In this case I would just give it a shot.

When I saw the noise bands produced playing a tape that had video but was overrecorded with audio on maybe tracks 3 and 4, it looked digital. You would think it some sort of frequency modulation or something but I doubt it after seeing that. If it is FM, there are only two frequencies involved.

America could be a good source for that part because it is a throwaway society. People are already forgetting what recording tape even is (was). Phones take better video than camcorders usually did, with certain exceptions maybe.

You may find that the thing works perfectly. The price should be right in the US, there might even be someone giving one away on Craigslist or something. The problem is shipping. It would be alot better to have someone who knows what they're doing pull the drum, pack it properly and ship it to save on that. It could just about go mail. The whole unit on the other hand would take a box and all that ****.

I imagine with the 1500 vs 1800 RPM disk speed, the audio tapes across the pond would be as incompatible as the video tapes.