I will have to start this thread this year. I have 4 antique and 1 thrift stores in walking distance of my house. I get up most Saturdays and walk to the thrift to check out the FREE pile. They had a bunch of stuff there this Saturday. I got this set from the pile. It is a 1973 CTC48 rectangular color solid state set. The picture tube is in excellent shape but the set wil not power up. I really liked the pull out control door. A Posible restoration candidate in the future.

I also got a 1977 RCA VHS VCR from the pile. It was made 15 December 1977. The model number VBT200. I wonder if they came from the same house??? This thing is really heavy. It has made in Japan stamped on the back. :-(

The VCR goes to play and the wheels will not turn to play the tape. It pickes up the tape, puts it on the head but the tape will not play. I took a picture with the top off. Is there supposed to be a belt on the two brass wheels?

polaraman

That VCR was made by Panasonic. All the belts are under the tape transport. The two brass wheels are just flywheels (one for the capstan motor and one is part of a tape guide).

At that VCR's age, you should replace all the rubber parts if you want it to work properly (several belts, some tires, and the pinch roller). The last time I worked on one of those was about 10 years ago and they needed new belts then!

Although those were the heaviest VCRs ever made, I personally think ones from a few years later were better because they used fewer belts. It's still an interesting thing to keep since it's one of the first VHS VCRs.

The VBT200 (along with the VCT200, which is the same model with a different color cabinet) was the first VCR offered by RCA. As andy says, it's made by Matsushita. There has never been a VHS or Beta VCR made in the USA or by a American company, for that matter.

Also as andy says, it's a nearly absolute certainty that it needs new belts. They're located below the transport and are accessible by removing the bottom cover and then removing the screws that lock the PC-board "rails" to the chassis (I think all of those screws are red or have arrows pointing to them). The boards are mounted to two sets of rails that are hinged at one side so you can 'unfold' the circuitry away from the chassis without having to disconnect any of the wiring.

The fact that the loading mechanism works is a good sign though.

That's interesting to see that very wide control panel tray...the channel knobs side by side seem to be rarer on these RCA models. RCA seemed to have a lot of different control panel layouts for the same chassis model in the 70's.

I also got a 1977 RCA VHS VCR from the pile. It was made 15 December 1977. The model number VBT200. This thing is really heavy. It has made in Japan stamped on the back. :-) polaramanIIRC, it was $1000 list and $800 street. There was an available b&w camera for I think about $125.

I just scored me a GE Model 3-7000A CD player from the trash today. It was justo utside the dumpster at my buddy's condo complex sitting out in the rain. I took it home, tried it out. It wouldn't eject so I took the top off and noticed the belt on the ejection mechanism was worn and loose. It seem that if I get a new belt and lube the plastic mechanism, it will work fine. It does play CD's well. It was made in May of 1984 and designed for a component stereo system.

BTW, what do you use to lube plastic parts with, lithium grease?

Chuck

DE KA3WRW

As expected there are a lot of TV sets being tossed after Christmas. I have spotted 2 eighties consoles in nearby ditches in the last month...I didn't even stop to look. There is another one now at the town dump. Also a couple "black-box" 27" sets out on the curb in the last week. Nothing exciting enough to get me to turn the truck around, though.

I also got a 1977 RCA VHS VCR from the pile. It was made 15 December 1977. The model number VBT200. I wonder if they came from the same house??? This thing is really heavy. It has made in Japan stamped on the back. :-(

The VCR goes to play and the wheels will not turn to play the tape. It pickes up the tape, puts it on the head but the tape will not play. I took a picture with the top off. Is there supposed to be a belt on the two brass wheels?

polaraman
The RCA VBT200 is the first VHS VCR ever made in history. I've seen several of these on eBay often. There is one right now. If restore and clean properly, this unit worths about $150 final bid price. Last one sold for about $172.

Regarding the problem, you will need to replace the belts and idler tires. To do that, flip the unit upside down and remove the seven screws to remove the bottom cover, remove the six screws mounted on the board at the center, open them, and then the belts are revealed. You will need to remove the capstan shaft cover and play idler cover to remove all the belts. To replace the idler tires, remove the top cover and remove the top loading cassette by unscrewing the four black screws and two gold screws. You may need a small hex-shape screw to replace the idler tires.

I have a Panasonic PV-1600 that looks identical to yours, except mine has SLP play speed/record and programmable touch tuner added.

To order a replacement belt kit for this model, go to studiosoundelectronics.com, use the manual entry cart item, and type it part # VBK-19, two of IT-2, and one of IT-6. You may need a new pinch roller if the VCR is eating or chewing tapes.

If putting all the new belts, tires, and pinch roller, you will get about 15 years of reliable service, or maybe more. These first-generation Matsushita-made VHS VCRs were built like tanks. I found the first-generation ones to be more reliable than the (1981-1982) second-generation ones (the one with playback search). The second-generation ones use fewer belts, but the loading belt seems to wear out faster than the first chassis.

The RCA VBT200 is the first VHS VCR ever made in history.
...for RCA, that is. The first ever VHS VCR ever was JVC's HR-3300 in 1976.

...

...for RCA, that is. The first ever VHS VCR ever was JVC's HR-3300 in 1976.
Yes, that is right, but the RCA VBT-200 was the first VHS VCR to show up in stores. The JVC showed up two months after the RCA was released. The JVC was announced earlier, but they were slow getting the HR-3300 into stores.

It's curbside collection time in my area again. Other than the usual silver/black plastic sets so far I've seen a couple of late 70s/early 80s timber cased table tops, but nothing interesting enough for me to pick up (space is very tight, so other than recent sets I can flip quickly I have to be very selective). This is a bit unusual as the last couple of years I hadn't seen any, just newer sets so I'd assumed they'd all gone from this area by now. I did see one console out of corner of my eye while running late somewhere. From what little I saw there was something unusual about it, so I'll go back and check it out later. Though if I do grab it I think it will be living in the back of the wagon for at least a couple of weeks. :(

I have somehow managed to acquire two of the VBT-200's (one with all the original packing, dust cover, remote, the whole bit!) and a JVC HR-3300, also in the original box with all the factory goodies. The JVC is SP-only but it's a bit smaller than the RCA too. I had assumed that the difference was about 9 mo to a year between the two of them, with the JVC coming out first. Can more people comment about when they first saw the JVC's for sale?

Was walking to the Public library and spotted this set outside for the trashman. It is a B/W Magnavox Model 2T5005, Chassis T92501CB. SAMS folder 927-1. That would date it to 1967 or 1968. It has sound, full but split screen. Might be an easy fix.

There was one garbage bag full of stuff and another full of books. I went over with the truck and grabbed them both. Found a couple of nice vintage jewlery catalogs. I will Ebay those.

The major thing in the bag was a full owners packet for a CTC22. :D I have a CTC22 and am happy to get the hang tag, owners manual, antenna tag and schematic. All were in VERY nice condition. :banana: I'm gald I grabbed those two extra bags. I may go back and ask if the CTC 22 was in the household goods.


polaraman

Trash pile finds for today!!!

The Quasar is not going to set the world on fire. It is Model number TL9819PP SAMS 1785-2, and made in 1977. Matsusita is plainly displayed on the back cover. It is a remote control set. I grabbed it because I need the 25VCZP22 for a rectangular Maggie that I have. The green gun on the maggie is dead.

Second is another VCR. It is a Sony VP 2011. Must be a pro model because it is for 3/4 inch tapes. Anybody have info on this? What year was it made?


polaraman

Curious: who made the crt in the Quasar?

Bryan,

The CRT is a Quasar made in the USA. It has a sticker with a NOV 1977 build date. I would think it is the one that came with the set. I plugged it in and gave it a try. :scratch2: It had a nice but unstable color picture. I can't seem to stop the verticle roll. I will have to loo at that later. The only real draw is the CRT but I may keep it around because of the remote control option.

Ppolaraman

I was curious because I had a 74 Motorola Quasar and the EIA number on the crt came back to Westinghouse, of all companies. I then had a US built Panasonic from 79 with a Japanese built tube. Wasn't sure if Matsushita ever had a tube plant here, at least in those years.

I have some of those type of Sony 3/4 inch machines both players and recorders I was able to get when a TV station was junking old equipment.
I ouught to get them out and use them, they've been in a closet for ages! I would say they date from late 70's to early 80's.