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on the stage of the Plaza Theatre. Footnote:
To most of the audience, it was
the first time that they had heard When the original Raymond Allsop biography
what we know as stereophonic was published in Electronics Australia
sound, certainly on anything like magazine in January 1990, it was unclear as to
the scale demonstrated on that the range of Raycophone projection equipment
evening. actually manufactured in Australia. In 1994,
following that publication, Lindsay Morris of
This was followed by a Gidgegannup in Western Australia wrote to
demonstration of stereophonic Electronics Australia magazine. He said that in
sound on film, featuring the 1960s, in addition to his regular job as a
pianist/entertainer Jack PMG/Telecom technician, he had worked as a
Lumsdaine, soloist Shiela Ridette part time projectionist at the Melody Open-air
and two un-named table tennis Cinema in Rockingham, south of Perth.
players. Only once before had
film stereo been demonstrated It was equipped with two Raycophone J3
anywhere in the world – in New projectors which had originally come from the
York during the previous October RAAF base in Darwin. They had been
A modified, but still identifiable example of Ray Allsop’s original
‘Raycophone’ sound head for 35 mm theatre projectors, which – before the Society of Motion purchased and stored by Bill Ray, an old time,
enabled many Australia cinema owners to convert to sound at Picture Engineers (SMPE), of travelling picture show man, who toured
an affordable price. which Ray Allsop was a Fellow around the timber towns in south-west WA.
member. (Lindsay Morris believes that Bill’s touring
Following a short “Talkie war” when United show used a pair of Benbow projectors). When
States interests threatened to stop supplying At the Australian presentation, it was explained Bill decided to establish the Melody Open-air
theatres fitted with Allsop's equipment, the that recording and playback had been achieved Cinema in Rockingham, south of Perth, instead
Raycophone system was installed in using what looked, on the film, like an ordinary of touring, he took the old J3 projectors out of
375 Australian theatres by 1938. Raycophone variable area sound track. However, rather than storage, overhauled them and set them up for a
had been acquired in 1930 by Harringtons Ltd being mirror images, Allsop had modified the 60 ft. screen. In the process, he had to modify
which, in turn, was taken over by Kodak recording and playback equipment so that the the original 45 amp arcs to run at 85 amps, and
(Australasia) Pty Ltd by 1933. Allsop remained two sides of the sound track represented the left also installed water-cooled projection gates.
a director and chief engineer, and continued and right signals, which were duly sensed and The original Raycophone amplifier was
research into stereo recording and reproduction. reproduced as such. retained, but extensively modified to use more
modern valves. As such, the show ran without
The highlight of Allsop’s affair with cinema In introducing Allsop on the occasion, IRE hassle for six nights per week for three months
sound came on Sunday evening, 10 April 1938, President Sir Ernest Fisk said that, in the of the year.
when he arranged and presented a technically motion picture field, by the virtue of the work
historic film show to delegates attending the he had performed and the results he had When Bill finally retired, he packed up all the
World Radio Convention in Sydney. achieved, Mr. Allsop could be regarded as gear, complete with the two J3s, and stowed it
nothing short of a genius. The products in a shed on his property, to the exclusion of
As a councillor of the Institute of Radio manufactured by the organisation of which he the family car. It had no commercial value, but
Engineers (IRE) and Director/Chief Engineer was a director and chief engineer stamped him Bill considered that it had been too much a part
of Harrington’s-Raycophone, he sought and also as a first class engineer. At the time, of his life to discard. He died quite suddenly
obtained the cooperation of Hoyts for use of Harrington’s-Raycophone was represented in however, and his old J3 heads found a new
the Regent and Plaza theatres for the occasion. all Australian capitals and in New Zealand, and home with Lindsay Morris at his home at
Located on opposite sides of George Street, just had installed their equipment in 375 theatres. Gidgegannup WA. (The modified lamphouses
up from the Sydney Town Hall, they were However, as the era of add-on sound equipment had long since been dumped.)
conveniently located and readily able to be passed, they found it increasingly difficult to
linked by special audio lines. compete with the resources of their much larger Lindsay was the former owner/operator of the
overseas competitors, and the brand name Kookaburra outdoor theatre at Mundaring
Two high quality microphones were set up in ultimately disappeared. WA (See article CR #84). Although he never
the stalls of the Regent, about 6 metres apart, used the projectors at the Kookaburra, he set
facing the Regent Theatre orchestra. At the Ray Allsop died at the age of 75 on 19 March up one of the machines under his home at
other end of the line, amplifiers and a large 1972. ★ Gidgegannup to preview trailers and newsreels
theatre-style, loudspeakers recreated the sound before screening them at the Kookaburra. He
is currently rebuilding the other J3 for use by
his son in Denham (Shark Bay) in a small
outdoor theatre. For some time now, Lindsay
has been searching for an original Raycophone
lamphouse to use on his son’s machine, but so
far has only been able to find bits and pieces of
those lamphouses. Using the parts he has
collected to date, Lindsay believes he can most
likely put together a reasonable looking
Raycophone lamphouse with a 36 Volt
400 Watt halogen lamp inside. ★

Credits:
Silicon Chip Publications of Brookvale NSW, for their
kind permission to allow the reproduction of parts
of the original article in Electronics Australia
magazine (1994 - Australia’s Radio Pioneers)
Additional information by Lindsay Morris, WA.

CINEMARECORD # 100 39