CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

DolbySR · Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Posts: 47 Location: Switzerland

Hi there folks!

Finally the VTR I always wanted (besides a 2" Quadruplex machine - but they're just too big for my flat...) is in my media room!

It's a Sony BVH-2180PS - the three-hour version of the successful BVH-2000 series and it's the Production Series (...PS) version, too with integrated Time Base Corrector.
Furthermore, I got a Sony video control monitor, a waveform monitor and vectorscope by HP standing beside it (and my LeCroy Oscilloscope...).
We had to leave the console, where the whole equipment is originally mounted in place, back in Munich - was simply too big for our vehicle. I'll be shipped over the border by some transport service later.

As you may have guessed, this machine is simply huge - and heavy! But it's great fun to "play" around with it, use the jogwheel and see absolutely no artifacts when doing slow-motion or anything else with a tape. Those heavy and oversized three hour reels spin 'round and 'round - a pure joy to look at. In fact, I just sat there yesterday watching those reels turning. It has some sort of tranquilizing effect after some minutes...

The picture and audio quality is absolutely stunning! I did some test recordings from DVD and couldn't tell a difference at all - even with more than 11'000 hours on the clock of this machine, it still looks like new and works like a charm.
I bought a C-Format tape with some Star-Trek stuff on it. Hopefully it'll be here soon and I can see the full potential of this machine!

The only thing that's a little bit buggy, is that the machine won't go into servo lock when playing back a recorded tape. Picture and Audio are fine, no artifacts at all, but the red servo lock light won't go off. I'll address this issue later. Now I have to go and watch them reels turning again Very Happy

Nashou66 · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16171 Location: West Seneca NY

Very cool!! I love all the vintage Audio and video stuff being posted lately. Hmm I wonder why that is? Maybe we are all getting fed up with HDMI and its problems related to both audio and video.

I want to get a vector-scope or waveform analyzer at some point. Very cool set up there Dolby, whats your name anyhow?

Athanasios

ecrabb · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:09 pm Post subject:

Wow. That's awesome.

And here I thought I was crazy for picking up a couple of Panasonic pro S-VHS VTRs last week!!!

SC

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:07 pm Post subject:

Nice SONY!

SC what models? AG-XX?

ecrabb · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:35 pm Post subject:

AG-DS555 and AG-DS545. I definitely didn't need them; I just have a thing for pro gear. Haven't fired them up, yet. I need to clean them up a little. Overall, they're in pretty nice shape, though. Sheet metal is little rough on one, and a BNC barrel is bent a little on one...

I only paid $50 for the pair. Hopefully, they don't have a bajallion hours on them. The tape doors look pretty clean, so I don't think they've had a thousand tapes in and out. I bet they were bought right before DV took hold, so hopefully light use.

Geebus, they're heavy, though. About broke my back carrying the pair from the car to the basement. I admit I started having second thoughts as I carried them into the basement... "Damn, I'm going to have to keep moving these around now..."

I'm pissed, though... He had an AG-DVxxxx that was part of the kit. It was all listed for $50, somebody got to it first and cherry picked the DV.

SC

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:53 pm Post subject:

Aww that sucks about the DV.

I always did like the AG decks. I ended up with a Panasonic PV-S4690 that was lightly used. It was 6 months old when I bought it
I used the crapouta it. I ran at least 400-500 tapes through it. Not even sure it works any more. BUT a great Pro-sumer deck in its day. Everything I recorded looked like the broadcast and I loved the perfect freeze frame for the races.

Only bad thing about this deck was the DSP processing. It did odd things to the video. I once had a person on screen nodding their head up and down but just the face was moving. The hair and ears were stationary.

DolbySR · Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Posts: 47 Location: Switzerland

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:40 pm Post subject:

ecrabb · Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:45 pm Post subject:

Yeah, sorry to hijack your thread!

How much does that bad boy weigh?

SC

DolbySR · Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Posts: 47 Location: Switzerland

Damn hijackers Razz

Indeed, my VTR has an internal TBC, model BKH-2150 - apparently the "best one ever made", according to some sources. With this machine, a TBC is really necessary for a stable picture when in shuttle mode. But also in regular play mode, it does a good job to eliminate timing jitter. I guess because my servo system isn't locked, this jitter is greater than normal... Some problem with the Control Track which is not being picked up from tape somehow...

About the weight. No idea, but my arms and my back told me, that it's HEAVY Very Happy

A second person is absolutely necessary to carry this thing around or only move it from one table to an other one.
Similar with the video monitor. There must be bars of lead inside! But of course, CRT control monitors are heavy - especially when the case isn't made out of cheap plastic.