CED Digest Vol. 7 No. 35

CED Digest Vol. 7 No. 35 • 8/31/2002
20 Years Ago In CED History:

September 1, 1982:
* In a televised address, President Reagan endorses "full autonomy" under
Jordanian supervision for Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip;
demands a freeze on Israeli settlements; and calls for negotiations leading to
an undivided Jerusalem. The speech comes on the same day that the last
Palestinian and Syrian fighters leave west Beirut.
* Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo closes all of the country's private
banks so they can be "incorporated directly into the service of the nation." He
also announces the imposition of a system of strict currency exchange controls.

* Robert Frederick, a former vice president of General Electric, is appointed
President of RCA Corporation:



http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/rca-laboratories/mem499.html

* RCA PRESS RELEASE:
'STAR WARS' to Highlight RCA Promotions for VideoDisc System this Fall

INDIANAPOLIS, September 1 -- Five separate promotions will be launched by RCA
this fall in support of its "CED" VideoDisc system, including plans for a
national "Star Wars" campaign that features the box office champion movie
currently being introduced on video disc.

RCA's fall activities are designed "to build on new momentum now favoring
VideoDisc," said Jack K. Sauter, RCA Group Vice President. "One year after the
introduction of the RCA VideoDisc system, we have fashioned a strong marketing
effort that combines the new $299.95 optional retail price level for a player
with the proven success of outstanding movies that a consumer will want to own
for convenient viewing."

Thomas G. Kuhn, Division Vice President, RCA VideoDiscs, noted that consumer
reaction to the offering of more current movies such as "On Golden Pond" and
"Superman" had been very positive this summer, particularly when retailers
offered the discs free with the purchase of a player.

"It is quite clear that software has become a major sales opportunity for a
variety of consumer electronic dealers, particularly those who make a strong
display commitment to the expanding 'CED' catalog," Mr. Kuhn said. He noted
that RCA has just concluded a pilot agreement with Sears that will result in
RCA VideoDiscs being displayed in more than 750 of the company's stores.

Mr. Sauter said the signs of momentum in favor of the "CED" VideoDisc system
included "a growing awareness by retailers of the favorable business
opportunities represented by this new product that will certainly benefit from
an improvement in the nation's economy. As the cumulative impact of national
advertising and strong software-oriented promotions take effect with the
consumer, we fully expect that VideoDisc will be a demand item at retail this
holiday season."

The RCA executive also noted that the "CED" system has clearly "forged to the
front in the video disc competition." RCA sales to dealers rose sharply this
summer, he said, with more players sold in total over the past 12 weeks than
the previous 37 weeks combined.

He attributed recent sales gains by the "CED" system to the introduction of
stereo players. RCA now offers two stereo models in its full line of four
VideoDisc players, and "the demand for stereo VideoDisc has been exceptionally
strong," Mr. Sauter said.

"We now expect that nearly half our total player sales will be in stereo
models." RCA's new deluxe model, SGT250, with wireless remote control and
electronic function controls, has already been increased in production plans.
Both RCA stereo VideoDisc players are equipped with output jacks for hookup to
an external amplifier/speaker system or stereo-ready TV.

RCA's first major national promotion begins Friday, September 3 and features a
free disc offer and a money-back guarantee. Participating dealers will arrange
for the purchaser of any model RCA VideoDisc player to receive two free
VideoDisc albums direct from RCA. Purchasers can also take advantage of a
five-day free home trial of an RCA VideoDisc player as part of the promotion.

Factory RCA advertising in support of this event will be highlighted by a major
newspaper ad in some 200 markets in mid September, followed by two 1500-line
ads in late September and October. The free disc offer will also be highlighted
on RCA's network TV commercials.

The company's planned "Star Wars" promotion will begin October 21 and will be
built around an offer of the just-released stereo "CED" video disc title with
an optional retail price of $34.98. The "Star Wars" disc will be offered free
with the purchase of an RCA VideoDisc player at participating dealers.

RCA will introduce the promotion next month with a major advertising and
merchandising campaign that builds on the unprecedented appeal of the George
Lucas-produced movie that surpassed all previous box office records and was
seen by more than a billion movie goers. RCA will spend over $2 million on
national television and in newspapers to advertise the free "Star Wars"
promotion.

Mr. Sauter noted that the proven mass appeal of "Star Wars" will "certainly
help establish video disc as an entertainment medium in its own right and as a
more attractive and economical means for consumers to build their own movie
libraries at home." He noted that "Star Wars" as a 20th Century-Fox video disc
is optionally priced less than half that of the tape version.

Three special RCA promotions this fall are designed to appeal to fans of
specific categories of entertainment, such as the James Bond series, horror
films and comedy. As noted, Mr. Kuhn said that during the period September 14
through October 16, consumers will be offered a $10 incentive with the purchase
of three Bond titles.

Following up that particular software promotion will be a similar Halloween
event based on a selection of seven major horror titles now on RCA VideoDisc.
New releases for this event include "Carrie", "Rosemary's Baby" and an
"American Werewolf in London."

A third theme promotion is scheduled for November with 13 comedy discs offered
as part of a rebate and coupon retail merchandising activity.

Mr. Kuhn also noted the beginning of a special RCA magazine advertising
campaign with "an upbeat, winning personality" that stresses the consumer's
home life can be more entertaining with the RCA VideoDisc system. The second
half campaign will include 34 insertions in 10 national magazines.

RCA has significantly expanded its catalog of VideoDisc programs to 295 titles,
with more than 400 "CED" titles from RCA and other brands to be available by
the end of the year. Mr. Kuhn noted that RCA's original catalog one year ago
consisted of only 100 titles.

* CED Title Releases for September 1982:

Big Fights, Vol. 3: Sugar Ray Robinson's Greatest Fights
Carrie [RCA]
Don't Look Now
Doobie Brothers Live In Concert- Santa Barbara*
Every Which Way But Loose
Four Musketeers, The
Howling, The
In-Laws, The
Kenny Loggins Alive!*
La Cage Aux Folles
Marathon Man
Public Enemy, The
Ragtime (2)
Rebel Without A Cause
Rosemary's Baby (2)
Saturday Night Live, Vol. 2: Richard Pryor/Steve Martin
Shaggy Dog, The
Streetcar Named Desire, A
Tony Bennett Songbook, A*
What's Up, Doc?

September 2, 1982:
* Wladyslaw Gomulka, former Polish Communist leader, dies at the age of 78.

September 3, 1982:
* President Reagan signs into law a bill providing $98.3 billion in tax
increases and $17.5 billion in spending reductions for the fiscal years
1983-85.
* Future CED title in widespread theatrical release: The Incubus.

September 4, 1982:
* Twenty-four people are killed and 38 injured by a fire in a downtown Los
Angeles apartment house.
* "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller becomes the No. 1 U.S. Single. The music video
of this song appears on the CED title "Picture Music."

September 5, 1982:
* The shock wave of an extraordinarily powerful solar flare arrives at the
outer magnetic field of the Earth causing spectacular auroras and briefly
disrupting some electric power systems.

September 6, 1982:
* During a news conference organized by the Salvadoran Human Rights Commission,
three women accuse government troops of indiscriminately killing 300 unarmed
civilians during a seven-day antiguerrilla campaign in San Vicente Province.

September 7, 1982:
* The discovery is reported, by scientists at the National Institute of Mental
Health, of synthetic chemicals that fit brain cell receptors so well as to
instantly turn on or off symptoms of extreme anxiety in monkeys.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Mat" <matthew.tuck>
To: <digest@cedmagic.com>
Subject: New CED discs
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 21:56:18 +0100

I have a number of new CED discs in PAL/UK format, still sealed in original
cellophane, they are on ebay.
 
http://cgi6.ebay.co.uk/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=bikeboyz 
 
take a look if your are interested.
 
Regards
 
Matthew

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: JacksMustangs
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 20:31:49 EDT
Subject: hi....? please
To: digest@cedmagic.com

hi i,m retired an don,t under stand some things..you have rca videodisc player
stylus cart replacment guide and they [all 3] you show have no needle your
showing just the case..my case is good i just need needle..can you help me buy
just a needle ? thank you jon in minn

------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: digest@cedmagic.com
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 20:34:16 -0800
From: "Tom Howe" <tom@cedmagic.com>
Subject: RE: Stylus Loose Connector Problem

>I have a vague memory (and they're all getting more so every day) about an
>electrolytic glue being available on the market. I don't know where...perhaps,
>Radio Shack. Would this not be a simple and solution to fixing the problem
>without the threat of "burning your bridges before you?"

I haven't tried using conductive glue on stylus cartridges, but there are a
couple different kinds on the market. One is epoxy-style conductive silver:

http://www.hollandshielding.com/eng-shieldokit.htm

The other is based on conductive carbon, not unlike a CED itself:

http://www.nmart.com

These products claim strength comparable to conventional solder, and would be
worthwhile testing on some of these stylus cartridges with the broken flyleads.

--Tom

------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: digest@cedmagic.com
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 20:43:45 -0800
From: "Tom Howe" <tom@cedmagic.com>
Subject: RE: SJT400 Sound

>Been working on this SJT-400 for some time to replace loading 
>mechanism that arrived with several broken pieces.  Now I find 
>that it has a great picture but no sound.

Stereo players have two Audio FM Demodulator IC's, one for each audio channel,
while mono players have only one. If the single IC in monaural players fails
there is no sound period, while stereo players usually fail on one audio
channel or the other. Although failure of these chips is the most common reason
for sound problems, it's unlikely they would both simultaneously fail in a
stereo player, but perhaps the prior owner of the machine used it as a mono
machine after one chip failed until the second one also failed. The audio
demodulator IC is the RCA CA3215E FM-IF Amplifier/Detector Limiter chip. This
part is no longer readily available, but can be scavenged from parts machines.
The problem could also be in the audio processing circuitry past the
demodulator chips. This includes the Audio Matrix/Buffer (a quad op-amp IC),
the decoder/rectifier IC, and the decoder/amplifier IC.

>While I'm writing, has anyone encountered J or K series players 
>that had the loading belt turn to ooze?

It's rather common for this belt to decompose into difficult-to-remove black
tar. I haven't found a solvent that effectively dissolves this without also
dissolving the 1st reduction gear. But Goo Gone does a passable job of removing
the ooze when applied liberally with a small piece of coarse kitchen sponge:



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

--Tom
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