Thanks Olive, found the email, now just have to wait on my son-in-law to come over and take it all apart again. By the way, do you know if there is a Beta Converter out there anywhere? It would be neat if you could do like the vhsc converter does. Just to put in the vhs.

Im trying to find out the year a betamax machine I have . Serial # 011194 Model SL-HFR60 can I get some assistance on where to find out this Info. Sincerely Brian.

Studiosound Electronics has full Sanyo belt and tyre 'tuneup' kits.

http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/betatune.htm

As a stopgap solution you can try 'flipping' the tyres inside out and mounting them onto the hubs. If the tyre isn't tso far gone that it breaks apart on handling you can get enough use out of them to determine if the machine is otherwise worth saving.

Hi all... Just picked up a Sanyo 4650 for a few bucks at the weekend flea market. I've replaced all of the belts, but the two rubber idler tires that power the take up reels are in bad shape. Both are dried out, cracking, and very slick... but they're at least intact. Tried to bring them back to life with some alcohol, but didn't do any good. They won't power the take up reels, so the tape starts to slack and the machine shuts down. Any suggestions how I can get them working again or rebuild them for cheap? Remove the bad rubber and put an o ring of the correct size around the tire? Thanks. Steve P.

Yea..re:tvvideoman. I agree with your assessment of this totally dispicable person. You are exactly correct. One thing you may have overlooked. He has the audacity to peddle these lousy, crap Betas with the doors and covers missing. Everyone by now knows that I get crazy when I see missing doors or covers. It's kind of sick, I realize, but asthetics are every bit as important as functionality. Please people, get with me on this important point. Nice meeting you, Steve. You and Videohead are kindred souls. Cheers!

This doesn't make me a genius, but I think I've discovered where tvvideoman gets all the low end crap he manages to occasionally sell for a deuce to beta imbeciles who fall for his rambling, babbling sales pitches.

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&since=30&userid=tvvideoman&include=0&rows=50&sort=3&completed=1

Same universe of machines described here:

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBidItems&userid=sl1000&completed=1&all=1&rows=25&sort=3

What's strangest about this guy is that he seems to go out of his way to *not* offer a remote with the machines he sells. Makes for amusing reading as he plays up how easily a universal remote will work just fine - until the auction is for a SL-2300 or SL-10, where his prose becomes somewhat cagey on that issue.

Hi!I am on the lookout for some old videos from the early days of video on Beta and VHS.Check out my homepage http://www.filmplantasjen.net the worlds only real videomuseum and you understand what i mean.I also have two Sony SLO 1700 HI FI Beta players who works perfect.Check it out on http://www.filmplantasjen.net on "bilder fra samlingen"

Hi.I am on the lookuot for old beta and vhs film from the early days of video.Check out my homepage http://www.filmplantasjen.net the only real videomuseum in the world, and you understand what i mean. If there are anyone who have som old videos for sale please be in touch. I also have two Sony SLO 1700 beta Hi Fi machines who works. See a picture of one of them on http://www.filmplantasjen .net on "bilder fra samlingen"

Typical eBay iJerk...

Trying to weasel as much money as he can by breaking up an SL-2500 outfit...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5790368897

Gets you the VCR alone...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5790368886

If you want the remote...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5790368862

And you will be wanting the instruction manual...

Never mind that now you hafta pay 3 commissions instead of one, you prolly won't get as much as you would if you'd offered an SL-2500 with the manual and remote intact.

Ginny; Check your Spam Folder. AOL might be filtering out all Yahoo mail letters since so many Nigerians use Yahoo mail to disseminate their spam offerings.

Go to aol://1722:spamfolder or keywords "spam folder" - leave off the ""'s

Hey Olive

When did you send the pictures for the SL-5600? I've looked all over my email and can't find it. Do you mind resending it?

The SL-HF 900, like many of Sony's early to mid 80s models, has no drive belts. If cleaning the tape path doesn't fix your problem it's either a problem (in order from easiest to hardest to fix) with the pinch roller or back tension or a problem with dried capacitors since you'd had in in idle storage for so long.

Just discovered this chat site, and I'm quite pleased to have done so.

I have a Sony SL HF-900 that I bought new oh so many years ago. It sat in storage for years, but now I want to get it going again. It works, but the speed varies slightly on play and seems to slip a whole lot on rewind. I assume it needs a belt, but the drive train is deeply buried in the machine and I don't want to risk it without a road map. Any thoughts on what the problem might be and best place to get a service manual would be greatly appreciated.

Ginny; Just emailed you a couple pix from the service manual I have. There weren't many relevant images but the two I sent should be of some utility.

Hi this is Ginny again. any new on a manual for Sony SL-5600. We replaced the belts and other parts but now it rewinds, fast forwards, but the play button will not stay down. HELP!!!

Found another great source of service manuals:http://www.user-service-manuals.com/

This site doesn't sell manuals but will send them if you make a donation to a charity.I got the SL-C9 service manual which is excellent!

I just bought a panasonic car sterio not too long ago and now when I put a CD in it is giving me an error message saying CD E2 please eject cd. I put a burnt cd in there the start with and thought that it might have been the problem but then I put other CD's in that i knew worked and they didn't work either. I dont know if it might be the cd eye or something else but if any one could give some advice it would be great!

I dont have java script on discovered it leads to too many infinite loops on several popular sites such as eBay which makes pages take 8-10 minutes to load. I dont use either Internet Impoder or Netscape and eBay seems to have a script asking you if you have Implode if it says no it asks for Netscape and when you say no it recycles- after about 90 seconds I get an infinite loop message asking if I want to stop it- this happens several times a page. Seems they are unable to grasp the concept of using something else.

People are apt to buy the digital VHS VCRs since at present they are the only way to record HD broadcasts. I have been told by a friend who works on VCRs that these expensive units wear out rather quickly since they use the same chasis as the $49 Wal Mart special units. They do however produce a nice picture from HD source.

Discovered sort of by accident that a HD front projection TV currently available from circuit city for just over $1000 will not only project HD TV signals but is also the first HD unit I have seen that does a decent job with both normal TV broadcasts and all of our old video tapes. A friend of mine bought one and just for the fun of it earlier today we hooked up my SL HF 100 to see what it would do to a PAL siganl and it displayed it perfectly I was quite surprised- the only problem is that it tends to have a problem displaying freeze frames properly- both from my 100 and friends SL HF 750 and there was a bit of a tearing on high contrast areas on the PAL signal, but I suspect these were caused by playing back tapes that were recorded on a 950.

Service manual source for Sony SL-2300, SL-2500

Have a Sony SL-2300 Betamax that is switched on and will not switch off.Is already on when plugged in.Appears to be in record mode.Accepts tape and immediately ejects.

Also a Sony SL-2500 that will not switch on. Will not accept tape.

Are the on switches a relay control?

With DVD recorders down to as low as $ 200 why would anyone even bother trying to market one of these...

http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL027315&pathId=50

D-VHS has actually been out as a 'professional' format for quite some time now but JVC still thinks it can sell $1500 consumer VCRs in the age of cheap Chinese blisterpack electronics. To be fair they have three consumer models and the cheapest is 'only' $799 with the middle one selling at $999.

Well in MSIE 5.1.6 Mac they change color on mouse-over but they show nothing on the status bar. You click one and it opens a javascript window (without the toolbar on top) that takes you to an eBay auction page. Apparently the site is a compiler of eBay auctions sorted by catagory.

None of those come up as links on my computer. I even did a look at the html source to see if I could find anything and all I was able to come up with was that thre are 538 errors in the html code on that page- whihc is above average in terms of web pages- most have some.

Alan - I checked a couple of those links and they're links to eBay auctions.

You should try clicking on any of the items on that page and you'll find out how to buy them ;)

While searching for something else online ran across this page whihc lists lots of Beta stuff for sale at what seems like good prices but has no contact info on how to purchase:

http://www.4electronicsdeals.com/Electronics/VCRs/Beta.shtml

Appears to be in USa based on model numbers being listed and fact that the money is $$

I sure would love to know where your dumpster is !!

Hey Ralph, couldn't agree with you more. Missing doors and covers are an absolute disgrace. Even if I bought a SL-HF1000 and it worked nicely, once the door became damaged I would stuff the whole works in the nearest dumpster. Everyone thinks I'm nuts when I say this, but I finally found a kindred soul who agrees with me on the subject of doors and covers. Yea, those low end machines are the pits. I agree with you about that as well. If someone gave me one that was unopened in the original box, it too would go in the dumpster. I would never tempt someone to purchase it, that's how I am. Great board everyone....keep it going....VIDEOHEAD Lives!

The 23XX/24XX are poor choices for transferring video. They're the absolute bottom of the Sony line (yet people continue to pay $ 200 for them on eBay). One of the problems some of these models have is tracking "blinks" which popular wisdom suggests result from faulty electronics, to wit, capacitors.

Wait to get your hands on a better model. Best value for the money in the Sony line IMO is the SL-HF300. They are ultra-reliable, very high quality machines and can be had for under $100 on eBay. Very few of them have any problems, so if the seller says it works, it's probably more than good enough for transferring beta tapes to DVD or VHS. Just make sure you get one with the control panel door if you intend to keep the machine. ("Cosmetic" flaws are not meaningless as sellers would have you believe.)

I am attempting to transfer a betamax film to DVD. A friend provided me with an SL-2300. I connected the Betamax to my VCR to tape the film on VCR so I could transfer the VHS tape to DVD (I could have used my video camcorder but it is on the fritz). I get garbled pictures from the betamax. Possibly it is what I read about in your cha...the electrolytics dried out. Is there a solution to this problem? When I fast forward the tape, I get a fairly good picture (i.e. the lines are gone), however, I can't hear the sound and, of course, everything is sped up...Would appreciate any information you might have. Thanks...

John,

Re the SL2000. I suspect you have a power supply fault. I fixed one of these recently that had hardly any use and did not work when it was taken out of storage after 15 years. (I had a spare for parts and changed over the whole supply.) If all voltages are OK then you next have to suspect the system control board because ALL functions are locked up.

regards Noel Higgins

I have a Betamax SL2000 and when I put a tape in, it does not want to wind or rewind or play. Power is on, the first press of the buttons has a response, but then the tape stops. I have reset the clear button, unplugged and replugged the system, it continues to not want to work. All it does is beep three times when I try to press the play, ff, rewind buttons after the first try.Anyone out there know why this is happening.Thanks,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5788635299&category=39830&rd=1

How could ANYONE who considers themselves to be a "Betaphile" say this about Ampex consumer tape?

"You can continue to enjoy that classic Betamax technology with these video cassettes from the inventor of the video tape recorder and venerable "Made in the USA" pioneer in audio and video technology. As a long-time Betaphile, I've always found Ampex Betas to have excellent sound and picture (and still superior to VHS!)."

Mind numbing. Unless, of course, an endless hailstorm of dropouts, binding reels and a pile of rust on your reel table fall within your definition of "excellent."

PALsite has a directory of Betamax support throughout the world...

http://www.palsite.com/directory.html

BTW it would help out a lot when requesting repair places or such, to mention where you are.

Need Betamax Service -Hello -I own an EDV 7500 and an SLHF 900. Neither are working at present. Does anyone know of a reputable, clever tech I can contact?Thanks in advance

Try replacing the loading belt(s) on that C7 or at the very least cleaning the pulleys involved. If a spot of grease has gotten into them it would have the same effect as a loose belt.

I have INSERT & EJECT cassette problems with my Sony Betamax SL-C7E. Immediately after inserting a cassette, the initial "winding around the cylinder" process is endless. At times it does not succeed at all. Also the eject process shows similar difficulties in the opposite direction. I have tried to adjust the position of a tongue that increases the power of a spring that effects that mechanism; it helped for a while but after som days the problems came back as before. Can anybody suggest a solution to my problem. I have app. 50 Beta cassettes and have not succeeded yet to transfer my video recordings to another system.

Sony C40:

My wife says I've got too much junk, so would anyone like my Sony C40? I've overhaulled it mechanically and it works really well. The head disc appears good (clean picture, even in search modes) and the whole machine is tidy and presentable. I've not got the remote control unit though. I was thinking that £40 was on the money, laugh at me if I've got it wrong. Mail me for more info.

Tim.

To Doug MaCKenzie: Are those home-taped or pre-recorded sell-through tapes?

Home recorded tapes shouldn't have any sort of copy protection imbedded in them. If you still have a separate VCR you can try running the tapes off them and into the DVD recorder's A/V inputs. Some older VHS VCRs don't respond to Macrovision as badly as newer ones.

Of course Betas can make Macrovision it's woman and make it like it. Mind you there was a really nasty "stop copy" scheme used on very early Betamax rental tapes that can flummox my poor SL-HF 360 if I try to send a recording to it from another Beta VCR.

Hello all, Forget the previous message my brain was busy taking a vacation and I didn't realize it. I went and sat down for a while and finally my brain came back and I realized the tab on the back of the cassette is to prevent accidentally taping over what is already on the tape....not to prevent copying. Sorry to waste your time. I read some about the process necessary to get around copy protection but do not feel that tapes of the Johnny Carson show are worth the effort or expense. Hopefully you will not be pestered by me again which will mean that I am not having any problems I can't handle. Have a good day!

I have some old Johhny Carson VCR tapes that will not copy to dvd disk. Other tapes I have copy OK. Message is tapes are copy protected. The only difference I see mechanically is that a tab has been removed from the rear of the casette. Would that possibly be the only problem (since they are old tapes)? Or is there likely to be some sort of embedded copy protection like the newer tapes. If so I will just throw them away as it is not worth the cost to get them copied elsewhere. Thanks in advance. New to this copy process just got around to buying the DVD VCR combination packaged unit.

Hello all.My Sony SLC 7 has just died but I found a replacement on e bay. I just searched Sony Betamax and was surprised what came up. My old remote and instruction booklet are on e bay for sale if anyone is interested. Look up user id. emo5c on e bay.ThanksDavid

Hello all.My SLC 7 just died but have found a replacement on e bay. I was surprised to see how much was on there. I searched Sony Betamax. Still the best system in my opinion.

To Steve. First off a Sony universal remote would've provided basic functionality to that SL-HF 900 - most universal remotes would have codes for Sony Beta VCRs. THe 900 even without the OEM remote is way better to have than any Sanyo unit.

http://www.replacementremotes.com/sony/ sells usable remotes for the SL-HF 900 at prices far below Sony's FU prices.

Next off. That'll teach you to get impatiant with a VCR. If you haven't stripped the loading gear or broken any of the guide pins on the loading you can probably save this VCR. You'll have to detach the toothed loading belt and remove the cassette carraige - it's mounted by four screws and comes off as a full unit on the 900 - and try to re-cycle the loading sequence manually. If nothing was broken you should be able to put everything back to rights.

Do ya feel lucky?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5788391129

Toshiba VS-36 HiFi Betamax for the low-low BIN of $39.99 - parts or repair as the guy has no tape to test.

And for the Portabeta PALs...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5788340141

Carry case, strap and a pair of NP-1 batteries for the SL-F1. £4.99Êstart.

And one for PALsite's system administrators...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5788208354

Flagrant bandwidth theft from Down Under....

Well it turns out I was probably right in my assessment of that post. Got a second email from the lads in Lago (who'da thunkit that Nigerians are so big on Betamax) looking to buy "BETA HI FI FRONT LOAD VCR'S "

From fella abdul [email protected] Sat Jul 9 11:09:00 2005

Subject: BETA HI FI FRONT LOAD VCR'S

GOODDAY,I AM ADAMS SCOTT, I SAW YOUR ADVERT ON THE INTERNETAND I AM HIGHLY INTERESTED IN BUYING OF THAT,PLEASE IF THE PUPPY IS AVAILABLE KINDLY GET BACKTO WITH YOUR LAST OFFERING PRICE, I WILL BE LOOKINGFORWARD TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST.BEST REGARDS. URGENT RESPONDS

"Adams Scott" had sent me this email last Tuesday or so...

From dre adams [email protected] Tue Jul 5 09:54:38 2005

Subject: mere SL-HF 300!

GOODDAY,I AM ADAMS SCOTT, I SAW YOUR ADVERT ON THE INTERNETAND I AM HIGHLY INTERESTED IN BUYING OF THAT,PLEASE IF THE PRODUCTS IS AVAILABLE KINDLY GET BACKTO WITH YOUR LAST OFFERING PRICE, I WILL BE LOOKINGFORWARD TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST.BEST REGARDS. URGENT RESPONDS.......

Some of you may recall a few years back a posting a few years ago about someone selling "secret source" (Salvation Army addresses) lists for BETA HI FI FRONT LOAD VCR'S. It seems the lads in Lagos will leave no page unturned to scrounge email addresses and subject tags.

Let me give you some free but useful advice. Any address that's been on the web for more than six months has already been innundated with every nuance of the scams you've generated - advance fee - charity fund - bouncing money order - Lottery award and ID theft scams - and can be written off as unusable.

Remember the more e-mails you try to bombard the net with, the quicker ISPs can learn of your tricks (and cut you off completely) so if you're really keen on staying in the ripoff trade you should learn to focus on better leads. North America and Western Europe and pretty much all of the English -speaking world have been picked over. Try directing your scams to countries just coming onto the internet scene.

Jamie,

I gather from your email address your in Australia. If your in Melbourne I might be able to help fix your machine. The problem could be caused by three different things or a combination of them all.

1/ Worn ACA head assembly. See http://www.palsite.com/pcat_ace.html2/ Worn/faulty capstan pinch roller. See http://www.palsite.com/pcat_pinch.html3/ Bad tape path alignment (causing the tape to wrap on the guide edge)

From your comments regarding interchange of tapes with other machines it sounds like a tape path problem which also affects the control head information on the tape.

I hope this helps

regards Noel

Looks like another Nigerian spammers is testing this board with a nonsense message to see if addresses are mangled on these posts. What a nice thank you for all the efforts Live8 is doing to bring the plight of African poverty to the world scene.

21kcgj4w,ob =qj89tv7 bni1867f1v75vj

And for the NTSC portbeta fans...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7528733860

Toshiba VX-340 outfit including the tuner and matching IK-2000 camera. At $16 USD so far. Not a common sight on eBay and less common as a full outfit with tuner and camera.

This is one tricked out SL-F1 outfit!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5787838077

Includes a Sony video terminal with printer (titler with still store?)- I've never seen this offered with a Betamax outfit...

Thoughts and prayers go out to our London BetaPALs. Good move AlQueda - attack a people who beat back the Nazis single-handed for almost 2 years before Pearl Harbour got us in the fight.

HI ALAN MORTON, I'VE SENT A MESSAGE TO YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, DAVE.

i'm new here & almost gave up on beta, i do gree, the ed betamax recorder is a dream machine, if sony brought it out here against the SVHS format the beta comunity would've had something better than SVHS, if the EDV -950 was available worldwide i'd have bought it & used it to copy some films i duplicated onto beta from VHS years ago via a video enhancer to increaase resolution & a PAL-NTSC convertor as i have know knowledge of a pal ED BETAMAX video recorder existing in the english language.

Hi all,

Just seeking a little help if anybody can help me... I have a SL-C40ES (stereo) which has a problem during recording and playback of sound. the audio recorded seems to be 'fluttering' and sometimes going up and down in playback but plays fine for a few seconds just after fast forward then reverts back to a lower volume.

Also, tapes recorded on my other machines when played back on this machine is a little bit jittery, but only only on the top of the screen which probably rules out incorrect head alignment. The same problem also occurs when playing tapes recorded on this machine on others but plays fine on this machine.

If anyone can help me i would really appreciate it so much

Thanks,

Jamie

SL-HF 950 with NICAM decoder....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5787610673

99p start 450£ BIN

Hello To All! I haven't been here for some time. I'm pleased to say that my media duplication business continues to move along with the improving economy. We're doing LOTS of transfers to DVD-Rand DVD+R everyday - and a few are from Betamax and SuperBetamax tapes every week to 10 daysor so. In going through our tape stock, I noticed that we still have nine (9) NEW Sony High Grade Betamax L-750 tapes that we will probably never use. Also, three (3) NEW Fuji 30 minute Beta Oxide tapes. If someone would be interested in buying them, I would be willing to sell the entire lot for $25.00 + actual UPS shipping costs. Keep in mind the Sony tapeswholesale (if you can find them) for over $3.00 each. Again - these tapes are NEW, inshrink wrap, and never used.

To K. Lambert,re my Sanyo beta. Thank you very much for the info. I will check theseareas thoroughly and keep you posted. I was able to adjust the tracking so the picis perfectly clear, thanks to Olive's expert help(thanks again,Olive)and I think themachine is finally starting to come around,so I will continue my trek across the'repair frontier'. Yes, I'm in a suburb of NYC. Again, thanks to my beta friends. Carl

CarlI've been reading the problems you have with your Sanyo BetaI live in the UK and service these outstanding machines regulary.Your problem sounds like the idler assemblies need replacing with new and the pulley and reel spool contact edges need a good clean plus the replacement of the drive belt.Another area that could cause shutdown is if the capstan motor is off kilter(if the metal base is'nt exactly parallel with the circuit board or if foreign bodies have accumalated there) or the pinch roller worn.One other area that would also cause deck shutdown is the LED sensor under the right hand spool(It sends signals to activate the tape counter).If this has accumulated fluff over the sensor the microprossesor shuts down the deck as it does'nt detect pulses and to avoid a nasty mess of the tape.If the reel motor was worn it would'nt rewind very quickly(especially after replacing all the idler assemblies) and would 'arc '(white flashes over the picture) and if internally dirty you would find it would leave a loop of tape after pressing stop.I've never heard of one of those motors becoming HOT......Another thing to look for is if the top idlers plastic house has'nt got the metal plate on top (later years) the top idler's housing contacts the cassette door on closing it causing the idler to not make full contact with the reel spool.If it is the older idler (no metal plate) and you remove it , look at it from the side and if it bends upwards , grasp the two ends and gently bend it downwards until it looks flat.I've come across this twice! I take it by the model no your in the US?If so it's a shame as i could have done this for you.Nearly everything else on those Sanyo Beta's is 'bomb proof'..........Good luck..............Kevin (UK)

Olive..re my Sanyo beta...Since it works so well when cold, do you think the motorthat might turn the wheels gets too hot and shuts down? Carl..

Hi all... Just bought a Sanyo 4400 Beta that has a dead digital display. Is this a common problem? Haven't opened it up yet to check further.

Thanks,Steve P.

Pervue's been relisting that poor SL-2000 set for months. He wants at least $150 for it but nobody bit at that price. Now he's trying to intice you with a slightly lower price with a 'reserve'.

Given that these frequently go for around the $50 +/- range he'll be relisting so often his price will probably be eaten by relist-fees at some point - especially if he goes with reserve bids.

Here a SL-2000 in the box for #100 on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39830&item=5786679237&rd=1&ssPageName=WD1V

Holy krep! The Nigerians are digging waaaaay deep into this site's archives to come up with new scamming angles....

GOODDAY,I AM ADAMS SCOTT, I SAW YOUR ADVERT ON THE INTERNETAND I AM HIGHLY INTERESTED IN BUYING OF THAT,PLEASE IF THE PRODUCTS IS AVAILABLE KINDLY GET BACKTO WITH YOUR LAST OFFERING PRICE, I WILL BE LOOKINGFORWARD TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST.BEST REGARDS. URGENT RESPONDS.......ÊÊÊhttp://www.chat-page.com/betamax/archive_08.html

He included a link to archive #8 in which I'd casually made reference to possibly maybe selling my SL-HF 300.

This is the scam where they send you a bogus money order for way more than the selling price and ask you to send them the difference in cash.

Don't know why the 4400 would just sieze up like that. If the SL- 5200 (hifi beta) shares the same control board as the SL-5000 the TRACON trimpot should be on the same board as the external tracking knob.

Sony was a lot more helpful in labeling different sections of that board.

While I'm at this great beta site, I thought I might find the location of thetracking adjustment on my early model Sony beta stereo hifi vcr. It resemblesthe model SL5000 but is definitely a little bigger. I thought someone might know thewhereabouts since I can't find this adjustment anywhere on it. Thanks...Carl NYC

Olive...this is confusing me. Re my Sanyo beta. I adjusted the internal tracking sothat the picture is really nice and clear.Thank you for your info,as it was quitehelpful. Now for the confusing part; I cleaned the parts attached to the spinningattachment found under the carriage and lo and behold it worked! That is untila half hour later when it stopped. It got heated up,I guess. I had replaced therubber tire and belt and was enjoying my tape until it just stopped,as if I hadpushed the pause button. I then hit stop and the tape reverted back into the cassette.This morning When I tried it again,it was normal! Any ideas on this? Thanks..Carl

A nice SLO-340 portabeta outfit - $99 start - the BIN price is on the high side a scosche...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5786906639

He does throw in a couple good batteries, the power pack and an HVC-2200 camera so the start price isn't too excessive for a B-1 system.

FOR SALE: Several working Sony remotes ( RMT 124 ), beta head cleaning cassettes, beta tape rewinders. What do you need? Let me know what you need. A good home is needed for these parts. Price is secondary.

F O R S A L E: MY Sony Betamax 70 in excellent working order plus a sick Sony 70 for parting out. Also, my Sony 400 stereo unit just quit working. Make me an offer I can't refuse for one, both, or all.

Ginny; Here's a site with a good look at Beta innards relevant to your VCR...

http://www.saitosite.com/av/av9912/slj9.html

Sony used the same mechanical chassis for the SL-5600.

When the T-storms go by up here I'll try and scan you stuff off my SL-5400 service manual.

I ordered the belts and other parts for my Sony SL-5600. Since the motor still sounds good, I think by replacing those parts should do the job. Does anyone have a guide for replacing those parts? Thanks in advance.

I have a Sony SL800ME multi-system Betamax videorecorder that requires the pendulum idler assembly to be replaced. Can anybody give me an estimate of the machine's value if restored to full working condition? Thanks.

IMHO, internal trimpot adjustment should only be used as a last resort or when replacing parts in their way, as these are provided to fine-tune circuits with regard to part tolerance. Now if tracking has gone that much out of way, I'd first try to clean the tracking pot itself, then make sure tape path is adjusted correctly, look for a weak signal from the control head, etc. If you stick to your plan of trimpot fiddling, as Olive said, make sure you mark their original position.

To..R B Miller..re the beta tape give away. Yes, I would be interested in them,since the price seems 'fair'. Where are you located? Carl S NYC

Hi guysI put a notice on this site that I had a lot of beta movies that I would be happy to donate to a person that would appreciate them..so far, no takers. Does anyone know of a store that still deals in betamax videos...All of my old contacts phones are all disconnected!! Many thanks,R B Miller

That would be them. Make a note of their original position before you do any adjusting so you'll be able to put them back if the results aren't what you wanted.

Olive..re the Sanyo beta..again..Thank you for the tracking instructions which I willtry this pm. I think I will be able to do it. I assume a 'trimpot' is a small circularraised adjustment tool with a screwdriver slot. Am I correct? Again, thank you. Carl

i have 5or 600 sony beta tapes ,mosty with last 20 years of movies also a no of blanks new some pro sony blanks. will take $300 for all. central east coast fl.usa.

Roderick,

DC/DC cans can be easy to open if you know how. Put them in a metal vice about a third the way in so that the vice grips well but does not heatsink the unit too well. Use a heat gun and play the hot air around the lid area. Your vice paint might not like this but mine is well worn. (keep clear of any surrounding flammable materials as these things can be dangerous) Use a blade such as a stanley knife to lift the lid at the edges and to remove it when the solder is up to melting point. Lift the board out of the case after things have cooled down. Be careful not bend the ciruit board right angle pins when the solder is hot because you may have problems getting them re-aligned.

regards Noel.

There are a set of trimpots just to the right of the cassette carraige mechanism that can be adjusted. I'd have to see a picture to point them out properly but I think they were CAP (capstan) speed trimpots. Look for a BII and BIII label. If you adjust them while a tape is running you should be able to see results of your action on TV screen.

Hi Pete

I would also suggest it is probably the DC/DC converter that has a problem.I had the same problem and after replacing all the caps it is now working fine.Details : http://www.palsite.com/pcat_dcdc.htmland more details (in German) here : http://www.sps-wagner.de/Betamax/SL-C9.html#UhrThe hardest part is opening the CD9 container, a b**** of a job but with gentle yet forceful persuasion it will give in, eventually.

Olive..re my Sanyo beta with the tracking location query. Yes, my model is 4400,andyou mentioned you might have some history of working with same,as I'm trying tofind the control to internally adjust the tracking. I have the cover off at thispoint and am cleaning the rubber wheels,bands,etc. Thank you, I appreciate yourhelp. Carl..NYC

Hey, DaveAny more news on the service manual for the Sony SL-5600?

There are a couple trimpots to fiddle with but I'd only know where they were by sight nowadays and only on a VCR 4400 board as I haven't have a Sanyo Beta in years.

Hi all,

Looking to "touch up" a few scratches on a HFP-100 Beta Hi-Fi processor I just found at a flea market, so anyone know of a good touch up paint that matches the dark grey color that Sony used during the 80s and 90s?

Thanks,Steve P.Joplin, MO

Olive..re my Sanyo beta..thank you, I'll try the idler/cleaning and see how it responds. Iam also having trouble with the tracking, in that the knob must be adjusted forvirtually every tape. Is there any adjustment I can make on this? It seems that sometimesthe beta will respond well to turning it all the way in either direction. Can you tellme what the adjustment wheel/screw looks like and where it's located? Thanks again.Carl

Pete. I have a working C9 display module for sale, but the problem may be the DC to DC converter, which knocks out the display / tuner. If you search the site you will find info on how they can sometimes be fixed. They are no longer available as a spare. Good luck

To Carl. While it might be something electronic that I don't have much info on, but at the least you might want to look at the idler tires and belt to see if they haven't gone bad. Should also check the pinch roller. While you're 'under the hood' a good tape path cleaning wouldn't hurt as well.

Sanyos are fairly robust and pretty easy to fix mechanically (lot easier than Sonys) and the parts that fail the most are still available...

http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/betatune.htm

Hello All

I wonder if anyone can help? A friend of mine has asked me to have a look at his Sony SL-C9UB. It appears that the display has gone west. Does anyone know where I might be able to get a replacement display/timer modual, or has anyone experience of fixing the old one?

Any suggestions would be greatfully received.

Many thanks

My Sanyo top loading beta will play properly for an hour or so then...it stops,not exactlythough. It's like I pushed pause. I then push stop,the tape returns to the start positionand then I press play. The tape plays for a minute then the same thing happens. This hashappened so often that I cannot play a tape. Would anyone have a fix on this?Thanks..Carl NYC

Maybe someone can figure this one..my Sanyo top loading beta will play tapes pretty wellbut at times just stops as if I have pushed pause. I have to push stop,which brings thetape back to start,then push play again and the tape resumes normal operation. Lately ithas been doing this so often that I cannot watch a tape anymore. Would anyone have a fixon this irritating problem? Thanks..Carl NYC

Studiosound Electronics has VCR gearsets. Don't know if they ship overseas...

http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/gears.htm

Olive/Mark

I tried the model shop gear option here in Australia and had no luck. They are into larger gears for model cars etc. I would like to source the plastics chemical components shown at that website. I didn't understand the jinlish that site put up so i might have to get a japanese friend to translate the original text for me. I sort of follow the steps. The final product looks good.

regards Noel

Tape and Transfer overseas

http://www.high-techproductions.com/betamax.htm

Video 2000 and many more

http://www.vidipax.com/formatgd/fg27.html

You could also try hobby shops (like ones that cater to RC aeroplane and boat model builders) to see if they have gear sets that can be adapted for use.

Hello Mr Japanese Beta Fan Man, we thought of that and it may well be the only cog solution - thanks - regards mark

Leave it to Japanese Betafans to come up with a solution to your gear problem

PALchat will split this linke so highlight-copy-paste to open this...

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?lp=ja_en&trurl=http://homepage1.nifty.com/Sony/Data/Parts_Making.html

Hi Noel, thanks for that , i think the plastic cogs are little far gone for that , ive superglued them and managed to load a tape and prooved that the machine will play ok but they spilt again and are so small , could you use something else instead, as a bodge job, mark

Mark,

Neither the DC/DC nor the gears are still available. The DC/DC can be repaired. (see http://www.palsite.com/pcat_dcdc.html) So can the gears sometimes with superglue and some bracing around the flat step at the side of the gear such as a washer drilled to exactly the right size so that pressure from the D of the drive shaft does not make them split again. I repair SLC9s for people in Australia but your a bit far away.

regards Noel

HI ALAN MORTON, ARE YOU THE SAME "AL" FROM THE STATES THAT BOUGHT THE SLHF950ES FROM ME FROM MY PLACE IN NORTH LONDON UK MORE THAN SIX YEARS AGO, DAVE.