VCR ACCESSORIES

     Dubbing equipment is anything associated with recording. You'll need cables, boosters, splitters, blah, blah, blah, You can't just set the units side by side and start recording. 

     You may have to shop around for best prices and availability. I will tell you though that for some of this stuff, Radio Shack, and Best Buy stores are great places to find things. Even Target, Wallmart, & Kmart can come through with some goodies from time to time...

Best dubbing cables?
     1. S-video cables if you can use them are great with the best signal transfer.
     2. RCA Jacks are next. Get the cables with the  Gold plated ends. 
     3. Last we be using Coax Cables. Make sure that the cables are good quality, and the ends are terminated properly. Many say no, but I recommend using the gold slide tips shown below.  These are great if you need to change your connections or move the units. Keep your cable lengths to the minimum if you can. The shorter the cable the less degradation you'll have with the signal.


Coax Slide on Tips

Improve cable signal.
     Get a Power/Signal Booster Unit (Radio Shack). Available for coax and RCA jack styles. (see image 1 & 2 below)
      1.   Both types plug into the wall outlet for power.
      2.   Coax unit has one input and either 4 or 6 six outputs. RCA unit has one input and three outputs. (radio shack $35. see image 1)
      3.   RCA version has one input and three outputs. (see image 2)
      4.   These units will to increase/improve a poor signal. They are necessary if you are splitting the signal several ways. 


IMAGE 1
IMAGE 2

 

SPLITTERS

VIDEO SELECTOR: this unit has four inputs and one output. a MUST for the videophile. Great for taking all your equipment outputs to one output unit. The most basic being all those outputs to a single television or VCR unit. Users can then simply select the device to record from. These are simple signal splitters and require no outside power source to work. 

I am currently using the unit seen here to take my laserdisc player and VHS outputs into my receiver and using the one output there to one of my televisions. I now have the ability to switch between the two. For some reason this style can be hard to find. I picked this one up at a recent computer show.
COAX SPLITTERS: 

There are several types of splitters available. Most split one input signal into two or more outputs. The most common use is to split your cable signal to two or more pieces of equipment or taking an output signal to two or more places. You might want to split the signal from a VCR to another VCR and a television set. Their price is very cheap and this is another item you can pick up at Radioshack or any other Wallmart type store.

 Video enhancers/Copyguard removers...
     1.  This is tough. There are quite brands and only a few that really work. Some put the copyguard onto the new tape and others completely remove it. Either way you have to shop around for a good one or talk to someone who has a newer unit that works.
     2.   These units also enhance a signal by removing fuzziness or just cleaning up lousy cable signal.
     3.   Price on these go from $30 to $150. And the higher the price does not mean it will work better. Ask around and keep your receipt to return it if it doesn't work right.
     4.   These are great little units when they work. Just cleaning up a dirty signal is worth the cost to the collector.
     5.    If you are going to dub a DVD then you will need a $100 unit. Can't remember the name of the product though. Not just any unit will do. There is only one, so far, that really works.
     6.    VHS Copyguard Removers: You can use the...
1 Clearline Concepts (cost about $39.95 & I don't know where you can find one either) 
2 SIMA COPYMASTER  @ $69.95. I am told by several users that this one works great.
3 SIMA Video Clarifier @ $43.90 No one has said this one works, but Sima claims that it does. 
      7.    DVD Copyguard Remover: Don't know which ones works. You can always ask in alt.video.tape-trading & alt.videos.bootlegs newsgroups. 

Cable Notes:
     1.  Try to keep the cable length to the minimum you need. Coiling up a lot of extra coax can give you some static bleed. Plus many cable companies are not using the best cables either. 
     2.   If you have a long cable run through your house to get to the TV then it is a good idea to use the signal booster mentioned earlier. If your already along way from the neighborhood junction box or in a large neighborhood with limited transformers the booster will help quite a bit. 
     3.   Make sure the ends are terminated correctly. The inside coax should stick out to the edge of the twist tip. 

NOTE:   If your cable signal is bad with static running through or it is fuzzy, you can have the cable company come out and check the signal strength. If the signal is weak they can add a booster at the junction box, and if that doesn't help much they can put another unit on your house to boost the signal to acceptable levels.  Your cable company will not just tell you this, you HAVE to ask them about it.  If you aren't complaining they aren't going to care, much less do anything about it for you. "He who cries the loudest, gets the most."

scifi

 

 
 

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