Gabriel,

It is possible to fix the load gear broken tooth issue as follows using a technique similar to bridgework in dentistry.

The repair is sort of a belt and braces fix and you may notice in doing the repair that there is not much plastic under the last tooth which is why it breaks off because the mechanism is under spring tension the whole time that a tape is loaded. The plastic becomes brittle with time and eventually breaks. Sharing that load be the last two teeth solves the problem.

Use a soldering iron to plastic weld the tooth back into its original position.

Get a small pin and bend it into a "squared off" U shape with the base of the u being the same distance as the space between the tooth centers of the last and second last teeth. Clip off the pin head side diagonally with some side cutters to make a slight point that side as well.

Then use a circuit board or suitable small drill the same diameter as the pin wire to drill two holes one in the center of the last tooth and one in the second last tooth and insert the U shaped metal form work through the holes and bend the legs over at the other side before trimming off the excess.

Re the HF150, the machine is not as reliable as the HF100 overall as it has another issue the power supply IC. However both are good for transfer work if you solve their "issues".

regards Noel (betaheaven.com)

Hi Noel,Gabriel and Frandid:

Noel that PSU issue you mention with the HF150 does that also apply to the T30me.

I have one here that had numerous bad caps but upon replacing them this PSU still buzzes and whistles with no clock panel illumination at all.

In regards to that common broken tooth on the loading hatch mechanism.

I purchased some new and used spares from a retired engineer and to my delight this included quite a few of those gears for the F30 loading and also a few for the 'C' and HF100 series too. Hav'nt seen that issue for a time though and only on two F30 's

.....Kevin

Kevin,

I don't know if the HF150 and the T30ME share a common power supply regulator. The regulator in the HF150 has failed in at leat 5 machines I have seen over the years. The regulators on the SLC35 also fail occasionally.

cheers Noel

Noel, Kevin,

True, I forgot the PSU problems these machines suffer. Opposite to C20 / C30 and F30 / F60 machines, which use the STR1229A as their main PSU regulator (and shows great overall reliability), there are other models using the STK family regulators which are not so reliable. I don't exactly recall the regulator the HF150 uses, but yes, it does sometimes fail.

Later PSU designs are slightly better at power efficiency but they reduce the mileage they can run before breaking. There is a Beta family using this newer design, among them the SL-F20 , F25, F45, F55, F65, F73, F75 and F90. I am not really sure if they exactly share the same design but the visual layout overview suggests that.

One clear example on this issue is the SL-F90, a modern design with a high probability of breaking their regulators. I have repaired some of these units with different symptoms (strange behaviours, stuck display, no voltage at mecha block) and the fault is usually this regulator plus a random bunch of N-type fuses (and the mandatory refreshing of aluminium caps). If memory serves me, the regulator model was the STK5441. There was the possibility of replacing it by the STK5443 just in case there is no stock of the former. The difference is one of the voltage rails throwing a very slight voltage difference, but it perfectly works in the long term.

Kind regards,

Gabriel

Has anyone explored contacts for reasonably priced, new supplies of the SLC9 load gear to be printed in hard plastic or even metal?

Surely across the broader PALSITE community we could justify a big enough order. I would get 50 (25 pairs) myself.

Noel, I have tried printing SLC9 loading gears but the resolution of my cheap printer isn't good enough.

Been printing and using larger gears for BVW-75 machines with great success.

Hi all....just a small reminder that I'm in need of the front right flip down control cover for a Sony slhf100. Have any of you got one for sale with the lugs intact please?

I'm in the UK.

Regards

Rich.

Hello, once more i need your help.

I have 2 sanyo vtc-m40. One of this VCR was fully restored for Kevin Lambert, (many thanks Kevin) and the other unit will go for the UK the next week for the same restoration.

This machines didnt have the door that covers the track button and timer button. You only need to see the m40 picture in this fórum to know what door im looking for.

Please if someone have this spare i will like to get one or even two of this.

Hi i have a sony SL-HF950 in great working order exept there is no colour in playback even tried to record and on colour in playback on another video tried all outputs still the same,it would be great for some help i have fixed a few beta machines over the years ,anyone have any ides what components could be gone thanks william

Hi all.

First post for me - as a video transfer guy (not a service engineer), please bare with me. After having several of my machines (not just Beta !) resurrected by Mr Lambert, I have recently stumbled on a couple of VTC5000 machines at local boot sales and decided it was worth trying to fix them myself. (A backup machine or two never hurt!) - and both machines (a VTC5000MkII and MkI) cost the princely sum of £5 - so got nothing to lose.

Been quite successful with the first one, but the second is having an issue that I don't recall being covered in other posts here or on vintage-radio.net. Didn't want to burden Kev yet again, so was hoping to tap into the collective conscious ;-)

Problem:

Upon "PLAY", the machine laces; head drum turns nicely; but the supply reel doesn't move! The screen shows a "still frame" for about 2-3 seconds then everything stops (head drum; NO unlace; PLAY led goes out). If you then press "STOP", unlace performs perfectly.

Service so far:

Cleaned everything; new reel-drive belt; new idler tyre; diode & safety resistor on SY1 changed per "torque mod"; cleaned and oiled the bearings under the supply and take-up reel.

Diagnostics performed:

When playing without a tape, the takeup reel is turning nicely with a fair bit of resistance if I try to manually slow it.

Thought it might be the back-tension on the supply reel, but with a tape the supply reel doesn't even turn if I manually stop-short the main tape extraction pin (the one that controls the tension).

Any advice?

Rob

Hi Rob,

Regarding your Sanyo which gets "stucked":

Have you tried to enter other transport modes? I mean, FFWD, REV and Cue in both directions before it halts. If the tape moves OK in both FFWD and REV when unlaced, then we might discard some trouble with the idler section.

As far as I can think of this issue, it could be due to some reasons:

-Problem with the back tension mechanism (check if the tension band has not been fiddled, also its adjustment screw and position).

-Problem related to the capstan and/or the pinch roller bearing, check without a tape if they spin. Also you can try to manually rotate it by hand by flipping the video and accesing the underside magnet rotor.

-And last but not least: try with a different tape. It might sound obvious but sometimes we don't realize the problem relies on the simplest item of the chain.

Hope to help fixing this nice and robust machine.

Regards, Gabriel

Hi Rob

(appreciate the comments)

It sounds to me like you have capstan issues.(hence the 'still image. If the vcr detects non motion of the take up spool down to the faulty capstan motor. It will shut down the deck to prevent tape spillage. That would seem why the take up spool turns OK without a tape inside it.

Is the capstan motor turning?

Also when you replaced the diode did you make sure the banded part (black) is pointing towards the arrow?

..........Kev

Kevin,Gabriel - many thanks for your reply.

You were right- the main problem is capstan related. Although I can turn the capstan by hand (from top-side and from below), it WASN'T moving when I was playing without a tape (just didn't notice at the weekend).

If I give it a good spin from underneath, then play a tape - everything fine. Then after a couple of laces/unlaces, the capstan sticks again. I have added a drop of oil from underneath - any other advice?

btw - this morning the loading belt motor is squealing - does anyone know the exact dimensions of this belt and/or a cheap source of replacements?

[ on the plus-side, managed to fix a u-matic player yesterday that I got from a studio that had closed - that was a capstan-related issue ]

All the best

Rob

Rob,

I don't quite know the exact electronics of the Sanyo capstan, but according to your description it might be due to be a bad tacho/servo signal coming from a sensor (magnetic?) located in the capstan.

It might also be due to bad capacitors in the base motor board.

Try to first replace those capacitors just in case. It is not over complicated and cheap.

Good luck!

Hi Gabriel

Most SL-HF150 on Ebay now are PAL/SECAM :-)

This model looks much more beautiful and attractive to me than the HF100 but as you said it it also much more prone to electrical and mechanical failures... :-(

Also it doesn't seem to have more functions than the HF100. .. (no slo-mo...) !

Hi

I wonder which camera was made to be plugged in the front camera input of my SL-C9 F ? Not the Betamovie since it already was a camcorder, so which model with no cassette in it ? It was probably older, and it had to be a SECAM model to be compatible with my french SL-C9 F I suppose.

Who knows which models were made to fit this C9 camera input ?

Frandid, the HVC-2000 and the HVC -3000 will connect to the camera input on the SL C9.

They were mainly for use with the F1 portable recorder which has the same plug.

The SONY C7 was also fitted with the same camera connector.

As was I believe the Sanyo VTC 6500.

Thanks Roderick.

Do you think a HVC-3000P sold in UK would work in color on my french SECAM only SL-C9 F ?

No, it wont't work but I found several SECAM units on the french market, HVC-3000S and HVC-4000S (S for SECAM I suppose), great.

What is the difference between the HVC -3000 and the HVC-4000 ?

Not really Betamax but hoping that the knowledge base of this site can help me.

Trying to restore a National NV-1020 reel to reel video recorder.

I have it up and running except for the head drum motor. When I turn the machine on there is a noise and it tries to start but not quite getting there.

If I give it a light push it slowly starts up but takes a while to get up to speed.

It has a 20uF/200v start capacitor which has been replaced with a 20uF/450v because I couldn't find a 200v.

Voltage measures 23.7v across the capacitor.

Any suggestions what I could look at to fix this?

Hello,

I was offered a SL-C80 -CE and I am having a hard te finding any information on this model... What are the functions it came with and are there any common problems with these machines?

Thanks, Misha

Dear Misha,

The SL-C80 is basically an SL-C30 with some enhancements such as perfect pause, frame advance and a sofisticated timer recording system (which is no longer used due to analog broadcast shutdown).

It is a nice machine, even more if you have the chance of getting the original remote.

You can have a look to technical page of the SL-C30. They mostly suffer from the same issues.

Regards,

Gabriel

Hi Misha.

The SL-C80 seems to be a relative to the SL-C20 and SL-C30. It seems to be a basic Beta VCR like these 2 models.

I don't think it has anything special except that it is one of the very rare series Sony made, like the SL-T6, SL-P20 etc.

Concerning reliability it's probably the same as the SL-C20.

Since it is very rare YOU are going to tell us more :-)

Gabriel you wrote while I was writing... ! ;-)

I have the Sony SL-F30 and the horizontal lines tremble only with the colours that contains the red, the tape is from a shop, with others too happen

I have varios vhs videos and too happen, with a dvd player and a tdt tuner in composite video mode not happen, with the RGB input too appears correct

I suspect of the tv, but with dvd and tdt works good

Frandid,

True, we almost replied at the same time!

Sorry for the late reply, just picked up the SL-C80 ! It's in working order, unfortunately without the original remote...

I have the sony SL-F90 the reel motor has a few power and the tapes stop in play or damage, in forward and rewind fast works perfect

I read that sony has a kit for repair the reel motor

The problem is the reel motor?

David

What I would do is check that the reel brake solenoid is doing it's job.

When you press on on the vcr you should here two distinct clicks. One is the main solenoid activating and releasing the back tension and pinch roller and the other is the solenoid for the reel brakes.

The F30 (similar in design to the f90 ) is known for the fusible link to this failing,as I've just seen on two of them.

...Kevin

Hi Guys

Does anyone have the back and forward tension spec settings for the Sony SLT30ME multi standard Beta vcr?

Also if so the number of the adjustment pod (s)?

I do have the service manual but it stops before you get these critical specifications.

Thanks in advance.................Kevin

Kevin,

The forward tension should be 70gm and the back tension should be 35gm.

I have only seen higher settings that that for back tension in a Sony machine on the SLO1700 which is 48gm.

cheers Noel

Kevin,

I researched this a bit more because I don't have an SLT30ME at the moment to check.

I only have the SL30ME manual and an SLT30ME supplement for the video board changes. (Not sure how much they share inside as externally they look different.

The SL30ME manual does not mention back or forward tension settings itself but under mechanical adjustments refers to the chassis adjustment manual 2. I don't have that manual.

The SONY tspe path adjustment guide indicates three types of chassis used

C type - for the very early SL8000 and older

710 type for the C6 versions and variants

711 type for the later smaller chassis most sony NTSC and CCIR sytem machines including the SLT30ME.

If the back tension lever is mechanical like on an SLC30 then its a spring tension adjustment.

If it uses an arm/magnetic solenoid system like an SLC9 then you will have a setting on the servo board.

The forward tension setting in an SLC30 type chassis (or SLHF100 ) will be another setting often labelled "torq"

cheers Noel (Betaheaven.com)

Kevin,

The SL-T30ME is a 711B chassis so you might follow the same procedure as for the C20 or C30.

Back tension: spring adjustment (stair-wise on tensioner lever) on the reel table - 35g

Forward tension: "TORQ" potentiometer on the servo board - 70g

Kind regards,

Gabriel

Hi my device is working sony sl-f90 but there are no colors only black and white solution can be found

Hi Gabriel

I did look for those digits in regards to forward torque but sadly there isn't any for that.

The back tension I have set to 30 It was around 22.

It's just finding that torque adjustment pot as it's only around 40 at this moment in time which is woefully out of spec.

I appreciate your assistance though.

Hi Noel:

once again I appreciate the assistance but there is no TRQ or TORQUE labelling on this servo board.

I used the felt band adjuster to get the back tension better, but the forward one is a mystery. Seeing as it's a multi standard machine there are two set's of two pot's no doubt one for PAL/Secam and the other for the NTSC adjustment.

I managed to get the PSU working but it still had s one annoying issue.

When turning it off the ON light does not go off and the power stays on but the channel light goes out.

If you press the power button again it will not load a tape until you unplug it.

It did start to work fine and all going off for a few goes but now it's doing this.

There were numerous ceramic capacitors bad as well as the electrolytics and a also a bad coil and two resistors.

Together with a bad hall effect sensor on the drum.

Typical Sony you sort one issue out then get another.

........Kevin

Kevin,

Quite interesting the lack of Torq writing on the board. Might be under "Fwd" labeling?

However, with some reverse engineering you may be able to track back the wiring of the reel motor, find its related connector and continue to go back until you find the transistor (or the set of them) in charge of supplying the motor's signal. Just looking at the surrounding trimmers could be a clue.

If this T30 uses the same SMPSU as its sibling the T50... Might be a PITA, they are sometimes tricky to fix.

All my wishes for your success.

Gabriel:

What I will do is take a note of what is put on there and maybe we can come to some conclusion as to what they might be for.

Thanks again......................Kevin

I recently purchased a Philips V2840 and new to this format. Very foreign to me for I have always owned/serviced U-Matic/Beta/VHS decks in the past. It seems impressive for its era. Does anyone know where one can source some good blank tapes, new or used.

Thanks

Kevin, when I play works the two solenoids

https://titulos.000webhostapp.com/VIDEO.JPG

I play with tape and without tape as in this image, the reel of the right has low force in play, I stop with the hand easily

In fast ff and rew the 2 reels run with force

What function has the gear that I put a arrow?

The cables from sensors of rec and cassette in are good (very low resistance)

In the solenoid more near of tape, between common and a cable has 141 ohms and between the common and the other cable has 18 ohms

The voltaje in stop is 0 between common and each cable but in play between common and a cable has 11,22 volts and with the common and the other cable 1,38 volts

Are correct the measures?

David:

If the reel brake solenoid is working then you can count that out.

Have you checked the motor magnetic flywheel. If the base bearing is worn then this magnet will rub the coils ,eventually causing a short if left long enough. This will also cause low torque in the play modes.

As for the readings I have no idea, i've never had to check those.

Also could not see those images, the link doesn't work for me.

...Kevin

Here you go guys ,as promised the actual adjustment pot numbers ON THE SERVO BOARD and the coding for each one on the SONY SLT30me.

RV 501 XO JIT

RV 507 CCIR TRC

RV 506 EIA DFS

RV 508 EIA TRC

RV 505 CCIR DFS

RV 504 SW PB

RV 503 SW AP

RV 11 DRUM FH

RV 515 B2 N

RV 518 B2 F

RV 520 EIA C/R

RV 519 B3 F

RV 516 B3 N

RV 517 CCIR F

RV 514 CCIR N

RV 521 CCIR C/R

RV 513 FG 2

RV 512 FG 1

Any ideas which one could be the forward torque setting???

....Kev

Kevin, I played a tape near the finish, where needs more force and now run good but appears in b/w with many white short lines but not jump the image, this was with I bought the SL-F90

In your videos with a tube tv and the control colour high do you see a horizontal lines tremble in the red colour or colours that contains the red?

This happen to anybody?

This happen to me with a SL-C30 and SL-F30 with original tapes and recorded from the tdt

Too with the vhs videos but not with the tdt and U-matic VO-2630 in the same tube tv

David:

The shimmering or even in some cases horizontal dark lines through the picture in large areas of red is normal to many vcr's. Some are better than others.

As for these white flashes you mention. Those are drop out's and will be worse the more tape wear there is, or if the drop out compensator needs a tweak.

Sony beta's seem to deal with this slightly better than the Sanyo models.

But once again will depend on the parameters I've mentioned.

.......Kevin

Kevin the white flashes not happen in other videos that I played the tape, I will check the drop out compensator and the croma section because only play in b/w and in the pause has much snow

The horizontal dark lines through the picture in large areas of red is because these videos not has guard band as U-matic and Betacam?

I am very interested in why happen this

In the SL-F30 in the C comb part there is a potentiometer that when I moved the dark lines appear more or less dark

I can send you the service manual in pdf if you don't has and do you want see

David, the drop out compensation of my SL-T50ME (same series as the T30 ) is not as efficient as those on my SL-C9 F and SL-HF950 ES (but more efficient than those on the SL-C6 F etc.) , so some horizontal little short white lines appear sometimes on worn or low quality tapes. But picture is more pure, colors (especially red) are more natural than on the C9 and 950. This is normal. My display is plasma full HD 130cm TV, but as it is getting old (9 years) I will probably soon buy a 190cm 3D, because they now (stupidly) cease making 3D TV sets...

Frandid, I think that is better use a tube tv because the plasma tv deinterlace and the pal system was created for interlace tv

The deinterlace videos of Pal cause 25 frames by second instead 50 pair + odd

In the pcs are the same, if don't apply a deinterlace filtre appear saw lines, and if apply lost the original format, I only see videos in my tube tv with analog videos

The youtube videos not has quality for me

Also appear fuzzy images because the plasma tv not has 576 horizontal lines or a multiple, in vertical lines are very good but the Betamax only has 260 lines

David, honestly Beta and even VHS tapes look very nice on my LG plasma TV yet of course the definition has nothing to do with blu-ray or digital TV brodcast. (240/260 lines vs 1920x1080). It looks much better than on my older Sony tube TVs. And taking in account the size of the screen which is much bigger I think it is very good indeed. I think the more important is the electronic treatment between analog and digital. There are huge differences from one make to another, and I noticed the LG and Samsung are far superior to other makes. (I was very disappointed by Sony and Panasonic TVs, and Chinese makes like TCL, Philips, Hisense etc. which are really bad. (Well Philips is not chinese, but their TV are made in China !). And I am quite a perfectionnist concerning audio and video ;-) I think I will replace my old LG Plasma by a Samsung UE75 3D series which really has an outstanding picture, almost as good as my plasma and is bigger.

Frandid, the plasma tv has very good resolution the problem is the compresed signals that caused distorsions in motion images and static zones with one colour as the cartoons

I live in Spain and here the dttv has much compressed for obtain more channels

I saw sometimes the tdt but I prefer the analog tv with a good antenna

From various years ago the business want sell more big tvs and is more important the quality that the size

The mayority of Spanish people don't want hifi teams as in the past, now with a mobile phone with mp3 and very compressed videos there are happy

If the gears not allows bad quality the people not use, as the lp in vhs and the mp3, mpg and divx codecs and prefer deinterlace all videos :(

Internet has the fault, but without internet I can't write this, has 2 sides

David,

I am a musician too, and I only listen to music on a "vintage style" high range (big) hifi ! I am not saying at all that compression is great ! I am not into Mp3 or DivX. I hate little screens, Iphones etc... Blu-ray is excellent, compressed full HD TV is correct most of the time but overcompressed picture is awful. In fact I hate to watch overcompressed pictures ! We don' have analog TV broadcasting no more since 2008 in France, do you still have it in Spain ? And all french TV channels are in digital full HD (1920x1080) for 4 years now. I only take what is good from the present, blu-ray, good large flat TVs etc. and preciously keep what was good in the past, my Pioneer Laserdisc CLD925, my VHS hifi VCRs and of course my 3 betamax ; Sony SLC9 F (purchased new in the 80's and kept new in a box for 35 years as it was struck by lightning and no repairer wanted to repair it at the time, but I did it myself successfully recently thanks to Ebay, so it is one of the very rare SL-C9 F working as new in France (as they didn't sell many "F" secam versions) and I also like very much my SL-T50ME and my SL-HF950 ES, all being able to play my old SECAM beta cassettes... ! I agree, youtube picture is not fantastic at all , but it is acceptable if you watch the higher def, 1080. If you don't have good quality internet you can use the software 4k Video Downloder to download 1080 versions on your PC, but the internet lowest quality in France -20 mb/s- is OK. (With a good I7 PC for instance). It all depends on the quality of the picures uploaded of course. I have a youtube channel on which you can watch things that I like from the past and the present. Also, good things from the present are HD digital camcorders (Sony's HD 1080 are very good, got several of them, but my first SD JVC was not very good) you can watch the videos I made shooting my favourite cover bands from the south of France (especially Cocktail De Nuit and Les Méditerranéens) this quality would have been totally impossible to achieve in the past (lightshows are the most difficult things to shoot) and I think Youtube picture even with its strong compression is still acceptable provided that you watch the 1080 version. (My YouTube channel is : https://www.youtube.com/user/KStarDid ). Concerning good compatibility between old VCRs and digital TVs you must make experiments, as I said sometimes it works (fine with my plasma) sometimes it doesn't (I have seen awful VHS pictures on some LCD TVs) your eyes must decide, it is easy to see if there are bad artefacts, lines etc. or if the picture looks natural pure and great...! But again you'll have more chances to find a good combination of analog VCRs and digital HD TV with models from LG and Samsung than from other makes, that's what I experienced.

In Spain in 2006 begin the digital television and was removed the analog, also there are channels in HD

Why do you repaired your Sony SLC9 F thanks of ebay?

I go to see your youtube channel and I will tell you my opinion

Do you can see interlaced video in your plasma?

David

I repaired my SL-C9 F thanks to Ebay because that was the only place to find SL-C9 parts and junk SL-C9 for a very reasonable price (I had to buy 2 junk units, 25€ and 150€ + some little parts) in order to repair my own unit.

I was lucky that the only "big" board that was not struck by lightning in my C9 was the RV8 (Y/C video board) because it is a SECAM video board and all the SL-C9 on Ebay are PAL units ! Never saw an SL-C9 F, only E, ES, UB, AS, etc. but never F !!

SL-HF100 F are common and easy to find in secam here, they sold a lot in France but not the C9, it is a very rare unit in SECAM.

No problem with interlaced videos and any kind of video sources on my plasma TV !

Continue the Secam system in France?

No, as I said in France analog TV (secam) broadcast ended in 2008 (in fact it completely ceased in 2011 but digital TV was available since 2005 in the big cities and in 2008 in the whole country) then SD 720x576 digital TV has been replaced by HD 1920x1080 for a few years now.

But all my Betamax tapes were recorded in SECAM, and a lot of my VHS and DVD's as well (DVD were transcoded in Pal during recording but not the tapes) until 2008.

All good Samsung and LG flat TVs sold in France are able to display a good playback of SECAM tapes without artefact. (And also Pal and NTSC).

One good thing from the SECAM was that it had (and still has on my tapes) brighter colors and an outstanding contrast compared to the dull Pal system. You can see it on the Beta videos I uploaded on my Youtube channel, those starting with the Beta logo.

I saw the COCORICOCOBOY program and has good colour

In youtube all is deinterlaced, do you send me a small fragment interlaced?

I readed about the secam system and use one line for R-Y and the following for B-Y, this has less interferences but less lines of colour, I readed in wikipedia

This remember to Betacam system that has R-Y and B-Y compresed in one field :)

But betacam has other head for luminance :)

Hi,

I have an old betamax player that needs to be fixed, when I insert the tape it goes in and when the tape being lowered it tilts and gets stuck. Can anyone help me to locate parts or someplace to take it, I live in Toronto. If someone knows where I can find a pal/secam/ Ntsc betamax player please let me know.

Thanks

Hello, I have Betamax Sony sl-f45. It's Play, but it have two problems:

1- I can insert tapes, but expel tapes

2- Image is black and white.

Can someone help me solve those problems? Thanks

Miguel, your video nor appears in this page, I hope that it will add soon, is PAL :)

I recommend download or buy the service and aligement manual

Here there are some solutions for repair but sometimes you need tools as multimeter, osciloscope, frequency counter and other tools exclusive for each video

I think that the problem of the load can are a sensor of interruptor type that not drive the current, a cable internal cut, needs a ohmeter for check, the multimeters has ohmeter

Check the voltages of power supply as appear in the manual

Too I have a colour problem in a video, for this needs a osciloscope and PAL colour bars generator or other video or dvd in good state with PAL colour bars

After you should ajust as appears in the aligement manual

I didn't find the service manual, rare video but I like :)

Excuse me, is Betamax sl-f30. ... I don't know why I wrote sl-f45....

Anyway, thanks very much. I fixed it yesterday!!!!!

Anyone knows where I can get parts?

Thanks

Miguel,

With some contact cleaner you can spray the switches detecting the tape insertion. It is typical when the VCR has been kept stored for long time.

The colour issue might be due to head contamination/clogging or, more often, a defect on the YC board. It is sometimes due to failure of one of the chroma ICs and as long as they are Sony's own designs (CX series), they are difficult to source.

You say you solved it, what was causing the colour problem?

George,

What model have you? I might have some spares.

Gabriel I think that is better clean with alcohol the metal contacts

The potenciometers with a dry cloth is enough

The liquid for contacts is more comfortable but really not clean, only in mixed with the dirt

David, I only suggested "spraying" the contacts as a remedy for quickly fixing the tape insertion issue. Of course you can thoroughly clean them with isopropyl or, even better, if you have a replacement, change them.

However, there are contact cleaner products "zero residue", which perform really nice on this rescue tasks.

Hi all.

I have a problem with my Sony slhf100ub and wanted to ask some advise please.

When playing a hifi tape back the hifi light lights up as normal but also the green sound light is on too. It's the same with it's own recordings too.

The linear audio on non hifi tapes is mute for around five seconds before it comes back on after pressing play, forwards and backwards search.

Any suggestions would be very welcome please.

Regards.

Rich.

George,

The best place to find a Betamax VCR is Ebay.

The best PAL/SECAM/NTSC model is the SL-T50ME. Very pure picture and good colors.

It has a correct slow motion and 2X speed.

The 2 other models I know are the SL-T30ME and the SL-800ME but they are basic and don't have 2X speed and no slow motion for the SL-T30ME I think.

There are not many tri standard models so you should check Ebay every week.

You could also check the french site "Leboncoin.fr", it's where I found my own SL-T50ME.

There are some internet shops selling Betamax parts throughout the world (a good one which once sold me an IC for my SL-C9 F is located in Greece) also some chinese shops on Ebay have some parts.

Some people here from UK, Australia, Spain and France may also have some parts you might need for these multi standard machines.

To the administrators of the site :

On the SL-T30ME page the 3 Specifications / Technical / Accessories links are wrong, they lead to the SL-T50ME page !

Frandid this also happens to me, perhaps they think that the SL-T30ME and the SL-T50ME are identical

David,

they know they are not identical, I'm sure one of the administrators will correct this soon or later.

The SL-T50ME has a more complete NTSC section, slow motion and 2X speed, the SL-T30ME hasn't got any of these features.

Frandid I readed the characteristics of the 2 videos but I don't understand why the SL-T30ME play and record in NTSC in 4,43 Mhz?, the NTSC has 3.58 Mhz

Did standard-play PAL Betamax decks run at the equivalent of Beta-I or Beta-II speed?

I've only recently discovered about the whole Beta-I/II/III debacle in the USA. The tape running time disparity between NTSC and PAL seems far too great for PAL to be Beta-I as standard; for example, an L500 tape ran for 130mins in PAL, but only 60mins in NTSC Beta-I.

PAL and NTSC VHS tapes didn't have anywhere near *that* much disparity, in fact it was pretty much the same as between PAL Beta and NTSC Beta-II (where the PAL tape only had an extra 10 minutes over the Beta). So would it be fair to say that mainstream Beta decks in the UK all ran at the equivalent of Beta-II speed, and so we never actually got to see how good it *could* be?

Hi everybody!

I have a problem with my SL-C80E vcr.

After running ten minutes of a dirty cassette (white dust on the top side of the tape), sound became so low it's hardly even hearable.

I cleaned the whole tape path from that white dust the tape left, picture is clear with no problems, but sound is still very very low and noisy.

What can it be, as audio head seems to be clean??

Thank you!

Marco

Avr2,

As far as I know, PAL machines run at Beta-II speed. I would like to see the quality difference among B-I and B-II system.

mDeplo,

Have you tried playing back an own recording? This way you'll have a better clue to see the fault. Also try with a different tape.

There is an internal audio level adjustment, but trimming its value usually yields to higher hiss and noise.

Also, don't forget to have a look to the pinch roller and capstan shaft.

Regards,

Gabriel

David,

My SL-T50ME both records and plays in NTSC 4,43 Mhz and 3.58 Mhz and Beta II and Beta III and also of course in PAL and french and middle east SECAM. I suppose one NTSC is for the USA and the other for Japan, but not sure, you should check wikipedia ;-).

Beta III is the equivalent of VHS LP, yet not as slow it seems. There is no equivalent of Beta I on PAL and SECAM machines and no equivalent of Beta III on PAL and SECAM Betamax neither .

I am in the UK & have a Sony HF950 with a faulty Hall effect sensor (Drum sensor) Where would be a i be able to get a replacement from & is there an equivalent available ?

Thanks Chris

mDeplo,

You probably didn't clean enough the stationary audio head on the fixed ACE assembly, especially the top and bottom part part of it. Use a lot of alcohol and also don't hesitate to clean each part of the tape path including all guides and pinch roller. Usually the tape takes dirt from one guide to another then to the heads etc. Also don't forget to clean the top and bottom part of the rotating head drum, you'll have to take out the little tape holder above the head drum (2 screws, be very careful it might break very easily specially if the white plastic has become yellowish and brittle) otherwise you can't really clean it completely, see what may happen if this part has an infinitesimal (not sure this word exists in english, = very tiny) part of dirt just below this tape holder : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX6gXt8PZgI

Don't touch the mechanical settings (screws) of the fixed head, it is almost impossible to fix them back correctly again unless you are very experienced. (Especially on the SL-HF950 and the SL-C9 ). You can touch the electrical settings to give a little more volume if you want, check them on the repair manual.

Ok Frandid the Pal system only one speed

What quality has your video in Beta II and III if you can see?

Do you see better in Pal, Secam or NTSC in Beta I?

The LP in vhs was bad idea, I have various vhs but not are identical inside

Some has only one board, this is a mistake because when run can not see under the cassette loader and is more hard find the circuits when there is to repair, better in various boards as all the Beta videos

Sony C6 UB Mark II

I've been tinkering with this machine on and off for about a month now, it loads and threads tapes, RR & FF OK but when playing its a little slow, as it RR & FF no problem I figured that the idler and belts are probably OK, so something somewhere much need adjusting to speed up the play speed.

Sure enough on the tech spec section on this site it has a description of this faults and the remedy is: to adjust RV1 & RV2 then RV9 (on SS9 board underside) but there's no circuit diagram so I don't know where the mentioned RV1 & 2 are, can anyone help?

Many thanks.

Hi does anyone know where i can get parts for sony betamax SL-200 Me

SL-T30 Me

Thank you

Bnthree I saw the service manual of Sony SL-C6E in this page:

http://freeservicemanuals.info

Perhaps can help you

Hi all, and thanks palsite.com for all the info featured here about BETAMAX machines.

I finally managed to get a Betamax machine, and it's a Sony SL-800ME one, with no remote control, unfortunately. I've looking for manuals or where to get parts for it, with no success.

The machine seems to be working properly. Fast forwarding or rewinding is slow. I'd like to get a belt kit for it with no luch as I don't know the parts number for it.

Tokafondo I buy belts in a electronic components shop in my city, perhaps you can buy new belts in your city

I bought a vhs very cheap but it didn't play, when I opened 2 belts was a black mass, I cleaned, I was to the electronic shop and the seller searched 2 belts that adapted good, now works

My betamax videos has only one special belt I have the Sony SL-C20 but perhaps your video has normal belts

I came across 10 brand new in box Sony U-Matic S SP (KSP 320) video tapes.

Are these rare and expensive now?

The links at the bottom of SL-T30ME model page should now be fixed. The tabs at the top of all of the model pages have also been updated.

Hi guys:

You may remember a while ago I was wondering where the forward tension adjusting pot was for the SLT30ME Sony.

Well thanks to 'Fivos' (on another website) it's the one next to the tracking knob on the front. WHY it's been put there is beyond me but that's where it is.

So thought some would appreciate the info.

Thanks for the up[dates too Martin.

....Kevin

Hi at all.

I have find a SL-3000E for restoring.

After repair, working partially,

i have a tracking problem, this not still stable.

I have clean completely the tape path.

The RF Packets is flat. No alignment issue.

No issue with back-tension or take-up torque.

Is probably need to recap the Servo Section?

Thanks at all,

Matt

Matt

Yes Sony's (and some Sanyo VTC 5000 's) are getting notorious for that area.

...Kevin

Thanks so much Kevin.

Matt

Matt,

You can also check the capstan stability by looking at the CTL pulses with the oscilloscope. Don't forget to have a look to the tracking potentiometer itself. They fail, too.

However, most probable issue is as explained by Kevin.

Gabriel,

the potentiometer is working fine.

the ctl signal, when arrive a dropout, is complete lost.

And 99/100 in playback lost the CTL Pulse.

I think a recap of Servo Section, resolve the problem.

Thanks,

Matt

Matt,

Recapping these old machines is always good practice. However, if you are experiencing CTL losses, keep an eye to the pinch roller / capstan section. When the roller rubber is worn or deformed (sometimes not too obvious at a glance), the tape might get misaligned at the CTL-audio head.

The SL-3000 is a lovely portable machine, hope you can rescue it.

Regards

Gabriel

Gabriel,

i have rejuvinated the pinch roller.

and cleaning, and lube deeply, the Capstan assy.

I do my best, to save this SL-3000E.

Thanks.

Matt

I like the sony SL-3000 remember me to the Sony BVW-35P

Hi all.

I have a problem with my Sony slhf100ub and wanted to ask some advise please.

When playing a hifi tape back the hifi light lights up as normal but also the green sound light is on too. It's the same with it's own recordings too.

The linear audio on non hifi tapes is mute for around five seconds before it comes back on after pressing play, forwards and backwards search.

Any suggestions would be very welcome please.

Regards.

Rich.

Hi Rich:

Could be a forward/back tension issue.

I've seen many Sony's and it's rare that they are in spec.

It could also be an issue with the Hi-Fi processor IC.Or failed/ leaky transistor (the HF100 is notorious for that problem after time)

Do you get Hi-Fi sound with the sound mode set to AUTO?

Have you looked at the pinch roller. Is it still flexible (test by pressing your thumb nail into it) and not rock hard (as some can be)?

.Kev

Hi Kev.

Thanks for the reply.

The hifi sound is fine on its own recordings and pre recorded tapes. The switch is set to auto. I've checked the pinch roller and it seems fine, I cleaned it with alcohol and put some rubber renue on it.

I just can't seem to get rid of that green sound light when it plays back hifi tapes.

That linear audio problem is a mystery too.

Many thanks.

Rich.