Correct. :congrats:

OK, I sent him a message about JVC HR-S7722.

This one:

https://vcrshop.com/product/vcr/vide...ology-tbc-dnr/

Well, good luck with that...

That should be a nice one. :congrats:

What do you mean by that? :hmm:

I made many eBay offers and sent messages.
Never ever got any response.

Where are you? That site is not related to ebay :) In ebay I buy only decks listed "for parts or repair" when I know I can repair them (or utilize if not). Panasonic's with K mech for example.

Do you refer to VCRshop's eBay store? https://www.ebay.com/str/vcrshop
Did you ever contact VCRshop.nl directly?
Are you even referring to VCRshop?

BTW, never use the eBay site for VCRshop. That costs him fees, it costs you fees/taxes. When a vendor is trustworthy, eBay is an undesirable middleman. All you're doing is gifting money to eBay.

Even most of the "tested" and "working" VCRs are non-working, needing repair, or useful only for parts. That place is littered with shady sellers, most of whom no nothing about the items they sell. All they see is $$$, and not the proper functionality of the item.

Nothing good comes from eBay buying gambling.

Of course. However if they looks cosmetically good, there is a big chance they are repairable, simply someone tried to "service" them before. In Germany is site kleinanzeigen.de where is a chance to buy something good/repairable. There I found Panasonic NV-HS950 with broken position switch connector and semi-stuck pinch roller assembly. And NV-HS1000 with incorrectly re-assembled loader. Both about EUR 100 each. And some good other things too, including 2007 Dodge Charger HEMI with good body for spares (my 2006 was finally rusted). But you need shipping address in Germany.

That's only a betting strategy for certain models. Some models can often be cosmetic gems, but internal failures.

Well, for a whole car, I'd understand "local shipping only". :laugh:

So I bought that JVC HR-S7722. With discount, thank you Lord Smurf! :)
Nice communication with Branko.
This will be my first JVC VCR ever. I am familiar with JVC amplifiers and turntables, but not VCRs.
So, at least, it will be possible to make one of TBC tests :)

-- merged --

I recapped CTB-531R TBC and - it works. Grain disappeared and audio levels are up to specs (OK I route audio directly from VCR and bypass TBC, but anyway). BUT - never try to recap Cypress with 2 irons, heated pliers (specially designed for SMD desoldering) or whatever. It has terrible PCB (now I know it! :mad4:). So use cutter pliers to cut capacitor (not legs, but buttom) then remove remains, cut legs at plastic level, remove plastic and then use "solder-ex" wire to remove remains of legs. So, when JVC arrives, it will be possible to make some tests :) However - it works.

-- merged --

In addition to previous post. I found poor SMD capacitor soldering quality. All of them balanced on "cold soldering" edge. When I started to remove them by cutting bottom I found legs are not soldered to PCB as they should, but only "attached" and became loose with little pull up. It could be enough for malfunction. So perhaps recap is needed not because of capacitors are out of specs, but assembly quality.

One option for those Cypresses is possibility to use any output with combination of any input (it has even component out, but there is visible degradation if used for vhs). For example I have Panasonic NV-W1 multi format VCR, it is well built with G mech, restored but has only composite output no s-video. I use it for SECAM and NTSC, because I am in PAL zone, I am not sure I want to find advanced NTSC and SECAM S-VHS for those 1-2 cassettes per year. I have not made serious test yet, but for first sight using composite in and s-video out to Pinnacle 710USB looks (but I am not sure, maybe it is illusion) a bit better than using composite i/o full path. Any experience with that?

Your pinnacle card seem to have a relatively good 3D comb filter( a.k.a 3-line digital comb filter) (remove dot crawl,color bleed, rainbow artifacts, moiré effect).

more infos:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_crawl
https://www.avartifactatlas.com/arti...dot_crawl.html
https://www.avartifactatlas.com/arti...re_effect.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comb_filter

Thanks!

Today I received JVC HR-S7722 from vcrshop, but I found it is without remote so no access to menu. I got original remote (with at least the same buttons as in manual), but I will receive it next week. So it will be possible to record test files. Otherwise all is OK. However PS is not recapped, I wonder how critical it is? Panasonic I would recap immediately without questions.

Just for fun - lettering control was not the best on 831.
Output 2 is input 2, of course :)

But on 531 there is 2x TBC (H) no TBC (V) :)