Model 50 VHS Stereo Hi-Fi VCR
(160-0620) Connections Faxback Doc. # 38191
CONTROL LOCATIONS
The main VCR controls are located on the VCR's front panel and are
duplicated on the remote control. However, some controls appear only on
the front panel, inside the control compartment, or on the remote control.
CONNECTIONS
This section describes the connections necessary to begin using your VCR.
Before you begin making the connections, plug in the VCR.
88:88 flashes on the display.
Caution:
In areas of high humidity or if you move the VCR from a cold area to a
warm one, plug in the VCR and allow it to warm up for 1 to 2 hours
before you operate it. This allows complete evaporation of any
moisture inside the VCR that could damage the VCR.
See "Dew Protection System."
BASIC VCR CONNECTIONS
These steps show the most basic connections necessary to begin using your
VCR.
1. Disconnect the antenna or cable wires from your TV's antenna
terminals.
Connect the antenna or cable wires to the VCR's combined VHF/UHF INPUT
terminal.
Notes:
If you have cable service, see "Connecting Cable TV."
If you have 300-ohm antenna wire, use a 300-to-75-ohm matching
transformer (not supplied) to connect the wire to the VCR's VHF/UHF
INPUT terminal.
If you have separate VHF and UHF antennas, use a signal combiner
(not supplied) between the antenna cables and the VCR's VHF/UHF INPUT
terminal.
Your local Radio Shack store sells the necessary transformer and
combiner.
2. Connect the single-connector end of the supplied 75-ohm cable to the
VCR's VHF/UHF OUTPUT terminal.
3. Connect the other end of the cable to the TV's antenna terminal(s).
a. If your TV has separate terminals for VHF and UHF, connect the
cable's 300-ohm UHF output to the TV's UHF terminals; connect the
cable's 75-ohm or 300 ohm VHF output to the TV's VHF terminal(s)-
do not use both VHF outputs.
b. If your TV has a combined VHF/UHF antenna terminal, connect the
cable's 75-ohm combined VHF/UHF output to the TV's terminal.
CONNECTING CABLE TV
Note:
Some states have laws that restrict direct connection of cable wires
(connections that do not go through the cable box). Check the laws in
your area before you make connections.
Note to cable TV system installer:
This reminder is provided to call the CATV system installer' attention to
Article 820-22 of the National Electrical Code. This article provides
guidelines for proper grounding and particularly specifies that the cable
ground be connected to the grounding system of the building, as close to
the point of cable entry as practical.
There are two basic questions to consider when you connect your VCR to a
cable system:
Are you receiving any scrambled channels?
Does the cable system provide more than 36 channels?
If the answer to both of these questions is "No," use Connection A.
With this connection, you can watch one channel while you record another.
To do this, press TV/VCR on the remote control so that VCR does not appear
on the display. Of course, you can watch the channel you record.
If your TV does not have a cable-compatible tuner, you must connect the
cable box between the VCR and the TV.
Note:
Because the cable wire connects directly to the VCR, press TV/CATV on
the VCR so that C appears on the VCR's display.
If the answer to either of these questions is "Yes," use Connection B.
With Connection B, you can record from any cable channel you subscribe to
while you watch any channel you select using the TV tuner. These
connections require a 75-ohm splitter and a high-isolation A/B switch,
both available at your local Radio Shack store.
Use the cable box to select the channel you want to record. Then, use the
A/B switch to view the non-scrambled channels you can directly tune on
your TV, or the channel you select using the cable box.
Because the output of the cable box is a regular VHF channel
(usually 3 or 4), press TV/CATV so that C disappears form the display.
Notes:
The tuner does not unscramble premium cable channels.
If you have a second cable box, you can record a scrambled channel
while you watch a different scrambled channel.
CONNECTING A TV MONITOR
TV monitors only have separate audio and video inputs. However most
monitors sold for home use are combination receiver/monitors that have
antenna connection terminals and separate audio and video inputs. All
Radio Shack monitors are the combination type.
If you have a combination receiver/monitor, we suggest the following
connections to play back and monitor a recording.
Direct audio/video connections usually result in better picture and sound
for tape playback. Set the TV's TV/video switch to the video mode to
watch video switch to the video mode to watch video tapes or channels you
select using the VCR's tuner.
To view VHF/UHF signals, complete the VHF/UHF connections described in
"Basic VCR Connections" and set the TV's TV/video switch to TV.
Note:
Use video-quality shielded cables with phono connectors. Do not use
standard audio cables.
CONNECTING STEREO HI-FI
Stereo signals from the VCR's tuner or from a stereo hi-fi recording are
sent to the VCR's AUDIO OUTPUT jacks. If you want to connect your current
stereo system to the AUDIO OUTPUT jacks, refer to the drawing below.
The settings of the MTS switch and AUDIO OUT on the remote control affect
the VCR's stereo output. See "Controlling VCR Inputs and Outputs."
CONNECTING A VIDEO PROCESSOR
You can connect a video processor to your VCR to improve tape playback
quality and help maintain quality when you dub (copy) tapes. Connect the
processor between the VCR's AUDIO/VIDEO OUTPUT jacks and the TV's
audio/video input terminals.
HOW THE VCR'S TUNER WORKS
The VCR's 179-channel PLL tuner is active when you turn on the VCR and set
INPUT to the TUNER mode. The tuner has two functions:
It lets you select what the VCR records.
It lets you select the VCR's output when VCR appears on the VCR's
display (when the VCR is neither playing nor recording a tape).
The tuner has no effect on recording or VCR output when you set INPUT to
the A/V mode or when the power is off.
See "Using the INPUT SELECT Button."
SETTING THE CHANNEL 3/4 SWITCH
When VCR appears on the VCR's display, the VCR sends the selected video
source signal from the VCR's VHF/UHF OUTPUT terminal to the TV on the
channel you select using the VCR's CHANNEL 3/4 switch (on the back of the
VCR). These signals are also present at the VCR's AUDIO/VIDEO OUTPUT
jacks.
If Channel 3 or 4 is an active channel in your area, set the CHANNEL
3/4 switch to the other position.
The CHANNEL 3/4 switch has no effect when the VCR is off or when VCR does
not appear on the display.
USING THE TV/CATV BUTTON
Press TV/CATV on the VCR so that C does not appear on the display to
receive up to 68 VHF/UHF channels.
To receive up to 111 cable channels, press TV/CATV so that C appears on
the display.
PROGRAMMING THE TUNER MEMORY
You can program the tuner's memory so that when you press CHANNEL
\/ or \/, the VCR's tuner scans only the active channels in your area.
1. Press CH PROG AUTO on the remote control. The tuner scans through the
channels starting from antenna broadcast, then to CATV, and memorizes
all the active channels in your area. After scanning all the
channels, the tuner stops on the lowest-numbered active channel.
2. Press CHANNEL \/ or /\ to check the memory's contents.
If the tuner stores a channel that you do not want, tune to that
channel and press CH PROG ERASE on the remote control.
The channel number blinks on the VCR's display to show that the
unwanted channel is erased from the tuner's memory.
3. If you want to program a weak channel that automatic programming
missed, enter the desired channel number using the remote control's
number buttons. Then, press CH PROG MANUAL on the remote control.
The channel number blinks on the VCR's display to show that the
channel is added to the memory.
You can directly select channels that are not in the tuner's memory
using the remote control's number buttons.
Note:
If the AC cord is unplugged or a power failure occurs for more than a
few seconds, the tuner might lose the information in memory.
CHANNEL SELECTION
There are three methods of channel selection - manual, auto-scan, and
direct. Before you select a channel, set TV/CATV to the desired band.
To manually select a channel, press CHANNEL \/ or /\. The tuner
automatically advances to the next programmed channel in the direction of
the button's arrow.
If you press CHANNEL /\ when the tuner is at the highest programmed
channel, the tuner returns to the lowest programmed channel. If you press
CHANNEL \/ when the tuner is at the lowest programmed channel, the tuner
returns to the highest programmed channel.
To auto-scan for a channel, press CH SCAN on the remote control once.
The tuner scans the channels stored in the tuner's memory, stopping on
each channel for about 2 seconds. To stop auto-scanning, press CH SCAN
again when the desired channel is displayed, or let the tuner scan all of
the programmed channels. At the end of one complete cycle, auto-scanning
stops.
To directly select a channel, press the remote control's number buttons
for the desired channel. You must precede one-digit channel numbers with
0 - 01, 02, 03, and so on. For three-digit channel numbers, press 100.
Then, enter the second and third digits in the channel number.
Note:
If you enter a valid but inactive channel number, you see the blue
screen. The blue screen remains until you enter an active channel
number.
CABLE CHANNEL DESIGNATIONS
Your VCR can receive up to 111 cable channels. The VCR displays the
channels as 1-125.
Channels 2-13 are the same for VHF and cable TV, and cable companies
usually number them as they appear on the display.
However, cable companies often designate other cable channels with letters
or letter-number combinations. The following chart shows common cable
channel designations.
Alternate Channel VCR Tuner Alternate Channel VCR Tuner
Designations Display Designations Display
Mid Band Channels Hyper Band Channels
A 14 W+1 37
B 15 W+2 38
C 16 W+3 39
D 17 W+4 40
E 18 W+5 41
F 19 . .
G 20 through through
H 21 . .
I 22 W+58 94
W+58 100
Super Band Channels through through
J 23 . .
K 24 W+84 125
L 25
M 26
N 27 VHF Low Band Channels
O 28 4A or A8 01
P 29 5A or A7 05
Q 30 6A or A6 06
R 31
S 32
T 33 Mid Low Band Channels
U 34 A-3 97
V 35 A2 98
W 36 A-1 99
For more information, contact your cable company.
You still might have to experiment to determine the proper cable channel
designations for your cable system.
NORMAL TV VIEWING
Follow these steps for normal TV viewing.
1. Turn on the TV.
2. Turn off the VCR, or press TV/VCR on the remote control so that VCR
does not appear on the VCR's display. The antenna or cable signals
pass through the VCR unaffected, as if the antenna or cable were
connected directly to the TV.
If you use a TV monitor, be sure to set it to the TV mode.
3. Select the desired channel, using the TV tuner.
CONTROLLING VCR INPUTS AND OUTPUTS
The CHANNEL 3/4 switch works together with TV/VCR and INPUT to control the
input and output signals of your VCR. This is important when you use the
VCR's tuner to select the program you want to watch or when you play back
a tape.
Using the INPUT Button
Press INPUT to select the signals you want to record and send to the VCR's
AUDIO/VIDEO OUTPUT jacks. The input selection affects the VHF/UHF OUTPUT
signals only when you press TV/VCR so that VCR appears on the display.
The VCR displays the channel number (and C if you select the CATV mode)
when you select tuner, the channel number and SC when you select
simulcast, or AU when you select audio/video for the signals from the
AUDIO/VIDEO INPUT jacks.
Input Mode Display Video Source Audio Source
Tuner Channel Number Tuner Channel Tuner Channel
and Selected
Band
Simulcast SC and Selected Tuner Channel Audio Input
Channel
Audio/Video AU Video Input Audio Input
Note:
INPUT SELECT has no effect during tape playback or when the VCR is
turned off.
Using the AUDIO OUT Button
To select the sound you hear during recording or playback, press AUDIO OUT
on the remote control. This button is especially useful when you record
the main signal on the left channel and a different SAP signal on the
right channel.
The AUDIO OUT indicators light and Hi-Fi appears on the display as
follows:
The audio levels of the left and right channels also light during
recording or playback.
AUDIO OUT Setting AUDIO OUT Indicator Hi-Fi Indicator
ST (Stereo) L and R On On
L (Left) L On On
R (Right) R On On
NOR (Normal) Off Off
Standard (non-hi-fi) VCRs record audio signals on a separate track from
the video signals. Hi-fi VCRs record audio signals on the same track as
video signals. To make the recordings compatible with standard VCRs, the
Model 50 also records audio signals on the regular audio track. When you
use the NOR position of AUDIO OUT, you listen to the playback from the
regular audio track. Also, if you play a tape recorded on a standard VCR,
the Model 50 plays the regular audio tack, regardless of AUDIO OUT
setting.
The chart on the following page shows the VHF and audio output results
from the following AUDIO OUT settings:
AUDIO OUT Setting VHF Output Audio Output
ST Left and Right channels Left channel from L
channels combined (mono) output, right from R
L Left channel only Left channel from L and
R output
R Right channel only R channel from L and
R outputs
NOR Regular audio track Regular audio track
from L and R outputs
Note:
AUDIO OUT has no effect on recording.
If you play a tape recorded on a non-hi-fi VCR, Hi-Fi does not appear
and the sound does not change, even if you press AUDIO OUT.
Stereo and SAP broadcasts
The MTS (multichannel television sound) decoder built into your VCR's
tuner automatically shows when the VCR receives stereo and/or SAP
(special audio program) signals.
The ST appears on the display when the VCR receives a stereo signal.
The SAP appears on the display when the VCR receives an SAP signal
with a mono main signal.
The ST and SAP appear on the display when the VCR receives an SAP
signal with a stereo main signal.
Setting the MTS switch
Use the VCR's MTS switch to select the audio signal you want to record or
listen to when you set INPUT to the tuner mode and receive MTS stereo
signals. The MTS switch has no effect on A/V, SIMUL, or mono broad cast
signals. The following chart shows what is recorded on the left and
right channels for each setting of the MTS switch.
Switch Setting Type of Broadcast Tuner Selected Audio Regular Track
L. Ch R Ch.
MONO MTS Stereo L+R L+R L+R
STEREO MTS Stereo L R L+R
MTS Stereo+SAP L R L+R
SAP MTS Stereo+SAP L+R SAP SAP
Notes:
If you set the MTS switch to MONO, the recorded signal is mono, even
if ST appears on the display.
When you play back a tape that was recorded using regular stereo
signals (not hi-fi) or when you select NOR (a normal track) using
AUDIO OUT, you hear only monaural signals.
If you record an SAP broadcast, you hear only monaural SAP signals
when you select NOR.
(br/km-02/28/1997)
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