NEC DS8000U VCR where to find manuals? Belts? Codes?

[zeno]

You could try an old universal remote. That should do the very basic controls.
Be sure it has the code book ! A handy thing to have anyhows.
If the original hand unit is gone next step is a manual.
Since NEC was not a big seller & most were sold at big box & high end dealers
there were not many FSC's that would have had a manual subscription so
manuals would be rare. But with E-bay things do show up.

good luck
73 Zeno
LFOD !

[n8nagel]

Originally Posted by zeno

You could try an old universal remote. That should do the very basic controls.
Be sure it has the code book ! A handy thing to have anyhows.
If the original hand unit is gone next step is a manual.
Since NEC was not a big seller & most were sold at big box & high end dealers
there were not many FSC's that would have had a manual subscription so
manuals would be rare. But with E-bay things do show up.

good luck
73 Zeno
LFOD !

Those are going to by my tries. I was able to snag an original owner's manual for relatively cheap (at least, cheap enough that I may still be under budget for what this is worth vs. cost invested... original purchase price was something like $13, plus three belts, plus manual...) maybe it will have the model number of the original remote (auction ended late last night). If not, I don't know how I would search for one. I do have a Harmony and a Sofabaton U1 so hopefully one or both has a program for this, then I can learn them to my Xsight Color and brute force try all the rest of the OBCs from there... BTDT. It can't be any worse than the learning curve of trying to learn to use the open source software at the same time as figuring out the remote codes for a Luxman TP-117.. which I've done, because I'm a glutton for punishment, apparently.

Is there somewhere like AKDB, HiFiEngine, etc. that archives manual scans for stuff like this? I'd be happy to contribute once I get the owner's manual. I checked all the usual suspects like manualslib, elektrotanya, etc. and didn't find scans for this anywhere hence buying the paper one.

[vortalexfan]

You might try and search ebay for a used or NOS factory remote for your VCR, I know that ebay almost always has a selection of Facotry remotes for TVs, VCRs, DVD players etc. you just have to look up the VCR and it's model number and then the word remote. I've done that many times over the years for VCRs and TVs I've repaired and or owned over the years.

[n8nagel]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

You might try and search ebay for a used or NOS factory remote for your VCR, I know that ebay almost always has a selection of Facotry remotes for TVs, VCRs, DVD players etc. you just have to look up the VCR and it's model number and then the word remote. I've done that many times over the years for VCRs and TVs I've repaired and or owned over the years.

I've had better luck searching for the model number of the remote, but I don't know it. However, I should have the factory manual tomorrow, so I can check there.

Edit: it came a day early, I just didn't check the mail before I got online! It's TRB-S80.

Edit2: there's *5* of them on eBay, and not extortionate. I'll look after dinner and pick the best price/condition ratio. This never happens to me...

[redk9258]

That's great! Looks like a bad assed remote in it's day!

[n8nagel]

Originally Posted by redk9258

That's great! Looks like a bad assed remote in it's day!

yeah I knew without actual knowledge that this was TOTL or close to it just by hefting it and the number of buttons LOL. Having the actual factory remote a) settles down my OCD and b) will make documenting the remote codes MUCH easier (pretty much every piece of gear I have, I try to document the remote codes on the JP1 repository because it's helped me so much in the past, and also many/most mfgrs. don't publish this info. Denon and Oppo being two notable exceptions.)

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by n8nagel

My unit has the set screws but thank you for mentioning it, I would have never known to even look had you not brought it up.

So. Now I'm hopeful that this will be working again in a week or two...

1) Anyone know where I could find what the model number is of the original remote control so I can set up a search for it?

2) Does anyone have a code list for the IR codes for this unit, or am I just going to have to trial and error this like so many other pieces of old gear that I've had?

Generally when it comes to finding a factory remote just enter the model number of the VCR in the ebay search engine and then the word remote and you should find the remote your VCR used, that's what I've done in the past to find a remote for a VCR I've had that was missing its remote, and was fairly successful.

Most Universal Remotes come with a list of codes to program into the remote in the instruction manual for the remote, usually the codes are arranged by brand, and its generally trial and error to find the correct code to get the universal remote to operate your particular unit and even then most of the time universal remotes don't generally operated every single function of the VCR, like for example if a VCR has On-Screen Programming (a menu function) then most universal remotes won't work those functions unless the remote is the same brand as the piece of equipment you intend to operate.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

Generally when it comes to finding a factory remote just enter the model number of the VCR in the ebay search engine and then the word remote and you should find the remote your VCR used, that's what I've done in the past to find a remote for a VCR I've had that was missing its remote, and was fairly successful.

Most Universal Remotes come with a list of codes to program into the remote in the instruction manual for the remote, usually the codes are arranged by brand, and its generally trial and error to find the correct code to get the universal remote to operate your particular unit and even then most of the time universal remotes don't generally operated every single function of the VCR, like for example if a VCR has On-Screen Programming (a menu function) then most universal remotes won't work those functions unless the remote is the same brand as the piece of equipment you intend to operate.

Most universal remotes I've seen are pretty good with supporting menu systems. It's more obscure functions like if your VCR has a separate remote eject button or a remote button to toggle record speed that tend to be overlooked.

[n8nagel]

Good afternoon party people. My belts showed up today so of course the first thing I did was see if this thing lived. I replaced the broken drive belt and also the one loading belt that was easy to do, which was still flexible but noticeably harder than the new one. However, one of the pulleys seems to have been damaged either by grease that was on the old belt or some chemicals leaching out of the belt itself as it sat in one spot. I cleaned it up the best I could with isopropanol. Do I worry about it? It appears to be part of the main drive mechanism so I figured this would be important, however, as you can see, it is in fact playing.

Questions:

1. Picture quality is... not great. Am I just spoiled by watching Blu-Rays and 4K streaming, and I've forgotten what VHS looks like? The only tape I have is the one that was stuck in this machine when I got it which is an old pre-enjoyed rental copy of Speed.

2. Tracking seems to be best most of the way to right. Is this a problem or worry about it some other time?

3. FF and REW leave the tape engaged with the heads even if pressed after STOP. Is this correct? The mechanism is working, it loads and ejects properly.

4. I cleaned the heads with isopropanol on a flour sack, but I realized I do not know. Can I use my tape head demagnetizer on a VCR, and should I? Or just stop here and keep playing?

5. Any idea how to replace the last belt? (see previous post with pics)

Thanks guys! So far I'm in (mods, please edit if price discussion is not allowed)

$12.50 for the unit
$10 for belts
$14 for the owner's manual (to get the remote part number, and also because this is kinda complicated)
$22.30 for the remote

so I'm almost $60 in at this point although it does appear to be functional. My rational head says I'm getting close to market value of the thing.

Thoughts?

[Electronic M]

If you're using a modern flat screen to watch it the picture will look worse than on a CRT TV. The only way to mitigate that on a flat screen is with a high end 3 figure S-VHS or D-VHS deck with a TBC/video noise reduction system that averages multiple fields and or frames, and even then resolution is lower so there's going to be half the detail of 1080.

Some decks like to track close to one side with some tapes. Each VCR OEM (including ones that made the industrial duplicators Hollywood used) calibrated their decks slightly different and tracking exists to compensate for that.

[n8nagel]

Yes, I was using a 23" Samsung 1080p monitor/TV to test as it's small enough to fit on my work space. I do not actually own a CRT... this unit actually does have noise reduction but when I tried it it appeared to make the picture worse and smeary.

I'm starting to think it just looked bad because I literally haven't watched TV in less than 1080p in I don't know how long. Shortly after the DTV conversion I bought the Samsung mentioned above, gave my old CRT to a friend, gave my big projector TV to another friend, and my converter boxes haven't been powered up since. It also was more watchable from a couple feet away as opposed to sitting on a bar stool watching it from computer monitor distance as I was at first.

I also got nostalgic because it SMELLS just like I remember a VCR smelling when it got hot. (why do they run so hot anyway?)

Is it normal for the mechanism to leave the tape pulled out when rewinding? I don't remember ever watching a VHS work with the top off before. If so, that seems to be a good argument for getting a separate rewinder. (I know it's a little thing, I also cringe when I see a reel to reel rewinding with the tape spooled, I'm just thinking of the wear on the heads)

[Electronic M]

Some decks both beta and VHS it's normal to keep the drum wrapped all the time the tape is in, others unwrap for Stop-fastwind/non-visual searching. It basically depends on the OEM who made it.
I don't like it when it stays wrapped in those cases either.

I you want a recommendation on a brand that doesn't do that look for a mid-90s Sharp with rapid rewind...I was given a lower tier one new for my 5th or 6th birthday and it STILL works great all these years later. A few years ago I was elated to find one of their S-VHS decks for cheap at a thrift....That thing may outlive me.

[n8nagel]

Hah, this is fine for what I "need" - if I find a tape I want to play, or absolutely have to record something on VHS, I have the ability to do so. I actually have another SVHS deck in my storage locker and now I'm thinking I should pull it out while I'm in the groove because I don't think it's been used for 4-5 years, might as well clean it and see how the belts look. Rewinder is probably the win, I know I've seen them in thrift stores before.

[n8nagel]

I played a whole tape through tonight. I only see one thing that appears to be an actual functional issue. The unit will go into stop mode when I rewind and it hits the beginning of the tape, but it doesn't go into stop mode when playing and it hits the end. Any ideas?

Edit: I'm kind of dumb, I should have stopped at the thrift store on my way home from work and seen if they had any passable looking VHS tapes, but I didn't. Mea culpa.

[Electronic M]

Did you run the tape to it's physical end or just the end of the recorded part?
How the deck knows to stop on rewind is that the black tape material has a clear plastic leader tape at the beginning and end. The deck will try to shine one or more light sources through the tape to detect the leader to know when to auto stop. Older decks the light is visible and incandescent, but most S-VHS era stuff uses IR light. If the light or phototransistor is bad auto stop won't work (though that often causes other issues).

The unrecorded portion of the tape is supposed to play back as noise until it hits the transparent leader tape at the end. Heck if you buy a brand new blank VHS recording tape and pop it in it'll play for a few hours (depends on length) as static until you hit the leader.