Panasonic AG-W1 produces scrambled picture with no color, worth repair?

[autephex]

Hello, just purchased this unit off ebay from a seller who claims to have tested the "basic functions" but I guess producing a watchable picture isn't considered a basic function by this guy...

The picture is black and white, and you cannot really even make out anything in the picture, its just a bunch of garbled lines. I could upload a short clip if that would help diagnose the issue.

It did come with the service manual, and I'll try to scan it in if I get a chance and post for download here.

I don't know much about this stuff, have been learning a lot over the past week on this site. I purchased this VCR because I needed one that could playback a French Secam tape for capturing on a computer I just built with an ATI AIW Radeon 7500.

According to some replies in this thread, these aren't the best VCRs, but I went with this model because I needed Secam playback and it was one of the only recommended units on this site's VCR buying guide which could play Secam tapes.


So, anyone have any ideas what would need repair, and if it would be worth it? If not worth it, any recommendations for a better VCR that can handle Secam (retail French Secam is Secam-B according to themaster1)?

Thanks

[autephex]

For a bit of additional information, I just tried hooking the player up to my TV to see if there was any difference from playing into the ATI AIW card. There was a bit of color in the picture, but its still a totally garbled mess and cannot see any of the actual video image.

There is also a squeaking/squealing noise when inserting a tape, first pressing play, and rewinding/fastforwarding

[msgohan]

Not that it matters due to the squeaking noise, but have you tried playing a tape in the native format of your locale with the VCR set to output it as-is?

[autephex]

Yep, that is actually all I have tried- NTSC tapes that I know are good, with vcr set to NTSC or throughput

[autephex]

Ok, so I decided to open it up and have a look, and try cleaning the heads just to see if it made any difference.

After cleaning the heads, I can now make the picture out with all the color, but the picture is still really bad. Its like it cannot track properly. When I adjust the tracking, it eventually totally loses the picture and at best it is still a warbled mess, but you can see the picture enough to tell what it is.

Would this mean the heads need replacing, or something else?

[autephex]

So is this place dead or if I pay for premium am I likely to get a reply? I'm keeping the vcr and I'd like to try fixing it myself since I have the service manual and its just going to sit unused.

[dpalomaki]

Can you post a screen capture showing the typical image you get? That may help get responses by giving more specific information on the output. The problem are likely to go beyond the heads. Panasonics from the late 1990s and into early 2000s are known for failing capacitors that will seriously impact the image.

And check for past threads that discuss the AG-W1; e.g.,
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vcr-...nic-ag-w1.html
to aid in your decision process. It does not appear to be a popular model here.