R?R fun

[Dave A]

Today was bench time for three open reel video decks. An Akai VT-110 B&W, Akai VT-150 color (both very tired), and a Concord VTR900 B/W (like new from 1970 or so).

Akai VT-110 camera/PS/deck. PS good. I tuned up the camera and it looks good. The deck not so much. It tries but on play push it starts to move in to place but a microswitch engages and the whole thing says no. A project for someone else.

Akai VT-150 camera/PS/deck/genlock adaptor. PS good. The camera tries with an image that says it needs tuning...sometimes. The deck is stone cold. Could not check the genlock adaptor. Again, a project for someone else.

The Concord VTR900 made my day. I found it at Kutztown a while back and had to wait until I found my Panasonic round pin AC cord. It is a Panasonic NV-8000 in Concord clothing. I used a 8mm cam for the test. Power up was ok but no motor noise until I found a hidden motor switch on the side. Now all motors and head were spinning but it was function stiff. That went away. I tried a tape from a Sony that had speed problems and it played the speed problems but noisy. A test recording was a fail. Noise. Then it was a Deoxit effort and a head cleaning effort. Deoxit fixed a lot. Six tries at head cleaning with 90% Iso did the trick. Putting the head cover back on was the scariest so I did not drop the screws inside.

The monitor close up is a pause/still and you can see my local hummingbird.