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  #16  
Old 10-20-2009, 12:38 AM
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ceebee23 ceebee23 is offline
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405 line VCRs

As I understand it many early UK vcrs could receive and record 405 line but I am not sure of the details.... perhaps one of the UK residents on the board can help you...
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  #17  
Old 10-22-2009, 09:59 AM
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ChrisW6ATV ChrisW6ATV is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawkwind View Post
"Beta" in Japanese means "The entire surface" and they chose that word because a betamax uses all of the surface of the videotape compared to VHS which does not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dude111 View Post
That must be why they look better!!

Why doesnt VHS use the full width??
Hawkwind is correct on the origin of the term "Betamax"; Sony's engineers came up with the alternate-azimuth recording method that eliminated the need for guard bands between adjacent lines of video on the tape, reducing the length of tape needed per minute (and thus the cost, the all-important issue in an era when a one-hour blank tape even at Beta's introduction cost a few hours' pay for an average worker).

VHS, in fact, DOES use all of the tape area, as it has the same alternate-azimuth recording technique as Beta.

Ironically, when multi-speed VCRs were released, using the faster speeds would result in guard bands anyway. Multi-speed VCRs have heads the width needed for the slowest speed (LP or SLP/EP for VHS, BIII for Beta), which are narrower than for the faster (SP or BI, BII) speeds. Four-head VHS VCRs have two heads for SP and two for SLP/EP. LP, if the VCR has it, uses the EP/SLP heads.
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  #18  
Old 10-22-2009, 10:05 AM
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ChrisW6ATV ChrisW6ATV is offline
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Oh, to answer the original post, I have these Beta VCRs:

Sony LV-1901 (the first Beta; console with 19" TV and built-in SL-6200 VCR)
Sony ED9500 (ED Beta, probably the best non-digital home VCR ever made)
Toshiba Beta (I don't remember its model number)

I also have tapes going back to the original K-30 and K-60, which were the names used (for the recording time) before BII was added and the sizes changed to the tape length in meters (L250, L500, L750, L830).
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  #19  
Old 10-25-2009, 02:18 PM
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Aussie Bloke Aussie Bloke is offline
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I have 3 beta decks in my old VCR collection, all are unfortunately not working up to scratch:
Sanyo VTC-M10
Sanyo VTC-5005
Sony SL-C6 (recently serviced working great but when put in really bad tape it now tracks terribly , I just recently had it serviced by a beta serviceman named Betahaven too at a high price)

Good news, I've just won on Ebay a Sony SL-C40ES beta deck which is said to be in excellent condition so I assume it works :
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SONY-BETAMAX-...item4149e4d02d

I have hundreds of beta tape recordings dating from as early as 1979 to the early 90s, the majority of them still yet to be transferred so hopefully the Sony deck I just won is actually in good working order so I can continue the task.
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  #20  
Old 11-01-2009, 05:02 PM
colortrakker colortrakker is offline
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You can never have enough Beta (you'll see why in a sec). I have:

Sony SL-2401 with remote and manual, and a sloppy mouth that spits out the cassette but not the tape
Sony SL-7200, missing a couple parts
Toshiba V-S443 with an idler issue
Sony SL-HF750 SuperBeta that loses its chroma after a couple hours on and playing...

And a Sanyo 4400.

Plus 150 or so tapes, some blank and some pre-recorded. Even a couple still sealed.
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  #21  
Old 11-02-2009, 02:32 PM
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ChrisW6ATV ChrisW6ATV is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colortrakker View Post
Sony SL-HF750 SuperBeta that loses its chroma after a couple hours on and playing...
I fixed a Sony Beta chroma problem years ago (in a different model) by replacing the color crystal. I think it was a 3.579545 MHz crystal, like the one in color TVs but smaller.
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  #22  
Old 11-02-2009, 02:56 PM
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Sandy G Sandy G is offline
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Seems like I recall that Sony wouldn't license anyone to make Beta machines until way late in the game. Matsushita apparently would let ANYONE make VHS machines, almost from the get-go & VHS also won the "length" war-altho a movie on the 6-hour speed was almost unwatchable, IMHO, especially on a tape that had been "used" a time or 2. I remember reading somewhere that VCRs had some of the tightest manufacturing tolerances ever made up til that time on any consumer good, considering the literally zillions of 'em that were spit out, its amazing they worked as well as they did...
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  #23  
Old 11-04-2009, 11:44 AM
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We have two working Sony Beta machines and probably 75 tapes. We bought one of the machines new when our kids were small, so almost all of our kid-vids are Beta. The second machine we got at a garage sale for $5 along with a boxful of movies on tape. I later bought some movies from rental stores when they were phasing out Beta.

I have to hand it to Sony for quality. The machine that we bought new was used daily for years, has never been serviced, and still works beautifully. We have gone through about 5 VHS machines since that format became popular, and even the newest/priciest one doesn't look as good as the old Sony.

Phil Nelson
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  #24  
Old 05-13-2010, 10:00 AM
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Zenith26kc20 Zenith26kc20 is offline
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Just got my SL-10 back from repairs! Works like new. Also have a functional SL2000 and a SL300 Super Beta.
I prefer Beta as tapes seem to last a lot longer and the picture is better than VHS.
Sonys seem to have a good attitude where the other Betas can be a bit persnickity
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  #25  
Old 05-14-2010, 06:54 AM
Dude111 Dude111 is offline
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Im glad it works!! (I'd be weary of the techs of today trying to work on GOOD STUFF like that (They might make it worse,etc))
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  #26  
Old 05-17-2010, 06:29 PM
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holmesuser01 holmesuser01 is offline
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I've got a SL-HF950 from the late 1980s that I bought new. Other than my occasional cleanings, it has never been serviced other than issues with the shuttle wheel when I dropped it one time... Never did that again.
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  #27  
Old 05-17-2010, 08:13 PM
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Does anyone here have any recommendations as to where one can get a Beta VCR repaired? I know there are some techs who advertise on-line where you can ship your unit to be serviced/overhauled. Anyone have any experience with anyone like this or places you would or would not recommend? I have several Sony Beta Hi-Fi units I would like to have repaired and gone through so I can use them for dubbing. Thanks!

Gilbert
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  #28  
Old 05-21-2010, 08:11 PM
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Last edited by andy; 12-07-2021 at 04:17 PM.
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  #29  
Old 05-24-2010, 08:00 PM
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Glenz75 Glenz75 is offline
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All of my Beta machines are Sanyo the oldest one is a VTC9300. I also have a VTC6500, VTCM30 and heaps of tapes. Some stuff on these tapes has been taped of TV in the mid 1980's so one day I'll transfer the interesting bits across to DVD and from memory there's even a poorly copied 1970's blue movie on one of those tapes, will probably copy that across too for a laugh!

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  #30  
Old 05-26-2010, 08:59 PM
Teraforce88 Teraforce88 is offline
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I was given a broken Sony SL-HF600 along with over 100 tapes that were recorded from that VCR. I managed to fix the VCR (bad voltage regulator IC STK5441 in the power supply, along with a gear in the cassette loading mechanism that I broke), and aside from the regular (non hi-fi) audio being very muffled, it works perfectly.

The recording quality is very good -- especially in Beta II mode. Most of the tapes are simply movie copies in Beta III mode, so the quality isn't super-great, but considering that most of the tapes are 20+ years old (and were stored in an attic for quite some time), the quality isn't as bad/deteriorated as I would expect from VHS.

Here's the machine:
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