I recently got a Panasonic TV/VCR combo form flea market. The VCR is a 4 Head and the TV also has an FM radio built-in. I had do some cleaning to the tape transport and mode switch to get to work. Made June of 1998.
I was given a funai crt as a gift about 7 years ago. The colors were really good but everything else was SHIT. When I learned enough about electronics to tune it up a little, I found that the picture was blurry and fuzzy because the flyback transformer was shot. Every time I got my little hands in there and adjusted the focus, the picture would become blurry again within a day or two. (yes, from watching your videos in fifth grade I learned how to do this and successfully convinced my dad that I knew how to mess around with the HV.) Ugh i was so happy to get a new crt after that Symphonic POS. It didn't even have composite!!!
I always found Funai and Orion VCRs to be very reliable in the 1990s. Much better than LG, Philips, Thomson or some Sanyo units actually. The mode switches gummed up but that was about it really. The performance of the two head units was a bit weak but they just soldiered on with regular servicing. They were Japanese after all.
That spider was a fast one. And to think all the half decent vcr's that ended up in our garbage through the years, and it was probably due to those rotary contacts. Most of them started eating the tapes.
Dave i have something very important to address on this chassis, this may not be the same one that does this but the mechanism did act up at the beginning but did you know the mechinism can get abruptly locked up WITH THE TAPE INSIDE IT? Basically it gets stuck in it and it keeps shutting off. What do you think causes that? I guess its some gear or whatever that freezes up. This happened with my mom's mom's 1996 Zenith Funai TV VCR Back in Summer 2009. One of her copies of Disney's Beauty and the Beast 1992 VHS GOT STUCK IN IT AND NEVER CAME OUT!!!!!! Wierd or what?
Dave when you saw 12/11/1997 on the broken head drum that means that the heads were manufactured. The date on the back could be Jan, Feb Or even March 1998.
These untis were often used in shops to play advertising tapes in repeat mode all day long. I wonder how long the tapes and vcr's lasted until they broke down.
I once ran a tape in a player with auto repeat to see how many plays I got before it wore out. Was a 10 minute tape on auto repeat. Got over 500 plays before the tape was fully shot.
Damn Funai sets, I suffered through two of those chassis due to the people in the VCR Community, the first one was a Philips Magnavox from 1999, and the second was a Symphonic from 1996.
@@SavageGame1998 No. Someone BEFORE 12Voltvids got into the combo and cleaned the heads with q tips and broke one of the heads by accident. If he had a spare head drum he would change it.
Actually they weren't that bad. The japanese built ones were actually quite reliable. When I was in the video business my business partner that did all out duplication had 50 Funi branded VCRs, and I used to call them junk, but the Panasonic and Hitachi units broke down far more often than the Funi dubbing units, and when we did promo videos the client would order thousands of copies of tapes to include with their product. We used to buy T5 and T10 tapes by the hundreds. It was not uncommon for me to go out to the importer and pick up 500 tapes and drive them over to our duplication center as my partner was dubbing tapes like crazy. I did the production and editing, and then he did the bulk of the dubs. I only had 8 machines to dub tapes, he had 50 so typically I would do the small orders and the large orders I would let my associate do as he was retired from the police dept, so he had all day to change and label tapes for the monster order of anywhere from 1000 to 2500 copies at once.
@@12voltvids Looking back the 80's and early 90's Funai (Japan) were decent, like you said. But the Chinese built ones were less reliable. I avoided a lot of brands that turned out to be reliable in the long term, and leaned more in to Hitachi-made VCRs that all failed (caps, circuit glue, etc).
I have had a 1997/1998 Symphonic Funai SL2840 4 head Mono VCR That has issues Fast Fowarding or Rewinding tapes and eats them when reaching the end when rewinding. It temporarily has issues with the mode switch. I can imagine it has the same encoder switch as this one. Still to this day i feel very bad for that vcr with the heads being broken from a q tip.
Yes it is. In Romania are on the cable company I'm subscribed to, about 300 digital standard or HD/4k channels and approx 50 analog channels, which are also included in the 300 pack of digital.
I have analog signals in house. Channel 4,5,7,9,12 and 17 generated by my modulator bank. No OTA analog signals here or cable. The modulators I have came from shaw cable when they took them out. 2 are mts stereo. I have another one set to channel 2 that I am not running currently.
It is the very best option is to give this TV to the game folks who wants to use that set as a video games to play with that. Too bad the head from the head drum is gone where someone did it wrong.
I have a Symphonic SC313B combo TV/VCR. It plays a tape fine. If I stop the tape the TV shuts off about 5-10 seconds later. If I turn it on it runs for another 5-10 seconds and shuts off. If I turn it on and play a tape it plays the tape fine. Any tips or tricks I can do to make the TV work without shutting down? I don't care about using the VCR. Thanks,
What a shame, that all metal deck looked fine to me, i've had nightmare decks that are just not safe to use because of dodgy designs that ruin tapes. I've always liked basic machines with minimal tricks. No rewind while laced up, drum/tape killers.
There were actually five heads inside it (two video, one audio, one synchro and one erase). It still has 5 heads, just one is broken. Video drum is replaceable, maybe a spare could still be found...
For those who wonder, although it seems the machine is made as a video player, there IS an erase head, just does not appear to be electrically connected anywhere...
@@SavageGame1998 I thought you did. I mainly responded to clarify it to other readers, who may wonder... And I'm quite sure they've left the erase head just as a tape guide (it's required for tape tensioner, but instead of mounting just another guide, they simply left a dirt-cheap plastic head there).
Each head records a single field. There are 2 fields to a frame. 4 head machines still only use 2. They have 2 cut for the sp speed and 2 for ep, which are much narrower. 2 head machines use the same heads for sp and ep. The sp picture quality is actually poorer than an 4 head machine due to the narrow track pitch which gives a low SNR. 4 head machines have wider sp heads which deliver a higher SNR in the sp speed.
@@12voltvids And 4-head machines used all four for still, picture search and reverse play modes. This is why those VCRs had better picture during still or picture search modes. SVHS machines also used all 4 all the time when recording and playing SVHS cassettes (two heads for luminance and two for chroma signals). Six head machines used the fifth and sixth heads for recording/playback Hi-Fi sound. There were prosumer machines with SEVEN heads on the drum (the seventh was used as flying-erase head, used for insert-editing).
@@visnjamusa9395 Almost correct except SVHS decks use the four video heads on the drum the same way VHS uses them, just higher bandwidth, higher carrier frequency. Only the Betacam system records the chroma and luma separately. Actually, you can play an SVHS tape on any VHS deck, it will produce a color picture, even the Hi-Fi sound works fine, you can distinguish what program is on the tape, but it's unwatchable, jittery, overdriven. Looks similar to an analog satelite reception with a very misaligned antenna.
You forgot to put the spider back in.
I recently got a Panasonic TV/VCR combo form flea market. The VCR is a 4 Head and the TV also has an FM radio built-in. I had do some cleaning to the tape transport and mode switch to get to work. Made June of 1998.
I was given a funai crt as a gift about 7 years ago. The colors were really good but everything else was SHIT. When I learned enough about electronics to tune it up a little, I found that the picture was blurry and fuzzy because the flyback transformer was shot. Every time I got my little hands in there and adjusted the focus, the picture would become blurry again within a day or two. (yes, from watching your videos in fifth grade I learned how to do this and successfully convinced my dad that I knew how to mess around with the HV.) Ugh i was so happy to get a new crt after that Symphonic POS. It didn't even have composite!!!
That's pretty cool it's like a mini film projector inside that V.C.R.
I always found Funai and Orion VCRs to be very reliable in the 1990s. Much better than LG, Philips, Thomson or some Sanyo units actually. The mode switches gummed up but that was about it really. The performance of the two head units was a bit weak but they just soldiered on with regular servicing.
They were Japanese after all.
This funai model is very rare. I only found one copy of this unit on the internet and a Citizen Rebadged Funai from January 1996. Model no JCTV1593.
... APANTLY works ... ??? Is that different to it "ashirtly" working?
It's a pity about the video head, but it's great that you were able to repair it without any failures until the end.👍
I got 100 bucks from a vintage gamer for it so i was happy
That spider was a fast one. And to think all the half decent vcr's that ended up in our garbage through the years, and it was probably due to those rotary contacts. Most of them started eating the tapes.
A dead spider is a good spider! Especially these brown recluse type here in Southern Illinois!
Those units were often found in high school and college libraries in the early 1990s.
Dave i have something very important to address on this chassis, this may not be the same one that does this but the mechanism did act up at the beginning but did you know the mechinism can get abruptly locked up WITH THE TAPE INSIDE IT? Basically it gets stuck in it and it keeps shutting off. What do you think causes that? I guess its some gear or whatever that freezes up. This happened with my mom's mom's 1996 Zenith Funai TV VCR Back in Summer 2009. One of her copies of Disney's Beauty and the Beast 1992 VHS GOT STUCK IN IT AND NEVER CAME OUT!!!!!! Wierd or what?
I was going to comment about those mode control switches seem to be a problem over time, but I guess not! Makes for a great Pac-man tv though!
Dave when you saw 12/11/1997 on the broken head drum that means that the heads were manufactured. The date on the back could be Jan, Feb Or even March 1998.
These untis were often used in shops to play advertising tapes in repeat mode all day long. I wonder how long the tapes and vcr's lasted until they broke down.
I once ran a tape in a player with auto repeat to see how many plays I got before it wore out. Was a 10 minute tape on auto repeat. Got over 500 plays before the tape was fully shot.
So you watched your VCR play the tape for 3 days straight until the tape broke? Impressive!
@@TheVCRKing it would take a month or 2 with a T-120 or 160.
Manufacturers: "we don't want you to repair it. We want you to replace it."
Damn Funai sets, I suffered through two of those chassis due to the people in the VCR Community, the first one was a Philips Magnavox from 1999, and the second was a Symphonic from 1996.
I don't think anyone knows what "The VCR Community" is.
@@TheVCRKing It's code...for people who like spiders.
@@TheVCRKing I blame you for making me suffer from a Funai Camgear mechanism.
@@TheVCRKing Also, I think you broke the head.
@@SavageGame1998 No. Someone BEFORE 12Voltvids got into the combo and cleaned the heads with q tips and broke one of the heads by accident. If he had a spare head drum he would change it.
Funai, advancing the art of chintzy
Actually they weren't that bad. The japanese built ones were actually quite reliable. When I was in the video business my business partner that did all out duplication had 50 Funi branded VCRs, and I used to call them junk, but the Panasonic and Hitachi units broke down far more often than the Funi dubbing units, and when we did promo videos the client would order thousands of copies of tapes to include with their product. We used to buy T5 and T10 tapes by the hundreds. It was not uncommon for me to go out to the importer and pick up 500 tapes and drive them over to our duplication center as my partner was dubbing tapes like crazy.
I did the production and editing, and then he did the bulk of the dubs. I only had 8 machines to dub tapes, he had 50 so typically I would do the small orders and the large orders I would let my associate do as he was retired from the police dept, so he had all day to change and label tapes for the monster order of anywhere from 1000 to 2500 copies at once.
@@12voltvids Looking back the 80's and early 90's Funai (Japan) were decent, like you said. But the Chinese built ones were less reliable. I avoided a lot of brands that turned out to be reliable in the long term, and leaned more in to Hitachi-made VCRs that all failed (caps, circuit glue, etc).
@@probnot Don't forget those ceramic glass ic "modules" that had the black epoxy on them. They were the source of many an intermittant.
To me such a large board mounted in a flimsy frame in a heavy set screams stress fractures.
To spider: Live long and prosper.
Back in 80's and 90's Funai Video Cassette Player (VCP) was more popular with Video rental stores in India.
The mechanism was more-reliable, and was made by Shintom for Funai in 1980s.
A few years ago I came across a Jason-branded VCP (made by Goldstar) and the mechanism was almost a copy of what Panasonic produced at the time.
I have had a 1997/1998 Symphonic Funai SL2840 4 head Mono VCR That has issues Fast Fowarding or Rewinding tapes and eats them when reaching the end when rewinding. It temporarily has issues with the mode switch. I can imagine it has the same encoder switch as this one. Still to this day i feel very bad for that vcr with the heads being broken from a q tip.
The tuner probably works but there is no analog signals anymore.
Yes it is.
In Romania are on the cable company I'm subscribed to, about 300 digital standard or HD/4k channels and approx 50 analog channels, which are also included in the 300 pack of digital.
I have analog signals in house. Channel 4,5,7,9,12 and 17 generated by my modulator bank. No OTA analog signals here or cable. The modulators I have came from shaw cable when they took them out. 2 are mts stereo. I have another one set to channel 2 that I am not running currently.
It makes one wonder ... was there ever a time where Funai VCRs were failing faster than they could make them?
They weren't all that bad. Lots of them out there.
@@12voltvids True. They churned them out like instant ramen noodles and not all of them are bad.
July/August 2016 is when Funai Quit.
It is the very best option is to give this TV to the game folks who wants to use that set as a video games to play with that. Too bad the head from the head drum is gone where someone did it wrong.
Yup, it is up as a free vintage game tv.
waa waa waa waaaah!
If I were a regular consumer back in the day, I would buy a standalone CRT TV, and a VCR/DVD Combo separately. Would anyone agree?
All separate components here.
I have a Symphonic SC313B combo TV/VCR. It plays a tape fine. If I
stop the tape the TV shuts off about 5-10 seconds later. If I turn it
on it runs for another 5-10 seconds and shuts off. If I turn it on and
play a tape it plays the tape fine. Any tips or tricks I can do to
make the TV work without shutting down? I don't care about using the
VCR. Thanks,
the tape bed sensors are bad I'm guessing.
I think the akai vcr head it is the alternative
What a shame, that all metal deck looked fine to me, i've had nightmare decks that are just not safe to use because of dodgy designs that ruin tapes.
I've always liked basic machines with minimal tricks.
No rewind while laced up, drum/tape killers.
4:12 spider escape :)
Wouldn't you need a digital converter box to watch tv on this unit?
Yes for off air you would.
The amount of Deoxit 100 you used probably cost more than this TV based on the condition it's in.
That stuff is like gold
We will see about that lol
25:32 That's not a two head, it's a ONE head VCR. XD
There were actually five heads inside it (two video, one audio, one synchro and one erase). It still has 5 heads, just one is broken. Video drum is replaceable, maybe a spare could still be found...
For those who wonder, although it seems the machine is made as a video player, there IS an erase head, just does not appear to be electrically connected anywhere...
@@visnjamusa9395 I was mainly talking about the head drum.
@@SavageGame1998 I thought you did. I mainly responded to clarify it to other readers, who may wonder... And I'm quite sure they've left the erase head just as a tape guide (it's required for tape tensioner, but instead of mounting just another guide, they simply left a dirt-cheap plastic head there).
////\oo/\\\\ - hey! neat workshop!
Maybe you can do a video on replacing a video head?
Would never find one for this.
Funai VCR heads aren't more or less standard?
Now I see why 1 head VCRs were never made.
Each head records a single field. There are 2 fields to a frame.
4 head machines still only use 2. They have 2 cut for the sp speed and 2 for ep, which are much narrower. 2 head machines use the same heads for sp and ep. The sp picture quality is actually poorer than an 4 head machine due to the narrow track pitch which gives a low SNR. 4 head machines have wider sp heads which deliver a higher SNR in the sp speed.
@@12voltvids And 4-head machines used all four for still, picture search and reverse play modes. This is why those VCRs had better picture during still or picture search modes. SVHS machines also used all 4 all the time when recording and playing SVHS cassettes (two heads for luminance and two for chroma signals). Six head machines used the fifth and sixth heads for recording/playback Hi-Fi sound. There were prosumer machines with SEVEN heads on the drum (the seventh was used as flying-erase head, used for insert-editing).
@@visnjamusa9395 Almost correct except SVHS decks use the four video heads on the drum the same way VHS uses them, just higher bandwidth, higher carrier frequency. Only the Betacam system records the chroma and luma separately. Actually, you can play an SVHS tape on any VHS deck, it will produce a color picture, even the Hi-Fi sound works fine, you can distinguish what program is on the tape, but it's unwatchable, jittery, overdriven. Looks similar to an analog satelite reception with a very misaligned antenna.
What a shame. But, I know from experience that you cannot keep everything , so landfill it is.
it least it wasn't roaches. that tv would be in the trash then
Too bad the video head is busted. Seemed to be the only bad part.
It is and if I had another drum I would change it.
@@12voltvids at least its not the newer chassis.