Belltron’s visit to the ATC in France (professional technical bell ringers)
Date: November 05, 2013
Mont Saint Odile (Strasbourg) was the place chosen by the ATC association (Artisan Technicien Campanaire) to meet the Belltron delegation from the 18th to the 21st July.
Once an ancient monastery, today it is home to a prestigious and charming hotel overlooking the Alsatian plains of a lush green forest that has drawn people to meet and discuss comparisons, proposals and improvements. The bells of the abbey, recently restored by the Voegele company, are controlled by the Belltron GM3000 cast bell controller.
Present at the meeting were the following members of the French society ATC: Bernard Paschal, André Voegele, Alexandre Gougeon, Philippe Brouillet, Eric Chomel and from Italy, Giuseppe Libetti, Alessandro Libetti and Patricia Barollo ready to discuss the Belltron equipment and to present the new cast bell controller made by Belltron, the GM 870, a device which has achieved success all over the world in just a few months from its first installation and now ready to be launched on the French market. Versatile and stylish design, the GM 870 acts as a synthesis of all the excellences: it manages cast bells, can be used as a liturgical assistant, can manage electrical systems as well as many other requirements all of which controlled by a single device such as this.
The Belltron cast bell controllers manage the movement of the bells. To manufacture their own specific appliances Belltron provides a wide range of standard or custom made products. The proposed system for the control of real bells is made up of the GM870 cast bell controller and by the 24 volts RL085 module functioning thanks to the AL5000 transformer. The cast bell controller, with no relays, is connected via either fibre optic, twisted pair or via radio control to the receiving module situated in the bell tower. The receiving module can also be connected to the motors and hammers in the traditional manner or using digital control modules.
The Belltron cast bell controllers are easy to use owing to the multi-language menu and thanks to an intuitive interface on a large 7” LCD colour screen. Programming can be made either daily, weekly, monthly or yearly and a wide selection of customizable programs are available even via the Internet using a PC, Smartphone or Tablet and now the automatic connection to the internet can be obtained thanks to the new Belltron-Cloud system.
The French market is very keen to use the cast bell controllers as the people are attached to the tradition of bronze bells. In general, apart from maintaining the history of the bells, the final customer is pleased to keep the bells playing, wherever possible.
Another very popular product in France is the linear motor used to action the bells. Small with harmonious aesthetics, it is easy to install and requires no maintenance as it has an epoxy resin finishing. Belltron also offers solutions to those who wish to maintain the traditional chain driven systems by using the digital controlled rotating motor systems. The Belltron retailer, Alexandre Gougeon, explains that often, apart from maintaining the traditional bells , even the traditional wooden yoke is maintained.
“The yokes are made of wood for an aesthetics and musical reason. In an ancient and historic church, it is more logical to work with wood than with metal. The architects want to work entirely with wood. At the work site at the Cathedral de Blois we are replacing the metal yokes which were installed in the seventies and installing wooden ones. It is important to note that wood absorbs acoustic vibrations but does not transmit them whilst the metal yoke transmits the vibrations and reduces the acoustic quality of a bell.”
The experience of the members of the ATC, the expertise of the installers, the quality of the Bollee foundry and the Belltron products continue to provide the true traditions of the past to the faithful.
To learn more about Belltron retailers in France, visit: http://www.atc-sarl.fr/
