I have had a Kenwood VR-509 receiver for 7 years. The remote stopped working after 1 year. I just found this forum, and after reading all of the posts and people's links (specifically Dave Ditton's how-to @ [Link: buscoblog.com]) I fixed the problem in 30 minutes.
I've never even used a soldering iron before, but I picked one up at Home Depot(a Weller 40 Watt) and then searched for some instructions on NR=1). Shortly therafter, I had the receiver and remote fully functional again. Thanks a lot!