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Old 08-11-2017, 11:44 PM
8traxrule 8traxrule is offline
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Question about RCA VKT-650 VCR

I just scored one of these from Ebay, been looking for this since it's one of the few models that plays both Hi-Fi and linear stereo- 99% of hi-fi models will only play the linear track in mono, which has driven me nuts for more than 30 years.

I played with one that a friend's mom had a long time ago (unfortunately I couldn't track it down later offering to buy it), and know that instead of Dolby noise reduction for the linear tracks, it has what is called a "Hi Filter". I'm guessing that this works the same as Dolby NR but they didn't want to pay Dolby licensing fees for it. I can't find a manual that explains this, but wondering if anyone else knows this machine well and whether it really is a carbon copy of Dolby NR. Right now I have an industrial model Panasonic VCR with both Hi-Fi and linear stereo, but it can't play tapes at LP or EP speed (seems none of the pro models can.) So for those tapes, I also have one Hi-Fi VCR hooked up that doesn't have linear stereo, plus another VCR with linear stereo and no Hi-Fi. Having one machine that can do both would save a bit of space and cable-swapping; unless someone has proof that the Hi-Filter in this VCR works the same as Dolby NR my plan is to keep the Panasonic in place and play most SP tapes on that, and use the RCA just for LP and EP tapes which likely don't have Dolby NR on them anyways. At least this way I'll have one less VCR in the setup (also have a D-VHS machine which also plays S-VHS, a multi-standard Hi-Fi VHS that I only use for PAL tapes, and of course a Beta, industrial model also with Hi-Fi and linear stereo which is extremely rare, some of Warner's early Beta Hi-Fi stereo tapes also had stereo linear tracks on them.)
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Old 11-09-2017, 06:23 PM
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Blast Blast is offline
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Computer says that between 1990 and 1998 I worked on 4 of those and that my co-workers worked on another 4.

This is a Hitachi built VCR and, going strictly by memory, I think its safe to say that their HI-FI VCR's of this era did not offer Dolby on the linear audio track.

I believe it's also safe to say that the "Hi-Filter" does not work the same as Dolby NR.

In fact I also believe it's a high filter for the HI-FI audio and does not affect the linear audio track.

And, from there I can offer no other information.
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Old 11-09-2017, 08:40 PM
8traxrule 8traxrule is offline
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The "Hi Filter" definitely does affect the linear audio, the question is whether it's mimicking Dolby without having to pay the license fees for it. It does not affect the Hi-Fi audio which would never need any sort of noise reduction to begin with.

This machine was made in 1984 BTW- one of the first Hi-Fi models, and does not have a stereo TV tuner.
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Old 11-09-2017, 09:24 PM
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Blast Blast is offline
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Oh, ok. I'll give you that. The 90's was a long time ago! I'll stand by the rest of it, though.

Last edited by Blast; 11-09-2017 at 09:31 PM.
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Old 11-19-2017, 05:45 PM
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davet753 davet753 is offline
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Hang on to that VCR, it's a good one. I worked on hundreds of the Hitachi built RCA machines, and those were my favorites. The vast majority of issues were loading belts (a 3.0 and a 3.2 inch) and an idler tire replacement.

The digital clocks on many of those were notorious for going out due to a faulty DC-DC converter. RCA sold a replacement kit (part number 163818) that included some electrolytics and an upgraded converter with a heat sink on top. With an upgrade kit installed, it would last forever.

I don't know why those were so popular in my area, but my shop made a lot of $$ on those. I could replace the belts, idler, do a lube and adjustment and put it all back together in less than 15 minutes and make $75 for my troubles. Those were the good old days
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