Nice video machines. But the icing on the cake is definately the dubbing cable and the service manual in English. I'm off to vote for the Grundig 2x4 Super.
Yes, the Grundig 2x4 plus was a front loader but it had a transparent plastic lid that had to be lifted manually. The shape of it resembled the SVR and earlier Grundig VCR models.
How about the 2x4? That was the first V2000 machine I ever bought, I remember picking it up from the back of Rackhams from their loading bay in Birmingham back in 1983. It was a good machine, though it did start to exhibit problems after about three years, but the picture quality was better than the Philips V2000 machines of the time.
Love your videos, so much to learn about these amazing old machines! I am in my 20s, one day I will propably be one of the only people left in the world who can repair VCRs. At least for VHS, I am not smart enough for Video 2000.
I had a Talbot Horizon. Really solid car but the engine did sound like a metal bucket full of spanners being shaken! I have a working Philips N1702 & had 1700s when they were current & I still don’t know what the difference is. I have a non working Grundig 2x4 plus but I did have a working one when they were current. Fewer trick functions than the 2x4 super but I loved the way the cassette loaded. A front loader but you could see the tape through transparent door. Even less reliable than the 2x4 super though. Love machines of this vintage & you seem to be the only one on UA-cam working on the unique European ones, thanks for that.
The tape tension problem with the 2x4 8xx comes from the 2 winding motors. You just have to open the lower cover and clean the rotor contacts. Then i soldered the cover at 4 points. You may also need to replace 2 small 4.7uF electrolytic capacitors on the control panel where the cables are soldered at the bottom. The 8xx models generally need a complete electrolytic capacitor replacement.
you always make great videos. i love all the old tech and you seem to work on most formats we had as kids in the 80s etc. would love to see you working on Laserdisc. and furthermore i would love to find out what the quality would be if you copied Bluray onto Beta and would that show Beta at its best ever as intended by Sony.
I would like to see one of the Philips N1700 machines, have not worked on one for over 40 years! The 2x4 would certainly make an interesting video, these were very unreliable back in the day.
7:30 I resolved the problem of those connectors back in 2020 by printing them on FDM machine with 0.2mm nozzle. Meanwhile, I got into SLA printing, it would be interesting to see how good the replacement connector would be using this much precise technology... I might give it a try, but unfortunately, sending the connectors to you in the UK would be not that simple as it was some time earlier... 🙄
I had a 2x4 grundig my second v2000 after a Phillips machine it worked good for 3 years then it packed up so ended up in the bin. Then ended up buying VHS from then on. I would like you to work on the 2x4 first! It was my personal favourite
Rare to see an N1500 or 1700, however when picking up from a Linwood council amenity recycling site there'd often be a few stacked up, Linwood being one the places these were made in the 70s.
Linwood? - In Renfrewshire? Out by the old Rootes factory? Born bred and buttered in Glasgow, worked all my life in broadcast/AV... and never knew VCRs were made anywhere in Scotland!
@@Matt_Quinn-Personal_Account The chap who opened the container mentioned they were made locally after I noticed a stack of them, whether or not they were Philips, because Dynatron, ITT, Grundig, Loewe, Pye and Skantic also had their branding on them? I bought an N1700 in Glasgow in the 90s, could never get any tapes for it, scrapped it, which is a pity since they're worth a bit of cash now, I also remember reading that Linwood was involved in manufacturing, sadly can find no information on that now.
@@snap_oversteer - I run a Corporate video company; we started out in Springburn (where I was born and bred) ... so I knew of, and even filmed a lot of local factories and industrial sites back in the day. It's a particular surprise to learn of video equipment being made 'locally'. - rodime rings a bell; though I never worked with them.
@@snap_oversteer In the late 90s there were quite a few areas of manufacturing, Digital Equipment, Ayr, Irvine. Seagate hard drives briefly in Irvine. Strangely around 2000 a company called Lite-On invested in CRTs, building a factory in Livingston, no surprise it didn't exist for long.
You may already know, but most of the old TV mags are available in PDF format at worldradiohistory. com / Practical_Television_Magazine.htm (remove spaces).
Yes, seen that and use it. It's searchable too. I do have some editions that are not in their collection though. It would take a fair while to scan them in, but one day I should.
*very* surprised youtube let you post that without censoring the comment out of existance or shadowbanning it for the URL, even if messed up intentionally. I've had comments auto-deleted for way less, so seeing a full URL go through without youtubes AI comment censoring kicking in almost feels like an insult
Why did Grundig call it 'Video 2x4'? I mean yes, it could play for 2x4 hours but what if there was a 2x5 hour cassette, would they rename it 'Video 2x5'?
I suppose they figured that would never happen, and indeed it didn't. But it might technically be possible using the tape from one of the later very long and thin VHS tapes. Similarly a Beta L-1000 can be made.
@@video99couk I tried that with a BASF E300. I used an old VHS chassis from a scrap machine and made up a makeshift rig to spool the VHS tape onto the V2000 spool at high speed powering up the reel motor, remembering of course to leave the first few feet of V2000 tape with the reflective foil strip. It worked well, but the V2000 tape speed is a little faster than VHS, so 5 hours wasn't achievable. I can't remember now if all the tape actually fitted on the V2000 spool, it was a long time ago.
Nice video machines. But the icing on the cake is definately the dubbing cable and the service manual in English. I'm off to vote for the Grundig 2x4 Super.
Video Recorder Heaven! Thank you for rescuing and saving these technology miracles of yesteryear!!!
Thanks really go to the subscriber who sent them in.
Yes, the Grundig 2x4 plus was a front loader but it had a transparent plastic lid that had to be lifted manually. The shape of it resembled the SVR and earlier Grundig VCR models.
I vote for the Grundig 2x4. I have 3 of these machines and your previous repair videos of this machine have helped me alot 😊.
How about the 2x4? That was the first V2000 machine I ever bought, I remember picking it up from the back of Rackhams from their loading bay in Birmingham back in 1983. It was a good machine, though it did start to exhibit problems after about three years, but the picture quality was better than the Philips V2000 machines of the time.
Look forward to seeing more on the N1700's, nostalgic seeing them as we had one at home when I was very young!
Love your videos, so much to learn about these amazing old machines! I am in my 20s, one day I will propably be one of the only people left in the world who can repair VCRs. At least for VHS, I am not smart enough for Video 2000.
I had a Talbot Horizon. Really solid car but the engine did sound like a metal bucket full of spanners being shaken! I have a working Philips N1702 & had 1700s when they were current & I still don’t know what the difference is. I have a non working Grundig 2x4 plus but I did have a working one when they were current. Fewer trick functions than the 2x4 super but I loved the way the cassette loaded. A front loader but you could see the tape through transparent door. Even less reliable than the 2x4 super though. Love machines of this vintage & you seem to be the only one on UA-cam working on the unique European ones, thanks for that.
I believe by the very last Horizons that they had sorted the rattle.
The tape tension problem with the 2x4 8xx comes from the 2 winding motors.
You just have to open the lower cover and clean the rotor contacts. Then i soldered the cover at 4 points.
You may also need to replace 2 small 4.7uF electrolytic capacitors on the control panel where the cables are soldered at the bottom.
The 8xx models generally need a complete electrolytic capacitor replacement.
If you have any photos of the parts which need cleaning and replacing, please send to colin@video99.co.uk and I will certain do that.
you always make great videos. i love all the old tech and you seem to work on most formats we had as kids in the 80s etc. would love to see you working on Laserdisc. and furthermore i would love to find out what the quality would be if you copied Bluray onto Beta and would that show Beta at its best ever as intended by Sony.
I would like to see one of the Philips N1700 machines, have not worked on one for over 40 years!
The 2x4 would certainly make an interesting video, these were very unreliable back in the day.
7:30 I resolved the problem of those connectors back in 2020 by printing them on FDM machine with 0.2mm nozzle. Meanwhile, I got into SLA printing, it would be interesting to see how good the replacement connector would be using this much precise technology... I might give it a try, but unfortunately, sending the connectors to you in the UK would be not that simple as it was some time earlier... 🙄
Bl**dy Brexit!
I had a 2x4 grundig my second v2000 after a Phillips machine it worked good for 3 years then it packed up so ended up in the bin. Then ended up buying VHS from then on.
I would like you to work on the 2x4 first! It was my personal favourite
3/6 ...three shillings and sixpence. 12 pennies in a shilling, which was replaced by 5 new pence. Thus 17 1/2p = 3/6!
Rare to see an N1500 or 1700, however when picking up from a Linwood council amenity recycling site there'd often be a few stacked up, Linwood being one the places these were made in the 70s.
Linwood? - In Renfrewshire? Out by the old Rootes factory? Born bred and buttered in Glasgow, worked all my life in broadcast/AV... and never knew VCRs were made anywhere in Scotland!
@@Matt_Quinn-Personal_Account The chap who opened the container mentioned they were made locally after I noticed a stack of them, whether or not they were Philips, because Dynatron, ITT, Grundig, Loewe, Pye and Skantic also had their branding on them? I bought an N1700 in Glasgow in the 90s, could never get any tapes for it, scrapped it, which is a pity since they're worth a bit of cash now, I also remember reading that Linwood was involved in manufacturing, sadly can find no information on that now.
@@Matt_Quinn-Personal_Account There were even hard drives made in Scotland by Scottish company called Rodime, altough they didn't survive for long.
@@snap_oversteer - I run a Corporate video company; we started out in Springburn (where I was born and bred) ... so I knew of, and even filmed a lot of local factories and industrial sites back in the day. It's a particular surprise to learn of video equipment being made 'locally'. - rodime rings a bell; though I never worked with them.
@@snap_oversteer In the late 90s there were quite a few areas of manufacturing, Digital Equipment, Ayr, Irvine. Seagate hard drives briefly in Irvine. Strangely around 2000 a company called Lite-On invested in CRTs, building a factory in Livingston, no surprise it didn't exist for long.
3s 6p equates to 17.5p
You may already know, but most of the old TV mags are available in PDF format at worldradiohistory. com / Practical_Television_Magazine.htm (remove spaces).
Yes, seen that and use it. It's searchable too. I do have some editions that are not in their collection though. It would take a fair while to scan them in, but one day I should.
*very* surprised youtube let you post that without censoring the comment out of existance or shadowbanning it for the URL, even if messed up intentionally. I've had comments auto-deleted for way less, so seeing a full URL go through without youtubes AI comment censoring kicking in almost feels like an insult
Why did Grundig call it 'Video 2x4'? I mean yes, it could play for 2x4 hours but what if there was a 2x5 hour cassette, would they rename it 'Video 2x5'?
I suppose they figured that would never happen, and indeed it didn't. But it might technically be possible using the tape from one of the later very long and thin VHS tapes. Similarly a Beta L-1000 can be made.
There were Video 2x8 models that doubled the recording time by using LP speed.
@@video99couk I tried that with a BASF E300. I used an old VHS chassis from a scrap machine and made up a makeshift rig to spool the VHS tape onto the V2000 spool at high speed powering up the reel motor, remembering of course to leave the first few feet of V2000 tape with the reflective foil strip. It worked well, but the V2000 tape speed is a little faster than VHS, so 5 hours wasn't achievable. I can't remember now if all the tape actually fitted on the V2000 spool, it was a long time ago.
If anyone would like to send me a n1500 or n1700 I’ll take up the excess and keep the Mrs happy :)
💯🇹🇷⭐️👍