Betamax, cleaning heads?

[Steptoes Son]

I recently acquired a Betamax video and a few tapes to go with it, I never owned a beta before, The machine seems to work fine, except on the playback of the tapes their are a few lines, noise, some tapes are better than others, I've played with the tracking and in some cases this helps, Does the heads need cleaning? has anyone any experience of this, I've used a cleaning tape with my vcr and that has cured simular problems, would a cleaning tape cure this for the beta too, any info from anyone who has used a beta in past would be of help. cheers

[DB7]

Probably be easier to take the lid off and clean the heads with a cotton bud dipped in alcohol.

[spinalman]

Originally Posted by DB7 Probably be easier to take the lid off and clean the heads with a cotton bud dipped in alcohol.

You will find it difficult to find a beta cleaning tape. IMHO I would also steer away from buds. if they snagg on the head they can misalign the head (unlikely though), or at best tear the bud and distribute the bud head around the VCR heads. I usually clean VHS, beta and Umatic heads (basically a giant betamax) with chamois cleaning cloths with a spray of isopropyl alcohol - or spray headcleaner. You can get flat "spatular" type cleaners but I prefer the chamois. It takes a bit of care, i usually place the damp chamois flat on the drum and rotate the top drum under the static chamois, without pressure. Check the chamois to see if you have removed residue. Allow any isopropyl to evapourate before running.

[image45]

I know ace people that still build,repair and use s-vhs,vhs,Beta & U-Matic machines so this is not an issue. They are in York in Yorkshire

[Dave Edwards]

Originally Posted by spinalman You will find it difficult to find a beta cleaning tape. IMHO I would also steer away from buds. if they snagg on the head they can misalign the head (unlikely though), or at best tear the bud and distribute the bud head around the VCR heads. I usually clean VHS, beta and Umatic heads (basically a giant betamax) with chamois cleaning cloths with a spray of isopropyl alcohol - or spray headcleaner. You can get flat "spatular" type cleaners but I prefer the chamois. It takes a bit of care, i usually place the damp chamois flat on the drum and rotate the top drum under the static chamois, without pressure. Check the chamois to see if you have removed residue. Allow any isopropyl to evapourate before running.

Gday Spine

Great advice you've given there, which i wholly concur with.
The only addition i would make is to ensure that the Isopropyl Alcohol being used is no more than 45% by volume.

[Harry]

Having worked on all formats of vcr repairs I must add that make sure the head is perfectly dry before reusing or you can end up with even more problems.
The best head cleaner is a business card held lightly flat against the drum as it spins ( but only lightly )
I have various new Betamax heads if needed

[lordtednfs]

The Betamax vs VHS Format War
Sony's Betamax video standard was introduced in 1975, followed a year later by JVC's VHS. For around a decade the two standards battled for dominance, with VHS eventually emerging as the winner.

The victory was not due to any technical superiority (Betamax is arguably a better format), but to several factors. Exactly how and why VHS won the war has been the subject of intense debate. The commonly-held belief is that the technically superior Betamax was beaten by VHS through slick marketing. In fact the truth is more complex and there were a number of reasons for the outcome.

Sony's founder, Akio Morita, claimed that licensing problems between Sony and other companies slowed the growth of Betamax and allowed VHS to become established. However most commentators have played down this issue and cited other reasons as being more important.

It is certainly true that VHS machines were initially much simpler and cheaper to manufacture, which would obviously be an attraction to companies deciding which standard to back. It has also been reported that Sony inadvertently gave its competitors a helping hand by revealing key aspects of Betamax technology which were then incorporated into VHS.

In any case, manufacturers divided themselves into two camps: On the Betamax side were Sony, Toshiba, Sanyo, NEC, Aiwa, and Pioneer. On the VHS side were JVC, Matsushita (Panasonic), Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sharp, and Akai.

For consumers, the most immediately obvious difference between the two formats was the recording length. Standard Betamax tapes lasted 60 minutes — not long enough to record a movie. Conversely, the 3-hour VHS tapes were perfect for recording television programmes and movies. Sony did adapt and offer various solutions for longer recording, but it was too late. The issue of recording time is often cited as the most defining factor in the war.

At some point and for some reason the choice of rental movies on VHS became better than Betamax. It is arguable how this situation came to be, but once it happened, there was no turning back. Bitter Betamax owners cringed in their ever-decreasing corner of the video store while VHS owners gloated.

___________________
Hooked off the line

[HIPPIEDAVE]

Betamax was much better than VHS, I had several really good machines, anyone remember V2000, I had a few of those too hehe.D

[Windthrop]

Originally Posted by HIPPIEDAVE Betamax was much better than VHS, I had several really good machines, anyone remember V2000, I had a few of those too hehe.D

V2000 good idea in concept - quickly reverted to VHS

[cletus awreetus]

Betamax should be pronounced "better max" and not "beater max" as the majority of people do.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by cletus awreetus Betamax should be pronounced "better max" and not "beater max" as the majority of people do.

Yes dear

Steve

[D Cairns]

"Betamax should be pronounced "better max" and not "beater max" as the majority of people do."

But there's no R in it! Given how the Greek letter is pronounced, wouldn't "bay-ta-max" be more correct? If anyone cares.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by D Cairns "Betamax should be pronounced "better max" and not "beater max" as the majority of people do." But there's no R in it! Given how the Greek letter is pronounced, wouldn't "bay-ta-max" be more correct? If anyone cares.

Most people (here at least) pronounce the Greek letter as "beater"

Steve

[batman]

"The "Betamax" name came from a double meaning: beta being the Japanese word used to describe the way signals were recorded onto the tape, and from the fact that when the tape ran through the transport it looked like the Greek letter "Beta" (β). The suffix -max came from "maximum" to suggest greatness."

... from Wikipedia ... I've always called it 'BeetaMax' but, like DCairns, I don't care what it's called. It was IMHO a better/beter/bater system than VHS.

Bats.

[tgunnell]

The Vhs tape wrap was called omega wrap for the same reason.betamax in my opinion was the better system only vhs won because most early machine were rented and vhs was easier to service and the top rental company thorn-emi was in partnership with jvc