Hi volksjager,

So you telling me that there is no AG-1980 or AG-5710 little brother that come from the same generation with same mechanical efficient tape transport without the TBC.:hmm:

the 1970 does indeed have a great transport - but the TBC is weak and that is important.
the 1960 and 1970 are also much older - the 1970 ended production in 1995 when the 1980 began.
so we are talking an almost 20 year old deck that is known to have cap issues
the chances are you wont get one that does not need servicing (despite what an ebay seller will claim)
and the cost of service will far exceed the value of the deck.
1980's and 5710 are worth the cost of service - 1960's and 1970's are not.
the 1980 and 5710 where made until 2001

Panasonic NV-SV 120
 

Hi, yesterday i bought a Panasonic NV-SV 120 from a person here in Slovenija, and wanna hear if I made a good deal or not.

The picture is working gr8, tested it on some realy old and newer cassetts. The commands are all ok, also the outputs work fine. The inside looks spotles also. But i think it does not have TBC... or yes? TBH i don't understand well the meaning of TBC. I have it plugged to a Yamaha RX-V1600 reciever and it sounds realy nice.

I was looking to buy a NV-HS 1000 2 weaks a go from italy, missed it for some reason and another guy got first. Then the same person was selling a NV-HS 950, but decided to keep it (bad luck i guess)

When i was at my teens i borrowed a NV-HS 950, been recording a lot with it. Thats why i was looking for a S-VHS VCR for a long time.

Too bad i haven't seen this forum before :S

Thanks for the tips!

I've actually had very good luck with the AG-2560 - it has a very good transport thats tracks problematic tapes very well and it doesn't have TBC. I got turned on to it after orsetto's many posts over on videohelp recommending it.

the AG-2560 is not even a Super-VHS and does not have S-video - i would not recommend it at all.
Videohelp has more bad information than good.
most users over there are more interested in saving a buck than doing the job right.

Oh, right, I do forget the AG-2560 is not a S-VHS vcr and that is what this thread is for.

However, for a non S-VHS vcr, I can highly recommend it. Nice picture and great tracking.

I don't remember all the models offhand, but if it has a TBC it's good.
If not, meh.

It's really that easy, for this series of PAL Panasonic units. :)

Hello, I've read through lots of posts on this forum and the entire VCR Buying Guide thread, and there's a ton of great information from folks who seem to really know their stuff, but it's all pretty overwhelming. I have a lot of tapes that I would love to back up digitally, but I'm unsure of what machine would be the best way to go.

Most of my tapes that I want to back up are 20+ years old and recorded in EP/SLP mode, and a lot of them have tough to get rid of, white static-like tracking lines and lots of dark-looking noise in the occurrence of bright reds and oranges. Rainbow-colored chroma noise is sometimes an issue, too. I know the tapes can't be perfect, but I am hopeful that they can probably look a little better than they do now.

Is this something a TBC could help? Is one type of TBC better suited to this case than another? Would DNR be a useful feature? I have looked at the list of VCRs with TBC, but I didn't know which of those also feature DNR.

Right now, the capture device I am using is a Canopus ADVC 110. If there is another that would work better, I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks a ton!

for EP tapes get a Panasonic AG-1980 VCR
just make sure you buy one that is fully tested - many ebay sellers either dont test them at all or dont know how to test them properly.
i have 1 left for sale if interested - it is posted in the marketplace

that Canapus device is not really good for VHS captures
get an ATI capture card
an AIW if using windows XP
or a ATI600USB if using vista or 7

you may also need an External TBC box as well

How many tapes are we talking?
If under 50, use a service -- it's cheaper. If under 100, you'll break even if you buy a good setup, so again, use a service.
So keep that in mind.

The S-VHS VCR TBC helps, yes. It cleans the image/picture up. It removes chroma noise especially.
The external TBC cleans the signal. (Not the same. Which is why you need to get both!)

The "white static-like tracking lines" may be dropouts, and there's nothing you can do for this.

You may need a proc amp for "lots of dark-looking noise".

DNR is the TBC in a VCR. It's more like DNR+TBC.

The ATI AIW and ATI 600 cards are best -- much better than a Canopus ADVC-110.

For EP/SLP, you need a Panasonic AG-1980.

Thanks for the replies and advice.

I'd say at least 100 tapes is a conservative estimate, and most are ones that are rare/irreplaceable enough that I'd hate to turn them over to someone else. A lot of them have been transferred to DVD via a Sony VCR/DVD combo just to have another copy, but I am definitely shooting for quality back-ups.

I actually bought an AG 1980 a while back that has been in the shop for months because it can't eject a tape and their guy can't figure it out. I'm not sure if this is fixable, or if I should just cut my losses and look for a working one.

Is there a certain kind of external TBC or proc amp that is best suited to this kind of thing?

After looking up drop out, the static/lines I was referring to are definitely tracking related.

For suggested TBC, read this: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...html#post17020 (post #3)
For proc amps, the Elite Video BVP4, SignVideo PA-100, or a Vidicraft unit. In that order.

I hope this is the right forum section to ask.

Let's say I have money to burn, what's the best of the best* (vcr)? And preferably a pal model that can play pal vhs (svhs isn't important). I've also been looking at some vcr's, that I understand are pro vcr decks, tv station stuff.
For example: http://www.ebay.de/itm/JVC-BR-S-811-...item25793643e7

Would a vcr like that be significantly better (or worse) than any prosumer model?

*= A matter of taste and opinion too I guess.

I'm no expert but would recommend the JVC HR-S9600 or HR-S9700.
You can also look for the Sharp VC-S2000 or some Philips models (1000/1200/1500).
From Panasonic the FS-200 or the HS-1000 are the best.

With the pro decks you can have luck or not (got a Sony with only 36 drum hours that works like a charm) but usually I would avoid them! They are not better!

Hope this helps a bit

sorry if my english isn't correct

The HR-S8xxx series, such as the PAL JVC HR-S8965EK.
Or the Panasnic line, such as the Panasonic NV-HS1000 or Panasonic NV-FS200.

Complete waste of money. That item may be "professional" but it's not the right component for the job. It's not useful for playing VHS tapes or S-VHS tapes. It's primarily a recording unit, and an ancient one at that. (i.e., Likely to have all kinds of problems and worn out parts.)

There's nothing inferior about a prosumer model, and nothing superior about a professional model. Prosumer means the item has consumer features in it, and well as professional. In many cases, the pro features vastly outweigh the consumer features. Few have been added. In the case of VCRs, you want the prosumer item in most cases. The only exception is really latter-generation "professional" models, which resemble prosumer items from 5-10 years earlier. Realize the what's "pro" is as subjective as "best".

Only up to a point. There's an obvious group of 10-20 "best". Which exact one you want, however, is the up to debate. For example, JVC dynamic drum or not. Or JVC vs. Panasonic, which is heavily affected by the tapes in your collection. So while it's partially subjective, there's most certainly "best" VCRs to start from.

Hope that helps clarify it for you. :)

Yes it does, thanks to the both of you. Though the model numbers are confusing. Here's a bunch of JVC's, any of those "hit the spot" so to speak?

I have lots of very old rental tapes, so the best one for old rentals would be right one.
If I've understod correct, a HR-S9*** model might not be an better than a HR-S8*** series model. I'm hope I'm on the right track.

I currently have a JVC HM-DR10000 and assume one of those "10-20 "best" would be better than my DR10000?

9850
9700
9600
8700
7711
7722
7700
7600

There's several great models. :congrats:

Just refer to this guide on the first page of this thread. I need to add some more, I think. It's not complete.

Thank you. Though there's so many models, I'm not sure which one to buy.:hmm:

In my opinion and experience DR-10000 most def is better than 9xxx and 8xxx.

So there's no step up from Dr-10000?:eek: