CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[lynx]

I have been reading thru the old CED Digest archives from years ago on here, and a found two messages in CED Digest Volume 6 which intrigued me.



They were about a rare CED player with the model SKT 265, and it says that this player model was designed only for specialised use by the military at Miramar, and also used for video game applications by a software company in Carlsbad, California. One of the two messages says that San Diego seems to be the only place where this particular model ever turns up. I have lived in San Diego for my entire life, and I have never seen this player before, so does any one have any proof of this statement or know if it is true?

[SelectaVision420]

i was unaware more than one has turned up... who else has one?
_________________
(2)Sears 274 & 934(80150,10&11350), sft100, sgt250, sjt 090-400, vp550, VDR3000, VP2000 & 4000
complete '84 Dimensia Owner

[cedmagic]

The SKT265 shown in the CED Player Guide was obtained on a road trip to San Diego in 1993, with stops at used record stores in Sacramento, San Francisco, and LA on the way down there. I placed a CEDs Wanted ad in the San Diego Reader and got a few calls from people with discs to sell. One call was from an older gentleman named Milton Blackstone who mentioned he had a couple dozen new-in-box CED players and had found few people interested in them. Went to his house overlooking La Jolla Shores, and they were all SKT265 models stacked up in his garage. It was obvious they had been stacked there for a long time, with salt spray encrustation on the outside of the boxes. I purchased two players from the middle of the stacks.

Mr. Blackstone told me that he was the local consultant hired by RCA to coordinate the Miramar flight simulator project with RCA Labs. He said RCA abandoned the project literally overnight, leaving him stuck with the players in his garage. He never saw a flight simulator disc, although it's possible some prototypes were pressed in Princeton.

I figured given his age that Milton Blackstone likely left us years ago, but it turns out he lived to 96, passing away just two months ago. Here's his obituary:

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/el-cajon-ca/milton-blackstone-9173082

[SelectaVision420]

[cedmagic]

Yes, he led an impressive life. I wasn't aware of his accomplishments during the half-hour I spent at his house. There were about 20 players there based on the way they were stacked up in SKT200 boxes. Mr. Blackstone knew about the function motor drive belt and was planning on doing a free Reader ad himself after getting some O-rings at the hardware store. I never heard how that went, but he may have eventually sold those other players.

[SelectaVision420]

Well god bless you for saving two of them. i wish i was there back then i would have bought 2 myself! i wonder, who was the one putting the extra board on those players and did mr. blackstone receive the only batch? the whole military/ defense side of this all is really intriguing to me!
_________________
(2)Sears 274 & 934(80150,10&11350), sft100, sgt250, sjt 090-400, vp550, VDR3000, VP2000 & 4000
complete '84 Dimensia Owner

[ketonic_dude]

Wow, that's some of the most interesting player history I've heard yet. Flight simulators. Wow.

Tony, It might be worth trying to contact his living family, they might have threw his stuff in a storage unit or an attic somewhere, who knows. More than likely they all got pitched but I'll hold out hope.

Let me know if you need some help tracking down some family.

[cedmagic]

Here's another CED military tie-in from CED Digest Vol. 8 No. 3

January 22, 1983:
* The U.S.S. Ticonderoga, the first RCA AEGIS-equipped guided missile cruiser
is commissioned after having been christened by Nancy Reagan on May 16, 1981.

During earlier sea trials, RCA engineers discovered that when the ship was
operating near shore, the powerful AEGIS radar signature could interfere with
the 910 MHz tuned line in the pickup arm resonator of the SFT100 CED player.
This prompted them to add the PW2500 Pulse Interference Connector (PIC) Board
to the SGT100 and other "G" line CED players.

[SelectaVision420]