JVC HR3300
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The very first VHS deck of all was the JVC HR-3300.
This was launched in Japan in 1976, and the USA in 1977.
The first VHS machines to reach the UK, in 1978, were
derivatives of this machine; the one shown above is the
deluxe 3330. The 3300 was unusual in that it used rotary tuning and timer dials, though by the time VHS reached the UK these had been replaced by an electronic push-button tuner and a digital timer. |
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There seems to be little to say about the 3300
series, because later VHS machines share them as
ancestors and so are similar in many ways. They are piano-key operated top-loaders, with purely mechanical tape-transport control. The clock/timer with its red LED display gives a single event, limited to 24 hours ahead. Unlike the Betamax machines of the time, the end time is also set on the clock, rather than from a small number of pre-set timing options. |
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One odd feature which can catch you out is that it has no "monitor mode" - the machine only outputs the incoming TV signal while it is recording. This feature, common in VHS machines of this era, now seems like a design catastrophe - we are used to watching TV "through" the video. Even though you can get a picture by pressing the RECORD key (without PLAY), it is still awkward to use when you are waiting for a program to start, since you have to press STOP before you can start recording - no "record-pause" in 1979!
Internally, the head
drum is the most obvious feature, as usual. VHS head
drums are smaller than Beta, 62mm as opposed to 75mm (and
105mm for the VCR series). Like the VCR and U-Matic machines the
entire top half of the drum spins, carrying the heads
with it; Betamax mounts the heads on a separate internal
disc which protrudes through a slot in the stationary
drum. The VHS lacing system is also entirely different, the tape being pulled out of the cassette by two loading "fingers" into an M shape with the drum in the middle: |
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This system is commonly known as M-lacing, to distinguish it from the Betamax/U-Matic system, which is called C-lacing. The loading fingers also carry guides to angle the tape around the drum, and are locked into their loaded position by clamps. The M-lacing system is simpler to work on since everything is laid out along the tape path; the Betamax approach tends to gather everything together in a tight cluster around the drum.
Another key difference between the two systems is that VHS only laces up when a play or record operation is active. For all other operations the tape is returned to the cassette. The benifit of this is that the tape can be fast forwarded and rewound at higher speed, since the tape doesn't have to pass around the drum; the downside is that you have to wait several seconds after pressing Play while the machine laces, before a picture appears - or more importantly, before Record starts recording.
It was also thought that the Beta system would wear out the tape more quickly than VHS, since the tape is still wrapped around the drum during fast winding. However, the tape is under less tension in Betamax, and as it turned out tape wear was never an issue.
VHS uses an optical system to detect the ends of the tape. A light on the end of a pole sticks up through a hole in the casette, between the two spools; the tape leader is transparent, which allows the light to shine through it and reach sensors at the si des of the machine. Hence the end of the tape, or the lack of any tape at all, is easily detected. All modern VHS machines use invisible infra-red light for this, but this machine has a simple white-light bulb. The Philips VCR series also used a (visible) light-based system, while Betamax machines use a metal foil leader with electronic sensors.
This particular machine came from a car boot sale, and is in full working order.
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