Opinions on For.A FA-310P TBC?

[ofesad]

Hello guys! Marcelo here from Argentina.

Not many of you know, but I've been hunting for a TBC for over a year now, mostly because in my country are extremely rare.

Just today I PM'd Lord Smurf about how much a Datavideo TBC-1000 goes for and I might got one in a nearby country.

However, just today, someone put up for sale TWO Broadcast TBC's.
I know rack units and broadcast equipment it's not prefered but since I have been waiting over a year to get one... and they are quite cheap actually...

So the unit its a For.A FA-310p

Manual

Anyone had any experience with this one? Opinions?

I haver read that For.A equipment it's quite good, and in some way, better than Datavideo. Altought this is a old model.

Thanks for reading! Hope you can help me!

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Opinions?

Crap. Don't buy that.

Quote:

I haver read that For.A equipment it's quite good, and in some way, better than Datavideo. Altought this is a old model.

Pffft. No. Where'd you read that? For.A is mostly broadcast/rackmount gear, most are entirely unsuitable for consumer analog formats. It expects a different quality source. Even on the few models that are workable with VHS (example: FA-125), those For.A are weaker than DataVideo and Cypress. And this can be a problem for tougher VHS tapes. Note that "tougher" doesn't necessarily refer to visual quality, but rather signal quality.

I did a quick FA-125 review here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vide...html#post54299

[kitty666cats]

I use a For-A FA-310 at work and it, surprisingly, works quite well with consumer tapes (and not just broadcast-style tapes). I definitely can't vouch for any other For-A units, but this thing has been going strong in our new advanced capture station.

It's most often (almost exclusively, really) used in tandem with a Panasonic AG-1980 - so, the line TBC in the Pana is doing a lot of the 'work' as well. But all that being said, I have noticed a marked improvement in stability for the most finicky of tapes. We use JVC decks normally, AG-1980's for troublesome tapes, and then the AG-1980 + For-A for the most troublesome. I wouldn't spend more than ~$300 USD for one, that being said. I'd also make sure you are familiar with fine-tuning proc amp controls, you'll have to tweak the chroma level/phase/et al, on occasion.

Again, I can't speak for some of the earlier For-A units without S-Video & YPbPr output. We do S-Video in and out of this one - using YPbPr out makes the colors a tad too 'blown-out' (not surprising, unnecessary extra chroma separation!). Also take into account I am using a NTSC unit, not PAL - though, I doubt they would behave any differently. Now, if only it could accept U-Matic dub and transcoder it to S-Video! Heh. My JVC KM-F250U I have at home might be able to do that... definitely keep an eye out for one of those, though they are sadly rare. Here is the manual for the PAL variant of said JVC: https://www.adcom.it/public/images/M...0MAN%20ENG.pdf

[RobustReviews]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitty666cats

I use a For-A FA-310 at work and it, surprisingly, works quite well with consumer tapes (and not just broadcast-style tapes). I definitely can't vouch for any other For-A units, but this thing has been going strong in our new advanced capture station.

It's most often (almost exclusively, really) used in tandem with a Panasonic AG-1980 - so, the line TBC in the Pana is doing a lot of the 'work' as well. But all that being said, I have noticed a marked improvement in stability for the most finicky of tapes. We use JVC decks normally, AG-1980's for troublesome tapes, and then the AG-1980 + For-A for the most troublesome. I wouldn't spend more than ~$300 USD for one, that being said. I'd also make sure you are familiar with fine-tuning proc amp controls, you'll have to tweak the chroma level/phase/et al, on occasion.

Again, I can't speak for some of the earlier For-A units without S-Video & YPbPr output. We do S-Video in and out of this one - using YPbPr out makes the colors a tad too 'blown-out' (not surprising, unnecessary extra chroma separation!). Also take into account I am using a NTSC unit, not PAL - though, I doubt they would behave any differently. Now, if only it could accept U-Matic dub and transcoder it to S-Video! Heh. My JVC KM-F250U I have at home might be able to do that... definitely keep an eye out for one of those, though they are sadly rare. Here is the manual for the PAL variant of said JVC: https://www.adcom.it/public/images/M...0MAN%20ENG.pdf

Just to say I echo this entirely.

They're fantastic TBCs and wholly compatible with 'domestic' sources, they're designed to straighten out U-Matic after all with U-Matic's attendant ever-changing levels and almost incomprehensible timing errors.

Great units, we had a rack of eight of them running continuously with a host of sources and we could capture for hours through them with 0 frame issues.

You bring up good points, they do require a bit of knowledge to get the best out of them and do require setting up and occasional tweaking as you've mentioned but overall for what they cost they're a great unit. Compared to the TBC-1000 these are a better unit for the most problematic of tapes.

Experts deriding them ('the DOC switch didn't do anything) usually show that they don't understand professional video equipment or how to set it up.

They are wholly compatible with domestic videotape sources.

The main issue with them is that they're power-hungry (around 150W running), bulky and noisy. The PSU costs a fortune to rebuild when it eventually fails due to the over-spec'd capacitors (£20 odd each for some of them) and they're also not designed for amateurs and do require a bit of video theory to comprehend the set-up and tweak in service.

Are they the best? That's always debatable, but probably not. Are the decent value, work astonishingly well when set up properly and robust? Absolutely.

Also being professional equipment they're much easier to service and maintain than 'disposable' domestic units with neatly and logically laid out boards, through-hole construction, broadcast build quality, proper shielding and RF immunity.

They're far from 'crap' though unless you're randomly flicking switches and don't comprehend how to adjust one.

They wouldn't have board dedicated to S-Video Y/C if they did not have domestic sources in mind

[kitty666cats]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobustReviews

Just to say I echo this entirely.

They're fantastic TBCs and wholly compatible with 'domestic' sources, they're designed to straighten out U-Matic after all with U-Matic's attendant ever-changing levels and almost incomprehensible timing errors.

Great units, we had a rack of eight of them running continuously with a host of sources and we could capture for hours through them with 0 frame issues.

You bring up good points, they do require a bit of knowledge to get the best out of them and do require setting up and occasional tweaking as you've mentioned but overall for what they cost they're a great unit. Compared to the TBC-1000 these are a better unit for the most problematic of tapes.

Experts deriding them ('the DOC switch didn't do anything) usually show that they don't understand professional video equipment or how to set it up.

They are wholly compatible with domestic videotape sources.

The main issue with them is that they're power-hungry (around 150W running), bulky and noisy. The PSU costs a fortune to rebuild when it eventually fails due to the over-spec'd capacitors (£20 odd each for some of them) and they're also not designed for amateurs and do require a bit of video theory to comprehend the set-up and tweak in service.

Are they the best? That's always debatable, but probably not. Are the decent value, work astonishingly well when set up properly and robust? Absolutely.

Also being professional equipment they're much easier to service and maintain than 'disposable' domestic units with neatly and logically laid out boards, through-hole construction, broadcast build quality, proper shielding and RF immunity.

They're far from 'crap' though unless you're randomly flicking switches and don't comprehend how to adjust one.

They wouldn't have board dedicated to S-Video Y/C if they did not have domestic sources in mind

Good to see that this isn't a freakish anomaly and these units are, indeed, treating someone else nicely.

I still can't think of a good reason to use the YPbPr out, though - unless you have some zany setup where it's absolutely mandatory to have component on the output. Have you tried it and noticed it looks kinda 'off'? I suppose the models which have component IN, too, woulda been good for Proc Amp controls on BetaCam SP decks etc.

[RobustReviews]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitty666cats

Good to see that this isn't a freakish anomaly and these units are, indeed, treating someone else nicely.

I still can't think of a good reason to use the YPbPr out, though - unless you have some zany setup where it's absolutely mandatory to have component on the output. Have you tried it and noticed it looks kinda 'off'? I suppose the models which have component IN, too, woulda been good for Proc Amp controls on BetaCam SP decks etc.

For Betacam we used different equipment and some decks with limited but useful proc' amp controls.

I recommend them personally, to be frank the internet being filled of repeated woe around them keeps the prices down which is helpful.

Never noticed the issues you describe but I will clarify next week when I see the team.

They are a very good unit in my opinion, I wouldn't do anything but recommend them with a couple of caveats.

The main issue is that they're all elderly now and naturally components are reaching the end of their working lives.