JVC BR-S522 repair?
 

I have a JVC BR-S522 bought new "back in the day" so it has very low head hours. Unfortunately, the HiFi track has stuttering, and I want to know if it is worth salvaging? I hate to dump it with such low hours. I still have all the original cards (TBC, etc) with the component option. And amazingly I have all the 9 pin adapters!

And of course, who would service it?

Thanks in advance!

For example..
see screen

Currently, my JVC BR-S522 about 148 H.
All 3 TBC cards and also YUV port is mounted.
see screen 2

I have the S622 + S822

Audio I gather from front headphone jack

I'm a bit older, Swiss and unfortunately can not speak English.

My guides are all in German only

Does the Hi-Fi have trouble tracking a tape during playback, or is it not recording the Hi-Fi signal properly? Are you playing an already recorded Hi-Fi tape, if so, what speed?

Or...Look around on the front panel and see if you can find a Hi-Fi/Normal/Linear audio selector. Once you locate that, you can record/play tapes with the linear sound instead. I think the linear is better, anyway.

If you want the machine repaired, try this thread. It has many suggestions. However, I'd first consider using the linear audio, versus the 3-digit-figure cost for repair.

http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vcr-...place-jvc.html

The JVC BR S522 / 525/622/822 can only play SP

Its only on playback. And as somebody mentioned, it only has one speed (SP). And it's on any tape. And I already have tried to clean the heads thinking it was clogged, to no avail.

Linear audio works fine. I have some linear stereo tapes, and they sound very good! I have an example posted on Youtube (watch?v=t2_QWQi3qbc). It's one of the best linear decks I have heard. Compare it to a BetaHiFi I have of the same TV series (watch?v=NJVP8M1fAKk) and it is pretty decent!

I asked about the tape speed because issues can be had when trying to play an EP, or SLP tape on an industrial machine. It seems that you already knew that, though.

Linear VHS audio, and BetaHi-Fi are not quite comparable. BetaHi-Fi (NTSC) was FM, like VHS Hi-Fi. However, I too am very impressed with Linear-audio's performance compared to VHS Hi-Fi/BetaHi-Fi. Especially so when considering the sliver of space it has to occupy on the tape versus VHS/BetaHi-Fi having nearly all of it to work with.

I had no idea any VHS machine was capable of component output. Can it record component video, too?

no, I do not know any
Neither the JVC BR-S x22 models
not even the Panasonic AG8700

record component signals going on here with the Canopus [new Grass Valley]
HD Storm the Front Bay.
Or directly in SDI with the Data Video DAC. 7
But I've already written here.

Try to adjust the roller guides when playing back a tape with HIFI sound. HIFI is very sensitive to correct tape alignment.
When adjusting the roller guides, only adjust slightly to either sides, (about 1/8 of a turn) and listen to the sound at the same time. You will easily find the correct alignment.
I've had same issues with HIFI too, this fixed it for me, but take your time doing it.

While knumag's suggestion is the next best step for solving the issue, I'd first try adjusting the vcr's tracking. I can't find a clear image of the 522 anywhere, but it should having a tracking adjustment knob and meter. You can be use those to find and determine an optimal tracking point with your ears. Using the tracking itself would save you the trouble of adjusting the roller-guides.

If you can't find a good tracking point, then knumag has the right idea. Just be sure to keep a reference point that you can revert to if even adjusting the roller-guides doesn't fix the issue.

This is just a toss in the ballpark, but wouldn't adjusting the audio head also be a possible fix?

I once adjusted the AC head perfectly for HIFI sound, but then it was wrong for regular audio and vice versa.
The AC head does not read HIFI audio, the video heads does that. So when you're adjusting the AC head, you just slightly change the tape alignment on the video heads, but that might in turn make it wrong for the AC head.
Better to adjust roller guides for HIFI sound, that's my experience. AC head only if the sound from regular audio sounds bad.

The guide adjustment is a good idea. I'll mark off the starting point and start adjusting as recommended.
Unfortunately I am at home on lifting restriction for another couple of months, so I will keep this in mind when I get back to the machine. Thanks for the advice!