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#1
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Is a Fisher FVH-839 worth getting?
I have a soft spot for Fisher audio equipment. But I don't know anything about their video equipment. I saw a FVH-839 VCR at a thrift for $3. It looks like it had a ton of features for it's age (4 head, hi-fi, knobs galore, power meters, etc). I have heard fisher VCRs weren't that great, but I wondered if anybody knows this model specifically. I didn't buy it yet, but I doubt it will get away if I decide to go back for it...
Anybody know the FVH-839? |
#2
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Quote:
I , for one, couldn't understand why they were so trouble prone, VS the Sanyo's, but for three bucks, go for it. It might be a low hours gem. |
#3
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3 bucks is a decent price - they sold new in 1989 for about 300 dollars.
I was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal for a deployment during the winter of 89/90, and the ships store sold Fisher VCRs. Every payday, they'd break them out, and sell them by the dozens to sailors, most making copies of video tapes, or taping one of the ship's movie channels. Blank tapes were a big commodity - one guy sold sealed Kodak tapes he purchased before we left homeport, and was making a pretty penny, something like 6 dollars a tape for T120 blank tapes, sealed. I replaced a few idlers and belts, and cleaned a lot of video heads -you could smoke just about anywhere on the ship, so particulate matter was everywhere.
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Brian USN RET (Avionics / Cal) CET- Consumer Repair and Avionics ('88) "Capacitor Cosmetologist since '79" When fuses go to work, they quit! |
#4
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I had a Fisher FVH-840 for about 4 years. Built by Sanyo.
I bought it when hi-fi sound was beginning to be the rage, around 1984. It ran fine for about a year or so. THEN: The rewind-fast forward idler tire started slipping, along with a clutch and belt. The parts were sold as a kit, which worried me, because they obviously knew that this thing would fail. From then on, I replaced this kit on average every 10 months. The kits were not expensive to buy from MCM electronics, so I just kept it running. Then, one day, the machine ate an unreplaceable tape. I removed the tape, and found the timing gear cracked. Put it back together, and less than 2 days later, it was stolen, along with 14 repaired VCR's belonging to customers. Insurance replaced them all, including the Fisher. I hope whoever stole this junk had much trouble with it. I never owned another (1980's and up) Sanyo VCR. Too much trouble, and impossible to find parts.
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Bruce |
#5
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I dont know about 4 head Fishers but i've had 2 of their 6 head units from around 86-87 with meters, fully loaded and i really liked them when they actually worked. Always a problem with slipping and getting the tape to move through.
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Audiokarma |
#6
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I think Fisher was one of the most unreliable brands. However we were a Fisher-Sanyo authorized service center, so they kept me real busy! Rent-A-Centers etc. rented/sold tons of them. Don't recall if this model was effected but some of the mid-'80s Fishers would quit working with just one LED lit up on the front panel when the supercap for memory backup would fail. The reset circuit relied on the supercap to work.
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#7
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Nice info guys, thanks. I think I'll leave it. My "fix pile" is big enough, lol.
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#8
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I have my dads and my cousins Fisher FVH 990 VCRs.They were good at the time.I know they sometimes get the munchies and eat some tapes but they were great to use.
For $3 bucks .Where can you go wrong even if its a dead unit. I'll offer them a buck for it just for parts. Hahahaha.I understand about big piles of VCRs.I got them in my shed,garage,basement and a spare room. |
#9
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...
Last edited by andy; 11-20-2021 at 03:11 PM. |
#10
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I have parts for this vcr let me know what you need. i have all the boards from it
i have a front panel it has all the buttons. i can send you a picture of it |
Audiokarma |
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