Hello everyone today when I was at Goodwill (work) I found a fairly high end JVC VHS VCR that seems to be one step down from their S-VHS machines that they offered, its a JVC Model HR-D630U and this thing came complete with its original remote and owners manual, what a treat! :thmbsp: :D

Anyways I was wondering what all of you guys thought of this model and if any of you guys had any experience with this model, it seems to me like this is a good solid unit that's built like a tank, and considering that a lot of your really nice Zenith VCRs from the 1980s were sourced from JVC I would think that this would have just as good of quality as those JVC Sourced Zeniths from the same time period.

pictures are posted below.

Thanks,

Levi

Wow.Great catch there Levi.As I found my Toshiba DVR/DVD recorder at the goodwill here in town tonight 09/29/2016 .They had a load of DVD players there and not many VCRs.I think they had a 1990's Hitachi there and a couple of camcorders there which I will go down there and look at them later.

Wow.Great catch there Levi.As I found my Toshiba DVR/DVD recorder at the goodwill here in town tonight 09/29/2016 .They had a load of DVD players there and not many VCRs.I think they had a 1990's Hitachi there and a couple of camcorders there which I will go down there and look at them later.

Thanks, I actually saw it in the back when it was being processed by the people in the back (as you know I work at Goodwill so I get to see some of the goodies as they come in through the back, and the person doing the pricing was going to just toss it but I told her that its a high end VHS deck and that most people who still like to enjoy movies on VHS will enjoy this deck and told her to put $9.99 because of it being a higher end deck (of course I was thinking of myself when I saw it) but anyways it was the day before yesterday that it was priced and it was put out the day before yesterday and it was still there and I was able to get the machine for $5 (with employee discount) and like I said I was amazed that it still had its original manual and remote with it yet.

Nice find, Levi! According to my files I've never worked on that particular model number. But, it probably uses the same mechanism as that of other similar models. I just don't have a way to cross it.
There were pre-1985 models that had a little problem with the lube drying up. But, if yours is of that era and is working there is a good chance that the issue was addressed in the past and that it won't cause you any problem.

Brian

Nice find, Levi! According to my files I've never worked on that particular model number. But, it probably uses the same mechanism as that of other similar models. I just don't have a way to cross it.
There were pre-1985 models that had a little problem with the lube drying up. But, if you're is of that era and is working there is a good chance that the issue was addressed in the past and that it won't cause you any problem.

Brian

According to the owners manual the unit I have is from 1987, so it probably never had the dried lube problem. Although it does seem to have an issue with the audio cutting in and out between Hi-Fi Stereo and Linear Stereo Audio when the VCR is set to output Hi-Fi Stereo audio, although I'm not sure if its an issue with dirty heads, faulty tape or what, because I haven't had a chance to try another Hi-Fi Stereo Tape in the VCR yet to see if it does it with other tapes or just the one tape or what.

Oh, yeah, that's newer than the lube problem era. Now you're into what I call the "Top 4" era: Power supply caps, mode switch, loose P2 and P3 tape guides and the tantelum cap on the back side of the capstan motor. Once those are addressed that machine is one to be reckoned with!
Specifically, cleaning and the proper alignment of P2 and P3 may help your switching problem.

What's the FCC ID number on the rear panel?

Very nice buddy!!!!

...it does seem to have an issue with the audio cutting in and out between Hi-Fi Stereo and Linear Stereo Audio when the VCR is set to output Hi-Fi Stereo audio, although I'm not sure if its an issue with dirty heads, faulty tape or what... Since we were an authorized JVC service center, I worked on a few of those back in the day. I knew the unit as soon as I saw the model number. May be the hi-fi heads worn out, or a tape path alignment. IF the electronics are OK. This is where an oscilloscope connected to the head amp RF test points for the video and hi-fi would tell you a lot.

Since we were an authorized JVC service center, I worked on a few of those back in the day. I knew the unit as soon as I saw the model number. May be the hi-fi heads worn out, or a tape path alignment. IF the electronics are OK. This is where an oscilloscope connected to the head amp RF test points for the video and hi-fi would tell you a lot.

The Hi-Fi functions just fine yet, I tried another tape and it worked fine, I think that the Monty Python tape just must of had a bad audio track or something which might of been why that tape wasn't working right audio wise.
Other than that it, everything else is working fine on it.

Oh, yeah, that's newer than the lube problem era. Now you're into what I call the "Top 4" era: Power supply caps, mode switch, loose P2 and P3 tape guides and the tantelum cap on the back side of the capstan motor. Once those are addressed that machine is one to be reckoned with!
Specifically, cleaning and the proper alignment of P2 and P3 may help your switching problem.

What's the FCC ID number on the rear panel?

FCC ID: ASI9O2035 Hope this helps.

The FCC ID tag should look like the one in the photo.This is used as a example.

Man, that's a sweet place to work. Nice find.

The FCC ID tag should look like the one in the photo.This is used as a example.

the post before your post was the FCC ID off this VCR, I looked up the ID and it was indeed JVC/Kenwood that made this VCR which means that JVC themselves made this VCR and not some other company for JVC.

Man, that's a sweet place to work. Nice find.

Thanks, I thought it was a pretty good find as well because I used to have the JVC S-VHS Equivalent of this VCR a few years back that still worked minus its original remote so some of the special effects were inaccessable to me.

Since we were an authorized JVC service center, I worked on a few of those back in the day. I knew the unit as soon as I saw the model number. May be the hi-fi heads worn out, or a tape path alignment. IF the electronics are OK. This is where an oscilloscope connected to the head amp RF test points for the video and hi-fi would tell you a lot.

I have an oscilloscope but have no idea how to use it.

Also what if the audio works fine on another tape that's the same vintage?
I'm wondering because I tried another all analog VHS Tape from 1988 that when I played it it had no problems playing Hi-Fi Audio without cutting back and forth between Hi-Fi and Linear Stereo audio like the Monty Python tape did.

the post before your post was the FCC ID off this VCR, I looked up the ID and it was indeed JVC/Kenwood that made this VCR which means that JVC themselves made this VCR and not some other company for JVC.

I don't think JVC ever had another company make their VCRs.

I'll be surprised that Kenwood made their VCRs.I have a Kenwood somewhere here.I might be wrong but I think it was Matsushita"Panasonic" and JVC was the original makers then Sony got into it and later after the loss of Betamax. Funai made the cheap ones in later years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS

I'll be surprised that Kenwood made their VCRs.I have a Kenwood somewhere here.I might be wrong but I think it was Matsushita"Panasonic" and JVC was the original makers then Sony got into it and later after the loss of Betamax. Funai made the cheap ones in later years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS

Well like I said JVC seems to of made their own VCRs including mine, and I think Panasonic and Quasar also was made by their own compay (Matsushita), So yeah it seems that only the Japanese companies made their own units whereas by the time VHS came around all of the American companies had Japanese companies building their units for them like Zenith Using JVC and then Later on Goldstar for their later units (which Goldstar was actually Korean), so yeah, its kind of funny how that works.

I don't think JVC ever had another company make their VCRs.

Yeah, I think so too, I'm pretty sure most of the Japanese companies made their own stuff (unlike our American Companies who couldn't make their own stuff anymore by the time VHS came around), because I know Hitachi, JVC (which interestingly enough JVC was actually the Japanese subsidy of RCA originally but then RCA dropped them after a while), Panasonic, Quasar, and Sony (at one time) made all of their own stuff in house, and most of the companies listed (except Sony) still do.

I have an oscilloscope but have no idea how to use it.

Also what if the audio works fine on another tape that's the same vintage?
I'm wondering because I tried another all analog VHS Tape from 1988 that when I played it it had no problems playing Hi-Fi Audio without cutting back and forth between Hi-Fi and Linear Stereo audio like the Monty Python tape did.

Someone needs to show you how to check tape path alignment with an o'scope. Very important test and observation when servicing VCRs.

One way to test if the hi-fi heads are worn or partially clogged, would be to record and playback. If one or both heads are not working properly recording and playback will bring out the problem. If it does that with solid hi-fi tracking and no audio noise the heads are probably fine. Seen many VCRs in the day that would play back hi-fi on good tapes but would have flutter noise or just not switch to hi-fi at all on self-recordings if the hi-fi heads were too worn.

The Monty Python tape could have been recorded a bit out of alignment or head switching point was off, or the tape is damaged, stretched or curled along an edge, don't know and can't tell without looking.

Someone needs to show you how to check tape path alignment with an o'scope. Very important test and observation when servicing VCRs.

One way to test if the hi-fi heads are worn or partially clogged, would be to record and playback. If one or both heads are not working properly recording and playback will bring out the problem. If it does that with solid hi-fi tracking and no audio noise the heads are probably fine. Seen many VCRs in the day that would play back hi-fi on good tapes but would have flutter noise or just not switch to hi-fi at all on self-recordings if the hi-fi heads were too worn.

The Monty Python tape could have been recorded a bit out of alignment or head switching point was off, or the tape is damaged, stretched or curled along an edge, don't know and can't tell without looking.

Well the Oscilloscope I have has its original manual with it but its an older unit that has tubes in it (the really small five pin tubes) so I don't know if the manual will say anything about how to check video paths on a VCR o not (at least not a VHS unit, maybe a U-Matic deck unit but not a VHS unit). Also the tape at the very beginning (the Monty Python tape) was damaged a little bit but surprisingly enough all it did was make the video slightly jumpy and that's it the audio issue I figured was because of the damage at the begining but when it continued to do it even after the damaged part then I figured that probably there was something either wrong with the VHS deck itself or the Tape itself was damaged or possibly was recorded in a funky manner, but like I said when I tried another tape out on it, the other tape played fine with no audio tracking errors whatsoever.

Well the Oscilloscope I have has its original manual with it but its an older unit that has tubes in it (the really small five pin tubes) so I don't know if the manual will say anything about how to check video paths on a VCR o not (at least not a VHS unit, maybe a U-Matic deck unit but not a VHS unit).

That will be covered in a VCR service manual. They will probably tell you to sync to the square wave from the head switching, but I usually just set the scope sync on "line" so it syncs to 60 Hz AC line freq. Anyway, once you see enough of them you'll almost instinctively know where to look for that test point to hook to. Some mfgrs used a common name like "TP6" or "RF-TP" across many models.

YouTube video of aligning a JVC VCR with an o'scope. Should give you an idea of what's involved. Toward the end he shows doing it without a scope. You can get close that way but like he says to be exact you need the scope hooked up to see what you're doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33donH0J-vI

Good video. Love his voice! Sounds like Gene Hackman!

YouTube video of aligning a JVC VCR with an o'scope. Should give you an idea of what's involved. Toward the end he shows doing it without a scope. You can get close that way but like he says to be exact you need the scope hooked up to see what you're doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33donH0J-vI

Thanks too ED.I watch this guy all the time and subscribe to his channel.

Thanks, I'll take a look at the video later.

In regards to Kenwood I see that there's been a merger of some type, possibly in 2008, according to Wikipedia. But, when this VCR was built I highly doubt that Kenwood had any significant connection or influence to JVC.

In regards to Kenwood I see that there's been a merger of some type, possibly in 2008, according to Wikipedia. But, when this VCR was built I highly doubt that Kenwood had any significant connection or influence to JVC.

I don't know about the Kenwood Connection to JVC either all I know is that when I looked up the FCC ID on the back of the VCR I have it came back with the result of "Kenwood/JVC" so yeah I don't know, and the FCC ID was dated to 1988.