jpierson

Paint thinner and a shop rag did the trick - nothing else was harmed and it looks good as new. The material was a little soft immediately afterward, but once the solvent evaporated, it was great.

<p>Fired them up tonight to find everything works really well. Once the packs were fully energized, one began triggering an internal relay switch that sounded as if something was toggling back and forth about 2x per second. It didn't appear to cause any issues, but at one point the strobes spontaneously fired one time, but the tranceivers are also new to me, so they could have been the culprit in that case.<br>

Any ideas what what switching sound would be? I imagine it will be distracting for someone if they were in the studio with them. Thanks again for your help!<br>

JP</p>

 

<p>Now that I have had a chance to dig in a bit, here are some additional bits - They use 8-pin octal (tube/valve) style strobes. Indeed the power packs use three tubes/valves as well. I found Calumet sales literature from 1966 that has these in it. Immediately and randomly found three more heads with the right connectors, so now it's 2 bases, 7 heads. Now to find where on earth I can find those 8 pin lights...</p>

<p>Here is the jack for the power source, which is hard wired into the head - Does it trigger from the head, the pack, or either?</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks for the warnings! I definitely don't want to find out the hard way that the 1/4" jacks on the heads are not for the triggers. Photos to follow. </p><div></div>

<p>Thanks for the feedback! I was able to get the whole kit for about the price of a replacement bulb (assuming they can still be found). They are working. I'm handy enough to sort a cap swap, but the other elements might be uncharted water. Thanks for the heads up regarding the sync voltage - I'll make sure to get an air gap of some kind in the chain, or just use it with the film stuff. I don't know where to begin with the replacement bulbs - Do they appear to be standard? </p>

<p>Here's a view of the head</p><div></div>

<p>It's actually a Calumet T-1005-C Elliptica. Trying to add photos now. <img src="/photo/17800196" alt="" /><img src="/photo/17800195" alt="" /></p>

I picked up a set of 4 heads and 2 transformers, which have the designation T1000C. These look to be 50s era and come with custom

built lucite carriages which double as stands. The heads are aluminum. Any idea where I can find more information on these? Thanks!

I know I'm not alone in thinking I don't need a faq to teach me how to appreciate the relative strengths and weaknesses of the originality and aesthetics of a photograph. The truth is, you don't need to have ever even seen a camera to know a good photo from a bad one. A technically perfect photograph can also be perfectly boring, and an ugly, blurry shot burned from a neg that was dried over burning newspaper can stop the world's strongest armies in their tracks. I have shot for over 20 years, and I know each month, I take hundreds of terrible photographs. I will take thousands more before I am done. One of my photographic heroes has over a million shots cluttering his home and office. His wife considers every image created by him to be a national treasure. He told me most of it needs to be put through the shredder. He shot a few of those technical disasters that managed to alter the course of history. Every time I see one of my shots branded with another 3/3, I like to think he's looking at my pretty pictures of nothing.

I'll start by saying my name would be first on the list to do it all again tomorrow. I was up at 4am and in bed no earlier than 10:30pm Fri, Sat and Sun. I drove over 100 miles a day for three days, and on race day, had to stop down for a one hour snooze in the car just to be sure I was rested and aware enough to be both quick and safe when the race was on. My ball head stripped out shortly into day 2. I spent almost the cost of a new 28-105 F/4L IS for film and processing, and I got no scans back with my film - just an apology and a store credit. I know I walked close to 40 miles over the weekend, and my feet are still recovering from at least ten blisters. I had a little Napoleonic goon from David Lee Roth's camp threaten me and my equipment repeatedly while he was on stage. Most of my shots were bad. I ran out of film during the pageant. The only crash I caught was on the go-kart track, and I shot it into the sun (I didn't really want to see or shoot a crash, but I can't deny the right shot would have been good for business). Add to it I know there is no way my the bulk of my best shots came out as clean as many of the shots taken by the veteran shooters that were out there. All that said, had I not had to be Mr. Responsible Accounting Guy come Monday, I would probably have at least tried to follow the gang to Denver to do try it there as well. Fun is understating it. I know coming away from this weekend that not only do I love shooting motorsports, I could love it as a career. I will be doing more of it, for sure. I have spent many hours shooting macros of polished granite coutertops in warehouses under competing colors of sodium halide light as well, and even that beats an office job in terms of the gut level thrill of getting paid to do something that doesn't feel like work, even when it's beating the daylights out of you. I have posted up the better of the ones I came across getting some shots out to my employer. When I'm all done, I'll take some down and put up others and will have a best-of, hopefully by next week. I used my Pro-1 for many of the pageant and the winner's circle shots. The thing I notice immediately in all my shots, regardless of the camera is a lack of sharpness. All my lenses were zooms, which I'm sure played some kind of role in that. I was reluctant at first to start this thread - I knew you would be able to count on one hand the number of guys behind the fence shooting film at a race like that. I'm really glad I did, however. Thanks to all once again!

Here is a link to a few preliminary shots. I took over 2500 shots in three days, and at first glance, it looks like my keeper rate is in the low 30% range. Thanks all once again for the advice and tips. It really made a difference in my shooting and how I approached it. Everyone was great to work with. I recognized some heavy hitters from the business, and they too were good people to work with, which was both a relief and a motivator. Fortunately, it was a safe weekend for everyone. Turns three and seven had some nice lines as well, which I will also get up asap. I was expecting 72dpi images on disk back today with the processing, but apparently 81 rolls will overload the memory and kill the scanning run at the processor, which will require them to de-sleeve the negs and start over, so I opted to do it again myself - Another of many reasons digital is a really great way to go for this type of shooting...Thanks all once again<div></div>

It is the SJGP I'll be shooting. Thanks very much for the kind advice!

Thanks, Zach - It's going to be a champ car event on city streets.

I was just granted my first photo credential to an upcoming motorsports event.

I spent the day pondering rental fees for digital gear I have never used, and

decided instead to stick with the gear I know best, which is a pair of A-1s

with motordrives, a bunch of Reala 100 and some alright lenses. It's a working

gig, but obviously I'm not on SI or Auto Week's dime. This kind of event is new

to me. Any thoughts, advice or warnings would be greatly appreciated. I have

the ear plugs, monopod and all that, but there's obviously more to know to get

good shots and get on well with the fellow shooters. I will of course post my

best-of. Thanks once again.