G'day Rick,
 RM>  Well, on the one hand, I'm happy to see VCR prices fall so low. OTOH,
 RM> it
 RM>  seems a terrible waste to shitcan a VCR that merely needs a new
 RM> head-drum
 RM>  assembly. As it is, replacing a belt is about the extent of the
 RM> repairs
 RM>  that can be accomplished in a cost-efffictive manner.
Since I wrote about the problem I have since sold it and bought myself the 
Sony slv-x527 mono vcr - having lots of fun playing with the g-code :) 
 RM>  re: AKAI Intelligent HQ Circuitry
 FI> After yakking with a few people at the local audio/video store,
 RM> they
 FI> reckon it's a circuit where the deck reads the tape and optimizes
 RM> the
 FI> machine for the best performance for that tape.
 RM>  Wow. Similar to what many cassette decks do with bias/EQ optimization.
Yeah basically :) Although it's pretty obvious that if you put in a tape way 
too old it just won't do it properly, audio or video. The Sony I just 
mentioned has a circuit like Intelligent HQ titled "APC" (think it's Auto 
Picture Control , from memory) and it does the same thing so I'm happy :)
 RM>  It really makes a difference with them, so I'm surprised that someone
 RM>  hasn't built a VCR with such a system before.  Then again maybe there
 RM>  HAVE been such machines available, and I'm not aware of them.
As far as I know, this sort of circuitry was only included in VCR's 1994 
plus. I also have a Sharp Mono VCR (one for the lounge room) which dates back 
to 1992 and has none of the optimization - no doubt someone will correct me 
if I'm wrong but I'm sure it's only available on VCR's 1994 onwards.
Cheers,
Frank
:)
... Two most common elements in the universe: Hydrogen & Stupidity.
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