- "U" should be NTSC, made for the USA (North American) market.
- "EK" should be PAL, where "EK" denotes the "English Kingdom" (UK), made in Germany, and mostly sold on the British market.
- "MS" stands for "MESECAM", yes, if my memory is correct.
All of these model abbreviations are referenced in a post in the VCR suggestion thread.
Read through the various pages here:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...ing-guide.html
SECAM isn't PAL, and PAL VCRs may or may not play them. I don't think I've ever come across a MESECAM tape. That format doesn't really penetrate the "PAL buffer" that surrounds NTSC lands. It also doesn't help that most MESECAM isn't in English, unlike NTSC and PAL.
Some TBCs are attuned to a single format. The AVT-8710 is an exception, but that's not really the same kind of TBC as the one inside the VCR.
It sounds like themaster1 may have more experience with MESECAM than I do.