CED Digest Vol. 3 No. 40

CED Digest Vol. 3 No. 40 • 10/3/1998
From: KatGlen1
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 22:33:01 EDT
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: Re: CED Digest Vol. 3 No. 39

 Donald Baraf writes that he has broken CED players and more or less blames
this digest for not providing him with an easy fix.  We are dealing with a
company that no longer exists.  The RCA of that era is gone.  Yes, the
technology was doomed before it was sold to the public.  Laser was the wave of
the future.  But each one of us is still a fan of the system much like
collectors of old phonographs or 78's.  They a just a small bunch of people
but share many similar frustrations.  Its been 15 years since RCA told us all
that it was over.  Each one of us has an obligation to report parts sources or
people who can supply parts or service to this digest and make us all aware of
what we find.  If none of us does that then shame on us.  But its certainly
not the fault of Tom or anyone who has done so much to help us all and provide
us with a lot of information and good memories.  I have five CED players that
I purchased new and about 150 discs.  That was a lot of money back in the mid
80's.  
But I still enjoy playing with the machines and just looking at the discs.
Each one of them needed belts changed and by having the CED Magic info at hand
to tell me how saved me a ton of money and many hours of frustration.  I am
very grateful.  Glenn

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 12:31:23 -0700
From: Tom Howe
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: RE: CED Digest Vol. 3 No. 39

On Sat, 23 Aug 1997 Tom Howe wrote:
>From: Tom Howe
>To: ceds@teleport.com
>Subject: RE: Disc Fails to Load
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>
>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
>
REMAINING CONTENT DELETED

Donald:

Did you try replacing the function motor drive belt, as I suggested back in
August 1997? Your description of the problem sounds exactly like belt failure,
which is a simple repair that costs a dollar and only requires a few minutes to
complete. Here's the URL of the J/K Player Belt Replacement Instructions:



http://www.cedmagic.com/tech-info/function-motor.html

If you replaced the belt and are still having problems, try posting a followup
message describing the problems in detail.  Most player problems are due to belt
failure or stylus cartridge failure, and these issues are addressed in detail at
the web site. Electronic component failure is much more difficult to address as
the most efficent way to locate electrical faults is to use signal tracing in
conjunction with the service manual, test disc, and an oscilloscope. This
requires the physical presence of the player and the skill to use the diagnosis
and repair tools.  Since CED players contain about 500 electrical components, a
verbal description of an electrical failure may provide little insight into the
specific problem, although in many instances the circuit area where the failure
exists can at least be narrowed down.

It sounds like you want the CED Magic web site to provide a repair service for
CED players. I'm a CED hobbyist like everyone else on this mailing list, and
started the site to pass on through writing what I've learned about the hobby
to other CED enthusiasts. Part of the reason why the volume of messages to this
mailing list has decreased is due to new information available at the web site,
since people no longer have to ask where to get belts or stylus cartridges, and
other questions are being answered by perusal of the CED Digest archives.
Although I'll continue to expand the tech info section of the web site as time
permits, it will never be able to fully address electrical repair of players.
CED players still turn up in thrift stores and are regularly auctioned at
www.ebay.com, so the most cost effective way to deal with electrical failures at
present is to get a working player and keep the broken one as a potential parts
source.

--Tom Howe

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Narpet2112
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 13:21:58 EDT
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: CED Stilus and Belts

I have an RCA SJT-400 CED player that has a problem with skipping and sticking
on most disks played.  I assume the is a problem with the stilus and/or belt.
I would like to try and refurbish the player (I guess I'll have to try and do
it myself) and would like to purchase a new stilus and belt.  Can anyone
inform me where these items are available for purchase?  Thank you very much.

Narpet2112@AOL.COM

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 14:38:12 -0700
From: Tom Howe
To: ceds@teleport.com
Subject: RE: Remote for RCA SGT250 Player

Andrew:

There are several remotes you can use on the SGT250. Among these are:

CRK34A  SGT250 Remote  Stock #154499
CRK34C  SJT300(early production) Remote  Stock #157164
CRK34D  SJT300(late production) and SKT300 Remote  Stock #157233

The early models run on three AA batteries and have three infrared LED's to
properly divide the voltage, while the outwardly identical late model uses two
AA's with two LED's. These remotes are still available from Fox International at
800-321-6993. Even though the 154499 is the technically correct replacement for
your player, you may want to consider the others, as 154499 costs about twice as
much as the other two models. The probable reason is that 154499 is the highest
demand of the three, and parts suppliers have a tendency to hike the price on
in-demand obsolete parts that are nearly depleted in inventory.

--Tom Howe

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 21:30:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: return 
To: Tom Howe <ceds@teleport.com>
Subject: Re: CED Digest Vol. 3 No. 39

I am compelled to agree with Donald Barf in his recent entry to the CED
Digest.  I find it hard to disagree with him on his comments concearning
the validity and usefullness of the site.. what good does it do someone
if they have 4 broken machines and cannot fix them nor obtain any
information or assistance in that area??
  A title base, and those other things look impressive, but it is of no
use when you've gotten a ton of disc in the attic with no working machines
to play them on.  This comes back to the issue I raised last year on the
digest concearning why there is no direction on the "Site" for organizing
an effort to arrange a central repair point for all of these people with
broken machines a place to shipp them to so they can be repaired by a
skilled tech with some experience with these machines (ex-RCA tech?).
    We don't need "PREDATORS".  We have seen them already on this site.
Lack of Focus and Lack of concearn seems to prevade on this issue.
I think the Gentleman is correct in his description of the site in this
regard.
   NO one seems to respond lately.  I feel compelled to agree with him
on this issue. The site is "not" providing any real "Help", or assitance
in machine repair...Instructions on repairing a loading Belt are as
inadequate to facing "Real" "hard-core" machine problems as trying to fix
Israeli-PLO peace arrangements in the Middle-East.  The "Silence" from this
site concearning any type of assitance on machine repair is "Deafing!"
   Maybe what we do need is a museum as suggested by the letter, only it 
will be a museum of Broken machines instead of working ones.....
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