Hitachi VT-M171A manual

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    TABLE OF CONTENT S 1 VT-M171A / VT -M270A HITA CHI VHS Video Deck VT-M171A / VT-M270A Owner's Manual Your Complete Guide to Videocassette View ing and Recording Using these quality features: • Up to 8 delay ed recording prog rams • Auto tracking for impr oved picture in play back • Cable-compati ble f requency synthesizer quartz tuner ?[...]

  • Page 2

    TABLE OF CONTENT S 2 TA BLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ 2 FOR YOUR SAFETY ................................................................................................................................. 5 READ THIS FIRST .[...]

  • Page 3

    TABLE OF CONTENT S 3 • Recordin g a Program ...................................................................................................................... 34 Befo re you Record ............................................................................................................................. 34 Basic Recording Steps ............[...]

  • Page 4

    TABLE OF CONTENT S 4 Review hookup directions a nd make correct , firm connectio ns. ................................................. 51 Poor pict ure quality (“noise”) duri ng playback. .............................................................................. 51 TV channel selector on the proper cha nnel. ................................[...]

  • Page 5

    FOR YOUR SAFETY 5 F O R Y O U R S A F E T Y POW ER SUPPLY: AC 120V, 60 Hz ONLY. The POW ER swi tch turns the VCR on and off , leaving the clock/ti mer unaf f ected. If the unit is to be left unattended for a long period, it is recommended that the uni t be completely switched off and unplugged. Illustrated below is the label on the back of your uni[...]

  • Page 6

    READ THIS FIRST 6 This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B li m its f or radio noi se emissions from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference reg ulations of the Canadian Department of Communications. Caution to user: Changes or modificati ons not expressly appr oved by the party responsible for compliance could v oid the user&[...]

  • Page 7

    READ THIS FIRST 7 To play a tape.....25 To record a progr am.....30 Problem chart.....46 Instructions in Spanish.....49[...]

  • Page 8

    • Table of Contents 8 • Table of Contents • = "Must Read" Secti ons f or First Time Oper ation Getting Sta rted, 6 Important Safeguards, 6 Simple Hookups, 8 • 1 Decide W here to Put Your VCR , 8 • 2 Decide W hich Hookup Method to Use, 8 • 3 Hook Up the Audio/Video Si gnal, 9 • 4 Hook Up the RF Si gnal, 10 • 5 Attach the TV[...]

  • Page 9

    • Table of Contents 9 Using the In sta nt Record ing Tim er (IRT), 32 Setting the VCR to Record Later, 32 Revi ewing W hat You Hav e Programmed, 34 Progr amming Priori ties, 35 A dvanced Operations, 36 Controlling Your TV with the VCR's Remote, 36 Progr amming the Remote Control , 36 Contro llin g the T V , 37 Hooking Up to a C able Box, 38 [...]

  • Page 10

    Getting Started 10 G e t t i n g S t a r t e d This section explai ns safety rules, how to hookup, quick tour of the controls, set up for first-ti me operation using on-scr eens menus, Videocassette tapes. Let's get started . • IMPORTA NT SAFEGUA RDS In addition to the careful attention dev oted to quality standards in the manufacture of you[...]

  • Page 11

    Getting Started 11 instructions. 6 Overloading -- Do not overl oad wall outlets and ex tension cords as this can result in a risk of fire or electri c shock. Overloaded AC outlets and ex tension cords are dangerous, and so ar e f rayed pow er cords, damaged or cr acked wire insul ation and broken plugs. They may result in shock or f ire haz ard. Pe[...]

  • Page 12

    Getting Started 12 11 A ccessories -- Do not place this video product on an unstable card, stand, tr ipod, bracket or table. The v ideo product may fall, causing serious injury to a chi ld or adult, and serious damage to the appl iance. Use only w ith a cart, stand, tripod, br acket or table recommended by the manuf acturer, or sold with the v ideo[...]

  • Page 13

    Getting Started 13 outlet and disconnect the antenna or cable-system. This will prev ent damage to the video pr oduct due to lightning and pow er-line sur ges. SERVICE 17 Servicing -- Do not attempt to servi ce this video product y ourself as opening or removi ng covers may expose you to dang erous voltag e or other hazards. Refer al l servi cing t[...]

  • Page 14

    Getting Started 14 connector. • If you plan to route y our VCR audio throug h your stereo speakers f or better sound reproduction, place the VCR near the stereo r eceiv er, or have enoug h long audio cables to make the connections. (But keep in mind that the el ectronic signal w eakens the further it has to trav el.) 2 Decide Which Hookup Method [...]

  • Page 15

    Getting Started 15 • Connect the yellow VIDEO OUT jack on the VCR (bottom row of jacks) to the VIDEO IN jack on the TV. This direct video input will g ive you the best picture. It w ill also let you play v ideos in a "picture in pi cture" feature, if your TV has it. • Then connect the white AUD IO OUT jack on the VCR to the AUDIO IN j[...]

  • Page 16

    Getting Started 16 1. If still hooked up to your TV, unscrew the round w ire f rom the 75 ohm connector on your tel evision. Otherw ise, take the wire that comes i n f rom the wal l. 2. Screw thi s round wire i nto the IN FROM ANT lower j ack on the back of your VCR . 3. Using the 75 ohm cable supplied wi th your VCR, sli de on either end to the OU[...]

  • Page 17

    Getting Started 17 Separate UHF and VHF antenna antenna wi res, both 300 ohm fla t wi re 300 ohm flat UHF and 75 ohm round VHF If you have "rabbit ears" (an antenna on top of your TV), y ou will need an additional adapter and 75 ohm extensi on to make your leads reach from the antenna to the VCR . This connection will work only if you hav[...]

  • Page 18

    Getting Started 18 5 A ttach the TV and VCR to the Pow er Supply Plug in the TV and VCR power cords to the w all outlet or an appropri ate extension cord or surg e protector. See Important Safeguards for further precautions ( page 6). 6 Install Batteries in the Remot e Control The remote control req uires two fresh "AA" batteries. On the [...]

  • Page 19

    Getting Started (Contr ols) 19 Getting S tarted (Controls ) • Quick Tour of the Controls Study these pictur es carefully to learn about the buttons and control s that you'll need for every day operation. Var ious controls are ex plained throughout this manual as they are needed, but now is a g ood tim e to get f amiliar with their locations.[...]

  • Page 20

    Getting Started (Contr ols) 20 Remote Control Buttons Picture of Remote Control POW ER Turns the VCR on and off . VCR1, TV, CATV, VCR2 Device buttons let you set the remote to contr ol one of four devices. MUTE (TO CONTROL TV) Turns off the audio until y ou press Mute again. VOLUME/SLOW Increase or decrease the audio v olume and plays back in adjus[...]

  • Page 21

    Getting Started (Contr ols) 21 VCR/TV Sw itches between vi ewing throug h the VCR and not view ing throug h the VCR. When the Remote Doesn't Work Right Check out th ese possibilitie s: Low Battery If the remote is not wor king even at close r ange, try putting in two fresh AA batteries. Objects in t he Way There may be objects betw een the rem[...]

  • Page 22

    Getting Started (Contr ols) 22 VIDEO IN Receiv es video sig nal from a video camera or another VCR. AUDIO IN Recei ves audio signal f rom a vi deo camera, stereo system or another VC R. Display Indicators W atch f or these signs and sy mbols that let you know that the VCR is responding to your instructions. Meet Your On- Screen Guide Your H itachi [...]

  • Page 23

    Getting Started (Contr ols) 23 1 INITA L SETUP 2 CLOCK SET 3 ONE TIME RECORDING 4 DA ILY RECORDING 5 WEEKLY RECORDING 6 PROGRA M REVIEW 7 PROBLEM GUIDE *TO END PRESS GUID E You w ill do m ost of your programming and setup by pressing numbers on the remote control w hich correspond to options presented i n this and other on-screen menus. Instruction[...]

  • Page 24

    Getting Started (Initial Setup) 24 Getting S tarted (I nitial S etup) • Setup for First-Time Operation Before you use y our VCR to watch or r ecord from your TV, you need to "tel l" the VCR whether your TV uses cable or antenna input and let i t program itself to receiv e your TV's channels. It's also a good idea to set the cl[...]

  • Page 25

    Getting Started (Initial Setup) 25 You need to set item s 1 and 2 the first time you set up your VCR and any time you have a lengthy power inter ruption. The rest of the items can be set later as needed. Here are what the options mean: 1 ANTENNA/CABLE Press 1 to select the ty pe of receivi ng setup you have: <ANT.> Internal or external antenn[...]

  • Page 26

    Getting Started (Initial Setup) 26 *TO END PRESS GUID E Press the number buttons on the remote contr ol to set the current time - tw o digits for the hour and tw o f or the minutes. Then press 1 or 2 for AM or PM, respectively . For exampl e, if it is now 2:15 PM, pr ess 0, 2, 1, and 5 f or hours and minutes, and press 2 for PM. Continue pressi ng [...]

  • Page 27

    Getting Started (Initial Setup) 27 A dding Channels Occasionally the auto-programmi ng may skip an activ e channel because the antenna was pointed i n the wrong di rection or the channel had a weak si gnal or was "off the air" at the time of programmi ng. Or you may change your mi nd about a channel you remov ed f rom memory . To A dd or [...]

  • Page 28

    Getting Started (Videotapes ) 28 Getting S tarted (V ideotape s) • A bout Videocassette Tapes Ty pes The best thing y ou can do f or your VCR is use the best qualit y tapes availabl e. T h is VCR uses VHS tapes onl y, which ar e the most common type. Look for the VHS mark on new or prerecorded tapes you buy . Tapes are marked either T -120 or T-1[...]

  • Page 29

    Getting Started (Videotapes ) 29 Loading and Ejecting W hen you load a videocassette i nto the VCR, there is only one right w ay! Most tapes show y ou the way w ith a little arr ow on the top side w hich should go in first. Push the videocassette g ently into the slot on the front of the VCR. You will feel the VCR take it in. W hen the cassette is [...]

  • Page 30

    Basic Oper ations 30 Basic Operations Practice starti ng and stopping a video you've rented - play it thr ough, see how it automati cally rewinds. Get a blank tape and try r ecording a TV show. Then you'll know how to use the VCR when you need to - or where in the manual to fi nd the instructions you forgot. Let's go! • Viewing a V[...]

  • Page 31

    Basic Oper ations 31 Manual Tracking Scratched tapes or poorl y recorded tapes may require additional picture adjustment. You can do this wi th the remote control . Pr ess VCR 1 or VCR 2 on r espectiv e mode, then press either of the TRACKING buttons ( down or up arrow s) until pictur e clears up. After operating the tr acking manually, ej ect the [...]

  • Page 32

    Basic Oper ations 32 Frame A dvance W hile in PAUSE mode during pl ayback, press F.ADV to v iew the vi deo one f rame at a time. Press PAUSE to resume play . Skip Play back W hile playing back your tape you can skip forw ard by pressing the F.ADV button. The tape will search ahead for about a minute and then resume playing. Slow Motion To slow the [...]

  • Page 33

    Basic Oper ations 33 Pressing DISPLAY will cycle you through the three o p t io ns. • Press DISPLAY just once to see the counter, mode, time, and date on the screen for 5 seconds. • Before the 5 seconds are up, press DISPLAY a second time to see just the counter. It will stay on the screen. • Press DISPLAY a third time to see the counter on t[...]

  • Page 34

    Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 34 Select minutes by pressing buttons 0 to 9 - one dig it for hours, then two dig its f o r minutes. Then press F.FW D if you want to mov e that many minutes ahead, or REW if you w ant to move that many minutes backw ard. For exampl e, say you w ant to review a scene that began about 2 minutes earlier in a video, pr e[...]

  • Page 35

    Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 35 • The VCR must be hooked up properl y for recording. See the Si mple Hookups at the beginni ng of this manual. • Make sure you are familiar with the Easy Guide System fo r on-screen programm ing (page 18) and the basi cs about videocassettes and VCR safety. Copy right Infringement Wa rning Most telev ision prog[...]

  • Page 36

    Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 36 while y ou are watching the TV, you'll hear the cassette as it clicks on and see the recording indicator lig ht up on the VCR display. You can ch e ck on the re cording by pressing he VCR/TV b u tton again. T his will switch you back to v iewing through the VCR, y ou'll see the program y ou are recording [...]

  • Page 37

    Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 37 automatically stop and the VCR will turn itself off. To stop recording w hile in the IRT mode, press the POW ER button and then press the STOP (STOP/EJECT) button (this can be done either on the VCR or wi th the remote control) w ithin 10 seconds. Setting the V CR to Record Later W ith the delayed recording feature[...]

  • Page 38

    Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 38 Remember to press 0 before sing le-digit channel numbers, times, and dates - for example, 0 and 6 for channel 6. After you enter the channel and time, the VCR automatically shows the current date or the next date, w hichever i s most logical. Leav e the date as it comes up, or enter new digits for the month and day[...]

  • Page 39

    Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 39 Now fill in the b lanks: • Select channel 8 by pressing 0 and 8 on the remote control. • Enter the start time by pressing 0, 6, 0, and 0 for 6 o'clock. Then press 2 for PM • Enter the end time, half past six , as 06:30. T he VCR automatically selects PM f or y ou. • The screen shows today 's date,[...]

  • Page 40

    Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 40 starting time. To avoid recor ding only bits and pi eces of different overlappi ng shows, rev iew y our progr amming and delete those shows that ar e not essential.[...]

  • Page 41

    Advanced Operations (Rem ote Control of T V) 41 A dvanced Operations (Remote Control of TV) This section explai ns how to use the VCR's remote contr ol to operate your TV. It also shows you how to hook up a cable box and how to connect a second VCR for a complete hom e entertainment system. • Controlling Your TV with the VCR's Remote Co[...]

  • Page 42

    Advanced Operations (Rem ote Control of T V) 42 TV Brands Press TV and This Number Hitachi 1 Zenith 2 Sony 3 Magnav ox 4 Sanyo 5 Gold Star 1 6 Toshiba 7 Gold Star 2 8 NEC 9 RCA 0 Panasonic CHANNEL (up arrow ) Mitsubishi C HANNEL (down ar row) JVC 100/ENT Sharp LAST CH Controlling the TV Once progr ammed, the VCR's remote control is r eady to c[...]

  • Page 43

    Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 43 A dvanced Operations ( Cable Box Hookups) • Hooking Up to a Cable Box The cable box bri ngs all the advantag es of pay cable, but finding a satisfactory hookup can be challengi ng. To sort out what to do, w e suggest a step-by- step approach to installation . You w ill need RF T V splitters, coaxial cab[...]

  • Page 44

    Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 44 removed the cabl e line. Check all the TV and VCR functions. If you don't g et all the functions you want, pr oceed with Option 2. Option 2--A ll Channels Unscrambled 1. Remove the cabl e company's line from the back of the cable box that g oes to your TV. Connect it to the IN FRONT ANT low er j[...]

  • Page 45

    Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 45 3. Using a second coaxial j umper, connect the other spl i tter output to the A of the A-or - B switch. 4. Using the cable box output li ne, connect the cable box receptacle to the B of the A-or- B switch. 5. Using a thi rd coaxial jumper , connect the output of the A-or-B sw itch to the IN FROM ANT lower[...]

  • Page 46

    Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 46 Zenith 5 Scientific Atlanta 6 Pioneer 7 Philips 8 To operate the cable box once the r emote is programmed for i t: • Press CATV and then the button of the function you want. • Press VCR1 to oper ate your VCR w ith the remote again.[...]

  • Page 47

    Advanced Operations (Second VCR) 47 A dvanced Operations (Second VCR) • Integrating a Second VCR W ith another VCR hooked up, you can copy videotapes as needed, and y ou can get fancy wi th multimedia programmi ng. For this discussion, w e refer to the model VT- M171A (or M 270A)Hitachi as VCR2 and the other unit as VCR1. Hookup To hook up a seco[...]

  • Page 48

    Advanced Operations (Second VCR) 48 Copy ing Tapes From A Camcorder If you woul d like to copy a v ideo tape shot in your camcorder onto your VCR her e's how to do it. • Connect the camcorder's AV output cabl e to your VCR. (See di agram below) Copyi ng Tapes From A Camcorder Hookup Ill ustration • Press the AVX button on the VC Rs re[...]

  • Page 49

    VCR Care and Servicing 49 V C R C a r e a n d S e r v i c i n g You are advised to keep an eye on a few things as you go. In addi tion, you may sometim es have troubles with your VCR . W e offer some suggesti ons for care to prevent problem s, ways to troubleshoot, and places to contact when you cannot solve the problem s yourself. • Routine Clea[...]

  • Page 50

    VCR Care and Servicing 50 Do not rem ove the cover or the b ack of th e VCR - this will void the warranty and endanger y our safety. The exposed uninsulated v oltage in this unit may be high enoug h to cause electrical shock. It is dangerous to make contact w ith any inside part, and none of these parts are intended to be serv iced by an untrained [...]

  • Page 51

    Care and Servicing ( Problem s) 51 Care and Servicing (Problems) OFTEN ENCOUNTERED PROBLEMS PROBLEM THINGS TO CHECK SOLUTION No Power Power cord plugged in? Connect the pow er cord to AC outlet. Delayed re cording does not work . Progr am set to the correct channel? Reset the delay ed recordin g. Progr am time and date set correctly? Reset the dela[...]

  • Page 52

    Care and Servicing ( Problem s) 52 Is remote control set to control the TV? Press the TV device button, then press the button corresponding to the TV function you want. Mechanical sounds during the STOP Has a loaded cassette been stopped more than 5 minutes? Nothing is wrong. T h e tape protection mechanism is w orking. Eject the cassette if you ar[...]

  • Page 53

    Specific ation 53 S p e c i f i c a t i o n • Technical Specifications 4 Recording : Rotary two-head helical scan azimuth recording Video: NTSC color EIA standard Cassette: VHS type Heads: VT-M171A 2 video heads for SP and EP VT-M270A 4 video heads. 2 for SP, 2 for EP 1 full track audio/v ideo erase head 1 combination head for control tr ack, aud[...]

  • Page 54

    Specific ation 54 ons subject to change without notice. 1 This sentence appears only in the VT-M171A. 2 This sentence appears only in the VT-M171A. 3 This sentence appears only in the VT-M171A. 4 The number of video heads is the difference between the two models.[...]