CED Digest Vol. 2 No. 34

CED Digest Vol. 2 No. 34 • 8/23/1997
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 1997 12:15:14 +0300
From: sobel 
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: place an ad

> Subject: sell my CEDs
> Date: Sun, 17 Aug 1997 12:00:46 +0300
> From: sobel 
> To: ceds@teleport.com
>
> I am still trying to sell my 650 titles (l/3 are new, l/3 are double
> discs) with three working
> 400 players with remotes/owners manuals.  I want to make a package
> deal
> and get these
> out of my house.  Please write to sobel@isracom.co.il

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Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 03:26:07 -0700
From: Ted Dudziak 
To: Tom Howe <ceds@teleport.com>
Subject: Re: CED Digest Vol. 2 No. 30

All the comments about easter-eggs and various mastering anomolies
reminded me about the first time that the freeze-4frames was used to
verify the presence of something in a movie. Freeze frame was either
non-existant or very bad on VCR's in 1977. 

In 1977 a parody of Star Wars was released.  It was called Hardware Wars
by Ernie Fosselius.  It has recently been released on video and I
purchased a copy.  In one of the scenes in the parody, the gang was
looking out the front screen of the Millenium Falcon.  Right in the
middle of the screen was a large pair of dice, just like the ones in the
'57 Chevy.  You couldn't miss it.  

Just for gags in the lab we freeze framed every scene like the one in
the parody and sure enough there they were a small pair of dice in the
middle of the screen.  As I recall the dice were only in the scene for a
very short time.  Subsequent scenes did not have the dice.  

I happen to enjoy a good parody and this is one of them.  

"May the Farce be with you."

Ted Dudziak

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: TerryTC1
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 13:03:42 -0400 (EDT)
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: History of VideoDisc

Picked up a book from amazon.com titled "The Business of Research- RCA and
Teh VideoDisc" by Margaret B.W. Graham.  It is an interesting story of the
behind the scenes movement that ultimately led to the release and withdrawal
of CED in the marketplace.  One fact I previously did not know.  I always
thought that the diamond stylus had allowed increasing the groove density
leading to 60 minutes per side.  In fact RCA had been able to do this for
several years but the sapphire stylus which only lasted for 50 hours broke
even more frequently when designed to play the smaller grooves.  They almost
decided to release a 30 minute player which would play the 60 minute discs
with a new cartridge, but decided against it.  It is a fascinating book and
was only 15.95 in soft cover.

Terry Collins

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 23:32:00 -0700
From: Tom Howe 
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: RE: Disc Fails to Load

On Mon, 11 Aug 1997 Donald Baraf wrote:
>The main problems are (i)the machine will not "bight" the disc and
>engage and (ii)the transport will not take the disc in.

Donald:

Both problems are probably due to function motor drive belt failure. Here is
the text of a web page detailing replacement of this belt. If you have web
access,  the site below has photos to accompany the text.

--Tom Howe
www.cedmagic.com


Function Motor Drive Belt Replacement

These instructions are for replacing the function motor drive belt on RCA's J
and K series electric-loading CED players. Failure
of this drive belt is the single most common reason why these players fail to
operate. The function motor drive belt transfers the
torque to load and unload the disc, so when it first begins to fail the player
may eject caddies without unloading the disc, since
the caddy wasn't drawn far enough inside to reach the latching mechanism. This
drive belt also provides the torque necessary to
rotate the function gear assembly to the various positions corresponding to
Load, Play, Unload, and Off. So if the player, when
turned on, takes a long time to enter Load mode where the access door is open
and the LED display flashes L, then the belt is
beginning to fail. It is not uncommon for a player that has been stored for a
long time to never enter Load mode when turned on
because the drive belt has completely failed and all the function motor can do
is endlessly spin. All J and K series players use
the same function belt, RCA Stock No. 157592, which corresponds to the more
readily available PRB No. SCB3.6. If you
have difficulty finding this belt, you can mail me a dollar to the address at
the bottom of this document, and I'll send you one.


(1) To begin installation, remove the two philips screws from the back of the
cabinet top and remove the top by lifting from the
back. Locate the function motor gear train in the left rear of the player as
shown in figure 1.

(2) The function motor gear train is partially concealed by a small black cover
held in place by two philips screws corresponding
to the screw holes indicated in figure 2. Remove these screws and the gear
cover, being careful not to lose the felt washer that
fits over the 2nd reduction gear mounting shaft.

(3) Slip the combined 2nd reduction gear and pinion off the mounting shaft,
which will fully expose the 1st reduction gear and
pulley as shown in figure 3.

(4) If necessary, the combined 1st reduction gear and pulley can be slipped off
its mounting shaft to free the old belt. Put this
back on prior to installing the new belt.

(5) Install the new belt by slipping it around the pulley, then stretching it
up and over the function motor drive shaft.

(6) Place the combined 2nd reduction gear and pinion onto its mounting shaft
making sure it seats all the way down, so the
mounting shaft slightly protrudes.

(7) Place the felt washer over the protruding end of the 2nd reduction gear
mounting shaft, then replace the gear cover, making
sure the felt washer doesn't fall off before the screws are fully seated.

(8) Replace the cabinet top by holding it at a 15 degree angle while aligning
the front edge before lowering the rear to the closed
position.

(9) Replace the two philips screws to secure the cabinet top.

Copyright (c) 1996 by Tom Howe, P.O. Box 5604, Portland, Oregon 97228 U.S.A.
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