Have you tried recording a bit of video with it, then see how that plays back?

That works fine. I'm now thinking it needs some alignment adjustments. I asked the tech I've been talking with at Southern Advantage and that was his suggestion also.

That sounds right. Do they stand behind their product?

1 year parts/labor. He said I could try adjusting it myself (is that difficult?) Or send it back to them to look at it.

Alignment involves both electrical and mechanical adjustments. These are presented in detail in the factory service manuals - covering the tape treansport [K-mechanism] and the electronics. To do it right you really should have an alignment tape (Panasonic part number VFM8080HQFP) or equivalent and some specific test equipment including an oscilloscope and signal generator as outlined in the service manuals. IMHO it is not something most folks should try if they are not reasonably qualified at electronics technician type tasks.

That said, it is possible that all your machine needs as a bit of a tweak to the tape path and control heads. Keep in mind that inartful tweaking can make things worse and void warranties. If covered by a warranty I would take advantage of it while it is in effect.

Bottom line: Read the manuals and decide if you feel up to it.

So I sent the VCR back in along with one of my tapes, and they said the problem is the tapes, not the VCR. Is there anything I can do? Or should I just ask for a refund and try a different make of VCR?

Did you try the VCR with any commercial prerecorded tapes; e.g., a movie? If the commercial pre-recorded tapes play OK, that would support that it is the tapes. And it could well be the tapes if they are "home recordings" made with a VCR (or camcorder) that was not up to spec.

I would also try the problem tapes in another VCR if you can find one. If it is the tapes, they might play on machine on which they were originally recorded, unless of course something during storage damaged the tapes.

If the tape content is important you may be able to find a service bureau that will recover the recordings - for a price.

Prerecorded tapes worked fine without TBC and jittered with it on.

They tried the tape in another AG1980 and a Sony they had on hand with the same playback.

I guess I'm going to have to lower my standards some and realize there's no such thing as a perfect dub in some cases.

Were the tapes you were trying to capture dubs, not original recordings? If so, the problem may stem from the original playback or recording machine.

Mostly original recordings.

Would a JVC with video stabilizer be better, or am I better off sticking with the AG1980?

The experts here tend to prefer JVC for SP recordings and Panasonic for EP/SLP recordings, but a lot will depend on the current state of the individual machines used and the individual tapes being played back.

A bit like race car drivers picking the tires they use for the track they are running, and perhaps changing mid race as track conditions change.

Just for kicks I downloaded the U-tube clips and loaded them into an NLE (Edius 7.5). I applied an image stabilizer and at the loss of some edge video it stabilized the second half of the second clip (jitter is gone). The second half of the first clip just rolls as if the vertical sync is lost. It would be interesting to see the analog waveforms on an oscilloscope.

^ This. And nice analogy. :congrats:

What I see in the Youtube clips is compound errors. Those are never fun, and often require tedious software work to try (and maybe succeed) at fixing.

Alignment was a good guess on one (aka, bad recording VCR).
If dubs, input signal had timing errors. nth gen stuff.