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Author Topic: Radio Sound at Drive-Ins --- When?
Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001


 - posted 04-22-2006 05:38 PM      Profile for Michael Coate   Email Michael Coate   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Who has experience working at or attending drive-in movies? I'm wondering when was your first encounter with "radio sound" (Cine-Fi, etc.) as opposed to hanging a speaker on your car door?

Drive-ins have never been of much interest to me and thus I haven't done much research on the subject. Recently, however, I came across some newspaper ads touting "sound via your car's FM-radio."

What surprised me was the timeframe of the ads (late 1960s) and at least one feature was actually advertised as being "in stereo." I guess I figured this FM thing came along later than the '60s and that even when employed the sound was mono.

Prior to the use of SVA optical prints, were the booths equipped with some sort of mixer to convert what I would presume was a conventional 4-track mag print into the two-channel system found in automobiles? Or, were special 2-track prints made especially for drive-in use?

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John Vincent, Jr.
Film Handler

Posts: 16
From: Eastham, MA, USA
Registered: Jul 2003


 - posted 04-22-2006 07:32 PM      Profile for John Vincent, Jr.   Author's Homepage   Email John Vincent, Jr.   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
This is the earliest I have heard of FM sound at a Drive-In. AM sound has been around since the early 60's I would guess. Before then it wouldn't have been practical since many cars didn't have radios at all.

Many drive-ins did have 4 track mag penthouses for print compatibility, so they could circuit with indoor houses.

Here in Wellfleet we added FM stereo in 1994, and still maintain 100% mono speakers in the field.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 04-22-2006 07:54 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
A drive In that I serviced in the past in Monroe, WI has been running a 25 watt Gates FM stereo exciter since the early 70's. A pull from a radio station owned by the same family. Only one of the Drive Ins that I have serviced over the years has all three. FM, AM, and speakers andits a twin in Bass Lake, IN. Its possible that he has since abandoned the AM stuff since I moved out here to Mountain Counrty.

Mark

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Jonathan M. Crist
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 531
From: Hershey, PA, USA
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 - posted 04-23-2006 01:09 AM      Profile for Jonathan M. Crist   Email Jonathan M. Crist   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
A drive-in that I worked at in the late 60's into early 70's had 4 track mag heads and the 4 tracks were merged into one output then into the mono sound system for the in-car speakers (that was all we had at that time). The mag heads had been installed as original equipment when the drive-in was built in 1955 due to print availability.

I remember that the mag heads had not been used for a very long time when we got the word we were getting "Kelly Heroes" and the only print that was available was mag only. The service tech and myself worked several hours to get the mag heads and system back up and running - all for a three day run of KH. I don't think the mag head system was ever used again after that.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

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From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
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 - posted 04-23-2006 02:01 AM      Profile for Monte L Fullmer   Email Monte L Fullmer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I worked at a drive-in that had Motiograph AA's setup with Motiograph mag penthouses with Motiograph amplifiers..and each pole had two speakers for stereo sound....

I do believe that the old Park-VU Dr.In, in SLC had basically the same setup since the booth was 35/70mm operational..and the screen was tall,curved and was huge!

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Phil Blake
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From: esperance western australia
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 - posted 04-23-2006 07:55 AM      Profile for Phil Blake   Author's Homepage   Email Phil Blake   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It was about 1980 when we introducted Cine-Fi FM radio sound to our Drive In. We kept speakers on the front 4 ramps and fitted signal boosters to the poles on the rear ramps.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

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From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003


 - posted 04-23-2006 11:10 AM      Profile for Sam D. Chavez   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Some of the DI mag systems had a switch on the penthouse that either chose center only or a "mix" of LCR. The purpose was to prevent a phase flip in one of the other channels causing a cancellation in the audio.

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Jack Ondracek
Film God

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From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002


 - posted 04-23-2006 11:39 AM      Profile for Jack Ondracek   Author's Homepage   Email Jack Ondracek   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Phil Blake
It was about 1980 when we introducted Cine-Fi FM radio sound to our Drive In.
That's interesting. I thought Cine-Fi was only AM... the system that Pacific Theatres imported from Japan.

Early use of FM radio station cast-offs makes sense, though none of that was done in our area. The Washington branch of Pacific's drive-ins (United Drive-In Theatres) had a ton of Cine-Fi AM stuff, but no FM that I ever heard of... at least not until last year.

No use of Mag sound up here, either. As far as I've been able to tell, we all transitioned from speakers to either AM, or FM. Two of our drive-ins still maintain their speaker systems. One is in almost new condition.

FM conversions up here were a little late... early to mid '80s. Most of our drive-ins closed before they had the chance to upgrade their original installs.

Any of you Seattle guys correct me if you know something I might miss here. I think the Altec and Simplex sound gear was popular with the United drive-ins. SRO used a lot of RCA. I didn't see a wall of Motiograph amplifiers at a drive-in until I moved to Oregon (WOW!).

Cine-Fi AM is still in use at United's last remaining drive-in (a 6-plex), though they've recently put FM on one of the screens.

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

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From: prospect ky usa
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 - posted 04-23-2006 12:42 PM      Profile for Louis Bornwasser   Author's Homepage   Email Louis Bornwasser   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Most "stereo" in drive ins meant 2 speaker mono or 4 track downconverted to mono.

I used the LPB am transmitter in 1970 in a 1600 car drive-in here as a test. Owner would not buy it because he felt the car batteries would not start the car at the end of the night.

FM was slower because part 15 did not originally apply to FM. Louis

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John Pytlak
Film God

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From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
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 - posted 04-24-2006 01:22 PM      Profile for John Pytlak   Author's Homepage   Email John Pytlak   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
When I worked at the Grandview Drive-In in Angola NY, I built a home brew AM transmitter in 1968 that was coupled to the underground speaker wiring. About half the audience preferred the AM radio sound, event though plenty of speakers were available on the lot. We played several films in "stereo" using the in-car speakers for one channel, and the AM for the other: GWTW (remix), "2001 A Space Odyssey" (during the week of the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969) and "Funny Girl".

Biggest problems at the time were nightime interference from Radio Havana on the frequency we chose (640 KHz), and older tube type car radios running down car batteries. We always had jumper cables handy for the dead batteries.

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Mitchell Dvoskin
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From: West Milford, NJ, USA
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 - posted 04-24-2006 03:53 PM      Profile for Mitchell Dvoskin   Email Mitchell Dvoskin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Carrier Current AM was legal from the early 1960's on. It allowed you to broadcast though electrical wires, and to be legal, could not be picked up more than 30 feet from your property. Many Drive-in's and college dorms used this format.

I was involved with the Paramus Drive-In (Paramus, NJ) in 1980-1981, and we had an illegal stereo FM transmitter that we broadcasted the left / right from our Dolby CP-50. You could pick us up on the Garden State Parkway, ¼ mile away. I believe low power FM was legalized somewhere in the late 1980's.

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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

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From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001


 - posted 04-24-2006 05:09 PM      Profile for Michael Coate   Email Michael Coate   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
I do believe that the old Park-VU Dr.In, in SLC had basically the same setup since the booth was 35/70mm operational..and the screen was tall,curved and was huge!
This is the drive-in I was referring to in my original post! The film in question was "The Sound Of Music" (two-week drive-in run during the summer of 1968).

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Jonathan M. Crist
Jedi Master Film Handler

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From: Hershey, PA, USA
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 - posted 04-24-2006 07:39 PM      Profile for Jonathan M. Crist   Email Jonathan M. Crist   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
What about the Cinerama drive-in in California? Did that have stereo sound?

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 04-24-2006 07:50 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Michael Coate
This is the drive-in I was referring to in my original post! The film in question was "The Sound Of Music" (two-week drive-in run during the summer of 1968).



Geez Michael,
Why didn't you just say the Park View.... I work with the guy that was the projectionist there. That D.I. had Bauer U-2 35/70 machines but never ran any 70mm. I am not sure that the 70mm mag head was ever hooked up but I can find out. If they did run S.O.M. there is was 99% for sure a 35mm print. He will know if they had FM sound as well.....

Will call the guy in a while and let you know......

Mark

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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001


 - posted 04-24-2006 08:12 PM      Profile for Michael Coate   Email Michael Coate   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Jonathan M. Crist
What about the Cinerama drive-in in California? Did that have stereo sound?
Of course! Seven speakers were used... one attached to each window, one on the hood, one on the roof, one on the trunk. [Smile]

Seriously, I always wondered this myself. No mention of stereo in the newspaper ads when they ran three of the Cinerama travelogues in Spring 1964. I bet it was the seven-channel mag folded down to one.

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