Panasonic AG-1980 - TGrant purchase (and I assume in top shape for what it cost in February 2018).
JVC HR-S9800U - I believe an eBay purchase but was working fine last I used it.
DataVideo TBC-3000 - purchased from LS.
ATI 600 USB - purchased from LS.
Lenovo T500 laptop running XP with a second internal SATA drive for captures.

The last time I used it I was getting very reliable captures (no dropped frames, stable video) from my mostly (sad) ELP and EP TV show VHS collection from the late 80's and early 90's. My primary interest is short news breaks, commercials, station ID's and to a lesser extent the shows themselves. I've even found a few more tapes at yard sales (can't wait to see what someone else recorded) but will proceed with extreme caution before playing those in the high end machines as I've seen many that were clearly loaded with mold.

For FF/RW of tapes and general content checks I also have a rarely used, bought new by me, low end Sony VHS deck. I figure that should save some wear and tear on the antiques.

I will admit some of the newer software that has all the filters built in with check boxes for the options is tempting (the YouTube video showing Hybrid for example). But if the best way is still Avisynth with scripts for post-capture then I will do my best to re-learn what I never quite mastered 5 years ago and hope to do better this time. Luckily I printed out a number of the best posts so I can quickly locate them again, like this thread!

It's been about 5 years but the entire workflow powers up and seems to be working good. One simple (I hope) question.

Since both VCR's have built in TBC's (which work really well on one jumpy EP tape) is there any benefit to using the DataVideo TBC-3000 at the same time. It does have front panel controls for color/contrast/brightness/tint but I have to be honest, I didn't find the TBC-3000 to do anything else 5 years ago and after 3 hours tonight of trying a few different tapes still don't see that it works any better than the built in TBC. Worse, I think the TBC-3000 is adding a herringbone pattern that isn't there when going direct into the ATI 600 USB. And yes, I've tried different S-Video cables. Tomorrow I might try a 9VDC battery pack instead of the wall wart power supply.

JVC/VCR = line TBC
external/DataVideo = frame TBC

line mostly fixes the image
frame mostly fixes the signal (non-visuals)

line is essentially X*Y axis, in-frame/intraframe
frame is essentially Z axis, temporal/interframe/frame-to-frame

You need both.

Are you using a CyberPower UPS? The TBC 3000s are pretty sensitive to the grid.

No UPS at all (living dangerously but do have them on other gear so...) but will try going direct to the AC and not use the common powerstrip. I'll also try a new wall wart and/or 9VDC battery. I suppose I could also look inside for bulging capacitors. That fix has worked on many old electronics for me recently.

It would be a good idea to use one. https://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vid...000-noise.html

These are the ones LS uses
https://amzn.to/45EovbS
https://amzn.to/3r3OlGS (PFC)