1984 Panasonic Hi-fi 4 head VCR I might possibly pick up
 

Hello everyone I went to a local flea market and saw there a 1984 vintage Panasonic 4 head Hi-Fi VCR there for $20 which I might possibly pick up today if the flea market is open today.
Anyways I was wondering what your thoughts were on this unit. Its a front loading unit with a see though window into the VCR on top. I'm assuming it will need the usual belts but other than that would this be a good reliable unit?

Sorry about there being no pictures and I didn't see the model number on it.

Well I got the VCR, Its a Panasonic PV-1530 from May of 1984 according to the date of Manufacture Stamp on the back of the unit, its a 4-Head Hi-Fi VCR thats a Front Loader, it also has a 14 Position Veractor Tuner (push-button style) so its a mono tuner but it looks to be in pretty decent shape yet with some dirt and scuff marks on the cabinet which makes it look worse condition wise than it really is. I'l post a few pictures.

Sorry Levi! I think, it's priced too high. Offer $5.00 for it and that's being very generous, especially if it needs repair.
There's still a lot of those things around.
Regarding the reliability of it after repair, It depends on how much hard use it got. It was from the era, when a VCR was a novelty and the owners recorded anything and everything and used a lot of rental tapes. :thumbsdn:

Well I bought it anyways but either way I did have to replace one of the drive belts in it, and I even noticed that the idler tire in it was cracked but the VCR is still playing fine even with the cracked idler tire surprisingly enough although the VCR doesn't seem to want to load the tape back into the cassette when the stop button is pushed so maybe it has something to do with the idler tire being cracked and somewhat dry rotted? What I mean by VCR not wanting to load the tape back into the cassette is that the mechanism will go to load the tape back into the mechanism properly but the tape doesn't follow suit, the tape just stays sprawled out in the VCR.

That 1530 isn't Hi Fi. It's linear stereo with Dolby noise reduction.

Only used VCR I ever paid $20 for was a Sony SLV-R1000 S-VHS deck....A friend has one (and paid the better part of a C-note for a parts deck when the PS module burned up), and it is one of the best S-VHS decks ever made. Feeding a flatscreen with it's noise reduction/video stabliizers on it makes a decent VHS tape look like a good uncompressed HD digital source. I ended up letting my friend have it for what I paid since it needed repair....we repaired it together and once working he wanted it (his had another breakdown at the time).

I can't fathom why you like early front load VHS VCRs like that....I doubt I'd take what you just bought if it was free (I will buy S-VHS decks though)....The VHS top-loaders, and separate camera portables (and one or two other odd configurations) have rarity going for them, but little else. Early top loaders only have some ease of service and increased resistance to damage from mechanical shock....You pay for that in poorer picture and audio quality, lack of important features (like cable tuner, OSD, easy/better clock and timer settings that actually work, etc, etc.), most units being broken or failing as found, etc.

Watch the thrifts for a good $3-10 S-VHS (or if you record S-VHS-ET) deck and make that your last VHS format VCR. ....Certain JVC models are so common here that I stopped buying them (4 is more than enough for me). I could grab the next one of those I find and pass it along to you for what it costs me.

Well either way I liked that it was an early Panasonic VCR as I like that they are easy to repair if they ever break down that's why I got it, although I do have a mid 1980s (about 1985 or 1986 vintage) JVC Made Zenith VCR that I paid about $6 for at the Goodwill that's a 4-head mono unit that works pretty well yet (but I wanted a good stereo unit for my bedroom TV which I did have an old Sony SLV-575UC (which was also a goodwill find for $6) hooked up to for a while but then moved that down to my LCD Projector that's in my basement.
Anyways I'm sorry you don't find early front loader VCRs as fascinating as I do. Although I find most any early VCR fascinating but this one being an early Stereo VCR was what made me find it most interesting.

With as bad of luck as I've had with trying to locate and repair older top loader units I think front loaders are where my niche is because I have a lot better luck repairing and locating front loader VCRs than I do top loaders, the past two Top loaders I've tried to fix (one a Panasonic PV-1100 that was given to me by someone I used to go to church with had an issue with not wanting to play back in color and this was before I knew about this website and I couldn't fix it so I junked it out, and then my most recent venture with my Hitachi VCR which was also not a very successful repair as one problem after another would just crop up when I fixed one issue another issue would crop up and so on and so forth.)
As interesting as top loaders are and as much as I would love to have one in my collection I don't think it would be practical considering that most top loaders are well over 35+ years old and have sat in some unsavory conditions for probably close to 20+ years I'm guessing that they're going to have more problems than is worth my time or money fixing compared to a front loader of the same time period.

I'll take a mid 80's VCR any day. Built like a tank, easy to service, lots of buttons, lights and huge VFDs make them pretty awesome.

I couldn't agree with you more, that's why I like to have a small stash of 1980s vintage VCRs laying around so that if one ever fails I can have an extra one as a backup to throw in place while I troubleshoot and repair the one that failed. Like Electronic M said they are quite common yet but that doesn't matter to me because that only means that I can just locate another unit somewhere else if I need to as either a parts unit or as a backup unit.

Nice! I have this same Panny with a darker-colored face and fake woodgrain case.

Nice, I haven't seen too many Panasonics with a woodgrain cabinet except for the PV-1100 I was given to monkey with several years ago but that was a 1978 model I believe with the knob tuner and everything.

OK, but its still stereo audio either way.

I was able to steal the idler tire from the old Hitachi Top Loader VCR I had tried to get going with no success (I'm just going to scrap it out beause its too far gone electronically to do anything with) and stuck it on this Panasonic (interestingly enough the Hitachi and this Panasonic used the same exact idler tire) and now this Panasonic works perfectly now including retracting the tape into the cassette like its supposed to now. Even though it isn't "Hi-Fi Stereo" it still has really good sound for what it is, in fact I had to turn down the volume on my TV by almost half of what I had it at previously (I had it at about 16 before and I had to turn it down to about 8 because the audio was so loud.)

If that's all that was wrong with it, it seems to be an OK deal. It definately is a higher end model. :thmbsp:

I thought so to because its a pretty solid unit and it was working 90% already besides the idler tire and the one belt I had to replace. It definitely gives off that "1980's movie vibe" when you play a movie on it, but of course I'm using it with a flatpanel TV so the picture isn't going to look the greatest on it being that you're playing an analog video source on a digital TV.

Get yourself a good 27" Sony Trinitron Wega and forget about that flatpanel rubbish. Those newer sets, just don't do the vintage equipment justice. The pictures are too "grainy" AFAIC. :thumbsdn:

This machine has bad electrolytic capacitors in the switching power supply. If you use this frequently, the capacitors will degrade and the picture will become unstable. Eventually the machine will not power up. I have several Panasonics from this time period with that problem.

Interestingly enough I don't think this unit has a switching power supply, I think it has a cold chassis non-switching power supply because its not the usual removeable switching power supply like I've seen in other Panasonics from the same time period... :scratch2:

I actually do have a 27" Sony Trinitron in my basement that's from 2000. :yes: And it works quite well considering where I got it from.

I still marvel at the picture quality of the Sony's.
I always wonder, just what makes them so damned heavy. :D

I have that model somewhere here.I love those Panasonic VCRs.I agree with dieseljeep.Use the older CRT monitor sets for VCR repair or watching.Any 1970's to 1990's CRT sets will work great for the job.

Those linear stereo VCRs were OK if you record at SP but if you record in SLP/EP .They sound like AM radio or a crappy online webstream.

The HiFi stereo units started coming out around the same time so I picked up the Panasonic PV-9600 HiFi portable then and the NEC HIFi tabletop VCR 8 months later..

I heard that what makes the Sony's so heavy is their shadow masks because they're designed quite large compared to a normal TV. And what's funny is that when I first found my Trinitron I thought it was a 19" at first but it turned out to be a 27" once I got it home and got to looking at the model number.

I do have one Hi-Fi Stereo VCR in my Collection a Sony Prosumer Grade unit from about 1990 a model SLV-575UC which does work quite nicely yet considering it was a goodwill find, it even came with its original remote.
The rest of my VCRs are mono units besides this linear stereo unit, which has pretty nice sound for what it is when you playback a prerecorded tape.
I mostly just use my VCRs for playing prerecorded tapes only because I have no way to record anymore, so even a linear stereo unit is just fine for what I need.

I have the same vcr it works good i had to replace the idler tire in it
i have a parts one also it has bad heads i got it for $15 with remote from goodwill

Even though it may not be the rectangular removeable power supply utilized in later models I believe it is one of the early SM power supplies. I'm surprised it doesn't need capacitors. Maybe they've already been replaced. On any event, have fun with it!

Thanks, I have been having fun with it, its interesting watching period movies on it because it definitely has the stereotypical "1980s" VCR look to it when its playing tapes.

Panasonic PV-1730 was the 1984 4-head Hi-Fi stereo model, first one built.

I was going to buy that model but waited to get the PV-9600 portable in 1985.I had it setup along with the Realistic MTS stereo receiver.

I would get more use out of the portable then the home deck at the time.

Ah yes.. the PV-A860 docking station that came with. Fixed a-many of those. Some mechanical problems with the docking latch mechanism, others with multiple burned components on the board.

Does yours still work?

Thats a good question.It probably needs recapping and a overhaul. I had no problem with the deck latch but it had its share of problems with the dock .As you sail burned parts on the board. The docking station had blown one of those green special SIP chips within a year of purchase .The deck had its share of issues of going out of alignment and HIfi motor boating.Over the years I pick up a couple of them and equiv models of the 9600.

Since you dont get much time out of the internal battery .I end up powering it with a 12volt 7 amp alarm battery from Radio Shack along with the Panasonic 12 volt car battery adapter.Got alot of recording time with that setup.

With the PV-1730.I should of picked up that model or the PV-1740 instead of the NEC 965U in 1987 but the built in MTS decoder which I was looking for was in the NEC .The NEC was broken down more than used.

With the 9600 /Realistic MTS tuner combo .Got alot of timer set programs screwed up and silent movies and TV shows recorded with the separate MTS tuner when for getting to turn it on and or putting it on the right channel.

Those PV-9000s, the linear audio 8000s, the tabletop 1730, and any that shared that DD reel chassis, I saw a lot of worn out drum bearings. Some would stick and not start up but would run with a little push, some the bearing would wear and wobble as it spun causing tracking problems and audible flutter in the linear audio. Would show up on the REC-PB RF envelope with wavy tops and bottoms instead of flat.

At the time I would have bought either a 1730 or a 9000 if they had MTS stereo but they came out too early. In '84 Mitsubishi came out with the HS-400U 2-head with hi-fi and MTS but mono linear audio, then followed with the HS-430U I ended up buying since it had Hi-Fi and linear stereo with Dolby for my old linear stereo tapes I recorded on either a PV-6000 linear stereo portable or a PV-1780 top-loader with Dolby linear stereo.

We had Warner Amex cable in the early '80s with MTV and Showtime stereo audio on FM radio carriers you'd tune to and use that "simulcast" switch on the VCR to feed in external audio.

That HS-430 was about $900 at "Videoland". I remember going there at lunch to buy one, they had a pallet stacked with them. Was a fairly popular model loaded with lots of features and problems.

And based on my 17 years of experience restoring and repairing VCRs, I found Toshiba built the most-reliable and longest-lasting S-VHS VCRs. Toshiba SV-771 is one highly-reliable model, for example.

Who saw some (or maybe none)?