rib@edsel.UUCP (RI Block) (01/02/85)
I recently moved to Israel as a new immigrant (Oleh). I brought with me a
Panasonic PV-5500 portable VHS VCR with camera. I also brought a Philips "9-way
TV set which handles both NTSC American standard and local PAL broadcasts.
I am able to record with the camera and to play back stuff which I brought
with me. I cannot record off the air. I don't know what I would get if I
put a locally-purchased pre-recorded tape into the machine.
My main intent is to take pictures of the family and mail them back to
doting grandparents in the States who miss us. After all, the equipment was
a present from my father. For this, I'm doing just fine.
However, I have the tuner sitting here rendered useless by the different
broadcast system. I'm wondering if anything can be done so that I could
record off-the-air here and/or play local pre-recorded material while at
the same time retaining compatibility with the camera and the folk's NTSC-only
TV sets back in New York.
Tax laws and customs duties here make it prohibitively expensive for me to
bring in more equipment (legally) so buying a second set for local use is out.
I might be able to get permission to
send the set elsewhere for modifications and then bring it back.
Panasonic is notably unhelpful about these matters. I wrote to their American
service headquarters in Secaucus, N.J. before leaving and never even got a
reply. (They never responded to letters about other things either so it's
not that my request is outrageous).
Failing any success in modifying the set, I shall offer the tuner for sale.
Sam Gamoran
Weizmann Institute of Science
Computer Center
Rehovot, Israel
Please respond either:
to the net (net.video)
to VSSAM@WEIZMANN.bitnet
to wisdom!sam (I'm not sure of the path).mlf@teddy.UUCP (01/03/85)
In article <282@edsel.UUCP> rib@edsel.UUCP (RI Block) writes: >I recently moved to Israel as a new immigrant (Oleh). I brought with me a >Panasonic PV-5500 portable VHS VCR with camera. > I'm wondering if anything can be done so that I could >record off-the-air here and/or play local pre-recorded material while at >the same time retaining compatibility with the camera and the folk's NTSC-only >TV sets back in New York. There are major differences between PAL and NTSC video formats, including 50 vs 60 Hz frame rate, 4.43 vs 3.58 MHz color subcarrier, and PAL's reversing color phase on each scan line. It is not practical for you to try to modify the VCR to work with PAL signals. I read of an outfit in Rhode Island that modifies VCRs to be compatible with both NTSC and PAL. It was mentioned in an issue of some video magazine a few months ago. They sold modified *new* machines, and they provided a warranty to replace the manufacturer's warranty that the modifications voided. I don't know whether they work on "old" machines. I don't know whether they modify portables, or whether portables' miniaturization makes for too much trouble. I would also imagine that the modification is expensive, and might not be worth it. >Failing any success in modifying the set, I shall offer the tuner for sale. Can you power the recorder without it? Why would one want one? Should you save it for your possible return to the U.S.? -- Matt Fichtenbaum "Our job is to rescue fires, not put out your cat."
ekrell@ucla-cs.UUCP (01/04/85)
--
Eduardo Krell UCLA Computer Science Department
ekrell@ucla-locus.arpa ..!{sdcrdcf,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!ekrellekrell@ucla-cs.UUCP (01/04/85)
I'm afraid nothing can be done. If you record an off-the-air program with
your NTSC VCR, the machine will not understand the signal (because of the
format being different) and if you play a pre-recorded tape, the VCR won't
be able to play it back for the same reason.
There are some VCRs that can handle both NTSC and PAL signals, so you can
play/record in any system. This is the ultimate solution (provided you have
the NTSC/PAL TV too).
I myself had this problem when a relative from Israel sent me a couple of
tapes. Obviously, when I tried to play them back, I saw nothing. There are
some places that will convert a PAL tape to a NTSC tape, but it's very
expensive.
--
Eduardo Krell UCLA Computer Science Department
ekrell@ucla-locus.arpa ..!{sdcrdcf,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!ekrell