Picked these up for $5 each at a yard sale at the local university, they were clearing out there attic storage space.

First off a JVC CR 8250U Umatic machine, mechanically it works great, not tested its recording or playback, but just watching it thread up and play and FF/RW is awesome.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7125/7767957138_f65269bd4f_b.jpg

I have some tapes but i think they are high band so i am not sure if i can record on them ( the audio meters bounced when i played one earlier )




Up second is a JVC BR 6400U pro VHS recorder.

Works well mechanically, not had time to test either of these massive machines yet for video.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7767955624_130c51e9fd_b.jpg

Just hope the wife don't spot them.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7134/7768846778_a711193332_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8447/7768848854_110985e731_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/7768841316_6a800554f2_b.jpg

Imagine what it would cost to build something like that today! Real tanks; good buys.

Imagine what it would cost to build something like that today! Real tanks; good buys.

I was thinking the same thing, i don't think they could build them anything like this today and make any money.

The reel motors in the U matic are huge !

Kewl !

Kewl !

When to people operating the sale for the university said to me that "anything not sold today gos to the landfill tomorrow " that was it.

I HAD to save them.

When to people operating the sale for the university said to me that "anything not sold today gos to the landfill tomorrow " that was it.

I HAD to save them.

That's the same story they use on me and I always fall for it. :scratch2:

That's the same story they use on me and I always fall for it. :scratch2:

DoH !!!

I did try to convince the owner, who regularly sells VCR parts online at studiosoundelectronics.com, that JVC was indeed a more-reliable manufacturer than Sharp during the 1980s, but he denies it. He thinks that Sharp made the most-reliable in everything. (Oh, go away...:thumbsdn:).

Real reliability data info published by Consumer Reports from 1980s shows that JVC was rated (#4) forth most-reliable Japanese video electronic manufacturer by reputation and fame, after Panasonic (#1), Toshiba (#2), and Sanyo (#3), while Sharp was rated more-below at #8. Funai was rated higher than Sharp at #5, surprisingly. Funai, once, had a better reputation on reliability than Sharp, and even Sony.

Other brands, such as Mitsubishi (#6), Sony (#7), Hitachi (#9), NEC (#10), Orion (#11), and Fisher (#12). NO, Sony is NOT the most-reliable brand, if you think it really is.
.

All the Sony VCR's i have are quite unreliable, i had to replace one yesterday the 2nd Sony in as many weeks.

Here is the thrift store Sony on the bottom of the stack.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8303/7775793076_4baeaf06e6_b.jpg

I had a guy give me a Sony that looked a lot like that; I really thought I had something but the electronics were extremely glitchy and I gave up on it. My best experiences have been with Panasonic & Sanyo, though there is quite a lot I haven't seen.

I have the BR-6400U. Got it at a municipal auction probably 15 years ago. I remember recording the closing arguments of the OJ trial with it. A lot of people pan it because it isn’t Hi-Fi, but I like it.

The JVC U-Matic machine is REALLY clean. Amazing find.

I worked at the local community college in the late 80’s. They had a lot of U-Matic machines on carts and a back room full of even then vintage units like the JVC. They had an entire wall of Sony rack mount units for routing into rooms. I suppose all of that equipment is long gone.

I have the BR-6400U. Got it at a municipal auction probably 15 years ago. I remember recording the closing arguments of the OJ trial with it. A lot of people pan it because it isn’t Hi-Fi, but I like it.

The JVC U-Matic machine is REALLY clean. Amazing find.

I worked at the local community college in the late 80’s. They had a lot of U-Matic machines on carts and a back room full of even then vintage units like the JVC. They had an entire wall of Sony rack mount units for routing into rooms. I suppose all of that equipment is long gone.

I have finally got around to connecting up the BR-6400U, and with a good pre recorded tape and the audio connected to my hifi the sound is superb, and the picture quality is fantastic, i think i will install it in the family room as a talking point for visitors who think i am mad anyway.

Oh i re lamped the meters in the BR-6400U by the way.

The U-Matic is also working fine, one of the U-matic tapes is recorded with some student stuff and even tho it looks like its from the mid 80's the quality is pretty good.

I've got two of that series of Umatic deck in storage....great machines! Wish I had a use for them. Nice pickup.

I've got two of that series of Umatic deck in storage....great machines! Wish I had a use for them. Nice pickup.

I think i will invent a use for mine, i have already cleared a space for it in the man cave to amaze like minded visitors with its awesomeness.

I've used a bunch of JVC U-Matic machines, the CR-8250U included. Very, very nice decks.

The trasport design, reliability, and tape handling easily beats every Sony U-Matic machine (apart from maybe the BVU-8xx and 9xx series, but those were a lot later). 100% direct-drive, dynamic braking, servo tension, timecode track, etc. They also play back just about anything, including SP tapes, with no problems. I'd still be using them if I didn't have a rack full of Sony BVU-9xx's.

I've used a bunch of JVC U-Matic machines, the CR-8250U included. Very, very nice decks.

The trasport design, reliability, and tape handling easily beats every Sony U-Matic machine (apart from maybe the BVU-8xx and 9xx series, but those were a lot later). 100% direct-drive, dynamic braking, servo tension, timecode track, etc. They also play back just about anything, including SP tapes, with no problems. I'd still be using them if I didn't have a rack full of Sony BVU-9xx's.

I had a Sony BVU 950 when i lived in the UK.

I've used a bunch of JVC U-Matic machines, the CR-8250U included. Very, very nice decks.

The trasport design, reliability, and tape handling easily beats every Sony U-Matic machine (apart from maybe the BVU-8xx and 9xx series, but those were a lot later). 100% direct-drive, dynamic braking, servo tension, timecode track, etc. They also play back just about anything, including SP tapes, with no problems. I'd still be using them if I didn't have a rack full of Sony BVU-9xx's.

Oh and as you have used the JVC before....when i hit fast search the picture loses lock and starts rolling ( in other words i cant see a picture in search mode ), should the picture search do this or is it a fault ?

Yeah, unfortunately they only have one forward/reverse search speed without an external controller. I've never had a monitor that could maintain lock during high-speed shuttle from one of these decks, and in one case it quite literally burned out the horizontal output section of one of my monitors (but it was probably on its way out anyway). I always had digital infinite-window TBCs connected to mine, which maintained an image quite well during shuttle.

I used a couple of them with VE-90 and VE-92 editing controllers (the JVC versions of the Convergence ECS-90), and they had a very interesting infinitely variable shuttle (compared to the stepped shuttle speeds you get with most other machines). I think either vinyldavid or I have some standalone wired remote/shuttle controllers for them somewhere.

Yeah, unfortunately they only have one forward/reverse search speed without an external controller. I've never had a monitor that could maintain lock during high-speed shuttle from one of these decks, and in one case it quite literally burned out the horizontal output section of one of my monitors (but it was probably on its way out anyway). I always had digital infinite-window TBCs connected to mine, which maintained an image quite well during shuttle.

Maybe when the University has its next sale the TBC's will be there for $5 a pop.

Cool finds! I got my first U-matic deck reciently.....It is THE first U-matic the Sony VO-1600(I almost fell over upon learning this a couple weeks after buying it)! The darn thing still works, but shows signs of needing belts(just as I was told). I'm at a bit of a loss on where to find belts for it as the things belts are more like vacuum cleaner belts than anything I've seen in any tape machines of any format before. Perhaps I should pull the belts and go to a vacuum cleaner store and see if they have anything close.....

Cool finds! I got my first U-matic deck reciently.....It is THE first U-matic the Sony VO-1600(I almost fell over upon learning this a couple weeks after buying it)! The darn thing still works, but shows signs of needing belts(just as I was told). I'm at a bit of a loss on where to find belts for it as the things belts are more like vacuum cleaner belts than anything I've seen in any tape machines of any format before. Perhaps I should pull the belts and go to a vacuum cleaner store and see if they have anything close.....

Thats the great thing about my JVC.........No belts !!!!

Yeah maybe vacuum cleaner belts would do the trick.

I couldn't believe it, stopped at a house clearance today and found this, it was part of a lot of stuff that cost $15, including 3 60 min tapes.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8039/7908191194_27d280e56d_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8435/7908299418_cd610b66e8_b.jpg

Works well, records a beautiful picture quality and the sounds pretty good.

Nice score there!

Nice score there!

The recorded picture quality from it is superb.

I have the VO-5850 too... Wow, what a coincidence.

I have the VO-5850 too... Wow, what a coincidence.

:banana:

It sure is...

I bought a BVU-950 a few weeks ago from that place. Sony top-of-the-line. Came from a tv station with the TBC card. Free shipping convinced me. $250. Arrived with a dented power supply cover which I bent back and all is well. I got it to xfer my vast library of 3/4" but it has another future.

I am setting up a small obsolete format recovery service. 3/4"/VHS/Betamax/8mm/Hi8 through a TvOne proc amp and a waveform scope in place. Need a Digi8 camcorder. Using a Panasonic DVcam for transcoding to my Macbook Air with FCP7 for digital files or a stock DVD recorder for archive.

I did a short 1989 Betamax xfer this AM to DVD for a friend and it was perfect.

One of my primary functions in engineering for an educational cable access station before it shut down a couple months ago was maintaining Sony VO and VP series 3/4" decks. Our scheduled playback consisted entirely of 3/4", from a bank of 8 VP-9000's and 2 VO-5000's, along with every other variation used in the duplication, editing, and satellite downlink recording systems. At least a few decks failed every week.

Your VO-5850 looks like it hasn't been abused much, so that's good. From my experience there are a few things you should check before using it much. First, the rubber pinch rollers don't last long in any of these decks. They turn shiny and hard with heavy usage, and when they do they tend to diagonally crease the tape every couple inches, causing basically irreversible damage (we lost several master programs that way, since you don't notice the problem until AFTER the program is played). Second, the motor and gear assembly that operates the loading ring should be cleaned and lubricated (with something like silicone grease), as the gears tend to wear quickly, causing frequent jams during loading/unloading. The same goes for the tape elevator mechanism, which is easily removed by disconnecting the connector on the back right corner of the assembly, and removing the retaining bracket from the top. Also, if you want to manually test the mechanism without having a tape loaded, simply disconnecting the tape elevator connector will bypass all the sensors, and allow you to enter any function without putting the deck into an error mode. This trick was very useful for troubleshooting, and distributing the silicone grease on the gears before risking tape damage. It works on any non-BVU font-loading Sony U-Matic deck.

Of course, our machines were used a LOT over the years. 2-4 hours of playback every day from the time they were made up to recently. We burned through pinch rollers, belts, idlers, heads, motors, and gears like none other. Fortunately we had a large NOS parts stock, which I got when they shut down to maintain my BVU's. Your deck has likely had a much better life, so with just a little maintenance it should last years.

As a closing thought, those Sony decks aren't as reliable as the JVC's, but when Sony decks break, any part can be accessed and replaced in less than 10 minutes. The JVC decks need a lot less work, they're faster, gentler, they have more precise transports (compare the two side by side with the tops off rewinding a tape to the beginning and see how they handle it... like night and day), and no belts, but troubleshooting them can be hell in the rare event that something goes wrong. Both produce great pictures and sound.

A lot to digest there.

This weekend i should have the chance to have a close look at the 5850, and i will check out the points you make.

One thing the 5850 does do is let out a deafening squeel sometimes on the very last part of the rewind of a tape.

Like i say, i will have lots of time over the weekend to give it a through check.

The JVC on the other hand seems to have no problems at all, apart from the fan being DARNED noisy !

Ah, noisy rewind was a common problem. It's either caused by the tape counter (which we frequently just bypassed by removing the belt), or a noisy reel table. Silicone grease works great on those. Not a bad idea to pop the reel tables off the shafts and clean/lubricate them along with the loading system. Minor work like that is usually all they need if they haven't been used too heavily.

And yeah, the JVC machines are ridiculously loud. I think they use 100v fans. The later JVC font loaders like the CR-850 are very quiet.

Ah, noisy rewind was a common problem. It's either caused by the tape counter (which we frequently just bypassed by removing the belt), or a noisy reel table. Silicone grease works great on those. Not a bad idea to pop the reel tables off the shafts and clean/lubricate them along with the loading system. Minor work like that is usually all they need if they haven't been used too heavily.

And yeah, the JVC machines are ridiculously loud. I think they use 100v fans. The later JVC font loaders like the CR-850 are very quiet.

Yes, 100v fan, its deafening.

Can anyone give me the approximate dates these two machines were made ?

Someone asked me the other day and i have to admit having no real idea.

Just to re start my old thread.

I was playing a tape in the big JVC Umatic and i got up and hit stop, then rewind and the warning light started flashing and the machine is not responding to any control key presses the head is not spinning and the tape will not eject.

Any ideas anyone ??

Thanks in advance.

Neil.

My guess is the tape fell off the tape path somewhere and is drooping out of view of any tape sensor lamp. You may have lost a rewind belt if JVC uses it and the tape has lost tension in the guides. The belt is under the bottom cover on a Sony. The deck is confused.

You may have to lift the lid and finger-wind the loading arms back in to the shell. This is easy on a Sony...not sure about JVC but it may be similar.

On a Sony you will see a white plastic worm gear arrangement to the left of the loading ring. It's tight but you can reach a finger in there and rotate the gear. Pick the direction that starts moving all the threading arms back to the casette. Carefully lift up any fallen tape and guide it up in to the air while turning. The tape will not retreat back to the casette. You are just clearing the loading assembly. You will feel the arms stop when they reach the end.

Now you can try to eject but while you do, hold the casette door open with a finger and keep the tape loop up in the air away from harm. You may have to power up and hold the eject button to fool the deck to get it to eject. If the JVC is a manual eject proceed on. You will probably wrinkle a piece of tape no matter how hard you try though if it is not already wrinkled. If the casette pops up now carefully slide it out holding the tape loop. From here, hold the door open and finger wind the tape back in to the casette and let the door close. If the door does close, there is a slide release for the door on one side of the casette door. Use a pen and push the lever down to release the door.

All of that said, that is the Sony fix. JVC is probably similar as U-Matic was a standardized design like VHS. I lost track of how many times I did this.