Yookidoo71

Greg, I did the disassembly and repair myself. I'm not familiar with the workings of the ultra arm so I'm afraid I can't offer any advice. However, there SHOULD be a way to remove the springs from the arm. You need to be careful to do it properly though b/c the springs have a lot of stored energy in them! Jeff

Greg, I had a similar problem many years ago on a model 2 arm, also a 6 spring type arm. I'd here a little click (or creak) as I boomed up. I'd put my hand on the springs in the arm and found that the "feel" of the click was strongest on the middle spring in the upper arm section (section closest to the gimble). It took a long time to figure it out (multiple assemblies and disassemblies of th arm) but I finally fixed it. The middles springs have a safety cable in them in case the spring breaks. The safety cable is held to the threaded inserts at each end of the spring with a pin. The pin was not seated fully and the exposed edge would rub on a coil of the spring as it expanded and collapsed. It was such a small amount of interference but it was enough to cause the click, but not enought to actually effect the booming action. I'm not sure if the the ultra arms use a safety cable arrangement like the one I described above, but I'll bet that they do. The unfortunate part is if this is the problem, you'll have to take the arm completely apart, including the springs to rectify it. Hope this sheds some light...I know how annoying this kind of problem can be!

SOLD....

BARTECH SYSTEM FOR SALE 1x Bartech Hand Unit w/ 3 focus strips 1x Bartech Receiver/Motor Driver w/ mounting bracket and power cable 1x SLD100 motor 1x motor cable 3x Alternate Gears 1x 15mm rod bracket 1x .5inch rod bracket 1x Panavision Run Cable 1x Arri 12v Run Cable (SR, BL) 1x Arri 24v Run Cable (SR3, 435, Arricam) 1x Moviecam Run 1x Aaton Run Pictures http://www.jeffclarksteadicam.com/PICT0005.JPG http://www.jeffclarksteadicam.com/PICT0002.JPG http://www.jeffclarksteadicam.com/PICT0003.JPG http://www.jeffclarksteadicam.com/PICT0004.JPG Package Price: $4100 Will sell without Run cables for $3600 Email jeff@jeffclarksteadicam.com for further information

I'm a bit late to the party with the muppet thing, but always liked Sam the Eagle's understated demeanor:) On the Jurassic Park note, I distincly remember seeing a photo somewhere of a dinosaur in jurrassic park with a steadicam arm type mechanism for a neck. I think it was that poison spitting one.... Cheers, Jeff

Hi Alec, I'm patiently awaiting the delivery of my HU3 and am curious about your post. A world wide database of lenses, down to the specific serial number implies to me that the system is not trully repeatable from on eg. specific focul length Primo lens to another? Am I understanding you right? Perhaps a call to Howard Preston is in order. Jeff Clark

I have to concur with Peter. What you have here is a faulty gimbal. The tilting you have described after panning 180 indicates that the pan axis is not aligned with the tilt axis (the axis in the yoke handle). Depending on the design of your gimbal, this could be corrected to some degree by placing small shims between the pan housing and the yoke. This will effectively move the pan axis into position so that it agrees with the tilt axis. On a side note, the misalignment you describe is the reason why a really good gimbal (PRO, XCS, Tiffen) costs upwards of $5-7k. The precise alignment of the axes is all in the design and the machining. Good luck, Jeff L. Clark, SOC Los Angeles

Hi Dan, Not a bad idea to have a list. However, pretty much any camera that has a mechanical / toggle switch (old Arri's) is CONTINUOUS operation. Any camera that has a push button(Moviecams, New Arri's) is MOMENTARY. Hope this helps, Jeff Clark