I got this Philips N1501, 1974 VCR from Supergrand on Thursday, in a much nicer condition than my previous one:
The mechanism is essentially the same, but this one has a VHF/UHF tuner, recording capability (note the level meter) and still-frame ability. All the drive belts have degraded, so it will not eject the cassette inside it.
http://public.fotki.com/pikeimages/old-video-stuff/
Interestingly, it has separate chrominance and luminance outputs (Y/C, or S-video), something JVC/VHS didn't come up with until 1987. Tape speed is 15cm/sec, which is very fast compared to VHS or Beta.
It uses guard-band recording instead of VHS/Beta's azimuthal recording, so tape usage is copious, although video dynamic range is better.
The "CK" button = colour killer, for monochrome recording or playback.
There is a removable panel behind the cassette door that exposes the whole head drum, for the user to clean the heads manually!
Perversely, there is no composite input, and no simple way to add one! It doesn't have any internal signal paths where composite video flows, but does separation of the chroma and luminance at the video IF stage.
