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My new Milliken


jijhh

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I just picked up a Milliken DBM-55 off of ebay. i know nothing about its past, but it was $50 and seemed worth the risk to pick up...

 

anyways, i've got a few questions about getting this guy running again:

 

1) i've heard running some sort of battery power to the camera isnt too complicated. however, does anyone know where to find the cord to connect to the 7-pin jack on the camera? any other instructions on wiring this sort of battery together?

 

2) do normal daylight spools work, or do i need certain spools?

 

3) anything else i should take care of before i start running it/shooting tests?

 

thanks

andrew

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The cable carries power to the timing lights as well as the motor; you'll note that AGE have removed the timing lights and done a re-wiring job. They might supply one of the old cables. The timing lights are for accurate measurement of the running speed- you probably won't need them anyway, so would just need to know which are the power and switch pins. You'll need 28V, at about 10A.

Ordinary daylight spools will do but the film will need to be double-perf.

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Hi Andrew,

 

Congrats on your camera. I've just got my 54 up and running, and uploaded the Milliken manual to my server today to help a guy in another forum. Here it is, a little messy and with maybe a couple of pages missing: http://kameraundervann.no/MillikenManual

 

 

I just picked up a Milliken DBM-55 off of ebay. i know nothing about its past, but it was $50 and seemed worth the risk to pick up...

 

anyways, i've got a few questions about getting this guy running again:

 

1) i've heard running some sort of battery power to the camera isnt too complicated. however, does anyone know where to find the cord to connect to the 7-pin jack on the camera? any other instructions on wiring this sort of battery together?

 

Mine had a 21-pin connector and I fiddled with it a bit before working it out. 7- pin I am not sure of.

 

2) do normal daylight spools work, or do i need certain spools?

 

daylight spols up to 400' ok

 

3) anything else i should take care of before i start running it/shooting tests?

 

Mine says to use .300 perf film. I have run exposed normal 2r film through, and it seems to work. But I havent shot anything yet. I know some cameras say to use normal film.

 

By the way, here is my other post about this camera from today: http://www.surfphotographersforum.com/foru...?f=8&t=1235

 

Best of luck, and let us know how it works out!

 

Kristian

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Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm not a very electronics saavy guy, so could someone point me in the direction of a place where I might find this 7-pin cable (other than AGE)? Even just what it might be called? Also, once I've got that, how do I wire it up to a battery, and is there a certain kind of battery I have to use?

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  • Premium Member
Here's a photo of what

 

The plug appears to be a standard military style MS plug. Can you see a number on the plastic insert that reads something like: MS3106A-16S-1S-ND?

 

http://www.digikey.com has quite a few MS connectors in stock. If you find a number on the insert, give them a call and ask for help. They've got a $5 surcharge for small orders but you can always pad an order with tyraps, etc.

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The plug appears to be a standard military style MS plug. Can you see a number on the plastic insert that reads something like: MS3106A-16S-1S-ND?

 

http://www.digikey.com has quite a few MS connectors in stock. If you find a number on the insert, give them a call and ask for help. They've got a $5 surcharge for small orders but you can always pad an order with tyraps, etc.

 

 

Inside on the plastic insert there is "16S-1" written towards the top, and "Bendix" written in the center. There are also letters above each pin, like you might see on an HMI cord connector. I googled these together and found a bunch of surplus parts stores, but they have no pictures or information about the cord that applies to this particular outlet. Maybe I'll give digikey and a few of them a call...

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  • 1 month later...

Aloha All,

I am verry familiar with these cameras. I have about 15 or so. DBM3's 4's & 5's They all are great cameras. I can help you answer most questions about these cameras & or direct you to the most knowledgeable camera repair person in the world specificaly for these cameras. A few things to note about these cameras.

 

Do you Have an AC or DC Motor. It will say on the motor inside the camera cavity where the film goes.

 

If it is DC than it takes a 28V DC Nicad Battery (any Batterys Plus can make you one)

 

Most of these cameras are set for military film perf or Positive film.

 

You can rewire the camera so that you do not need the conector.

 

Yes you need to run the camera with film on daylight spools.

 

If any one has any specific questions about these cameras they can contact me at ajaxphoto@hotmail.com

 

mahalo,

ajaxphoto

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  • 10 months later...

Hi guys, I'm a film student at Full Sail University. My friend just bought a milliken off of ebay and I'm trying to help him locate a power supply of some type. I was wondering if you had found a supplier that carried one or what may his other options be?

post-40490-1238872861.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
Hi guys, I'm a film student at Full Sail University. My friend just bought a milliken off of ebay and I'm trying to help him locate a power supply of some type. I was wondering if you had found a supplier that carried one or what may his other options be?

Hi Candi,

 

I have tried a couple of different solutions, and ended up with li-Po batteries intended for RC model helicopters. For me it has been important to keep everything quite small in order to fit into an underwater housing. Four 7.4v batteries have no problem running the camera at full speed for at least 4-5 full 400ft rolls. My camera only does 300 fps after I converted it to s16, but that is not because of the battery ;-)

 

Kristian

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  • 4 years later...

Hello all,

 

I just received a Milliken DCM 3CM 16mm double-perf high-speed camera off Ebay. I have been looking through the forums for answers to how to power this camera at 200 fps. I've included some pics below. Kristian, do you know what fps your camera is running at if you gang-chain four LiPO batteries to the 13-pin connection? Also, exactly HOW do you connect those LiPO batteries (i.e. which pin for the heater/drive?) Any info will be much appreciated.

 

post-40058-0-55296800-1371619317_thumb.gifpost-40058-0-77260700-1371619342_thumb.gifpost-40058-0-25650100-1371619442_thumb.gif

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  • 3 weeks later...

I hate to break this to you Brian, but it looks like your camera is wired 115 VAC @ 400 Hz. You can't hook it up to a battery, and you'll need to build a 400 Hz power supply to be able to use it at all. It was probably meant to be used aboard an aircraft (maybe a 16mm gun camera?).

 

If you don't have any experience with high voltage and high frequency current, don't try to wire it yourself! 115 can (and does) kill people if not wired correctly.

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If I recall correctly (and this is going way back) those cameras were wired for both 28VDC and 115VAC.

 

There are actually different power cords that are used for each voltage. These pick up different pins on the body connector and feed through the camera to a connector where the motor mounts.

 

The motors were interchangeable, there were options for AC and DC motors, configured for various default speeds.

 

The 28V motors use different pins than the 115motors, so it all sorted itself out.

 

That being said, the fact that you've got a 400Hz motor is probably going got be the biggest stumbling block.

 

400Hz is the frequency standard for aircraft, chosen because magnetic devices can be much smaller, and therefore lighter, at higher frequencies.

 

You'd think the motor wound just run slower, but it's more complicated than that, because some motors use line frequency in a strategy to control current flow in the motor windings.

 

Depending on the type, AC motors can be quite sensitive to line frequency, and not in a good way.

 

 

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