Grab a cheap digital probe and tape it inside. Never trust dials alone.

Same here, my digitals crapped out in a month, but the analogs just keep going no matter what.

And honestly I think you got ripped off, a working VCR that plays the tape clean is way more fun. The whole point of watching Troll 2 is seeing how bad the acting and dialogue are, not hoping your gear breaks mid-scene. I mean, half the charm is laughing at the cornfield line over and over, not sitting there trying to fix a tangled tape with a pencil. If the machine works, you can actually pause and rewind the bad parts, which is the real adventure. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather have my equipment do its job and let the movie fail on its own.