzo

fantastic work Renzo. I just need a GS 1200 now!

Seriously though, if you can configure a box that would work as the Fuji Puls sync controller does c/w analogue meter, I am in!!

Andrew, at the moment I am working at a version of this box for my Braun Visacustic projectors with Braun control unit.
This alternative box is able to generate 1000 hz pulse at the same high precision frequencies of my Elmo's box.
So also the Braun projectors will be crystal control driven without connection by a computer.
I don't know how the Fujica puls sync controller works, I never had one, but if it produces 1000hz pulses for driving the projector, this alternative box could work.

I think it uses different configurations from the din pins Renzo and an usually high voltage present on a few of the pins from speaking with Bill Parsons a while back.

Without ever having an original controller to ever test its output, it remains something of a mystery just for these machines.

I thought the Visacoustics worked from pulses just from the Braun Steuergerat Renzo?

It is true, Andrew, the control unit can generate sync pulses, but not crystal controlled.
Originally the Braun Visacustic control unit was conseived to drive the projector with 1000hz pulses previously recorded on a tape recorder in sync with the soundtrack during the shootings with high end Braun Nizo cameras. So the unit has a six pin socket to accept these sync pulses. My alternative box substitutes the tape recorder and feeds the unit with high precision crystal controlled 1000hz pulses. In this way the projector is crystal controlled.

Thanks Renzo, that all makes perfect sense. I have a Cresta Pulse sync controller that could probably benefit from the same. This may then work for a GS or a Braun in a similar manner. It is just the fuji configuration that remains a mystery until a controller can finally be found.

Hello,

Would I be correct in thinking the Renzo box would support Blu-Ray in BOTH PAL and NTSC (at a frame rate of 23.976?).
Or, in other words, could this box be used in the US with a non-Pal Blu-Ray DVD player?

And, that the sync box would NOT support regular NTSC DVD (non Blu-Ray) because that frame rate of 29.97 does not appear to be an option on Renzo's box?

I appreciate any help on demystifying this.....

see post number 1 here Greg.

Hi Greg, I apologize but my english is too poor to explain it here in few words ...
A good explanation about the NTSC system and the 3:2 pulldown method for transferring of a 24fps film to a NTSC video, you can find here:

https://documentation.apple.com/en/final...=2%26tasks=true

To reach 29.97 x 2 = 59.94 fields/second of a interlaced NTSC video, one field every 4 is doubled, so, to stay in sync with the soundtrack they have to be faster than the original ones. At the end one second of 3:2 pulldown video at 29.97 fps corresponds to one second in a sequence of 23.976 fps. This is why the projector have to run at 23.976 fps during redubbing the film with a soundtrack taken from any NTSC video (interlaced or progressive).