DVD recorder with TBC?
 

Hi.
I have seen a post outlining dvd recorders with tbc qualities. I am in Australia and most equipment is extremely rare. I have a panasonic es 15 which has just died. I am looking at a pioneer 540 as a pass through machine. Can anyone advise if this is any good

It does. It's not quite as robust and a bit more prone to frame drops/inserts on very bad tapes, though on the plus side it lets you adjust levels, contrast etc, and can handle ntsc 4.43 and PAL60 if needed.

If the ES15 is dead, it's likely one or more capacitors in the power supply that has gone bad, which is something that can be repaired with basic soldering tools if you can't find any other replacements.