Quote:
Originally Posted by Electronic M
Most decks can be tricked into loading and threading up without a tape (I recently did this on a couple of Sony beta mechs one a top loader the other an early front loader) if you can figure out which levers and buttons to push. Sometimes watching it run without a tape blocking your view of the mechanism can reveal hidden problems.
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Years ago, our parts suppliers sold clear, open frame fixtures that fit in place of the cartridge in both VHS and Beta format to allow easier views of the mechanism, plus it prevented tapes from being eaten.
The other option is cover the two end sensors or the center lamp/led with black tape. In most machines, this allowed the loader to be pushed by hand and allowed the machine to run without a tape.
Some machines however would act up as soon as a sensor was covered, so for those, the loader would be manually pushed in, and the sensors covered after the basket reached bottom but before the machine would raise the basket back out. Timing on those was fun.
The problem for either method is that any ambient room light might fool the machine into thinking there's a problem, so sometimes a shade had to be propped up.
I don't miss VCRs at all.
John