VCR Help: Restoring EP VHS recordings to DVD

[imacoltfan]

Newbie here. I have many VHS tapes of shows that were recorded in EP format to fit more shows on a tape. (I know, paying for that now!!!) I did read the buying guide but just wanted an informed opinion on which unit to purchase. Do I need dynamic drum, or is TBC alone my answer?

The tapes are 30 years old, and still play with wayvy, ghost images and some tracking issues, so I'd rather spend the $ 250-$400 to make sure I get the right player which can restore these to a satisfactory level.

Any help would be appreciated.

Gene

[volksjager]

the best VCR for EP tapes will be the Panasonic AG-1980

HOWEVER... make sure you get either a low hours unit or one that has been recently serviced by a pro (like Jots)
these units are notorious for bad caps and being abused by non-videophile idiots
many AG-1980 decks where sold to schools and not well taking care of.

[imacoltfan]

Thanks so much for the information Volks!

[naripeddi]

Also, one advice frequently given by experts on this site is: If those shows are commercially released on DVDs, buy them instead of trying to convert your tapes to DVDs. Studios do much better job in this than an average home hobbyist can.

regards

[imacoltfan]

Thank you for that. These are shows I recorded which are not available on DVD. I actually tried to work out a licensing agreement with the production company. Instead of working out a deal, they decided to try and gouge me. So the tapes now sit in the closet.

I appreciate all the advice.

[deter]

Yea I would also say the AG1980 is the best unit for these types of tapes. However more than likely you would need a lot of work done to the videos in order to restore them.

I fix up these AG1980 units, have never seen one that didn't need any work.

Currently have 1 extra perfect working AG1980 unit, this unit will also track just about any tape, which makes the value almost priceless. If u are interested PM my account, or if you are interested in me re-building one of these units for you. Like I said before never seen an AG1980 that didn't need any work.

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imacoltfan

Do I need dynamic drum

This is a reference to some of the highest-end JVC S-VHS VCRs (HR-S9600, 9800, etc). If you're going to get a JVC VCR,with the intention of playing SLP/EP mode VHS tapes that were originally recorded with another VCR, then yes,the dynamic drum models are the preferable ones.

The only issue with AG-1980P VCRs, as mentioned above,is that all of them seem to be hitting their life cycles at the same time,in the past 1-2 years,and surely a few more to go. The decks need about $200-300 of servicing, and often dozens (even 100s!) of dried-out capacitors have to be replaced on the mainboards. Deter was one of the first people to really sound the alert on this, and I've since become just like him -- I've never seem an AG1980 deck that didn't need repair work.

Quote:

or is TBC alone my answer?

No, TBC is not enough. The TBC will clean up the quality, but the transport is the most important issue when dealing with the high-compression recording modes. The Panasonic AG-1980P tends to do a bit better than the dynamic drum JVC decks, but it really depends on the tapes being played.

Quote:

The tapes are 30 years old, and still play with wavy, ghost images

That will largely be solved by the internal TBC on the VCR. (Not to be confused with an external TBC,which simply aids in signal purification, thereby allowing the transfer to go smoothly without any dropped frames.)

Quote:

and some tracking issues

And this is where the transport helps.

Quote:

so I'd rather spend the $ 250-$400 to make sure I get the right player which can restore these to a satisfactory level.

Good for you! It's always refreshing to come across people who want to actually improve the quality, as opposed to just using the lousy "good enough" (boogers and all) approach using cheapo hardware or cheapo services (Costco, Walmart, photo stores, drug stores, etc).

And welcome to the site.

[imacoltfan]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome and advice. I was able to pick up an AG 1980 P that was recently serviced for $ 325.00. He had excellent reviews in selling this unit as well. Additionally a close friend who serviced all JVC and Panasonic VCRs in the 80's and 90's down here in Monmouth county is going to "look under the hood" for me. Once that is ready to go I'm going to get a companion DMR E 80H DVD/HDD recorder. Mine is 10 years old and works great, but want to have another one just in case. And oh yes, I kept my turntable and 8 track as well!

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

DMR E 80H DVD/HDD recorder

That's a really lousy recorder -- infamously so. It was fine for TV recordings (passable), but horrible for VHS conversion work. That uses a 2nd generation Panasonic hardware encoder, and it's full of flaws. It would be a shame to see you spend so much money and effort making VHS quality look better, only to re-abuse it with the Panasonic deck. You can pick pretty much anything else,and it will be better.

The only acceptable mode on the Panasonic is XP -- the 1-hour mode. If you run all the tapes at 1 hour, it'll be fine. Otherwise seek better recording hardware, be it DVD recorder or computer.

[volksjager]

if you got the Ag-1980 on ebay make sure to have it checked out and ensure everything works properly (including the TBC) before the dispute timeframe lapses.

i know at least one ebay seller out of Texas than buys alot of these decks broken and get them playing and resells them.
but at the prices he is selling them at i doubt they have been gone completely through like Deter does.

[imacoltfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

That's a really lousy recorder -- infamously so. It was fine for TV recordings (passable), but horrible for VHS conversion work. That uses a 2nd generation Panasonic hardware encoder, and it's full of flaws. It would be a shame to see you spend so much money and effort making VHS quality look better, only to re-abuse it with the Panasonic deck. You can pick pretty much anything else,and it will be better.

The only acceptable mode on the Panasonic is XP -- the 1-hour mode. If you run all the tapes at 1 hour, it'll be fine. Otherwise seek better recording hardware, be it DVD recorder or computer.

That's the kind of input that is really useful. The good thing is I only record on XP because the source is a closed circuit feed from the racetracks so it's not great to begin with. Is ther another recorder that you would recommend? As I stated, I'm more interested in getting these done correctly rather than quickly.

Cheers.

[volksjager]

racetracks... are you by chance doing any greyhound races?

[imacoltfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by volksjager

racetracks... are you by chance doing any greyhound races?

No, actually horse racing. I did actually adopt a greyhound last year, and was able to capture all her wins with WM recorder so I have her races all catalogued right on my computer.

Here she is on Halloween: http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6048/6...c9974836_b.jpg

[volksjager]

she is gorgeous

i have done about 90 tapes worth of transfer from Hinsdale greyhound park (where my boy that passed ran)
my boy i have now raced at SOKC and i also used WM Capture to get his races
im waiting on another boy that is running at Bluffs right now.
and for him i subscribed to RTN on Dish so i can DVR his race in SD quality (much better than the online robertstream)

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/...ager88/019.jpg

[imacoltfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by volksjager

smy boy i have now raced at SOKC and i also used WM Capture to get his races

Very classy. Nice looking, well loved obviously. Unfortunately we had to bring Roxy (Sneak Thru was her racing name) back to the foster. She was getting very territorial within the house and bit my 8 yr old son through the nose resulting in extensive plastic surgery. She is missed. We now have a 6 month old schnauzer, but my wife and I agreed that once the kids are away in school we'll adopt greyhounds again.

[NJRoadfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imacoltfan

Thanks to all for the warm welcome and advice. I was able to pick up an AG 1980 P that was recently serviced for $ 325.00. He had excellent reviews in selling this unit as well. Additionally a close friend who serviced all JVC and Panasonic VCRs in the 80's and 90's down here in Monmouth county is going to "look under the hood" for me.

Does that guy still service VCRs? While not around the corner, Monmouth County is close enough. I could use another "local" VCR service location. AG-1980s are cursed by capacitor problems because Panasonic went the cheap route and used under spec parts. Also don't discount the JVC and Mitsubishi Digital VHS decks, they are good at tracking troublesome EP tapes unlike the JVC SVHS decks. I have both decks here, each have their strengths and weaknesses. There is no "one size fits all" VCR!

[deter]

With these AG1980 units over the last three years have basically developed a science to restore these machines. Many times it is a lot more than just "capacitor problems". Until I look at the machine, kind of like a doubting Thomas, because everyone I have seen has needed a lot of work.

Have a few JVC decks, which have also been serviced, they are hit or miss on some of the EP tapes. If the tape is not a problem child they will normally work fine.

The one AG1980 that I have is aligned different, will track any kind of problem tape, you may have to play with the tracking a bit, it will get you a picture with out tracking problems.

Lord Smurf will back me up on this unit, cause I sent him a tape which he couldn't get to track on any of his machines, this AG unit was able to get the tape to play just about perfect. Right now I have basically converted all my problem tapes to digital. Because the value of this machine, will only sell it for full value, however if you have tapes that are not tracking correct, you need to get them to play, it is an idea to contact me to see if I can get them to play on this unit.