Sorry if this is OT, I'm not really repairing anything, just trying to
program a universal remote controller.

London Drugs was selling these for about $79 Cdn, really cheap.

I tried to program a couple of the Universal remotes I have, but none
of the known Akai codes work for the VR870, which is made in China. I
tried both Akai and London Drugs, no help. Anybody speculate or know
what well-known manufacturer these machines were modelled on? It
looks like Akai just relabelled the output of another factory.

For $79 Cdn you can't expect much. I am impressed at how quiet this
machine is (compared especially to the cheapie Philips it replaced).
Picture quality seems fine.

There is no front panel display. But who wants to see 12:00 anyway?
One thing that made me laugh was the front AV stereo inputs. I
thought "great", but when I opened the box, there was no AV input at
the rear. That's right, just a co-ax input. "Fortunately", this
particular little setup didn't need any AV input.

So in general, 12:00 I'm pleased, but would like to program a
universal remote to run it.

Jonathan Berry

And the answer is:
not Akai,
not Philips
not Sansui
not JVC (all of which had some logic), but

Emerson !

On the RCA Universal remote control RCU301, the code id 031, one of 30
codes given for Emerson.

Sorry for answering my own inquiry.

Jonathan Berry