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Posted: 19 Mar 2019, 00:07 

I'm having a similar problem with my 909 - it's completely dead.

I should say I don't know much about electronics, but I do have a multimeter - how difficult can it be? :-)

The board's a VWR1287 and all the fuses (7 little ones and the big one) seem fine.

On the outputs:

CN202 has +14V on pin 2, +5V on 10 and -27V on 14. But the +5V on 4 and the +3.3V on 7 and 8 all seem to be 0V
CN203 has -14V & +14V on 2 & 3, but the +5V & -5V on 6, 7, 8, & 9 are all 0V.

There seems to be a little darkening on the board around resistors R105, R106 & R109, as if they've been very hot, although they don't show as being open-circuit (although I don't know if that can be said for certain while they're on the board).

If anyone has any advice on the best way to proceed, it would be much appreciated :-)

The post above mentions checking Q101, what's the best way to check a voltage regulator, do I have to test the voltages with the power supply connected? What voltages should I expect to see there?

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 Post subject: "Wotcha" from the UK :-)
Posted: 27 Mar 2019, 23:24 

As a new(ish) joiner I thought I'd waffle on a bit...

I first saw LaserVision demonstrated on the British TV programme 'Tomorrow's World' when I was a schoolkid - probably around 1980. I then saw the players in shops - the stunning Philips VLP-700 and then the sophisticated Pioneer LD-1100. Unfortunately I couldn't persuade my parents to buy one!

However as a Doctor Who fan, when I saw a copy of the 'Brain of Morbius' disc on a rare trip to the London Virgin Megastore, I couldn't resist paying the princely sum of £19.99 for it - despite having no player.

LaserVision was on the wane. I had a Pioneer leaflet showing the futuristic LD-700, but, being still at school, there was no way I could afford £499 for that. And then a stroke of luck - a small hi-fi/video shop in my town was selling a secondhand VLP-700 for £59.99. Probably after much consultation with (and help from) my parents, I bought it and could finally watch my Doctor Who disc.

On limited funds I started building a small collection of discs - the other Doctor Who disc, the first three Star Trek films, a few music discs - Kate Bush, Queen, Pink Floyd.

The next big thing was CD-Video. Although I was no longer at school, I still couldn't afford the (I think) £499 for one of these players. When CD-Video itself began to wane, a local shop started selling the Marantz CV-55 for £199.

Reader, I bought one! And sold the VLP-700 to help pay for it. I was happy with the CV-55 - its RGB output was especially nice on my Sony TV. In the UK CD-Video was music-only though, no films or TV series were being released at all at this point - no wonder it wasn't really selling.

I became a subscriber to the excellent UK magazine "LaserDisc Review", and that started talking about a unique new Pioneer player, the CLD-1450 - the first ever PAL/NTSC player. Suddenly the whole US and Japanese disc catalogue would be available - more Doctor Who, more Star Trek, more everything! I was earning now, so I could afford one at full retail - although the £499 (why were they always £499?) stung a bit.

A local company, VideoWorld of Swanage, were doing a conversion to ensure that they played back 'true' NTSC instead of the standard transcoded version, so that's where I bought it. I sold the CV-55 to the same person that bought the VLP-700, and was quite content with my new player.

After a few years though, the miracle of 'play both sides' beckoned to me, and so did the smart Sony MDP-850D. I have a nasty feeling this cost £699, but I sold the CLD-1450 to offset it (to the same person who bought my CLD-1450, CV-55 and VLP-700!).

And that was it. I never had a huge collection of discs - maybe 50 or so? - more TV and music than films. DVD came along, I bought an early Sony player (DVP-S7700) and realised that this was the format for me. I kept the MDP-850D, but sold some discs as they were superseded by DVDs.

And that would have been it, except that I always regretted selling some of the earlier players, and also regretted not owning a few players I used to gaze at longingly in brochures and shop windows. A few years ago I bought a 'dead' VLP-700 for not much on eBay, hoping it might be an easy fix. Of course it wasn't - I think all VLP-700s are dead now.

I also got two of the dream machines from my schooldays - the Pioneer LD-1100 and LD-700. The first LD-700 from eBay was (as advertised) dead bar a flashing light, but perfect condition - then I bought another, fully working but battered, and combined the two to produce a mint condition working machine.

I also picked up a CLD-S310 and a CLD-1450 for £10 each from charity shops, and most recently a DVL-909 (smart but dead) and DVL-919 (battered but partially working), and have done the same trick again to produce a working smart 909. Rather late in the day, I can now freeze-frame CLV discs!

I don't do much with the machines now - they're just a curiosity in the spare room, I rarely watch a disc right through - but it's been fun tinkering with them. I don't think I'll buy any more, although if I could ever find a working Philips VLP-720 (which I don't think was ever sold in the UK) I'd be tempted :-)

http://unexa.org/miscpics/LD1.jpg http://unexa.org/miscpics/LD2.jpg

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Posted: 29 Mar 2019, 18:28 

xtempo wrote:
Welcome! :D what model is the Philips player in the middle on the left shelves?
Hi, that's the Philips VLP-700, better known in the Americas as (I believe) the Magnavox VH-8005.

Of course it's a bit difficult to open the lid when it's on that shelf, but as it doesn't work that's no real problem :-)

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Posted: 02 Jul 2019, 18:53 


it could be me and I might be blind but I do like the bottom one from the US since it feels closer to the normal one and slightly different.
I don't know, it looks like 'SDNY' to me...


It was funny the first time I heard Japanese people in Japan saying they wanted to travel TO Asia. I said "good news, you're already there!" The look they give you of complete confusion is priceless.

Seriously in Japanese culture, even though they know the geography, Japan is not part of Asia. Japan is Japan!. Asia is some poor and interesting place you try to conquer or go on holiday to.
In the UK we still go on holiday "to Europe", and we're doing our level best not be a part of it!

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Posted: 10 Jul 2019, 22:46 

I've a Sony MDP850D player. It was the first player I bought back in 2006 but I no longer use it as I've many other machines.
It cannot be used to play 5" CDV/ CDs etc as they will jam and you will endup having to take the top off to get them out!! - that was the case from when I got it even though it was sold to me as working like new! Re the 5" disc problem - I had something similar with mine a few years ago, it was simply that the upper disc clamp was a little 'sticky' (whatever they'd used to coat it had decayed somewhat after a couple of decades), so when ejecting a disc the lightweight 5" disc would remain stuck for a second on the upper clamp, and then fall off after the tray had slid out. I gave it a bit of a clean and it's been okay since.
It also suffered from occasional side change issues which I never experienced with any of the Pioneer machines. Sony LD players aren't very good. Never had any side change issues. In theory the continuous "U"-shaped track on the Sony double-side machines looks as though it should be simpler and less troublesome than the motorised flipping Pioneer design, but perhaps in practice that isn't the case...?

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Posted: 18 Oct 2023, 12:07 

And also the people on ebay that want insane prices for older tech that's older than me....rant over.
I suppose though they wouldn't be asking those prices if people weren't likely to pay them.

But LaserDisc was ever an expensive hobby.

When I think back to the prices I paid back in the 1990s - I had a Sony MDP-850D (£700), had to buy an AC-3 mod for it (about £40 I think), and had a Pioneer SP-D07 with RF input (£400, in a sale!). And one AC-3 disc (Star Trek First Contact, £30).

(to convert £ to $, add a bit! Very scientific). In real terms given 30 years of inflation, those prices would be much higher now.

But nowadays with some judicious eBay shopping, you might get the same items for £200, £30, £100, £5 (just a random guess!)

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Posted: 27 Nov 2023, 16:03 

Saw a disc available on eBay recently that I don't think is in the database here.

It's an 8" CLV disc, Warner Reprise Video Volume #2 [9 38307-6]

What caught my eye though was the disc itself, it's single sided and the dead side has a label printed across the entire surface, much as a CD would.

Also unusual is that the area surrounding the spindle hole is transparent. In fact looking at the picture, with nothing to set the scale, one might take it for a CD (the second picture below shows that that isn't the case though).

I was actually wondering if it might be a polycarbonate disc, like a few PAL releases (but I never heard of any NTSC releases being manufactured by Sonopress using that technique).

Were there many discs like this, where the label covers the whole side?

Just curious!

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/nNoAAOSwWhhlU9Xz/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/x9kAAOSwPFxlU9Xu/s-l1600.jpg

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Posted: 27 Nov 2023, 22:43 

I suspect many of us here are not looking to back up rare LaserDiscs in a particularly serious way, but would just like another LD-related toy to play with, and for that reason the fact that the price has remained high is dismaying.

Certainly if I could buy the device for, say, under $100, it would be fun to try it out, maybe using it on some of my Kate Bush LDs (never released on DVD) - although it has to be said these are definitely decaying now, so I doubt any new transfers would beat those done a few years ago through my trusty old Canopus ADVC...

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 Post subject: Re: 1990s Pioneer Catalogs
Posted: 09 Feb 2024, 18:33 

hello all, is there a place to find every pdf for old Pioneer catalogs from 1990 to 99? Have you tried 'hifiengine.com'? - they have a lot of brochures. You need a (free) account to download and there is a limit on the number of downloads in a given period.

This link shows some, this , some more, but it's a slightly oddly-organised site, if you keep on hunting around you may find more.
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