Hitachi VT-M273A manual

TABLE OF CONTENT S 1 1 HITA CHI Video Deck VT-M273A Owner's Manual Your Complete Guide to Videocassette View ing and Recording Using these quality feat ures:  Up to 8 delay ed recording pr ograms  Auto tracking for impr oved picture in play back  Cable-compati ble frequency sy nthesizer q uartz tuner  Remote control for use w ith y[...]

TABLE OF CONTENT S 2 TA BLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. .............. 2 FOR YOUR SAFETY ................................................................................................................................. 4 READ THIS FIRST [...]

TABLE OF CONTENT S 3 Befo re you Record ............................................................................................................................. 33 Basic Recording Steps ...................................................................................................................... 33 Recordin g Tips .....................[...]

FOR YOUR SAFETY 4 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 cl ock/timer unaffected. If the unit is to be left unattended for a long peri od, it is recommended that the uni t be completely switched off and unplugg ed. Illustrated below is the label on the back y our unit. [...]

FOR YOUR SAFETY 5 CA UTION: TO PREVENT ELECT RIC SHOCK, MATCH W IDE BLADE OF PLUG TO W IDE SLOT, AND FULLY INSERT PLUG. This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B l imits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference r egulations of the Canadian Department of Communications. "Note t o CA TV sy stem [...]

READ THIS FIRST 6 R E A D T H I S F I R S T Thank you for buying a Hi tachi product. You've chosen the best VCR for you, and we want to he lp you make the most of your purchase. Please ta ke time to become familiar with this m anual and how it is set up. Keep i t handy for future reference, too. To guide you, we've concluded:  "Mu[...]

IMPORT ANT SAFEG UARDS 7 I M P O R T A N T S A F E G U A R D S In addition to the careful attention dev oted to quality standards in the manufacture of your v ideo product, safety is a maj or factor in the design of ever y instrument. But, safety is your responsibility too. This page lists important inform ation that will help to assure y our enjoy[...]

IMPORT ANT SAFEG UARDS 8 7 Power- Cord Protection - Power-suppl y cords should be routed so that they are not likely to be walk ed on or pinched by items pl aced upon or against them, pay ing particular attention to cords at plugs, conv enience receptacles, and the point w here they exit from the appl iance. 8 Ventilation - Slots and openings in th[...]

IMPORT ANT SAFEG UARDS 9 12 Outdoor Antenna Grounding - If an outside antenna or cable system i s connected to the video pr oduct, be sure the antenna or cable system i s grounded so as to prov ide some protection agai nst voltage sur ges and built-up stati c charges. Section 810 of the National Electr ical Code, ANSI/NFPA N o. 70-1984, provides i [...]

IMPORT ANT SAFEG UARDS 10 removi ng covers may expose y ou to dangerous v oltage or other haz ards. Refer all servi cing to qual ified service per sonnel. 18 Conditions R equiring service - Unplug this v ideo product from the wal l outlet and refer serv icing to qual ified service per sonnel under the followi ng conditions. a. W hen the power-suppl[...]

Getting Started 11 G e t t i n g S t a r t e d  Simple Hookups 1 Decide Where to Put Y our VCR  Be sure your chosen location allow s for proper ventilation, stability, and protection from heat and moisture (s ee Important Safeguards).  Place the VCR near your TV but not on top of it. For conveni ence in using the remote control, locate the[...]

Getting Started 12 DO NOT TURN ON T HE POW E R YET . FOR YOUR SAFETY, LEAVE YOUR TV AND VCR UNPLUGGED W HILE HOOKING T HEM UP. 3 Hook Up the A udio/Video Signal If your TV is a fairly recent model, you probably hav e both audio and video jacks. Look at the back of your TV fo r two jacks - possibly color-coded yellow and white. They w ill be labeled[...]

Getting Started 13 Simple A ntenna/Cable 75 Ohm Hookup This is an easy hookup that you can use if your cabl e or antenna has a 75 ohm round wire connector. Y ou will need the 75 ohm cable supplied with y our VCR. It looks like this: If you have been w atching the TV in your home before getting the VCR, you w ill already have a round w ire attached [...]

Getting Started 14 External or Internal 300 Ohm A ntenna If you have ei ther an external or internal (r abbit ears) antenna rather than cabl e, you may hav e 300 ohm connectors like these: In this case, you will need special adapters (not provided with VCR) to make the 75 ohm round w ire connections shown bel ow. (Y ou may already have one on your [...]

Getting Started 15 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 r each from the antenna to the VCR. This connection will work only if you have a strong, clear picture on the TV, indicating a strong sig nal. Connect the antenna to the adapter, and us[...]

Getting Started 16 7 Set the RF or Video Channel Sw itch W hen the VCR is on, its vi deo signal can come into y our TV an either channel 3 or channel 4. You need to select the appr opriate channel.  Turn the power on to both the TV and the VCR , and look for a switch on the back of the VCR. Set the sw itch to 3 or 4, whi chever is not a commerci[...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 17 Getting S tarted (Controls )  Quick Tour of the Controls Study these pictur es carefully to learn about the buttons and contr ols that you'll need f or daily operation. Various control s are explai ned throughout this manual as they are needed, but now is a g ood time to get f amiliar with their locations. Mos[...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 18 Remote Control Buttons Illustration of remote POW ER Turns the VCR on and off. VCR1, TV, CA TV, VCR2 Devi ce buttons let you set the remote to control one of f our devic es. MUTE Turns off the audio until you press Mute ag ain. VOLUME/SLOW Increase or decrease the audi o volume and play s back in adjustable slow motio[...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 19 GUIDE Brings up an on-screen setup and progr amming guide, the Easy Guide System. TAPE SPEED Swit ches between standard play (SP) and extended pl ay (EP). AVX Used for recording from an auxiliary input such as a stereo system. LAST CHANNEL Swit ches to the TV channel you watched prev iously dur ing the current v iewi [...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 20 If the remote is not wor king even at cl ose range, try putting in tw o f resh AA batteries. Objects in t he Way There may be objects betw een the remote and the VCR - for i nstance, a stack of books on the coffee table, your 2-y ear-old child or the dog. Hold the remote so that it poi nts at the VCR w ith nothing in [...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 21 PAUSE To interrupt play or recording . Press again to resume. Display Indicators Meet Your On- Screen Guide Your H itachi VCR has a special feature call ed the Easy Guide Sy stem. This feature guides you throug h simple setup and programming tasks right on the TV screen. W ith the T V and VCR turned on, press GUIDE on[...]

Getting Started (Initial Setup) 22 Getting S tarted (I nitial S etup)  Setup for First-Time Operation Before you use y our VCR to watch or record from your TV, y ou need to "tell" the VCR whether your TV uses cable or antenna input and l et it program i tself to receive y our TV's channels. It's also a good idea to set the cl[...]

Getting Started (Initial Setup) 23 Here are what the options mean: 1 ANTENNA/CABLE Press 1 to select the ty pe of receiving setup y ou have: <ANT.> Internal or external antenna <CATV1> Ordi nary cable <CATV2> Alternate cable ( if CATV1 doesn't give y ou the channels you expect) 2 AUTO CHA NNE L SETT ING Press 2 to automatical[...]

Getting Started (Initial Setup) 24 2 for PM. Continue pressi ng buttons to set the date. For example, i f today is July 8, 1994, press 0, 7, 0, 8, 9, and 4 to get 07/08/94. W hen you're done, press GUIDE tw ice to return to reg ular view ing. Tips:  The item to be changed will blink on the screen as y ou go.  The clock uses the 12-hour s[...]

Getting Started (Initial Setup) 25 from memory . To A dd or Erase Channels  Press GUIDE, then pr ess 5 to bring up the Initial Setup screen. Item 3 lets you add or delete channels. Use the number buttons to enter the channel you w ant to change, then press STOP to delete it or pr ess PLAY to add it. Caution A fter a Pow e r Failure If a power fa[...]

Getting Started (Videotapes ) 26 Getting S tarted (V ideotape s)  A bout Videocassette Tapes Ty pes The best thing y ou can do f o r your VCR i s use the best quality tapes available. This VCR uses VHS tapes only, w hich are the most common ty pe. Look for the VHS mar k on new or prerecorded tapes you buy . Tapes are marked either T-120 or T-160[...]

Getting Started (Videotapes ) 27 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 with a littl e arrow on the top si de which should g o 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 [...]

Basic Oper ations 28 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 recor ding a TV show. Then you'll know how to use the VCR when you need to - or where i n the manual to find the instr uctions you forgot. Let's go!  Viewing a [...]

Basic Oper ations 29 Manual Tracking Scratched tapes or poorl y recorded tapes may require addi tional 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 arr ows) until picture clears up. After operating the tr acking manually , eject the [...]

Basic Oper ations 30 Frame A dv ance W hile in PAUSE mode during pl ayback, press F.ADV to v iew the v ideo one frame at a time. Press PAUSE to resume play . Skip Play back W hile playing back your tape you can ski p forward by pr essing the F.ADV button. The tape will search ahead for about a minute of recording time and then resume playing. Slow [...]

Basic Oper ations 31 rever se motion. Try using the shuttle to explore backw ards and forwar ds through your next v ideo. To Find Specific Sections on a Tape Visual Search This function lets you sear ch backward and forwar d through the vi deotape while v iewi ng it. Using the remote control:  Press PLAY and REW to search in rev erse.  Press [...]

Basic Oper ations 32  At the point that you w ant to go back to, press CLEAR on the remote control. This resets the counter to 0:00:00. Press STOP when y ou are done recording or playing back the tape.  Press DISPLAY again and "M" w ill display below the counter on the TV screen. T his indicates that the counter's memor y funct[...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 33 Basic Operations (Recording)  Recording a Program Before y ou Record  The VCR must be hooked up properl y for recording . See the Simple Hookups at the beginni ng of this manual.  Make sure you are f amilia r with the Easy Guide System f or on-scree n programm in g (page 19) and the basi cs about videocass[...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 34 Recording Tips To Watch the Same Program While Recording To view what you ar e recording, pr ess VCR/TV on the remote control so that the VC R is selected - th e VCR indicato r will light up on the V CR's d isplay. You'll want to d o this the first few times any way to be sur e you're recordi ng what[...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 35 recording , the time remaining is shown in the di splay. At the end of your recording the display will read "0:00"; recording w ill then 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 STOP (STOP/EJECT) button (this can [...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 36 on screen to complete the prog ramming. The prog rams are identified by numbers from 1 to 8. Remember to press 0 before sing le-digi t channel numbers, times, and dates - for example, 0 and 6 for channel 6. After you enter the channel and time, the VCR automaticall y shows the cur rent date or the next date, w hich[...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 37  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 6:30. The VCR automatically selects PM for you.  The screen shows today 's date, so no changes are needed on that line.  Press TAPE SPEED to swi tch to SP because you wan[...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 38 If the programs start at di f f erent times, the VCR recor ds the show scheduled to start earliest, r ecords the entire show, then mov es on to the show w ith the next earli est starting time. To avoid recor ding only bi ts and pieces of diff erent over alpping show s, review your progr amming and delete those show[...]

Basic Oper ations (VCR Plus + Rec ording) 39 Basic Operations (VCR Plus + Recording)  Easy Delayed Recording with VCR Plus + A bout VCR Plus+ This handy feature makes timed r ecordings a snap. You don't need to enter the specific channel, date, time, or dur ation of a program. All y ou enter is its Pl usCode--a number of up to eight dig its[...]

Basic Oper ations (VCR Plus + Rec ording) 40 3. If you don't get cable TV, make a li st of all the broadcast channel numbers y ou receiv e on your TV - for exampl e, channel 4 W TTV (Ind.), channel 20 W FYI (PBS) . 4. If you subscribe to cabl e TV, have your cable company 's channel directory handy. This should lis t all the channels as y[...]

Basic Oper ations (VCR Plus + Rec ording) 41 If any channel numbers don't match, follow the steps (page 43) to assig n your local channel numbers to VCR Plus+ numbers. Cable (No Cable Box) This is the channel setup to use if y our VCR is hooked up dir ectly to cable w ithout a cable box. Compare y our local TV channel listi ng to your cabl e c[...]

Basic Oper ations (VCR Plus + Rec ording) 42 4. Repeat step 3 for all channels that need to be assi gned. 5. Press GUIDE to end the setup pr ocedure. You are ready to begin delay ed recording with VCR Plus+. Cable with a Cable Box Setup Use this setup pr ocedure if you receiv e all channels throug h a cable box. CABLE BOX SET tells the VCR how to r[...]

Basic Oper ations (VCR Plus + Rec ording) 43 being used w ith the VCR for all channel s?" You do not receiv e all channels throug h the cable box.) 2. W hen you come to one of the channels that you receiv e through the cable box , enter the cable box's output channel number (03 to 04). This will assigne the scrambled cable channels. For e[...]

Basic Oper ations (VCR Plus + Rec ording) 44 4. If you have enter ed the correct PlusCode, press GU IDE to store the PlusCode in the VCR's memory . This brings up another screen: 5. Press number buttons 1, 2, or 3 to sel ect ONE TIME, DAILY, or W EEKLY RECORDING. Impor tant: Programming does not take eff ect unless you select one of these opti[...]

Basic Oper ations (VCR Plus + Rec ording) 45 VCR. Caution on the VCR Plus+ recording The VCR Plus+ feature al lows y ou to program the VCR for timer recording by simply entering a Pl usCode number up to 8 digi ts. To prevent erroneous channel and/or time recordin g. After entering a VC R Plus+ number, check the information displ ayed wi th the &quo[...]

Advanced Operations (Rem ote Control of T V) 46 A dvanced Operations (Remote Control of TV) This section explai ns how to use the VCR's rem ote control to operate your TV. It also shows you how to hook up a cable box and how to connect a stereo or a second VC R for a complete hom e entertainment system .  Controlling Your TV with the VCR&ap[...]

Advanced Operations (Rem ote Control of T V) 47 of button combinations one by one until y ou find one that does chang e y our TV channel. Also, if your br and of T V is not listed in the chart, try all the number buttons. One of them may w ork for you. If the TV channel still doesn't change after going through all the button combinations liste[...]

Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 48 A dvanced Operat ions (Cable Box Hookups)  Hooking Up to a Cable Box The cable box bri ngs all the adv antages of pay cable, but finding a sati sfactory 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 TV splitters, coaxial cab[...]

Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 49 Consult the cable company or the cable conver ter manual for assistance in using the VCR with a cable conv erter. You will probably need to set the VCR to channel 3 or 4 and then use the cable conver ter to switch stati ons. There may be additional procedures for picking up pay-for-v iew or scr ambled cha[...]

Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 50 Check all the TV and VCR functions. If you don't g et all the functions you w ant, proceed with Option 3. Option 3--Some Channels Scrambled This hookup requir es three coaxial j umpers with connector s, a 1-into-2 splitter , and an A-or-B switch box . 1. Disconnect the cable from the cable box and at[...]

Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 51 If that button combination does not wor k, or if your brand i s not on the chart, just go through all the button combinations until y ou find the one that works best. Cable Conv erters Press CA TV and This Number Jerrold 1 1 Jerrold 2 2 Jerrold 3 3 Hamlin 4 Zenith 5 Scientific Atlanta 6 Pioneer 7 Philips [...]

Advanced Operations (Second VCR) 52 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 progr amming. For this di scussion, we refer to the model VT- M273A Hitachi as VCR2 and the other unit as VCR1. Hookup To hook up a second VCR, you[...]

Advanced Operations (Second VCR) 53  Insert the prerecor ded videotape in VCR 2.  Insert a blank or er asable tape (wi th the saf ety tab intact) into VCR1.  Press AVX on VCR1 - the LINE in dicator will display.  Press REC/IRT on VCR 1, and press PLAY on VCR2. To monitor the picture as y ou record, VCR1 must be connected to y our TV (fo[...]

VCR Care and Servicing 54 V C R C a r e a n d S e r v i c i n g The VCR is fai rly self-ser vicing, but you'll want to keep an eye on a few things as you go. In addition, you m ay sometim es have troubles with your VCR . W e offer some suggestions for care to pr event problems, ways to troubl eshoot, and places to contact when you cannot solve[...]

VCR Care and Servicing 55 endanger y our safety. The exposed uninsul ated voltage i n this unit may be hi gh enough to cause electrical shock. It is dangerous to make contact with any inside part, and none of these parts are intended to be serv iced by an untr ained user. To be safe, ref er servi ce problems to quali fied service per sonnel.[...]

Care and Servicing ( Problem s) 56 Care and Servicing (Problems) OFTEN ENCOUNT ERED PROBLE MS 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 de[...]

Care and Servicing ( Problem s) 57 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[...]

Specific ations 58 S p e c i f i c a t i o n s  Technical Specifications Recording : Rotary two-head heli cal scan azimuth recor ding Video: NTSC color EIA standard Cassette: VHS type Heads: 4 video heads: 2 for SP, 2 for EP 1 full track audio/v ideo erase head 1 combination head for control tr ack, audio erase and audio record/play (3 heads/sin[...]

Specific ations 59 For information about how to obtain these accessories, please call TOLL FREE 1- 800- 448-2244 for your nearest Hitachi Authori zed Parts Dis tributor in the continental U nited States. For ALASKA and HAW AII, please contact the nearest Hitachi R egional office. Design and specifications subject to change without notice. 1 Warrant[...]