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THE 9.5MM PATHÉSCOPE
200B CINE PROJECTOR

from Grahame L. Newnham B.Sc.


Whilst most of the earlier 9.5mm cine products had been imported from France; once Pathéscope had established a decent size factory premises at North Circular Road, Cricklewood in the early 1930s, (which included facilities for cine film processing, 9.5mm printed film production, and assembly / servicing of cine related items), a number of British designed and manufactured products arrived on the 9.5mm movie scene.

It was in the February 1933 edition of the Pathéscope 'house magazine' - the Pathéscope Monthly, that the first decent (and possibly one of Pathéscope's best!) 9.5mm cine projector was announced. Called the "200B", it was designed and manufactured in England. Assembled by Salford Electrical Instruments at Manchester I think. The '200B' name related to the use of a 200 watt lamp, the brightest so far in 9.5mm I imagine.

The '200B' used a 110 volt 200 watt blower cooled projection lamp, took 300 foot / 100 metre spools, and featured sprocket feed and take-up with a variable speed series-wound 110 volt electric motor. Plus, certainly to my mind, it actually looked like a proper cine projector!

The 110 volt supply for the motor and lamp was achieved by a separate dropper resistance unit. The initial dropper resistance had an ammeter at the end, but no lamp switch. Almost immediately it was replaced with a more functional unit, no ammeter, but internal adjustments for various voltages and at the end - a lamp switch (useful for saving lamp life when rewinding films for example!).





Pathéscope Monthly magazine February 1933



Pathéscope 1934 catalogue (the 1933 edition entry for the 200B was similar)



Pathéscope 200B 9.5mm cine projector - motor drive side


Pathéscope 200B 9.5mm cine projector - operating side
black bakelite knob at lhs above motor is the speed control,
chrome finger nut to the right undoes to allow projector tilt to be easily adjusted.



200B review in Home Movies and Home Talkies magazine February 1933



Pathéscope 200B advert in Home Movies and Home Talkies magazine January 1933


By the next month (March 1933), Pathéscope had added a rexine covered sturdy 'hold-all' for the 200B projector to their sales lists - it cost £1 - 10sh (£1.50) and had space for projector, mains dropper resistance, mains cable, films and spools. A note in the Pathéscope Monthly magazine mentioned that the dropper resistance type 'B' was being replaced by the type 'M' which incorporated a switch for the lamp. I have mostly seen these machines with a switch in the resistance box for the lamp - I guess many users fitted one anyway (otherwise, film rewinding by motor, meant that the projection lamp was also on!).

In the July 1933 edition of the Pathéscope Monthly magazine, a range of projection lenses for the 200B projector was announced. In addition to the standard lens of 32mm focal length, Dallmeyer lenses of short focus 20mm and 25mm were available, plus Dallmeyer 'Superlite' long focus lenses of 50mm, 60mm, 70mm and 100mm. The 'Superlite' lenses were clained to give 25% more illumination than the normal Dallmeyer lenses (obviously a larger aperture).

In the same magazine other versions of the 200B projector were mentioned - a mains version, fitted with a mains voltage 250 watt lamp and motor. The extra 50 watts was an attempt to keep the light output about the same as the 110 volt 200 watt lamp model (just more heat!). There was also a 50 volt version - supplied by a mains transformer. This model had a 50 volt motor and a 50 volt 200 watt lamp - I guess this would have given a brighter picture with this low voltage lamp, but only suitable for A.C. (Alternating Current mains supply). Whilst I have come across a couple of the mains voltage 200B machines, I can't recall having a 50 volt model through my hands. I think the most popular model was the 110 volt 200 watt lamp version.

Finally in the December 1933 Pathéscope Gazette a special 30 foot cassette adaptor was offered, making it easy to run the films returned from processing. The gadget also had a small rewind handle. I currently don't have a photo, and can't find my example! There was more mention of the 200B mains dropper resistance, now referred to as the 'double resistance', much the same as the 'M' but with full voltage tappings inside to cover 200 to 250 volts. Again it had a lamp switch on the end. Connection to the projector was by the three pin connector plug which fits on the opposite side to the two-pin mains input. Catalogue ref. number was P.209.



Amateur Cine World magazine April 1938

With 9.5mm sound in the offing and the larger 900 foot spools already im use on the 9.5mm 'S' projector, it was straightforward to provide little spool arm extenders for the 200B projector. I believe another supplier had been advertising pressed steel spool arm extenders, but these were in a similar casting and black crackle finish as the projector itself. Now two or three reel 9.5mm features could be run without reel changing!


200B spool arm extenders, easy to fit, then 900foot spools are possible



200B cam/claw assembly - don't forget some grease!



200B non-operating side - that's the shutter drive


THE PATHÉSCOPE '200B PLUS'


1939 Pathéscope catalogue

The 200B was dropped from Pathéscope catalogues for a year or so, then re-appeared in 1939 with a flourish as a dual 9.5mm/16mm machine the '200B Plus'. Spool spindles and sprockets were changed and the gate ingeniously had two openings, one for each gauge. The picture mask also provided a framing control and a simple motor clutch (by lifting the drive belt off the motor pulley) provided stills facility. A pair of arm extenders gave the option of 900foot / 300metre spool capacity. The main target was the education market which had already begun to use visual aids. The war seems to have curtailed production of this improved version of the 200B which didn't reach France.


Notes:

1. The 200B projector has a two-bladed shutter, which gives noticeable flicker when run at 16 frames/second. I believe some users have made a simple aluminium three-bladed shutter, although this results in reduced light output.

2. The lens diameter is 30mm, fitted with a small lug which engages in a slot to aid focussing. One could make up a sleeve to allow other larger aperture, smaller diameter lenses to fit.

2. The lamphouse was lined with asbestos. This is best removed carefully and disposed of safely. The lamphouse body will just be rather hot after showing a few films!

3. As the special Pathé 'T' base lamps are long obsolete, it is straightforward to fit the A1/216 24volt 150watt QI lamp. A suitable transformer, lamp and holder can often be found from an old 35mm slide projector discovered at a car boot sale! The usual warnings about electrical safety mean that only an experienced person should carry out these lamp conversions. If you can find a transformer with a centre tapped primary winding (these are still available new) then this can also supply the 110 volts for the motor. One can build the new power supply into the original 200B dropper restistance case, keeping the the set-up suitably original. Don't forget to earth it all! (I use the existing two pin socket for the motor supply and a modern three pin connector for the lamp and earth).

See a short article (originally in the Group 9.5 magazine) about a 24 volt 150 watt QI lamp conversion - 200B LAMP MOD

4. This was the first machine from the Pathé organisation that was unable to show the notched still pictures and hence spelt the end for these notched title releases (at least in the UK - Pathé-Baby in France continued issuing many films with notched titles right up to the war in 1939). Here Pathéscope even issued sets of 'running' titles to convert popular notched releases for showing on the 200B.

5. Designed and manufactured in the UK, it was marketed in France as the Pathé model 'B' and Germany as the Pathex model 'B'.

6. There was an interesting article about the Pathéscope 200B 9.5mm cine projector in the Amateur Cine World magazine for December 1950.

Click here to read this Amateur Cine World article - ACW 200B ARTICLE

7. I do have new motor drive belts and instruction booklet reprints on my sales lists! (gln Jan2018)

8. Some typical serial numbers: D09380BC, 103888, 106049, 109834BC

 


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New 22May2017 ............. Last updated: 21 June 2018 .............. 95gearpathe200b.htm .......... ©MMXV11 Grahame .L. Newnham
15Jan2018 - HMHT magazine 200B advert & review added / 21Jun2018 - extra 200B photos added