What a funny mix of equipment we work on today. Starting with the JVC DV power supply, we rapidly move onto a PICO PPM audio meter, a DDS Function generator, then strange happenings with a Sony DVW-A500P Digital Betacam machine. Nothing really went to plan, but there’s lots of interesting goings on.
Audio and video transfers: https://www.video99.co.uk/
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Music “Let It Run” with permission, copyright Cristie/MacFarlane.
Sorry I do not offer an audio or video equipment repair service.
Signal generator from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/FG%25E2%2580%2591100-Function-Generator-Counter-1HZ%25E2%2580%2591500KHz/dp/B08FYM7D4R/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2COW3WQTR9P6C&keywords=DDS+Function+Signal+Generator+1Hz-500KHz&qid=1694706109&sprefix=dds+function+signal+generator+1hz-500khz%252Caps%252C92&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=video99couk-21&linkCode=ur2&linkId=66186a8d072c74d756143f842b2cf917&camp=1634&creative=6738
Ampex / Sony BetacamSP instruction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnwWhp87RE8
PICO PPM meter: http://www.murraypro.com/pico.htm
00:00 Introduction, JVC BR-DV3000U
03:41 PICO Program Meter
04:28 Test it with a FG-100 DDS Function generator
09:49 Sony DVW-A500P Digital Betacam recorder breakdown
14:05 A huge surprise
18:45 Playing a tape without a cassette carriage
26:07 Conclusion
source
PPM meters aligned for broadcast use should be set as 4PPM = 0dbu = -18dbfs.
The surprise device looks like something with fiber optics involved
Uhh… Colin, you should replace the head-cleaning roller on the DVW-A500P.
I like the "special delivery" moments.
That JVC seems to be a rebranded Panasonic AG-DV2500, even the same power plug
Oh, how I love such devices and such wonderful channels that allow us to admire all this technical beauty. Thanks for the emotions
Looks like a fibre optic cassette – a delay line system maybe?
26:55 That warning could have been due to the difference in lubrication between tape brands. AFAIK, there were only 3 manufacturers of DV tape: Sony, Panasonic and TDK. Sony tapes used wet lubricant, and Panasonic (which made tape for JVC, Maxell, Canon and Fuji) used dry lubricant. TDK had its own Metal Evaporate formulation. According to online forums during the heyday of DV, it was advisable to stick to one lubrication type (i.e. Sony or Panasonic etc.) so as not to risk gumming up the transport by mixing types. Assuming the warning label was from a Panasonic/JVC deck, it would make sense for them to want to steer people towards sticking their own brand (and its OEM variants) over Sony.
Enjoyable video as always! Thank you
I wouldn't rule out Dynamic Motion Control. I have often seen positionally stable quality jumps across many lines in V2K videos on YT.
SIR TBC HAI KYA AAP KE PAAS
hi the decks are hell as heavy
i picked alot of ebay and alot are not working right
please don't buy from ebay only if you can fix them i can
all the decks i had from seller are from men caves they got hold of them and could not
fix them they told me when i picked up the deck
note i had to use wheel that could take a heavy load i did pick one up on the new
line all because it had lifts and i had the right transporting gear bond street is great to pick
up this kind of gear in london town
Personally; and this comes from 40 years of experience working with this type of equipment in various environments – I'm really really not sure stacking the equipment like that is a great idea. – My old gaffer at Strathclyde Uni imposed the rule that more than two-high was too high! The experience of a machine going oddly faulty – staying faulty in situ even when things are cleared from the top of it; and then being 'clear' when brought to the workshop – isn't entirely unfamiliar. I've seen it a couple of times in colleges where they've set up old-school edit suites on tables. – And where kit is or has been over-stacked in storage.
19" racks are, I know both expensive and cumbersome but they do protect the equipment as well as simply house it. And yes, I have in the past used similar shelving to that which you have, as an alternative. …Loft Boarding, 38×38 PSE timber and flat metal 'angle brackets' (mending plates) – can make very good 'sub shelves' with which to avoid stacking the machines directly; particularly where the proprietary additional shelves for the system in use prove either too expensive or inflexible or unavailable.
The really big-fat-heavy machines really do need to be on their own shelf… hate to say it Colin, but I feel sorry for that poor wee TBC at the bottom!
I Have the same intermitent problem on exactly the same Deck (DVW-A500P) i have. I tryed to clean the heads, change tapes, remove and reinstal the boards, but did not solved the problem. From time to time I have this issue of digital blocky image and ''red channel condition'', and I noticed that it (apparently) happens on the winter, but not on the summer! Although it is inside home, on summer I have higher temperature than on winter. Is it possible that this issue is co-related with temperature?
The flashing “STOP” button is simply indicating that the machine does not have a reference or sync signal (usually blackburst) attached to the REF IN connector to provide sync to the playback servo. If I recall, the DVW-A500 has a menu option where you can turn the warning off. Generally speaking, all machines should be “clocked” to the same house reference signal to permit field accurate timing and editing between multiple machines.
So, fibre coming up shortly, lucky you – according to openreach thay have no plans at all of ever introducing such luxuries around here at all!
Red Channel condition when playing back a BetaSP tape could mean something as simple as dirty heads. Also the head drum on the Digi-Beta format is larger in diameter than the BetaSP format, so there's some processing going on when playing back the analogue format to compensate for the larger drum. That might explain the strange split picture you've got with the VITC in the centre of the image, as the signal coming off the tape is being time-compressed then expanded back to normal.