That's a Philips "Turbo Drive" mechanism. It was common on European-market Philips VCRs in the mid 90s. They even had an even more wild mech called the Charlie which loaded the tape in a C-wrap pattern like 711 series chassis Betamaxes.
I truly enjoy your videos especially when you get salty with language. It's just relatable. I appreciate your passion for VCRs so much. I collect vhs movies myself. These something special about it that only comes with growing up when VCRs were everywhere. Nothing wrong with streaming but you can't beat physical media. Keep doing your thing it's cool.
Judging by the Portugese language graphics on this deck, it was more than likely acquired by somebody who either visited or lived in Portugal at some point, then moved to Canaderp during the past 25-27 years.
There was Super LP in Europe which was slower than PAL LP. Many late-model Panasonic machines had it. In North America it was called VP and was slower than EP. I think it gave you 16 hours of recording time on the longest tape.
I've noticed a lot of VCRs sold in Europe in the early 2000s must have been multisystem, PAL/NTSC. Almost all early 2000s VCRs I've seen at thriftstores when I think about it. And when I think more about it, they're all the same platform too -- Sanyo? -- rebadged as Samsung, Sony, etc. Also in my local thriftstore, are SCART adapters, SCART cables, SCART splitters, we're up to our ears in cheap and often quite high quality SCART accessories. I picked up a Monster branded gold plated SCART cable for the equivalent of eight Canadabucks two years ago. Seeing that cheap SCART Amazon buy you ended up with, hurt me right in the SCART. Loved the video, and that Grundig was hilariously European in looks, the 90s design vibe brings me back. Oh but the apex of early 90s middle-of-the-road European VCRs were Philips. Peak mediocrity. I hope one finds its way to you some day. Grundig, the budget conscious brand for strictly middle-class people who possibly drove an Opel or Citroen. Good value for no-nonsense people. People who have to work for a living damnit! You'd also often find Grundig TVs and VCRs at rental cottages, hotels, the kind of places that needed a TV/VCR, affordable and functional, but also brand that doesn't insult the guests by it's cheapness. That's Grundig. After Thomson bought the brand it became bland as well. Thomson are/were the kings of bland. Bless their corporate hearts.
North America definitely had Philips and Philips/Magnavox VCRs, but I'm not sure if they used European chassis designs for any of them. In the US and Canada Philips TVs were really common in hotels (like Airport Hilton type hotels that had overpriced minibar whisky and pay by the hour lodgenet Nintendo games) so that's what I always associate that era of Philips with. And RCA was owned by Thomson at this time and they were pretty much the same thing, a middle of the road brand that with products that were sold at department stores and furniture stoes, and not exactly overpriced but still cost to much for what they were. There even looks like there's some shared design language between this VCR and RCA products of the same era.
I think it only supports SP/LP for recording in PAL/SECAM. The EP support is for NTSC. I've heard some late model PAL VCRs supported PAL EP, but it was pretty rare.
i think it's actually recorded in MESECAM (since VCRs with native SECAM support are pretty uncommon there, the vast majority of VCRs are PAL (and they record SECAM in MESECAM (the stop-gap between PAL and SECAM))
@@net2a.k.a.netzssafemode100 Yeah it will be MESECAM guaranteed. Not compatible with French SECAM. You can even see the red and blue spikes of chroma noise when he attempted to play that tape on the LCD TV.
Il grundig e' VHS compatibile con il segnale video SVHS,pero' essendo principalmente VHS ovviamente non ha ingresso e uscita SVHS apposito,ma esistono molti videoregistratori SVHS che oltre al connettore mini din appropriato sono tecnicamente in grado di far lavorare il segnale video SVHS anche sul connettore scart,puo essere che quel modello sia in grado di registrare il segnale SVHS dallo scart,e questo spiega perche e' presente il pulsante SVHS..
2:45 - That mechanism looks pretty normal. _Here_ is an unusual VHS mechanism (also on a PAL machine from Grundig): ruclips.net/video/s4nV1jtu3tE/видео.html Here is another weird VHS mechanism, also from Grundig: ruclips.net/video/dvgU9sLT8k0/видео.html
@@probnotstech That is peculiar. Since the '80s In PAL countries, VCRs were already dual (PAL/SECAM) color encoding systems. At least every VCR that I own. The sole reason for SECAM's existence was France's spite from adopting PAL (German developed). It was inferior in every way to PAL. After the fall of the wall, all former Warsaw pact countries that were using SECAM (enforced by the USSR) had switched to PAL.
I remember back when I waved satellite dishes about for fun watching european analogue television, and my TV at the time, despite being designed for PAL and SECAM use, often struggled to lock in on SECAM signals when I was changing to french channels (SECAM is a French standard I believe) on the satellite receiver, had to change back & forth a couple of times before the TV realised it wasn't a PAL signal, and then there was the "fun" of SECAM being over-saturated with colour too, so was quite annoying really! Then digital TV came along and everything was boring so I lost interest in that hobby... :P
@@probnotstech I looked into it you can get mta adapters for hospitals that don’t wana loose the wired remote by the bed but they cost 10grand but they bring back that functionality they could have those I also stayed in a ski resort last month and they had cable with out boxes and were using the digital tuner.
I had a Fisher 6 head HI-FI & some VHS used linear stereo before HI-FI came out as that VCR may support both like my Fisher did. 240 volt I am sure that was sold in many countries using the PAL system including UK & EU. You can easily change the transformer to a 120 volt one. Why don't you try the video & audio out? It may not work on a NTSC system as that was on PAL system. That video wasn't PAL i am sure it was SECAM as Russia used that system. SECAM will not do color on a PAL system only black & white. I would clean the heads & maybe change the belts before you do all this testing as it may clear up the sound etc. I do not think that would support analog NTSC VHF/UHF/Cable tuner. -Cheers!
Hi, I'm not sure what you mean by the video and audio out, but I was definitely using the video/audio out on SCART. Both TVs I used support PAL and NTSC. This VCR output NTSC or PAL or NTSC, depending on what standard the tape is in, and doesn't have circuitry to convert between standards. And you are right about SECAM, I realized that later on. It's weird because some of those Russian tapes did play in colour on my other multi-system VCR (hooked up to a AV2HDMI in PAL mode) so I have no idea why. I did clean the heads off camera, but I only inspected the belt, which seemed fine. The nasty audio is only with HiFi - the linear audio is fine, so that points to the head drum being the issue. The weird buzz overlayed on the audio happens between head switching (50hz or 60hz).
PHILIPS MECHANISM .. ARD STANDS GERMAN CHANNEL PHILIPS MADE THOSE VCR AND THE PICTURE AND SOUND ARE AMAZING I HAVE PHILIPS VCR SOUND AND PICTURE ARE AMAZING .
Let's appreciate the time he put in to put the word "crunch" every time the head cleaner kicks in
It took me a bit to realize that was making the horrible sound
That's a Philips "Turbo Drive" mechanism. It was common on European-market Philips VCRs in the mid 90s. They even had an even more wild mech called the Charlie which loaded the tape in a C-wrap pattern like 711 series chassis Betamaxes.
I truly enjoy your videos especially when you get salty with language. It's just relatable. I appreciate your passion for VCRs so much. I collect vhs movies myself. These something special about it that only comes with growing up when VCRs were everywhere. Nothing wrong with streaming but you can't beat physical media. Keep doing your thing it's cool.
Judging by the Portugese language graphics on this deck, it was more than likely acquired by somebody who either visited or lived in Portugal at some point, then moved to Canaderp during the past 25-27 years.
Nice VCR, I really like the level meters on it.
I guess it must've made sense to someone.
I think our EP was calling LP in pal regions. A lot of PAL VCR in the 80s were SP only
There was Super LP in Europe which was slower than PAL LP. Many late-model Panasonic machines had it. In North America it was called VP and was slower than EP. I think it gave you 16 hours of recording time on the longest tape.
I've noticed a lot of VCRs sold in Europe in the early 2000s must have been multisystem, PAL/NTSC. Almost all early 2000s VCRs I've seen at thriftstores when I think about it. And when I think more about it, they're all the same platform too -- Sanyo? -- rebadged as Samsung, Sony, etc. Also in my local thriftstore, are SCART adapters, SCART cables, SCART splitters, we're up to our ears in cheap and often quite high quality SCART accessories. I picked up a Monster branded gold plated SCART cable for the equivalent of eight Canadabucks two years ago. Seeing that cheap SCART Amazon buy you ended up with, hurt me right in the SCART. Loved the video, and that Grundig was hilariously European in looks, the 90s design vibe brings me back. Oh but the apex of early 90s middle-of-the-road European VCRs were Philips. Peak mediocrity. I hope one finds its way to you some day.
Grundig, the budget conscious brand for strictly middle-class people who possibly drove an Opel or Citroen. Good value for no-nonsense people. People who have to work for a living damnit! You'd also often find Grundig TVs and VCRs at rental cottages, hotels, the kind of places that needed a TV/VCR, affordable and functional, but also brand that doesn't insult the guests by it's cheapness. That's Grundig. After Thomson bought the brand it became bland as well. Thomson are/were the kings of bland. Bless their corporate hearts.
North America definitely had Philips and Philips/Magnavox VCRs, but I'm not sure if they used European chassis designs for any of them. In the US and Canada Philips TVs were really common in hotels (like Airport Hilton type hotels that had overpriced minibar whisky and pay by the hour lodgenet Nintendo games) so that's what I always associate that era of Philips with.
And RCA was owned by Thomson at this time and they were pretty much the same thing, a middle of the road brand that with products that were sold at department stores and furniture stoes, and not exactly overpriced but still cost to much for what they were. There even looks like there's some shared design language between this VCR and RCA products of the same era.
It was a Colombian soap opera 'El Cuerpo del Deseo' on a Russian tape.
I think most euro vcrs didn't have EP speed. Perhaps EP was an afterthought on this machine? I love the VU meters though!
I think it only supports SP/LP for recording in PAL/SECAM. The EP support is for NTSC. I've heard some late model PAL VCRs supported PAL EP, but it was pretty rare.
@@probnotstechIt would be interesting to see how it plays NTSC LP-mode recordings and how it handles special effects (trick play) with them.
Never mind, I see you bought an adaptor.
The Russian tape is probably SECAM
EDIT: Ah yes, you discovered that later on, sorry
i think it's actually recorded in MESECAM (since VCRs with native SECAM support are pretty uncommon there, the vast majority of VCRs are PAL (and they record SECAM in MESECAM (the stop-gap between PAL and SECAM))
@@net2a.k.a.netzssafemode100 Yeah it will be MESECAM guaranteed. Not compatible with French SECAM. You can even see the red and blue spikes of chroma noise when he attempted to play that tape on the LCD TV.
Il grundig e' VHS compatibile con il segnale video SVHS,pero' essendo principalmente VHS ovviamente non ha ingresso e uscita SVHS apposito,ma esistono molti videoregistratori SVHS che oltre al connettore mini din appropriato sono tecnicamente in grado di far lavorare il segnale video SVHS anche sul connettore scart,puo essere che quel modello sia in grado di registrare il segnale SVHS dallo scart,e questo spiega perche e' presente il pulsante SVHS..
yeah... that's a "Pyatiy Kanal" (a.k.a. Saint Petersburg's Channel 5)
SONY HAD SOME GOD ADAPTERS FROM CAMERAS IF YOU HAVE ONE FROM OLD CAMERAS .
2:45 - That mechanism looks pretty normal. _Here_ is an unusual VHS mechanism (also on a PAL machine from Grundig):
ruclips.net/video/s4nV1jtu3tE/видео.html
Here is another weird VHS mechanism, also from Grundig:
ruclips.net/video/dvgU9sLT8k0/видео.html
Danke :)
Russia used SECAM, not PAL. Maybe that an issue at 7:32?
It definitely was!
@@probnotstech That is peculiar. Since the '80s In PAL countries, VCRs were already dual (PAL/SECAM) color encoding systems. At least every VCR that I own. The sole reason for SECAM's existence was France's spite from adopting PAL (German developed). It was inferior in every way to PAL. After the fall of the wall, all former Warsaw pact countries that were using SECAM (enforced by the USSR) had switched to PAL.
I remember back when I waved satellite dishes about for fun watching european analogue television, and my TV at the time, despite being designed for PAL and SECAM use, often struggled to lock in on SECAM signals when I was changing to french channels (SECAM is a French standard I believe) on the satellite receiver, had to change back & forth a couple of times before the TV realised it wasn't a PAL signal, and then there was the "fun" of SECAM being over-saturated with colour too, so was quite annoying really! Then digital TV came along and everything was boring so I lost interest in that hobby... :P
4:50 I see that you flinched a little
Great video keep your mode switche clean out everything proven online if you don't know what a mode switch is
You would like the one hospital i stayed at they had analog cable up and running in 2024 the tv was actually using the tuner .
They probably had the kind of head end setup I'm trying to emulate at home.
@@probnotstech I looked into it you can get mta adapters for hospitals that don’t wana loose the wired remote by the bed but they cost 10grand but they bring back that functionality they could have those I also stayed in a ski resort last month and they had cable with out boxes and were using the digital tuner.
I had a Fisher 6 head HI-FI & some VHS used linear stereo before HI-FI came out as that VCR may support both like my Fisher did. 240 volt I am sure that was sold in many countries using the PAL system including UK & EU. You can easily change the transformer to a 120 volt one. Why don't you try the video & audio out? It may not work on a NTSC system as that was on PAL system. That video wasn't PAL i am sure it was SECAM as Russia used that system. SECAM will not do color on a PAL system only black & white. I would clean the heads & maybe change the belts before you do all this testing as it may clear up the sound etc. I do not think that would support analog NTSC VHF/UHF/Cable tuner. -Cheers!
Hi, I'm not sure what you mean by the video and audio out, but I was definitely using the video/audio out on SCART. Both TVs I used support PAL and NTSC. This VCR output NTSC or PAL or NTSC, depending on what standard the tape is in, and doesn't have circuitry to convert between standards.
And you are right about SECAM, I realized that later on. It's weird because some of those Russian tapes did play in colour on my other multi-system VCR (hooked up to a AV2HDMI in PAL mode) so I have no idea why.
I did clean the heads off camera, but I only inspected the belt, which seemed fine. The nasty audio is only with HiFi - the linear audio is fine, so that points to the head drum being the issue. The weird buzz overlayed on the audio happens between head switching (50hz or 60hz).
Maybe it’s possible the Russian recording was not PAL but secam and this doesn’t work with secam?
PHILIPS MECHANISM .. ARD STANDS GERMAN CHANNEL PHILIPS MADE THOSE VCR AND THE PICTURE AND SOUND ARE AMAZING I HAVE PHILIPS VCR SOUND AND PICTURE ARE AMAZING .