Pioneer LC-V300 LaserKaraoke Autochanger
 

I always wondered if someone was crazy enough to make a multi-disc changer for laserdiscs. Turns out Pioneer was. :ntwrthy:

This four foot tall 150+ pound monster can hold 72 double sided laserdiscs which are played on a vertically moving double laser (two players sharing the same spindle) player.
Someone uploaded a clip on youtube of my unit being advertised by Pioneer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8GADxWKEKM
There were two of them sitting at a recycling center in Seattle. They wanted $350 each, presumably because one was recently listed on ebay for $637 but failed to sell. I wasn't about to blow $700USD on them for the reasons below but was able to negotiate down to $330 for the two. One was then loaded in my car for the trip home. The other is still in Seattle at a friends house until my next trip down in a few weeks.
Both are in very good condition. I was told however that when they plugged them in for testing it at least homes the transport but this one at least did no such thing. One of the fuses are blown. "Tested" my ass.
It says all over thing that it has "Digital Audio" but the back of the unit only has the usual composite out plus left and right RCA audio. No actual digital audio output. There is also a 25 pin D-sub connector so the changer can plug into the CO-V300 which apparently controls everything and does extras stuff like text superimposition and librarian functions. Neither machine came with one and the recycler said he did not see any come in either which means aside from some very limited functionality available form buttons inside the front of the changer there isn't a lot else it can do. :/
Thankfully however Pioneer silkscreened the pin designations for the port on both the rear interface bracket and the PCB the wire harness plugs into. Here is that pinout:

There are other jumpers with silkscreened names but even without the controller there's not much more I can do without the service manual. I can find it floating around however. (Document number: ARP1850) This website even lets me preview a few pages before I pay for it but alas it is not already on ManualsLib.com. For the CO-V300 I can't even find a picture of it let alone a hoard of websites trying to sell me the service manual. (Document number: ARP1851)
I'd love the idea of consolidating my entire laserdisc library into two autochangers as there does not seem to be anything preventing you from using it for anything other than karaoke but I'm simply over my head on this one. Is there anyone in the laserdisc community who can shine a better light on the units or at least an idea of the signalling protocol it expects so a microcontroller replacement could be made up?

I got no answers for your questions, but I just wanted to say that's an awesome find!

The digital audio is probably more a reference to it being able to decode the newer digital audio tracks on 'newer' LDs. Early LDs were IIRC stereo analog audio only, digital added surround and multi-language stereo soundtracks with commentary, etc that helped make LD a cult premium format.

Neat find I sorta want one now....

IIRC someone made a LD music video jukebox too.

Nice find MIPS, First time seen that monster.It looks like a refrigerator. I wonder how many times those white flatflex cables had to get replaced or unseated through its life time.It would be interesting to see the service manual but its not worth paying for a copy if that is probably was downloaded somewhere else for free like Freeservicemanuals.net, Elektrotanya, Freeservicemanuals.info, manualslib.com or similar hifi sites and posted on a pay site.I refuse to support those pay sites for that reason..

Nope. None of those sites seem to come up with anything. Not entirely surprised though. These units seem to be nothing short of unheard of.

Have a few more photos of the front opened up, BTW.

Wow.Thats a beauty Mips.Will worth the service manual purchase.

Could it be a playback unit for some low-power, unmanned station of the day showing all the out-of-copyright LD's they could find?

From the video in the OP Pioneer sold a variant of this model that was marketed for CATV broadcasters. I can totally see in the 90's one of the many Japanese media outlets distributing episodes of programming on laserdiscs and the autochangers would hold several days of programming and movies but it must of been WAY more expensive to setup than a conventional cassette autochanger.

Anyways I'll have to wait until next weekend to buy the service manual, then I can start really poking at it.

Well that was a waste of $6. Paid for the service manual, got redirected to the download link and...

$*&@ing useless websites. :thumbsdn:

That really sucks . Sorry to hear that.I would report that to the credit card company.It sounds like fraud to me.

Thats why I dont bother with corrupt pay sites .I dont support their bad corrupt habits,I dont support their retirement .I wait and hopefully a manual will show up on a free site somewhere.Most of the time they download it for free from a free site and put the same manual on their pay site.Some stuff I end up waiting up to a couple of years and it finally shows up on a free site.One thing does drive me nuts on this forum and other forums is somebody says they have a service manual and dont want to share it publicly with the rest of members on this forum or other forums.They say quote" I'll sent it to you PM or Please PM your email and I send it to you".

It took about 24 hours but I got an email back from their technical support.
Apparently their datacenter is in Florida, so I'll have to forgive them for the initial unavailability, because it isn't like there's a giant storm rolling through the state or something....
I managed to get the PDF directly emailed to me in the end. It's a 30mb pdf but it is indeed the entire service manual.
Unfortunately the CO-V300 and the communications protocol is not discussed. :sigh:

I wonder is there is a way reverse engineer it. Like reading the program off a MCU in the system or something?

Oh thats great news Mips.Too bad on no info on the communications protocol circuits . .Probably power outages from Irma was the problem with them..

I really need to see how the CO-V300 works. There are clearly four data lines going to and from the unit and I know 4-bit data buses exist for other embedded interfaces. It just makes things a little bit more complex.
If I had access to a working system I could attach a Logic Analyzer and just log the transmitted data as I entered regular commands form the controller. From there it is separating each portion of the command and repacking it for an Arduino to emulate.

Or of course, find a CO-V300. :scratch2:

As for reading commands directly from the onboard CPU that might be a challenge as the CPU and ROM appear to be integrated into the same chip. There might be data lines leaving the chip for whatever reason but the chip seems custom fabricated, else I would of expected something like an Intel MCS-48.

Almost like clockwork, a complete system appears on ebay.
The price is a little....eh....but the photos help to shed a tiny amount of additional information on the controller:

-The front panel of the controller is quite basic. The remote is not much better, but I wasn't expecting such things as direct frame access or jogging. Perhaps a "hidden feature"? :scratch2:
-The controller also goes by the name "Autochanger Commander". This currently results in several hits for other auctions for controllers not compatible with this unit.
-The controller has Channel 3/4 RF in and out
-The controller supports a "billbox" presumably the devices that accepts money to operate it if necessary. It can be turned off.
-The controller has a control line for the amplifier and its pitch and tone bending abilities.
-There is composite and stereo RCA outputs.
-The controller has the ability to control UP TO FOUR LC-V300 AUTOCHANGERS. IF you were insane enough to have four of them, that means you could cram a library of 288 double sided laserdiscs into your home theater/karaoke bar and never need to touch them.

I'm glad that popped up for you.They got high hopes with that price unless somebody desperate for a system.

Good news! :banana:
A CO-V50 surfaced in Guam for the low price of $8.50 CDN, plus shipping (which was not that bad, suprisingly) - https://www.ebay.ca/itm/323348617061
This is the Japanese version of the Autochanger Commander and supports two autochangers. There is good reason to believe it will support the North American unit at the protocol level which is what I'm ultimately after.
It should arrive in a few weeks.

At last! It's here!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8066.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8066.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8067.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8067.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8065.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8065.jpg

A bit of translating will be necessary but it's as I suspected inside: Ignoring the green PCB which is mainly handling audio and video there is a fairly normal power supply and a PCB that contained a microcontroller and an EPROM. Otherwise it's pretty empty inside and rather lightweight. Hookups on the back are for the audio effects mixer and optional coin acceptor.

I had a hunch that it would work no problem with these two seemingly North American autochangers and sure enough, plug them in and press the power button you get lights and the MAKE A SELECTION light blinks. :thmbsp:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8063.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8063.jpg

Curiously though if you make a selection and try to proceed it does nothing. Some of the clear plastic inserts on the buttons have fallen out and may be jamming the buttons. The front will have to be removed so they can be reglued.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8064.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8064.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/IMG_1059.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/IMG_1059.jpg

Unfortunately both autochangers have problems. Errors are indicated by a set of LED's inside the front cover. There's a guide on the cover indicating what the errors are and how to enter a simple service/test mode. One machine is complaining about no 24v. There's a fuse on the PSU that's melted so presumably there was an overload and it gracefully opened.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8061.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8061.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8062.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8062.jpg

The other one is a bit more interesting. You power it up and it immediately faults because the disc clamp in the player timed out. The test mode lets me manually actuate it and while it runs it's REALLY noisy. May need a bit of oil but my assumption is there's a bad switch somewhere. Edited: Nope. MAnual mode also tests the sensor and it's good, so it must of been stuck.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8068.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...t/CGS_8068.jpg

Edited: Hmm. perhaps it's got a tiny amount of memory that retains the last fault and shuts the unit down until it's cleared? Once the fuse was replaced and 24v was found to be good it still complained it was bad. Replaced the power supply with the one from the other and the fault did not move. Put the cabinets in manual control and didn't see any issues.

Edited Edited: Right, so the commander responds to the following key sequence [DISC NUMBER; DISC SIDE; CHAPTER NUMBER]
So now I can get the commander to move to a disc and load it but playback is still weird. On one cabinet it will spin one side (and abort as soon as it's up to speed) but not the other. The other machine simply loads the disc and then does nothing. More research is required. Perhaps a cleaning?

I still have no answers, but I love that setup so much that I can't breathe.

No kidding! With a BT modulator hooked up, a library of good movies and the right mods that could be its own autonomous TV station.

The service documentation seems to indicate that the autochangers store their last reported errors internally. Resetting that memory must be performed before putting the units back into service by opening the door, holding the up and down buttons at once and powering the system on. When the indicator lamp blinks you close the door and the autochanger reinitializes.

With that fixed I figured out why I could not get both autochangers to work when connected. The service documentation indicates that changer 1 addresses discs from 01 to 72 and changer 2 from 201 to 272. As it turns out I only got the second unit responding then I used the range 301 to 372. The service documentation also mentions a "wired remote jig" that takes the place of the autochanger commander and allows for manual control of basic and enhanced player functions like play, stop, side, chapter select, frame search, fast forward.... I did not however find a depiction of this wired test tool or a part number but this is MUCH more promising than being stuck with the commander.

I am still unable to get either player to play a disc. I have however learned that the "BGV" mode when enabled reserves slots 71 and 72 in the first autochanger and supposedly plays whatever disc is in there when the system is idle.

I found a Laserdisc changer as well.
 

Hello, I recently purchased a LC-V80TL, 250 lasedisc changer at a going out of business sale here in Japan. Like you, i can't find much information about it. Luckily, it works well, I'm just stuck with 250 foreign karaoke laserdiscs. I would be interested in sharing information for operation and such.

Single tower unit, same controller and you have all the additional karaoke support components including the coin acceptor and amplifier.
You are correct in that there seems to be no documentation but at least the manual for the controller should be the same.
Unfortunately I've had a server crash about two weeks ago and I do not have access to most of my data currently. I ended up spending something like $15 to buy a PDF copy of the manual online.

Extra auto changer player.

Okay, here's the service manual. For those who want it I'll keep it up for a week and then for the sake of my dropbox bandwidth I will have to take it down, so grab it while you can! It's a 30mb pdf.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wbe2wsi7hh...00svc.pdf?dl=0

Greetings, programs. I'd like to slip into this conversation. I recently acquired an LC-V300 and I'm fairly ecstatic over it. The problem, though, is that it is dead. No power whatsoever. Here's what i've done:

I removed the ACRY unit and examined it. According to the service manual, there should be 120VAC at the transformer connection, but I am only measuring 47VAC. So, I started looking at individual components (which are practically impossible to find today, though I did just find yesterday a 25 pack of the KC103P capacitors on eBay). The capacitors appeared to test ok. The relay, when i plug the board into the wall, did not click, however I did desolder it and manually connected it to my motorcycle battery and it at least did click then (Ive ordered a replacement that matches the pin layout and the specs, minus the TV rating). I desoldered the diode and it tested ok.

I then desoldered the induction coil (L50 on the board) and it tests at or around zero, which indicates it is bad. So, my question is how do I determine what an adequate replacement part would be for it? There are no specs marked on it, only what appears to be a part number which turns up zilch in a google search. The service manual does not list this part for the ACRY unit, but it DOES list a filter (denoted as F50 in the manual, despite the fact there is NO F50 on the board), so I was thinking maybe this was a typo because an induction coil can be considered a filter. so, the service manual lists this "filter" as part number DTF1012.

At pacparts they have a listing for that part, and the order page for it says it is not in stock, but is available for order. I ordered the part yesterday morning, but today was issued a refund because **surprise!!** the part isn't ACTUALLY available.

So, I'm stuck and at a loss. Do any of you have any suggestions?

If I am remembering inductors correct, a resistance at or right next to 0 is fine.
I'd be verifying that it's not the transformer at fault as you know the wrong voltage is comping out of it, but you didn't say what was going in. I believe the tap numbering is listed in the service manual.

Also verify your entire bank of fuses are good with a continuity check. Sometimes when I get weird voltages on a feed circuit it's a cartridge fuse that's gone bad.

Thank you for the reply! Based on my reading, a reading below 1 (which in the case of this inductor, it is at or slightly above zero) means a bad inductor. But I'm willing to take other advice on that. I did not test the transformer. I only tested the output on the ACRY unit board on the posts where the transformer connects. The service manual shows there should be 120VAC there, but I only read 47VAC. So, that's 47VAC going INTO the transformer.

I have not checked all fuses on every board, but only the one fuse on the ACRY board. Continuity on that fuse checks OK.

I attached an image. The posts in the red square are where I tested and showed 47VAC rather than the 120VAC as stated. That CN550 connection is where the transformer attaches.

And here is the inductor in question. I can't even find any information online for how to determine the inductance of this coil, regarding the specific text on the side. Nothing I have found seems to match the type of text on the inductor. And there are no other markings anywhere on this inductor. It's very confusing to me.

Holly smoke! You got yourself a LaserDisc changer?
I thought that you "Nationa/N.C.R." Class 52 cash register was something, but this is really mindblowing. Hope you will make it work.

I mean, if the inductor was shorted between windings you'd know of it pretty quickly as that's high current 120v.

https://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a...ket/sadfsa.png

I am assuming you have the relay bypass jumper installed when testing? Otherwise your circuit breaks at the relay.

You shouldn't assume. I'm just a step or two above novice. :-P

No, I am not shorting the pins. So, I should do this when the board is not installed in the unit and I'm testing? Should I short it when the board is plugged in to the wall? It's just something I'm not familiar with and I apologize for coming across so ignorant. If I'm wrong here, would you mind explaining to me the process of using this shorting pin, and when I would use it? Also, where did you get that diagram? I did not see that in the service manual. I guess I could have missed it though.

Also also, thank you for taking time to converse with me about this. I'm just excited about owning this, and really want to get it working. I'll short those pins and then report back what I find.

Not a problem. Any pool of knowledge is better than seemingly yelling into the void. ;)
The diagram is near the back of the service manual mixed in with the PCB layouts.

The jumper bypasses the need for the CO-V300 or similar to be attached. It delivers the voltage which closes the relay and allows the autochanger to power on. Without the controller attached or powered on the relay can't close so the jumper just bypasses the relay entirely.

Ok, now wait a minute. Let me add this little tidbit of information. I do not have the CO-V300 commander. I only have the LC-V300. Uh... is this my problem?? :-|

Do i need to have that jumper on to make this thing work since I don't have the commander? Am I this much of a dumbass?

Yes, the commander is required both to turn the LC-V300 on AND to command it to operate, otherwise it has no way on its own to be manually operated as a standalone device.
This is why I had to cave in and ship a commander from the opposite corner of the pacific. ;)

One thing I found out is that unless you are doing nothing but karaoke the commander is not really all that useful otherwise as it's programmed to handle LaserKaraoke discs and lacks most of the standard commands you expect from a laserdisc player, like pause and frame select.

The service manual however states this is not something hard-coded to the autochanger. Pioneer also had a service tool that let someone completely substitute the commander in a technical service perspective and it includes all the standard laserdisc commands. I have never seen the tool and don't know what its part number was but presumably if you crack its secrets suddenly you can make the LC-V300 be a 72 disc laserdisc player and the possibilities stem from there.
Mind you, a serial interface may also already exist as well since the LC-V300 was also available in an industrial package. The closest thing I can find is the Pioneer LC-V330 which on the outside is visually identical to the V300 aside from the laserkaraoke badging and front window removed, there are conflicting reports on how many discs it can hold and while I DO have the MS-DOS software that lets you control one over a serial port (you can find it here), that I can tell it uses a different commander interface with the more standard 15 pin connector instead of the 25 pin port the V300 uses. There's still a lot of presumably Pioneer documented but not available online mysteries.

Edited: Pioneer lists that the service manual for the LC-V330 does exist but is not available for download - http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/...uctNum=ARP1666

HOLY SHIT thank you so much for this information! Ok so I will try the jumper thingy and report back what happens. I was so upset when I plugged this thing in initially and there was nothing at all. But now I know I either need the CO-V300 or the jumper.

The unfortunate part is I broke off one the pins on one of the Murata KC103P ceramic capacitors (it bent too much and broke right off). Fortunately I found a 25-pack of them in england (new old stock) and they are on their way. So I'm at least going to replace all three of those little capacitors.

Again, thank you for your time and assistance!

If you REALLY want to be desperate and just verify the thing actually works, read the service manual again and find the section on performing local diagnostics. There's a listed but complicated way to manually select, load, clamp and play discs but it is not the most ideal way to operate the autochanger manually.

I shall! Thank you, sir!

FYI, I really did enjoy your video on these devices.

I just wanted to report back that the changer is now functional! The jumper did the trick and I can't thank you enough. Now to find a CO-V300 (or V50).

:thmbsp:https://youtu.be/mUyC4ZmQbSk:tresbon::scratch2:http://www.mafnet.jp/roman/karaoke_f...s/koksys13.jpg