Busted Out the Tool Set

After all the success with fixing up the two LaserActive systems, I thought I'd try my hand at a couple other old machines. First up was an old Video Disc (VHD) player. I picked up a player made by National. The model was a DiscLord DP-800. When I first got the machine, the power would turn on and the front flap would open, but it was not possible to insert a disc. For some reason the plate inside the player would not open up like it is supposed to when you press a VHD cartridge up against it. So I took the top and the front panel off the machine to see what could be done. I found some latches around the opening of the machine that were dirty, so I cleaned them off. Prodded around with other moving parts in the machine and blew out some dust. Then I tried loading the Empire Strikes Back and wouldn't you know it - the disc loaded up and started to play!!! You can see video of it here on Youtube!!

The next thing to try to fix was an old Nintendo Famicom Disk System. This one was more of a challenge because it actually has to be disassembled piece by piece and put back together again. The slightest mistake and you have to go back and try it again. Very time consuming. Well I was able to replace the rubber belt on the system and get it to play Zelda 2. But I had another game (3D Hot Rally) and the system was unable to read this. Here's a video of the refurbished disk system in action. Going to try fixing a couple more and hopefully get a little better at it. Tough little bastards!

Was also able to refurbish a 3rd LaserActive system which makes it 3 for 3. I'll have to post a video someday showing how to get one up and running again.

This week I have a ton of music laserdiscs starting on Ebay. Too many to list so I'll just throw a collage picture up here on the blog!

Some highlights of this weeks music laserdiscs include:

Queen / Live in Rio TOLW-3275
Now That's What I Call Music Volume 8 - SM068-3145
Jason Donovan / The Videos -35BZ-4
We're All Devo (sealed) - SM058-0027
Bananarama / Video Singles - W48L-3007
Patricia Kaas / Tour de Charme (sealed) - ESLU-134
New Order / Substance - TELP-42036
Deborah Harry / The Complete Picture - TOLW-3094
Video Waves (80s Music Video Compilation) - SM068-0032
Band Aid: Do They Know It's Christmas - JM038-0028
Rick Springfield / Platinum Videos - JM038-0026
Iron Maiden / The First 10 Years - TOLW-3075
Lisa Stansfield / Real Life - BVLP-65