Are these VHS tracking lines fixable? Who could fix it?

[Jerry27]

Hello everyone

I have an old home movie that has bad tracking lines thru it, I've been told this is something that might be fixable during capture if the place has the right equipment.

I've attached a clip from a local service's capture of the tape (they made no attempt to fix it to my knowledge). It's not this bad through the whole tape but is present through much of it.

Does it look like there is any hope? If it looks like it might be fixable, does anyone have any recommendations on who can do it? Spec Bros?

Thanks in advance to all for any advice

[lordsmurf]

Spec Bros is for physically damaged media -- tapes with mold, in a mudslide, from a flood, etc.
Not for signal errors.

What you have there may be misalignment issues.

However, open the tape gate. Do you see any physical damage to the tape? It should be a smooth shiny piece of black mylar. No wrinkles, curled edges, other mangling.

It this is an alignment issue, Contact Us.

[aramkolt]

Do all tapes do that, or just that one? Agree with lord Smurf that it is probably one of the guides isn't matching how the tape was recorded and is probably P2/P3 guide. Most don't recommend messing with alignment on a main/high end VCR because you want that VCR to play most tapes and you may not want to chance not getting it back into the ideal/usual alignment afterwords since that specific alignment was only needed for that one tape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyUY7cFP9zw

[Jerry27]

I don't even have a VCR that I think I want to risk putting the tape in. Looks like I may ask DigitalFAQ itself to try.

@lordsmurf, the tape looks shiny to me. I'll send that email later tonight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

It this is an alignment issue, Contact Us.

@lordsmurf, I've sent a couple of emails over the last few weeks, but haven't gotten any reply yet. I think I followed the instructions on the contact page correctly. Tried two different email addresses in case it went to spam. Is there another way?

[timtape]

As already suggested it's probably a tape guide (entry) needing custom alignment to that particular tape. For a skilled operator it's not exactly rocket science, and usually only takes seconds to adjust the relevent guide inside the VCR. Some of us on the forum have done it many times. A totally clear picture isnt always guaranteed but usually substantial improvement can be expected.

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry27

@lordsmurf, I've sent a couple of emails over the last few weeks, but haven't gotten any reply yet. I think I followed the instructions on the contact page correctly. Tried two different email addresses in case it went to spam. Is there another way?

You can always PM me, but I think we're in contact now.

[Jerry27]

Yep! I got a reply on Friday, now just waiting for shipping instructions