Just picked up a Panasonic PV-1730 Hi-Fi VCR

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

My Panasonic PV-4022 VCR has only one belt as well.

That would be the Matsushita "G" chassis or some later incarnation... one belt on the bottom driven by the capstan motor that does it all with a solenoid that shifted modes. Compared to the chassis used in the PV-1730 VCR in question with separate direct-drive motors for supply & take-up reels, capstan, and DC motor with belt for the front loader.

I'm sure most people use VCRs to playback old tapes. You can record analog NTSC to a VCR from a DTV converter box if you don't mind the huge degradation in picture quality or are using an older analog TV. Myself I use a DTVPal DVR to record ATSC TV channels nowadays.

[Blast]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

If I recall correctly there are no belts or idler tires in the PV-1730 (other than belt on the FL mechanism). Reels are direct drive. --snip--

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

--snip-- Compared to the chassis used in the PV-1730 VCR in question with separate direct-drive motors for supply & take-up reels, capstan, and DC motor with belt for the front loader.

AH, YES! The 5 motor beast! Of, course. And, that was a few years before MTS, wasn't it?

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by Blast

AH, YES! The 5 motor beast! Of, course. And, that was a few years before MTS, wasn't it?

MTS came to be in late 1984. The Panasonic 1730 missed MTS by about a year. At the time I ended up buying a Mitsubishi HS-430UR with MTS which was both Hi-Fi and linear stereo with Dolby for backward compatibility with my older non-Hi-Fi stereo tapes I had recorded on other linear stereo machines I had owned (Panasonic NV-8200, PV-6000, PV-1780) off of cable using FM stereo radio as the audio source.

[vortalexfan]

I got the VCR today, and it looks nearly mint (it looks like it was hardly used) and I'm going to give it a test run as soon as I get a chance to hook it up to my TV and pull out some of my old Hi-Fi Stereo Pre-Recorded tapes to see if the video heads are still up to par yet as was suggested on here.

The only thing that's missing is the original remote which I think I could source one on the 'Bay for cheap.

This VCR seems to be about on par with my old JVC Hi-Fi VCR I have that I picked up at Goodwill complete with its original remote and Owners Manual for $10, and about on par with the old Fisher (Sanyo) Hi-Fi VCR that I'm working on for my Uncle.

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

I got the VCR today, and it looks nearly mint...

Post some pictures of inside and out, for posterity if nothing else. Hard to find.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

Post some pictures of inside and out, for posterity if nothing else. Hard to find.

I sure will.

[vortalexfan]

OK so I got a chance to plug in and power on the VCR and unfortunately its not working, when you go to power it on, it attempts to go through the power-up sequence but then it gets stuck at the part where it attempts to test the takeup reel motors and only the left takeup reel motor does anything the right takeup reel doesn't do anything, its just "dead".

This VCR did have a service shop tag on it from a repair shop in Salt Lake City, Utah that was dated 1989 and when I opened the VCR up to take a look inside it acted like the only servicing that was done in the VCR was on the topside (maybe the main loading mechanism belt was replaced at that time) as the underside panel screws were still torqued to factory specs and made the famous "crack" noise that screws make when they've been unscrewed for the first time in their history on vintage electronic devices.

With all of this in mind what might be wrong with this VCR and can it be repaired easily?

I have some photos I'll upload as soon as my google photos account starts to cooperate again, because right now its not loading correctly for some weird reason.