CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[Rixrex]

I was contacted by a fellow from Australia wanting to buy a player with video/audio output. He said he had an SFT 100 that wasn't working and besides he wanted the composite output to hook up to his plasma set.

After some back and forth, I learned he was the one who had purchased that brand new in the box player off ebay, had it shipped to Australia and it arrived okay, but does not work.

I'm not shocked seeing as how it sat a long time. Well, I'm trying to convince him to join here and post his problem, but he seems reticent. So far just asking questions and not really too technically adept as far as I can tell. But if he joins up, maybe we can help him get the thing going.

So that's what happened to it, and right now it's nothing more than a good-looking conversation piece.

[Jesse Skeen]

My SGT-250 was brand-new in the box, unused for 23 years. I had to make a few adjustments to it when I got it- as it was, it would skip over the first few seconds. I used an allen wrench in the hole in the back which adjusts how far back the pickup can go, and it's been OK since.
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Videodisc and stereo sound- there's no better value around!

[Rixrex]

I find that landing latch adjustment to be a common issue with long sitting players of that type.

It turns out the problem with this fellow's player is wrong voltage cycling, as best we can figure. He got two players from the US and neither worked in showing video or audio, but worked fine otherwise.

The voltage down under is 220 v and 50 hz (cycles), so when he got a transformer, he got one that dropped the voltage to 110 but it did not correct the hz to the needed 60 cycles.

Without the correct 60 hz AC cycle, the player drive motor would not "sync up" for proper video/audio reproduction. All the other circuits that run on DC volts via internal transformer would work fine, so the problem wouldn't be noticable right off, since there's no cycling of DC voltages.

I'm waiting to hear back upon his purchase of the correct transformer.

[solarfox]

Actually, he's got two problems, if he's buying players from the USA and trying to use them down in Australia.

The first, of course, is the voltage issue. The turntable platter is driven by an AC motor, so when running off 50Hz AC the speed is only 83% of what it should be. Unfortunately, this is going to be an expensive issue to work around, as there is no such thing as a simple "transformer" that can convert 50Hz into 60Hz. What he needs is a frequency converter, which is another device altogether, and they're very hard to come by in the consumer market. (Even back in the 80s and earlier, they weren't common; now that just about everything comes with "worldwide"-capable switching power supplies anyway, I'm not sure anyone bothers to still make them at all, outside of limited industrial applications.)

It is possible that he could work around this by getting hold of a heavy-duty 12VDC power supply, and then connecting it to a suitable 12VDC-to-120VAC inverter, such as this:

http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-11240-Inverter-Remote-Control/dp/B000WGNNUQ

but again, that's going to cost him some serious bucks. (There are cheaper inverters, to be sure, but the fact that the turntable's speed is so dependent on the AC line frequency makes me reluctant to recommend them, because the cheaper models put out a square wave or "modified sine wave" voltage, rather than a "true sine wave", and I'm not sure how that would affect the AC motor.)


His other problem, of course, is going to be different video standards; they use PAL down there, not NTSC.

[Rixrex]

The video standards is much less of an issue than the hz issue. With HD sets, there are plenty of devices that break the old amalog signals into digital or analog HD regardless of being PAL or NTSC.

I use one on my PAL LD player, an older model, the DVDO HD plus, and it works great. Another simple way is to use one of the PAL/NTSC VCRs that are more prevalent there and input the player though the VCRs converter.

The frequency issue is going to be more expensive as you say, needing at least a combination voltage and frequency converter. That is not cheap, but more prevalent in a place like Australia than, say, the US.

The one nice thing about later model LD players is the use of all DC operated internals including the spindle motor. Then with the switch-mode power supply, the problem is solved.

[curnew]

[kitchensynch]

What IS your location?

And please note that since the last post to this thread Rixrex was involved in an auto accident that has left him laid up for several months so Raintree (his son) has done some limited correspondence here but Rix hasn't posted.

Also note if you haven't that PMs are disabled on this board and email is sent through the board initially for spam control.

Welcome to CED Magic. And my editing skills, because I don't type so well.

[curnew]

[kitchensynch]

Since you are in CANADA you are likely using the same standards as the US for both mains power and analog TV.

~120 V AC and 60 Hz

The only difference is that your money has a nice lady with a jeweled hat

Not sure what the device was for unless you wanted a supply to run it in your truck or other vehicle?

How is that so far?

[curnew]