Any idea what this message means? It stops the thing from playing a tape and makes a few interesting grinding noises although the mechanism seems to be working well
This isn't an error message. When thse videos have been disconnected from the mains for a while they reset to factory conditions. This includes reseting the rf out channel to channel 52. Connect with a scart lead and the item should work. If you've got the instuction book give it a read. If there are still problems ref. noises etc then this is not related to the RF52 on the screen.
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Try fixfault.com to fix cassette recorders.