To Jerry: E-bay is pretty much it for Betamaxes at a reasonable price. Excite classified used to have a few Betas but I think they've gone under.

Here's a great Sony idea that unfortunately never caught on

http://www.betamax.to/archive/photo/SL-J25.jpg

VCR programming as easy as a toaster.

They sell a remote like that nowadays...

Re: Inserting hifi audio later - sorry but by design no Beta can do this. It would snow the existing pix to rewrite hifi audio all over the Beta video tracks. Beta's hifi signals are laid down within with the video, by the same heads, onto an unused frequency "hole" between the Chroma and Luminance bands, covering the entire tape except for the narrow linear audio and sync tracks along the edges. The other guys didn't have any unused space between their C & L bands, so Beta HiFi was thought to be the stake through the VHS heart. Alas, JVC fudged a way out by adding two separate flying audio heads (twisted backwards by an azimuth of 30 degrees to avoid video crosstalk) laying down a saturated audio signal deep into the tape first before the C & L signals were put down as poorly as ever on top.There's a SL-HFT7 in my local paper that eats tapes. $80 US or offers! Gotta go!

can anyone tell me if an English VHS videotape will run on in the United States?

To Simon H: No. A British PAL tape VHS or Beta cannot be played on an American VCR. They use a separate broadcast format (NTSC). There are Multisystem VCRs available that can play any tape but these aren't really in wide use.

To Jan: You have a 5200 in Europe? I see all the caps that you mention so I'll give it try. Can't be more than maybe an hour's work w/ a soldering iron and desolder wick.

Yes Madness! I have a 5200? I now its NTCS. I have collect and repaieret sony betas for about the last 20 years.have almost all PAL sony betas.for about 3 years ago I see Ray Glasser's Beta Info Guide.and for sure I like many of the NTSC units.more advance then pal betas.then I found Ebay, and im sure you now the rest.I get the 5200 from Ebay about 2 years ago about $27USD.very nice unit and nice remote only 1 problem no HI FI sound at all.I use NTSC betas primære for PCM sound (PCMf1)One thing I found out about gcs50! I bay one from a friend in Canada when I took off the cover I see a timecounter! Could someone of you tell me about SL-HF1000 industri Palversion?ED Betas for pal? Regards betacollector from Denmark

Just another thing, I came across this on a surplus sales site : 30, 000 TDK beta tapes for sale. But they're L-330's! There's an odd one. http://www.73.com/a/0475.shtml

Gee, do they make you take all 30, 000 of them in one go?

Anyways I won't do any business with them as they insist on flinging damned pop-up ads every time you bring up a page. I wishn somebody would design a virus that crippled the code that call up the little nasties. Then maybe the pimply teen hacker losers living in their parent's basements will have done something that we can get behind...

And if they can stick it to E-spammers then all the better. Is anybody even buying their crap?

Hello There, I have just a courious, maybe stupid question... I am looking for an old beta VCR that uses piano keys for the functions, like the old sony 7200's, 8200's and the like. I've looked on ebay, and most of them seem to be selling for over $100 USD - Are they really worth that much? Anyone have any suggestions on where I would find one, maybe broken? I've tried locally and have had no luck. I live in BC, Canada, just so that you know.

Hi. This isn't really related to betamax, but I'm hoping I can find what I need here since people here are into the better stuff :)1) Plextor 40max SCSI CD-ROM drive in working shape, and clean (will pay $40)2) a Sun 411 open-front external (typically came with a CD-ROM or tape drive) case (logo on front needs to be the sun logo with Sun written to the right of that in italics to match my other cases) in good working shape, and clean (will pay $15)3) a Sun 811 open-front external case (typically came with a tape drive) in working shape, and clean(will pay $15)

Would prefer sellers in the US. Email me at [email protected]!

With the possible exception of a mint condition outfit with extra accessories like say an SL-2700 with a timer module and the Betastack tapechanger or an SLO-340 with camera and power adapter, I think $100 is slighlty overvalued for such older equipment though not completely unreasonable. I was able to pick up a working SL-5400 for about $10 on E-bay. I subsequently got hold of a wired remote, instruction manual (with the sheet of numbers for the tuner presets), and a service manual for about $5 to $10 each and the shipping was about $ 30 for the VCR, so in the end I'm probably out $100 anyway.

If I were to recommend a vintage unit, I'd go after the SL-8200 (the successor to the origional SL-2700) as it offers X-1 and X-2 speed. Since I have a Betamovie camera that records in the BII (X-2) speed, I'd want a machine that can handle it's tapes as well as being able to record the X-1 tapes. Sony also made some styling changes in upgrading from the SL-7200 that make the SL-8200 a little nicer looking than the SL-7200 like widening the PLAY button, so that the 'piano keys' fill out the whole row, eliminating that 'missing button' look.

There an industrial version of the SL-7200 called the SLO-260, that is virtually identical to the 2700. It could only handle the X-1 speed but included an AUDIO DUB feature that makes it worth looking for. SLs 5400, 5600 and 5800 have audio dub included and can play all three speeds but can't record in BI speed. Don't pay more than $50 for any of them unless they're in full working order and have all their accessories together (manual cables remote...)

One rather underrated Beta toploader is the SL-8600, the first Beta with a built-in clock/timer. It could only handle the X-2/BII speed in record AND play modes so it wasn't very popular. If you have one of the Betamovie cameras and want a dedicated machine to play/edit tapes with, the SL-8600 isn't a bad option if you can get a prestine working one for under $50. Of the toploaders, I like it's styling the best.

Olive: From the description, it looks like 40 might be minimum purchase, altho the price isn't too hot. I only caught it cuz I never heard of L-330's.

Hi!I am searching for a Stereo-Betamax. If anyone has such a thing for sale, please mail me.Thanks, Peter

I think L-330s were used by duplicators for movie tapes. TDK must've had a big stock of them left over so they put a package on them for consumer sales.

HiI've a treasured BETAMAX sony SL-HF950 and is now in need of 'expensive' repairs. Is there anyoneout there in Aust that can help?I would consider purchasing a new/2nd hand 950 or SL-HF300 ThanksRoyden

I've been away for a bit, and just caught up on the messages from the past week. Some comments on a few messages:

Beta Stack-Changers: The AG-120 was the first changer made, and was designed for the SL-7200 and SL-8200 models. The AG -200 was an improved model, and was also for use with the 7200 and 8200 top-loaders. The AG-300 was designed for use with the SL-5400/5600/5800 models. The AG-400 was designed for use with the SL-2500 and SLO-420 ; and finally the AG-500 was designed for use with the SL-2410, SL-2700, and SL-2710. I have the AG-120, AG-300, and AG-400 in my Beta collection. They are nice collectibles, but really are accessories from a by-gone era when VCRs were so expensive that videophiles could only afford one unit, and use the stack-changers to continuously tape long programs or events (nowadays videophiles usually have multiple VCRs hooked up to multiple inputs so that could tape continuously for days at a time if need to).

Old Toploader Models: I agree with Olive Thomas that a SL-8200 is a fine vintage machine to own as a collectible; I also like the SL-8600 also, as it is the very first North American Beta VCR to have its own internal digital clock and integrated timer function. Be aware though that probably most any of these early vintage toploaders you acquire through ebay, classified ads, internet, etc. will probably have to have the belts, rollers and other rubber parts replaced or reworked. After 20-25 years, these rubber parts are usually no longer supple and have dried up and cracked, so be prepared to replace these parts yourself or find a VCR repair shop that's willing to do so.

Howard

To Chris Singleton; for what reason do you want a "piano keyed" Betamax?? Just curious. Later. Pepse.

A few years back I was in a video / appliance store in a small town in southern illinois that had a Sl-1901 still on the floor (this was the FIRST combo TV /VCR) It still had all the Sony stickers on it and out of curiousity I asked how much it was the guy went lloked it up and told me retail was $2495 their cost was $1750 and since they had it around forever They'd sell it at cost, then he mentioned the VCR was Beta and would not play rental. I suspect it is still around especially since it would not do Beta II tapes-- they also had a few other newer Betmaxs in stock at competitive prices as well as TVs and if one wanted a Betamax one could have gotten a better one and a Tv for less. Besides I didn't have the money and the thing would not fit in my car!

Hi eveybody.Talking about hifi audio insert I read that the EV-S 1000 could do so there could be another deck with this ability. ??PAL: SLV-715/725/735/815/825/835 ??NTSC: SLV-575UC/R5UCED betas??

Regards.

Casimir.

To Alan: A point of fact is that there were TV/VTR combo units as far back as the mid-sixties. Sony produced a reel-to-reel 'Videocorder' outfit with built-in TV monitor around 65/66 for about a dozen Gs or so.In 1960's dollars mind you

Here's a stand alone 'portable' reel-to-reel Videocorder unit up for grabs on E-bay....http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1335437735

Do the EV-S2000 has hifi audio dubbing also?I've tried to do it in the SLV-T2000NP but nothing . I'm wondering why the hifi track isn't deleted.

Hey guys, I made a nice bit of a score @ a Goodwill store today! Picked up an SL-5000 deck along w/ a score of tapes. In one bin there was a bunch of Sony betacam 30s & a couple 10s along w/ a few Fuji & 3M. Then another landed me a ton of Polaroid L-750's w/ some 80's TV shows recorded on them! Geez, it looks like someone recorded a good portion of Knightrider episodes on quite a few! The SL-5000 seems to be working OK after giving it a cleaning. Too bad my sick 5200 doesn't use the exact same servoboard. I might've just tried to swap them!

whats up kids

Found a pic of one of the early TV/VTR combos from the 60's http://www.labguysworld.com/TCV-2110_008.jpg

As far as the oooold Sony portables, I remember in the late '70's I was in a Tech College for Cable TV (it was just starting to take off) and we got to use the schools Sony portable sys like the one for sale on Ebay. Of course the schools also had the camera and 2 battery packs. Oh yeah, talk about fun; out on a lake, 5 degrees above zero (F) and trying to thread the da+*n tape into the unit and someone else had the bat packs in their Parka to keep them warm. Mind you the unit performed excellent as long as the bats stayed warm. And we filmed for about an hour and a half. Yeah, the good old days. I suppose if that unit on Ebay had the camera and a bat pack with it, I probably would get nostalgic and think about bidding on it. Just think black & white reel to reel video tape. Blow some kids' minds, no doubt. Yeah I know take my medicine and go nighty nite. HA ha ha ha ha heh. Later. Pepse.

RE The HiFi edit discussion. I have a "PAL" 8mm Sony EV-S 550 video cassette recorder that can add a HiFi PCM stereo track to a tape without removing the original HiFi track. Options are playback either PCM, orig HiFi or both at the same time. If you record a tape off the tuner however, with both sources enabled in playback you get terrible echo effects caused by the PCM record/playback coding time delays.

regards B1

HI, EVERYONE I NEED YOUR HELP.I have 2 PAL Sanyo betamax machines with problems.My vtc5150 has problems loading tapes but plays them well when it eventually loads(although it can be sluggish in forward/rewind).My other a vtc5000 loads tapes/forwards/rewinds perfectly but tapes played on it tend to play sluggishly(i.e. slightly faster or slower)with only a blurred picture although I do get sound. I've checked both test signals through a TV and both have a perfect straight line signal.

My question is; Can I make one good machine out of the two ? Or can I just clean up the vtc5000 and sort it's problems out?

Hello , there is an opportunity of deliveries various Russian of radiotubes on beneficial terms. I have rich assortment. From you the list of the necessary radiotubes.

More on goings on the HiFi sound insert topic...

To Casimir and anyone else who's concerned about this topic:

It is NOT possible to 'under' dub the HiFi sound on ANY VHS or BETA or conventional depth-multiplex FM recording system. I notice a few posts back that someone [from the USA] said that US sony betas record the sound using the video heads between the C & L bands, then JVC came along with extra heads on the drum for VHS. Well, UK PAL betas use the same idea as VHS, with the extra heads, and record the sound first, then picture over the top. It's something to do with the fact that there isn't enough space left after recording the picture in the PAL format, yet NTSC has a bit of space.

The only analogue video format that has the ability to replace hifi sound is video 8 or Hi8, and there arn't that many of those machines to chose from. Obviously, the new DV format has the ability to dub sound perfectly.

And, to Noel: My EV-S1000 produces that time lag too, and if you switch the audio select to 'Mix' you get terrible echo. The PCM is sometimes delayed bad enough to look out of sync with the lip movements! However, I also own a CCD-V200E camera, which has mono HiFi FM sound, but stereo PCM, and footage recorded on that mixes perfectly with no time lag, when played back on the camera - wierd! I always thought that the EV-S1000 was tracking wrong, but could never put it right - despite adjusting the tape guides, but now you say yours does it too - maybe its in the electronics? The camera is a fantastic machine with full manual or auto and 6-blade iris. It's just a shame it's let down by a video8 transport in the back of it!

Two messages up: Umm, tubes? Vacuum tubes??? I'd love see a indy-designed beta deck using tubes. NOT!

To Melonman with the slug-loading VTC 5150, most likely you need to replace or simply clean the loading belt(s). If I remember my Sanyo architecture the loading moter is in the back on the right behind the loading ring. There's a worm drive and gear with a belt connecting the motor. If the belt isn't shot it may be that grease has gotten all over the belt and it's slipping a bit. Carefully remove and clean with rubbing alcohol. Then dip a Q-tip in alcohol and clean off the two belt wheels. Clean the loading ring and it's guide wheels as well.

As for the wiggy VTC-5000, it may benefit from a good cleaning but you may also need a new pinch roller and adjustment of the capstan controls. Check the fault and repair guide listed for that machine at PALSITE. I'm sure somebody with better electronics experience will mention something about dried out capaciters being a probable fault...

By the way the VTC-5000 looks to be a clone of our (US) Sanyo VCR 4400 - though the VCR-3900 Mks I and II and the VCR-4000 for the most part use the same parts and body styling with different colors(The VCR-4000 has a simulated woodgrain cover panel). The VTC 5150 looks like our Sanyo VCR-4600. In Canada the same units were OEM'ed by Sanyo for the Magnasonic company and released as the MVC-700 and MVC-750 respectively

Also, your VTC-5150 probably also needs new idler tires (tyres?). If you can't find a supplier for the belts and tires you need or want to get things running right away take the needed parts from the VTC-5000 for now. For the most part Sanyoo mechanical parts like the belts and tires are almost universally interchangable.

Hi Olive ,Thanks for the info.I'm not that technical but I will have a go with your suggestions and post a new message soon.Thanks, Adam

For those of you that live in Mich., US, according to an article I read yesterday if you have any idea where Novi, Mich., there is a (I assume) Sony service center there wherein you can get blank tapes. The article I read is about the demise of the VCR. But mentions people that are in no hurry to change. Towards the end of the article they talk with a guy from Sterling Heights, Mich., and he is a hardcore Beta person that apparently has one heck of a Beta music library; "thousands of music performances on tape". Well anyway apparently Novi, Mich., has blank tapes. Later. Pepse.

HELLO OUT THERE,I WANT TO FIND SOMEONE IN THE UK WITH A BETAMAX NTSC MACHINE FOR SALE.AS THE SHIPPING FROM AMERICA IS A FORTUNE ON THE ONE'S I'VE SEEN ON E-BAY,OR CAN A BETA PAL MACHINE BE CONVERTED?THANKS.

hi, i'm looking for edv-9500 instruction manual, to use my beta.if someone has got this please write to me to find how i can have it,i know that sony america has got it but there are shipping only in america that the problem

thank's

fred

Look what I've found. A b/w tv in a simiar style of that reel to reel pre-betamaxes.

Link: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1335761131

Hi--

I have nearly 600 pre-recorded, good-condition, ex-rental, PAL-format BETA video tapes. I'm moving back to the US (from the UK) in a few weeks and can't take them with me.

Does anyone have a sense as to whether there's a market for these (on eBay or otherwise), or whether I'd be better off dropping them off at the charity shop on the way to the airport? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,Lynn

A note to those who've bothered to visit one of the other Betamax webpages.

A while ago Franny Wentzel and I took over the Yahoo Club "The Betamax Videographer" from it's origional owners. Yahoo is in the process of merging it's Yahoo Clubs with the godawful Yahoo Groups system.Already some clubs have made the change. As soon as the switchover to Yahoo Groups happens, this club is history.

The issues Franny and I have with Yahoo Groups is it's constant loading of cookies every time you visit their site. This is especially annoying because for security and privacy reasons I've opted to have approval of every cookie set offered. Whether or not you elect to recieve or decline cookies makes no difference as they ask you again and again. Yohoo clubs gives you a cookie set that lasts as long you don't log out of their system and since I'm the only user of my computer I don't have to keep fielding their cookies. Even more annoying is that now they require you to accept them inorder to use their pages whereas they hadn't before.

I also dislike Yahoo Groups advertising policies. First of all they fling an especially onerous type of Pop-up Ad that ducks behind the page your loading,bobbing and weaving in order to avoid being clicked away. Annoying as that is, the fact that it screws up the way pages are displayed in Internet Explorer makes them doubly aggravating. Yahoo Groups now also compounds their disgusting behavior by interrupting your flow through a site with ad pages - like if your trying to view a message page an ad page shows up instead.

Franny and I agree that we given Yahoo Groups abusive cookie and ad policies, there's no reward in being a part of that aspect of their organization. In addition there is little if any posting activity at this site or to the other three Yahoo Groups Beta site to justify keeping this one going. Besides everyone uses the PALSite page anyway.

Re Steve Wheelan. My Sony VHS deck has seperate av and audio insert. Audio insert REPLACES hi fi track leaving original video BUT also the original MONO audio track. I also had an HF950 with bias osc fault which would leave original mono track but replace hifi audio and video. The HF950 has combined av/audio insert replacing everthing!

To Mark Alexander:What model is it . Could it be 777 or the 815?

I'm sorry but my post above is a load of bull. I have noticed on playbck (after audio insert) my vcr is switching to mono playback when it hits the edit (so the edit is after all on the mono track) the ORIGINAL hi fi audio is the remaining one. When a video insert only is done this replaces hifi audio as well, leaving the original mono track. My 950 seems to work in the same way and has actually got SEPERATE video and audio inserts not a combined one as I thought. Hope I'm right this time and sorry Steve!

I've seen a couple of posts now mentioning Video-8. Would ya say that it's as good or nearly as good as beta (considering it was also invented by Sony)? I use a Handycam frequently for making home movies (in which my other ½ appears alot [ ;) ]). I also own a Betamovie 550 but have the common problem of expired NP-11 batteries, which limits it's portability. And they'd cost of good chunk of change to be recelled. Want-to-keep Video-8 footage usually gets duped to beta (w/ the cam) but I have considered buying a used hifi deck. How good are the recordings (say vs. a cam)? Then one post mentioned using 8mm data tapes. My place of employment had used 8mm backup systems but is steadily moving over to DVD-RAM and other high-capacity options. So they have a good surplus of used data tapes. I had correctly surmised myself that they'd work fine as Video 8 tapes. Insight? :)

Can anyone tell me where I can transfer betamax tapes to vhs if indeed you can,

I have another important question. Why did Sony only used "betascan" name for U.S. betas. In europe it puts "picture search (in the 950 ) and betascan (in the 750) The question is Why???

to loser Hornyboy aka [email protected] . Trawl your loser girlienet somewhere else...

Duplicating and /or video production houses and some photo places can transfer Beta to VHS.

Or you can just buy a Beta machine and do the transfers yourself. Or do like I do and stick to using beta (and transfer VHS to it).

to Casimir. I think they called Picture Search, Betascan in the US because the US was considered not as sophisticated as the rest of the world and more receptive to 'consumer friendly' names (like 'Betamax' and 'Betascan') wheras the rest of the world would prefer the more 'sophisticated' sounding Picture Search. Like in the US they have to sell us the sizzle rather than the steak...

That's just a guess though...

Hello..I recently bought a Sony SL-HF300 at a flea market sale. It was very cheap, $5, and as you might guess, it doesn't work. It rewinds and fastforwards but it will not play. I took it apart to check out the problem. There is a burn mark on the underside of the tape player chassis. I guess that the motor is damaged and cannot pull the tape at slow playing speed. If I "fake out" the machine, it will turn the spindle in the play mode with no tape cassette in the carrier. I want to know if anybody out there has any suggestions or advice on repair or overhauling the Betamax. Thanks in Advance....Jim

To Jim; by any chance are you from San Antonio? I was talking to somebody in San Antonio who saw a fire scorched SL-HF 300 at a swap meet...

Anyways, most likely the capstan is either dead or just stuck. That's the part that pulls the tape through the system. The reel just takes up the slack.

to continue...

Unplug the machine, turn it over and open from the bottom, unscrew and pull down the PC board covering the underside of the drive mechanism (it's hinged on the side closest to the middle so you'll want to put the machine on it's side). The capstan is the round thing covered by a plastic shroud which is held by a metal tab. Remove the tab and shroud and try rotating the capstan wheel. It should turn freely - don't try to pull the capstan wheel out. If it's not turning freely, then that was the problem - turn it around a few times till it loosens up. Dabbing the works with some trusty alcohol helps. If it was turning freely, then most likely the 'Halle effect' coils of the capstan moter have burned out. They sometimes do. If you can find a spare capstan assembly that's plugs compatible you might be able to change it out.

To Olive: Thanks for your response. I bought the SL-HF300 at the Berlin, N.J. Farmers Market. The motor seems to run just fine with no tape on the spindle; there must be some type of over amperage device protecting the motor when it is under load in the play speeds either in Bll or Blll. The burn mark cannot be seen unless the tape carrier chassis is removed. I will do what you suggest; perhaps I can save the Betamax. It is a vey solidly constructed VCR, very different from the modern VHS machines.

I bought the SL-HF300 because I thought my stored SL-100 Betamax was also inoperative. I pulled the old Beta out of storage and gave it a test run. It runs perfectly; I'm watching home movies that I recorded in 1987 as I'm writing this. The only thng bad about it is that the SL-100 is a mono unit and was built after the lawsuit. It only has "out" connections making dubbing more tedious. Take Care...JIm

How can I play my large stash of Betamovie beta tapes? the Sanyo tapedeck does not turn although it powers up. Can this older portable Sanyo player-receiver (two components) be repaired?

OK just one more thing - I got this E-mail from someone trawling this site...

1 Million world wide email addresses including 200, 000 UK for just £5 incP&P!

The list comes on a CD in 2 files, one containing 200, 000 UK emailaddresses and another containing 1 million world-wide emails (inc UK) ,both in .csv (comma separated value) format.

The emails have been physically validated in the last 3 weeks, removingaprox 25% bad emails from the previous amount, so there should be a verylow failure rate.

To purchase the CD please send a £5 cheque/PO payable to "Teletech" (nocash please) to:

TeletechOffice 434405 Kings RdLondon SW10 0BB

The CD will be sent by first class post as soon as your money has beenreceived.You will also be given details of a FREE download for FULL version sendingsoftware.

That address for anyone in London who'd like to prove that even without the access to high powered firearms like us Americans, Britons can still deliver a savage and well-deserved beating to some damned E-spammer...

TeletechOffice 434405 Kings RdLondon SW10 0BB

I got the evil CD message also but did not take the time to read it.

If I recall the Sl-100 was being marketed as a cheap deck for people who had a much older aka top loading beta deck and lots of tapes that they wished to continue to play, but had switched to VHS to use as a main VCR. I guess they thought people who could not afford the infamous Beta to VHS adaptor would buy it.

BTW the Sony 1901 was the first TV ?VCR combo the earlier units were not cassetes but reel to reel tapes VTR. Just a slight technicality.

About a year ago I did see and advert in an old ~1974 Radio Times for a home video recorder that had never heard of before. It featured a guy in a plne being happy that he could take a cheaper flight and still be able to watch a football match that was on as he was flying when he got home. The details at this point get a bit foggy.

To Madness: RE: Your inquiry about Video 8. I have had Video 8 playback andrecording equipment in my studio since 1989; and have always consideredit a pretty decent format. A bit better than VHS in terms of colorreproduction and certainly at least as good in terms of quality. For mytwo cents worth, it is of similar quality to standard Betamax; but wellbelow the quality of SuperBeta. One of the nice things about the format is that it uses a metalparticle tape that tends to be relatively problem-free. The machine heads, however, do need to cleaned somewhat regularly due to their small size. Also, if you can find a machine with PCM stereo capabilities,you will find the sound quite an improvement over the standard monosound tracks.

Hi, I'm looking for a Betamovie camera, does anyone know where I might find one, for sale or being thrown out?

To Alan; I'd covered myself by stating "there were TV/VTR combo units as far back as the mid-sixties" deliberately using TV/VTR in that sentence...

To Mike Hart; Good old E-bay lists about 8 or 9 Betamovies of various types a month. Betamovies seem to be the better buys in E-bay land. I've gotten the ones in my collection for around $35-$40 each so don't get suckered into paying $100 for a 'rare' find...

my use of video8 (EVO-500 CCD-V90 CCD-V200) is fairly limited as I have found the picture to be substandard to Betamax ( HF150 HF950) and often VHS (SVO9600 SLV777), but the PCM sound is absolutely magnificent. As for metal particle tapes I have only used them on my Hi8 equipment (EVO-9850/EVO-9800 combo CCD-V900) and gained a beautiful picture as well as the magnificent PCM sound. However all my equipment is PAL and things maybe different for NTSC users. I have also found as I do alot of work on Hi8 that you can't make too many passes on a tape or dropout's start popping up all over the place, its not the most robust format.

Can someone please advise me where I can obtain an idler motor for my SL-HF950ES. My repair guy here in Australia is having trouble finding one.Thanks, Mark.

Dave: Yeah, thanx for the information. The thought of getting a Video8 deck crossed my mind for duping Video8 material over to beta while reducing wear on my Handycam. The tapes I've used seem to be OK despite being used previously for data backup. And you say PCM sound? Do you mean using a Video8 deck for w/ a processor (PCM-17/ F1 ) for digital audio? I figured w/ the exception of Digital8, regular Video8 would be analog hifi or not?

Olive: I got that same email you posted above. I have no desire to waste my time sending spam to 200, 000 Brits (nor would my ISP like it!). So to the trawler: No more of that junk, thank you. ¶¦¬þ

can someone tell me how big a betamax cassette is compared with a vhs video cassette? thanks!

To Danny;

Beta tape dimensions - 6" X 3.75" X 1"

VHS tape dimensions - 7.45" X 4" X 1"

And there is no adapter to play Beta tapes on a VHS in case you were thinking of asking...

To Olive (re the Beta tape-VHS adaptor).

Now why would anyone want to ask such a silly question as that? ;-)

Best wishes.

Barry.

I have an HL-SF750 and about 30 pre-recorded films (and some films I taped myself that can be used as blank tape) that I may be interested in selling in pieces or as a package if the price is right. If interested, please email me privately. I can supply a list of the pre-recorded films I have if that's all you're interested in.

To Madness:

The PCM sound I was referring to with Video 8, is available on anumber of upper end models of equipment. PCM audio on Video 8 & Hi-8tapes is recorded in a manner similar to Beta Hi-Fi. That is to say,it is recorded with the video information, not as a linear audio track.No outboard processor is needed; the camcorder or VCR simply has the processing circuits built into the equipment. As mentioned, PCM audiowas typically available only on upper end Sony equipment. If your Video8 gear has PCM capabilities, it will probably be mentioned in your opsmanual or on the equipment.

Hello:I Wanted to add a NICAM decoder to my 950. The problem is that I don't know how to do it and where to obtain a NICAM decoder. If anyone has got accaess to a 715/777/815 NC and tell me the NICAM decoder Sony part number. I wanted also to add that I opened my SLV-T2000 and saw strange things such as a port (with nothing connected) in the Hi8 video deck that said "PCM pb", "PCM pb RF" and other thing suspucting that there could be an "adding" that could expand video possibilities. Or could it come from an older Video Hi8 deck? Sony has kept this this things very well. And there could be a way to maka PinP the 950 with parts from a 777/815. I would conect it by a Computer parallel port / RS 232 with an exterior expand box with this components. Am I dreaming or it could be possible?

Man, if you could ever smell a scam this sure is

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1336787504

"BETA HI FI FRONT LOAD VCR'S, ALL BRANDS AND ALL MODELS JUST $10 TO $25!!!"

Until NOW, these discount product source outlets were practically "UNKNOWN" to the buying public!! Most of these Beta Hi Fi Front Load VCRs are sold "completely outfitted" with accessories and extras, as well as including remote controls and owner's manuals!!

These Beta Hi Fi Front Load VCRs are all offered at deep, deeply discounted "UNMATCHED!! UNBEATABLE!!" liquidation prices of "JUST $10 TO $25 EACH OR LESS!!" ALL BRANDS AND MODELS!! All at a "tiny fraction" of their suggested retail, market or original purchase prices!!

It sounds like some computer selected a product catagory and generated a scam ad based on it. Especially when you see the following...

Have you ever thought of having that special Beta Hi Fi Front Load Infrared Remote Controlled VCR With All The "Bells And Whistles"? No Problem!! Just turn to my "Insider-Dealer's "2002" Beta Hi Fi Front Load VCR's USA Discount Product Source Outlet's Guide!!" And you can get it for far, far less than what the "Bulk" of the buying public are paying at retail or market prices. Even well below the overall costs of what you could ever find being sold on the web and Internet auction sites...GUARANTEED!!

Here's my special offer to you!! You can put to use my "Exclusive-Copyrighted", newly released "Insider-Dealer's "2002" Beta Hi Fi Front Load VCR's USA Discount Product Source Outlet's Guide!!" Buy all of the Beta Hi Fi Front Load VCRs as you desire. As Often As You Desire!!

and...

Just imagine! Within a few short days from now "You" will be on "Your" way to obtaining, easily "Hundreds," even "Thousands" of dollars worth of Beta Hi Fi Front Load VCRs for "JUST $10 TO $25 EACH OR LESS!!" BUY ONE...BUY MANY!!!

It's like the computer scam generator doesn't get it that they've stopped making Betas a couple years ago and it's rather doubtful that there's going to be a lot of "Beta Hi Fi Front Load VCRs" floating aroung just waiting for somebody with ten or twenty dollars.

I checked his seller list and wouldn't you know he also has a 'secret source' list for DVD players, VHS HiFi VCRs, and projection TVs all for only $20.

If anyone is dumb - or brave - enough to drop $21.95 one of these 'guide books' and actually receives something in the bargain - do share with the rest of the class.

Hello all! I have a somewhat large dillema. The FU-38 circuit board in my SL-HF400 has a crack that runs the length of it, and the whole VCR is unoperational. If anybody has a spare FU-38 board they wouldnt mind letting go of PLEASE EMAIL ME!!! Thanks, Marcus

Hey everyone am using a mac here system 7.5.5 and netscape 3 can't get stuffit expander 5 for system 7.5 but am dead pleased with what I have already. I am using a laptop 190cs a very good laptop never let me down..Gotta go My mac email address is [email protected] Windows users can send me email as well...I still use hotmail as my default email and still use my windows 98se computer.

To Olive: Thanks; that is exactly how I dubbed VHS to Beta with the SL-100 back during the SuperBeta's first life. What I'm going to do now is the reverse; I'm going to dub my Home movies (that were taken with a now defunct Sony 8mm videocam) from Beta to VHS. Not that I particularly care for VHS (I don't) but because it is much easier to find/purchase a VHS machine to play them on. That and the more recent homemovies are on VHSC format.

I had mothballed the Beta equipment long ago, I suppose partly that I was disappointed that Sony all but abandoned the format that they created, even though it was superior to the VHS format. Since then, I haven't paid much attention to what has been going on in the VCR hobby; again because of my disappointment with Sony and what they did with Beta. I feel that they left me high and dry.

Then, last week, I bought that SL-HF300. Perhaps I will be able to get it running and that might lead me back from my self imposed exile. In any case, Thanks for your responses andtime. Jim

Olive: Regarding your post about the eBay scam, I can't be anything more than that. The most common one's I see are "sellers" looking to reel in suckers willing to bid $5 or more for info on getting "free or cheap Microsoft software." You may've seen em: "Get MSOffice, Windows XP, Windows Me FREE! FREE! FREE!" That might be more believeable than "thousands of dollars in beta hifi VCR's", but I still only see two letters hovering over these auctions: BS! I say notify eBay about that sorta stuff and save the suckers trouble!

To Madness: I'm still getting a laugh at the 'cheek' of that fellow. It's as funny as when you do a search on AOL for some arcane subject and when the results come up you also see a little window beckoning "Search Amazon for a book about..."

Anyways I ratted him out to E-bay. Don't mess with a Betamax fan.

To Madness: Saw this goodie on E-bay http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1337116885

An SL-5200 Service Manual set in three volumes. This should have all the info you need to repair that one hinkey SL-5200.

Hi all! Had a very successful beta weekend I have to share with everyone; on Saturday, I visited a flea market store I have heard about on the other side of the city. Among a pile of junky GE, Goldstar, and Fisher mono VHS VCRs I came across a Sony Beta SL-HFR30 hi-fi ready VCR and its companion HFP -200 hi-fi processor. Both the VCR and the processor were covered in gunk, sticky stuff, and what looks like dried vomit, but a quick test with a beta cassette I always carry with me confirms the HFR HFP combo unit works like new! Some quick wheelin' and dealin' with the proprietor, and I was out the door with the SL-HFR30 VCR, the HFP -200 processor, and a working Samsung 19 inch color TV, all for seventy dollars! After getting home, I thoroughly cleaned the SL-HFR30 and HFP -200 with windex and cleaning solutions, and both now look as mint as the day they were purchased! I hooked up the SL-HFR30/HFP -200 to the Samsung TV that came with the deal, and ran everything for about eight hours straight, and everything is working fine! The bottom line to beta fans out there is: DON'T GIVE UP! If you make the effort and check out those flea markets and second-hand stores and yard sales as I do, you may find that Beta you're looking for, without having to purchase them blind on ebay and on the net! Good luck! Howard

I think all the strange expansions I said I'll leave them for summer... But a very important thing is the NICAM Stereo. Has anyone pixes of how to install it or tell me how can I install it?

Thank you in advance.

To Casimir I think I remember a German fellow that did a 'NICAM' conversion posted a page on how he did it with explanitory photographs. If you do a search of this pages archives (unless the German fellow writes in) the URL is somewhere in last years messages. I forget if that was a NICAM or S-VHS plug conversion though.

Howard, good show w/ the flea market! Sometimes ya get lucky. Like I did @ Goodwill a week or so back. Thanks to that little score, I think I've got like 98% of Knightrider someone recorded in beta hifi & commercials cut! I've gotten lucky a couple of times @ the MIT ham radio fest, too!

But how do you suppose your beta combo got covered w/ puke? Did someone have a few too many one night and then barf all over their deck??? But at least it didn't hurt the operation.

Olive, your reference to the German chap has to due with putting an S-Video connector in a Beta. I bookmarked his site so that someday when I get an extra SuperBeta HI-FI I can put an S-Video connector in my SLHF750; and of course learn to read German. Howard, as has been said, glad to hear you can find these Betas and tapes at second hand shops. My area of Wisc. ain't big enough to get lucky enough to find HI-FI Betas. Previously blank tapes and movies occasionally but Betas, rarely. And I don't go to the twin cities in Minnesota any more. Of course the last 3 times I did I had no luck with Beta anything. But I keep on looking. Of course this Spring/Summer I will have to hit the flea markets more than I have in the past. Later. Pepse.

PARIS : JE RECHERCHE UN OU DEUX MAGNETOSCOPE(S) DE TYPE BETAMAX A PRIX MODERES.

Can anyone tell me how can I install a NICAM decoder on a 950? Has someone installed one and can tell me how can install it?The page from the German person tells how to get S-VHS in o the 750 -950 - no nicam

Thank you very much.

I'll try to get a NICAM decoder from Sony. Has anyone got ome clues about install it?

What exactly is a NICAM? I've seen it referenced before, but have no idea what it is or does.

NICAM is a type of digital stereo used in the UK and other European countries. It isn't used in any other part of the world. It uses tho digital audio chanels. The SL-HF 950 hasn't got the appropiate decoder for this as this stereo was released in the begining of the 90's. You can use another video/TV/tuner/others to decode this sound and then connect it through audio input, but some people has installed the decoder in the 950. That is what I would like to do. A question: Does it appear STEREO/BILINGUAL indicator on the fron panel of the 950 when you have the decoder installed and there is NICAM stereo (or bilingual)?

Thanks

Re HF950 nicam. Is it worth it in view of the fact analogue transmissions have only a limited life span. Why not consider a £99 digital pace receiver available at the end of march. Future proof, digital audio and more channels. If you subscribe to ppv you will even have the advantage of being able to record from the best possible source (in theory) with no macrovision problems to your HF950. In any event you will have the advantage of all the FTA channels from BBC and ITV.

To Casimir, RE NICAM:

I believe there was a post - and it wasn't the german guy, though he did give a fantastic explination of the S-video mod and then translated it to english! - anyway, there was a post that some guy in the UK was offering complete tuning PCBs mod-ed for NICAM. You simply removed that PCB with the tuner and RF module that is in the 950, and replaced it with the one you bought from him. This is not a wind up, honest. I do remember reading it, and speaking to someone about it. HOWEVER - I would imagine it wouldn't be cheap.

The reason you cant jsut put a nicam decoder into the machine is that NICAM needs a different SAW [surface acoustic wave] filter in the front end tuner module. The IF from a normal mono FM tuner filters out the digital signal, so you need a completely diferent tuner. I regularly pick up nicam VHS vids for a fiver or less, that usually just have power supply problems but are other wise fine [all 4 head video too - won't buy anything else now] but anyway, if space isn't a consideration [and I've decided to stick with this too] you could just get a NICAM VHS and make sure it and the BETA are in sync with the TV channels.

There's a 5pin MINICON connector on the tuner board of the HF100 that has two screened cables on it - this is the left and right audio out from the standard TV tuner to the audio circuits. [left and right are just connected together on the tuning PCB] if you feed into this connector you'll still get the picture from the beta tuner, but digital stereo from the off board decoder.

There must be some way of syncronising the tuning voltages too, but I've not looked into that - haven't got the time.

And to the USA guys: NICAM is pretty good actually for something developed by the BBC in the 80's. It's 10bit serial PCM and for all the anoracks, stands for "Near Instantanious Compounded Audio Multiplex"! where did they get that from??

good luck casimir! but I think building a new tuning PCB is a bit too much - if someone can come up with a way of syncing the tuners - you just need somwthing like a DB9 way connector on the back plate of the HF950 [of HF100 in my case] with AF L+R 'in' and tuning control voltage out- oh, and +12V, and +5v too, possibly some indicator signals too, to drive the 'Stereo' incication on the FL display.

I think that syncronising the voltages would be very easy if we could find NICAM decoders(or tuners) from first Sony VHS vcrs such as SLV-715/-777/-815 (Only for the video models which contain the letters -NC or -UB. The normal or the -VP version of them didn't incorporate NICAM decoder). This videos seem to be very near in time. I've got a 777 and I can ask if there's still the tuner for it available. But, as I don't have it now and I will be some time without seeing it I could try with a SLV-T2000 (the one which I connect to audio in to decode NICAM)...

Has anyone near any of these models and can tell me Sony part number for the tuner? (I'll also try to ask Sony Spain)

You are right Olive! the SLT-20ME have no NTSC decoder its a unit almost the same as SL-C30PS "PAL-SECAM" a basic standard vcrs Regards Jan H.Pedersen

Found this ultra rare SLT-20ME on E-beta http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1338148549

It says on the cover that it plays PAL and SECAM tapes so I'm guessing that it's no good for the North American market.

I Found this ultra rare SLT-20ME on E-beta http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1338148549

It says on the cover that it plays PAL and SECAM tapes only so I'm guessing that it's no good for the North American market.

Sorry for the double post but the post above screwed up the URL so that you wouldn't be able to bring up the page.

If anyone is interested. I have hundreds of prercorded movies on beta. They are from a video store I used to have and have been in storage. Willing to get rid of the whole lot at a cheap price. If your interested, just email me back.

I have a very strange problem with the 950. It's right right phones output sound is lower. Line output is correct. The VU meter shows me that the right channel output is lower. What should I do ? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance. Regards to all,

Casimir

To Casimir: Barring actual circuit damage, a quick fix would be to move the slider bar for the input Audio Level Control back and forth a few times to loosen up any crud or oxidation that might've accumulated. On my SL-HF 300 oxidation in the headphone level control means I have to find a 'sweet spot' to turn to if I want to use headphones and get a balanced sound out of them.

You might also want to make sure of a few things...

Is the audio signal coming into the unit relatively even? Sometimes stations don't broadcast an even sound sometimes in a stereo broadcast the sound level on one side may be higher or lower than the other - like if the detective just opened the door to a noisy room on the left side and that's the side that's louder...

Sometimes the tape may have been recorded in HiFi but for some reason only one channel got any audio. It happens.

Have you set the audio monitor properly - is it set to both left/right or did you put it on left or right only by mistake? I'd had my poor SL-HF 300 on blocks for an hour, thinking I'd lost the right channel when I noticed it was on left channel - D'oh!

The tracking can affect left/right balance somewhat. Try adjusting that.

This terrible deffect isn't broadcast or anything like this. It also affects playback or non Hifi sound. Has anyone got this problem and know how to solve it because use to record a lot and I need to have the same record level.

Is it a strange prblem

Also to thank Olive for help.

Looking for info -

I have a few Sanyo VCR-7250 Super Beta HiFi's, (North America-NTSC) and I find that the biggest difference in picture quality between them shows up in grainy tapes.

If I play the tapes on a Sony, the sharpness control cleans up the problem.

Because the 7250's differ in sharpness, I suspect there is an internal sharpness adjustment - can anyone point me to the adjustment?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

URGENT URGENT URGENT!!!

Found URL on Sony web that shows a new EDV-9000

Finally I discovered those secret URL to a Sony page that shows their new ed-betas.

I also obtained a Yahoo JP id and I had a precious access to their betas auctions. You can get an EDbeta (EVD-9000) for $400.

Sony URL: http://www.sony.co.jp/sd/ProductsPark/Models/Current/EDV-9000_J_1/

Why don't we send thousands of e-mails to Sony for make them change their opinion about doing new betas on Europe and US and do a digital beta or PAL-SECAM EDbeta?

Please feel free to tell your comments in this chat and everywhere and don't be quiet.

Beta is still very active in Japan -because Sony wants- Then why didn't Sony left us a few new beta market!!!!!!!

Use Altavista to translate the site:

http://world.altavista.com/tr

BETA WAS, IS AND WILL BE THE BETTER FORMAT!!!!!!!!!!!!