Does anybody have any experience with the Sencore VC93 All Format VCR
Analyzer? I would appreciate any input, good or bad.

It's probably a nice piece, but Sencore is really expensive. It better have
all the latest HD formats.

I love it when Sencore says their piece will practically fix units for you,
and provide all test signals now and in the future, then one year later, or
less, try to sell you the next wiz-bang box.

Mark Z.


"Patrick T. Caezza" wrote in message
...
Does anybody have any experience with the Sencore VC93 All Format VCR
Analyzer? I would appreciate any input, good or bad.

On Sat, 8 Jan 2005 05:46:19 -0600, "Mark D. Zacharias"
wrote:

It's probably a nice piece, but Sencore is really expensive. It better have
all the latest HD formats.

Or pick one up on eBay for about a couple hundred dollars.

Alan Harriman



I love it when Sencore says their piece will practically fix units for you,
and provide all test signals now and in the future, then one year later, or
less, try to sell you the next wiz-bang box.

Mark Z.


"Patrick T. Caezza" wrote in message
.. .
Does anybody have any experience with the Sencore VC93 All Format VCR
Analyzer? I would appreciate any input, good or bad.

On Sat, 08 Jan 2005 08:36:38 -0500, Alan Harriman
wrote:

On Sat, 8 Jan 2005 05:46:19 -0600, "Mark D. Zacharias"
wrote:

It's probably a nice piece, but Sencore is really expensive. It better have
all the latest HD formats.

Or pick one up on eBay for about a couple hundred dollars.



We have one in perfect conditon at $495. See it at
http://www.anatekcorp.com/consignment/consignm.htm

Our consignment equipment carries a guarantee - you do not often get
that on ebay.

John
AnaTek Corporation
The Electronic Repair Center www.anatekcorp.com
Professional electronic repair discussion at
www.anatekcorp.com/elrepair/elrepair.htm

Has Sencore ever made anything that lived up to how they represented it? I've certainly never
seen anything from them I considered well built or reliable.

--
Stephen Sank, Owner & Ribbon Mic Restorer
Talking Dog Transducer Company
http://stephensank.com
5517 Carmelita Drive N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico [87111]
505-332-0336
Auth. Nakamichi & McIntosh servicer
Payments preferred through Paypal.com
"Mark D. Zacharias" wrote in message ...
It's probably a nice piece, but Sencore is really expensive. It better have
all the latest HD formats.

I love it when Sencore says their piece will practically fix units for you,
and provide all test signals now and in the future, then one year later, or
less, try to sell you the next wiz-bang box.

Mark Z.


"Patrick T. Caezza" wrote in message
...
Does anybody have any experience with the Sencore VC93 All Format VCR
Analyzer? I would appreciate any input, good or bad.

I have used their equipment for 20+ years and found that some of it is very
good and very useful, but I would not consider the stuff made recently all
that great in reliability. I have an old VA62 that is far more reliable
than the replacement for it (which I also have). Some of their equipment is
great and has some unique features that save lots of time. I find that most
people never take the time to learn how to use it, so they don't benefit
from it. The HV drive test on the VA62 is a good example. I have
identified many bad transformers that had a good ring test. Also, on the
cap tester the DA test has identified many bad caps causing strange symptoms
that test OK for ESR and capacitance.

The newer equipment that we bought about 6 years ago has been rather
unreliable, however. Of 7 pieces, only the CR7000 (which has paid for
itself several times over) has never broken, and some of them need constant
maintenance of bad connections between boards.

Overall, I'd say the stuff can be very useful, but very much overpriced.

Leonard

"Stephen Sank" wrote in message
...
Has Sencore ever made anything that lived up to how they represented it?
I've certainly never
seen anything from them I considered well built or reliable.

--
Stephen Sank, Owner & Ribbon Mic Restorer
Talking Dog Transducer Company
http://stephensank.com
5517 Carmelita Drive N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico [87111]
505-332-0336
Auth. Nakamichi & McIntosh servicer
Payments preferred through Paypal.com
"Mark D. Zacharias" wrote in message
...
It's probably a nice piece, but Sencore is really expensive. It better
have
all the latest HD formats.

I love it when Sencore says their piece will practically fix units for
you,
and provide all test signals now and in the future, then one year later,
or
less, try to sell you the next wiz-bang box.

Mark Z.


"Patrick T. Caezza" wrote in message
...
Does anybody have any experience with the Sencore VC93 All Format VCR
Analyzer? I would appreciate any input, good or bad.

Yes, its awesome. They are expensive, but people want free support and
training and dont want to pay for it, so Sencore like some other OEMs,
charges a much higher sale price to capture the difference

Ive had and used very old Sencore tools that still worked perfectly after
decades of use


"Patrick T. Caezza" wrote in message
...
Does anybody have any experience with the Sencore VC93 All Format VCR
Analyzer? I would appreciate any input, good or bad.

Sencore equipment is generaly very good in quality. At this time
however, I would not be investing too many dedicated tools for
servicing VCR's. They are slowly being phased out.

I am finding that some of the HiFi stores over here no longer have
VCR's in stock. The customer has to order one in advance.

As for doing VCR service, you would be best off to troubleshoot them
with a good scope, good DVM, test tapes, ESR meter, and video test
generator. At least when there are no more VCR's around to
troubleshoot, you can use all of these instruments, except for the test
tapes, for very much of all the other types of electronics out there.

You should be finding now, that the many of the replacement parts for
many of the VCR's are getting very scare to find.

Jerry G.
======

Yes VCRs are trying to be phased out, but I dont believe it will fully
happen. DVDs are too fragile, the tivos are disk drives that are prone to
crash, but the VHS video tape is a zillion times more rugged than anything
Ive ever heard of, although in fairness you could get a DVD wet and other
stuff you couldnt do with tape

But just like cassette tape thats still very much in use, vcrs should be
around at least 20 years more

There always will be servo systems, I dont recall details about the vc93
model but servos are here to stay, if it will adapt?? then its worth it at
twice the price

"Jerry G." wrote in message
oups.com...
Sencore equipment is generaly very good in quality. At this time
however, I would not be investing too many dedicated tools for
servicing VCR's. They are slowly being phased out.

I am finding that some of the HiFi stores over here no longer have
VCR's in stock. The customer has to order one in advance.

As for doing VCR service, you would be best off to troubleshoot them
with a good scope, good DVM, test tapes, ESR meter, and video test
generator. At least when there are no more VCR's around to
troubleshoot, you can use all of these instruments, except for the test
tapes, for very much of all the other types of electronics out there.

You should be finding now, that the many of the replacement parts for
many of the VCR's are getting very scare to find.

Jerry G.
======

"Bradley1234" wrote in message
news:Ov2Ed.6257$lG.2544@trnddc03...
Yes VCRs are trying to be phased out, but I dont believe it will fully
happen. DVDs are too fragile,


That's just not true, DVD discs are very durable, so long as you don't abuse
them too much they'll hold up to flexing, moisture, heat, cold, vibration,
dirt, magnetism, defective players, etc. They're a non-contact media so they
don't wear out. Tapes stretch, tangle, get contaminated, are sensitive to
heat, as well as they simply wear out and degrade with time and a busted VCR
can easily destroy an irreplaceable family video in moments. Not to mention
the convenience factor, DVD's are very compact, lightweight and easy to
store and catalog. The picture quality is leaps and bounds ahead of VHS and
the players are mechanically simpler, lighter, more compact and inexpensive.
The random-access feature is also a real convenience.

VCR's will still have a niche market, but I suspect within a few years
they'll be quite rare in homes, the units that are out there will either be
very high end professional decks, or very low end disposable consumer junk.
Even today I know very few people who still use their VCR and even fewer who
would pay to repair or replace it if it ever broke. Just as happened with
typewriters 2 decades ago this once-ubiquitous piece of equipment is on it's
way out, there will be a few kicking around for a long time to come but the
days of just about everybody owning one are over.


That said, I will agree with others that Sencore makes some excellent though
overpriced (IMO) equipment. Things like their VCR analyzer though are really
intended for high volume repairs where efficiency is a large concern. For
the occasional deck that comes in I would be surprised if a specialized test
setup is really nessesary, a great many techs survived the heyday of the VCR
using common service equipment, seems like a waste of money to buy an
expensive piece of equipment you'll likely rarely use.

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:w93Ed.1464$F97.167@trnddc06...

"Bradley1234" wrote in message
news:Ov2Ed.6257$lG.2544@trnddc03...
Yes VCRs are trying to be phased out, but I dont believe it will fully
happen. DVDs are too fragile,


That's just not true, DVD discs are very durable, so long as you don't
abuse
them too much they'll hold up to
flexing, moisture,

heat, cold, vibration,

heat? dirt,

dirt?? scratch the surface too much and its over, put a dent in there and
the disk wont play anymore


magnetism, defective players, etc. They're a non-contact media so they
don't wear out.

right, mostly non contact but there are DVDs made to wear out after a few
plays arent there? the rental ones?

Tapes stretch, tangle, get contaminated, are sensitive to
heat, as well as they simply wear out and degrade with time and a busted
VCR
can easily destroy an irreplaceable family video in moments.

yes, but so can a faulty DVD player. I had one do it, sounded like a
blender going off and the disk was ruined

Not to mention
the convenience factor, DVD's are very compact, lightweight and easy to
store and catalog. The picture quality is leaps and bounds ahead of VHS
and
the players are mechanically simpler, lighter, more compact and
inexpensive.
The random-access feature is also a real convenience.

compact, better digital picture, more features but VHS is more rugged, mag
tape recording technology is out there, its like why didnt the US switch
over to the metric system? Its this or that, so much better? When I design
mechanical assemblies, its exclusively with US measures, not metric.

video tape works, there are too many tapes to convert over to disk, they are
and will be like the cassette. 8 track and records? They were great but
the media wore out too fast.

What happens when the vcr gets dirty? clean it. if the DVD mechanism gets
dirty? maybe once or twice it can be cleaned, then its scrap. Lasers burn
out, so side by side the vcr transport is more rugged, people stick with
what works.

Im betting on the vcr for many years to come, DVD? it will probably fade
when something better comes along, they are great for what they do, but DVDs
are not a replacement for the vcr

Do you realize what happens to tape as it ages? Try playing a 10 year old
tape a few times. Try playing a 20 year old tape a few times. You will
likely clog a head.

I don't think you will have the same sort of problem with a DVD. VHS will
fade away like Beta did. Sure, there will be a niche market, but no one is
going to make much of a living working mostly on VCRs anymore.

Leonard

"Bradley1234" wrote in message
news:QcdEd.1607$F97.1131@trnddc06...

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:w93Ed.1464$F97.167@trnddc06...

"Bradley1234" wrote in message
news:Ov2Ed.6257$lG.2544@trnddc03...
Yes VCRs are trying to be phased out, but I dont believe it will fully
happen. DVDs are too fragile,


That's just not true, DVD discs are very durable, so long as you don't
abuse
them too much they'll hold up to
flexing, moisture,

heat, cold, vibration,

heat? dirt,

dirt?? scratch the surface too much and its over, put a dent in there and
the disk wont play anymore


magnetism, defective players, etc. They're a non-contact media so they
don't wear out.

right, mostly non contact but there are DVDs made to wear out after a few
plays arent there? the rental ones?

Tapes stretch, tangle, get contaminated, are sensitive to
heat, as well as they simply wear out and degrade with time and a busted
VCR
can easily destroy an irreplaceable family video in moments.

yes, but so can a faulty DVD player. I had one do it, sounded like a
blender going off and the disk was ruined

Not to mention
the convenience factor, DVD's are very compact, lightweight and easy to
store and catalog. The picture quality is leaps and bounds ahead of VHS
and
the players are mechanically simpler, lighter, more compact and
inexpensive.
The random-access feature is also a real convenience.

compact, better digital picture, more features but VHS is more rugged, mag
tape recording technology is out there, its like why didnt the US switch
over to the metric system? Its this or that, so much better? When I
design
mechanical assemblies, its exclusively with US measures, not metric.

video tape works, there are too many tapes to convert over to disk, they
are
and will be like the cassette. 8 track and records? They were great but
the media wore out too fast.

What happens when the vcr gets dirty? clean it. if the DVD mechanism gets
dirty? maybe once or twice it can be cleaned, then its scrap. Lasers burn
out, so side by side the vcr transport is more rugged, people stick with
what works.

Im betting on the vcr for many years to come, DVD? it will probably fade
when something better comes along, they are great for what they do, but
DVDs
are not a replacement for the vcr

whist the quality, convenience and technical superiority of of DVD
can't really be questioned, I think there will still exist a place for
the VCR for some time to come.

I also think it is also a "generational" thing - older folk won't be
too concerned about keping up with the trends and for simple time
shifting and viewing their collections, that old vcr will do just fine
thank-you. These people are arguably the least likely to buy into DVD
or have the know how/inclination to transfer tapes to dvd on a
recorder. I still get the odd repair request for VCRS and regularly
sell refurb units.

Volume and numbers also enter the pictu There are so many Videos
around, they are not going to disappear as fast as some make out. look
at vinyl LPs - although they are only sold in a few specialist outlets,
the sheer amount of used ones floating around is phenomenal, there is a
thriving second hand and collectors' market and many people still have
a turntable at home (again, a generational thing: mostly either the
older generation (I include myself!) and some younger people (often
with DJ /scratch/ dance music interests).
I personally use both VCR and DVD formats, they have their own
strengths and weaknesses.

just my 0.02 worth!
regards, Ben

heat, cold, vibration,

heat? dirt,

dirt?? scratch the surface too much and its over, put a dent in there and
the disk wont play anymore



Dirt != Scratch. Yes scratches are bad, but they have to be fairly deep to
trip up a good player. As long as they're on the front side they can be
polished out as well.


right, mostly non contact but there are DVDs made to wear out after a few
plays arent there? the rental ones?


There were some with degradeable dye that came out for a short while, it was
a ridiculous idea and was quickly scrapped. Even the writeable DVD's are
supposed to last 10-20+ years, pressed discs should last much longer unless
they're defective and delaminate.

yes, but so can a faulty DVD player. I had one do it, sounded like a
blender going off and the disk was ruined


Pretty rare though, I've seen this exactly once, failed capacitor in the PSU
of a cheap Apex player caused it to eject while the disc was spinning. I
can't count the number of tapes I've had destroyed by a VCR when the takeup
spool didn't wind, threading mechanism jammed, etc.



compact, better digital picture, more features but VHS is more rugged, mag
tape recording technology is out there, its like why didnt the US switch
over to the metric system? Its this or that, so much better? When I
design
mechanical assemblies, its exclusively with US measures, not metric.

video tape works, there are too many tapes to convert over to disk, they
are
and will be like the cassette. 8 track and records? They were great but
the media wore out too fast.


Switching to the metric system (would have been nice) would require a huge
overhaul of the entire infrastructure, factories with machine tools,
textbooks, measuring devices, road signs, gas pumps, etc. The switch to DVD
is almost complete, new movies all come out on DVD first, VHS is an
afterthought and goes to the bargain bin. Something new will come along
eventually but I suspect there will be backward compatibility as it's not
hard to implement. Our existing DVD collections will play on modern players
many years ahead.

What happens when the vcr gets dirty? clean it. if the DVD mechanism gets
dirty? maybe once or twice it can be cleaned, then its scrap. Lasers burn
out, so side by side the vcr transport is more rugged, people stick with
what works.


If the laser burns out, throw away the player and pick up a new one with the
latest features for $50-$75. They last as long as VCR's, unless you buy a
$1500 professional deck or are lucky enough to have a high end Sony or
Panasonic from the early 90's. It'd be nice if "people stick with what
works" but in america that seems not to be the case, people hop on the
latest and greatest bandwagon. I tend to stick with what works when I can,
but in this case something else came along that was clearly superior. I
could still ride a horse to work if I wanted, but it's hard to argue that it
would work better than taking a car.

Im betting on the vcr for many years to come, DVD? it will probably fade
when something better comes along, they are great for what they do, but
DVDs
are not a replacement for the vcr


Bet what you want, but it's pretty clear VHS is the one that's fading. DVD
is outselling VCR's 10 to 1. I wish you luck making a living repairing them
but urge you to proceed cautiously. I haven't had someone bring me a VCR to
fix in at least 5 years and when I have picked up even reasonably nice Hi-Fi
units I can only get $15-$25 for them in good working condition. 5 years ago
I was getting $100 for them, and I could get $25 for even a low end cheapy,
today I can't even give away something that's not 4 head hi-fi, ended up
thowing away an old Funai and gave a Panasonic 2 head fully working with a
remote to the local thrift store after trying unsuccessfully to give them
away for free for several weeks. If you like the technology that's great,
keep and maintain some nice units for yourself, I have a couple of high-end
Sony's I fixed up, but in the end I don't remember the last time I've used
them.