I have wanted one of these for some time now. It is a model VBT 200 from November 1977. It's funny how this one was found. I was playing with my Beta and a '75 XL-100 I have in my living room {Thanks for the RCA Doug!}. I said to my girlfriend, I wish I had one of those old '70s RCA VCRs to go with this tv. My intuition said to go to Goodwill, we did and there it was for 7 bucks! I replaced the belts and also found an "RCA" jack laying inside the unit. This is probably what jammed it up and made it's owner put it away. These were like early color sets in the way of being so expensive.
When they broke down they were put in a closet because no one wanted to throw 800+ dollars in the garbage. This thing has more guts to it than any VCR I've ever worked on. I also wanted to replace the burned out dial lamp for the VHF dial. This didn't go so well, I don't know what happened but I lost power to the tuner section for some reason and now am very confused about where to start checking it. I need the service manual for this one, it is a wiring nightmare inside! It plays tapes perfectly now, but the tuners are now dead.:thumbsdn:
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii90/zenithfan1/100_2540.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii90/zenithfan1/100_2522.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii90/zenithfan1/100_2517.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii90/zenithfan1/100_2512.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii90/zenithfan1/100_2499.jpg
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii90/zenithfan1/100_2490.jpg

Nice catch, RCA's first VCR and the starting snowball that became an avalanche that killed Beta. I have frequently seen the Sams Photofact manual for this model on Ebay.

great find!:thmbsp: glad you found your dream VCR, after two long years, i actually found mine early this year!!:music:


MITSUBISHI HS-U70 S-VHS (1988)


http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/HS-U704010.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/HS-U7040.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/HS-U70401.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/HS-U70408.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/HS-U7026.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/HS-U7029.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/HS-U7030-1.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll310/shaorin-chan/HS-U7034.jpg

I had a MITSUBISHI of that vintage, but they used some sort of rubbery snot glue to tack down some wiring and parts on the backs of some of the circuit boards, and that snot corroded the copper traces... :thumbsdn:

Check the plugs and connectors on the RCA, maybe bad solder joints. See if you can find supply voltages (the usual levels like 12V or 5V and such) at larger electroytic caps that have one end tied to ground. A bad connection could be why there's none.

...

Seeing that old VTB200 brings back memories. It was my first VCR I bought in Feb 1978. Mine got fried by a surge from a lightning strike in 1985:tears:. Took it to a tech and he told me it was not fixable.... I too, couldn't throw away something I paid $900 for (with tax and a blank tape) so I put it in a closet but finally chucked it in the early 1990's during a move.

RCA VBT-200 was Matsushita's first VHS VCR ever made. This chassis lasted for 4 years, up until 1981. The flagships of this same chassis were Magnavox VK-8229, Quasar VH-5155, Panasonic PV-1650, and RCA VDT625. They added SLP recording speed, 14-day, 8-program timer, feather-touch tuner (no knobs), and slow/freeze frame playback.

I have an RCA VCT400, with the original wired remote pause control. This was the first VCR with a multi-program, channel-changing timer. I also bought a replacement video head drum for it a few years back that I have not yet installed. One of these days...

Check all the fuses in the power supply. You may have briefly shorted something and blown one of them.

It's probably either that, or a connection gone loose; look around and you may be able to just eye-ball the problem. Since it was working before, it's hopefully nothing major.

Not a bad find, by the way. That one is definitely a lot cleaner inside than average, from what I've seen.

Oh, and while you're using that PortaColor to test it, consider this: GE was still churning out those all-tube portable color TVs at the same time this amazing-example-of-modern-technology VCR hit the market!

Nice find, zenithfan! Wish I could help you with your dead tuner but it's been years since I worked on VCR's and no service data left. I have the younger brother to YOUR VCR- the Quasar VH5100QW. Waltchan probably knows the build date on this. It's probably a little newer with the electronic tuner but it's essentially the same mechanism (and still only 2 speed). I replaced all the belts about 10 years ago and it's been running since. Good luck with your repair- like Andy said- check all fuses.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii110/blasttapes/20080728-5220QuasarVH5100QWVCR.jpg
Brian

This Quasar VH5100QW was made in early 1979 and was the clone model of Panasonic PV-1500 and RCA VCT-400. I have a Panasonic PV-1600 that was made in early 1980 with the same chassis and programmable tuner but includes SLP recording speed (3 speeds). :D I am selling it for $140 (excluding shipping) right now. It's in mint condition (better than Blast's) and has all accessories (original box/packing, pause remote, hard dust cover, owner's manual, cables, etc.). Only less than 1,000 PV-1600s were made. PM me if interested.

Wow! I like the looks of that Quasar. It makes the VCT-400 look rather humble IMO. In fact it resembles the Zeniths that were Sony Betamax knockoffs or a Sony SL-5800 era machine. Much better cosmetics than its contemporaries.

I have a NIB VBT-200 that I snagged off eBay years ago that's still humming with the original belts (crossed fingers). The original service books do pop up often, and I was able to grab one myself just in case. It's certainly a book -- 50-ish pages? Another thing to keep an eye for is the replacement heads. I've seen them NOS occasionally. Like Flybacks, they can and do appear. Finding them is just a stroke of good timing.

Over time I've acquired an in-box JVC HL-3300 as well as the MGA rebadge of the same unit, less cosmetically perfect as a "parts" unit. Quite a compact critter surprisingly. A RCA VCT-400 acquisition in box has been resold quite some time ago after I decided to concentrate on first-edition VHS. On the Beta side, I have the SL-7200, SL-8200 (in box), and an SL-8600 with the Betastacker. Outside of that I can only see acquiring a Panasonic PV-1000 or a Sony LV-1901. The Sony LV doesn't show up in these parts, and anywhere else would have DEADLY shipping costs!

I remember these while growing up. I remember our local video store use to rent out VCR's to watch movies on. We rented them untill we bought our first VCR in 84 I think. It was a Philco and had a wired remote with a extra long cord.

That RCA looks almost identical to the Panasonic PV-1200 my parents bought in 1980. I am still kicking myself that I tossed it out 5 years ago. It was still working at the time. Needless to say, I know better now and am much more careful before junking vintage electronics these days.

edit: It the same one shown here: http://southbend.craigslist.org/ele/767194392.html

There were a bunch of nearly-identical versions of each of these VCRs around 1978-80. The RCA VBT200 was the same as the Panasonic PV-1000, and there was a PV-1100 that was probably like an RCA VCT200. The PV-1200, Panasonic's first 6-hour machine, probably had a matching RCA VDT200. Other brands of these chasses include Quasar (as mentioned above), J. C. Penney, GE, Curtis Mathes, Magnavox, Sylvania and probably others. The numerous brands of VHS VCRs, in addition to other reasons, helped VHS eventually win against Beta that had only Sony and Zenith in the early days.

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