help with jvc hr-a52u stereo vcr (tv makes intermitent foreign noise on some tapes)

[copen9370]

i used to have mono vcr's.
i bought a jvc hr-a52u stereo vcr. on some tapes (both prerecorded,
and ones that i recorded myself) the vcr make an intermitent
'scratchy' foreign noise through the tv speakers. when i change the
vcr setting to mono, the noise goes away, but, or course, so does a
lot of the normal audio that can be heard when stereo on stereo
movies.
i tried the jvc with a different tv, and that did not help.
i think that this problem is with both stereo, and mono recorded
tapes.
i tried connecting with both coaxel cable, and rca jacks. the noise is
present on both - when together, and when one of them is not
connected.
tried a different set of rca jacks. tried a different coaxel cable.
the connection is simple. vcr straight to tv. nothing else connected
to tv. tried exchanging the vcr. new one had same problem. would like
to keep the jvc if at all possible.
does anyone know what the problem could be.

thank you.

[Mark D. Zacharias]

"copen9370" > wrote in message
om...
>i used to have mono vcr's.
> i bought a jvc hr-a52u stereo vcr. on some tapes (both prerecorded,
> and ones that i recorded myself) the vcr make an intermitent
> 'scratchy' foreign noise through the tv speakers. when i change the
> vcr setting to mono, the noise goes away, but, or course, so does a
> lot of the normal audio that can be heard when stereo on stereo
> movies.
> i tried the jvc with a different tv, and that did not help.
> i think that this problem is with both stereo, and mono recorded
> tapes.
> i tried connecting with both coaxel cable, and rca jacks. the noise is
> present on both - when together, and when one of them is not
> connected.
> tried a different set of rca jacks. tried a different coaxel cable.
> the connection is simple. vcr straight to tv. nothing else connected
> to tv. tried exchanging the vcr. new one had same problem. would like
> to keep the jvc if at all possible.
> does anyone know what the problem could be.
>
> thank you.

Dropouts, possible tape alignment problem, inadequate dropout compensation
circuit? JVC's have been a bit notorious for this in the past, but to be
fair, it's somewhat inherent in the hi-fi stereo recording method. The
better the quality of the tape, and the better the machine's alignment, the
less of a problem this will be.

Mark Z.

[paul packer]

On 27 Sep 2004 10:31:46 -0700, (copen9370) wrote:

>i used to have mono vcr's.
>i bought a jvc hr-a52u stereo vcr. on some tapes (both prerecorded,
>and ones that i recorded myself) the vcr make an intermitent
>'scratchy' foreign noise through the tv speakers. when i change the
>vcr setting to mono, the noise goes away, but, or course, so does a
>lot of the normal audio that can be heard when stereo on stereo
>movies.
>i tried the jvc with a different tv, and that did not help.
>i think that this problem is with both stereo, and mono recorded
>tapes.
>i tried connecting with both coaxel cable, and rca jacks. the noise is
>present on both - when together, and when one of them is not
>connected.
>tried a different set of rca jacks. tried a different coaxel cable.
>the connection is simple. vcr straight to tv. nothing else connected
>to tv. tried exchanging the vcr. new one had same problem. would like
>to keep the jvc if at all possible.
>does anyone know what the problem could be.
>
>thank you.

JVC VCRs have been notorious in the past for head earthing problems.
That is, the heads are inadequately earthed and often put odd noises
onto recordings. Maybe you should take it back and insist on a
different brand. If the problem is still there you know it's not the
VCR.

[copen9370]

it seems that after a week of heavy use, the noise has gone away on
almost all the tapes that i've tried.
is it possible that now i will be able to keep the jvc. really like
the features (things we used to take for granted, like front time
elapsed display, etc.

[Gary A. Edelstein]

On 27 Sep 2004 10:31:46 -0700, (copen9370) wrote:

>i used to have mono vcr's.
>i bought a jvc hr-a52u stereo vcr. on some tapes (both prerecorded,
>and ones that i recorded myself) the vcr make an intermitent
>'scratchy' foreign noise through the tv speakers. when i change the
>vcr setting to mono, the noise goes away, but, or course, so does a
>lot of the normal audio that can be heard when stereo on stereo
>movies.
>i tried the jvc with a different tv, and that did not help.
>i think that this problem is with both stereo, and mono recorded
>tapes.
>i tried connecting with both coaxel cable, and rca jacks. the noise is
>present on both - when together, and when one of them is not
>connected.
>tried a different set of rca jacks. tried a different coaxel cable.
>the connection is simple. vcr straight to tv. nothing else connected
>to tv. tried exchanging the vcr. new one had same problem. would like
>to keep the jvc if at all possible.
>does anyone know what the problem could be.
>
This sounds like head switching noise from the Hi-Fi tracks due to the
audio heads in the VCR being at a slightly different alignment than
the machine the tapes were made on. The sound is often described as a
crackling one. The tapes you made on your old mono VCR shouldn't have
this problem, as they don't have Hi-Fi tracks.

The amount of this noise can often be reduced or eliminated by
manually adjusting the tracking, but it could adversely affect picture
quality if a major adjustment is needed.

Gary E
--
|Gary A. Edelstein
(remove NO SPAM and .invalid to reply)
|"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Walt Kelly's Pogo

[JVC dude]

does the machine crackle with its own recordings?
do its recordings play ok on other hifi machines?

I suppose from the fact that its gone away the problem may have been an
oxide deposit somewhere around the heads, which whilst not enough to cause
full snowy pictures etc, is still sufficient to reduce the head output so
that the hifi track drops out. With use the deposit has 'worn' itself away.
if this is the case then your machine should be ok from now on, (except if
you have an iffy tape dropping oxide of course)

If the machine was new theres always the possibility that its 'bedding in',
particularly the felt brake/back tension pads.

If it still has problems playing its own recordings then as mentioned before
the 'switching point' may be mis adjusted. This is the playback setting for
switching between the 2 heads spinning round, and is (on modern machines) an
electronic setting stored in memory. Sometimes you can see the effect of
this at the bottom of a picture when you see the last line bobbing about-
when the timing cuts off a little too early.
This setting is adjusted with a special engineers remote available from JVC.
You can't adjust this yourself, you also need an oscilloscope to measure the
results.
If your machine needs this setting tweaking a JVC centre should be able to
sort it pretty quick.
Of course if the machine is new and set wrong, you should be asking
questions!!!

I'm in the UK and its interesting to hear from others that you've had
problems with Hifi /tracking over in the USA, we get very few Hifi or
switching point faults for that matter.

Where are your machines made- Europes are made in W Germany. Perhaps its a
site related problem?

Andrew