Sanyo VTR-2000C

[MIPS]

$50 Craigslist buy. Finally I own a color VTR.





The seller said he might still have some more reels somewhere so I'm hopeful he can find them and I can at least make a test tape. In the meantime I've cleaned it up and replaced the AC plug with a more common IEC connector.

The only tape I do immediately have on hand right now is the one that came with my DV-2400 Portapack. It's a Skip Field device and this Sanyo is EIAJ full-field. I'm having trouble finding a yes or no answer weather or not you can still play skip field on this and only have to deal with line doubling or if it just won't sync at all. The only video example I can find is the wrong way around. (playing a full-frame tape on a skip field player, which results in an unsync'd video signal)
Also while all the belts are still pretty good are there any known issues I should be looking out for? I did notice when I received it that the screws holding the transport into the wooden case were all missing, so someone's been in here before me.

[redk9258]

I don't know anything about it, but this is cool. Good luck getting it going!

[vortalexfan]

I have never seen one of these before, meaning I have yet to run into any VTR units anywhere in my area in my 20+ years of collecting/repairing video equipment.

But that's pretty cool looking.

[ESigma25]

Sanyo got into the home video business a lot earlier than I thought, wow.

[Electronic M]

I have what I suspect is a skip field recording (a 7" reel of 1/2" tape recorded with the adult film Deep Throat) and it doesn't play with usable video (no sync either axis) on my EIAJ standard VTRs and the audio speed seems off.
I don't have a skip field deck AFAIK (just got a Sony color portapack I haven't researched yet).

[ARC Tech-109]

All those EIAJ decks from that era used mechanical slip rings for the video heads that would wear away the fixed contact springs, Panasonic had a printed PCB and Sony standing rings on a plastic riser. I can't speak for Sanyo but the common head switching arrangement in the day was also mechanical using what looked like audio heads over magnetized strips running on the head wheel to trigger the flip-flop and the adjustments were slides under set screws. They all used a poly type of glue to fix the head chips to their mounting and have been known to come unglued.

What you have there is an excellent rare find, I've had numerous Sony AVC and Panasonic NV-3000's over the years but never seen a Sanyo of this caliber. I suspect it was long forgotten in some back closet or storage room where it could rest comfortably. My past decks were all school district auction rejects and well used, despite this they all worked quite well until the head chips came unglued from the spanner and were destroyed.

[MIPS]

Another one! O_o


This time a friend snagged it. Equally as clean but without the same paint and pen markings on it.

[ARC Tech-109]

That's two saved

[vortalexfan]

Interesting, you Canucks must of really been into your reel-to-reel video tape technology compared to us Americans, because I've not seen as many Reel-to-Reel style video tape recorders here in the U.S. (at least not around where I live) as I have seen posted by some of the Canadian members here, as it seems that they mostly show up more in Canada than they do here in the U.S.