CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 11

CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 11 • 3/15/2003
20 Years Ago In CED History:

March 16, 1983:
* Arthur Godfrey, the American radio and television personality, dies at the
age of 79. Godfrey was known for his wit and his warm folksy manner.

March 17, 1983:
* Chad asks the UN Security Council for help in settling a long-standing border
dispute with Libya. The desert area in question is presently occupied by Libya,
which claimed it under terms of a World War II treaty. The problem was
complicated by the fact that Libya did not recognize the government of Hissen
Habre, who in June 1982 overthrew Goukouni Oueddei. The former president had
gained power in 1980 with the help of Libya's armed forces.

March 18, 1983:
* Cathy Smith, the girlfriend of actor and comedian John Belushi, is indicted
for murder in his death.
* The 8th West Coast Computer Faire begins in San Francisco, the last of the
"classic" Computer Faires before the event was reorganized under new
management. The most notable advance is the introduction of 16K ROM cartridges
which double the amount of memory available to video games and cartridge-based
computer programs.
* Future CED title in widespread theatrical release: Spring Break.

March 19, 1983:
* Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke announces that he is renewing trade
and cultural ties with the Soviet Union that had been interrupted after Soviet
troops invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

March 20, 1983:
* Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, arrive in Australia for a
month-long visit.

March 21, 1983:
* The eight member nations of the European Monetary System agree to realign
their currencies, raising the value of the West German mark by 5.5 percent and
devaluing the French franc by 2.5 percent.
* President Reagan names William Ruckelshaus as administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), replacing Anne McGill Burford, who
resigned March 9 in the face of mounting public pressure and congressional
investigations into possible mismanagement and conflict of interest in the
agency.

March 22, 1983:
* Israel's Parliament chooses Chiam Herzog of the Labor Party as the nation's
president.
* The 44-member French cabinet resigns, and Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy names
a new cabinet of only 15 members.

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Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 21:29:48 -0600
From: Gary Cimera <imaginos>
To:  digest@cedmagic.com
Subject: looking to buy..

Well, if I cant get my SFT100 working, I'd be interested in purchasing a
functional machine.  Does anybody have a machine for sale or know where I might
find one?

Thanks

------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "fordhamroad" <fordhamroad>
To: <digest@cedmagic.com>
Subject: IN SEARCH OF A WORKING SKT-400
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 19:22:49 -0500

I AM CURRENTLY IN SEARCH OF A WORKING SKT-400.  AT A REASONABLE PRICE. I CAN BE
REACHED AT fordhamroad@netzero.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 17:42:52 -0800
From: Eroticpanties <traviswademoore>
To: digest@cedmagic.com
Subject: Can separate Audio/Video connectors be added to my CED player

HI I have been trying to follow the instructions as detailed in the ced
magic website faq as listed at the bottom of this message to add a/v
cable rca connectors

I attempted to do this to my SGT100 W  but since I don't have a Service
Manual or know where to obtain one I don't know why it doesn't seem to
work I connected my av cables to the test points indicated in
description and it doesn't seem to work

Is the problem have to do with the fact that the connections are only
single solder points on the circut board? and if so what is the other
point that I need to connect the other half of the av cables to?

the FAQ states and I quote

"Can separate Audio/Video connectors be added to my CED player that does
not have
these built-in?

With many CED players it is possible to add these connections, in fact,
you may come across a
CED player with auxiliary connectors already installed. But before
installing these, note the
following warning from RCA's service literature:

"DESIGN ALTERATION WARNING-- Do not alter or add to the mechanical or
electrical
design of this VideoDisc Player. Design alterations and additions,
including, but not limited to,
circuit modifications and the addition of items such as auxiliary audio
and/or video output
connections, cables, and accessories etc. might alter the safety
characteristics of this VideoDisc
Player and create a hazard to the user. Any design alterations or
additions may void the
manufacturer's warranty and may make you, the servicer responsible for
personal injury or
property damage resulting therefrom."

With the above disclaimer noted, it is still possible for a
knowledgeable electronics technician
in possession of the player's service manual to perform a safe
installation.

A/V output jacks can be added to the RCA SFT100, SGT075, SGT100, SGT101,
SJT090,
SJT100, SJT101, SKT090, SKT100, and Zenith VP2000, which, if well
shielded, will markedly
improve the quality of the audio and video sent to the television
monitor itself equipped with
separate A/V input jacks. All other CED player models came from the
manufacturer with
separate A/V jacks already installed. RCA provided audio and composite
video test points on
the signal processing board to which a set of external A/V jacks can be
connected with a length
of shielded wire. The audio and composite video test points are,
respectively, TP3601 and
TP3409 on the F, G, and Zenith players, and TP3504 and TP3410 on the J
and K players. On the
actual circuit boards inside the players, these test points are labeled
TP601, TP409, TP04, and
TP10, since it is standard practice to drop identical leading digits
when labeling a related
section of circuit board."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 18:31:47 -0800
To: digest@cedmagic.com
From: Tom Howe <tom@cedmagic.com>
Subject: CED Manufacturing Movie

Hello All:

Now available at CED Magic is a QuickTime movie of the complete 23-minute tour
of RCA's disc and player manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis and
Bloomington, Indiana. This is a high-quality movie as far as web downloads go,
and thus is 104 MB in size. With a dial-up Internet connection, you may want to
leave the computer running overnight to download it:

http://www.cedmagic.com/home/ced-manufacturing-page.html

Still photos from this tour have been available at CED Magic since 1996 and the
two comments that have most commonly been submitted are who is the narrator of
the tour, and why did RCA have such a dork narrating it. Well, the narrator
might look funny in a few of the still pictures, but in the movie, he has a
great presentation style and could easily have been a politician rather than a
spokesman for RCA. He is the also the person rendering the famous "Why
magic?" quote on the 1984 Video Systems disc. Strangely enough, nobody
seems to know who he is, including a couple people I've heard from who were
there the days these tours were taped. So if anyone happens to know his name,
I'd appreciate knowing it.

Another question that comes to mind is with the final scene in the movie where
the narrator is loading the Neil Diamond movie "The Jazz Singer" into
an SJT090. 
But the "attached" TV starts playing the original 1981 fanfare
instead of the 1982 fanfare present on the three copies of the Jazz Singer that
I've looked at. Now I don't think that SJT090 was really hooked up to the TV,
because the fanfare starts too fast for a J/K unit. It seems more likely that
someone flipped the function lever on an off-screen F/G player when the
narrator pulls the caddy out of the SJT090, as the fanfare startup is perfectly
timed for that line of players.

But has anyone ever seen a stereo disc with the original 1981 fanfare on it?

--Tom
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