RCA SelectaVision Stereo VideoDisc Player

SJT 300

This machine is in excellent condition and in great working condition!

I have posted a video on YouTube to show that this unit works properly. If interested follow the link to see this rare machine in action. Video youtube URL-    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gojj0qUsRv0

     RCA VIDEODISC SHORT HISTORY & TECHNOLOGY INFO

     First...You need to know the technology.  RCA first got the patents to manufacture the players in 1969...10 years before the first player and movie line-up hit the markets.  The idea RCA had was how to put a movie on a vinyl record.  They finally managed to get 60 minutes worth of video to fit on one side of the disc.  The process for this was similar to the way an audio record was produced...the grooves were literally cut by a lathe.  The master disc was actually a copper-coated, aluminum platter.  When one side was completely grooved...the copper left could stretch for 12 miles!  Most discs were recorded in monural sound (MONO) with some select movies being coded for stereo sound to support the later models that did have stereo sound.

     The signal on the discs are, in fact, retrieved by a stylus (or needle).  The stylus is constructed of a diamond tip that was dipped in titanium.  The stylus is considered the most delicate part of the system as it tends to be the first part to end its useful life.  The playing time RCA stated as the life span of the stylus was 1000 hours.  That's a lot of movies!

     The discs during production were washed several times and given a coating of a silicon oil to aid in the life of both the disc and the stylus. 

     The players were very durable but also fragile at the same time.  The first player to roll off the assembly line was the SFT-100W.  The player was a manual loading system (meaning that you had to put the entire disc, caddy and all, into the player, remove the caddy and manually switch the machine to PLAY) and offered PAUSE, VISUAL SCAN FWD/REV &  RAPID SCAN FWD/REV.  The initial cost was $500 per player with movies ranging from $19.95 and up.  During the years of the Videodisc era, RCA released over 12 different models to fit consumer's budget and to meet the change in technology and over 1700 movies were released for the system.

     Sadly...all good things eventually come to an end and it was the same for the short lived Videodisc technology.  RCA lost profits from rental stores.  RCA depended on the sales of the movies produced to stay in the green, but renting a movie was cheaper than buying them and it led to the end of RCA's videodisc era.  The videodisc player and movies mark the last All-American engineered and produced technology that is highly sought after by collectors.

MODEL INFORMATION

Here is some helpful information on the various models that RCA produced.  Keep in mind that this is just a short description.  Again, this is just to give you an idea of what these are.  All RCA VideoDisc models start with "S", end with "T" and are then given a 3 digit number to simplify features.  The letter between "S" & "T" are given depending on the design and year manufactured.  There are two designs...one is belt-driven and the other is direct drive.  Belt driven means that the turntable is driven by a belt linked to a motor.  Direct drive means that the turntable makes up the other half of a motor, no belt is used to spin the turntable.  The "F/G" models are belt while the "J/K" models are direct driven.  All J/K models feature automatic loading mechanisms meaning that when a disc is inserted about 3/4 of the way into the machine, the machine will "grab" the disc, remove the disc with spine and return the empty caddy to you. Here's the features of the various models.

SFT/SGT 100  Manual Loading  Functions include Pause, Rapid Scan & Visual Scan.  Has digital time display and Side indicators.  This is the more common model.

SGT-075  The "economy" model.  Same as 100, functions limited to Visual Scan only.  No time display, power on indicator replaces Side indicators.

SGT-200 Same as 100 with the exception that this model is a stereo player, the first one of all videodisc players to have this feature.  Can connect to TV by coax or A/V.  Rare.

SGT-250 This is the granddaddy of all belt-driven players.  Features Auto-Load and is a stereo player.  All features of the F/G line are present.  Very Rare.

SJT-090  "economy" model.  Features Rapid Scan FWD, Pause & Reject.  Has time display and side indicators. 

SJT-100 Similar to the SFT-100 in features but with auto loading.  Common model

SJT-200 The first stereo model of the J/K line.  Features are same as SJT-100 with the exception that it supports dual audio tracks on supported discs.  Rare.

SJT-300 A more fancier version of the 200.  Rare.

SJT-400 The king of them all!  This player features on-screen display and is the only player to support "game" discs (interactive).  Also was supposed to be used as part of RCAs Dimension system.  Extremely Rare.

Just remember...F/G are belt driven and that NO stereo models exist in the "F" line.  J/K players are direct driven.

This is a technology worth having around as the movies and specials created for it are, for the majority of them, not on DVD or VHS.  Most of the movies and specials on this format are so rare that a collector would shell out a lump sum of cash just to have it.  The cartoons and animated features make great babysitting tools and, once you show the kids how to use it, the kids will love it too because they will be able to interact with it.   Good luck and have fun bidding!