Brother Planetron VX-10 Repair Pt.1 of 2

The Brother International Planetron (and Aquatron) are AM/FM stereo radios plus 8-track stereo tape players from the 1970s. Mine was manufactured in late 1976. They are distinguished by their very unusual (pincushion?) shape. In this video I give an overview of the features of the Planetron and open it up to repair its biggest problem: No sound output on tape. Spoiler alert: This time it's not the drive belt! I'm waiting for the shroud and tape belt from abroad so I couldn't finish this video in one part. Besides, it was getting long and many viewers don't like long videos. I will video part 2 as soon as the parts arrive. Hopefully, that will be soon but I have no control over that. The shroud and belt shown in part 2 were paid with my own money so I have not been incentivized to make that video flattering. I give my honest and unbiased opinions. To reiterate: Neither of these videos are paid product promotion videos. _Resources: Schematic for this unit – not available (as far as I know) •The shroud and drive belt came from eBay seller "Smasht". You can do an eBay search by Seller to find them. I am not associated with "Smasht". I paid for the shroud and belt with my own money. Shroud installation is covered in "part 2 of 2" which is NOT a paid promotion video. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:11 What's with the shape? 0:54 A Word from Mr. Brown 1:16 Functions & Features 3:02 Testing 4:08 Disassembly 5:57 Diagnosing Playback Issues 10:16 Dating the Machine 10:35 Measuring for the New Belt 11:10 Lights & Slider Knobs 13:23 Conclusion of pt.1 Update 2025-11-05 The shroud and belt arrived! Update 2025-11-18 The video showing the tape head shroud has been completed and should be Live in about 2 weeks.