responding to
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, Stephen wrote: This will be my last posting on this forum. I'm sure this will make a lot of folks happy.
Thank you "jurb6006", for your follow-up and elaborate detailed response to my inquire.
Also, "jurb6006", congratulations to your Cleveland Cavaliers on winning this year's NBA championship.
Congratulations to your city by hosting the Republican Convention without any major incidents.
Congratulations to your city hosting the Rock n' Roll hall of fame for many years, although I think Jan Warner, owner of Rolling Stone magazine, and other board members, are total pieces of "S***".
Lot's of bands out there that deserve to be in there, who are not.
I'm sure your time is important to you, and again, thank you. Sorry to learn of your experience with UPS and maybe other shippers in the U.S.
My Beta HiFi devices that need(ed) repair:
Sanyo Portable VCR 7300:
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Also, an interesting YouTube video as well. This shows the front panel off,to inspect the drum and video head area.
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Sony SL-2700B:
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(mine has a black exterior, not silver)
My update as of 08/18/2016:
Got both units playing my old beta tapes again. Both units have the front/top covers off, sigh . . .
For the Sony SL-2700B, I now have to push a plastic capstan roller on the left side for it to eject my tapes.
For the Sanyo VCR 7300, I have to push the large white, quarter inch wind and 6 inch diameter plastic ring assembly, under the tape head and motor, counter clockwise with my finger, in order for the tape to load.
Then, to unload the tape, I have to push the same plastic ring counter clockwise, for the mechanism to eject the tape.
Unbelievable!!!
Found a link on YouTube which shows how to clean the Beta tapes heads using printing paper folded (A4 size) and vcr cleaning solution added to the paper. Hold it to the tape drums gently, and spin said drums without damage.
Link:
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Background info:
I'm a retired federal government employee, worked in the Intel Community for 36 years. Sure, what a "oxymoron", this term, is these days now.
Love music (own over 1120 CDs and over 700 LPs in my collection), 8 Track tapes, Cassettes, LPs, CDs, Apple downloads, you name it, for over 40 years.
To answer your "burning question", I live in Stone Ridge Virginia, Loudoun County Virginia. Aprox 25 miles west of Washington D.C.
This forum has turned out to be not my only Internet resource.
I now have, in just in the last 2 days, I think, reliable resources to turn to, besides this one.
But now that I have cleaned the Beta tape heads, I will be able to archive my tape collection to DVD and Blue Ray using these devices.
The repairs for these units will take a back seat for now. Once I've converted my tapes, I'm thinking about donating the units to the Smithsonian's Museum.
I received offers of help from the following companies:
And "For God's Sake", I am in no way affiliated with the 2 following companies!!!!
After the fact:
Belmont TV:
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
4723 King Street Arlington, VA 22206 In business for decades, since 1948.
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I got a return phone call from them that stated they would give it a go for a $50 dollar deposit. The D.C. area has the worst traffic in the country, but I think I can get there and drop off the units within a hour.
This, I'm hoping, would avoid the trials and tribulations of "jurb6006" with shipping.
I also own, a Pioneer AM/FM stereo tuner receiver model SX-1280, from 1977 ($700 plus when purchased), which still works flawlessly. It must weigh 50 lbs. Imagine shipping cost for that kind of repair.
Also, this company, MrBetamax
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An email quote from him:
"Sony and Sanyo service manuals specify that their Beta VCRs receive maintenance and reconditioning after every 500 hours of use or every year, which ever comes first. MisterBetamax offers this service for $89.00. Reconditioning includes replacement or restoring of any rubber tires and belts, replacing or resurfacing of the pinch roller and capstan plus cleaning and lubrication of the rotating components. The upper video drum is resurfaced to ensure smooth tape travel, reduce friction and to restore its operational characteristics. All the guides, tension arm and drive reels are cleaned and renewed. The tape path is verified and if alignment is required, it is included with the reconditioning in most cases. An estimate is included should any repairs be needed. You will be contacted by email with a final cost that will include return shipping. All repairs are on approval and usually take about two weeks to complete (not including shipping time and depending on work flow or parts requirements). A
90 day labor warranty covers any service, 60 days for parts. If you decide to declined the estimate then no reconditioning will be performed and only $49.00 will be charged for the estimate. The balance of the $89.00 is used to offset return shipping and any excess is refunded.
To recap: Reconditioning, which includes an estimate, is $89.00 plus return shipping. If repairs are declined only is $49.00 is charged for the estimate, shipping in both cases is additional.
If interested, get back to me and I?ll send along my shipping address, packaging instructions plus some additional helpful information. My Zip is 29365.
Sincerely, MisterBetamax"
God bless this dude!
Finally, last part of my post, and final post.
This might leave you all in a incredulous mind set, or with a good chuckle. Hope so....
All these were installed in my 1981 Honda Accord LX 3 door hatchback (Hempstead Green in color). The vehicle got 30 plus miles to a gallon and was purchased after my first 1977 Honda Accord was demolished by a rear end collision, by a drunk 17 year old female, at the Capitol Center in Landover Maryland (defunct building now, Capitols hockey team and "Bullets" basketball teams played there). I drove there to attend a Outlaws - Foghat concert, with my sister and two of her teenage girlfriends.
Honda photo ->
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Not my Honda exactly, owned in Europe, but what I owned also, color and make and year and design.
I still own the Honda with antique licence plates. It has a car cover on it now. Needs carburetor float replaced and possibly a new brake master cylinder.
Car cassette deck, equalizer (20 watts) and rear power amp (60 watts), Alpine brand, top of the line $700 for the cassette, plus a couple of hundred for the other units.
Radio Shack speakers. Six of them (two embedded in the front drive and passenger door panels, and four mounted (had brackets to mount) on a portable platform (wood design, painted black, 4 feet long by 8 inches wide, 1/2 inch depth, fabricated by me) , for safe keeping under the hatchback cover), plus a radio shack hard wired anti theft device, with vibration sensors and plunger switch for the hatch, which would send a pager signal from the car unit, into my bedroom, if someone tried to steal the audio equipment.
This alarm saved my stuff on 2 separate occasions. I had to get a additional door key because the potential thief broke my passenger side door lock with a screw driver.
Speakers:
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Car Alarm System:
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Nakamichi Dual Amp balancer. To adjust audio playback from the front driver and passenger, to the back hatch back area. Really cool depending on when my front windows were open to prevent noise.
Link:
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Also, power conversion adaptor to change car 12 volt power, to DC 12 voltage, Radio Shack. I used it to power my Sanyo Portable Beta HiFi, under the hatch.
Sanyo Beta HiFi VCR with hard wired remote control, to play Audio Beta tapes - Sony L-750 , for up to 4 hours and 30 minutes, in Beta III playback mode.
Almost CD quality audio thru the Alpine car system.
Trips from Northern Virginia to Smithtown, Long Island N.Y, when necessary for weddings etc... and visits to my Grandmother and our Aunts and Uncles.
Later, a Sony original portable CD player:
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This was mounted, on the 5 gear stick shifter console, right passenger side, and I used a RCA audio splitter to tap into the front and rear audio amplifiers shared by the Sanyo Beta HiFi VCR.
Anyway, thank you to all who responded. God Bless you!