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Jim C.
15-Jan-2015, 16:34
I got a beater Franken - Pacemaker Speed that I seem to be having some trouble getting
the Kalart side range finder arm to meet the infinity adjustment cam on the bracket that's
on the focusing yoke, if I set the arm where it meets the infinity adjustment cam ( the thing you use a dime to turn )
the arm is flush against the inside body and when the yoke is extended the rangefinder arm stops up against the bed braces.

If I set the arm to clear the bed braces ( attached pic ) it's not touching the cam, so I'm wondering if the bracket
that infinity adjustment cam is on is the wrong size.
The Anniversary Graphic that I have definitely has a different size ( width ) bracket.

Can anyone do a quick measure on their Pacemaker of the width for that bracket for me ?

128137

Jac@stafford.net
15-Jan-2015, 17:23
Is the wheel on the wrong side of its mount?
After dinner I'll look at mine.
.

Jim Jones
15-Jan-2015, 17:52
The bracket might be different for a 3.25x4.25 and 4x5. Your bracket looks much like the ones on the 4x5 & baby Pacemakers I just checked. The adjusting wheel of all of them was on the outside of the bracket as in yours. Perhaps the offset in the arm could be reduced. Many of us mutilate old SGs just to make them functional.

Jim C.
15-Jan-2015, 18:05
Jac, the wheel is on the correct side, the slotted side for the dime is facing to the left of the picture.

Jim, it may well be for a 3.25 x 4.25 Graphic, those cameras aren't on my radar ( yet :) ) I only have 4x5's and 5x7's
so I have nothing to reference to.

I forgot to include measurement for the pictured one which is - 15/16" wide

My Anniversary bracket is 13/16" wide and riveted in which I never noticed !

Jac@stafford.net
15-Jan-2015, 18:56
Jac, the wheel is on the correct side, the slotted side for the dime is facing to the left of the picture.

Yes, I see that now. Sorry I cannot help.
.

Leonard Robertson
15-Jan-2015, 20:14
I looked at a 4X5 Pacemaker Speed and the arm coming down (from the round shaft into the Kalart) is much closer to the camera body than yours. It is directly behind the bed support strut. The lower tip of the arm goes against the small diameter of the infinity adjusting cam. The upper end of the arm is attached to a round hub with a set screw. I assume by loosening this set screw, the hub and arm can be adjusted nearer to the camera body, which is what I think you need to do. On my camera, the upper end of the arm is about 1/8" away from the camera body.

If this makes no sense, I'll try posting a picture tomorrow.

Len

Jim C.
15-Jan-2015, 20:57
I looked at a 4X5 Pacemaker Speed and the arm coming down (from the round shaft into the Kalart) is much closer to the camera body than yours. It is directly behind the bed support strut. The lower tip of the arm goes against the small diameter of the infinity adjusting cam. The upper end of the arm is attached to a round hub with a set screw. I assume by loosening this set screw, the hub and arm can be adjusted nearer to the camera body, which is what I think you need to do. On my camera, the upper end of the arm is about 1/8" away from the camera body.

If this makes no sense, I'll try posting a picture tomorrow.

Len

Len, what you described and makes perfect sense, I got where everything goes, but if I moved the arm closer to the body
the arm is practically inline with the bed brace and stops at the bed brace.

If you rack your Pacemaker all the way out where the infinity adjusting cam is totally clear of the bed brace
does the arm hit and stop at the back of bed brace or does it swing past it ?

Leonard Robertson
15-Jan-2015, 21:40
Yes, the rangefinder arm comes up against the rear of the bed brace. But not until the camera is focused (by the ground glass) to less than 3 feet. This is with a 135mm Optar lens. The closest focus shown on the bed focusing scale is 6 feet and I'm thinking this is about as close as the Kalart RFs were designed to focus. When the focus is at 6 feet the rangefinder arm is well to the rear of the bed brace. From what I can see, the rangefinder arm must be in contact with the cam on the bed in order for the rangefinder to function correctly.

Len

Jim C.
16-Jan-2015, 11:49
Len, Thanks for the info, my comparison to my Anniversary Graphic had me wondering how far that rangefinder arm extended
since the Annniversary rangefinder arm will extend way out. I guess the Pacemaker rangefinder arm has a much shorter throw.

Leonard Robertson
16-Jan-2015, 16:26
Jim - I grabbed a stray 4X5 Anniversary that was easy to get to and the rangefinder arm arrangement looks pretty much like the one on the Pacemaker Speed. Both cameras have the rangefinder arm quite close to the inner face of the camera body. When the bed is focused forward, the long, upper portion of the rangefinder arm comes up against the back of the bed strut. It actually looks like it slips in between the top of the strut and the bracket the top of the strut slides in. It almost looks to be designed that way to hold the rangefinder arm in that position. When the bed is focused forward far enough that the rangefinder arm is no longer touching the round cam on the bed, the arm is held in the correct position so that when the bed and cam are moved back, the lower end of the rangefinder arm is in the correct position to come back up against the cam.

Can you reach in with a finger or tool and move your rangefinder arm toward the side of the body so that the end slips up against the cam (and the upper portion of the arm is behind the top of the bed strut)? The arm seems fairly flexible on my cameras. I get the feeling you arm just needs to be pushed over toward the outside of the body and it will be correct.

Len

Jim C.
16-Jan-2015, 17:48
Len- Yes my Anniversary is as you described,

Anniversary Graphic
128174 128180

Note that the range finder arm on the Anniv is next to the bed brace, which is what you mean by saying slipping between the
brace and the infinity cam, when the yoke is extended all the way out the range finder arm peeks out of the body ( 2nd pic )

Pacemaker Graphic
128175 128181

Here you can see that the Pacemaker rangefinder arm in the above picture is engaging the infinity cam
properly but looking further up the arm it's exactly inline with the bed brace so it will only go so far as
back of the bed brace when the yoke is racked out.
The second picture is me trying to get the infinity cam to the same position as I have on the Anniversary Graphic
but the yoke is at it's max extension and the arm is up against the bed brace inside.

What confuses me is it normal that the Pacemaker rangefinder arm have a shorter throw than the Anniv Graphic ?
Meaning the Kalart range finder on the Anniversary will accommodate more focal lengths ?
I had assumed that they would be the same.

Dan Fromm
16-Jan-2015, 18:05
Meaning the Kalart range finder on the Anniversary will accommodate more focal lengths ?

Jim, what the RF does is translate the distance the standard is moved forward from the infinity position into focused distance. The bed rails' infinity stops make this possible 'cos for the RF to work the standard has to be in the infinity position for the lens mounted.

The distance the RF's arm that couples it to the infinity cam can move isn't focal length specific. The infinity stops' position is focal length specific and so are the RF adjustments. Late Kalarts' adjustments are entirely internal, earlier ones' aren't. Within the limits of those adjustments the RF doesn't really care what the focal length is.

I just checked my little 2x3 Graphics with Kalarts. Their RF's arms never leave the body.

Leonard Robertson
16-Jan-2015, 19:10
One thing I just noticed looking at my two Speeds - on the Pacemaker, the bracket that carries the round cam is mounted at the very back of the short rear focusing bed track. The Anniversary has it mounted about half way down the length of the rear track (more toward the front of the camera). No idea why the difference. It looks like the rangefinder arms are different shapes on the two cameras, possibly because of the different location of the cam bracket. I've never tried to adjust the Kalart for a longer focal length lens, so I don't know if this difference in the newer and older Speeds would be important.

Len

Jim C.
19-Jan-2015, 22:50
Dan - Thanks for pointing that out about the range finders, they've always been a mystery to me.

Len - I noticed that too about the difference of the position of the infinity cam bracket between the Anniversary and the Pacemaker
it could have been a design change.