Sharp VCR
 

Maybe I'm forgetting but I don't remember seeing a Sharp VCR before. Were these good quality? The controls seem interesting, looks like a knob?

That shuttle knob was popular in the late 90's. They were decent machines for the time - all VCRs by that point were plastic and cheaply made with a single motor transport.

Used to see a fair number of the Sharp VC-6800s. Dates back to 1979-1980. Mechanical keys, and probably the first front tape loader. A heavy beast.

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment...1&d=1495917686

I once had a RatShack Hi-Fi VCR made by Sharp. The video performance was so-so...the audio was quite good though.
It had metering, dual L+R level controls AND in addition to Hi-Fi, Dolby B!

I think it was a Sharp deck that I had with the 10pin RCA camera connector on it like a portable VHS. Slide the switch between tuner/camera. I want it back.

My first VCR in the mid 90's was a Sharp I used the hell out of that deck and it never died. I still have it in a closet, but don't use much it since it is low-fi mono and can't record in S-VHS.

Recently I found a S-VHS-HiFi Sharp from the same time period that I use some...It has the same awesome 1 minute rapid rewind.

My first VCR was in 1989 and it was a $300(!) Sharp 2-head mono unit. Lasted 11 hard years of daily time-shifting. Surprisingly, it failed electronically, not mechanically.

I have a few similar Sharp Hifi models like the OP.Great machines.I use one daily to timeshift.If I see them at fleamarkets or goodwill .I take them.
The jog shuttle knob is great.

Just yestrday, I was at a thrift, and I picked up a 1988 Sharp Optonica 4 head HQ machine for $7. It needs the typical belts replaced, but it certainly tries to work. Supposedly, the remote would talk to you through the timer set process. I love 80's Sharp VCR's because they are so incredibly easy to service, and this one is no exception.

Sharp VCRs were ALWAYS more-reliable than Hitachi and RCAs made by Hitachi, any year and model before 1992, along with fewer belt problems. Enough said. Relax...

I have a 1989 Optonica VC-G990U S-VHS VCR similar to the one on photo with voice-talking remote. It was the only S-VHS VCR built by Sharp during 1980s, along with the even-rare XA-2500S. But I think Toshiba SV-771 has a little slighter-edge on reliability due to no mode-switch problems, which I think is the longest-lasting S-VHS VCR ever built.

Better than the Panasonic VCR you picked up that caught your carpet on fire, right? LOL...

That's the oldest and very-first Sharp VHS VCR ever built in history. It came with a brass-color (not chrome) video head cylinder that required a flat-belt on top to spin with a pulley motor. It even had a tape-remaining time counter. This VCR also can't be played upside-down since there's no carriage lock, or the tape comes flying out immediately during playback and eats your tape. It was working fine when I sold it for $300 back in 2006 to a collector.

Also, Studio Sound Electronics will be going out of business soon selling VCR belt kits, the owner told me, so it's best to avoid the one that uses a lot of belts, like Hitachi and this one on photo.

Does this mean I'll have to start using rubber bands to replace VCR belts and tires ?
Ed