Philips VRA231AT manual

Owner’s Manual Important! Return your Warranty Registration Card within 10 days. See why inside. Video Cassette Recorder VRA231AT[...]

Once your PHILIPS MAGNAVOX purchase is registered, you’re eligible to receive all the privileges of owning a PHILIPS MAGNAVOX product. So complete and return the Warranty Registration Card enclosed with your purchase at once. And take advantage of these important benefits. Return your Warranty Registration card today to ensure you receive all the[...]

Introduction 3 Features • Automatic Channel Setup • Automatic Head Cleaner • Automatic Operation Features • Automatic Tracking Adjustment • Blue Background • Daylight-Saving Time • Display Panel • High Quality (HQ) System • On-Screen Displays in English or Spanish • One-Touch Recording • Real-Time Counter • Remote Control wi[...]

4 Table of Contents Setting Up Your VCR Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Before Using Your VCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[...]

● Use only tapes with the mark. ● Remove any light adhesive stick-on notes from the video cas- sette tape before putting the tape in the VCR. Removable labels can jam the VCR. ● Periodic maintenance is required to maintain your VCR’s excel- lent performance. This VCR has an Automatic Head Cleaner. However, the video heads will require repla[...]

VIDEO IN OUT CH3 CH4 AUDIO OUT IN ANT OR VIDEO IN OUT CH3 CH4 AUDIO OUT IN ANT 75 V ANT / CABLE OR 75 V ANT / CABLE 6 Hookups Without a Cable Box / Direct Broadcast System The basic VCR/TV connection – antenna/cable to VCR to TV – is shown below. If you have a Cable Box or a Direct Broadcast System, please see pages eight-nine. If you have a St[...]

VIDEO IN OUT CH3 CH4 AUDIO OUT IN ANT CH 4 or CH 3 VIDEO IN OUT CH3 CH4 AUDIO OUT IN ANT CH3 / CH4 Switch CH3 CH4 VIDEO IN OUT CH3 CH4 AUDIO OUT IN ANT 75 V ANT / CABLE 75 V ANT / CABLE VIDEO IN OUT CH3 CH4 AUDIO OUT IN ANT RF coaxial cable Antenna or Cable 3 Connect the RF coaxial cable (supplied) to the OUT Jack on the back of the VCR and to the [...]

8 Hookups With a Cable Box / Direct Broadcast System There are two ways to connect your Cable Box/DBS to the VCR. With this connection: ● You may view any channel. ● You must select channels at the Cable Box/DBS. Channels cannot be changed at the VCR. ● You may not view a channel other than the one you are recording. ● You may not program c[...]

Hookups With a Cable Box / Direct Broadcast System (cont’d) 9 VIDEO IN OUT CH3 CH4 AUDIO OUT IN ANT IN OUT 75 V ANT / CABLE With this connection: ● You may watch one channel while recording another. ● You may not record scrambled channels. Recording One Channel/Watching Another 1 Put the Cable Box/DBS on the same channel as the VCR’s CH3/CH[...]

10 Hookups With a Stereo TV VIDEO IN OUT CH3 CH4 AUDIO OUT IN ANT antenna or cable to ANT(enna) IN Jack Video Cable Audio Cable VIDEO (yellow) and AUDIO (white) OUT Jacks Audio and Video IN Jacks on TV ● Audio and Video cables are not supplied. 1 Connect the antenna or cable to the ANT(enna) IN Jack on the back of the VCR. 2 Connect a video cable[...]

1 Press the VCR button, then press the POWER button. The VCR light and the PWR. (power) light will appear on the dis- play panel. 2 Turn on the TV. Set it to the same channel as the CH3/CH4 switch on the back of the VCR. The display shown below will appear. (If the display does not appear, check your hookups, then follow the steps on page 12 to set[...]

12 Automatic Channel Setup 2 Press the MENU button . SELECT op CHOOSE B → PROGRAM VCR SET UP TUNER SET UP SET CLOCK TO END PUSH EXIT • You can not enter the TUNER SET UP menu when you are in Line Input mode (channel 001 or 002). When you select channel 001 or 002, AV REAR or AV FRONT will appear on-screen briefly. • You can not program channe[...]

Automatic Channel Setup (cont’d) 13 Adding/Deleting Channels 2 Press the MENU button . SELECT op ADD/DELETE B 124 DELETED 125 DELETED 1 → DELETED 2 ADDED 3 ADDED TO END PUSH EXIT 3 Press the PLAY/ o button or the STOP/ p button to select TUNER SET UP, then press the F.FWD/ B button. 4 Press the PLAY/ o button or the STOP/ p button to select ADD[...]

14 Automatic Channel Setup (cont’d) Reviewing Memorized Channels 4 Press the PLAY/ o button or the STOP/ p button to select CH MEMORY REVIEW, then press the F.FWD/ B button. A list of programmed channels will appear on-screen. ● If all the programmed channels don’t fit on the screen, press the F.FWD/ B button to see the remaining channels. Th[...]

Setting the Clock 15 Follow the steps below to set your VCR’s clock. Make sure: ● The VCR is on and the VCR light appears on the display panel. (If it does not, press the VCR/TV button once.) ● You make each entry within 60 seconds of the previous entry. 5 Press two Number buttons for the hour(s) and two Number buttons for the minute(s). Then[...]

2 Press the MENU button. 3 Press the PLAY/ o button or the STOP/ p button to select SET CLOCK, then press the F.FWD/ B button. 5 Press the STATUS/EXIT button. SET CLOCK → SET CLOCK DAYLIGHT SVG TIME [ON] SELECT op CHOOSE B TO END PUSH EXIT SELECT op CHOOSE B → PROGRAM VCR SET UP TUNER SET UP SET CLOCK TO END PUSH EXIT 16 Daylight-Saving Time Yo[...]

Language Selection 17 2 Press the MENU button . Follow the steps below to change the language of the on-screen displays. 3 Press the PLAY/ o button or the STOP/ p button to select VCR SET UP, then press the F.FWD/ B button. 4 Press the PLAY/ o button or the STOP/ p button to select LANGUAGE, then press the F.FWD/ B button. 5 Press the PLAY/ o butto[...]

18 Remote Control Buttons VOL CH 3 2 1 6 5 4 9 8 7 0 POWER STATUS/EXIT MEMORY REC/OTR SPEED VCR PLUS+ ALT. CH PAUSE/STILL MUTE TV VCR F.FWD REW PLAY STOP VCR/TV EJECT MENU CLEAR SPEED Button Press to select the recording speed (SP or SLP). Details are on pages 30 and 41. REC(ord)/OTR Button Press once to start a recording. Details are on page 25 . [...]

Remote Control Buttons (cont’d) 19 VCR PLUS+ Button Press to set a timer recording with the VCR Plus+ programming system. Details are on pages 32 - 35. CLEAR Button Press to erase incorrect data when programming VCR functions. Also, press to reset the real-time counter. Details are on page 38. VCR/TV Button Use to select the signal that your TV r[...]

SELECT op CHOOSE B → STATUS [ON] COUNTER ONLY [OFF] TO END PUSH EXIT 20 On-Screen Status Displays • You may not access a status display when viewing a still picture or when the F.FWD/ B or REW(ind)/ s but- ton is pressed during playback. Helpful Hint 1 Press the VCR button, then press the MENU button. Current status of tape Time Channel Counter[...]

VCR Display Panel 21 Cassette Compartment Insert a tape here. VCR Light This light appears when the VCR is in VCR position. This light does not appear when the VCR is in TV position. REC(ord) Light This light appears during a record- ing. It flashes when a recording is paused. Cassette-Inside Light This light appears when there is a tape in the VCR[...]

22 Front Panel PAUSE Button While recording, press to pause the recording. Press again to resume recording. Details are on page 25. You can not pause a One-Touch Recording. During tape playback, press to freeze the picture. Each press of the PAUSE button will cause the noise lines to move on the screen. Press PLAY to resume normal playback. Details[...]

AUDIO IN Jack Connect a cable coming from the AUDIO OUT Jack of a camcorder, another VCR, or an audio source here. Details are on page 36. VIDEO IN Jack Connect a cable coming from the VIDEO OUT Jack of a cam- corder, another VCR, or an audio-visual source (laser disc player, video disc player, etc.) here. Details are on page 36. ANT(enna) IN Jack [...]

24 Playing • If the tape you want to play is already in the VCR, make sure the VCR power is on and the VCR is in VCR position. (The VCR light will appear on the display panel. If it does not, press the VCR/TV button.) Press the VCR button, then press the PLAY/ o button. • Other playback options and fea- tures are on pages 37 - 40. Helpful Hints[...]

Read and follow the steps below to record a television program. 1 Turn on the TV and set it to channel 3 or 4 , whichever channel the CH3/CH4 switch on the back of the VCR is set to. Recording 25 2 Insert a tape with its record tab intact in the VCR. 4 If the VCR light appears on the display panel, go to step 5. If the VCR light does not appear, pr[...]

2 Press the REC(ord)/OTR button to start a recording of the current channel. (See page 25.) 26 Recording One Channel/Watching Another • If you use a Cable Box or Direct Broadcast System hookup, you may not be able to watch one channel while recording another. See pages eight-nine for details. Helpful Hint 3 Press the VCR/TV button to put the VCR [...]

One-Touch Recording 27 1 Press the VCR button, then press the CH(annel) o / p but- tons or the Number buttons to select the channel you want to record. OTR (0:30) CH12 2 Press the REC(ord)/OTR button repeatedly until the desired recording length (30 minutes to eight hours) appears on-screen. Recording will begin immediately. The REC(ord) light and [...]

DAILY PROGRAM (MON-FRI) PROGRAM -1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8- SELECT PROGRAM NUMBER TO END PUSH EXIT 28 Timer Recording Follow the steps below to program your VCR to record TV pro- grams while you’re away from home. The VCR will turn itself on, record, and turn itself off automatically. Before you begin: ● Set up the channels at the VCR. ● Set the clock.[...]

ONE TIME PROGRAM PROGRAM 1 CHANNEL 10 TIME ON – – : – – TO CORRECT PUSH CLEAR TO END PUSH EXIT 6 Press two Number buttons for the hour you want the recording to begin. Press two Number buttons for the minute you want the recording to begin. Press 1 for AM or 2 for PM. For example, for 9:30 PM, press 09, 30, 2. ONE TIME PROGRAM PROGRAM 1 CHA[...]

ONE TIME PROGRAM PROGRAM 1 CHANNEL 10 TIME ON 09:30 PM TIME OFF 11:00 PM REC SPEED SLP SP=1 SLP=2 TO CORRECT PUSH CLEAR TO END PUSH EXIT 30 Timer Recording (cont’d) 8 Press the Number 1 button to record in SP speed or the Number 2 button to record in SLP speed. (See the chart below.) You cannot use the SPEED button at this time. 9 Press two Numbe[...]

Timer Recording (cont’d) 31 6 Repeat steps 1 - 4 to make sure you have cleared the cor- rect timer recording. • CLASH may flash on-screen when you finish setting a timer recording. This means that the timer recording you just programmed and another timer record- ing overlap. The current timer recording will not take place. You may choose to can[...]

32 Setting Up the VCR Plus+ Programming System 1 First, fill in the boxes on this page. It will only take a few minutes, and you must do it if you want the VCR Plus+ programming system to work properly. Since the channel numbers of the stations you receive may not be the same as the station numbers, and since channel numbers differ from area to are[...]

Setting Up the VCR Plus+ Programming System (cont’d) 33 2 Now, compare the channel numbers you have written in the VCR PLUS+ CH. and CABLE/TV CH. columns. For stations whose VCR Plus+ and Cable/TV channels do not match, you must tell the VCR the VCR Plus+ and Cable/TV channel numbers by following steps 3 - 7. Make each entry within 60 seconds of [...]

VCR PLUS+ PROG. PLUS CODE : – – – – – – – – TO END PUSH EXIT 34 Timer Recording with the VCR Plus+ Programming System Follow these steps to set a timer recording with the PlusCode programming numbers in your TV guide. Before you begin: ● Set up the channels at the VCR (page 12). ● Set up the VCR Plus+ and Cable/TV channel number[...]

Timer Recording with the VCR Plus+ Programming System (cont’d) 35 • If the preset time for a timer record- ing comes up during an OTR, the OTR has priority. A message will remind you when the timer recording was scheduled to begin. You may let the OTR continue; the timer recording will not take place. Or, stop the OTR and turn off the VCR immed[...]

1 Make the connections shown above. 36 Rerecording (Tape Duplication) 3 VCR 2 will record your tape. Insert a blank tape in VCR 2. The VCR must be in VCR position. (The VCR light will appear on the display panel. If it does not, press the VCR/TV button once.) 4 Turn on the TV and set it to channel 03 or 04, whichever channel the CH3/CH4 switch on V[...]

Repeat Play 37 Follow the steps below to make the VCR play a tape over and over. 2 Press the MENU button. 3 Press the PLAY/ o button or the STOP/ p button to select VCR SET UP, then press the F.FWD/ B button. 5 Press the F.FWD/ B button so that ON appears beside REPEAT PLAY. 6 Press the STATUS/EXIT button. Now, when a tape has fin- ished playing, t[...]

• The MEMORY button does not function if REPEAT PLAY is set to ON. Details are on page 37. • To erase a real-time counter memo- ry, press the MEMORY button until the M disappears from the screen. • You may only set the real-time counter to zero at one location at a time. If you try to set the real-time counter to zero at a second loca- tion, [...]

Special Effects Playback 39 Forward and Reverse Searching (SP/LP/SLP) 1 During tape playback, press and release the F.FWD/ B button or the REW(ind)/ { button. A fast forward or reverse picture search will begin. 2 To return to playback, press the PLAY/ o button. Super High Speed Searching (LP/SLP) 1 During tape playback, press the F.FWD/ B button o[...]

40 Automatic Operation Features The following playback features will always operate. Automatic Playback When you put a tape in the VCR, the power will come on auto- matically. If the tape’s record tab is missing, playback will begin. If a timer recording is set, the power will not come on automati- cally when you insert a tape with the record tab[...]

Glossary 41 AUDIO IN/OUT Jacks: jacks located on the front and back of the VCR which are used to record audio from another source (IN) or to send audio to another source (OUT). Automatic Channel Setup: process in which the VCR memo- rizes all available channels. Then, when you press the CH(annel) o / p buttons, you only scan through channels you re[...]

If you are having problems with your product, check this list of problems and possible solutions before requesting service. You may be able to solve the problem yourself. If you need to call a customer service representative, please know the model number and serial number of your product before you call. This information is displayed on the back of[...]

TV programs cannot be watched normally. • Put the VCR in TV position. (Press the VCR/TV button so that the VCR light disappears from the display panel. For details, see page 22.) • Check the connections between the VCR, TV, antenna/cable, and Cable Box/Direct Broadcast System (if applicable). (See pages six - 10 for details.) Tape cannot be ins[...]

44 Specifications Video Heads Two heads Video Signal EIA standards; NTSC color Antenna VHF/UHF – 75 ohm external antenna terminal VHF Output Signal Channel 03 or 04 (switchable) 75 ohms unbalanced Power Requirement 120V AC; 60Hz Power Consumption 14W Operating Temperature 41°F (5°C) to 104°F (40°C) Relative Humidity 10% to 80% Weight 5.51 lbs[...]

VIDEO CASSETTE RECORDER 90 Days Free Labor/One Year Parts Exchange. This product must be carried in for repair. WHO IS COVERED? You must have proof of purchase to receive warran- ty service. A sales receipt or other document show- ing that you purchased the product is considered proof of purchase. WHAT IS COVERED? Warranty coverage begins the day y[...]

ac power cord .................................23 accessories .......................................48 alt.ch button .....................................19 ant(enna) in jack ...................6-10, 23 audio in/out jacks 10, 22, 23, 36, 41 automatic playback .......................................40 rewind, eject, off........................40 ba[...]

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IB8097E003 Printed In China 0VMN02336 / H3722UD * * * * * S UPPLIED A CCESSORIES O PTIONAL A CCESSORIES The following items are supplied with your VCR; they are provided to help you use or set up your VCR. The following additional items are not provided with your VCR, but they are designed for use with your new VCR. To order these optional accessor[...]