Hallen Film Recorder

this film describes the Howen film recorder reproducer and its operation the hen 126x film recorder reproducer runs in perfect synchronization with the AC power line permitting its use in recording or playing back Motion Picture soundtracks without losing lip sync are affecting timing accuracy the hen should always sit upright in order that the damping fluid inside will not be spilled on the front of the hen are located the mode switch the record indicator light the motor switch the record level control and the Vu meter the supply spindle is on the left at the top and the takeup spindle is on the right the parts of the threading path are the upper sprocket rollers the film Gates the sprocket the lower sprocket rollers the filter rollers the flywheel drums and the heads on the left side of the hen is the connector panel here are connections for microphone line input line output and headphones as well as the dialogue equalizer control when it is used in control room 3 the hen will normally be connected for you by a department technician the input of the hen is normally fed from either the line one or line two position of the line out key on the console whichever you specify the hen output will be fed into mixer 4 or mixer 5 whichever you specify the hen's amplifiers are turned on by rotating the level control until it clicks the level control is set and left at the first Mark approximately at 8:00 this control affects recording level only playback level is set internally on the left side of the unit is the mode switch at the full clockwise position is playback when playing back recorded filmed the switch should be in this position the next position counterclockwise is Q in this position the machine is not recording but the output signal the Vu meter reading and the signal in the headphones are whatever is coming into the input of the recorder rather than what is on the film the next position is record you will notice the record light above the mode switch comes on in this position the machine would be recording if the film were in motion the Vu meter headphones and output line are fed the incoming signal the record mode has no interlock or fail safe so anytime the record light is on and film is in motion new material will be recorded and old material destroyed the last position counterclockwise is Monitor as indicated by the record light the machine is still recording but in this position the Vu meter headphones and output are fed with the recorded signal off the film this provides a check to see if the machine is recording properly the motor in the hen is operated by the motor switch and can be run whether or not the amplifiers are on the switch has only three positions reverse off and forward the machine function is determined by the mode switch mentioned earlier to thread the hen flip the Reel retainers out and open the two film Gates place a reel of AWI magnetic film on the supply spindle and an empty reel on the takeup spindle and flip both of the Reel retainers down thread the end of the film behind the left upper sprocket roller around the sprocket and behind the left lower sprocket roller making sure that the sprocket has engaged the holes in the film closed the left film gate and thread the film around the left flywheel drum and threw the slot across the heads at this point the dull oxide side of the film should be up then bring the film around the right flywheel drum and behind the right filter filter roller and lower sprocket roller now pull the film and engage it with the Sprocket in such a manner as to cause the filter rollers at the bottom to be spread approximately 1 half an inch apart if the film is pulled tighter flutter will result if not pulled tight enough poor high frequency response and muffled sound will occur to record on the hen first bulk erase the film since the hen cannot erase then thread the machine and turn the mode switch to the record or monitor position switch the motor switch to forward and wait about 2 or 3 seconds for the film to stabilize then begin feeding the desired signal when you are through recording turn off the motor switch turn the mode switch to playback and then turn the motor switch to reverse until you reach the beginning of the recording then you switch the motor to forward and the Machine will playback the recording make sure you switch the mode to to playback before you reverse the film if the machine is left in record or monitor while reversing the recording will be destroyed if the hen is used for a location recording it will likely be used with one microphone instead of a console and headphones instead of the control room speaker for monitoring the headphones are plugged into the monitor Jack and the microphone cable is plugged into the standard mic receptacle on the left side of the hen a location recording is made exactly as if you were in the control room except that the record level control becomes an operating rather than a fixed control and is used with the Vu meter to set and adjust microphone levels an additional tool is available for location recording it is the dialogue equalizer the dialog equalizer has three positions position one does not alter the sound from the microphone positions two and three provide increasing amounts of low frequency attenuation to eliminate pickup of building Rumble and traffic noises or to Crispen the sound when the microphone is used far away from the actors the hen has no fast rewind or fast forward modes however you can speed up the film motion somewhat by unthreading the machine and letting the film run directly from real to real