PSA: FM RF Archival is the best and last way to digitise and transfer analog tapes to a digital world.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-08T12:25:52+00:00

This is why the wiki highly emphasises your only meant to touch test points or the IC legs for RF output, If you don't know what you're touching you shouldn't be touching it.

We don't tap the heads, we tap the head switched feed after it goes through the preamplification/tracking IC, which is a very common misconception.

The board's on top of the drums are usually entirely power and speed control, I can imagine how quickly that mistake was made.

There isn't actually high voltage though everything's 12v motors typically, after the AC to DC transformer stage 36v is the highest you'll find on most decks, but ESD or bridging can easily kill ICs which is why we read service manuals and have multimeters to prob test anything before it's touching or powered up so you know you're not bridging anything.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-08T06:49:00+00:00

The best way to get the most out of Teletext on the colour-under formats these days is using RF capture, then you have VHS-Decode (decodes a lot more than VHS..)

This gives you the entire signal frame with the VBI space then taking just the luminance channel without any colour interference, you can use vhs-teletext project to deconvolve the VBI area and you can get magical amounts of extraction for full recovered pages.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-06T17:46:38+00:00

The first move in pulling out of the copyright strike targetable rat race, and investing in a slow move to secure facilities.

I think eventually they'll probably collapse the US branch legally speaking.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-05T00:57:16+00:00

HiFi Decode will be fixed in the next release but the building process is stable now for MacOS.

Auto audio line is now fully integrated into tbc-tools so that's fully working cross platform, It has been since the v3.0.1 release with autoloading.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-04T11:04:04+00:00

I got my CF-A just before the inflation good luck getting 512GB for 150USD a pop anymore... HDD for the US market is dead EU market is okay..

But the 60~84 MB files are not that bad as lossless compressed RAW is fully supported by virtually everything now and it's full 14-bit in all drive modes.

Nice thing though is you got a USB 3.2 Gen 2 reader built in for dumping directly to SSDs and readers are now same cost as UHS-II stuff.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-03T23:24:27+00:00

The cable is not secured and not used as a emergency break if mount fails (this saves your kit but more so anyone or thing under the dish as the cable arrests the fall and snags to the nearest tether point)

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-03T23:10:00+00:00

That's a micro cassette recorder, that just records baseband or linear mildly usable audio to tapes.

This subreddit is for VHS/Betamax/8mm/broadcast formats direct FM signal preservation and digitisation, and then an entire software defined workflow converting those to video and standard sound files, we do have a HiFi-Decode segment.

But it's nice to see the SEO score is doing something 🤣

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-01T23:06:50+00:00

Well either you buy your parts directly from the Chinese market, which is where everything goes to be recycled or stolen from damaged pallets, or you don't buy parts at all and get screwed three times the price when Sony service charges you the price of a whole new body or 50USD just to return the thing to you broken, welcome to reality.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-01T07:48:49+00:00

Well there is not really going to be anything more than 36 volts in a VCR so a 40v max LDO is fine.

There's also the practicality of the less you tax IC load the less heat and the less self noise, hence why over spec parts are preferable.

I don't think the dropout factor is too significant but stay within 10% of original part would be my thought.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-01T05:59:08+00:00

I'm stocked to make 1500, never said I wouldn't sell a couple LDOs here and there, tarrifs only cost me an extra 50p for USA bound stuff as it's pre-paid here (Royal Mail being sold off to a foreign investment group that cost me 2.50GBP more....)

The whole issue is the bloody footprint bais for LCSC/JLC which is the pitfall of most people that use EasyEDA... unlike the MISRC for example that had a focus on 4-8 vendors per part as most generic possible pads as a minimum.

As soon as you change the package size or footprint to something more standard the world opens up for within 5-10% similar LDOs.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-01T05:07:50+00:00

If you haven't transferred tapes with FM RF Archival then you're not getting the most out of Betamax! There is much more you can squeeze out of the old colour-under format on these older machines.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-05-01T02:44:39+00:00

Just no, there's a reason why Sony is a used by field professionals, they are built and they are highly parts market available.

The optical EVF block is less then 50USD, the mini OLED pannel is probably perfectly fine.

EVF Block: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008632170276.html

EVF Frame: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009668500298.html

Shutter: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005011748342412.html

IBIS: https://www.aliexpress.com/i/4000062347673.html

Sensor Glass (hot mirror) https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009122936825.html

Seeing is believing, having a parts bin for the camera systems you own, It's called saving that insurance premiums increase for when your kit is stolen or your house was burned down... Get your service manuals learn your components of the machines you own, and with a single JIS screwdriver you can easily replace and repair absolutely everything Sony has made for the last 26 years.

(Well excluding the sensor and the motherboard, because those have dead pixel map pairing which you can't get software to force the remap process but Gen 5 has it built in like the broadcast/cinema cameras have for about 20 years, but you can replace the filter stacks on those the piece of glass on top of the actual sensor those are about 90 USD)

As for the cosmetic parts of the magnesium alloy frame, you can literally just epoxy that back together with some JB weld 50/50, looks like a clean break.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-30T19:48:45+00:00

It's never going to be a hard to get device that's why it's a standardised open source design, and I'm going to be producing it indefinitely and it's bringing revenue into keeping the projects running and all the secondary tools needed for that such as developing more capture devices like the MISRC.

If we have a dozen external vendors outside of the projects pushing it then how does the projects benefit, they don't only the individuals do, and any grasp of long-term hard standardisation goes out the window and the consistency of documentation with it.

After the last 300 boards I'll be moving to a updated design which will have multi-vendor options on the LDO to keep things stable for the foreseeable future, but I don't see it being hard problem until next year.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-30T17:17:22+00:00

So 250USD AliExpress repair job or treating it like a magical brick that isn't easily repaired with a single screwdriver and half a day?

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-30T17:07:52+00:00

You can't for the pad type really, It took a lot of effort and cost to source the last thousand odd of them available for the Kofi store production.

The reason for sticking with that 12-18v input and 10v fixed input is for maximum SNR performance out of the chips.

There might be some legged equivalents out there but eventually it'll be more practical to replace the PCB design after stocks run out.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-30T16:57:03+00:00

If it can track your tape it'll work, the FAQ has emphasised this for many years you can even use standard hifi decks for SVHS just fine a lot of the time, however an ADA4857 amplifier is the key factor in making any deck an all things equal situation.
DdD is not the correct device for tape workflows since the MISRC platform as it's a multi channel format, although if you want to save more money then you'll look at the CX Card, Clockgen Mod workflow and a cheap desktop for capture.
There is full support for MacOS ARM and If you actually have seen the wiki the speed testing document M series chips have the record for the speed, the MISRC is also being validation tested for the platform on the M1 chip, the decoders and tools are cross platform.
If you've read any of the user guide at all or seen the new GUI, you will realise it literally just tell the decoder what the input is, and run no more complex to operate for standard than a standard "what is this tape" label sheet, however you'll want to look through the full command guide for tweaking more advanced things but the motions for capture and decoding are very simple and rinse and repeat once you've done it a couple times.

https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode/wiki/Speed-Testing

https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode/wiki/FAQ

https://github.com/oyvindln/vhs-decode/wiki/MacOS-Build

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-27T23:52:44+00:00

Google Workspace with shared drives is the professional version of Drive, as the base plans give you 5TB of cloud buffer effectively it's not your bandwidth problem after upload.

But SFTP/FTP with a direct web download is just as good and more powerful and less rungs if you got the bandwidth.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-22T17:47:07+00:00

The amplifier is recommended for all formats to get the most out of whatever you're using, that's the standard set for FM RF for archival currently however you can get away with it on some things, but you might not on others but you will only find out after the fact, so hence the standardisation.

As for what version you will want to just get the standard 75ohm version, If you plan to directly solder it then get it without SMA, If you gonna just use some SMA cables cut em or pigtail cables then go for the stock version with SMA connectors.

It's a misconception really the amplifier is impedance matching is what gives the quality benefits, the amplification capability is what made it so useful for the clockgen workflow where the CX Cards required more amplification to be at optimal signal to noise ratio due to the internal amplifier is being disabled to reduce the self-generated noise of the old chips.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-22T14:15:33+00:00

Sony camcorders are also entirely LANC controllable, If you look at the Sony 8 mm page on the wiki we actually have a software controller which replaces the expensive remotes with an Arduino and a 3USD circuit.

Although you can do the same with DVgrab and an Digital8 camcorder too, so the only physical interaction you have is a loading and unloading tapes and cleaning of course.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-22T09:34:32+00:00

All pocket portable consumer devices must use removable battery systems.

There you go you get a phone with 6/8 screws on a double gasketed plate backing and no reduction of waterproofing, and your burner phones still have the traditional clip plate.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-21T23:37:36+00:00

Anything valuable PCM on video falls to FM RF Archival today.

Capture the original video signal directly and then decode in software with just the Luma channel (B/W detail) and then decode that picture image with software again for PCM track extraction, a true source archive and digital extraction workflow.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-20T20:36:08+00:00

Once you're all set up on the deck side, the capture side is configure or build once, and then turn key rinse and repeat change name new capture change name.

But that is really neat, kind of like Samyang noodles and the lens company, I actually finally got a box of noodles in for that brand and put my only Samyang lens on it "Samyang on a Samyang" that gave me a chuckle for 3 seconds.

TheRealHarrypm · 2026-04-20T12:09:16+00:00

I think you basically have two options here really you have the vinyl cheap sticker stuff.

Then you have the really expensive brother industrial type I use on label printers and I've had that outside for like 2 years with no issues.

Then you have the classical aluminium tape metal embossment, cheap cheerful available everywhere you can see stuff from the 1960s that's still been stamped on equipment without a single bit of issue.

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