CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

Andy · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 4

I've been having an odd problem with my SJT-400. Every 13 seconds exactly there's a disturbance in the picture. When playing a disc the video gets noisy (like a dirty stylus) for about 1/2 second and clears up. It's the same for all discs and in page mode. Even in stop mode the black screen flickers slightly every 13 seconds. Has anyone seen anything like this?

I've downloaded the service manual and will be working on it soon. I'll post any progress that I make. I'm thinking a power supply problem is the most likely cause.

Surge · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 14 Location: Music City

Andy · Joined: 31 May 2004 Posts: 4

I forgot to mention that I already tried a new stylus with no change.

I've been looking around the player with an oscilloscope and I've trace the signal problem all the way back to the output of the resonator board. I tried adjusting the resonator osc pot and it seems to have fixed the problem. Strangely, it works fine with it adjusted closer to one extreme of where the picture totally drops out. When adjusted in the middle of the good picture range I get the problem.

I don't like "screwdriver" fixes, but so far it seems to be working fine. I suspect there's a slight defect in the resonator, but it's labeled as not being servicable. After looking inside, I agree that any repair attempt is likely to completely destroy it. If I ever get another J/K player, I'll try swapping the resonators.