mek@rruxu.UUCP (M Kaufman) (03/26/85)
<> Help! My relatively new (<1year) Fisher FVH730 (4-heads Dolby Stereo) has recently begun to have problems during playback. Little white "comets" (for want of a better description) appear randomly interspersed in the picture (I have the output to a Zenith 19" color TV, with a 1-out-of-2 switch between my VCR and Cable service, and circumventing the switch, that is, going directly from the VCR to the TV makes no difference), running horizontally with the "head" to the left of the tail. The "comets" show up a random number of minutes after the VCR begins playback (they do not always show up as soon as I begin playback), and appear to cluster in 4 strips in the picture. The "comets" appear on a variety of tapes (ranging from inexpensive Pentax to TDK Super-Avilyn) and changing wall outlets (to different circuits in the breaker panel) makes no difference. Cleaning the heads with a liquid-type cleaner makes no difference. I feel it is some kind of electronic noise, but am not sure what to do. I can take it in where I bought it (it's under warrantee for another month or so) but they've (Crazy Eddie) told me it'd be 3 weeks before I get it back, which I'd like to avoid. Any ideas? Matt Kaufman ...rruxu!mek
seltzer@lebeef.DEC (04/04/85)
I also have been having trouble with playback from a VCR -- getting random "comets". I have a Sears Beta VCR. The problem appears to be one of inter- ference. I have an Atari 800 hooked up to the same TV. And by jiggling the wires in the back and turning the VCR on and off I sometimes, but not always, can get rid of it. The same problem appears when I move the VCR to another TV that has a cable hookup. Any clues as to how to avoid the problem all together would be greatly appreciated. also, I've found that a number of tapes I recorded about a year or so ago have deteriorated -- giving wild fluctuations at the top of the screen. Does anyone know what causes that? What can be done to correct or prevent it? Thanks. Best wishes. Richard Seltzer Digital Equipment Concord, MA (ihnp4 or decvax) decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-lebeef!seltzer
lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (04/08/85)
"Aging" of recordings (usually resulting in tracking noise) can be the result of several factors: 1) Temperature variations that stretch/warp the tape over time. 2) Poor quality tape. 3) Use of very slow recording speeds (makes (1) and (2) much worse). In all three cases, the real problem is that the timing track is being warped over time. Generally, this problem comes up more frequently with VHS than Beta machines, since the VHS load/head pattern puts much more stress on the tape than the Beta pattern. --Lauren--
gnome@olivee.UUCP (Gary Traveis) (04/11/85)
> "Aging" of recordings (usually resulting in tracking noise) can > be the result of several factors: > > 1) Temperature variations that stretch/warp the tape over time. > 2) Poor quality tape. > 3) Use of very slow recording speeds (makes (1) and (2) much worse). > > In all three cases, the real problem is that the timing track is being > warped over time. Generally, this problem comes up more frequently > with VHS than Beta machines, since the VHS load/head pattern > puts much more stress on the tape than the Beta pattern. > > --Lauren-- Don' forget plain-old tracking error! Assuming the deck's tracking has drifted, the older tapes will be skewed to either side of the tracking adjustment "0" mark. Too far, and they get noise no matter how far you offset the tracking adjustment. Gary