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08-25-2018, 08:52 PM
confusedperson confusedperson is offline
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I bought one of these fancy VCRs off Craigslist to digitize my dad's massive tape collection, and it's served me well for the past two years. Now it has an issue and I don't know what to do about it.

It's started to show two or sometimes even three tracking lines with EP tapes. These static lines often fluctuate wildly up and down. Adjusting the tracking manually does nothing because they're everywhere.



I discovered leaving the unit unplugged for a day or two would restore the tracking to normal. I have no idea why; it just worked. So that is what I did; I unplugged the device when I wasn't using it. I also bought a VHS rewinder and only used the JVC in playback mode, six hours at a time. The goal was to get this thing to last as long as possible because I have a LOT of tapes here.

But now it's doing it more often and it doesn't seem to be going away. I cleaned the unit top to bottom, inside and out and there was no improvement. This machine cost me a lot and I don't know if anyone can repair it, and it'd be really hard to get ahold of another. Plus I don't have $300-plus to just slap down for a VCR right now.

Should I just resign myself to using Goodwill VCRs from this point and have the rest of my dad's collection look like garbage? Or is there a solution? Can you tell what's wrong with it?
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  #2  
08-25-2018, 09:25 PM
JPMedia JPMedia is offline
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If you still have a significant number of tapes left to digitize then it might make sense to buy a replacement VCR. What does your current capture workflow look like?
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  #3  
08-25-2018, 09:40 PM
confusedperson confusedperson is offline
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Over thirty boxes to go. No exaggeration.
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  #4  
08-25-2018, 09:45 PM
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The deck is bad. D-VHS decks have overall aged very badly compared to S-VHS decks.

Don't use a Goodwill junker, as those are often just as bad. Most have shot heads, and were so bad that they couldn't even be sold. You may as well just quit transferring the tapes altogether, as the output quality will be crap. Get a good VCR for yourself.

I don't think TGrant fixes D-VHS, and I'm not sure about Jots.
Ask Jots, call them. http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vcr-...place-jvc.html

And then I have some goods decks available: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/mark...e-jvc-vhs.html
I also have a deck or two that are not listed, I can cut a deal on those, just PM me.

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  #5  
08-25-2018, 11:03 PM
confusedperson confusedperson is offline
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Hmm, after talking somewhere else, someone proposed the theory that this could be a capacitor issue, based on the fact that it went away when I left the machine off. Is that a possibility? I know these units have those kind of issues...
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  #6  
08-25-2018, 11:50 PM
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That is very likely precisely the problem ... but not from just 1 capacitor.

Upon inspection, you're probably going to find that multiple capacitors have failed, and that dismantling this unit is a PITA. Not as bad as a Panasonic, but still about as much fun as going to the dentist. Sourcing replacements isn't always easy to do.

Now, don't get me wrong. Quality VCRs are always worth repairing, or selling for parts, never trashing/recycling. Because it surely does have other parts still in good condition.

But I've also never been fond of the D-VHS decks, because they are tuned to SP mode, and the LP/EP tracking can be pretty bad. The 30000 model specifically has never been a well-liked machine, with DVHS kudos mostly going to the 40000. With that many tapes left to go, I would be amazed if you can get that specific machine to work well with all of them, or even a majority.

So ask yourself this question: In the past 2 years, how many tapes has it cooperated perfectly with? And how many were not SP mode? That should help you decide on getting it fixed, vs getting another...

... or better yet, do both, get it fixed AND get another deck. There's a reason that hobby/pro veterans have multiple VCRs. And it's not because we like collecting them!

Whatever you decide, (a) the VCR is not garbage, don't trash it, (b) we'll try to help you.

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