FEDBoy Duo 150/3 projector

[Elliott Swanson <elliott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Through a series of trades, I ended up with a FEDBoy Duo 150/3 projector, 
and thought you might be interested in some data on it.

Model: FEDBoy Duo 150/3
2-24V Halogen lamps
Hama polarizers
3 carriers: 35mm full frame, 41 x 101.5mm, 51 x 101.5mm
Weight: just guessing, about 15 pounds
Size: aprx 6"w x 6"h x 12" long
Power requirements: 115vac
lenses: 2.8/80 (3.15 inches)
Finish is an attractive grey/black enamel.
Countries of origin: Russia/Germany

Note: This machine is not to be confused with a stock FED. It has been 
extensively reworked by the Boy company in Germany.


Unlike earlier versions, this machine will accomodate EMDE glass mount 
binders in the carriers.

The carriers slide in, and you change slides by manually sliding them left
to right and vice versa, swapping out slides. There is a metal flap dowser
to blank the screen between slides. The carriers themselves are stamped
metal.  Simple, but they work. 

Testing the unit:

.441 Amps at 115.8 volts (about 500 watts)

slide temperature: 31.0 degrees Celsius after 1 minute, 34.5 after 5 
minutes, 35.9 after 10 minutes, and 37.5 after 25 minutes. Which puts it 
a little higher than the spec figure of 36 degrees Celsius after an hour, 
but still well within reason.

brightness on screen (no slide, distance aprx 5 meters): aprx 2000 lux

It would have been nice to have a decibel meter, but none was available. 
In any case, the sound level of the fans is low enough so that it's easy
to carry on a conversation in one's normal tone of voice. E.g. it's fairly
quiet. 

Since most people are familiar with screens in inch sizes, switching to 
inch measurements for the following section:

The projector fills a 50 inch screen nicely (Realist format stereo pairs)
at 12 feet (image on screen is 40" wide by aprx 43" tall). To accomodate a
full frame image (two mounted 35mm slides), the distance needs to be
reduced to about 9 feet (again using the 50 inch screen) and at nine feet
with full frame, you're using all available 48 inches of screen width (you
lose some due to the black border). So, this is a very nice size for
living room use, but it won't work all that well in an auditorium unless
you project rather close to the screen. I've heard that other longer throw
lenses will eventually be available. 

The focus control moves both lenses at the same time, and there are 
adjustments for vertical and horizontal skew. Would have been nice if one 
of the lenses had individual adjustment capability, but neither does, 
unless you want to tear down the front section and break the lens 
barrel threads free of their lock-tite.

When the projector arrived, I had to open it up and reposition the
focusing assembly-- during transport one side had evidently been jarred
over the guide rail. I reset the screws with low-strength (Loctite 222) 
threat locker, and everything seems to work. 

The size of this unit is really nice after years of lugging around a TDC.

The images are sharp and bright.

While it would be nice to have a Brackett or an RBT, this seems to be a 
reasonably priced machine for those of us who don't have $2000-$3000 to 
put into a projector. The FEDBoy is supposed to be selling for about $640 
in the US.

--Elliott


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