Hello. Welcome to Venus Video Guide. I think you're going to enjoy our program. It's designed to give you quickly and simply all the information you'll need to help you get the maximum pleasure from your new VCR. To start, note the color-coded chapters on the back of the cassette sleeve. Each chapter has its own color. And that same color also appears as a color bar across the bottom of your screen to help you quickly find a specific chapter for later review. As you start viewing each chapter, the color bar will slowly disappear until at the end of that chapter, it's entirely gone. How much of the color bar shows will tell you where you are within a chapter. Now, this video program will show you how to operate your VCR. But it isn't meant to replace this printed operating guide. So we recommend that you take the time to read it. You'll find additional information in the printed guide that's not included in this video program. One quick point. This video guide is meant to be used with several VCR models. While functions among the various models are virtually identical, where there are differences will indicate. Well, that's it for the preliminaries. Let's get started. Before we get started, let's note a couple of things. First, your control panel may look like either one of these models. Just remember, the buttons are the same even though the control panels are in different locations. For demonstration, we'll be using this one. OK. Notice the clock. It's flashing because the time needs to be set. We'll do that a little later. But for now, let's at least stop it from flashing. Press Clock Adjust and then Enter twice. Your VCR is one of Zenith's new space-saving MIDI models with an automatic power-on system. Simply loading the cassette end first like this turns on the deck. One other quick point. If the cassette will only go in about halfway, it's probably inserted backwards. Remove the cassette, turn it around, and insert it again. Now, I'll just turn the VCR off for a minute and show you a helpful feature. If you want to get the cassette out quickly, you don't have to power up the deck. Simply press the Eject button. And just like that, out comes the cassette. Your VCR's primary controls are located here behind this panel door. Opening this panel door also gives you access to the secondary control group. We'll take a detailed look at these shortly. But for now, the knob should be centered and all switches should be set to the left. On the back are the antenna connections, the channel output selector switch, the dub mode switch, and the audio and video input-output jacks. Well, so far so good. Now, let's find out more about cassette playback. For cassette playback, you can operate your VCR in several ways, manually with the membrane controls on the machine or at a distance with this convenient full function remote control. If you use the remote, be sure this switch is in the VCR position. In the TV position, this remote will operate many remote controllable Zenith TVs. Your Zenith VCR also has a nifty feature called Auto Play to let you play back a cassette automatically. Here's how it works. A special circuit inside the cassette deck can sense the absence or presence of this cassette safety tab. Removing the tab prevents accidental re-recording of pre-recorded tapes. Anyway, if you insert a set that doesn't have the safety tab, the deck will automatically go into the play mode and start playing the cassette. OK, to do a cassette, turn on your TV set and tune it to channel 3 or 4, whichever is the unused broadcast channel in your area, in this case, channel 3. Then, on the back of the VCR, set the RF output switch to match the TV channel you've selected. Once you set this switch, you never have to set it again. And from now on, this switch position will determine which channel 3 or 4 you tune your TV to when using the VCR. Now, why don't you sit back and relax and use the remote control? And if you do, be sure this switch is in the VCR position. The tape TV button on the remote has the same function as this tape TV button on the VCR. When the tape light is on, that means you can view a picture from a cassette or from broadcast TV using the VCR's tuner. When it's off, that means you must use your TV's tuner to select channels and to view a picture independent of the VCR. If you don't get a picture and your TV screen looks like this, press this button once, and you should get a picture immediately. OK, notice these special symbols or icons printed on the membrane panel. These same icons also appear on the fluorescent display panel so you can see at a glance what your VCR is doing. Here's something else that'll help you see at a glance, this onscreen button. Press it once to call up computer-like onscreen displays to tell you your VCR's current operating mode along with time and channel information. Onscreen displays can also be called up with your remote. Just press the Enter Recall button, and the onscreen display will appear. These displays will stay onscreen for five seconds and then disappear. The remote control can perform virtually any function on your VCR. It'll do all the playback operations, including speed search forward, speed search reverse, and stop. You can also use the remote control to freeze picture action during playback. Simply press Pause. Each time you press and release the Pause button, the still picture will advance. Pressing the Pause button down for more than two seconds causes the VCR to enter the slow motion mode. To resume regular playback, press Play. Normal picture and sound will return. Slow motion, still picture, and picture advance can also be controlled on a cassette deck by pressing the Pause button. Your new VCR also has a feature called Play Memory for repeat viewing of programs. Just press the Rewind and then the Play buttons almost simultaneously. The flashing play indicator will rewind to the beginning, stop, and begin playback automatically. If during playback your picture looks distorted or if the audio sounds strange or is missing, turn one of the tracking control knobs to clear it up. Each time you insert a cassette, your VCR searches for the best soundtrack, Hi-Fi Stereo, for playback. If the cassette doesn't have Hi-Fi recorded on it, the VCR will automatically track normal mono sound. And these indicator lights will show you which sound you'll hear. If your tape has both Hi-Fi and normal mono soundtracks, you can use this button to manually select Hi-Fi, Normal, or a mix of both. Here's a feature that you may find useful. During tape playback, you can automatically search for and find a specific point on the tape. Here's how. When you see a point that you want to return to later, press Pause. And then press Counter Reset. The counter will return to zero. Press Play. Continue playing the tape just as you would ordinarily. Later, when you want to return to the previous point, set this switch to On. Press Stop. Then press Rewind. The tape will rewind to zero, the point where you press the Reset button. Now we're ready for tape playback. You can also go directly to a specific segment of the tape by using this Go To button. Press Stop. Then press Go To. And notice that the current tape counter number display changes to this special Go To display. Normally, the Go To display will look like this. But the first time you use it, it may look like this. Either way, the Go To function works the same way. So enter the four-digit number of the segment you want to go to. For example, 125 would be 0125. And press Play. If the number you've entered is larger than the current tape counter number, as was the case here, the VCI will fast-forward to the larger number and resume playback. If you enter a number smaller than the current tape counter number, the VCI will rewind back to the small number and then resume playback. One other point about Go To. If after you enter the number you want, you press Stop instead of Play, the VCR will go to that number and then stop. Well, that about wraps up this chapter. Coming up next, important information about your TV picture. For full enjoyment of your VCR, you obviously need a picture. So in this chapter, we'll take a brief look at where your TV signal comes from. All of us are accustomed to changing channels on the TV and seeing the channel we selected come up on the screen. That's because your TV has a tuner built in. And it's this tuner that makes it possible for us to receive a TV signal from any available channel in our area. Now, to understand how this works, think of the TV signal as water flowing through a garden hose. The signal flows in here from the antenna and into the back of the TV. Then it flows out again in the picture. Your new VCR also has a tuner built in. So in a way, it's like a TV set only without the screen. And like the water in a garden hose, the signal flows in here directly into the back of the VCR. Then it flows out again directly into the TV. Now, the VCR's tuner works independent of the TV's tuner, which means you can change from the TV's tuner to the VCR's tuner or back again any time you want. Having two independent tuners is why it's possible to record a program on one channel while watching a different program on a second channel. Your VCR can also receive signals directly from a cable TV system or from a special cable TV signal box, like this. Now, one of the things all this means is since the VCR's tuner works independent of the TV set, we don't have to have the TV turned on when we record a program. That's one of the great features of having a VCR. Well, now that we know a little bit about where signals can come from, let's go on to the next chapter and find out how to get the ones you want into your VCR. Well, as you can see from the last chapter, with all the TV signal possibilities to choose from, the way you hook everything up is very important. No matter where the signal comes from, sooner or later, it has to go here at the back of the VCR. If the end of your antenna cable is like this, screw it into this antenna input jack. Your VCR can now receive everything your TV set's been receiving. On the other hand, the end of your antenna cable may look like this. In that case, you'll need to use the antenna mixer, which was packed in your VCR. Attach the twin UHF VHF antennas leads to it, like this. And then, slip it onto the antenna end jack. The next step is to send signals from your VCR to your TV. Attach this coaxial cable, which came with your VCR, to your VCR's antenna output jack, and the other end to the TV's antenna input jack. Your VCR is now hooked up to your TV. However, some TV sets have antenna terminals similar to this. If yours does, use the signal splitter that came with your VCR to attach the cable coming from the VCR to your TV, like this. Both your TV set and your VCR should now be able to receive normal broadcast TV signals. If your TV signal comes from a cable TV system, you most likely have a cable that looks like this. If so, simply screw it into this input jack. Your VCR's tuner is cable compatible, so you should now be able to tune all your previously available cable channels. However, many cable TV systems use a special cable box to protect the signals. This complicates the hookup situation a little, but there are several options you can select to suit your particular recording needs. Here's one example of how to hook up a cable box to your VCR. The cable signal coming into your home is first fed into the input of the cable box, and then fed out the output of the cable box and into the antenna input jack on the VCR. Then, the VCR output signal is fed to your TV. The advantage of this hookup option is you can record all available cable TV channels because you're using the tuner in the cable box to select your channels. The disadvantage is this hookup option bypasses your VCR's tuner. In this particular case, you can't use your VCR to make channels. If your cable system protects only certain channels by scrambling the signal, there is another way to hook up your cable box. First, connect the cable TV system's antenna cable to the antenna end jack on your VCR. Next, connect one end of a coaxial cable to the antenna out jack of the VCR, and connect the other end to the antenna end jack on the cable box. Then, connect the antenna out jack of the cable box to the antenna input on the TV. The advantage of this hookup option is you get to make most channel selections using VCR's tuner. The disadvantage is you can view premium or so-called scrambled channels, but you can't record them since unscrambling occurs after the signal has already passed through the VCR. What all this means is when using your VCR with cable box, you may have to choose between the cable TV company's tuner or the tuner in the VCR. Well, you can relax now. Hooking up your VCR is probably the hardest thing for most people to deal with, and you just went through it. So let's go on to chapter 6. Well, now that we've got everything hooked up, let's take a look at selecting channels. Your VCR's tuner can receive UHF and VHF broadcast channels. And if you're a cable subscriber, see ATV channels too. To do that, we need to make sure that these switches are set to the right positions. In most cases, once you've done this, you probably won't need to reset them. OK, set the source select switch to the tuner position. Next, for normal broadcast TV channels, set the band select switch to the TV position, to CATV for cable channels, or HRC for HRC cable channels. If you're not sure you've got HRC in your area, select the CATV position, and tune your VCR to a cable channel using the VCR's tuner. Then, switch back and forth between the HRC and CATV channel positions, and see which one gives the best picture and response time. Next, for normal broadcast TV channels, set the automatic frequency control, or AFC switch, to normal. For cable channel viewing, set the AFC switch to special. The AFC will automatically fine tune the video signal. If your TV has similar switches, set them to match those on your VCR. Now, make sure that this indicator light is on to be sure that you're using your VCR tuner. To select a channel, simply press the channel number you want, and enter. You can also press one of the channels and arrows until the channel you want appears. Or use a remote control to quickly find a specific channel by pressing the channel number you want. Here's how to quickly scan only your favorite channels. Enter the channel number that you want to eliminate. Let's select five, and press Skip. You'll see PO appear briefly, telling you the channel has been programmed out of the scanning sequence. Now, when you use the scan controls, you'll see only the channels that you really want. To restore channel five to the scan sequence, simply re-enter the channel number, and press Enter. Channel five is now back in the scanning sequence. Well, that's how you tune in your channels. Now, let's find out how to record them. Before we get into the steps in recording, here's a handy reference chart of video cassette recording and playback times. It'll help choose the right length cassette for your recording. Your VCR will record both SP and EP tape speeds. The faster SP speed will give you the best picture quality. And the slower EP speed provides the longest playing time. This number tells you the cassette in this box is 120 minutes or two hours long at the SP speed. This cassette will be six hours long. Use the SP-EP switch on either the VCR or the remote to manually select your recording speed. OK, let's record a TV program. First, load a cassette and make sure that this cassette safety tab is in place or that the hole has been covered with a piece of tape. Select the recording speed and use the VCR's tuner controls to tune the channel you want. Or you can use the remote for channel selection. However, if you're using a cable TV box to select the channel, you'll have to tune the VCR to either channel three or four, the output of most cable boxes. Now we're ready to record. Hold record and at the same time press play. The red circle icon indicates the VCR is recording. One final point. Check to make sure the cassette you're using has enough time on it to record the program you want. Here's how. Pressing clock count remain will display the available recording time remaining on the cassette in hours and minutes. And remember, if the tape reaches the end during manual recording, the VCR will automatically stop and rewind to the beginning. Here are some reminders to quickly check before you start recording. Let's try recording one channel while we watch a different one. We'll record this channel using the VCR's tuner just as we did a moment ago. Only now, I'll just press the tape TV button so that the light goes out. And then you can watch whatever channel you select on the TV without affecting your VCR's recording. But that's not the only way your new VCR can record. For example, this instant record button allows you to start recording a program almost instantly. Here's how. Go through the normal steps to get ready for recording. Then when you want to record, just select the channel you want and press this button twice. Recording begins immediately. Notice the clock display has changed and now tells us the VCR will record for 30 minutes. Each time the instant record button is pushed, we add another 30 minutes, up to a total of four hours. The recording time you selected will count down to zero and power will switch off automatically. Pressing stop terminates instant record at any time. Well, that wraps up this chapter. So here comes chapter eight. This chapter is all about time and, for once, how to make time work for you. Your new VCR has a 14-day, eight-event timer for automatic recording of up to eight different programs on different channels at different times. The clock plays an important role in all of this. It's a great way to record a program that you can record on your VCR. And it's a great way to record a program that you can record on your VCR. The clock plays an important role in all of this, so let's adjust it to the correct time. Press clock adjust, and when the day starts flashing, press today's day, Wednesday. Then press enter, and the hour will flash. Press the numbers for the correct hour and minutes. Press AM or PM, and then press enter. It's just like setting a digital watch. Whatever's flashing indicates the information you need to enter. Now, let's program the first event of the automatic timer. You can use the controls here on the VCR for direct entry of timer information. Or you can press the on-screen button and display timer programming steps on your TV screen. You can also use the remote control to do this. So let's take advantage of the on-screen display and use the remote to do the programming steps. Press the program button to bring up the on-screen display. Notice the number one flashes, indicating the first event is ready for programming. So press enter. Whatever's flashing tells you the next step to program, in this case, first and SU, meaning you're ready to program a specific day during the first week. Pressing the day you want and enter programs this step. Now, program the time you want the recording to start, AM or PM, and enter it. When you finish the last step in programming, this step in programming the start time, you automatically are ready to begin programming the stop time. We program the stop time the same way we just did the start time. For every start time entered, a stop time must also be entered. Finally, enter the channel number and tape speed to complete the programming for event number one. Now, the number one is flashing, and that tells you you finished programming the first event. If you want to program additional record times, pressing the program button advances you through the eight programming events available. Simply repeat these same programming steps for each different event. If you change your mind or if you notice an error in any of the programmed information, just press either the back or next channel scan arrows to return to a previous step for correction. Pressing the program cancel button cancels or clears an entire event. When you're all through setting the timer, continue pressing the program button on the remote until you've cycled through the eighth program event to cancel the on-screen program timer display and to return to normal picture and clock display. With the tape in the VCR, the last step is to turn on the timer by pressing the timer button. The VCR will turn off, ready to automatically record each program at the time and day you've set. These numbers tell you how many different events you actually programmed, up to a maximum of eight events. Well, that's great, but suppose you want to program a show and it won't be on until next week. Here's how. When the day flashes, press this button. Second will appear. Then choose the day of the week that you want and enter it. You can also program the VCR to record your favorite weekly series each week automatically. Simply enter the information about the show into the timer, press the Repeat button, and Enter. Every week, your VCR will remember to record the same program without having to reprogram the timer. To record your favorite daily series, press Daily. Every day of the week will be displayed. Press Sunday and Saturday to remove those days, if desired. Then press Enter. In the same way, you can also use only one timer event to program more than just a single event. Why would you want to do that? Well, for example, suppose you want to record a mini-series and you've only got one timer event left. As long as the start and stop times don't change, you can use the same timer event to record on consecutive days, alternating weekdays, or any combination. The rest of the steps for programming are the same as before. Once the timer is set, you can check the start and stop times entered for each event by pressing the Program button. It's important to note that when the clock and timer are displayed together, normal VCR controls will not work. To make them work again, turn the timer off and press Power for normal operation. When the word timer is flashing, it means that something's wrong, such as the cassette safety tab is missing. However, the timer will not work if the timer is not is missing. However, the timer will not flash for certain errors. So here's a list of some common programming errors to try to avoid. If the tape runs out during timer recording, the VCR will stop and automatically eject the cassette. That way, the automatic timer won't accidentally re-record over existing material on your cassette. For additional details about the auto-record timer, please consult your VCR's printed operating guide. Well, we've covered quite a bit of information so far, and there's some real excitement coming up in the next chapter, stereo audio recording. You may have purchased your Zenith VCR simply to record video programs. But you now own one of the finest home audio recorders as well, with playback performance specifications approaching those of digital laser discs. The reason your VCR's performance is so terrific is because of the way the signal is recorded. The left and right channel hi-fi stereo signals are laid down here on the same broad area of the tape as the video signals. In addition, your VCR has a second, separate audio recording track here along the edge of the tape. This edge track can be used to record and playback normal, monaural signals from a variety of sources without affecting what's recorded on the hi-fi track. You can manually select this second audio track by pressing the audio end button so this red LED indicator light comes on. It tells you you're recording on the edge track. Now, if you don't select the edge track for recording, the VCR will automatically record on it a monaural mix of whatever's being recorded on the hi-fi track. We'll talk more about these recording possibilities in a few minutes. Let's see how to take advantage of the dynamic hi-fi stereo performance of your new VCR. We need to connect the VCR to a stereo source, such as an amplifier and stereo receiver, so we can both record and playback stereo sound. We'll start with the stereo source. To get the audio signals into your VCR for recording, use these audio cables with phono plugs on both ends. On the back of your VCR, start by connecting the left and right audio out jacks here to the left and right audio end jacks of the VCR. Make sure that a left channel out is always connected to a left channel in, and a right channel out is always connected to a right channel in. To playback the stereo sound from your VCR, connect the left and right audio out jacks of the VCR here to the left and right audio end jacks of the amplifier here. By the way, this type of playback connection can be used to hook up your VCR to most stereo TVs equipped with video and audio inputs. So even if you don't have a separate component amplifier and speakers, you can listen to hi-fi through your stereo TV's built-in sound system. Just remember, if you use this type of hookup for playback, the TV's audio video selector switches must be set to receive the signals. In reality, there's no way of knowing exactly how these input output jacks will be labeled. Names and practices differ between different stereos and amplifiers. But the idea is the same, even if the labels are different. Now, if you do have a component audio system, we're ready to go through the steps for recording an FM simulcast TV program. Set the source select switch to simulcast. This tells your VCR to record the video signal from the VCR's tuner and the audio signals from another source, in this case, your FM stereo receiver. Then, tune your AM FM stereo receiver to the station broadcasting the sound for simulcast program. The audio level indicator switch should be set to level. This position will allow you to manually adjust the left and right audio channels, so these LED audio recording level indicators just peak in the red to give you maximum signal strength without audio distortion. When the slide controls are in the center ALC position, correct audio recording level is maintained automatically. To listen to the stereo signals being recorded, press the audio out button to get hi-fi. The audio out button on the remote has the same function as the audio out button on the VCR. The remaining steps for simulcast recording are the same as recording a normal TV program. Now, if you select a TV channel that's broadcasting an MTS stereo TV signal, this stereo LED indicator light will come on. And the VCR's built-in MTS stereo TV decoder will automatically record the signal in stereo. So if MTS stereo TV programs are available in your area, simply select the stereo channel you want and set the source select switch to the tuner position. The rest of the steps are the same as recording a regular, mineral TV program. There's one other thing you should know about MTS stereo TV. The technology that makes MTS stereo possible also allows the TV station, if they choose, to broadcast a second, entirely different audio signal, right along with the stereo signal. This second audio channel is sometimes used to broadcast a foreign language version of the regular TV program. This LED indicator light will automatically come on if the channel you've selected is broadcasting a second audio signal of any kind. If you want to record the signal, press the audio end button so this red LED indicator light comes on. The second audio signal will be recorded here on the same edge track available for other Monoro audio recordings. This will also allow you to record both the broadcast stereo and second audio soundtrack simultaneously. If you don't want to record the second audio signal, press the audio end button so that the red LED indicator light goes out. If no indicator light appears, it simply means the broadcast second audio signal is not available. Here's welcome news for music lovers. You can record up to eight hours of VHS hi-fi stereo sound on a single T160 cassette. That's a lot of music listening. Here's how you do it. Just set the source select switch to the auxiliary position. Then proceed with the normal steps for recording stereo audio from any source. Here's more good news. Your VCR has a music scan function to locate the beginning of a recording. Here's how it works. Start recording, and then press Record Mute, and then pause immediately. A five second audio index will be recorded on the tape before the VCR automatically enters Record Pause, ready for you to begin normal recording. Just remember, you must insert the audio index at the beginning of each recorded segment to use the music scan during playback. You'll also find it helpful to keep a numbered list of your indexed recordings for reference. Now, to use the music scan, start playing the tape, and use your reference list to note the location of the selection playing. Then, count the number of audio indexes between your present position and the selection you want to play. Enter that number, and press Fast Forward or Rewind, and the VCR will begin scanning to it. For example, if you were presently listening to selection number five and want to hear selection number eight, you would press number three. However, if you're playing selection number eight, and you want to return to selection five, you must enter four, because you'll scan past the index at the beginning of the selection you are playing. As the VCR scans, it will count down the index points it passes, stop at the desired selection, and then automatically begin playing. Finally, here are a few things to remember. You can record as many index points as you want, but during playback, you can only enter up to nine indexes at a time. To access more than nine selections, just repeat the music scan playback steps. Your new Zenith VCR is also an outstanding audio dubbing machine, so you can add your own custom sound to your videos without affecting the Hi-Fi track. Audio dubbing can be performed here. Follow the steps previously described for connecting an external audio source, such as a tape deck or an amplifier. Set the source select switch to the aux position. Play back your tape until you've located the point where you want to dub in the audio, and press pause. Now you're ready to begin. Hold audio dub, and then press play. Be sure to start your audio source at the same time. To end audio dubbing, simply press stop. But that's not all the special features available to you. We've barely scratched the surface of your VCR's talents. For example, in addition to an FM stereo receiver, you can also record from an audio cassette deck, a laser compact disc player, or a stereo LP turntable. Zenith VHS Hi-Fi, it opens up a whole new world of audio video enjoyment. Well, that about wraps up our show. We hope that you found this video operating guide useful. It's Zenith's way of helping you enjoy the many features and benefits of your new VCR. If you'd like to tell us your reaction to this video guide, we'd like to hear from you. Please write us at this address. By the way, here's how you may receive your new Zenith VCR free. Each month, a drawing will be held by Zenith from the completed owner's registration cards received during the previous months. Zenith will reimburse the winner for the full purchase price of their VCRs. In order to participate, simply complete and return the owner's registration card. Stars, larger than life, waiting to be captured by your home VCR, and the perfect sounds to capture are the sounds of the superstars in concert on HBO. Month after month, HBO brings home the great sounds of the great performers in concert, all simultaneously. The performers in concert, all simulcast in FM stereo, like this one. Ladies and gentlemen. A major event featuring one of rock superstars, only one of many outstanding concerts heard in stereo on HBO. I'm in a resolution, and I plan to keep my word. But I need you to make it work. You've got to read my message and understand what's on my mind. Got to see what we apply. You can do this anytime. We got to show respect. We got to love and protect. Don't take that from me. I know that we want to stay close. Got to show respect. Got to have respect. Respect. Show some respect. Respect. Show some respect. Don't miss the great excitement of the great performers on HBO. Stars like Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, all simulcast in FM stereo. For information about installing HBO in your home, call your local cable company. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.