CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[montecarlo02]

Hello,
I am new to CEDs, bought a player last week (the first one RCA made, SFT 100w or something like that) along with about 35 CEDs. The quality has been kind of disappointing so far but I have a couple in the collection that are still wrapped. I'm thinking of opening one of these just to see how a brand new disc will play. Anyone have any recommendation as to whether I should or shouldn't open them?

Matt

[Alchemy]

Congrats on the new purchases and welcome to the lunacy

As far as to do or not do, it's up to you. I have some still wrapped. My personal opinion is they are mine and I don't care about selling them off anytime soon, so I'm going to enjoy them.
If you are collecting with the thought of "it's a million $ collection" weeeeellllllll, bad investment. Good investment in fun cheap hobby though.
_________________
Scott
SGT-200, CLD-79
http://bcw.utnij.net <--- CED/LD collection

[deantjeep]

I completely agree with Alchemy.

It really is up to you and how you value your collection. CEDs for the most part is a relatively cheap hobby, as hobbies go, so most discs do not command a high price, even when still new in the wrapper. It really depends on the title. The most important thing in any hobby, is how much enjoyment you get out of it.

And welcome to the club!!!!!!!!

[Jesse Skeen]

I used to replace any used discs with still-sealed ones whenever I found them, but I stopped after finding "A Doll's House" and watching it finding the 'new' disc played much worse than the used one. Looking at the actual disc I saw the coating wasn't applied evenly.

I've acquired a few sealed discs of titles I already have, in collections I bought just to get other titles I needed. If the used copies play fine, I keep the other ones sealed just to have some sealed ones on hand. I've cut out and saved the "STEREO" labels that are on the shrinkwrap of some discs if I open those.
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Videodisc and stereo sound- there's no better value around!

[Beetlescott]

Hello, and welcome to CEDmagic! I did what you did when I got back into it, bought 35 movies with a player. As far as being disappointed in the quality of the discs you got with your player, many of them hasn't been taken care of well, and they are somebody elses junk. I advise you to open the cellophane off your movies and enjoy your movies. Also, youo can find some great quality movies on Ebay and other places, just be sure to get the ones that are guarnteed. Be sure that your player is playing well, if if jumps and skips on every single disc, you might look at having your stylus cleaned up, therre is a guy here who will clean them for you for 8 dollars and that includes shipping. Sometimes there is sommething wrong with the stylus, but never fear, the guy, CEDatum. He is very honest, and won't rebuild it unless it needs it.
Go ahead, thear that plastic off that disc, it's yours, don't save it for someone else to enjoy!
Good luck!!!!
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1000 titles
SGT-250
SJT-400
Montgomery Ward
SGT-100

[montecarlo02]

Thanks guys. It looks like the player is at fault - at times it will get out of wack and flicker between color and b/w, but a good hit and it's back to normal

[deantjeep]

monte, check this info out from Tom Howe at CEDmagic.com

Improper Turntable Speed

Symptom(s):
Image on TV exhibits intermittent color fade wherein it changes from being in color to being in black-and-white to being color again.
Solution(s):
The turntable in CED players must spin at exactly 450 RPM for proper playback. The chrominance portion of the recovered video signal is most susceptible to loss if the speed varies, resulting in a loss of color in the video image. The F/G players derive their turntable speed from the AC line frequency and a ring of sixteen magnetic poles around the circumference of the turntable. A turntable speed check strobe can be used to verify proper speed. If the speed is off or varies there could be a number of causes:
•A worn out turntable belt (obtain a replacement belt).
•Excessive friction in the turntable or drive motor bearings (re-lubricate the bearings, ideally following the procedures in the service manual).
•Belt uncentered on turntable drive motor pulley (adjust the motor mount screws so the belt rides centered following the procedure in the service manual).
•Improper clearance between the turntable magnetic ring and the sync plates on the turntable drive motor (this requires RCA Synchronizer Plate Gauge #153308 to measure properly).
•Weak magnetic field in the turntable magnetic ring (necessitating replacement of the turntable or rejuvenation of the 16-pole magnetic field, which is theoretically possible, though I've never attempted it).

Good luck!

[Beetlescott]

Sounds like what he is describing. The good thing about these players is there isn't too much, normally, that can go wrong with these beauties!!!
_________________
1000 titles
SGT-250
SJT-400
Montgomery Ward
SGT-100

[montecarlo02]

Ok, upon further inspection I found that the disc does not appear to be centered on the turntable. I found that I can manually try and center it during play via the top access panel... anyone else ever run into this?