Hi Again,

As I have been archiving my tapes using a VP-9000, I have noticed that at times the dolby noise reduction turns on and off. I have tried cleaning the audio and video heads, but some tapes still play this way. Sometimes the audio flickers in and out of dolby, while other times the tape will play a few minutes of either dolby or non dolby. Is there anything else that could cause this or is it just the quality of the tape? Is there a way to permanently turn off the dolby so that it constantly does not flick back and forth between noise reduction and non-noise reduction? Would cleaning the tape help with this problem? If so, any procedures for cleaning umatic tapes?

My experience with umatic and beta was mostly as VT operator and some basic editing, so I do not have much experience in machine maintenance.

Thanks

Mark

HI. I have a bunch of HUD tapes from my time flying the F/A-18 in the mid to late 80's. They are 3/4" U-Matic tapes.

I want to watch them again but can't find a working DVR for this format. Well, I can but a grand?

Any ideas? All I need to do is play them, not record anything.

Eddie

Eddie Moran,

Your best bet is to have the tapes transferred to DVD or something.

Tapes from the 80's are rapidly reaching their 'end of life' point so even if you bought a machine you would only get some joy out of it. And that is if the tapes are still playable which all depends on how they were stored.

It doesn't say where you are based but if in Australia, I can have a look at that. Otherwise search for video digitising services in your area.

Hi

Here is link to our site: http://www.digiommel.fi/u-matic.html

There you will find everything you need to know how U-matic tapes are digitized. Y/C-output, Sticky-Shed Syndrome etc.

Sorry, some of the pages are still in Finnish.

You will find more technical documents: http://www.digiommel.fi/index.html

Kindly

Juha

I just sold my Sony VO-5850P with a specially built switch for playing and recording high band and low band tapes. It also had a TBC. The selling price was Û 425, and it was in perfect working and cosmetic condition. Does anyone in this forum know the average market price of such a machine today?

I also want to sell my VO-9800SP recorder, which is in good condition. Bids are hereby invited!

This my first post so I hope I am on the proper chat page. I have a Panasonic U-matic system which includes the NV9240, A960 and NV9600 and am located in San Diego, CA. I also have several 3/4" tapes. The equipment has had very little use and have been stored in their original boxes for the last several years. I also have a complete set of manuals for the equipment. If anyone has any interest in this equipment it is for sale. Please email and comments or questions. Thanks

This my first post so I hope I am on the proper chat page. I have a Panasonic U-matic system which includes the NV9240, A960 and NV9600 and am located in San Diego, CA. I also have several 3/4" tapes. The equipment has had very little use and have been stored in their original boxes for the last several years. I also have a complete set of manuals for the equipment. If anyone has any interest in this equipment it is for sale. Please email and comments or questions. Thanks, RT Roberts email [email protected]

Hi,

I have recently purchased a VO-9800P and it seems the machine is stuck in SP/High Band mode. When I place a Low band tape into the machine it loads fine and plays but the SP/High light remains on and there is no video signal.

I have read that there is a pin that falls into a slot on SP tapes that identify the tape type. Could this pin switch be faulty? Is it an easy fix?

Or is there a manual override to switch the machine between High and Low band?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Ron

Hi folks,

I have just powered up my Sony VP 5030 player after it not. Ring used for a while. The machine then made a tripping noise and loads of Smoke came out of it, its smells terrible. I have taken it outside and left it while I try and figure out what happened. I think it must of finally gave up the ghost

The Sony VO-5850P has developed a tape transport fault so that when inserting a cassette into the recorder the tape is at first stretched out round the record head in the normal way. The tape then almost immediately goes slack. The recorder does not go into the standby mode. Play, record, search, fast forward, fast rewind do not work. The cassette cannot be ejected.

I am advised by a video repair engineer that this is due to the failure of a component on the circuit board that controls the tape transport and that as it is impossible to identify the component that has failed the best remedy is to replace the entire circuit board. However the Sony VO-5800 /5850 series are obsolete in the UK and circuit board spares are difficult to find. Advice welcome.

Michael,

First step would be to thoroughly clean the threading path.

Most likely problem is a build-up of dirt that stops the threading ring from completing its' cycle.

If it doesn't activate the switch at the end, the machine goes in 'tape protection' mode and takes tension off the tape.

Have a try and let us know if you had any success.

http://www.digiommel.fi/Improved%20Image%20Quality%20of%20Old%20U-matic%20Recordings.pdf

Here is perhaps the best Low Band player in the world (PAL). Also with a Y / C output of course. If and when the others do not get played back your tapes, we can. Comments are welcome.

Does anyone have any EPK's from older movies? Back in the 80's, I believe they were all on U-Matic. Was looking to see if anyone had any leads on them.

U-Matic VO-2860 P On play mode it starts, a few seconds after the pinch roller makes contact it cuts off Please Help

Have three working models plus one for parts for disposal,at present converted to s-video but easily reverted to composite although s-video is better quality.

remove pinch roller,sandpaper the shine off,wash with methylated spirts and replace,see what happens,check tape for tightness also,rewind/fast forward couple of times.

Don Sugden,

Ideally you should get a Sony AV-340CE powersupply, make sure you get one with a XLR rather than a DIN plug.

Or if you want to use the Ebay cable, you will need a 12V 2.6A DC supply.

HI,

I am looking to hire a Umatic player to transfer my tapes to PC.

I guess 1- 3 days max.

I am in Sydney.

Any suggestions please?

Thanks

David

Are the tapes large or small? Low Band, Hi Band or SP?

I may have a portable machine but it would only play the small camera tapes.

I also have full-size machines but they are not leaving my house!

Hi,

I´m looking for a U-Matic Tape Cleaner. Does anyone know where I can get something like this? I'm from Germany.

Thanks!