CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 33

CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 33 • 8/16/2003
20 Years Ago In CED History:

August 17, 1983:
* Ira Gershwin, the American lyricist, dies at the age of 86. He and his
brother George, the composer, created the scores for such Broadway musicals as
Porgy and Bess and Of Thee I Sing. Their many famous songs include "S
Wonderful," "I Got Rhythm," and "Somebody Loves Me."
Ira Gershwin's lyrics can be heard on the CED titles Ziegfeld Follies, An
American in Paris, A Star Is Born (1954), The Country Girl,  and New York, New
York.

August 18, 1983:
* Hurricane Alicia whips through southern Texas, leaving 17 persons dead and
property damage valued at up to $1.3 billion. Houston and Galveston are the
hardest hit cities.

August 19, 1983:
* Some 40,000 Argentines march in Buenos Aires to protest a proposed amnesty
that would protect military personnel from prosecution for human rights
violations committed during the 1970's.
* Future CED title in widespread theatrical release: Vacation.

August 20, 1983:
* President Reagan lifts controls that had been placed on the export of certain
pipelaying equipment to the Soviet Union. The change in U.S. policy is backed
by Secretary of State George Shultz and Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige,
but opposed by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and William P. Clark, the
president's national security adviser, even though the equipment has no
military significance.

August 21, 1983:
* Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., a severe critic of Philippine President Ferdinand
Marcos and a former senator, is shot and killed just minutes after returning to
the Manila airport. Aquino's alleged assassin is instantly shot and killed on
the tarmac by soldiers, but circumstances surrounding the shooting are so
unusual that anti-Marcos factions are convinced the government was involved.
Following numerous demonstrations, Marcos threatens to reimpose martial law.

August 22, 1983:
* A series of disqualifications begin at the Pan American Games underway in
Caracas, Venezuela. The suspensions result from positive tests for anabolic
steroids and other drugs.

August 23, 1983:
* Canada and the United States sign an agreement to make a joint study of the
movements of the air pollutants believed to cause acid rain.
* The U.S. is reported to be nearly ready for the first test flight of an
anti-satellite missile.

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From: SonyFan13
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 12:05:09 EDT
Subject: Re: CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 32
To: tom@cedmagic.com

>"For the first time," Mr. Kuhn said, "consumers can now
program their
>own video concerts, something they can't do with video cassette
>recorders. This ability to program music discs could very well impact
>on the way music lovers enjoy their favorite songs and performers at
>home."

For some reason, I find this quote from an RCA press release very amusing.  It
touts the random access capabilities of the banded CED, totally ignoring the
fact that LaserDisc had such a feature long before CED was ever even released.

I'm not making fun of CED itself, but merely pointing out how marketing
ambition can make some people look stupid when they make ignorant claims.  Like
how Sony touted that VHS would never be able to duplicate Hi-Fi audio or that
DiscoVision would be high quality. - Reinhart

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Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2003 15:49:53 -0700
From: JR <john>
To:  digest@cedmagic.com
Subject: Can someone copy to DVD (or at least VHS) for me?

Hi, I have the Doobie Brothers concert on CED and don't have a player. I'd like
to watch it.  Do any of you have the ability to copy to DVD or CD video.  VHS
will do but not preferred.  I'm in Phoenix, but will send it out.

Thanks,

John

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From: marilyn_wilson
To: digest@cedmagic.com
Subject: Final Assignment
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 01:09:37 +0000

Can you tell me more about this movie.  I can't find it in the Movie Guide.

Thanks.

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From: SonyFan13
Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 18:36:36 EDT
Subject: Hitachi chassis videodisc player problem...
To: digest@cedmagic.com

I have a Sears model 934.54800250 video disc player, to which its OEM
equivalent is the Hitachi VIP-2000.

Anyways, the video exhibits excessive dropouts that appear as random black
strips that speckle all over the screen, especially during bright parts of the
video.  This artifact worsens as the disc plays, with the artifacts looking
their worst near the end of the playable side.  This problem is evident on all
discs that have been played on it, and discs that would otherwise play normally
on my RCA SJT-200 and RCA SGT-250.

I suspect that the stylus may be nearing the end of its useful life, and
continued playback will cause additional problems to develop, such as the
inability to track the groove.

Any ideas?

If the problem is, indeed a defective or worn stylus cartridge, then I fully
understand the dillema of locating this particular part. (Easier to come across
replacement RCA cartridges than Hitachi cartridges.)  This begs the request for
a replacement cartridge that is either new or used with sufficient usable life
left on it.

I wish to avoid getting a working player just to strip it for parts, unless the
player is monophonic.  Of course, the stylus from a mono player will cause
minor audible noise in a stereo player since it will not have the rubber damper
on the cantilever.  - Reinhart
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