Hitachi VT-M281A manual

TABLE OF CONTENT S 1 HITA CHI VHS Video Deck VT-M281A 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 synthesiz er quartz tuner  Remote control for use w ith [...]

TABLE OF CONTENT S 2 TA BLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4 FOR YOUR SAFET Y ................................................................................................... 4  IMPORTANT SAFE GUARDS ............................[...]

TABLE OF CONTENT S 3 To Control Bot h VCRs with the Remote Contr ol ................................................... 37 Copyi ng from One VC R to Another ( Dubbing) ....................................................... 37 Copyi ng Tapes From A C amcorder ......................................................................... 37 VCR Care and [...]

Introduction 4 Introduction FOR YOUR SA FETY POW ER SUPPLY: AC 120V, 60 Hz ONLY. The POW ER switch turns the VCR on and off, leavi ng the clock/timer unaffected. If the unit is to be left unattended for a long per iod, it is recommended that the unit be completel y switched off and unplugg ed. Illustrated below is the label on the back of your unit[...]

Introduction 5 system of the building , as close to the point of cable entry as practical". Read This First Thank you for buying a Hit achi product. You've chosen the best VCR for you, and we want to help you m ake the most of your purchase. Please take time to becom e familiar with this manual and how it is set up. Keep it handy for futu[...]

Introduction 6 2 Retain Instruction -- The saf ety and operating instr uctions should be retained for future reference. 3 Heed Warnings -- Compl y wi th all warning s on the video product and in the operating i nstructions. 4 Polarized Plug -- This v ideo product is eq uipped with a polar ized alternating -current line pl ug (a plug hav ing one bla[...]

Introduction 7 Caution: Maintain electri cal safety. Power- line operated equipment or accessories connected to this uni t should bear the UL listing mark or CSA certification mar k on the accessory itself and should not hav e been modified so as to def eat the saf ety features. T h is will help avoid any potential hazard from electric shock or fir[...]

Introduction 8 16 Lightning -- For added protection for this video pr oduct during a lightni ng storm, or w hen it its left unattended and unused for long periods of time, unplug it from the w all outlet and disconnect the antenna or cabl e- system. This will prev ent damage to the video product due to lightning and power -line surges. SERVICE 17 S[...]

Introduction 9  Simple Hookups 1 Decide Where to Put Y our VCR  Be sure your chosen location allow s f o r proper ventilation, stability, and protection from heat and moistur e (see Important Safeguards).  Place the VCR near your TV but not on top of it. For convenience i n using the remote contr ol, locate them no more than three feet apa[...]

Introduction 10 TV with Audio and Video Jacks  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 o[...]

Introduction 11 Capabilities: W ith this hookup, y ou should now be able to perform all the basic functions prov ided by this eq uipment. External or Internal 300 Ohm A ntenna If you have ei ther an external or internal (rabbit ear s) antenna rather than cable, you may have 300 ohm connectors l ike these. In this case, you w ill need special adapte[...]

Introduction 12 If you have "rabbit ears" (an antenna on top of your TV), y ou will need an additional adapter and 75 ohm extension to make your leads reach from the antenna to the VCR. This connection will work only if you have a strong, clear picture on the TV, indicating a strong signal. Connect the antenna to the adapter, and use the [...]

Introduction 13 Now tur n the T V and VCR back around facing you and beg in your quick tour of the controls (pag e 14).[...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 14 Getting Sta rted (Controls)  Quick Tour of the Controls Study these pictur es carefully to learn about the buttons and control s that you'll need f or ever yday operati on. Various controls are ex plained throughout thi s manual as they are needed, but now is a good time to get fam iliar with their locations .[...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 15 STOP Stops a videocassette from play ing, recording , pausing, rewi nding - or any thing it is doing . GUIDE Bri ngs up an on-screen setup and prog ramming guide, the Easy Graphic Menu. TAPE SPEED Swit ches between standard play (SP) and extended play (EP). AVX Used for recording from an auxiliary input such as a ster[...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 16 If you are recor ding on the VCR but w ant to watch a different channel on the TV, press the TV/VCR button to swi tch back and f orth between the TV channel and the recordi ng channel. VCR Controls POW ER Turns VCR pow er on and off . STOP/EJECT C ancels any videotape acti on, and when pressed a second time, ejects ta[...]

Getting Started (Contr ols) 17 You may view al l the on-screen instructions in Eng lish, French or Spanish. W hen you first set up your VCR, it will be set to English. Press number 6 or 7 for the other lang uage options. Now, y ou will do most of your programming and setup by pressing numbers on the remote control which correspond to opti ons prese[...]

Getting Started (Initial Setup) 18 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, you need to "tell" the VCR w hether your T V uses cable or antenna input and l et it program i tself to receive your T V's channels. It's also a good i dea to set the [...]

Getting Started (Initial Setup) 19 4 AUTO CHA NNEL SET Press 4 to automaticall y program the VC R to receive all the channels that come in on your antenna or cable. 5 ADD/ERASE C HANNEL Press 5 to bring up a screen that lets you add new channels or limit the channels to the ones you most often w atch. Setting the Cl ock This is easy to do and impor[...]

Getting Started (Initial Setup) 20 Once channels are preset, y ou can use the up and down CHAN NEL buttons to move throug h the active channels. Or y ou can press the number buttons to move q uickly betw een channels that are far apart. Removing Channels You may not want to keep all the stations the auto- programmer selects, since you may prefer to[...]

Getting Started (Videotapes ) 21 Getting S tarted (V ideotape s)  A bout Videocassette Tapes Ty pes The best thing you can do for y our VCR is use the best q uality tapes avail able. This VCR uses VHS tapes only , which are the most common type. Look for the VHS mar k on new or prerecor ded tapes you buy. Tapes are marked either T -120 or T-160,[...]

Getting Started (Videotapes ) 22 Push the videocassette g ently into the slot on the front of the VCR. Y ou will feel the VCR take it in. W hen the cassette is all the way in, the VCR power s up automatically and a TAPE-IN indicator show s on the LCD display . It may also start play ing immediately if the safe ty tab has been removed. To remove the[...]

Basic Oper ations 23 Basic Operations Practice starti ng and stopping a video you've rented - play it through, see how it autom atically rewinds. Get a bl ank tape and try recording a TV show. Then you'll know how to use the VCR when you need to - or where in the manual to find the instructions you forgot. Let's go!  Viewing a Vid[...]

Basic Oper ations 24 Manual Rew ind Press STOP and then REW . The VCR rewinds the tape al l the way to the beginning , then stops. Press STOP/EJECT on the VCR to release the tape. A utomatic Re w ind (MOVIE RETURN) W hen the tape reaches the end during playback or normal recording, it w ill automatically rewi nds and comes to the beginning of the t[...]

Basic Oper ations 25 Using the remote control or buttons on the VCR:  Press PLAY and REW to search in rev erse.  Press PLAY and then F.FW D to search ahead.  Press PLAY ag ain to return to to normal playback. Searching w ith the Time Counter During playback (and recordi ng), a counter keeps track of how many hours, minutes, and seconds the[...]

Basic Oper ations 26 Select minutes by pressing buttons 0 to 9 - one dig it for hours, then two digits for minutes. Then press F.FW D if you w ant to move 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, press 0, 0, and 2 to[...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 27 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 familiar with the Easy Graphic Menu f or on-screen progr amming (page 18) and the basi cs about videocassette[...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 28 your tel evision (see Adv anced Operations). The recording will continue as set on the VCR. If a preset timed recording starts up whi le you are w atching the TV, you'll hear the cassette as i t clicks on and see the recording indicator light up on the VCR display . You can check on the recordi ng by pressing [...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 29 W ith the delayed recording feature, you can set this VCR so that i t automatically comes on and records progr ams whenever y ou like - w ithout your bei ng around! You can recor d a program one time only , or you can automatically record a show ev ery w eekday or ev ery week at the same time. You can pr eset as ma[...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 30 W hen the power is off , the delayed recording indicator w ill display on the VCR. This tells you that the VCR will automatically record at the times and dates you hav e programmed. To Stop a Delay ed Recording in Progress Press POW ER and then immediately - within 10 seconds - pr ess the STOP (STOP/EJECT) button ([...]

Basic Oper ations (Recor ding) 31 Show s with Same Starting Time: By Program number If the overlapping programs start at the same ti me, the VCR records in order by program number (1 - 8). If the shows are all scheduled to star t at 7 AM, the VCR star ts with progr am 1 at 7 AM, and switches to w hat remains of progr am 2 when progr am 1 is done re[...]

Advanced Operations 32 A dvanced Operations 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 Compatibility The remote control is desi gned to b[...]

Advanced Operations 33 Gold Star 1 6 Toshiba 7 Gold Star 2 8 NEC 9 RCA 0 Panasonic CHANNEL (up arrow ) Mitsubishi CHANNEL ( down arrow ) JVC 100/ENT Sharp LAST CH Controlling the TV Once progr ammed, the VCR's remote control is r eady to control the TV.  First press TV to chang e to the T V function mode, then press the button of the TV f u[...]

Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 34 A dvanced Operations ( Cable Box Hookups)  Hooking Up to a Cable Box The cable box bri ngs all the adv antages of pay cable, but finding a satisfactory hookup can be chall enging. To sort out what to do, w e suggest a step- by-step approach to install ation. You w ill need RF T V splitters, coaxial cab[...]

Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 35 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 goes to y our TV. Connect it to the IN FRONT ANT lower j ack on the back of the VC[...]

Advanced Operations (Cable Box Hook ups) 36 If none of the preceding hookups wor k, check with your cable company. You may need to purchase a video sw itching system from y our local electronics or video retailer. This will easily handle most hookup problem s. Remote Control of the Cable Converter If you have a cable conv erter, you will probably w[...]

Advanced Operations (Second VCR) 37 A dvanced Operations (Second VCR)  Integrating a Second VCR W ith another VCR hooked up, you can copy videotapes as needed, and you can g et f ancy w ith multimedia progr amming. For this discussi on, we refer to the model VT-M281A Hi tachi as VCR2 and the other unit as VCR1. Hookup To hook up a second VCR, yo[...]

Advanced Operations (Second VCR) 38  Press the AVX button on the VC Rs remote control so that the L (Line) indicator appear s in the VCR display. ( L2: Front A/V IN; L1: Rear A/V IN.)  Press REC/IRT on the VCR to start recording.  Press PLAY on y our camcorder to start copy ing your tape.[...]

VCR Care and Servicing 39 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 som etimes have troubles wi th your VCR. We offer some suggestions for care to pr event problems, ways to troubleshoot, and places to contact when you cannot solve the probl ems yourself.  Routine Cleani[...]

VCR Care and Servicing 40 be servi ced by an untrained user. To be safe, refer serv ice problems to qualified ser vice personnel.[...]

Care and Servicing ( Problem s) 41 Care and Servicing (Problems) Often Encountered Problems PROBLEM THINGS TO CHECK SOLUTION NO POW ER POW ER CORD PLUGGED IN? CONNECT T HE POW ER CORD TO AC OUT LET DELAYED RECORDING PROGRAM SET T O T HE CORRECT CHANNEL? RESET T HE DELAYED RECORDING. IF USING VCR PLUS+, CHECK DOES NOT W O RK THE CHANNEL SETUP. PROGR[...]

Care and Servicing ( Problem s) 42 Hitachi Serv ice Hotline Authorized Hitachi serv ice f acilities are available throughout the US and Canada. For the location near est you, call the Hi tachi Service Hotl ine at one of these numbers: In the continental U.S.A . DIA L TOLL FREE 7 days a w eek, 24 hours a day 1-800-HITA CH I (1-800-448- 2244) You mus[...]

Specific ations 43 Specifications  Technical Specifications Recording : Rotar y two-head hel ical scan azimuth recordin g 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/single housing)[...]

Specific ations 44[...]