Video Walkman: Sony's 1991 Portable 8mm VCR!

[@username30536]

The intricate and compact design of Sony's 80s and 90s products should honestly be considered works of art.

[@nickwallette6201]

A pleasure to use, an inspiration to engineers, and a nightmare to service.

[@Leonard.L.Church]

Yeah lol the ps5 is so dang wide

[@echelonrank3927]

these are works of insane artists. the retardedly overdesigned and complex junky bitsy mecanisms got condensed down and simplified in 2000s. down to sensible levels. as a tech who had to deal with these types of stupid consumer trash products im sure glad the sony designers eventually grew a brain. definite like

[@echelonrank3927]

@Kevlar yeah excellent im glad theres someone that actually uses the stuff they collect instead of it just sitting there. you can get tape to sound different by adjusting the recording bias level some recorders have that on there, dont use chrome tapes they grind your heads down and bass goes missing. if you like lo-fi you might like the sound you get through a carbon microphone from the old style desk phones. its fi is very low.

[@danielrudolph3252]

Sony was awesome then, and is still awesome now!! Big fan of them!!

[@Oguz286]

I asked my dad who has repaired TVs, VCRs, and many other devices like these since I was a little kid, and he suspects that the video head is fine, but that perhaps the SMD capacitors around the video processing chip or circuitry is faulty. If you have an oscilloscope then you should be able to measure a small signal which is the video signal, which in turn should go through some amplification circuit. Most likely the fault lies somewhere between the video head and the LCD driving circuit. Suffice to say that growing up and watching my dad repairing all kinds of devices is the major reason I enjoy your videos :D Keep up the good work!

[@Kalvinjj]

The service manual probably even shows the test points and expected signals as well. If he could track down a service tape that would do wonders.

[@zaprodk]

There's probably a small shielded can just behind/under the video drum with the head amp. I would look for caps here. But yeah, a service manual will have scope shots, and then it's just about seeing if there is any video from the heads.

[@realmccoy]

He couldn’t even respond to your post after a whole year?! I can’t stand people who are so smug they can’t even acknowledge such a well-written, thoughtful, and potentially very helpful reply. Must be a smug liberal.

[@Oguz286]

​@@realmccoy How many videos does he have? And how many comments do each of his videos have? Instead of assuming malice and calling names, you might want to also consider that he also has a life or that he might have overlooked the comment or any other valid reason ;-) Besides, the comment wasn't just meant for him but also for other people who might have the same or similar problems. I'm not offended at all and maybe you shouldn't too? :-)

[@gladier1]

@@realmccoyI don’t think you understand how comments work

[@lachlanbrown8110]

These things always amazed me from an engineering perspective. All the moving parts and complicated mechanisms. How did a group of human beings sit down and design this thing?

[@Megatog615]

Mechanical engineers and electrical engineers had a different understanding of each other back then.

[@TRLTheRandomLab]

More importantly, how did they design this thing without killing each other? They'd all have to be like-minded

[@agenericaccount3935]

@@TRLTheRandomLab Great things happen in homogeneous environments.

[@brokenfix]

Because Japan

[@hoedenbesteller]

Actually these departments worked totally UNaligned. They just received a framework to build in, and a deadline. Thats why sometimes the buttons are in weird places, or functionality that you would expect is sometimes missing...

[@recklessjunkie]

Sony always puts so many button on there electronics especially from this time period it’s so much fun I love it

[@NathanChisholm041]

Never enough buttons...

[@paulocardoso9605]

Typical Japanese overengineering of the time.

[@No_True_Scotsman]

I've noticed this too! Sony loves putting unnecessary buttons on things!!

[@analogvideochannel4612]

On Video8 and Hi8, everything is read by the same 2 heads on the drum, so the fact that you're getting clear audio means that the heads and tape transport is probably fine. It's more likely that it's an issue elsewhere (others have noted that there may be more capacitors you missed under the shielding). I don't know with this one in particular, but at least with some of the later video walkmans they shared the mechanism a lot of electronics with the camcorders of the time if there should be some part that's broken. Also, NEVER use q-tips on video heads, the threads can get stuck in the heads and ruin them.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

For Sure I thought the Same since I worked on a lot of hi 8 I used to sell and do sony warranty at my Radio and Tv business .

[@richardbrobeck2384]

I know I cringed when i seen that never use q-tips only Chamois .

[@Kalvinjj]

Indeed, I've had to deal with a fairly old and worn from use (and a bit of abuse too) Video 8 camcorder, and the 1st thing that just dies out when the tape transport and heads are messy somehow was the audio. The video manages to get by with a lot of static and such, but the audio gets muted when it goes bad way before. Something on the video decoding or thereabouts for sure (I think Video 8 used the audio track for sync too right?), which ain't gonna be easy. I assume testing a video input to see what happens would help isolate the problem.

[@analogvideochannel4612]

@@Kalvinjj The signals used for "tracking" on video8 and Hi8 are in the same tracks with video and audio yeah, read by the same heads, it's some sort of complicated system with sine waves.

[@JordaoDM]

I have a video 8 camcorder here and the mechanism looks almost the same. I think he can use some of these cameras to fix the GV-500.

[@milesipka]

My late father owned a Sony portable VCR, which played regular VHS tapes but had a tiny LCD screen. As a kid I used to 'borrow' it from his room, along with a chosen tape from his 100-tape collection and watch it in my room. As a diehard video fan, I loved it and because of that started collecting portable DVD players once my father died - I've owned a total of eight and at this moment four of them still work. I still have my father's portable VCR but it no longer works.

[@realmccoy]

Would be so cool to get that working again. I’m sure there’s a way!!!

[@milesipka]

@@realmccoy Considering how well Sony built those things, it is entirely possible but I don't have the expertise to do so. Maybe one day...

[@Adam2050]

Your work is underrated, deserves so much more views, damn algorithms.

[@nickwallette6201]

I dunno man. Do you think there are really way more than a quarter of a million people who are dying to see inside of a mini video tape player, except KZbin hasn't allowed them to know about it yet?

[@Nightshade_42]

Hey, 30k views in only one day is a lot from my perspective!

[@polaris911]

Collin: "That meant disassembling the unit" Me: YISSSSSS!

[@altrel06]

Collin: “So the disassembly had to continue” ME: YISSSSSS

[@boggybaloneyshaloney]

@@altrel06 lol

[@nyccollin]

Shaggy never had an Adam’s apple now. Mandela Effect.

[@marianofpv]

I've always loved disassembling electronics since a kid.

[@defencebangladesh4068]

lol same

[@leejbird1984]

What an awesome device, hope you find a donor unit soon and are able to bring it back to life. Great video as all way!

[@pierreretief]

Dude, this is one hell of a precision job you did here, I have attempted them myself and know how hard it is. Well done bro! 👊

[@newq]

That taping the screws onto the service manual trick is brilliant and I'm ashamed I never thought of it myself.

[@C0mfortCruise]

Man, you just can't catch a break when it comes to fixing anything that uses tape. I admire your perseverance regardless.

[@37Kilo2]

Such a cool piece of tech. As soon as you said failed caps, my heart dropped. I couldn't imagine disassembling this highly engineered device, nevermind reassembling it correctly. I'm pretty sure I'd lose my mind trying to remember the correct screws at every step. Nice work!

[@masterofreality926]

It`s not that hard if you have an exploded view...

[@ChrisL1971]

Colin: you use the wrong tape. You need a video 8 source tape to see something on the screen. Its a analog video device with digital audio

[@jddeluxe2242]

You nailed it my friend!

[@Rfx222]

Yes, Hi8 and 8mm video formats are different, a Hi8 recording (digital) cannot be played on a older 8mm player (analog video)…

[@Dedubya-]

The Star Trek tape he's playng does show as being Video 8 though so I think it should have played OK in this Video 8 machine. He did use a Hi 8 tape later to show it could play those too, but not record onto Hi 8,

[@TheCode-X]

I really love when old tech came full of buttons on every possible surface, it tickles my geeky pleasures

[@richardalger8423]

I remember seeing a similar unit at an electronics show in the early nineties. It was about the coolest thing I could imagine at the time. I also remember that it was playing Star Trek 3. The scene were the bird of prey was swooping down for a landing on Vulcan.

[@magoid]

Great Scott!!! This is truly amazing. A portable television studio.

[@GPUtest]

Your videos always get me into the mood of golden era in terms of consumer electronics. There is still a lot of vintage players and formats to be discovered. Thank you for that.

[@sumanjit100]

This piece of Technology still amazing, just blow my mind.. I born in 90's and i just love old Gadgets, back than mainly use mechanical and electronic both.. Nowadays mechanical parts totally removed.. ❤❤❤

[@cujoedaman]

Amazing how this is 33 years old and using a video format not seen since the early 2000's, but still looks more advanced than what we have today. I love that flip down control panel with the metal arm at the left and the tape loading mechanism is just so satisfying to watch. A friend of mine had a Hi-8 camera with a similar load mechanism, the whole bay would move up and then pop out.

[@johnmerryman1825]

I had one of those in college, got it used (for an amazing price) and wow it was a marvel! I used it to watch movies (dubbed from VHS) on the go. Such a cool piece of kit!

[@PHlophe]

you are a rich Boi. Only Hamptons could afford this one as it was advertised on telly only..

[@tristan6509]

@@PHlophe well he did said he got it used, you can get lucky sometimes. My dad got a Nokia communicator 9300i when it was just released because a rich kid got bored and sold it to him for half the price...

[@ztechrepairs]

Love the idea of taping screws onto the corresponding manual pictures. Brilliant. Will def use that in the future.

[@manoflego123]

Every single thing about this device is mind blowingly cool... from the dual function composite ports to the hidden buttons everywhere to the way the whole face moves like a friggin' transformer when you eject!

[@MikeDeGuia_Mk-II]

quality work as usual, always enjoy watching the repair work up close

[@808v1]

I love Sony products from this era...coolest looking things with lot of buttons/features and fantastic design.

[@Markimark151]

My uncle had a similar Sony 8mm video player, he used it to play home movies since it was smaller and didn’t need a bulky TV/VCR combo. The 8mm format was pretty cool for compact recording at the time.

[@Thoughtlesskyle]

Does the screen work if you use the RCA input with another source? that seems like it would rule out everything that isn't the tape deck

[@xvilemx]

He said the RCA Jacks could be used as an input, I don't know why he didn't try that out and at least show us what the screen quality was like.

[@mockier]

That would be a good test. The aerial noise should mean that the antenna test will work, but video quality could point to a cause for the tape playback failure. Could be a simple as a part that has fallen out of spec stopping the signal from flowing.

[@Gannett2011]

Great video. I was all in with Video8 in the 90s. Had a Sharp camcorder in 1993 and a Sony 8mm VCR. The tape mechanism failed, though, and it ended up just being a TV tuner for my Phillips 8833 monitor. It was a great format, though, and should have been more popular. I work with legacy formats at work, and we have one 8mm camcorder left that still works. I recently had to transfer a bunch of 8mm tapes to digital, and the old machine just about made it! There is something to be said for these older formats, we just take digital for granted, and I suppose we took these formats for granted too back in the day. Thanks for trying to keep these formats alive Colin!

[@LusRetroSource]

Wow! That looked like a complicated restoration, especially how compact all the components on the PCB were. Great job so far!

[@EliFleming]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but Video8 is the format commercial airliners used to play back inflight movies in the early 1990’s.

[@dv_vid]

I brought a 40 year old Beta VCR to life, and replaced no caps. The servicing was mostly replacing belts, cleaning and lubricating sticky parts, and tuning the servo. As far as the electrical problems it had a crack in the board so I jumpered the broken traces with wires.

[@benmitchinson9831]

really really well edited! unassemble, test, repeat, feels so fun to watch, especially when i don't have to do any of the work hahahah

[@W00fer]

Very impressive video. One of your best. A complicated machine just like the smaller portable minidiscs. Pure Sony engineering

[@714SNF]

Your skills to repair this is amazing

[@Chad_KBH]

This is incredible skillmanship! You have some serious patience. Subbed!!

[@form4li7y]

I wanted one of these so bad when I was a kid. This and the NeoGeo were the two pieces of tech I dreamed about the most.

[@TheOriginalCollectorA1303]

Video8 based machines are always fun, it’s nice to see yours also came with the box! It’s also cool to see it recapped, but hopefully the video circuitry can be fixed.

[@Braceheadon]

this guy patience and persistence is admirable

[@hteekay]

Knowing the fact that this machine doesn't work and there's no immediate solution is gonna bother me more than it should now. Hope you are able to fix it soon, both for your excellent content and my sanity

[@MikeJones-do1xv]

I have one of these I bought years ago at a swap meet in the box with all accessories. Tried it then and it suffers the ever famous Sony SMD capacitor issues. Been sitting on a shelf for nearly 20 years. Too cool to get rid of!

[@cypherian2]

It's funny to me that you were trying to play Star Trek III on this machine, because up until that part of the video, I was thinking how much it vaguely reminded me of a Starfleet Tricorder! Anyway great video, and fingers crossed for part two!

[@stefanmoisa190]

Mulțumesc pentru că ai împărtășit cu mine aceasta minunata parte din istoria Sony. În România nu a ajuns niciodată așa ceva, de-abia aveam VCR. Sa ai o zi la fel de frumoasa cu mi-ai făcut-o mie. Use Google Translate from Romanian to english. Have a nice day!

[@Casmar27]

I remember these, I was on a flight from Mexico and got upgraded to first class, they asked me if I wanted to see a movie I don't remember all the movies they had but I went with 10 things I hate about you. This was back in 99 and I was psyched how cool it was, when I got back to school I told my friends and they said I was lying 😂

[@paullashmana]

Awww that line of Sony's 8mm Video Walkmen! As a 13 year old I dreamt of owning one of these - I kept going back to those pages in the Sony catalog each year. Sadly by the time I had enough disposable income, the world had moved on to laptops and HD resolutions.

[@paulhjelmen8495]

Very cool. Always wanted one of those when I was a kid. Hope you get it running soon.

[@ordanicu3305]

This is absolutely fantastic! Very impressive piece of technology from the past

[@Brasil66]

Remember I had the top of the line music walkman in 1984, when not in use it would “shrink” to a smaller size than the cassette, when in use you pull it out to fit the cassette in, it was awesome technology, SONY was the best back then

[@tdata545]

Back in the day when companies literally threw everything into their products. What a beautiful piece of retro-tech. Edit: Further in, proves that the internals are just as beautiful as the externals. SO MODULAR. Louis Rossman would be thrilled.

[@artoutlawphoto]

Its amazing how many gadgets sony used to make, especially in the 80s and 90s, no wonder Steve Jobs was inspired by this company.

[@TheLastAnalogJunkie]

Sony was so good at miniaturization that Apple actually tasked them to build the first line of Power Books

[@perryb3263]

At 1 point Apple licensed the Trinitron CRT patents to use in their own CRT monitors, as I think Apple was the only ones to somehow come to an agreement to license the Trinitron patents, before they expired, least in US, as don’t know if the patents had protection for longer elsewhere

[@Vigil72]

I always admire Sony items since 1990, unfortunately I didn't have money to buy them, I just saw magazines and brochures which I read them many times every day.

[@thomasisland1]

They had the same ejection door as the Nintendo Entertainment System. Good thing DVD players have good ejection/insertion doors. And this thing was a beautiful state of the art entertainment machine of its time. It still is a pretty looking entertainment machine and it’s got everything you want in a portable VCR, except for the TV. In my country we switched to digital in 2011.

[@aerodigital]

I was not careful with my rework station and caused some caps to explode while heating them. Anyone trying these repairs should be careful, but these are harder to destroy with their shielding unlike electrolytic, which are approached with through-hole de-soldering.

[@ip2networkz81]

My uncle had one of these in the 90s, when we were kids. We used to take it on road trips to watch bootleg movies that had been copied over to 8mm. Very high end item at the time!

[@RyanGonTV]

Such a treat! I was binge-watching your channel and a new upload? Great!

[@あい-e4d2q]

Nostalgic ! I had Video Walkman. Because I used it for many years, the tape got entangled and broke.

[@MiniatureChickenChannel]

Neat Video! I'm from this era and remember all the old analog tape players as they evolved. You've got some patience Colin! Cool video!

[@A2theC]

This was such a beautifully put together piece of tech, knowing how hard it is to repair tech like this you made it look easy. Hoping to see a follow up where you get it fully repaired, just for a happy ending which most this tech doesn't get.

[@UpNextWithNickLate]

This Does Not Compute videos are my form of meditation. Thank you for the quality content, Colin!

[@Raptor50aus]

I definitely recommend a Capacitor ESR tester. You can test caps in circuit if they look ok and no corrosion is visible. The GV500 was getting to the stage where caps were not all going bad. Out of my 3 GV-500 units I had to replace only the main video cap and audio caps on the japan models and the USA model was working great and all caps ESR tested ok.

[@MidnightVisions]

SMD caps of this time period, time expire after 16-30 years. The electrolyte is corrosive and eats the cap internally. A ESR tester doesn't give a clear yes or no on its level of damaged. You have to go by time expired.

[@Raptor50aus]

@@MidnightVisions Yes I know but not all caps have failed after 30 plus years (through hole caps of course). I have found this with my Sony FH-100W hifi system and Sony CFS9000 APM boombox, both have caps that are all still in spec. My Panasonic CT101 color tv is the same from1984. As for all the Sony Video Walkmans upto but not including the digital 8 version then they all need a full recap which I have done to my 2 x GV-8's 3 x GV-9's 3 x GV-100's 2 x GV-200's 3 x GV-500's :)

[@Psxmoe]

Sony was always ahead of it's time in the 90s . I love these videos!

[@FrisianDroneAviator]

Video8 is already from the eighties.

[@thelatenightattempts]

Wanted one of these so bad back in the day. Basically what the iPhone became now as a portable video player. Such a bummer you couldn't get it to play back. 8mm is actually pretty great quality, especially on a screen that size.

[@1977Bonishow-man]

Never seen one of these, just love these 80/90s gadgets, it looks very much like the professional Philips Cdi models of its time, i have one and at first sight it looks twin brothers but one reads cds and the other tapes, great video and amazing patience repair skills.

[@SobrietyandSolace]

This is the coolest thing ever. Had to wait another decade and a half to check able to watch videos a portable device

[@motheroats]

I love that you have this in 4K, it really shows the dust 😂

[@schokofruchttorte]

Taping screws to some kind of reference prints is probably a nice idea. A while ago I disassembled my laptop to clean it's dust clogged heatsink and fan. And after reassembled, I left with 3 forgotten internal screws.

[@jdatlas4668]

Oh, these are *neat*. I can't imagine the mechanism is that reliable (similar as DAT walkmen), but they're still damn impressive.

[@aac993]

Actually. The mechanism is very reliable. It's the damn electronics that fail miserably.

[@tuanbe]

Our neighbor had a Rolls Royce with a built-in GV500 for back passengers entertainment. While I wasn’t too interested in the car I had a great time playing with this great piece of technology which I previously drooled upon in the Sony catalogue. It used to be great times for Sony with so many nice walkmans and discmans. I miss these times, even though I mostly experienced this time inside said catalogue.

[@oliverdavidpatrick]

'Thanks for watching'.. noone ever says it, but it means a lot to me. That, plus it was a pleasure watching your quality content easily earns a thumbs up and me hitting the subscribe button. I experienced mainly Sony stuff from that era (90s) and share a great passion for the engineering and build quality from those Smurphs from Japan. Cheers

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

I respect your immeasurable patience. I probably would have thrown the darn thing against the wall at the third failed attempt to playback video from a tape. x3 Never worked with surface mounted caps but yeah the hot-air method is definitely preferable, being able to work with more precision with differently thick or thin nuzzles. Great for re-flow work too of cold soldering spots.

[@Aldo.flores]

This was released on the year when I was born but I have the privilege of seeing working, some one had one and was watching a movie at the airport boardroom on mid 1994, I was really amazed by having the opportunity to watch tv, movies and your home tapes in full colour anywhere and that compact high technology device, and curiously it had better resolution than the average tv's of the era. Several years later around 2002 I received a Casio portable LCD screen tv, it was smaller than a video walkman and works whit only 4 AA batteries, I still have it and surprisingly it can display HD channels whit the built-in telescopic aerial antenna despite here in Mexico we made the transition to Digital TV many years a go. I really want you can repair it and making it fully works.

[@rutgerbauer4345]

Kids born in this century will never understand how good we have it when it comes to gadgets like this. So many "compact" playback and recording devices have come out over the decades but never caught on because they weren't affordable, compact and/or user-friendly enough for the average consumer, yet nowadays everyone and their grandma has a full HD camera in their pocket.

[@xianox8]

Wow! I came here after I saw this for sale on eBay. What a marvel of steampunk technology if the 90s!

[@magreger]

OMG. I love and miss 90's SONY

[@TVMZSoundsStudios]

I love how modern the Video Walkman looks. Especially for a 1991 device!

[@theshadowman1398]

Sony devices from the 90s really were covered in ports and switches, pretty cool to see

[@GoTeamScotch]

What a high tech device for its time. Great video too. Very well made.

[@kenstech231]

First time here, Neat content Great explanation of components during teardown and repair. I'm a new subscriber!!

[@ronch550]

Old stuff like these make you realize just how amazing your smartphone is.

[@AnonYmous-iw6rh]

SONY used to be at the bleeding edge of tech of all kinds. They were simply The Best when it came to electronics. Saddened to see how far they've fallen over the last 2 decades....

[@RuinerXL]

What a neat little device. Fantastic video as always!

[@gato38]

Your choice of movie for this video was spot on! Great video!

[@nightskysparks]

Sony was always ahead of its time.

[@ALI44344]

هذا اعتبره اقصى حد ممكن الوصول اليه في تقنية الفيديو تيب انه مذهل جدا هذا التصميم كانه تصميم قادم من الفضاء

[@AndySmallbone]

American Airlines used these on the international flights in the late 90s. Well I certainly used one on my flight from Miami to London in 1999 👍

[@ExtremalMetal]

Awwww, you working that vcr was still a real treat

[@kaio0777]

That looks so cool man you find some of the coolest stuff

[@tekvax01]

Excellent job sir! Unfortunate that you were unable to get the video output to function. Those units were very difficult to work on indeed!

[@LordGrayHam]

did you try pressing pause during playback? it can help steer you in the right direction, I seem to remember that if the output from the video heads was low/noisy, the vertical sync pulse was weak and would cause video mute. Pressing pause normally overrides this and switches in a synthesised vertical sync pulse, this can lead you to decide whether the video head is low or not.

[@matuzaato]

I really enjoy your content, seeing you trying to fix it was quite comfy and interesting!

[@roopeshmesta456]

The amount of engineering and technology is realy fascinating

[@mason6300]

This brings me back to riding in the back of my dad's 98 Oldsmobile 50th-anniversary edition!

[@jefffan171]

Not sure if comments have covered this but. Never clean the head with a cotton bud. Always use a4 paper with iso alcohol holding the paper in one spot and spin the head by hand. I had the exact same issue with a Sony VHS deck. With perfect playing audio of and no picture. Cleaning the head reveals the image to match the sound performance. Awesome work as always Colin

[@KirbyEnthusiast]

Hope you get this working again looking forward to update on the video play back

[@NullStaticVoid]

that era of consumer tech is so amazing. So many buttons. So many options. And serviceable! Back in the early 90s my friend and I were trying to get the money together to buy one of Sonys dual deck Hi8 boxes. The had one that could do assembly edits and even had a character generator. It was very expensive, but much cheaper than 2 Panasonic edit machines with an edit controller. Plus Hi8 had better sound than VHS!

[@ldchappell1]

You could use the RCA input for a digital converter box, if you want to watch television. I turned a portable DVD player into a functioning television with a digital converter box.

[@paulrippcord506]

I love to collect for this format because the Hi8 tapes are cute AF, it’s like baby VHS tapes. Most are from either airlines where the tapes were used for inflight movies or from Japan which the format had a bit of a grasp, with the latter you can get English language films albeit with Japanese subtitles.

[@JTManuel]

I just love Sony during the day. Their dinky VAIO's, walkamans and sony ericsson xperias. Too bad the old Sony is gone.

[@adelestevens]

This was an object of desire back in the day! I always wanted a PAL version for here in the UK, but they were out of my price range.

[@entiar1]

how much ?

[@kaohsiung99]

@@entiar1 $1400 US back in 1991

[@shakeelmuzaffar2789]

Very impressive, i love 80 to 90 electronics items like vcr, Handycam, sega games etc, my teen age memories, Outstanding video, love it, 😍😍😍⚘️

[@KirbyEnthusiast]

Great video , love the history, this would have been great for movie collectors if it had took off . As vhs took up a lot of storage and Video 8 and hi 8 had a better video image .