Did I waste $10 on this S-VHS VCR?

[@adriansdigitalbasement2]

Some updates! I can confirm that it was the timer programming retained in the VCR that was causing it to eject the tape as seen in the video. I programmed a Harmony universal remote for this VCR and was able to see the old programming and clear it out. No more tape ejecting or flashing icons! Also, with the working remote, the VCR has this "picture mode" function which seems to adjust image softness/sharpness of the playback video signal. It was set to "Auto" which seemed to result in a very soft picture. Options available were: Auto, Soft, Sharp and Distinct. I found that distinct looked best and resulted in a much sharper image on S-VHS tapes, much closer to my Panasonic S-VHS VCR. Even "Sharp" looked hardly better than "soft." The wobbling lines I briefly mentioned visible on the Sony PVM were definitely not happening on other monitors -- so that is odd the Sony was showing that. I've hooked up many other video sources to it and have never seen it do anything like that. The main things this VCR can't do without a remote are: Adjust the tape recording seed, access the timer programming menu and adjust the picture mode. As reported by patron Paul Schaefer, it appears this VCR is using a JVC mechanism. This is not surprising that Philips was not making a VHS mechanism by 2000.

[@Ale.K7]

The "HiFi" indicator on the display is just "L" and "R" appearing below the vu-meters, they disappear on non-HiFi recordings. It also shows HiFi on the OSD when it starts playing, IIRC (I never used this VCR, but have a couple nearly identical non-S-VHS JVCs).

[@mjouwbuis]

Philips did make their own VHS mechanisms (confusingly called turbo decks) and recorders for at least the European market until into 2002 when they sold off to Funai. They had a joint venture called PJVM with JVC for the American (only higher end, I think, the selling off to Funai started in the US in the 1990's already) and Asian/Pacific markets though, that would have lasted until into 2002 as well, after which JVC continued on its own for the last few years. Your machine was built by PJVM (which stands for Philips JVC Video Malaysia). PJVM always used JVC technology, though sometimes the head drums were supplied by Philips, resulting in quite unhappy repair shops as they were seemingly based on alien technology which was virtually unknown outside Europe. Even in Europe, Philips heads were sometimes hated, since they were expensive, required a strange tool and a set of shims to replace them and no second sources existed. The head drum in your machine is just a normal JVC drum, though.

[@Auberge79]

there could also be fast playback and maybe reverse playback available using remore ctrl. At least on some machines it is the case.

[@quadrant2005]

Hi there i was wondering if the reason you had issues playing the original tape via your other capture box is because of macrovision, which was a protection system to prevent the duplcation of vhs cassettes. regards Richard quadrant2005 in the Uk

[@RayleighCriterion]

I noticed that the menus displayed looked identical to what my *JVC HR-S3800* has.

[@TheShornak]

I remember in 1995 I bought a Mitsubishi S-VHS player and I lover the quality it did when recording on a S-VHS tap. I remember comparing a scene in Star Trek Generations a scene when the Enterprise B goes over the camera and on VHS you could not read the name Enterprise on the bottom of the haul but on S-VHS you could.

[@Ni5ei]

What I enjoy most about having an old VCR is buying used tapes and see what people were recording back then. Also great for finding old commercials you'd totally forgotten about and aren't available anywhere.

[@Anaerin]

The "Unstable Sync" you get from VHS is caused by the Macrovision protection.

[@eDoc2020]

Are you referring to when the Retrotink had trouble displaying the picture? I don't think it matched the timing I'm used to seeing from Macrovision.

[@kpelt]

That's what I was thinking. The image seemed darker too, just like watching a Macrovision encoded signal through a connected device. What convinced me is that the VCR OSD seemed perfectly stable through the Retrotink.

[@NJRoadfan]

@@eDoc2020 The RetroTink 2x has problems with ANY VHS playback. It's ADC is very fussy about having clean sync, the exact opposite device you would want for VHS capture work.

[@Gubelat]

@@NJRoadfan if macrovision is inserted, the sync is messed up any way, this how it works. i bet if you insert a self recorded tape the output thru the retrotink maybe will fine.

[@Wyld1one]

So make yourself a macrovision scrubber. I built one ones from a electronics magazine. Worked great for cleaning up the sync signals. The device was a analog fix to the video signal

[@noah-gabel]

I loved this video. I like your methodical approach, and your fun attitude and humour! Sincerely, a fellow VHS and VCR lover :)

[@IDPhotoMan]

Only you would put up a 50 minute video on a $10 VCR. I love it! I just picked up a JVC HR-S4800U yesterday for $6. Works flawlessly. ( features including flying erase head, audio dub & insert edit. Super VHS & 19 Micron Heads provide high resolution recording. "ET" mode lets you make S-VHS recordings with economical VHS tape.)

[@adriansdigitalbasement2]

What a score!! Flying erase heads seem so hard to find these days, especially for cheap.

[@IDPhotoMan]

@@adriansdigitalbasement2 I ordered a JVC LP20303-015 remote off of ebay for $12, so it's a bit more money lol. The Rewind/FF wheel is pretty cool to use.

[@MagnumForce51]

Oh nice. Flying erase heads are much more common in the VHS decks of camcorders. I have a Sharp SlimCam VL-L63U that takes full size VHS tapes and it has a flying erase head. Cuts from one recording to another is virtually seemless. It's shame that wasn't as common to have on VCR decks. :(

[@esecallum]

i used to make music vids from action films using audio dub edit and insert edit on a top loader 14 kilo rugged panasonic vcr

[@bsanchez3563]

@@adriansdigitalbasement2 you need to get one of the hdmi compatible or equipped d-theater systems for the fact that its vhs,s-vhs,W-vhs, D-vhs and even well of coirse D-Theater so ie copy protected somehow idk how but yeah store bought orerecorded movies is dtheater and w vhs is analog hd or higher than s vhs so above standard def butn it afaict acutally the level of 1080i but hten dvhs is digital or data vhs and dtheater is also digital but its prerecorded also dtheater is not work on just nay dvhs only d theater decks but yeah ueah fwiw it does really good fwiw btw it holds up to 50gb per tape.

[@JessHull]

if there are broken gears that you can't find a replacement for it is possible to make an entirely new stronger gear. You use the old split gear and glue it back together with CA holding it in a clamp. Then use the glued together gear and make a silicon mold out of it and pour in some hard set resin/plastic. You can make some incredibly small high fidelity gears using this method. I learned this from Randi Rain's youtube channel. She makes new gears for impossible to find tiny plastic gears using molds all the time.

[@GeeFunk84]

I started collecting old audio and video cassettes a few years back, simply because I didn't want to discard the ones I'd already had, so I just doubled down on them. I have around 500 for each system and I'm picking up two boxes of VHS tapes tomorrow. Mind that, I never pay for these, people are just happy I take them away. I record my own stuff on the non-prerecorded ones (sometimes on the prerecorded ones, too, if it's something truly garbage) and it's a great way to have an actual library of your music and movies/series. No one's face is going to melt because of their quality, I just like to use, upcycle and recycle stuff until they fulfill their originally intended purpose. Heck, most of my book library is formed of books the local library didn't need. I do the same thing with computers and lots of other things, too.

[@patg108]

yep and if ya want to save wear n tear you can always rip them and put em on a home made media center pc or NAS.

[@infinitecanadian]

What's 'garbage'?

[@jeffreysnow2640]

I still have over 1,000 video tapes and 9 working VCR'S :)

[@edstar83]

r/vhs

[@pickoftheglitter]

I must show your post to my wife, so she can see somebody is worse (at her eyes) than me, collecting other people's garbage LOL I also collect (and fix, or at least try to fix) almost any electronic consumer device and computer from the 80s and 90s... she no longer even complain, just shake her head without a word 😂

[@Toby1952]

One trick I use on devices with small belts (such as VCRs and CD/DVD drives) is to use a bit of "belt grip" or "belt dressing" to keep them from slipping. You can get belt grip in spray cans at your local auto parts store, or Amazon carries it also. I spray a little bit of the belt grip on a soft cloth and then rub the cloth on the belt. You don't need much, which is why I don't spray directly onto the belt itself. I do this all the time on computers that have CD/DVD drives (not laptops) when the tray will no longer pop out when you press the eject button, due to the belt slipping.

[@XLessThanZ]

After your previous video where you wondered what the previous owner put into the VCR, it motivated me to do the same for a project given to me by a friend to create a standalone VHS to digital conversion device. I completed that project and thanks for the motivation. After letting family and friends know I had such a device, I was surprised how many people came out of the woodworks to ask me to convert VHS for them. I designed it so they could do it themselves so that's a relief. Love your channels and you bring back lots of memories.

[@kwaddamage8286]

Hey, what did you come up with? I have been wanting to get into this and bought a decent SuperVHS VCR (which actually is having issues and might return), but the range of quality for VHS -> Digital conversion workflows goes from like 20$ to $3000 when im looking into blackmagic/brighteye devices and standalone TBC I cant afford to get a standalone TBC right now, but also dont want to completely cheap out. trying to find a middle ground here. I have a rare old Kaiju movie i want to rip among other cult horror stuff lol

[@XLessThanZ]

@@kwaddamage8286, I have a video, "DIY All-In-One VHS Converter" on my channel... kzbin.info/www/bejne/operoXuZrraMg5o Hope this helps.

[@XLessThanZ]

@@kwaddamage8286, in addition, because of how old school equipment connects, you could probably daisy chain another player to the VHS, like maybe a Betamax.

[@thesonnytackettshow7949]

When the Adat tape recorder came out, it ushered in the first real production phase of digital recording, and they used the S-VHS format to record audio digitally. Thousands of hit records and albums were made with those machines until the recording world gained new technology. I still have 6 Adat tape recorders and an Adat 24 track hard drive recorder with interchangeable hard drives. I once owned a professional Sony S-VHS recorder, and it had literally hundreds of controls this one doesn’t have. I ran video cameras into it at sessions and some of those videos are on KZbin to this day. I’d love to have that machine right now. It had , no doubt, the biggest remote control I’ve ever seen on a deck of any kind. Great Video!!!

[@MarkHopewell]

In my day working with these products as an CE engineer - the most reliable domestic VCR's in the UK was Panasonic. 'Respect to Panasonic throughout the VCR era for sticking to their own deck designs, rather than badging up someone else's crap and selling it on. My wife still has a working Panasonic S-VHS machine - the last model they produced. It works a treat.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Mitsubishi were just as good, but much more rare. They had a 1-2% failure rate and incredible feature set.

[@MarkHopewell]

@@edwardfletcher7790 Yes, I'd forgotten about Mitsubishi. This due to their rarity as you say.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@MarkHopewell I sold them retail in the late 80's. I loved them for the on screen programming, incredible high tech 47 button learn remote and rock solid reliability. The feature set killed everything else. Akai was similar features, but horrendous reliability !

[@MarkHopewell]

@@edwardfletcher7790 Yes, ye olde worlde Akai and the Philips 'Charlie' VHS decks from around '84... Oh dear! Then we come to Orion (AKA Matsui/Saisho)... Giddy days. Kids don't know they're born these days - says I sounding like my Dad!

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@MarkHopewell Ahhhh you know EXACTLY what I was talking about ! Let's not even start on Goldstar (LG) VCRs & TVs!

[@norbkowa]

Don't throw away any S-vhs units because they are already hard to find and there is always somebody that can fix it or get it for some parts. I just had 2 Panasonic S-Vhs AG-7750 Pro units that were in flood and i got a third one that was also bad and out of those three i made one that worked. Even that they looked useless after flood they still helped to save one.

[@Halterung01]

This unit was made by JVC! :) Also, there is a HiFi indicator, it's when the L and R beneath the level meter are lit up. And finally, these late JVC mechanisms are pretty darn reliable.

[@adriansdigitalbasement2]

Yeah I noticed that later when setting it to linear mono, the display would change under the level meters.

[@tellytrev]

I bought a Philips VR1000 back in 1999 and I think it's identical to the JVC HR-S7600 as the clock display. menus etc are identical and both have the TBC function. A couple of things I noticed was the terminology DSPC is called BEST on a JVC and I discovered the remote controls are not compatible. Maybe Philips were using their own IR codes to keep compatibility with earlier models. This was just before the SuperVHS ET standard was introduced in the Philips VR1100.

[@mjouwbuis]

It was made by PJVM, based on JVC technology.

[@stitchfinger7678]

Im still outraged at Harmony being discontinued cuz Im not aware of anything that really replaces it.

[@mmilliganjr]

Walked in expecting a normal review, left MIND BLOWN 🤯

[@Auberge79]

48:48 Well, I had digitized my tapes once. I made DVDs out of them almost 20 years ago. What a surprise is that THAT DVDs (DVD-Rs actually, DVD+R if to be even more precise) are not so good at reading anymore! I had to do all the work again like 2 years ago, this time making h.264 files with 50 fps (my tapes are PAL, not NTSC, so 25fps interlaced converts to 50p) and THIS is definately MUCH better in picture quality. I keep these files on several HDDs now and another copy in cloud storage. Unfortunately, some tapes were lost forever and therefore I cannot re-convert them again.

[@enzoperruccio]

Yeah, I too had to digitize all our tapes again because the crappy 10 year old discs started to fail on me. What could've been 20 minutes copying from the disc to the computer turned into 2hr sessions for each single tape. Thankfully all 40 of them still play fine after 25 years and I'm glad we never got rid of them. DVD was a true scam. This time I didn't use DVD of course, just a simple capture card and OBS Studio were enough for me.

[@Wikcentral]

funny. We hate watching current commercials and back then we watching and wanted to skip those commercials. Now we would love to have tapes recorded with those old commercials to watch again

[@moconnell663]

I wish you had turned on the audio just for "And now, our Feature Presentation" 37:07 and that little tune that played at that point. I haven't heard it in years.

[@moconnell663]

It turns out there are other nerds on the internet, so I did get to hear it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHWtqZWEh7iqqKs

[@adriansdigitalbasement2]

HAHA! Yeah it's burned into my head too..... so many rental tapes over the years! That fanfare music and voice though. Classic!

[@LuckyMTS]

I couldn’t hear the sound.

[@mdftrasher]

I take home every s-vhs machine i find for my hobby ;-)

[@carguyuk7525]

I'm so glad when I set up a media centre (Windows). At that time I ditched vhs. This is a real blast from the past. Great video.

[@ForTheBirbs]

Many many moons ago I worked for a VHS tape and audio cassette duplication company in Sydney, Australia. We got the tape in large reels and the empty cassette shells. We had video tape loading machines in a clean room and the exact length of tapes were loaded for each movie run. We had many hundreds of commercial grade Hi Fi decks. Our engineers developed the first digital audio synch system for recording the h fi tracks. The security was crazy when big movies were coming out like ET etc. We built our own audio cassette printer for the production line that used UV ink. It had a microwave driven UV lamp system.

[@dabb1ng223]

You often get erratic performance from these units if the lid is off.This is due to the photoelectric sensors on the threading mechanism.

[@lucasrem1870]

he says you better go the wiki, not understanding it

[@jimmyplenderleith9471]

I have that VCR and have had it for about 20+ years. I've converted a lot of VHS taped from TV to DVD over the years. I've used professional level JVC S-VHS VCRs with TBC as well as many others. Using this VCR (the Phillips in your video) along with a TBC unit gave me the best conversions in terms of video quality and it was by a nice margin......The VCR now sits on my desk connected to my PC in case I need to toss a tape in and check something out. That is a really good, sleeper VCR. My JVC S-VHS sits on a shefl with the other 3 VCRs I still have unused while this Phillips sits on my desk for its quality of playback and for its size. You are not missing much without the remote...the only bad thing about this VCR was its remote. I still have it but its junk.

[@wurst_the_grey]

Very nice and interesting Video! Now I know how to clean my VCR; Thank you so much :)

[@cjripka6752]

VHS gets a bad rap today. It is easy to forget that before VHS/Beta, if you could not watch an episode a TV show, or there were two shows you wanted to watch at the same time, you had to wait for summer reruns. Movies that you wanted to see but missed in the theater, or wanted to re-watch, you had to either have a premium cable channel (HBO/Showtime), usually 6 months to a year after release, or wait for it to be shown on a network, (ABC, CBS, NBC or local channel), usually 18 months after release. VHS solved this issue, made it available to the mass market and created a demand for DVD, Blue Ray and now streaming that did not exist prior to the Mid to late 1970's. It really took off in the 80's. While the quality by today's standards is not very good, back then, that allowed us to time shift and catch up on movies, and we were content and happy.

[@stephentidwell2244]

Only device I ever had with a S-Video out was a Toshiba Laptop from 2009. I would use it to watch KZbin on my old 27 inch CRT TV while I played games on the laptop's display. I believe at the time it was the best laptop you could buy for that price at Best Buy at the time and even survived long enough to run a windows 8 public beta before cleaning damage prevented it from working again. I don't have the laptop or TV anymore but I do believe I still have the S-Video cable if you need one.

[@rommix0]

I don't see many S-Video ports on most equipment. My old Power Mac has one those. A lot of those beige Macs from the 90s used an S-Video in and out as defaults. They come in handy though for video capture.

[@stephentidwell2244]

@@rommix0 never tried to capture video on a 90’s Mac. I have however used a beige power Mac g3 to not only capture audio but to also rip and burn cd’s. Oddly it used an external 3x CD burner.

[@noelctorres2085]

Funny thing that this video just randomly popped up and that I found that same VCR like 5yrs ago. It’s now 2024 and it still works great. Great video, learned a bit about my VCR. Thanks.

[@macdaniel6029]

Funny to see Adrian waving his hands while on the CRT in the background he is waving his hands too :D

[@MrRobbiepee]

We had "VCR+" in the UK (and presumably in Europe too). We called it "Video+". Cool system that worked really well.

[@dos1044]

In France (SECAM land) we used "ShowView" It was pretty much the same thing as far as I remember

[@Wijnamar]

@@dos1044 It was also called showview in the Netherlands. Brings back memories

[@pickoftheglitter]

A side note: a VCR of mine refuses to work without the cover, because it has opto sensors that are affected by ambient lights (especially if you're looking inside it with a strong light source on it). So, if you have some issues without the cover, try to switch off the light of your room (or temporarily put the cover on) and try again. Easy test to do.

[@richardwernst]

Link to belt supplies? I went round and round many years ago trying to find a belt for an old VCR where the belt had actually broken. Finally found one and the guy even sold me one, vs. the pack of 3.

[@rubusroo68]

I had a Panasonic s-vhs 4 head. It was amazing. Brilliant stereo sound, real time counter, awesome freeze frame & advance, commercial skip etc etc. It cost like £500 in about 1992 lol

[@focus82grothm.84]

Awesome video 😃👍 I have a low end JVC HR-J238 mono VHS player from 1996 and works flawlessly, just with regular maintenance with cleaning of heads etc. A truly quality vcr. Greetings from Norway 😊😊

[@Gadgetman1989]

I've still got my original VCR that I had as a kid, an old RCA, still works, minus the video out on the back but video in still is functional, I picked up a cheap VHS/RCA to computer to digitize all my original VHS's, love your content Adrian, keep it up

[@BG101UK]

10:01 Different pole gap I think. IIRC the HiFi audio heads had wider ones for deeper penetration into the magnetic layer, obviously with lower possible data density for the audio layer but (usually) fine for the purpose. ETA: 11:01 The tape wraps round just over half the drum. Head switching each half rotation takes care of the odd and even fields per frame. NB: I've been known to tweak the switching point to move the visible switch-point as far down the visible screen area as possible without disrupting the vertical sync! IIRC it's about 8 lines (on PAL machines) from the bottom of the active picture area. Maybe not in NTSC land? I do have a pure NTSC machine and a few cassettes here which I must try out again soon.

[@alphabeets]

Can you tell us how the switching point can be tweaked? I would love the experiment with this on one of my old VCRs. Thanks.

[@Mack-op1vw]

It`s kinda sad how we drop a tech for a new one, remembering how celebrated the VCR was when it came out in the eighties, even though the VCR seems a heck of a lot of work today just to play a video today the ingenuity of it when you open them up is dammed impressive!

[@DavePoo2]

I remember back in the day DVD was coming out, but most DVD machines couldn't record, so there was a time when you would have the VCR and the DVD player sitting there on top of it.

[@FarnhamJ07]

The DBS thing is for cable/satellite boxes that have an on-screen programming guide. You could select a program to record on the cable box, and it'd tune to the right channel and start up the VCR automatically. Worked pretty darn well back in the day; much better than manually programming it at least!

[@mendeyclan7489]

Hi, love your content. UK in the 80s/90s we had an equivalent to VHS plus called Videoplus, which worked the same way. I think, Videoplus was also able to record Sky Satellite TV programmes from channels such as Sky One, just by entering the Videoplus code.

[@albertmorel2771]

So very interesting. I like all the detail in your explanations and I have learned allot from you videos. Thank you

[@chucku00]

Even if the mechanism of a VCR is broken beyond repair, its video inputs and RF-modulator can be useful with old CRT TVs that don't have any composite or S-video input.

[@JoshuasRecordings]

I remeber having that exact problem with VCRs when I was younger. The VCR would accept and reject the tape for seemingly no reason. The reason I found was a light sensor which did not want to load the tape if it noticed ambient light in the unit. I know that sounds weird but if you put the top on the problem disappears entirely.

[@wallychambe1587]

Same here, ambient light will keep it from playing with the cover off!

[@cheezst8ke]

I had a nice JVC HI-FI Stereo VCR back in the mid 1990s. It had left and right audio meters on the front digital display. It also came with a little infared remote pod attached to a cable which you plugged in to the back of the VCR and placed the infared remote pod in front of your cable box's IR reciever for doing unattended multi channel programmed recordings. I think I paid around $299.99 for it from Sears back then. It was a nice VCR and had a lot of neat features.

[@jedi92486]

You'd love the Retrotink 5X. It locks onto a VHS signal better than any analog to digital upscaler I've used, and its comb filter and deinterlacer are top notch.

[@gtheskeptic]

VHS was awesome for recording audio. 8 hours of tunes? Yeah. I used to work for Maxell back in the day and the only difference between tape type was the quality of the recording. We'd record a 30 second test and depending on the result thats what grade the reel got. For the most part, tape is tape is tape. The quality of the mechanism probably has more to do with quality than the tape. A decent 4 head will do the job just fine. Personally Id recommend a Toshiba.

[@frqv]

Depending on the state, you can use fine sandpaper on the rubber-roll-thingies to rough them up a little. The belts are usually unrecoverable once they dont work properly since they tend to stretch out. Also, you use paper on the heads for cleaning because it has a nice, even surface that wont get stuck (or lose parts) on the heads. Man, VCRs were miracles of mechanics. And in a typical VCR you had like 10 different sorts of screws - you better remember where which one was... :-)

[@decidedly_retro]

The Philips "Match Line" was merely the name of their TV and video ranges. In the UK and some other markets "VCR+" was called "Video+" and worked the same way.

[@WooShell]

.. and it was solely named that way because it was a line of devices in matching design.. ;-)

[@Stoney3K]

"MatchLine" was pretty much their marketing term for the mid range of Philips gear. The entry level gear was basically unbranded except for the Philips brand. By the time MatchLine was around, the high-end kit was branded Marantz or outsourced to go into Bang & Olufsen.

[@laszlomarktoth7492]

And Showview was the name rest of Europe (I mean VCR+ and Video+)...

[@mjouwbuis]

@@Stoney3K what does "outsourced to go into Bang & Olufsen" mean? Philips did supply parts, key modules and a few OEM models to B&O but didn't intend to compete with them in any way that I know of. Matchline was to be the mark for integrated visual and audiovisual systems in the highest price class (mid range maybe only compared to Loewe and B&O), and it did relatively well during the 1980's and 1990's. It wasn't really used for audio only systems. Marantz made mid- and high-end audio kit for themselves and some for Philips and vice versa, and the occasional portables.

[@robblaize]

I wonder whether the issue with the RetroTINK is related to how it reacts to the macrovision protection on pre-recorded tapes, it basically messes with any automatic gain on the signal and causes the kind of instability you had.

[@klaushergesheimer8602]

Yes, he should try the VCR with a self recorded tape and not with a Macrovision infected commercial one.

[@Doman2000]

I think it is also caused by the normal "unstable" properties of a VHS tape source. TV's have extra circuitry to compensate for the fluctuations in a VCR tape signal. Older TV's often had a specific channel/button dedicated for VCR playback. A stabilizer/TBC will help and is essential for a good digital conversion.

[@transitengineer]

Great video of a vintage VCR system. For decades, I have owned a Panasonic model PV-9661 Omni-Vision version, and it still works great. Just like it did back, when it was band new. Have tried over the years to say good-bye but, I always end up having to un-box my VCR and start using it again. Tried using a DVD and VHS combo recorder/player but, on these models the VCR units are not that good. What, I enjoy the most about my VCR is being able to record any cable TV channel including paid movie programs. Many times trying to record them to DVD, I get a copy right protected message (smile...smile).

[@tobias_off]

Oh Adrian, I love your confidence :) Just repairing and cleaning half an hour without testing for a picture. I also still love watching my tapes recorded as a child, when trying to cut out the commercials and when the show was going one, forgeting to press record again; good old days :D Btw did you test that this head cleaning thingy now is not scratching over the head mechanism without the foam. It would be sad, if this good recorder is destroyed by a tweak with improvement and relilability in mind. ;)

[@highpath4776]

Now its the adverts, continity and station IDs that are the interesting bits , given that most broadcast content is avalible from original source or otheres copies !

[@BilisNegra]

@@highpath4776 That's absolutely right! What we -understandably- wanted to skip in the past, is often the only kind of stuff worth watching in many old tapes recorded off commercial TV.

[@fu1r4]

24:00 If the player supports index and time code, it need to have the tape connected to the head. That is why it won't unload the tape when you rewind and fast forwarding.

[@GarthBeagle]

I also picked up a S-VHS deck recently from a thrift store to use for archiving tapes. I used a coffee filter (with ISO) to clean the heads. I wonder if it was having problems on the RetroTink due to Macrovision copy protection? Though I'd be surprised if that was encoded in the trailers - you could confirm on your PVM if it has the H/V delay button to view any offscreen Macrovision signal (which'd look like pulsating b&w blocks).

[@adriansdigitalbasement2]

No, don't think so -- I've captured video from a Panasonic VCR before and it was just fine (with the same tape.) I think it might be the video stabilizer function... I am not sure if it was ON or OFF, but perhaps changing it to the opposite setting may have helped.

[@PeteWord]

12voltvids is great to watch! He really knows what he is doing and never loses a screw somehow. On your channel we have the 8-bit Dance Party ... at 12voltvids it is the Music Bakery jams!

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

That middle gear has possibly turned very yellow, some of these are prone to breaking but I agree I still have a soft spot for VHS. Make sure the plastic part from the head cleaner doesn’t scratch the head now the foam has gone.

[@mjouwbuis]

I think the yellow polyurethane gear plague was mostly in Philips manufactured decks, this one comes from PJVM (JVC), so probably fine. Unless they did the same, but I don't think so.

[@tbp-channel8870]

These devices have been great at the near end of the VHS production era. I am still using 2 Philips VR-1100 regularly for capturing VHS and SVHS-Tapes. These have also TBC which is really useful. Great Video, Thanks for it !

[@solarbirdyz]

I've kept my old SVHS deck along with one old macbook pro that no longer gets security updates specifically for retaining the ability to rip old VHS and SVHS tapes. I never had that many, and all the ones I did have got ripped long ago, but it's nice to be able to help out when it's needed. I also have a laserdisc player (because anime in the 90s lol) with all the same notation.

[@Auberge79]

27:58 That's not the case of earlier or newer VCR's. The tape remains on heads during FF or rewind just because of searching indexes, tape counters etc, because those are read by heads. If you have a simple player which doesn't even contain tape counter (because tape couner actually relies on tracking inpulses) it will probably move tape away from heads during FF or rewind.

[@Dukefazon]

0:00 - it seems like you can use your fingers again. Nice little pink spots on your palm :/ At the end of the last year I watched every episode on VCRs at Technology Connections, I used to record a lot of stuff from the TV and I didn't think you could tell me much new info but came out the door swinging with a ton of information what VCRs were capable of. Maybe I didn't use our VCR to the fullest back in the days. We had a 4-head neat Sony VCR. We didn't use it for a whole and after a time I tested it it ejected the tape just like your. I was foolish and threw it away... If I had known all it needs is just a belt replacement... But it was around 2004-5 and cassette tapes were out of fashion and I didn't bother with it any more. Damn it.

[@kingforaday8725]

On the old time shifting. Ive found watching the old commercials much more enjoyable than the program I recorded!! Of course one can find complete season sets of many old TV shows.

[@DeathRyder33]

Yes u are correct, that motor controls eject and loading the tape to the drum. I have an Emerson vcr and does it also but has like 2 belts since it's older, I repaired it. And it has to be synced carefully or it won't work properly. Been through headaches with mine and finally got it. 5 bucks from goodwill. There is another motor below for the tape play and ffwd and rwd. It's thin like floppy drive motors

[@timmooney7528]

With some video converters I would have problems due to Macrovision or other forms of protection. My first DVD player only had RCA jacks out rather than coax, so I ran it though my VCR's aux inputs. When I was able to go straight into the TV the fading and blanking issues went away.

[@josericardogs1435]

I have the Philips VR 610 which looks almost identical to yours. The mechanism is exactly the same and it is that slow normally. Mine is the lower end one, it doesn't record in S-VHS but it does play S-VHS tapes using the SQPB technology. Mine was manufactured in 2002. Pretty good machine you got there, Philips made some good VHS decks.

[@lionnelc13]

This mechanic doesn't seems to be the Funai used in post 2001 Philips VCRs. Even before 2001, many (if not all) Philips SVHS were clones of JVC, Philips probably didn't bother developing their own SVHS chassis. If you compare this mecha is very similar to the JVC HR s7600

[@coolizmc]

It's not a clone then, it's a rebadged JVC hr-s3800u the chassis is 100% identical between the machines

[@mjouwbuis]

Depends on the market, also they were never clones but instead parallel models to JVC models. Some were sourced directly from JVC Japan, others were built by their joint venture in Malaysia (PJVM) alongside JVC models. For the European market, the later SVHS models were indeed sourced from JVC/PJVM while the first Philips SVHS model was sourced from Panasonic. Only from 1994 to roughly 1999 they made SVHS models that were fully sourced from their own factories.

[@billfruge25]

Great video. It made me go and hook up my 35YO Sony 5-head SVHS VCR and it works perfectly still. :D

[@750kv8]

This is a 3-motor system, head drum motor, capstan motor that drives the spindles too, and that brush motor that drives the entire loading system incl. lacing up & brake system, pinch roller, tensioners, everything. The exception is that pendulum gear between the spindles, usually there's a felt clutch there diven by a pulley from the capstan motor, and that automatically moves the pendulum gear to the appropriate side spindle, depending on which direction the capstan motor spins. Pretty much most or all late-generation VHS devices settled on this layout starting in the early 90s. Plastic parts can crack and break where they are press fitted on a metal shaft. Plastic shrinks over time, metal doesn't.

[@Quacks0]

Re: the tape coming right back out again when you load it: sometimes having the cabinet-cover off the VCR lets in too much ambient light which messes with the optical sensors, and thus the VCR will not work properly unless the cover is on to block out the light. :D

[@theprofessionalman1154]

Thanks For The Great Video... Thanks.

[@cromulence]

As a Brit, it’s still odd to me seeing a newer machine with no SCART connection. We were definitely lucky to have that - RGB is fantastic (plus auto input / 16:9 switching etc)

[@simontay4851]

Even though european VCRs have SCART, the video is recorded/playedback in composite. On a VCR with 2 SCART sockets, the RGB pins are just passed through.

[@laszlomarktoth7492]

@@simontay4851 And also the easy antenna plugs instead of the stupid F plugs...

[@simontay4851]

@@laszlomarktoth7492 I much prefer F connectors. Its a much more robust connector. My signal strength and quality improved when i changed the aerial plugs to F connectors. Aerial plugs just don't make a reliable connection.

[@laszlomarktoth7492]

@@simontay4851 In general I agree with you, but on end equipment like a TV I did not prefer. I prefer a good cable, not a cheap moulded once.

[@InsanePsychoRabbit]

I don't think SCART was ever popular outside of Europe. Japan had a version of SCART, but it wasn't popular or common on consumer equipment. If SCART had become popular and common in Japan, then it probably would've become common in the US.

[@DJSekuHusky]

I was 8 when my parents let me fix a Betamax player (Toshiba V-M32). 9 when I fixed my first VHS player (Toshiba W-522). They wouldn't let me take a CRT tv apart (they caught me halfway through pulling the back cover off, tho). Totally get it now why they freaked out so much. Ultimately that segued to building my first computer at 11, with a box of PC scraps purchased from Goodwill for $50 (which in 2001 was all I could afford with allowances). Pentium 100MHz and Windows 95 once built, later upgraded to 133 MMX and Windows 98. Built with the aid of a magazine (didn't get internet 'til 2003). Seeing this teardown was so nostalgic; hard to believe all that technology was so prevalent nearly two decades ago. Thanks for posting! You got yourself a winner bud, it looks perfectly healthy to me.

[@PKsRetroRoom]

Thanks for this video Adrian, I had a JVC Super VHS recorder given to me about 3 months ago told it didn't work, after seeing your video I thought bugga it I'll grab it out, and guess what it had the same tape mechanism as your Phillips model, turns out it was just the loading motor rubber band that was faulty so thanks for the video.

[@Kundalini12]

I have a Panasonic VCR (model NV-HD640) which I bought new in the 90s. It doesn't get much use these days but it's still plugged in for the clock.

[@bradandrews7823]

It looks a lot like my JVC SVHS deck which I purchased in late 90's from Best Buy. I got it mainly for capturing tape to digital. About ten years ago it quit working. No display, just dead. Replaced the big switching power supply transistor and all the electrolytic caps with very high quality units from Digikey and it's working great again.

[@probnotstech]

Hi Adrian. That VCR looks like it was made by JVC for Philips. The mechanism menu look identical to a JVC HR-S3800U S-VHS VCR I have (which also supports "ET" mode). Also I swear I've seen the same style VU meters on some higher end JVC S-VHS VCRs. No issues on mine besides a somewhat weak control track head (it's more likely to lose the control track pulse on chewed tapes than other VCRs I have). Regarding Philips (and Magnavox), I don't think they ever made their own VHS mechanisms for the North American market. I know in the 80s they were made by Panasonic, and into the 2000s they were usually Funai. Love your videos btw. The stuff you find and your enthusiasm while working on it is super fun to watch.

[@zsrhusain]

FYI they are still making Harmony remotes, logitech had originally disconinuted them but brought them back. They now support smart home devices (lights, thermostats) so those can be controlled by the remote. They have a model a with hub and IR blasters so devices do not have to line of sight of the remote and you can even use their phone app.

[@VorpalGun]

With regards with 3D printing gears etc, you can get smaller nozzles for FDM printers if you have trouble reproducing detail. And then there is SLA printing for really fine detail. And there are services where you can upload a file and they print for you. That way you could even do SLS for really fancy replacement gears in nylon.

[@gcolombelli]

Isn't SLS only for metal parts, crazy expensive and hard to find someone with the required equipment?

[@VorpalGun]

@@gcolombelli No, SLS can be used for Nylon powder too. It is more expensive yes, and the machine is crazy expensive. However there are online services where you can order parts done in SLS. It is more expensive than FDM or SLA for sure, but it is not an astronomical cost any more (last I looked at least, which admittedly was before COVID). Metal 3D printing is still crazy expensive.

[@gcolombelli]

@@VorpalGun cool, thanks, I had no idea SLS could be used with nylon.

[@johnstogner6397]

Automatic time set. I have considered making a device to "broadcast" via my local coax so the clocks on my 3 VCRs have correct time without all the fuss. My kids love watching the tapes. I do too!

[@crcomments8509]

The one thing to watch out for with these JVC decks, is they used to suffer with failure of the opto couplers under the reels, when in high speed rewind mode, they are supposed to slow down a little while before the end of the tape, but if the opto couplers have failed they don’t slow down and the centre infrared detector cannot react quick enough to apply the brakes, this usually causes a couple of plastic geared sliders in the mechanism to break and you need to replace the opto couplers. It’s an easy fix, once you know how the alignment holes work but I doubt you can get the parts anymore. So if you are rewinding you may be better to press the stop button before it gets to the end, then just rewind the final bit a bit at a time

[@a4000t]

theres something to be said for the warm glow of a CRT,especially the true black it can display. i kept my vcr also,i've found some uses for it messing with the Video Toaster and Draco vision using Svid.

[@greggv8]

The "mirror universe" of S-VHS ET was SQPB. VCRs with SQPB could play S-VHS and S-VHS ET recorded tapes but "downscaled" the video output to normal VHS resolution and quality output over the composite video connection.

[@rustyfloorboards]

That flickering / dim image your retrotink is displaying is the macro vision copy protection. Best way to confirm it is to do a recording of something from the input and play it back.

[@tvvortex9622]

An interesting tip you may or may not be aware of: try searching "sold as blank" on ebay and you'll find lots of home recorded tapes for sale. My channel here on YT essentially revolves around VHS footage of commercial breaks etc from southern California.

[@HFkepley9312]

Logitech is still supporting the harmony line completely but are not making more remotes or selling them as in keeping them in stock and what is available from there retailers are only what is available and will not be getting more

[@patg108]

well it also depends upon how generic the belt is and how similar enough it is to something else, may be able to jurry rig a replacement for more lifespan. Same goes for the gears, depends if you can find something that's a match or at least close enough to do the job.

[@kenneykennedy9260]

well documented video story well explained how you clean them i love the top brands video recorders

[@aggielonghorn]

Interesting video. I have a JVC HR-VP59U VCR that has almost the exact setup inside as the VCR you worked on. On mine, the roller guides will not fully engage to carry the tape to the heads. They try, fail, and then effect the tape. If I give a manual push, they'll move into position and play the tape. Any idea on why the roller guides can't engage on their own.

[@thomaseller3866]

This is interesting. I think this PHILIPS model is an OEM product produced by JVC. I had 2 JVC VCR which looked quite similar from the inside and arrangement of the front panel. Apart from the rubber parts inside, they are extremely robust...

[@CondorAudio]

That is correct. You will find the identical PCB and mechanism inside (among many others) JVC HR-J271, 361, 481, 491, S7711, etc. I still service them.

[@GoliathAngelus]

Still have my VHS machines. Most of them are Philips and one sony and one Sharp i picked up at a flea market and one that i found in a container. Turbo drive is for super fast forward sear if you want to search

[@retropcs88]

I almost passed up a Panasonic NV-HS820 Super VHS VCR at the dumpster, because i thought it was a normal VCR until I turned it around and saw SVHS ET on the front panel. So now I have a SVHS VCR for free! It also has a TBC from what I have read so it will be great for digitizing our old tapes. Way better than SQPB (SVHS quasi playback) on my other Panasonic.

[@Charlesb88]

The DBS Receiver Controller features allows you to enable an IR blaster feature that can enable this VCR to tune your Digital Broadcast Satellite box to any channel you wish to record on S-VHS tape. You must select which channel or input your DBS box is connected too such as Ch. 3 or 4 (for RF connection) or via A/V RCA inputs on front or box. That way, at a programmed time, the VCR can tune to the appropriate channel or A/V input that your DBS box is connected to, then tune the DBS box to the channel to record from and finally begin record. To use this feature you would need a plug in IR blaster device thats missing, not that you plan to use this feature anyways. There is a separate setup menu for a cable box IR blaster setup due to differences in how cable boxes of the time worked (vs DBS boxes) with regard to channel tuning and such.

[@Colaholiker]

This "Match///Line" thing must have been a product family name that Philips used for quite some time. My TV is a 1992 Philips CRT (yes, still working after 30 years, and all that has been replaced so far are the batteries in the remote control) that also has "Match///Line" written on it. Interesting to learn that the "easy programming numbers" went by the name of VCR Plus in North America. Here in Germany (and maybe other European countries, not sure there) they were known by the pseudo-English name ShowView. I'm pretty sure that the mechanism behind it was the same. Initially there were even separate remote control devices available that you could type the numbers into and they would translate it to a series of IR commands specific to your recorder to fill the programming menu fields. Later models (like the ones I owned9 had it already built in and you had a little on-screen menu to enter the numbers and were presented with a completely preset programming menu in the next step. Speaking of programming VCRs, there was even a short-lived system where your printed program guide (at least one of the weekly magazines publishing what's on TV) had bar codes that you could read with a special device that you connected to your VCR. It didn't catch on, but it was futuristic for sure. Not sure if anyone remembers this thing at all.

[@Oldgamingfart]

Yes I remember the barcode system, mostly a Panasonic thing if I recall. ShowView was known as VideoPlus+ here in the UK. There was also the VPT system (aka StarText/ Teletext programming) on the more expensive machines.

[@Colaholiker]

@@Oldgamingfart Was the Teletext programming the feature where the recorder would automatically adjust for changes in the schedule, like when they had to broadcast some breaking news and the movie you wanted to record actually started later? In Germany, they had a system that would transmit the information in the same part of the signal that carried teletext pages. It was older than the ShowView (or whatever it is called in other countries) system and worked independently, even though by he time you could program your VCR using the number codes, all VCRs supported this as well. I try to remember the name they used for it here, it has been so long since I have last seen it.

[@Oldgamingfart]

@@Colaholiker Yes that was known as PDC Program Delivery Control), aka VPS (Video Programming System) on some older machines. VPT (Video Programming via Teletext) was entirely different as it would actually use the on-screen Teletext or StarText page to move a cursor along the TV listings and set the timer that way. These VCRs therefore had to have an on-board Teletext/ FastText or StarText decoder. This could also be utilised in playback to resolve subtitles from the recorded program, which was especially useful for the hard of hearing. Naturally, it would also add Teletext functionality to a TV or monitor that didn't have its own decoder, so quite useful!

[@hugosimoes5119]

I also have a philips vcr but it is packed in a plastic bag. It can load tapes, it has some trouble with tapes with magled tape, there is sound but not video. I tried almost everything like fiddling with the potenciometer installed on the pcb, cleaning the rotating video head with acetone and alcool, but not joy.

[@nicholaspoe2710]

The trouble loading the tape could be a marginally corroded Mode switch. The mode switch on a unit like this is easy to polish and I would put some dielectric grease in as well to prevent future corrosion. If the Mode switch is corroded, eventually this can lead to tape binding (eating).

[@frommatorav1]

I have a 6 head S-VHS from Toshiba M735 that still worked when I retired it. It's in my closet and hasn't been used in about a decade. Used to have 3 or 4 but the others stopped working.

[@SirReptitious]

I still have my JVC S-VHS ET VCR along with about two dozen tapes. I never got rid of it because it's not like it takes up much space. What I *AM* bummed about is my region-free Philips DVD Divx player died several years ago, and I have a small collection of UK and Japan discs. I just haven't gotten around to opening it up to see if the problem is something I can figure out and fix. Yes, I know I can watch those discs on my two PCs which have a DVD burner and Blu-Ray burner, but I really love that little Philips unit. ;-)

[@DoubleMonoLR]

Lots of DVD players can be made region free, just look up if there's a code to unlock them before buying one(used is cheaper of course) They often require nothing more than punching in a code on the remote.

[@dw_2005]

I think the 3.5mm jack is actually designed for a satellite receiver or cable box. my non S-VHS UK VCR has the same connector and its labelled 'SAT' The manual shows that it is designed that you plug the Video output of a sat receiver into the Vid in on the VCR and a 3.5mm cable to the 'SAT' input from the Control out (i think) of the SAT receiver. Its likely using some kind of serial communication to send remote control commands to the VCR so that it can start control the VCR to record, send information about channels to the VCR, etc... (Some wired remote connections on A/V equipment uses 3.5mm jacks instead of standard DB-9 connector of RS-232)

[@tarzankom]

Good video. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from the retro computing stuff for general electronics. As a child of the late 70's, VCRs hold a special place in my heart. I kind of miss video media whose quality looks like a potato.

[@frqv]

Having a 'good movie' (or whatever) on a tape always was like having a tresure. Even - or probably especially - if the quality was bad. :)

[@LGBKAI]

Unfortunately I came across a "rare" cheap VideoHigh8 and VCR combo. And it had the issue you describe, a wormgear broke that is so specific I couldn't find a replacement.. I glued it together (yes I know it probably just breaks again after awhile but didnt matter to me), and while reassembling I noticed a spring was loose aswell.... And so far (roughly 12 months) I havent found anybody who sells it OR could reproduce such a spring.

[@PaulTheFox1988]

The tips for cleaning the VHS internals are very useful as I have a VHS player that is a bit weird with tracking, I cleaned the heads, but clearly I didn't do a good enough job so I'll take another look in a bit. Cheers

[@frqv]

It could also be, that the heads need to be adjusted - which i would *not* recomend if you never did this before.

[@PaulTheFox1988]

@@frqv it is possible that you're right, it tracks most of the time correctly, it's just occasionally it drops out or the video becomes garbled. I only have this one player so I'm not gonna risk it until I get another one, not only that it's a bargain basement unit that isn't really worth spending too much time on. It definitely needed a better clean though, the head was still dirty and the capstan and pinch roller were dirty and the mechanism was dry and sticking as well.

[@MICHIGANROCKSANDROLL]

The issue with the picture on the Computer monitor is indicative of the MACRO-VISION it uses a brightness pulse off frame to play with the potential copy machine. Used to have one of those so-called black boxes that fixed it.

[@radio-ged4626]

At about 41mins into your video you mention the static at the top of the screen when pausing the tape. This is because of the way the recording is laid onto the tape. Because it is recorded on moving tape the scan isn't a straight diagonal line but more of an "S" shape. When you pause the tape the head scans in a straight line on a motionless tape and starts to drift off track towards the end of the scan or at the beginning of the scan. Some recorders "twitch" the tape to mimic motion so that the head stays more on the track during a paused scan.