2 of my favorite dying hobbies: arcade games and drive in's

[vintagegamer]

Tonight we're supposed to be taking my daughter to the local drive in, and I can't wait b/c it's such a trip back in time for me.  They also have a small arcade w/some games in it. 

The sad part is that so many of these are gone in today's society- I welcome a "revival" but somehow with all the new houses going up, I don't foresee that happening.

VINTAGEGAMER

[DarkBubble]

I finally went to a drive-in last year.  There's two within 30 minutes of me, but I've never bothered.  We'd been looking around antique shops in downtown Guthrie, Oklahoma, which really set the mood I thought, as most of the buildings look the same as they did when they were built in the 20s or 30s.

I learned a valuable lesson:  drive something with comfy seats, especially when watching a long movie.

Next time, I'm doing what half the people there did.  I'll drive the truck, park with the rear facing the screen, and put a lawn chair in the back.

[Ken Layton]

I have over 20 years experience repairing/operating/maintaining drive-in theater projection & sound equipment. I was projectionist/technician/announcer at the Skyline Drive-in Theater in Shelton, Wash. from 1992 thru 2002. Then the theater got sold to some ---uvulas--- who have run the place into the ground.

[rovingmind]

i take a 1974 cj5 with the top off to our local drive-in, then we put the windsheild down.
 Usually we get to park in the row next to the snack bar because thats the first row of van/light pickup parking.  the vehicle height is just enough that we're not bothered by people walking in front of us.  

[vintagegamer]

You guys definitely reminded me to bring my Captains Chair tonight....   And also the bug repellant!

Most all of the movies I'd seen as a child were in the drive in..  I actually saw THE BLACK HOLE there (dating myself), among a ton of other Disney movies.  There used to be 1 closer to where my family and I live today, but it just closed 2 yrs ago and I don't think it's getting opened back up.  The one we go to now is about 40 min from home, still not bad-  I really want my daughter and niece to experience it, as it's a family tradition.

[Ken Layton]

Be sure to bring some PIC mosquito coils too.

[DarkBubble]

I actually saw THE BLACK HOLE there

Now I'm jealous.  I'd love to see that one on the big screen.  I'd turned one just shortly before release.

[SavannahLion]

Drive-ins aren't all that nostalgic for me. I like the the "feel" of the place, but given a choice, I'd go for an older walk-in theater than a drive-in.

I think that has a lot to do with where I grew up. There simply aren't any drive-ins because we'd get at least six feet of snow on the ground every winter. And late at night, the temperature would drop below freezing, the windows would fog, and the whole venture would be moot.

I actually saw THE BLACK HOLE there

That's funny. I used to have all sorts of memorabilia from the film, I even had a tape cassette with dialog from the film and a picture book with choice bits from the film, yet I've never seen the film. Go figure. I suppose I should download it one of these days and take a gander.

[Crowquill]

I miss going to the drive-ins. We used to have at least 3 or 4 outings with our group of high school friends during the summer. As theatre and film technologies have progressed, the drive-ins have been left behind. A movie designed for DTS surround sound just doesn't have the same effect on a single speaker.

Usually at least once my family would go to the drive-in during the summers when I was younger. I acually saw Star Wars at one. I vaguely remember hiding behind the seat everytime Darth Vader was on screen (I was like 4 or 5 at the time--he was scary).

[Ken Layton]

As theatre and film technologies have progressed, the drive-ins have been left behind. A movie designed for DTS surround sound just doesn't have the same effect on a single speaker.

Not so at the Rodeo 3 Drive-in Theater here in Washington state (www.rodeodrivein.com).

The owner is a radio station engineer/sound system designer. He figured out how to get Dolby Digital and DTS Digital sound to work in your car radio. This is one drive-in theater where the picture and sound quality EXCEED that of many indoor theaters!

[TOK]

There are NO drive ins left around me. There used to be two within 15 minutes and another within a half an hour. They've been gone for a long time, too.

Still have arcades in both local malls (many redemption games, though), and a fantastic arcade called Challenge which is close to where my buddy lives in Reading, PA. That one is a little over an hour's drive, but worth it every time. They still have high score contests on old games, and also have events corresponding with local shows.

http://www.challengearcade.com/

[shorthair]

Exceed is a bit much. They converted the drive-in here to radio broadcast back in the early 90s, maybe earlier. If you don't have a killer system, then it's decent - but nothing like the immersive experience of a home or walk-in theatre.

The fun thing about the drive-in when I was a kid was we could get up on the roof of the bus or station wagon, then when we were tired of the movie go goof off at the playground and snack bar, come back, etc. I think we saw The Black Hole there. A 'B' movie for sure.

We saw Star Wars at the walk-in. I wasn't scared by Vader (I was about 6), but I was totally entranced. Not something to squander at a drive-in.

[Angry_Radish]

The closest former drive-in from me went through a decent transformation early on at least..
I went there quite a bit as a kid with my family to see movies, then in the early 80's when arcades were so popular (there were a few really big ones in town), the drive-in closed.
All was not lost though! It was reopened, not as a drive-in, but as a huge arcade with go-cart tracks, etc.. outside, called "Funtastic"..

Spent quite a bit of cash there, mostly playing the sit-down Omega Race (man I need to get that game).

The place finally closed down in the early 90's. I actually drove past there earlier today running errands, it's sad. The funtastic/drivein movie sign with the arrow pointing in is still there, but now some landscaping place is using it to store huge piles of mulch.. (mulchtastic maybe?)

Ahh well, time marches on.. At least they hit both your 2 favorite dying hobbies (arcade and drive in)

[vintagegamer]

I actually saw THE BLACK HOLE there

Now I'm jealous.  I'd love to see that one on the big screen.  I'd turned one just shortly before release.

There was nothing like seeing VINCENT and MAXIMILLIAN 50 feet tall.  You missed a good one! 

[vintagegamer]

Well we got there and upon checking the arcade I noticed they had a "Cruisin" arcade game, and some others I didn't recognize.  I wanted to make sure tho that for the fellow pin lovers I provided the following update:  they had Dr. Dude (Bally) and Fish Hunt.  They both looked cool, but sadly I wasn't allocated enough time to play them.   

[danny_galaga]

yep. first movies i saw were with the folks at the drive in. first i remember was jesus christ superstar. and a B grader called 'laserblast'. that drive in is now a shopping centre. never got to go 'parking' at the drive in...

[vintagegamer]

My sister and niece actually went with us too, which was great because when I was a kid my parents always took my sister and I together to see the movies.  She hasn't been to a drive in since the old days- so it was a nice trip back in time for both of us.  And of course idiot me didn't think to get a picture!!!   

I would have liked to play the Dr Dude pin- the pic of the nurse on the front was like a tractor beam 

[rovingmind]

I saw CARS last year at the drive-in

[shardian]

http://www.drive-ins.com/
Type in your zipcode on the left to see if there are still any drive-ins in operation in your area. I also use this when I go on weekend trips to see if there is a drive-in we can hit one night.

EDIT: Just in case you don't notice, the mileage shown in the search results are not very accurate. Once you get the address off the drive-in's site, do a directions search over at yahoo or mapquest to get accurate travel info.

I LOVED the drive-in as a kid. We would throw an old matress and some blankets in the back of the pick-up truck and head out. I remember wearing my footie pajama's and going to sleep before the second movie.

Currently the closest drive-in to me is an hour away. There is one down near my wifes family that we go to when we visit them.

Also, the local park and recreation district builds a temporary drive-in near a flood wall in October to show scary movies.

[shardian]

A funny story I remember at the drive-in near the in-laws. We went to see The first Fast & Furious movie at the drive-ins down there. After the movie, all the kids would rev their car/truck and peel out of the theater. The local cops would make sure to be sitting outside the theater every night that movie played to bust people.

[ChadTower]

That site shows two in my area within 15 miles.  Not sure I'd want to sit in my car for two hours, though, watching a movie through the windshield.  I don't think the kids would be able to see very well from the back seat.

[shardian]

That site shows two in my area within 15 miles.  Not sure I'd want to sit in my car for two hours, though, watching a movie through the windshield.  I don't think the kids would be able to see very well from the back seat.

Most people with cars bring those fold up chairs and sit outside the car. The kids lay on a blanket usually.

[ChadTower]

Eh, not really all that appealing, I guess.  I like the movie pub concept better.

[shardian]

Eh, not really all that appealing, I guess.  I like the movie pub concept better.

So you never went to a drive-in as a kid??

I'm telling you, your kids will love it and it will be one of their favorite childhood memories.

[ChadTower]

Never been to a drive in.  Didn't see many movies in the theater as a kid.  Very few.

[vintagegamer]

That site shows two in my area within 15 miles.  Not sure I'd want to sit in my car for two hours, though, watching a movie through the windshield.  I don't think the kids would be able to see very well from the back seat.

That's why you back into the space and bring beach chairs if you got 'em, Chad- they also usually have playgrounds there for the kiddies, and then there's always the arcade

DEFINITELY go at least 1x if you can- more of them close up every single year.. if you have 2 that close to you, you are a very lucky person.

[knave]

http://www.drive-ins.com/
EDIT: Just in case you don't notice, the mileage shown in the search results are not very accurate. Once you get the address off the drive-in's site, do a directions search over at yahoo or mapquest to get accurate travel info.

LOL, it showed the one about an hour north of me as being 16 miles away...(it's really ~50 miles or so...)

But still a pretty cool site.  I searched for "all" and it listed the ones that have since closed in my town.  Nostalgic but sad.  I never went until about 10 years ago. I really liked it.  I guess my car was pretty comfortable and playing it over my 4 car speakers seemed to sound great too...

...I think I'll have to take the wife and kids...

[ChadTower]

I was thinking about this last night and a thought occurred to me.  If people usually sit in lawn chairs outside the car, and the speakers are inside the car, you're basically sitting listening to a mono broadcast.  You're outside the room in which the stereo channels both exist, hearing a combination of both channels, plus the same combination from every car around you.

Or are they also broadcast over larger speakers in the parking lot?

[Ken Layton]

All drive-ins distribute sound differently from theater-to-theater or in the case of multi-screen drive-ins, even from screen-to-screen. Here are the currently available sound distribution methods:

Individual "in-car" speakers. These are connected to a cast iron post atop which sits a "junction box" (sometimes lighted!). The speakers usually sit in a wireformed basket or in grooves on the junction box top cover. Generally two speakers are connected to one junction box. Each speaker recieves a maximum of a half a watt of audio power (one watt total to the junction box). This is a mono system and one car on one side of the post uses one speaker and the car on the other side of the post uses the other speaker. The speaker cords are usually 6 feet long to allow you to either hang the speaker on your car window or (if you're sitting outside in a lawn chair) hang it on your lawn chair. RCA invented the "in-a-car" speaker system in late 1939 and it's based on multiple speaker public address systems. This allows many speakers to be connected to an amplifier (or bank of amplifiers depending on theater size). The amplifiers are all vacuum tube (transistor amplifiers don't work in this application) and in general 80 watts RMS in audio power output. This generally means one amplifier can drive 160 speakers (80 posts). Many drive-ins using speakers have at least two amplifiers in operation at all times and are equipped with an 'emergency' operation switch. In the event of the failure of one of the amplifiers during a show, flipping this switch changes the entire speaker load to one of the amplifiers to continue the show (at a slight reduction in volume). This is a temporary measure that can keep a theater in operation for up to two weeks with only one amplifier. Transistor amplifiers could never do anything like this. My old drive I worked at (the Skyline) had three amplifiers (two normal and one emergency amplifier). Our amplifiers were built in 1955 and I recapped them back in 1994 and brought them back to full operation. Since the new owners took over this theater 4 years ago, they have RUINED the entire speaker system and amplifiers. All my hard work went down the drain when they took over (they don't care about this theater, tey only want piles of money). When leaving a theater equipped with speakers, be sure to hang the speaker back on the post before driving away lest you break your window.

AM radio broadcasting. This is always AM MONO from a low power AM radio transmitter in the projection booth. Usually a frequency at the bottom of the AM band is selected (like 540 khz) so as not to interfere with commercial AM radio broadcast stations in the locality. This is the only legal theater broadcasting method authorized by the FCC in the USA for drive-ins.

FM radio broadcasting. This is mostly FM STEREO from a low power transmitter in the projection booth. As with AM a frequency at the bottom of the FM band is selected (like 88.9 Mhz) so as not to interfere with commercial broadcast stations. Some theaters with older transmitters are FM MONO. Some theaters have a Dolby (or compatible) theater audio processor ahead of the transmitter to give you good quality noise reduction/EQ/channel seperation so what you hear on your FM car radio actually sounds pretty good. There are 3 drive-ins in the USA that have actually adapted Dolby Digital and DTS Digital sound to work with FM stereo transmitters. The Rodeo Drive-in (3 screens, located just 45 minutes from me, www.rodeodrivein.com) has such a system and it sounds fantastic! However, there is a downside. The FCC has NEVER authorized or licensed any drive-in theater to use low power FM radio transmitters. If a person complains to the FCC about a particular theater, they WILL shut their transmitter down. Technically speaking all FM radio transmitting by drive-ins are illegal. Those that use FM are taking a chance that they could be shut down and their equipment confiscated.

[lanman31337]

i take a 1974 cj5 with the top off to our local drive-in, then we put the windsheild down.
 Usually we get to park in the row next to the snack bar because thats the first row of van/light pickup parking.  the vehicle height is just enough that we're not bothered by people walking in front of us.  

I used to own 3 cj's in my life, the first a 77 cj7, the second a 72 cj5, and the third a 79 cj5.  i used to take the passenger seat out and set it on the ground for the lady i was dating to sit in, was good times.  the 79 sat monsterously tall with 40 inch tires and 9 inches of lift, i'd always sit in back, and be able to make it out quickly.

[ChadTower]

Thanks Ken, that does explain a lot.  There is actually a radio station at 88.9 in the Boston area.     I think it is Emerson College... I used to listen to it when I lived near there.

[dislecksea]

Well, if you like the drive-in and want to recreate some of that feeling, try setting up a Backyard Theater!  Your friends showing off their 50 inch widescreen plasma?  Well mine is over 21 feet diagonal!  Amazing what you can do with an ebay projector, a DVD player, some pipe, a tarp, and a 20 year old stereo.

I figure BYOACers might be interested.

http://backyardtheater.com/

[rovingmind]

Well, if you like the drive-in and want to recreate some of that feeling, try setting up a Backyard Theater!  Your friends showing off their 50 inch widescreen plasma?  Well mine is over 21 feet diagonal!  Amazing what you can do with an ebay projector, a DVD player, some pipe, a tarp, and a 20 year old stereo.

I figure BYOACers might be interested.

http://backyardtheater.com/

that would be a ---smurfette--- to calibrate a light gun to

[Tinfoiler]

Our local drive-in (less than two miles from my work) just installed brand new digital projectors, and boy do they look amazing.  For the longest time I avoided seeing movies with high budget special effects at the drive-in because of their ancient projectors, but now I don't have to skimp on the trips to the Starlite at all this summer.  I had no complaints with the quality of PotC and Spiderman 3.  If only they hadn't removed the playground equipment from in front of the screens . . .

[vintagegamer]

I would totally love to either open one or buy 1 for sale after retiring from my current job.  That would be Heaven for me.

[Ken Layton]

Our local drive-in (less than two miles from my work) just installed brand new digital projectors, and boy do they look amazing.  For the longest time I avoided seeing movies with high budget special effects at the drive-in because of their ancient projectors, but now I don't have to skimp on the trips to the Starlite at all this summer.  I had no complaints with the quality of PotC and Spiderman 3.  If only they hadn't removed the playground equipment from in front of the screens . . .

Your drivein installed video projectors? Well that set 'em back at least $100,000 each. The video projection still doesn't even have standards in place to ensure compaibility. Video projection is still considered experimental in theaters. Here's what the hidden costs/problems are with video:

Projectors are very expensive.

Projectors have to be thrown away every 5 years.

In order to meet the same brightness levels as a film projector xenon lamp wattage MUST be doubled. If the film projector used a 4,500 watt lamp then the video projector must use use a 10,000 watt lamp (very very expensive and only has a 500 hour life). This requires increasing lamphouse & bulb cooling requirements (expensive). These sizes of bulbs also need tremendously more electricity. Three phase power is an absolute necessity (not always available at every drive-in).

It has yet to be proven that these video projectors can stand up to the dusty environments of drive-ins. The ones I've seen installed in indoor theaters have been in "clean room" environments (not exactly the real world). Don't forget that driveins don't exactly have 'clean' AC power all the time. Power spikes, surges, and brownouts are common at many driveins.

Many driveins are mom n pop operations so these expensive video projectors would break the bank (and the budget). Ticket prices and food prices would have to be raised quite a bit to pay for a video projector. Driveins are known for having lower prices and bringing in large families. Having to raise prices would drive away that business. Even a 60 year old Super Simplex film projector with some common maintenance can blow the socks off a video projector any day and not break the bank. Plus the fact that parts are still manufactured for film projectors dating back to 1928!

I think your drivein should have invested in a brand new xenon lamphouse and power supply (about $10,000) instead of throwing money away on video projectors.

[ChadTower]

I suspect he used the wrong terminology.

Even IMAX theaters use film projection.  The film is the size of a compact car, though, which is fun to watch.  It has to be miles long.

[shardian]

It is always cool to get a peek in the projection room. Those reels are frikkin huge!

[ChadTower]

The IMAX at the Boston Museum of Science (which was one of the first and actually projects on the underside of a dome) has their projector fully visible behind a glass wall outside the theater.  It's really cool to watch.