Laserdisc player conversion kit
"Hi-Tech Card"

A dedicated conversion card created to allow Dragon's Lair and Space Ace operators to replace their old faulty Pioneer player with ANY Sony LDP industrial duty laserdisc player other than the LDP-1000 or LDP-1000A.

 
We have dedicated a portion of our company to the preservation of one of the greatest arcade games of all time, Dragon's Lair (and Space Ace). We have strived to produce a product that is not only industrial duty and highly reliable but easy to install and use. On the installation and operation pages you will see how to make your Dragon's Lair and/or Space Ace operate with almost any Sony LDP series laserdisc player. Many people have come together over the years to help preserve the essence of the Dragon's Lair era. Now we have come together once again and created a way for it to continue to live on for years and years to come. When there's a will there's a way and we have the way!!!! Enjoy…

The card is industrial duty and will hold up through continuous harsh operation in public service. The card is fused with a self-resetting poly-fuse and is monitored with a Dallas Watchdog chip that automatically resets the microcontroller if any abnormal condition is encountered. This prevents the card from ever locking up in the field. There are four LED indicators that display dataflow and fault conditions; all these functions are outlined in the manual that comes with the package. A jumper is present on the card that allows the operator to select the version mainboard that they are using, LD-V1000 or PR-7820.

As you will see, the installation of the card requires no modification to any of your original equipment whatsoever. The installation is easy and should not take more than 15 minutes. I'm sure some of you will have other questions about the package and I am willing to answer whatever you have to ask. The prices are listed below. The Sony power adapter that is mentioned is for users that wish to power the Sony player through the harness of the game cabinet as the old Pioneers were powered. One end of the Sony power adapter is a receptacle for plugging in the Sony player and the other end mates to the harness. The reason that the Sony power adapter is not included is because it is NOT required and we have seen that many people don't mind plugging both the cabinet and the player into the wall or power strip. For those of you who do, you can buy our adapter if not make your own.

Some of you ask whether or not you need a PC, and the answer is NO. Everything that you need is in the package other than the laserdisc player itself. All in all, the Sony LDP series players are reliable and fast. Some collectors out there have NOS Pioneer players that they can now safely store away in order to preserve their collectable value.
 

 

Laserdisc Player
Conversion Kit

 

These are all the items included with the conversion package. Everything you need other than the Sony player is included.

$199.00
price subject to change
Flat Shipping Rate - Any Sized Order

 

Sony Power Adapter

Used to connect the Sony's power cord to the DL or SA harness.

$19.00
Flat Shipping Rate - Any Sized Order

 

Replacement Pioneer Ribbon cable

Runs between DL main board and the Conversion Card. Order ONLY if your original cable is missing or defective. 36 inches.

$29.00
Flat Shipping Rate - Any Sized Order

 


Update - March 13, 2023:

I am down to my last seven Hi-Tech cards. Plenty of Sony AC adapters and parts to make Pioneer ribbon cables.
I will honor these prices at least through March 31, 2023. If orders exceed stock, I will fulfill orders at current pricing from the next batch - expect a 4-6 week lead time.

Pricing and Shipping for the DL/SA Conversion Kit:

1) Conversion package "card" (includes everything required except the Sony laserdisc player itself) - $199.00

2) Sony power adapter (Not required. Allows you to plug the Sony into the harness rather than the wall or power strip) - $19.00

3) Replacement Pioneer Ribbon Cable (Only required if original is missing or damaged.) Connects between DL main board and Conversion Card. - $29.00

4) Score Display Ribbon Cable is also available upon special request. Please inquire for details.

Shipping within continental USA is a flat $20.00.
Foreign Shipping - $40.00
If the actual shipping charge ends up significantly less, I will refund the difference via your method of payment.

Ordering and Payment Options:

Important: I don’t have a shopping cart set up, so please email me at jrovito@live.com with exactly what you’d like to order, and remit the total (with shipping) via snail mail, paypal, or Venmo.
Items will ship in the order the emails are received.

• SNAIL MAIL
  Joe Rovito
  10485 NE 6th St
  Apt 3028
  Bellevue, WA 98004

  Money orders, company checks, and personal checks accepted (subject to clearing). Please make the check payable to "Joe Rovito" and include your phone number and email address.

• PAYPAL
  jrovito@live.com

• VENMO
  @Joe-Rovito - last four digits phone: 7545
  

I appreciate everyone’s patience as I finished my move and dug the remaining kits out of storage. I apologize for not responding to every email. Unfortunately, many emails went to my Junk inbox and were deleted before I could retrieve them, and others just came at a time when I was unsure I’d be able to complete any more kits.

Final thoughts on the future:

There has never been a price increase in the 23 years since this kit has been available. But after these are gone, and if there is still interest, I will re-price based upon current cost of parts. For example, the Zilog microcontrollers are only available on the surplus market, and as such, I usually have to buy two in order to ensure one gets programmed correctly (50% yield). Most of the other parts have doubled or tripled in price since 2000, and I would have to do another custom run of blank PCBs.

As an alternative, I am considering porting the project over to Arduino and making the HW interface to LaserDisc players via a simple PCB shield. That way, I could open-source the Software, and perhaps others could port it over to different arcade games. And there’d be some guaranteed longevity in the HW availability. Let me know if there is any interest in that approach.

Thank you for your interest and hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Joe Rovito

Step by step installation instructions
Operating instructions

Contact Joe Rovito at jrovito@live.com


The Dragon's Lair Project website is not affiliated with "Hi-Tech" or Joe Rovito
and does not receive any portion of sales nor any consideration for this listing.

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