Advice for tape drive repair / maintenance

[Tony Duell]

> Just out of interest, my dad still has the first
> VCR VHS recorder he bought around 1979 (no

Oh, a newcomer :-)

I still have (in working condition) a pair of Philips N1500 machines 
dating from 1972. They've had new belts, but are still on the original 
heads. I've never managed to get replacement pinch rollers for them, 
alas. In that time they've needed 2 repairs -- the loading pulley cracks 
(but there's a workaround), and I had to replace one transistor in the 
audio mute circuit.

-tony