Can anyone ID this VHS player from horrible image?
 

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/imag...7/02/vhs-1.jpg

This is a total longshot, but the only picture of it I've been able to find is this crappy analog video footage. Looking for it in the hopes that it'll handle some of the tapes I have that refuse to play properly on anything else (95% sure they were recorded with this unit).

I know sometimes multiple models have a similar look, but I haven't seen anything on Ebay that looks even remotely close to this.

Going from my foggy memory, the play controls are across the bottom left. Vertically along the left side were the power and eject buttons. Tape receptacle slot is upper left. Brighter 'square' in the middle is the IR receiver. Readout is on the upper right. And I'm pretty sure that along the lower right was a panel that opened to reveal more advanced controls, such as the tracking adjust.

I can't help you, but you may have some luck posting over at reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/. 250k people over there who just like identifying things for other people.

I need more details.

- Is that supposed to be a player?
- If so, what format(s)? Only VHS? That looks like a combo deck.
- Any idea on what decade it was from? 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s?

Thanks, I'll be sure to check it out.

VHS only, no SVHS. The footage I grabbed this from was taken in the early 90's. The unit was definitely purchased in the 80's. Definitely wasn't a combo device. What appears to be a CD tray on the right side is the LED display.

Have you looked here:
http://vintageelectronics.betamaxcol...atgallery.html

A thought: If the tapes recorded on it do not play reasonably on any other machine, but do load OK, you might have to find the specific machine that recorded them (not a sister unit) because it may be that the tape path alignment was way off to the point they will not track on another machine.

What machines have you tried so far? (Any with manual tracking adjustment?)

Yeah it was one of the first sites I checked, nothing looks even close. It's hardly an exhaustive list of models though.

Here's the original thread where I talked about these tapes.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...-vhs-tape.html

Thanks for the old thread.

FWIW: The control track is recorded along the "top" edge of the tape, and the linear audio along the "bottom" edge.

To me it looks like the control track is being read only intermittently, which could mean damaged tape, or a problem with the original tape, such as tape path alignment being way off near the audio/control head. Watching the tape move through the system over the head might let you spot tape edge damage such as wrinkles or waviness. If it is tape edge damage that is the case, very gentile pressure on the tape, similar to the old pressure pads used with audio tape to maintain head-tape contact, applied at the control head, might help (but I've never tried it).

The old thread suggestion to playing on a "wasteable" VHS system while adjusting the tape path near the control heads and/or adjusting head alignment might work. Or if it is important content, contact service bureaus that specialize in recovery of damaged tape to determine if they can help you.

I've not wanted to mess with 'hacking' VHS players much, either what you suggested, or the "breaking the tracking" technique I've heard about. Not because I'm not interested in learning how, but because I've only seen text-based tutorials on how to do these things which isn't very useful for anyone who hasn't spent ample time playing with the innards of such machines. Even so much as knowing exactly where on the head the pressure should be applied, or what material should be used to prevent doing further damage to the tape. I will say I've wound the tape myself while looking at it and can find no visible signs of physical damage.

Anyway, I found this. This model is VERY close. But the color is wrong (should be silver/gray, not black) and I feel like the tracking was controlled by a tiny knob behind the 'hidden' panel, rather than one jutting out from beneath the machine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-VINTAGE...QAAOSwGIRXa8EP

There may be another VHS that could play this even better, but I have no idea who made it whatsoever. It had a very unique feature, "slow" and "fast" buttons. It could play tape back at some interesting speeds besides frame-by-frame and pseudo fast-forward. It may have had some advanced error or time-based correction to enable it to do this, because it was actually possible to hear sound (however faintly) at the altered speeds, which I've never seen elsewhere, even with future devices that had a quasi-professional 'jog' dial.

We had a Panasonic like that -- and it was silver. It did everything you mention. Not a fan. Circa 1986/87, and it died around '93. The recording quality sucked, and the lack of a clock-based timer pissed me off. The Magnavox we got was a huge improvement (back when Magnavox still existed, not just a brand of Funai or Philips). The Sharp I got to replace it around '96 was yet another huge improvement. And I still have that Sharp. I actually have a top-loader that preceded the Panasonic -- and it works!

I have that silver Panasonic manual ... somewhere. I may even have the receipt... Hmm...
No, just looked, that was for the PV-1225A top-loader we had in '85. It cost $380. No idea where that book is right now.

The image you posted in the 1st post is NOT the Panasonic from the eBay link in the last post. That one is thinner. The image is the 1st post is thicker, along the lines of the early side-loaders from a year or two before it. And those top-loaders didn't have the weird time functions.

There is nothing jutting out in the eBay auction. The tracking knob was almost hidden under the deck. I remember it well. Looks just like that, but silver colored.

It had no TBC.

Some JVC S-VHS decks can do slow-mo audio. Those same decks give an option to turn audio off on FF/REW.

"Breaking" a JVC HR-S3800 tracking/alignment is as easy as using a screwdriver on the guides. Most VCRs have locked guides, and require special tools to align. But not the 3800.

Oh no, I'm not saying it's the same model. But the layout of the controls, position of the IR receiver and the LED display, etc. All of that matches up more closely than any of the other pictures I've found. Nearly all of the ones that felt at all similar were from the NV series though, and this is the "closest" match I've seen so far.

Update: I found another crappy analog image of the thing. Doesn't provide anymore detail on the layout, but it provided a mildly better look at the logo. It looks like a Sharp.