By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 1990, The Syracuse Newspapers
What's the best way to copy a videotape?
Readers have been asking that question, in one form or another,
for years.
It's time to share the answer with everyone.
Copying from one video recorder to another is easy. But, believe
it or not, the best way of doing it may not be obvious.
Let's start with the basics. You don't need to have two VCRs to
make a copy. You can use one VCR and one camcorder, or one VCR
and one VCP (videocassette player).
The two machines don't have to use the same format. That means
you can play an 8mm tape on your camcorder and make a copy on
your VHS recorder, for example.
If you are using two VCRs, the next thing to do is to decide which
one should be the playing machine and which should do the recording.
Experts give conflicting advice on this: Some say the better VCR
should play the original tape, and others say the better one should
make the copy.
But I say you should ignore that kind of advice. Instead, find
out for yourself which way works better. Make some test copies
(using the method below) with your VCRs hooked up both ways-copying
from the first one to the second one and then the other way around.
Play the tapes you made back on both VCRs.
When you've decided which combination works best, put a piece
of masking tape on the back of each VCR and use it to label each
one. Write "master" on the back of the VCR that works
best as the playing machine and "slave" on the one that
works best as the recording machine.
(Or if that's too spicy, write "play" and "record"
instead.)
Now to the good stuff. When you hook one VCR (or camcorder) up
to another one, you should use the direct connections. They have
round metal bands around them with a small opening in the center.
They are the same type as the connectors on the back of a cassette
deck or hi-fi receiver, so if you're not sure what I am talking
about, look at a cassette deck or receiver.
These connectors are called "RCA" jacks or "phono"
jacks. Two of them will be marked "video" and will be
labeled "in" and "out" or "video in"
and "video out." (Sometimes the "in" connector
is called "record" and the "out" connector
is called "play.")
Plug an RCA-type cable into the "video out" jack of
the playing VCR. Plug the other end of this cable into the "video
in" jack of the recording VCR.
Then find the audio RCA-type jacks. If you have standard, monaural
VCRs, you'll have one pair of audio jacks. They'll be marked "audio
in" and "audio out." (As with the video connections,
sometimes "in" is called "record" and "out"
is called "play."
If you have stereo VCRs, you have "left" and "right"
jacks for the input and the output. (Note, however, that often
these jacks are simply color-coded instead of labeled; red always
means right, and the other color- whatever it is-always means
left.)
Plug an RCA-type cable into the "audio out" jack of
the playing VCR. The other end of that cable must be plugged into
the "audio in" jack of the recording VCR. Plug in left
and right cables if you have stereo VCRs.
You may have a problem if only one of your VCRs has stereo sound.
In that case, use a Y-connector to combine the left and right
cables of the stereo VCR into a single cable. You can buy Y-connectors
or any of the other cables mentioned here at any Radio Shack store.
It's also possible that one of your VCRs may not have the RCA-type
connections. Some old VCRs didn't have them. If that's the case,
you'll have to run a video cable (of the same type used for cable
TV) from one VCR to the other. Plug the cable into the screw-in
connectors on the back of the VCR, using the "out" jack
of the playing VCR and the "in" jack of the recording
VCR.
Now you're ready to record. Make sure you adjust the tracking
control of the playing VCR, and be sure to set the proper audio
level if you have a VHS Hi-Fi deck as the recording VCR.
Use good tape in the recording machine, and clean the heads if
you haven't done it lately.
That's all there is to it.
technofile:
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