CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[Bruce]

Hello

I am a new member, and know little about CEDs. I do have experience with other formats, in that I bought my first VCR, a Sanyo beta machine back in 1980. If I recall correctly, I think it cost about $800 and had a corded remote. I can also recall spending about $450 for my first VHS in about 1981 or 1982.

I recently purchased, in a single lot, about 300 CED movies and 3 CED players; two RCAs and a Hitachi, plus a spare cartridge for each.

Question: The picture is not real clear. Viewable, but not great by any means. So, was the picture ever great on CED's?

Also, I have an extensive video collection in other formats. Many of these CEDs are duplicates of movies I have in the other formats, and many of the CED titles are titles I do not care to own. The movies would be available for cheap to an interested person. For any interested person, please send me your wants. I am asking $1.00 each, plus shipping, which if shipped media mail is not that much.

The CED discs give me a small fit when trying to load, as many times, the disc is still in the cartridge when I try to load it. I turn the machine off and on, and maybe that helps, but it still takes several tries. Maybe the RCA machine has seen its better days? I have not tried the other RCA machine, nor the Hitachi.

I noted the Hitachi takes a much different cartridge than does the RCA.

I also have about 300 laser discs that I am parting with. Again, if interested, notify me with your wants. I am asking $4.00 plus shipping.

Look forward to reading these posts.

Bruce

[RT9342]

Hi Bruce. The CED never had what I would consider crisp, clear video. However, a worn stylus or a damaged disc (especially one that's gotten too hot at some point) will make the picture look worse than it should. If the picture has a lot of psychedelic blur marks, it could be the stylus, and if it looks like you're watching analog TV broadcast with cheap rabbit ears, you may have a bad disc.
Despite technical data I've seen about the CED format, I still believe a lot of the picture quality issues were due to the mastering. Early laserdiscs suffered the same problem. Since you have a lot of laserdiscs, perhaps you have some old ones from the early 80's. If you have the time, check out any laserdiscs that you may have that are duplicates of CED's that you have. If any of them have almost identical artwork on the jacket/caddy, check out the picture quality on the laserdisc. The picture quality should be comparable. The laserdisc may look a little better, but if there's a big difference in the quality, then you probably have a bad stylus and/or disc.
I have no experience with Hitachi players, so perhaps someone else can answer your question about the fit. I do know that the older RCA players (SFT & SGT models) will have a somewhat tight fit, but not excessively tight unless the cams are out of alignment. I do know that the Hitachi players have their own unique stylus, as you mentioned. Actually, different RCA players used different styli too. There were two types used in the SFT & SGT models - one for mono players and one for stereo, though the stereo styli are compatible with the mono players. But the SJT & SKT models use a much smaller stylus. Players made by Toshiba had a stylus that was interchangeable with the RCA SFT & SGT type stylus, and I'm not sure about the Sanyo players, but Hitachi went their own way.
I know you have a lot of laserdiscs, but if there's any way you could make a list of what you got, I may be interested. I have a couple of old PR-7820's (the first laserdisc player, made during 1979-1980) that still work well. Though I was trying to make a full transition to Blu-Ray, I can't afford to buy Blu-Ray discs very often, so I'm still willing to purchase movies on laserdisc or CED, since they're cheap and I still have players for them.

[Bruce]

Thanks, Tom

I have tried numerous discs, with about the same result. I would guess if abnormal, perhaps the stylus is the problem.

I do not presently have a list of laser discs, but it would not be impossible to put one together. In the meantime, if you have some titles you are looking for, let me know. I know that is kind of hit and miss, but it's the best I can offer now.

I have a wide range of CEDs, with many B&W titles that I do not care about. Also, do not care about the Disney and similar. But, after sorting, I found several titles I do not have and do want.

Thanks again.

[RT9342]

From what you're telling me, I would guess that there's a stylus problem, but if I were you, I might try out all of your players, and maybe swapping the styli too, if you have more than one of the same type. If you seem to get the same results on all the players and all the styli, then I might say that what you're seeing is just the limitations of the CED format. It's not exactly the best format for high quality picture. In fact, I made VHS backup copies of a couple of my CED videos one time, and I couldn't really see much picture quality loss on the VHS tape. Usually a VHS copy of a video looks signifigantly nastier than the original video (that's my opinion anyway).
As far as titles I'm looking for...that's kind of hard to say. I've always been more of the kind of guy to look through videos and just pick out ones that catch my attention, rather than look for specific titles. But I post messages on this forum regularly, so no rush on the list.
By the way, I'm Russell, not Tom (though Tom does sound like a shortened version of my last name, Thompson)...but that's quite all right. I've gotten people's names mixed up on this forum before.

[Bruce]

Russell

Sorry about that misnomer. A "Tom" e-mailed me, and I guess I thought that was you.

I found I have a Sears, not Hitachi. I thought he said it was a Hitachi. It is model #934-54800250. Perhaps Hitachi made the Sears models?

The RCAs are both model #SKT-100. I assume the RCAs are low-end models, as there are some number series in the 400s that I have seen. Supposedly, only one of the RCAs works. I think he said the other two need belts, and do not work. As I mentioned, I have two new styli for the RCAs, and one new stylus for the Sears.

So, is changing the cartridge or stylus difficult? I have never opened one of these. How about the belts?

As for the list, I hauled these movies (CEDs) home in my pickup. There were 10 boxes, which nearly filled my 8' box. It is difficult to tell how many movies I have, since many of them have two cartridges, so the volume is great, and so is the weight....I know this as I carried them all to the basement. However, I do hope to get a list together--and soon.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Bruce

[RT9342]

Okay, I'm guessing the e-mail you got was from Tom Howe, who is the guy who set up and maintains this website. A very knowledgeble guy, and I think we all certainly appreciate the excellent job he did with this site.
I don't know if you've checked out a lot of the stuff on the cedmagic.com "Home" link, but there's some really neat information, including a guide that shows all of the different players, with information on each model. I found your Sears player; it is in fact one that Hitachi made. Actually there was only one Sears model that wasn't a Hitachi - that one was just an RCA SFT-100 with some cosmetic differences.
As far as the RCA players you have, the SKT series was the best one, but the 100 verison is somewhat a lower end version. There SKT were 5 SKT models - the 090, the 100, the 200, the 300, and the 400. The 090 lacked some of the LEDs and several buttons (I think it just had fast-forward, play/pause, and reject). The 100 had all the buttons & LEDs, but is mono and has no audio/video jacks. The 200 is stereo and has the audio/video jacks. The 300 is just a 200 with a remote control and stylus sweeper. The 400 was quite different - it has on-screen displays and can play special interactive discs (those discs and the 400 players seem to be quite rare and usually sell for a high price).
I don't know how to change the stylus in the Hitachi players, but as far as the RCA players, it's unfortunately easier on the older models (SFT & SGT) than the later models (SJT & SKT). On the older models, you simply remove a snap-on or slide-on cover and then pop open the tonearm door. On yours, you need to remove the top cover, but it's just held on by 2 screws in the back. You may want to check the instruction stickers inside the player, but I think you have to rotate one of the tonearm drive gears until the tonearm moves up far enough for you to open it. There's a metal clip that kind of has to be pryed to get the tonearm door to open. Once you do that, the stylus should be fairly easy to remove. Just be sure to be careful when inserting a new stylus. I once put one in and didn't do it right - the brand-new stylus broke and tore up the disc I was playing too. I don't mean to scare you by saying that, but I just urge you to do it carefully. The belt that you probably need to replace is towards the back left side. It's a small belt and should be fairly simple to replace, but the old one is probably going to be a nasty, gummy mess. One nice thing about your SKT players is that you don't have to worry about the turntable belt like most players - the SJT and SKT models are direct drive.
I hope that helps.

[Bruce]

Russell

I tried the other RCA machine tonight. At first, it would not play. The disc stuck inside, and I could not get it out--made a grinding noise. Finally, I was able to remove it. Not having high hopes, I removed the cover, and re-inserted the disc. The "whatever grabs the disc" was not pulling it far enough in to remove it. I pushed on it slightly, and it worked! Only problem was that it stuck on channel zero. After a bit though, it began to play. Not just play, but play with a clear picture! So, the snowy picture on my other player has to be the cartridge or stylus, whichever is getting replaced. Now, I am a bit more impressed with CED than at first.

And get this: inside the machine is a label SJT-100. The cover says SKT-100. Any insight on that?

Thanks for your help again.

Bruce

[Bruce]

Russell

I wasn't as lucky with the Sears unit. Plugged it in, and it took the disc (very smoothly). But a light comes on that says, "standby". The motor makes noise, but no playback can be viewed. I pushed the pause to see if that is what standby meant, but to no avail.

I took the cover off, but all you see is a circuit board--no moving parts were evident. I could not tell if the disc was turning or not.

Perhaps a good parts machine? I do have a brand new cartridge for it.

Bye,

Bruce

[RT9342]

I'm glad to hear about your success with the RCA machine. If they sit up a while, dust buildup can cause them to act up upon first try. If your player isn't pulling the disc caddy hard enough to get the disc out, you may have a bad belt, in the back left corner. I do find it interesting that the inside label says SJT-100. Though I never actually looked at an SKT model, Tom once informed me that the SJT's and SKT's are very similar, and that the main difference is some revisions to the circuitry. But just looking at the assembled players, you wouldn't see a difference (the same goes with the SFT-100 and the SGT-100). So with that in mind, I have two theories. My first theory is that your player was an SJT-100 with a scratched up cover, so whoever last had it (or whoever had it before them) replaced the cover with one from a non-working SKT-100. My other theory is that RCA still had some SJT chassis in stock and just converted them to SKT chassis without changing the label. Perhaps some other members of this forum know if that sort of thing occurred or not. I know they did things like that with the last CED discs produced. They just wanted to use up as much stock as possible, so they stuck new labels over already-labeled caddies, and even mixed up the colors (normally mono discs have all-white caddies and stereo discs have all-blue caddies, but some of the last ones would have a white insert in a blue caddy, I guess because they had a lot of white inserts laying around).
Unfortunately, I don't know too much about the Sears or Hitachi players. I don't know how to access the stylus, but it could just be really dirty and not damaged. I've had RCA players do the same thing, and they turned out to just have a big ball of dust on the stylus. After brushing out the dust ball, they worked fine. I know some members of this forum are more familiar with those types of players. Just be patient, and maybe someone else will have some helpful information.

[cbertra2]

Probably the only thing wrong with the sears player is the rubber belts are deteriorated and need to be replaced. They can be aquired from Tom at cedmagic.com for just a few dollars. I Have repaired six of these players and all they ever needed were belts.

[Bruce]

Hello

I do not have a lot of experience fixing stuff. I have replaced belts on a reel-to-reel, 8-track player, and cassette player, but lately have just taken them in to the local repair guy. Some belts are easy to replace, but some seem like they built the component around the belt.

So, how bad was the Sears to repair?

The Sears has a feel like it is a better machine than the RCA, but that is only an observation.

My friend told me that about the only things that go wrong with CED players is the cartridges and the belts. If so, that does narrow it down.

Thanks for your advice.

Bruce

[Bruce]

Hello

I semi-took the Sears unit apart. I loaded a disc in without the cover. The player will pull the disc out, but that is as far as it goes. It sits up on top, and never loads onto the platen (is that the correct term?).

The cartridge is a dream to replace, as there is a small cover that you pull up, and then just pull the cartridge out. How do you tell if it is good by looking at it?

Bye,

Bruce

[cbertra2]

I have taken some photos of the inside of the Sears player which is the same as your Hitachi and will gladly email them to you along with some simple instructions on how to change the belts. It really is rather easy. You can leave your email address here or email it to at wadellt@gmail.com