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 Post subject: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 10 Mar 2018, 19:47 
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I am interested in buying a european player. It runs on 240V and I can buy a transformer to do the conversion. What do you do about the difference in power line frequency (60 Hz versus 50 Hz.)? Is there a "box" that can do the conversion?
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 10 Mar 2018, 22:01 
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No need to think about that. Converters over here only bring down the voltage, but doesn't increase the frequency. So it is common with 120 volt 50 Hz. Unless you plan on using keyboards, clocks, power tools or other stuff that depend on a certain frequency, I wouldn't bother. Most likely the player will say 50/60 Hz on the back.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 10 Mar 2018, 22:02 
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Once converted to DC it is irrelevant.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 10 Mar 2018, 23:07 
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The videodisc player I am interested in is a Hitachi VIP201P, a CED player. Its turntable timing is quartz based. (The back of the player says 240V, 50 Hz.).

Has anyone in the USA run such a player using a transformer and had good success? I am especially interested in the timing for the video.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 10 Mar 2018, 23:30 
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I was always under the impression that power converters would do the 50/60.
So if the player you are looking at is 50 then the power supply would take care of that, right??? Or I'm mistaken.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 11 Mar 2018, 01:27 
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Unless it has a built-in frequency changer (they can cost a bit), then it does nothing at all on that part. It uses whatever the input is. In most cases when using electronics that is totally fine. As stated above:
substance wrote:
Once converted to DC it is irrelevant.


Of course, if the turntable is dependant on the frequency to achieve correct RPM, then you would need a frequency changer too.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 11 Mar 2018, 02:28 
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samaron wrote:
Unless it has a built-in frequency changer (they can cost a bit), then it does nothing at all on that part. It uses whatever the input is. In most cases when using electronics that is totally fine. As stated above:
substance wrote:
Once converted to DC it is irrelevant.


Of course, if the turntable is dependant on the frequency to achieve correct RPM, then you would need a frequency changer too.


I was assuming a LD player. All LD players rectify the main and use DC current. Dc current has no frequency. Now the rectifier will have a higher ripple voltage due to lesser cycles but I am sure the caps and the regulator at the end will make the difference negligible.

Unless the Ced player uses ac motors (highly unlikely) the same applies here.

To convert 60 hz to 50 hz, you need to regenerate the signal. Convert it to DC and then back to AC via a pure sine wave inverter. Extremely inefficient and expensive.

You only care if there is an ac motor in the device, all othet electronics use dc. Beside some very high end turn tables, I don’t know of any device which use ac components
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 11 Mar 2018, 15:06 
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The Hitachi VIP201P player has a direct drive turntable and its timing is quartz based. Here is the link for more information: http://www.cedmagic.com/museum/ced-player-guide/vip201p.html.

I think that the line frequency is not going to be a problem. If it is, I will have bought a nice boat anchor then LOL.

The last question I have is the A/V output of the player. I know that the discs are PAL format. Will the A/V output of the player work with a US HDTV?

My last item is an observation. I noticed on the back of the player that there is a warning that the player is to be unplugged from the "mains" when not in use. Is this normal? I have 6 working US CED players and none of them come with a warning like the VIP201P has, (they are plugged in 24/7).
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 11 Mar 2018, 15:32 
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It might be problematic with PAL in the US. TVs over here in Europe have supported both standards since the late 80s/early 90s or so. I've seen modern TVs in the US that were less than 10 years old that didn't support PAL signals. Look up your TV and see what the specifications say. If you use a video processor, then it should support PAL, and it doesn't matter once it is converted to digital.

Having the player plugged in at all times should be fine I suppose. Probably written on there as a disclaimer in case there is a power surge and it suffers damage.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 11 Mar 2018, 15:49 
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samaron wrote:
Unless it has a built-in frequency changer (they can cost a bit), then it does nothing at all on that part. It uses whatever the input is. In most cases when using electronics that is totally fine. As stated above:
substance wrote:
Once converted to DC it is irrelevant.


Of course, if the turntable is dependant on the frequency to achieve correct RPM, then you would need a frequency changer too.


Any DD TT with a stobe usually has two sets of dots, one for 50hz and one for 60hz. Pre-quartz decks usually had user accessible trim pots for this. After quartz you shouldn’t even have to do that.

I have belt drive decks with synchronous motors and those are built with the AC line frequency as their master clock. This kind of motor is found more in industrial settings than homes now. Even in drills and stuff there is a huge marketing push for brushless motors so it’s pretty uncommon in anything new and small.

I’m not sure about maybe the very early LD players but anything that plays digital audio probably won’t care because it has to have its own dead reliable clock to do anything anyway.


Last edited by signofzeta on 11 Mar 2018, 23:17, edited 1 time in total. _________________
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 11 Mar 2018, 22:14 
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samaron wrote:
It might be problematic with PAL in the US. TVs over here in Europe have supported both standards since the late 80s/early 90s or so. I've seen modern TVs in the US that were less than 10 years old that didn't support PAL signals. Look up your TV and see what the specifications say. If you use a video processor, then it should support PAL, and it doesn't matter once it is converted to digital.

Having the player plugged in at all times should be fine I suppose. Probably written on there as a disclaimer in case there is a power surge and it suffers damage.


I checked the TV specs. and found no mention of PAL. The AVR that I plan to use (Sony STR-DA3300ES) has the input voltage listed for the video and that is all. I maybe forced to buy a PAL to HDMI converter from Amazon if I want to use the VIP201P with my system. The converter is about $50 which is not too expensive. I will have to buy the converter and the step-up transformer over the course of the next 6 months in order to spread out the cost. Of course, this is also dependant on my buying the player off E-bay before someone else beats me to it.

Thanks to all for your input. It has been helpful.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 11 Mar 2018, 23:17 
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Speaking from an entirely practical perspective, is there really any reason to get a player that supports PAL?

Are there any PAL discs worth getting over their NTSC counterparts?
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 11 Mar 2018, 23:45 
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takeshi666 wrote:
Speaking from an entirely practical perspective, is there really any reason to get a player that supports PAL?

Are there any PAL discs worth getting over their NTSC counterparts?


To answer your concerns:

1) There is no practical reason for a PAL player. Let's just say I have wanted one for my player collection. Also, the Hitachi VIP2000 players are rare and the VIP201P is equivalent to one of them.

2) So far as I know, there are a few PAL discs that are not available in NTSC. What they are is unknown to me right now.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 12 Mar 2018, 00:49 
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Yeah, this is the same reason as a PAL LD player, there are a few titles that are not on DVD or NTSC that I would like to see but don't know of all the titles
and don't have the urge to do so now.

While I have no CED collection, it would be fun to own.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 15 Mar 2018, 00:12 
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I would not worry about my buying a European CED player. The one I was aiming at was bought by someone. I will have to wait until another one pops up which may take awhile.

rein-o:

If you are really interested in starting a CED collection, PM me. I may be able to help with either a player and/or a few CED''s to get you going.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 15 Mar 2018, 00:52 
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Oh no, I've had a player and a few discs before in the past and can't do another collection.
I was just trying to answer why one would want a PAL player, I can see if you are missing out on some stuff like in the LD field.

Thanks though
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 18 Mar 2018, 18:16 
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I just paid for an Hitachi VIP201P player on E-bay. Looks like I am in the market for a step-up transformer and a PAL to HDMI converter.

After I buy both items, I will have to buy some PAL discs. There is one titled Soldier Blue with Peter Strauss and Candice Bergen in it. The movie is not listed in the US CED catalog. It should be interesting.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 19 Mar 2018, 13:35 
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Since I am in the market for a step-up transformer, does anyone have any personal experience with such a beast?

The power requirements for the VIP201P are less than 50 watts.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 19 Mar 2018, 18:03 
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Just get one that has at least 25% more watt than you're going to use. Besides that, there isn't much to say really.
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 Post subject: Re: Running European equipment on US power.
PostPosted: 19 Mar 2018, 18:17 
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Okay. I am planning on buying a 100 watt step-up transformer that you plug into a wall outlet (like a wall wart). It should be enough for what I need.
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