vintage VHS camcorder

divxdude · Post by **divxdude** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:13 pm

I dug this old camcoder out a trash pile.

i was able to get video working by rigging external power and think i can insert some wires into the external cable port and glue them in place with some slilicone or soemthing.

my question is can the optic unit be amputated and used apart form the
rest of the bulky device? is there a small circuit behind the lens that self contained and can be rigged up to use as a securty cam etc? would that like be a standard video signal i could input to a VCR etc?

zaphod7501 · Post by **zaphod7501** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:29 pm

You pretty much have to leave it intact. The main board supplies multiple power supply voltages, timing signals, control data, and supplies the video, color, and audio processing and output circuits.

If you get me the make and model I can check and see if I have the service manual to get you the pinouts. Some of the connectors can be obtained blank for soldering your own wiring onto.

divxdude · Post by **divxdude** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:45 pm

its a RCA CMR200
thanks.

zaphod7501 · Post by **zaphod7501** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:07 am

That's probably an Hitachi built unit with a proprietary battery pack. Roughly what shape is the connector and how many pins does it have ? That info will help me match it up to the Hitachi manuals that I have at the shop. I may not be able to offer very much reliable feedback until next week since I close the shop between the holidays to do paperwork and taxes.

divxdude · Post by **divxdude** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:25 am

sure thanks anything u can do.

its like an SVID slightly larger
8 pins in circular pattern -

zaphod7501 · Post by **zaphod7501** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:27 pm

It is probably a Hitachi built machine similar to the VM5000 series. The manual didn't have a detailed picture of the jack but did have a pin description.
1 - video out (tied to pin 8)
2 - ground
3 - 12 volts to power the RF adapter which would plug into the jack
4 - ground (audio shield ?)
5 - unused
6 - audio out
7 - ground
8 - video out (tied to pin 1)
With an ohm meter you should be able to determine pin 4 which would give you the orientation of the rest of the pins, assuming they run in numerical order around the circle. Hope this is of some help.

divxdude · Post by **divxdude** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:08 pm

ah great, thanks for the info.
any chance you have a schematic for that model you mentioned..?
or any similar type from that era.

zaphod7501 · Post by **zaphod7501** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:55 pm

The one I checked is a paper copy. I'll check and see if I have a pdf version. The manual is a hundred pages or so. The pdf's generally run 6 - 20 MB. Any particular part you're interested in ?

divxdude · Post by **divxdude** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:20 am

well yeah the lens / optic connections , trying to determine if that can be detached and used independantly or at least detached and extended.
part numbers or photos would be great.

any idea where to see a photo of that part out of the chassis?
seems like the lens and optic circuit should have been
assembled together but i have no clue. i guess i can just start
disecting it, not much good as a camcorder and too big as a camera
as is.

thank you for helping out.

zaphod7501 · Post by **zaphod7501** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:46 am

The electronic manual is an 8Mb tif file. The camera section does output Y/C to the main board with only a few simple connections across CN102. The section is still pretty big, however. and you will have to keep everything in front of the VCR deck section. You'll need multiple regulated power supplies: 9VDC, 12VDC, 5.8VDC; and probably a hi/low control signal on pin one of CN102.

A more practical solution might be to strip off the mechanism and repackage the rest. You would have the front assembly and the main board. The grip houses much of the camera circuitry.

You pretty much just remove every screw you can find and the side comes off fairly easily and you can see what you are dealing with.

The only electronic manual that I have is for a Hitachi VM6100 and it was a photocopy of the original paper and of fairly poor quality. It might be a little big for email but I don't have any way to extract individual pages other than printing them.