Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

radioman · 1st Mar 2011, 4:54 pm

I have a friend who acquired one of these video recorders but has now decided to get rid of it and offered it to me....
There are no tapes with it and it displays an error code when powered up.
Is this of any use for anything other than recording e.g. time base correction or should I just strip it for parts ?

Andy

murphyv310 · 1st Mar 2011, 8:03 pm

Hi Andy.
Please don't strip it! A friend of mine would take it complete if you wish to part with it.

PM now sent

CapitainePlumo · 2nd Mar 2011, 9:46 pm

Please do NOT scrap. These Betacam machines are not classified as "Broadcast quality", but are neverthelesss brilliant machines that deserve attention and will reward you well once working. I am lucky to have a UVW 1800P here.

By the way, what is the error code? With some Betacam machines it can be as little as the power supply fan (when there is one) giving an error code and grounding the machine. Well worth investigating!

Regards from Captain Plumo

radioman · 3rd Mar 2011, 9:40 am

OK folks, it's NOT going to be scrapped. Trevor has a friend who is interested in it so hopefully it will be going to a new home soon.

Regards,
Andy

murphyv310 · 4th Mar 2011, 9:44 pm

Hi.
I picked up the machine from Andy's friend today. I had a look at it and found the display told me it there was an error (12-403) also the threading ring was half way and the carriage was down although no tape was present.
I then all of a sudden noticed a label on the inside of the top lid that explained what to do in the case of a jammed tape, I carried this out and hey presto the carriage reset and the error cleared. The machine wont work with a standard beta tape as it is oxide based so I will need to look for a proper betacam metal tape.

murphyv310 · 5th Mar 2011, 12:16 pm

I was a little naughty and drilled a couple of holes in a standard Beta Tape to fool the machine that it had been fed with the proper tape. I was able to confirm the tape transport is OK etc, a recording is just a mess no doubt as its a standard tape rather than a metal based one.

twocvbloke · 5th Mar 2011, 7:19 pm

There's loads of used and some new BetacamSP tapes on ebay, so plenty to be playing with...

murphyv310 · 5th Mar 2011, 10:20 pm

Hi.
Yes I have seen some tapes on E-bay and have bought a nice cheap one, so we will see how the machine performs.

murphyv310 · 8th Mar 2011, 8:15 pm

Hi
My nice new tape arrived from E-bay today. Wow the performance is quite amazing. Feeding the machine with Test card "F" from the RT Russell test card generator and playing it back is virtually the same, the picture is rock steady and gives full definition, the audio quality too is first class.
I am glad this one has been saved.

twocvbloke · 8th Mar 2011, 8:34 pm

Makes me want a Betacam machine now.

(That said, I'm a bit biassed cos I love the Beta format!!)

One with FireWire if possible, but, that's just one of those dreamer moments.

ppppenguin · 8th Mar 2011, 8:48 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by twocvbloke

One with FireWire if possible, but, that's just one of those dreamer moments.

Don't like to disillusion you but Betacam is a full broadcast analogue component format and was just about obsolete before firewire was invented. Standard interfaces on Betacams were YCbCR analogue component and also composite. Some may have had SDI 601 interfaces.

twocvbloke · 8th Mar 2011, 9:52 pm

Ah well, told you it was a dreamer moment...

murphyv310 · 8th Mar 2011, 10:07 pm

I was going to record the last analog transmission here in May with the view of recording Ceefax, sadly the required lines are not recorded, Ah well never mind!

Keith1973 · 10th Mar 2011, 7:22 pm

Check the menus for anything to do with INPUT BLANKING - the full broadcast BVW-75s can record teletext info just like VHS/S-VHS, and also switch off the VITC otherwise that will go over lines 19&21 with timecode, it maybe on other lines as most broadcast machines can adjust which lines it uses but for UK specs it's 19&21 so could well be set to that.

If all else fails record your last analogue TX on SuperVHS preferable a JVC model with built in TBC like the HR-S7600 and similar models. I've got an old SuperVHS recording from December 1989 that can resolve most of it's teletext data when played back on one of these machines.

murphyv310 · 10th Mar 2011, 8:19 pm

Hi Keith.
Bang on, you can blank lines 10 to 23, I have enabled them so I now have perfectly recorded text and VIT signals, the VIT signal on playback is excellent with just a hint of chroma shift seen on the 10T pulse.

murphyv310 · 10th Mar 2011, 8:59 pm

Hi.
Here is the VIT signal from the RT Russell Test card generator and the playback from the Sony.
Sorry the photos are dull but I was using my Hitachi Scope not the Tektronix one.
A little nosier after the recording but very good none the less.

Elios Banos · 26th Aug 2011, 10:17 am

Hi.
I have been working on a SP UVW-1400AP for 15 years now and still going. But recently I noticed a black horizontal rain on top and bottom of the screen especially on thin text. The weird thing is that the black rain does not apear when I preview/record or on full coloured picture, only on playback of the recorded tape with thin text.
Can anyone help please?

Elios.

1st Mar 2011, 4:54 pm	#1
radioman Heptode Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Ayr, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 631	Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP I have a friend who acquired one of these video recorders but has now decided to get rid of it and offered it to me.... There are no tapes with it and it displays an error code when powered up. Is this of any use for anything other than recording e.g. time base correction or should I just strip it for parts ? Andy __________________ G-QRP #12697

1st Mar 2011, 8:03 pm	#2
murphyv310 Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 5,422	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Hi Andy. Please don't strip it! A friend of mine would take it complete if you wish to part with it. PM now sent __________________ Cheers, Trevor. MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member Last edited by murphyv310; 1st Mar 2011 at 8:27 pm. Reason: PM sent, added that info to post!

2nd Mar 2011, 9:46 pm	#3
CapitainePlumo Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Swansea Posts: 3	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Please do NOT scrap. These Betacam machines are not classified as "Broadcast quality", but are neverthelesss brilliant machines that deserve attention and will reward you well once working. I am lucky to have a UVW 1800P here. By the way, what is the error code? With some Betacam machines it can be as little as the power supply fan (when there is one) giving an error code and grounding the machine. Well worth investigating! Regards from Captain Plumo

3rd Mar 2011, 9:40 am	#4
radioman Heptode Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Ayr, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 631	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP OK folks, it's NOT going to be scrapped. Trevor has a friend who is interested in it so hopefully it will be going to a new home soon. Regards, Andy __________________ G-QRP #12697

4th Mar 2011, 9:44 pm	#5
murphyv310 Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 5,422	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Hi. I picked up the machine from Andy's friend today. I had a look at it and found the display told me it there was an error (12-403) also the threading ring was half way and the carriage was down although no tape was present. I then all of a sudden noticed a label on the inside of the top lid that explained what to do in the case of a jammed tape, I carried this out and hey presto the carriage reset and the error cleared. The machine wont work with a standard beta tape as it is oxide based so I will need to look for a proper betacam metal tape. __________________ Cheers, Trevor. MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member

5th Mar 2011, 12:16 pm	#6
murphyv310 Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 5,422	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP I was a little naughty and drilled a couple of holes in a standard Beta Tape to fool the machine that it had been fed with the proper tape. I was able to confirm the tape transport is OK etc, a recording is just a mess no doubt as its a standard tape rather than a metal based one. __________________ Cheers, Trevor. MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member

5th Mar 2011, 7:19 pm	#7
twocvbloke Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Colne, Lancashire, UK. Posts: 527	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP There's loads of used and some new BetacamSP tapes on ebay, so plenty to be playing with...

5th Mar 2011, 10:20 pm	#8
murphyv310 Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 5,422	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Hi. Yes I have seen some tapes on E-bay and have bought a nice cheap one, so we will see how the machine performs. __________________ Cheers, Trevor. MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member

8th Mar 2011, 8:15 pm	#9
murphyv310 Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 5,422	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Hi My nice new tape arrived from E-bay today. Wow the performance is quite amazing. Feeding the machine with Test card "F" from the RT Russell test card generator and playing it back is virtually the same, the picture is rock steady and gives full definition, the audio quality too is first class. I am glad this one has been saved. __________________ Cheers, Trevor. MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member

8th Mar 2011, 8:34 pm	#10
twocvbloke Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Colne, Lancashire, UK. Posts: 527	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Makes me want a Betacam machine now. (That said, I'm a bit biassed cos I love the Beta format!!) One with FireWire if possible, but, that's just one of those dreamer moments.

8th Mar 2011, 9:52 pm	#12
twocvbloke Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Colne, Lancashire, UK. Posts: 527	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Ah well, told you it was a dreamer moment...

8th Mar 2011, 10:07 pm	#13
murphyv310 Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 5,422	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP I was going to record the last analog transmission here in May with the view of recording Ceefax, sadly the required lines are not recorded, Ah well never mind! __________________ Cheers, Trevor. MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member

10th Mar 2011, 7:22 pm	#14
Keith1973 Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bristol, UK. Posts: 64	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Check the menus for anything to do with INPUT BLANKING - the full broadcast BVW-75s can record teletext info just like VHS/S-VHS, and also switch off the VITC otherwise that will go over lines 19&21 with timecode, it maybe on other lines as most broadcast machines can adjust which lines it uses but for UK specs it's 19&21 so could well be set to that. If all else fails record your last analogue TX on SuperVHS preferable a JVC model with built in TBC like the HR-S7600 and similar models. I've got an old SuperVHS recording from December 1989 that can resolve most of it's teletext data when played back on one of these machines. Last edited by Keith1973; 10th Mar 2011 at 7:28 pm.

10th Mar 2011, 8:19 pm	#15
murphyv310 Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 5,422	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Hi Keith. Bang on, you can blank lines 10 to 23, I have enabled them so I now have perfectly recorded text and VIT signals, the VIT signal on playback is excellent with just a hint of chroma shift seen on the 10T pulse. __________________ Cheers, Trevor. MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member

10th Mar 2011, 8:59 pm	#16
murphyv310 Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, UK. Posts: 5,422	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Hi. Here is the VIT signal from the RT Russell Test card generator and the playback from the Sony. Sorry the photos are dull but I was using my Hitachi Scope not the Tektronix one. A little nosier after the recording but very good none the less. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Cheers, Trevor. MM0KJJ. RSGB, GQRP, WACRAL, K&LARC. Member

26th Aug 2011, 10:17 am	#17
Elios Banos Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Beirut, Lebanon. Posts: 1	Re: Sony Betacam SP UVW-1400AP Hi. I have been working on a SP UVW-1400AP for 15 years now and still going. But recently I noticed a black horizontal rain on top and bottom of the screen especially on thin text. The weird thing is that the black rain does not apear when I preview/record or on full coloured picture, only on playback of the recorded tape with thin text. Can anyone help please? Elios.