No, that was the previous Panasonic chassis. The G-chassis decks were made in 1988-1990.

The G chassis is the only one I've seen that uses only 2 motors, the video head motor and the capstan motor, which basically operates the whole deck through a complex system of gears and a solenoid.

I prefer VCR's with at least 3 or more motors simply because they are much faster to respond!

The PV-1730 is at the other end of the scale, has 6 motors and is the fastest responding VCR I've ever seen! Mine works but is pretty beat up and needs new heads, but hey I got it for $2!

It was a unique chassis only available for 1 year in 1984 for Panasonic's first flagship 4-head Hi-Fi stereo VHS VCR model. After that, it became only available for Panasonic AG Pro-Line units. AG-1950 and AG-2400 also used the same chassis. The successor model of the PV-1730 was the PV-1740, released in 1985, but it switched back to the regular 2 belt chassis. The PV-1730 is rated by me the most reliable 4-head Hi-Fi ever made by Panasonic. Since then, the power supply has got smaller, more surface-mount caps were used, and more plastics in the chassis. PV-1740 is not any better than PV-1730, and the newer 1986 PV-1742 is not any better than PV-1740.

That explains why I don't find the PV-1730 often at all. I remember these had both Hi-Fi and linear stereo, which was pretty nice!

Having both linear and hifi audio is why I've kept my Mitsubishi HS-430U, have one here in perfect condition plus it has an MTS stereo tuner which the PV-1730 lacks. Would have bought a PV-1730 if it had a stereo tuner. (Of course that isn't going to matter in about 60 days, but it did in 1985 whe I bought the Mitsu.) Too bad Panasonic was so quick to discontinue that mechanism. Was used in the PV-8000 and 9000 portables too.

I recently found a new-in-box GE VCR at a thrift store, the tag on the back says made in Japan in 1986, it is a mono, Pro-fect 4 head design, model 9-1725.

It works well, but the rewind speed is slower than my Panasonic from 1991.

Do you know who made these for GE and is it a good VCR ?

Thanks. Snade

This one was made by Panasonic. All GE (General Electric) VCRs made from 1983 to 1994 were made by Panasonic. Rewind is definitely a lot slower than the 1991 Panasonic VCR, which is the first year of the X-Chassis, but if it is really slow, it may be a loose capstan belt.

I wouldn't consider the Panasonic PV-1730 a very rare model. So far this year, I've seen five PV-1730 eBay listings. There are some flagship model VCRs that have not shown up on eBay for the first time yet for more than five years. Recently, I had one model eliminated in my wanted list only two weeks ago, which is Hitachi VT-1805A. It's made in 1986, final year of the good six belt chassis, flagship model, 7-head Hi-Fi MTS Stereo, and on screen display. I bought it for only $30 plus shipping. Sorry you missed the auction. I'm sure my Hitachi worth more than your RCA 2-head Hi-Fi.

Zenith Digital System 3 TV matching VCR...
 

Zenith's only Super VHS (SVHS) VCR ever made, model VR-E550HF. Worth adding to your collection if you own a Zenith Digital System 3 TV with S-Video input that was made in the late 80s. This unit was made by JVC in 1988 and comes with flying erase head (even though the ad doesn't say). Very hard to find model.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Zenith-Super-VHS...3A1|240%3A1318

Maybe rare in good working order! Not to mention the GE 1VCR-5018X, Magnavox 8445 and Sylvania 3640 (I think) versions of that same machine. I always liked the chrome and black look of the GE.

Let me know next time you see a listing for a PV-1730! I could use one for parts at least if it's not working...

I don't see any of these or the GE, Magnavox or Sylvania variants on ebay.

Good news is while browsing for the Panasonic I found a nice old NEC Hi-Fi unit and bidded on it, if I win it that will take care of one on my wanted list of cool 1980s VCRs! It's a NEC N965U.

Sure, not a problem. There was one GE for sale over this summer, but the ad was relisted 3 times until finally someone bought it. I haven't seen the Magnavox of it for 3 years now, and the last one showed up was the one I sold (I did own it before). There was the first Sylvania of it that listed on August 2008 (sorry you missed it), and I bought it, but it arrived with a cracked front display. It works great though. I need to find a replacement front display. Of all the four, the Magnavox had the highest MSRP, with Sylvania next in the line, then GE, and then Panasonic. Believe it or not, the Panasonic was the cheapest, and that lead to be the best seller of this chassis. I do own the Panasonic PV-1730 as well, and it is in super like-new condition with the original ad sticker, box, packing, manual, cables, bag, and remote. The original owner told me it was used only once a year, which means only 24 times in 24 years.

The NEC N965U is a very nice, high-end VHS model. Fairly easy to find, but there are no replacement parts at all (not even the original NEC belts).

Mine works, but is very rough and is missing the front covers, and I've already had to reoil the video head cylinder bearing.

It seems someone else wants that N965U, and bidded 3 times but hasn't reached my proxy yet!

Keep coming across some cool VCRs on the bay, a buy it now Panasonic AG-5210 for $20, think I'll pick one up to play with. It has the K chassis, I don't know much about that particular Panasonic chassis, but I assume it's pretty well built since it's a commercial VCR.

Edit: Found out the K chassis is a revision of the G chassis but with a third loading motor and a simpler gear system to facilitate tape loading functions. Also won the NEC N965U!!!

The K-chassis is an upgraded chassis of the G-chassis that is capable for jog shuttle editing. This chassis is found in Panasonic PV-S4990 and AG-1960. It also comes with high speed rewind/forward, something that G-chassis doesn't have. There is a separate reverse motor that drags the tape backward with its nylon teeth belt.

jhalphen-

The JVC HM-DH30000U (and the next model 40000U, commonly called the "30K" and "40K" here) cannot directly record HDTV signals. Rather, they both have analog TV tuners built-in, and component-video HD outputs built-in. For HDTV recording, they have IEEE1394 (also called "FireWire" and maybe "I-link", I think) connections. These recorders can be used with a few set-top USA (ATSC) HDTV tuners that have the matching IEEE1394 data connection. There are also some HDTV sets that have the '1394 connectors. The tuner or TV set can often also control the JVC VCR from its own remote control.

I do not have a long-term storage solution for my HDTV recordings, but the ones I have on hard disk drives from 2000-2001 are still good.

No one lusts after the NEC DS8000U? I have two friends that still have running ones that I've kept up for them over the years. Pretty reliable overall except for the typical NEC tape guide issue on both years ago. Had to replace a few electrolytics too.

Was the PV-S4990 the one that had the MTS stereo RF modulator? Seems I recall there was only one Panny that had stereo RF output.

NEC DS-8000U is fairly hard to find on eBay, but it's a great, well-made unit and was the most popular NEC SVHS unit. I used to own one 4 years ago. There is also a much rarer, higher-end DS-8500U that retailed over $3,000 when new with all kinds of fancy features found similar to Toshiba SV-F990.

Yes, the PV-S4990 has a MTS stereo RF modulator. It has four coaxial inputs/outputs. I do own one, but I never know what a RF modulator does. Would you care to explain?

This year Christmas, my Sharp VC-H98U 8-HEAD 19-micron Hi-Fi MTS Stereo VCR (yes), which is used only on December 25 every year, will see its FINAL year recording 6 hours of memorable Christmas performances from its original analog tuner. :tears: Next year, I will need to connect it with a converter box. What a sad day analog VCRs have been. The analog tuner will never see the light again, although it begs me to work for another 20 years. :tears: The Sharp 8-head 19-micron VCRs are by far the best performing EP/SLP recording quality I have ever seen. Most professional VCRs only have 4-head and still don't produce a good picture. Good luck finding one on eBay as they are very rare.

An MTS stereo modulator puts out a stereo encoded signal on ch 3 or 4. Handy feature for people who insist on hooking up their VCR to the TV with a single RF cable! When I was full-time active in the VCR service biz in the '80s and '90s I had quite a few people over the years come in saying the stereo light on their TV wouldn't light up when they played a tape. I had to explain that the RF modulator in their new stereo VCR was actually mono, and for stereo it would have to be connected to the TV with stereo audio-video cables.

My situation in my house here, I bought a stand-alone MTS Stereo RF modulator to run my C-band satellite and VCR through the rest of the house via a single 75 Ohm coax to the stereo TVs in other rooms.

As far as I know there was never an easy cheap way to produce an MTS stereo modulator which I figure is why they weren't included in any more VCRs. Cost to include MTS stereo encoding was the prohibiting factor best as I can tell. Not aware of any single chip ever developed that would do that.



Now if you had that DTV converter box A&V plugged into an MTS stereo modulator then you could feed that RF to your Sharp on Ch 3 or 4 and its tuner wouldn't know the difference! Of course direct would be better quality but the stereo VCR tuner would get used at least!



Do you have a picture of an NEC DS-8500? I thought that was the one that used a Panasonic chassis...??? I know there was at least one NEC that did.

I remember working on a few of those SV-F990 Toshibas. Super fancy elaborate high $$$ machine! (EDIT: The machine I was thinking about is the SV-771 with the optical sensors that automatically slide the door down and cassette tray out as you come near the front with a tape, one sold on eBay a earlier this month.)

Regarding that NEC tape guide issue, when my N965U arrives, since its in working condition, anything I can do to prevent the guides from getting screwed up in the first place? I definitely don't have the means here to replace and realign tape guides, I heard its fairly difficult, especially since it's a Hi-Fi unit.

No, I don't have any picture. The last one showed up on eBay was somewhere in summer of 2007. This unit has a sliding door tray with double flying-erase-heads. It is made by NEC. The last NEC VCR, made in 1989, was made by Panasonic, and it wasn't SVHS. I saw it on eBay before.

It's not real difficult but does require great care since you are working around the heads and drum replacing the guides, then you have to set up and align the tape path and probably the X-value of the A/C head and check and align as needed for smooth tape path forward and in reverse search. Maybe you will get lucky and the one you are getting has had them replaced sometime in its past with the improved guide base ass'ys that have the little set-screw to keep the brass sleeve from moving. I've done lots of these in the past but not one in 5-6 years at least. If not don't know any preventive measure unless you want to try and lock them in place before they do move with glue or epoxy of some sort which I don't recommend and is questionable practice at best. Any I would see like that from a previous repair attempt elsewhere with glue, paint or JB Weld would always get new guide base ass'ys no matter what, figuring they would eventually work loose again. But finding new ones nowadays might be hard to do so there might not be an alternative to doing the glue thing to them hate to say.

The Toshiba SV-F990 is a super, fancy unit. I bought it (extremely rare) as brand new, factory-sealed, never opened, never used from the box for $500, and the original box is still in new condition after almost 20 years. I had way too much fun breaking its factory sealed for the first time in 20 years.

Zenith's only S-VHS VCR was relisted and now going for only $25 starting bid. It will be very sad if it fails to receive a first bid, as this is a really good price based on the condition and rarity, and it's AK's most favorite brand.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250348028944

I hope someone here in our forums gets this VCR. It's the first S-VHS machine I've ever seen in my life, and it looks like it just came out of the box for the first time. The low opening bid should help as well.

BTW, a bit OT, I am aware, but this question occurred to me while I was looking at the picture of this S-VHS VCR. What is the difference between standard VHS and S-VHS? My best guess is that S-VHS was capable of greater resolution than straight VHS. It looks to me as if the S-VHS VCR uses smaller cassettes than ordinary VHS machines as well, and if that isn't enough, the S-VHS recorder looks a lot smaller than most VHS units.

S-VHS VCR offers higher picture resolution and use its own S-VHS tape. It can playback both VHS and S-VHS tapes. S-VHS was considered to be high-end and flagship during the late 80s to mid-90s. Tape is standard size. The smaller size is called S-VHS-C, which is similar to VHS-C, and works for camcorders only.

unless you have one of these beasts.. the JVC HR-SC1000U that would handle both standard and C sized cassettes with no adaptor.

That's a nice unit, although I never own one. There is also a JVC HR-SC10000U (10000 instead of 1000) S-VHS that does the same as well.

If you are interested in Beta please check out this guys stuff on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uSZ9mK85FQ

Speaking of the N965U I got off ebay, in transit to me the guides seemed to work their way loose, not to mention the front being damaged somewhat, so now I am looking for the replacement updated guides for this thing, or a repair shop that's still in business that will fix it.

My other option is to use parts out of this Yamaha VCR I have, where I did sucessfully glue down the guides where they come loose, and mechanically that vcr works but it has electrical problems. Anyways, i might be able to swap guides between that and the NEC, already sucessfully done that with a parts Sony and a Sony SLV-676UC that I fixed over the weekend:D

Speaking of that Sony, I have 2 of those SLV-676UC units, and they are very nice VCRs IMO. They have some common problems, like the capstan bearing failing and the half load arm getting stuck, I was able to fix all that on one by taking the stronger bearing out of the parts sony and relubing the half load arm. What's nice about these early 1990s Sonys is they usually only have common mechanical problems that are easy for me to fix, almost never any electrical problems, and the big one is that they seem to play tapes from almost any machine, even in EP, and the recordings I make seem to play in almost anything, and they have great sounding HI-Fi audio too!

Yuck!!! Glad I never own a NEC or Sony VCR. I would go paranoid if I get problems like this similar to yours. 85% of the time, all the vintage VCRs I bought and added to my collection since the last 8 years only require new belts, cleaning, and lubrication. Luckily, these problems never show up in my Panasonic, Canon, Funai, Orion, and Sharp VCRs.

Just a hint, NEC and Sony VCRs were rated below average in reliability by Consumer Reports during that time-frame.

Being exclusively in the VCR service business here in Dallas all during the '80s and '90s, that's one reason I dumped my subscription to Consumer Reports.. CR didn't know what they were talking about half the time! I found too many errors in their reviews on the limited things I knew something about. Figured they might not be too accurate on other things too.

I've repaired HUNDREDS of Panasonics with dead power supplies and many mechanical problems, Canons too in their heyday, Funai (D503 anyone? Warped sensor prisms, sticking reel drive clutches.. mode switches, cheapo plastic tape guides that break off... made lots of money fixin' those Funai-Symphonics), Sharps, even some Orions (the Emerson TV-VCRs made by Orion come to mind...)

So, which brand did you like?

I like the older Matshushita-built machines with the die-cast chassis up until the G chassis which was clunky, slow, and troublesome. I like the JVCs even with their usual problems, some of the Mitsubishis.. HS-U69 S-VHS is an excellent machine, the Mit HS-U52 regular VHS darn near looks like S-VHS has excellent rec-play picture. They ALL break and have their problems though. They provided me with a good living for 20+ years. If they didn't break I wouldn't have made a career of it.

I own and have pretty much distilled it all down to the 3 in my house now; a JVC HR-S5900U, a Mitsubishi HS-U790 (that I had to replace the whole mechanism in), and a Mit HS-430U because it has hifi and Dolby linear stereo for my old tapes I made on a pre-HiFi Pana PV-1780 in '83-84. I have a Mit HS-U52 I fixed up for a guy, even ordered a new remote for it, and he never came to get it! (Been here 2-3 years, just lost interest in it) I like a lot of the older Sony VHS machines too. Yeah they have their issues but I can work on them. I guess it gives me a bit different perspective picking those for familiarity and ease of repair since I can probably keep these running into the foreseeable future. Sony and JVC might actually have parts for older machines too. Mitsubishi- if it's more than 5 years old forget it... usually "Part NLA".

What about Canon standalone VCRs (not portables) like VR-HF600, VR-HF710, and VR-HF720? They all were made by Panasonic, used aluminum die-cast chassis, and linear power supply (heavy transformer) instead of switch-mode power supply?

I also own a Mitsubishi HS-U82 SVHS that was brand new in the box. Any comments you want to say about HS-U82?

The Canons standalone (and portables) were basically rebadged and painted different color Panasonic Industrial machines AG-1800 I think on your 600, nice heavy-duty machine.

HS-U82 I recall basically same mechanism as HS-U52 I have but does it have the Piezo heads that auto track the tape for noiseless video on FF-Rev search? Trying to remember if it was that one or the HS-U80.. one came in with the slip-ring commutator on top of the cyinder to drive the Piezo heads was completely worn out, and no longer available. The customer really cried about that. (Without my file cabinets full of service manuals I begin to get a little fuzzy on remembering all the details.) Keep the pinch lift cam mechanism lubed, an eye on the brake pads as they wear out and make the tape snap off the hub at the end of Fast rewind sometimes because it doesn't stop fast enough, and back-tension band, pinch roller. reel belt.. normal wearing parts stuff. Maybe give the rotary mode encoder switch a little shot of DeOxit.

Yes, same mechanism. HS-U82 has this Piezo heads with noiseless video search.

Any comments on Fisher...
 

I wonder if anyone has any opinions with Fisher VCRs in general? Consumer Reports rated Fisher the worst of the worst brand, doubling the repair rate from the second worst brand, which was Hitachi. However, Consumer Reports rated Sanyo the second most reliable brand after Panasonic. With Fisher VCR's worst repair record throughout the whole 80s, it prevents me to buy a used Fisher Studio Standard Hi-Fi VCR on eBay, although I would like a Fisher, since Fisher only made high-end VCRs. What is the difference between Sanyo and Fisher, and why was there a very huge gap in reliability difference?

In that time the Fishers were failing left and right for the slipping loading belts and to a lesser extent slipping reel drive idlers. Not too many electronic falilures but some. Oddly at that time Sanyo and Fisher had different lines of VCRs with totally different mechanisms and designs. Might have even been a year or more of overlap when Sanyo was still Beta and Fisher was VHS. Lots of Fisher VCRs were sold through places like Rent A Center included with complete Fisher AV systems. Hitachis were also plagued with loading belt and reel drive problems as well as the DC-DC converters and end sensor phototransistors that failed like crazy for a few years.

Is that Mitsubishi you guys talking about the ones with the video head drum motor mounted on top of the video head and seperate motors for supply and takeup?

As for the fishers, I keep finding non Hi-Fi ones and only problems I've seen with those is the rew and ff not working. I'm still looking for a Hi-Fi one with that same mechanism.

The Mitsus that had the cyl stator board mounted on top was HS-305-330 type models their first front-loaders. The HS-300U had separate motors for the supply and TU reels, capstan, cylinder, and loading. While it was touted as superior with all those motors, fact was you had that many more things electronic to fail. Very complicated machines.

The Fishers that won't FF and Rew need a new reel idler or just the idler tire if you can't find the whole idler.