JVC HR-S8000U S-VHS VCR (looking for it's JVC original accessories)

[Tasuke]

i don't believe so, i've made about a half-dozen S-VHS recordings on mine, without obvious issue.

could be a problem with your S-VHS cassette. have you tried other cassettes with it?

if you have only one S-VHS cassette, you could always take a HIGH-GRADE VHS and X-ACTO an S-VHS trigger hole into the bottom of the VHS cassette, enabling S-VHS recording on it.

that was a favorite Videophile trick back in the 80's and 90's, a way to save on the cost of S-VHS by getting most of S-VHS' benefits onto a standard high-quality VHS cassette.

for your purposes, however, this should serve well to rule in or out whether your VCR is at fault, or your S-VHS cassette...

[kpmedia]

I've having problems with eBay, too. I have a TBC that did not work correctly, as well a "complete" speaker setup that was missing parts and has a power problem. I've given the sellers two options: Partial refund (like 75% of price), or full return/refund. It's not good gear that they can resell anyway -- it's crap in need of repair. I don't know if it was incompetence or simply an issue of lying. Either way, neither item was "excellent working condition" as described. Neither works properly -- it works marginally and with serious issues.

I compare it to a being sold a puppy, and getting a two-year-old dog with a missing leg, blind in one eye, and a temper issue. It's sort of what you want in a vague way, but that's as close as it gets.

The "comet" issue exists on the Panasonic AG-1980P, too, when the tapes are really crappy recordings. It will track the tape perfectly, but has comets. The JVC won't track the tape, and has no comets. These are also known as "magnetic dropouts", and we now have working solutions for how to correct this in software. (I'm writing the guide next week. I spent several days this week putting together the before/after example clips, software setting images, etc.)

If you bought this for S-VHS playback, and it doesn't work, then a refund is not out of line. That is, of course, assuming your tapes are not at fault.

[Jpass992]

Tasuke, I have tried over a dozen SVHS tapes and they all have the white streak problem. I also tried the same tapes in my DT100U and my V101US and they don't have this problem. I have done thorough research on this machine and nobody has said they had a white streak problem with this machine. Could it be that the machine is out of alignment on SVHS? Should I try to contact the seller at all? I really think the deck looks to be in new condition, but having another machine with a white streak problem really irks me. Can any 8000U users help me out with this?

[kpmedia]

Quote:

Could it be that the machine is out of alignment on SVHS?

No, that's not an alignment issue. That's a head issue -- often from head wear, though it can be related to magnetics and other issues centering around the heads themselves. It's not alignment, that much I can say for certain.

[Jpass992]

kpmedia, I've tested all of the transport functions of the unit, and they all seem to work perfectly. The fast forward and rewind in play mode works perfectly while the fast forward and rewind works perfectly out of play mode as well. The playback of a pre recorded VHS tape looks perfect. Even the playback of a VHS recording made off my Direct TV box looks perfect as well. However, as far as the Super VHS playback goes, there are tons of white streaks going across the screen. It looks the same as my JVC HR S6900U. I did all sorts of research on the internet, and the white streak problem only began with the HR S4900U/S6900U/S5100U/S7100U models. Could it be that the heads for Super VHS playback are worn? If that if the case, then this seller obviously isn't truthful saying that the machine was new. If you read my previous posting, although he said that under returns on ebay he said no returns accepted, he stated that it was never used but 100% working. What does everyone think I should do? The machine does look new, and everything else works ok, but I just can't stand that white streak problem on Super VHS playback. Just to let everyone know, if it is a problem with the heads like kpmedia had suggested, www.jvcservice.com sells the upper drum model PDM2083A for $127.87. I mean, personally, I really think that $390 is alot of money for a seller to rip me off with a supposedly brand new machine. Well, at least I didn't go for one of those new Panasonic AG 1980 machines which supposedly have the white streak problem as well.

[kpmedia]

I got my partial refunds.

Had 66% returned for one, and 50% returned on the other. The 66% was enough return that I can resell without loss, or use for parts. The 50% was fair, because I can use it for parts to repair another one. The 50% was refunded, with an apology, no questions asked. The 66% was a haggle, but not by much. So give that a try -- if they sent you $hit, then hit them up for some $ back! It might work. That assumes you're willing to keep it, and pay something for it.

The AG-1980P doesn't have a "white streak problem" as much as that VCR doesn't work well with really crummy SLP VHS tapes. That VCR plays SLP better than most VCRs (including JVC), but at the same time, at some point, it can get worse instead.

Just remember that no VCR is perfect. If it plays VHS perfectly, appreciate it for what it can do. Find another VCR to shore up the weaknesses in your hardware setup. There's a reason businesses and serious hobbyists own a big stack of VCRs -- it's not by choice, it's by need.

I'd request some $$$ back, accept that it's a VHS VCR you like, and then add something else for S-VHS playback, with the money that was returned. Maybe it's not what you had wanted ideally, but I have to be honest with you -- I don't think that ideal existed anyway. (It certainly never has for me, and I've been doing this for well over a decade now.)

[Tasuke]

just picked two of these up, one to open, the other to keep sealed, exactly what i've been looking for!!






the seller, as of 7-16-11, has four copies left available;

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-JVC-ST-120-S...item4aacda13fe

[Tasuke]

just received the cassettes today!

a word of warning, and a likely explanation
for why 1980's JVC VHS and S-VHS cassette blanks are so hard to find; BAD LEADER STOCK.

yep, i have and old early 1980's JVC DYNAREC VHS, as well as these 1987
1st ed. S cassettes, and there is one thing they share in common; weak LEADER tape,
that snaps when FF or REWing all the way through to either end.

i'd be most upset about this myself, but fortunately, i have a box of MAXELL's PROFESSIONAL/INDUSTRIAL
ST-120 blanks, so i was able to successfully transplant the MAXELL S grade tape to the JVC
cassette shell.

it's, of course, regrettable that i couldn't keep the JVC cassette original,
but i'd much rather have a fully functional cassette than a non-functional broken one.
besides, my second JVC ST-120 is to remain sealed, and, naturally, original.

like i said, i have three early JVC DYNARECs that suffer this same issue,
so i was very much expecting this problem to show itself in these early S cassettes as well.

it's just too bad that JVC didn't catch on to this defect sooner...

[NJRoadfan]

Weak leaders were a problem with my last big capture project. The tapes were... JVC "Premium Standard" from the mid-late 80s. I had to do a few repairs from that batch due to detached leaders. The tapes were surprisingly crappy, almost as bad as the unlicensed "Made in Hong Kong" tapes my grandfather used to buy. The rollers would squeal, and it seems that someone used a rewinder on them that didn't treat them well. Thankfully all that video has been backed up.

[Tasuke]

it would seem that JVC videocassette blanks, at least of 1980's production,
have a reputation for weak leader tape.

i have a set of 17 1984/1985 MAXELL HGX GOLD Hi-Fi blanks,
and, of the copies that i have opened and recorded to,
EVERY ONE has operated as brand new, and not a single one
has snapped when passed through my bidirectional wall-powered KINYO cassette winder...







also, that JVC HR DYNAREC that you see up in the top left corner of that first photo?
that cassette is a EURO PAL/SECAM edition, bought from a seller in Vilnius, Lithuania.
and it has actually been successfully passed through my winder, without the leader on either end snapping.
it was made in GERMANY too, rather than JAPAN, like the U.S. market ones were.

evidently, whatever Japanese factory JVC was employing to make their cassette blanks,
had SERIOUS issues with their transparent Leader tape stocks...

[lordsmurf]

A shelf full of Robotech and Macross. Nice.

I spy a VF-1J on display on top of the stereo unit. I have a Matchbox VF-1S on top of a VCR. And then a mix of Takatoku, Bandai, Hasbro and crappy Toynami Valkyries on a shelf. The smurfy blue VF-1J Max is my favorite, a 1/60 strike valkyrie from the early 2000s. Do you also own an original copy of Robotech the Movie: The Untold Story? I have one, along with an original movie poster, and the Art III book signed by Carl Macek. The movie was one of the first DVDs I made, because of how rare it was -- I needed a backup in perfect quality.

[newkt]

Oh boy -- Geek City ^^^^^^

Actually, I have a life-size molded-rubber version of Watto (the hovering blue junk-dealer from the newer Star Wars movies) on display in my loft, suspended from a 6'-high metal stand ... I won it in 1999 at a Southeast grocery store chain (Publix), each of whose stores had one on display to be awarded in a drawing at that store -- about 400 stores (and Watto's) in all ... It had a declared value of $300 for tax purposes, but I was told at the time that it was selling for $900 on eBay, no doubt because of all the hype about the 1999 Star Wars movie ...

Biggest thing I've ever won -- literally ...

[Tasuke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

A shelf full of Robotech and Macross. Nice.

I spy a VF-1J on display on top of the stereo unit. I have a Matchbox VF-1S on top of a VCR. And then a mix of Takatoku, Bandai, Hasbro and crappy Toynami Valkyries on a shelf. The smurfy blue VF-1J Max is my favorite, a 1/60 strike valkyrie from the early 2000s. Do you also own an original copy of Robotech the Movie: The Untold Story? I have one, along with an original movie poster, and the Art III book signed by Carl Macek. The movie was one of the first DVDs I made, because of how rare it was -- I needed a backup in perfect quality.

no, the old ROBOTECH movie is the one thing i DONT have, and have NEVER seen.

you a member of MACROSS WORLD? i am. go by "Shaorin" over there...

[vinyleater]

I stumbled on this old thread because I just purchased one of the JVC 8000U units under discussion. Once it arrives and I test it, I will post my findings and impressions. I am hoping it will still be in working condition. The advice posted in this thread about lubricating the unit prior to use makes a lot of sense, and I will follow that before I begin testing. Thanks everyone.

[newkt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinyleater

I stumbled on this old thread because I just purchased one of the JVC 8000U units under discussion. Once it arrives and I test it, I will post my findings and impressions. I am hoping it will still be in working condition. The advice posted in this thread about lubricating the unit prior to use makes a lot of sense, and I will follow that before I begin testing. Thanks everyone.

Yeah, I ended up getting one of those JVC 8000U units, too, as well as two additional JVC 7000U units ... But I haven't had time to do anything with 'em yet -- in fact, (at least) one of 'em is still in its shipping box ...

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinyleater

I stumbled on this old thread because I just purchased one of the JVC 8000U units under discussion. Once it arrives and I test it, I will post my findings and impressions. I am hoping it will still be in working condition.

Definitely do that! I look forward to reading it.

Might you have any other JVC S-VHS VCRs to compare it with? That would make for a great read, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinyleater

The advice posted in this thread about lubricating the unit prior to use makes a lot of sense, and I will follow that before I begin testing. Thanks everyone.

Yep, we've got some great members here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by newkt

But I haven't had time to do anything with 'em yet -- in fact, (at least) one of 'em is still in its shipping box ...

Now I don't feel so bad about having a photo printer still in a box ... for 6 months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tasuke

you a member of MACROSS WORLD?

I think I'm a member -- yes, maybe -- but it's honestly been about 6 years since I was at that site. Mostly because I can't afford to buy anything...

... and seeing discussions for $100+ Valkyries is a form of torture that the UN Spacy outlawed.

[Tasuke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

I think I'm a member -- yes, maybe -- but it's honestly been about 6 years since I was at that site. Mostly because I can't afford to buy anything...

... and seeing discussions for $100+ Valkyries is a form of torture that the UN Spacy outlawed.

oh, but the glorious self-torture that you are missing out on!! haven't you a masochistic bone in you?

let's just put it this way; the latest, cutting edge YAMATO brand MACROSS products (1/60 perfect transformation VF-19kai and VF-19F/S, both from the 1995 "MACROSS-7" series) are running in between $250/slightly over $300 after shipping these days.

the poor U.S. dollar/JPN yen value these days is mostly to blame. even so, there are a goodly number of hardcore western fans willing to shell out the hideous sums these amazing bleeding-edge scale replicas are commanding.

one thing's sadly certain though, these inflating prices are rapidly separating the men from the boys, so to speak, and turning the western MACROSS fan community into a small, elitist club...

[vinyleater]

I appreciate the responses by lordsmurf to my first post on this forum. The JVC HR-S8000U that I had purchased has since arrived after 14 days in transit. Fortunately, it arrived safely and in good condition. Its condition is actually astonishing. It still has the plastic film over the flourescent display, and everything about it looks new. The remote looks hardly to have been used. And it came with a good copy of the user manual.

I hooked it up just to make sure it worked. But then the sound and picture quality were so good, I couldn't tear myself away from watching a bit of the Three Tenors VHS tape from 1990. I adjusted the sharpness control on the front panel, which worked brilliantly. The picture easily surpassed that of the Sony SLV-700HF unit I had been using, which iself surpassed any of the lightweight Sony or Toshiba VCR's I had used in the past. The sound quality was magnificent, every bit the equal of the Sony.

After this initial test, I closely followed the instructions from Tasuke earlier in this thread and lubricated the JVC. I was just a bit stumped for a second how to get the plastic side panels off. Then I discovered you have to slide them forward after removing the screws so they "unlock" before you can take them off. I put lithium grease on all the gears I found top and bottom, and used a whittled down chopstick to apply grease to the tracks on either side of the drum, careful not to come anywhere near to the drum itself. All of this took about 45 minutes. Then the unit was back together and ready for further use.

We played the rest of the Three Tenors tape with much enjoyment. The sharpness and clarity of the picture from this unit are really not too far behind a DVD, that is, when using a high-quality standard VHS tape. I do not own any Super-VHS tapes, nor have I ever seen one. So I cannot comment on what further improvement might accrue with those.

I did notice just a slight amount of video hash popping up occasionally along the very bottom of the screen when playing the Three Tenors tape. When switching to a lower quality pre-recorded tape, this got noticably worse, and then seemed to improve the longer I played that tape. I am not sure if the video heads need cleaning or if this is the fault of the tapes. I have some brand new, high-quality pre-recorded tapes I have not played yet. I will try to figure this out by playing those. In any case, the video hash is not a major distraction.

I briefly experimented with the digital effects this VCR can produce, such as strobe, solarization, zoom, etc. I can't imagine using any of those on a regular basis. The zoom might be useful with a high-quality tape or a Super-VHS tape. But the low-quality tape I was playing offered only a very grainy image to the zoom.

In sum, I have just begun to get acquainted with this unit. However, I am already blown away by its build quality, and absolutely wonderful sound and picture. It's a great piece of video equipment history. I love gear which takes it to the max and really shows what is possible for that type of kit. This JVC really does that and inspires real respect for the designers. Too bad so little store-bought gear does that anymore.

I will post further impressions once I've had a few dozen hours of more experience with the unit.

Thanks to every one for keeping this interesting thead alive and going!

[Tasuke]

that's wonderful to know, i'm happy for you!

indeed, that "Hash" is likely just the drum being a little dirty,
or the mechanism just needing some exercise after a long period of dormancy,
either of which will be corrected after playing another tape or two all the way through.

also, it pays to LOAD/EJECT 10/20 cycles, in order to well-distribute all that fresh lube.

further, did you remove the BOTTOM panel and lube the exposed cam/gearwork in there as well?

anyway, my copy is still in top form to this day. i finally now have EVERYTHING for this beauty,
as i have recently come across someone that had a complete 8000U, including original box,
and was willing to sell just the box to me;




also, after picking up a copy of this remote unit from a lower-range model in the same production era
as the 8000U, (HR-D430U) i found that i actually prefer it to the 8000U's remote,
so i now use it with the 8000U;




(note the vibrancy and detail in this S-VHS recording of the 2000 Anime (Japanimation) "Hand Maid May")

(also, note that i have since stepped up to a 40" HD LCD monitor, and these recordings actually hold up
just as well on it as they do on this late-nineties TOSHIBA 32" CRT.)










(even better is the detail shown in this S-VHS of the legendary 1984 classic "MACROSS; Do You Remember Love?")

[vinyleater]

Tasuke, those are excellent images you just posted, thanks. And thanks for replying to my previous post. Yes, I did remove the bottom plate and lubed the gears there, as well as the 2 tracks I found that already had some grease along them (but not much). I put the VCR through about 10 cycles of play/stop/eject and a few cycles of FF/RW. I hope the video hash does disappear as you predict.

I decided to buy some Super VHS tapes to record on. Hastily, I just purchased some JVC XG 120 blank Super VHS tapes, not really knowing what I was doing. Then I read your remarks about the bad leader tape in the early JVC Super VHS tapes. I think the ones I bought are of much later vintage, so hopefully they corrected the problem by then.

Does anybody use these and have comments on them? What about the Fuji brand Super VHS tapes? Would they be as good or better? All of these seem to be in somewhat short supply. I suppose nobody actually manufactures them anymore. More information would be appreciated.

Thanks.