I picked this up at Goodwill this morning, it's a JVC HR-D470U.

What caught my eye was the unusual way the tape loads on this player, it's sideways!

I've seen one before but didn't get it because it was trashed, this one is in very good condition, it's supposed to work but I haven't tried it yet.

It has "Rack" handles on it, was it ever in a rack was this just to make it appear more high end?

It's not a lightweight, I got tired of lugging it around while I was shopping, I can see a large transformer inside, I'm guessing mid 80's by the style.

It has a jack in the back for a wired "Pause Remote" it appears to be the only remote capability it has, sort of primitive for that time I'd think.

Edit: I just noticed the remote sensor on the front, so it does have remote.

I have never in my life, seen a VCR that loads a tape like that. Looks like a keeper to me! The pro units in the Tv studio at the school I work at are similar, but no sideways loading. This probably came from something like a studio of some sort too.

I remember them. There was one of those and a Panasonic Dolby Stereo + Hi-Fi 4 head machine at the hospital I worked at.
Oh, the Panasonic unit had analog VU meters and manual level controls.

We have a very nice old Zenith in which the tape loads sideways. Bought this new in (iirc) 1986 at the Stereo Discounters annual Show and Sale in Timonium at the fairgrounds. It's been repaired a couple of times but works well and is excellent for VHS hifi audio recording.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28332&highlight=Zenith+VCR
There used to be photos; they were lost to a long-ago server crash.

I've worked on several of those back in the day. One big problem they have that will cripple or kill the machine is the clock memory back-up capacitor on the timer board behind the front panel will leak and ruin the board. Something like .47F/5.5V "supercap" as I recall. Anyway I can pretty much guarantee the memory backup cap is no good, you can see that when you set the clock and unplug it, then plug back in. If the clock lost it's time, the cap is bad. Whether it is leaking you'd have to take it apart and look. That model as well as others with the same chassis and conventional tape loading have problems with the mode switch getting noisy causing transport operation problems ( a little shot of DeOxit in the switch helps) , also the tape guide rollers getting loose and out of alignment. And the board on the bottom of the deck has 3 screws that act as grounds for the circuit, and can get loose and cause weird symptoms. Fix is to add small star lockwashers under the screws to ensure ground. That little machine produced one of the best pictures of any VHS VCR. Good luck with it!

Well I tried it and it works great, excellent picture tho I only had it hooked up to a little 9" Sony using the RF cable. I tried it on a 1949 Airline first but it wouldn't sync up at all. :)

It has Digital Vu meters on the front, switchable off if you don't want to see them. It seems to have lots of whistles and bells, it even has an AC outlet on the back to plug the TV into.

One problem, the eject is sluggish, I had to try it twice to get the tape out, seems like all VCR's have that problem as the get old. Maybe a bad belt?
I'll have to pop the top and clean it out, I'll check that cap too, maybe just replace it for good measure.

That's strange. The only side loading VHS machines I seen prior to this thread were the Amstrad branded (I think they were actually made by Orion) dual decks. There it was obviously done to save space and fit 2 decks into a space a little bigger than the average standard deck. Were there any other advantages to this design?

...

The Zenith is a rebadged JVC, otherwise same deck.
Do not force tapes to load. The cassette holder is more fragile than conventional front loaders.

It has "Rack" handles on it, was it ever in a rack was this just to make it appear more high end?



I remember seeing an audio amp with rack mount ears, but a warning sticker saying that the ears would not support the amp, that they were just decorations. :thumbsdn: