Pansonic super VHS NV FS 88B video recorder

[fourbanks]

Hi
I'm thinking of adding this model to my collection does anyone have any additional information with regards this model as i have been unable to find anything on it from the web which is most unusual


many thanks

[mammo1789]

Hm its seems identical to NV FS 200 but a bit older ( about 2 years older) here is some review of it http://www.rickmaybury.com/Altarcs/homent/he94/svhs3.htm i don't think it has TBC but probably better noise reduction than FS 200 ( the most respectable Panasonic here ) here it is user manual http://www.nodevice.com/user_manual/panasonic/cameras1/nv-fs88.html
if you are member of digital Faq -LS site a respectable member here, you can download the service manual here http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/video-restore/2709-service-manual-panasonic.html. If I find something else i will post here

many thanks

That's what we are here for

[fourbanks]

Thanks i will try to get this model to go with my high end jvc 9500 i have a few other models from the nightie's but when they started to be built in Germany to all suffer badly with not been able to be switched on problems

I had for my liking the very finest of jvc's made in japan non super VHS just standard built around 1998 cost £500 and after five years of use it went wrong so i sold it cheep only now to find the fix of not switching on was £30
i cant remember the model number but for picture quality was Superior to super VHS and if i can track down the model will certainly get another

[mammo1789]

i cant remember the model number but for picture quality was Superior to super VHS and if i can track down the model will certainly get another

I don't believe that vhs has superior picture quality over svhs machine ( especially the most famous ones) maube some can have better tracking which I also doubt. Some like more JVC some Panasonic but i think that for restoration i good SVHS machine is must. https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/286055-VCR-buying-guide-%28S-VHS-D-VHS-Professional%29
I'm personally very happy with Panasonic have 3 of them 2 NV hs 1000 and 1 FS200 before i had and sold 4 "ordinary" vhs machines and i can tell you that the PQ difference is night and day

[fourbanks]

Thanks mammo
so if i have this right the
Pansonic super VHS NV FS 88B video recorder was the first of the super vhs's to be built ? well as i say i hope to add it to my collection

[fourbanks]

PANASONIC NV-FS200B S-VHS looks very interesting but would think they were as good as each other ?

Also i have been looking for a review for the jvc 9500 if anyone should come across it
thanks

[mammo1789]

Also i have been looking for a review for the jvc 9500 if anyone should come across it

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/214184-JVC-SVHS-VCRs
9500 its an old model ( but i have 5800 which is even older than 9500 not tbc or anything but i like it for some tapes better than the Panasonic ones)
If you ask me personally nv 1000 has sharper picture than fs200 and its newer ( but for me ugly er) but also introduces more noise ( my home compassion). Unfortunately in my country it is very difficult to find good second hand video equipment because the one of my vcrs looked very bitten up when i bought it luckily only from outside.

As i sad before i don't have much information on fs88b maybe more experienced should give you some advice.

As I understand you already have some svhs jvc right ?
May i ask why do you need another, do you do some restoration or transferring of some tapes.

I don't whant to sound like LS but if you have only 1-5 home made tapes maybe its better to give to pros to do the job for you much quicker much better and probably much cheaper

[fourbanks]

Hi mammo
I am just a collector of svhs that's all i couldn't get the SB NV FS 200 S-VHS so i have had to make do with the Pansonic super VHS NV FS 88B which i got from ebay for £49
I have 3 other jvc svhs models but they are just standard but new but am always looking to increase my range and hopefully over time will collect a few more

[mammo1789]

I am just a collector of svhs

You do realize this is long gone dead format. If i didn't had so much tapes around 200 which i slowly transfer because i don't have enough time, and do some transferring and restoring jobs for friends and colleges, i would just put flash drive in my 40 inch tv and watch it ( mp4 or xvid files) of movies from internet or what ever, or watching and recording sat tv on my pc is way much easier and way higher quality.
So don't get me wrong but i don't think its wise to invest in electronic equipment almost 2 decades old just for watching or collecting (only if there is small number of these left in the future past 2050 and you can sell it as rarity for >1mil $.)

If only I colud find someone to sell my old marantz golden series I will be very happy

[fourbanks]

Hi mammo
it's not the cost i just like at my age of 60 to be in control and not dictated by some young business guy who hasn't a clue other then making money selling a load of rubbish if that makes sense

[fourbanks]

Hi guys
i won the bidding for the PANASONIC SUPER VHS NV FS 88B VIDEO RECORDER which is in perfect condition and looks great
does anyone know where i can get a new remote for it as it didn't come with one also a manual if i can find one
thanks

ps
could it be this one ?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280771637137

[fourbanks]

Well guys i spoke to soon it is in perfect condition however the picture quality is poor so i guess i spoke to soon as it probably needs a new head and that's coming up at £300 from panasonic
If anyone knows of where i can get a head cheaper then i will get the unit restored but £300 plus all the other bits i might need may make it not worth it shame as the casework is good
does anyone know the stock code or point me in a direction for the head drum for this model ?
thanks

[sanlyn]

That's not unreasonable for a quality head replacement. As someone who once had Panasonic heads replaced with cheap 3rd-party units, I can tell you that the cheapies are as bad as worn heads. Get genuine Panasonic heads, or Panny-authorized heads specifically made for your machine.

[mammo1789]

I don't want to say I told you so but i never tough buying from ebay or else is a good idea. mine last vcr i bought from another town i went there with bus 100 miles, in my country costs in both direction 5 euros so i saw the machine sat drank tea talked to the guy tested for an hour and then i left home with the vcr. Maybe I'm old fashioned but i don't like online auctions you never know what you get. 300 pounds for vcr head for that kind of money you can find good vcr like jvc 9600 or ag1980 + tbc + dvd recorder es 15 or alike.

How do you know that the heads need replacement maybe they are dirty?

[fourbanks]

The guy that sold it to me has very kindly offered me a refund so i will have to try again at some point
The trouble is in that a lot of people don't know on how the picture should look as they don't have any experience they buy something they like and think that is how it should be without questioning it and then go on to sell years down the line saying it's great when it's far from that

[sanlyn]

for that kind of money you can find good vcr like jvc 9600 or ag1980....

Agreed, eBay isn't that great for hradware, but (a) jvc 9600, no parts support, won't play damaged or old VHS. (b) ag1980, replacement heads cost more than those discussed. (c) es15: any available are long in the tooth by now, and were bottom-of-the-line with optical drive problems, inferior encoder to earlier models, and poor power supply filtering puts noise in images. High-end "legacy" VCR's in good condition are rare, and not cheap. Even 5-year-old DVD recorders from higher-end Toshiba, Pioneer, and SONY in working order sell for more than they did when new. Their disappearance from the marketplace is due to industry-wide policy: they don't want you making your own recordings, period.

[NJRoadfan]

DVD recorders went away mostly because of the 2005 ATSC tuner requirement and lack of sales thanks to DVRs.

[sanlyn]

DVD recorders went away mostly because of the 2005 ATSC tuner requirement and lack of sales thanks to DVRs.

You can't burn to disc from most DVR's. Reason No.2 for disappearance: if the "average consumer" couldn't program VCR or set an alarm clock, they sure couldn't operate a DVD recorder.

[mammo1789]

but (a) jvc 9600, no parts support ; ag1980, replacement heads cost more than those discussed

You Americans always look for support ( no hard feeling joking).
I had trough my hands 2 jvc 9600 ( in excellent conditions i mean the plastic was still there and there was plastic on the remote with factory telephone and manual, one 5800 ( which was and it is brand new in 2011 i kid you not I keep that by the way) I buy them for <200$ ( all of them )and sell the 9600 for 215$ to a guy that wanted to record music on them ?! and lecture me how the quality of vhs for music is better than flac or dvd audio or mp3. I bought the last vcr panny fs 200 ( ag1980) i was looking for it in another town, in excellent condition i from a guy and tested it almost 2 hours I trough all the bad tapes that i got on it, keep switching the switches like crazy, opened the case in front of him saw the heads clean and in good condition, and finally got home with it . The price <100$. I bought the es15 for 67$ and e55 for 5$ ( it had problem recording it was the ic regulator that switches off on the power board, known problem of these machines over at avs, which cost me 3$ for part and i replaced for 0$, 8$ total - one pica in my local pizeria )
I live in the ex socialist country by the way where washing machines in the 80s had cost 3 years average salary and buying car was harder than buying mention in 5th avenue

My point is i don't want to be smart ass, I highly appreciate all of you guys here and learn allot from you and i want to bring some of my knowledge and experience back to these community.

In the time of economic recession i don't think is reasonable to buy heads for vcr ( absolite product )that cost around 500$,when you can buy all the stuff that i mentioned for that money and you must agree that that's better price performance than just Panasonic fs88. Thats why i asked fourbanks what is the purpose of him buying another vcr if he has one already (i didn't want him to spend money on unnecessary things). Its like in the mid 90s when in my country started corporate revolution people were buying shares in companies just to have one ( it didnt matter to them how the company preformed or what is the purpose of owning stock)

By the way i think fourbanks lives in US and im sure that you guys can find a lot of electronic equipment much easier than we do and for less money because you are much bigger and have bigger market.

As for ebay its like taking online with a "hot chick" when you really talking with fat ugly dud nothing beats the "live" contact equipment or women

Reason No.2 for disappearance: if the "average consumer" couldn't program a VCR or set an alarm clock, they sure couldn't operate a DVD recorder.

[fourbanks]

but (a) jvc 9600, no parts support ; ag1980, replacement heads cost more than those discussed

You Americans always look for support ( no hard feeling joking).
I had trough my hands 2 jvc 9600 ( in excellent conditions i mean the plastic was still there and there was plastic on the remote with factory telephone and manual, one 5800 ( which was and it is brand new in 2011 i kid you not I keep that by the way) I buy them for <200$ ( all of them )and sell the 9600 for 215$ to a guy that wanted to record music on them ?! and lecture me how the quality of VHS for music is better than flac or DVD audio or mp3. I bought the last VCR panny fs 200 ( ag1980) i was looking for it in another town, in excellent condition i from a guy and tested it almost 2 hours I trough all the bad tapes that i got on it, keep switching the switches like crazy, opened the case in front of him saw the heads clean and in good condition, and finally got home with it . The price <100$. I bought the es15 for 67$ and e55 for 5$ ( it had problem recording it was the ic regulator that switches off on the power board, known problem of these machines over at avs, which cost me 3$ for part and i replaced for 0$, 8$ total - one pica in my local pizeria )
I live in the ex socialist country by the way where washing machines in the 80s had cost 3 years average salary and buying car was harder than buying mention in 5th avenue

My point is i don't want to be smart ass, I highly appreciate all of you guys here and learn allot from you and i want to bring some of my knowledge and experience back to these community.

In the time of economic recession i don't think is reasonable to buy heads for VCR ( absolite product )that cost around 500$,when you can buy all the stuff that i mentioned for that money and you must agree that that's better price performance than just Panasonic fs88. Thats why i asked fourbanks what is the purpose of him buying another VCR if he has one already (i didn't want him to spend money on unnecessary things). Its like in the mid 90s when in my country started corporate revolution people were buying shares in companies just to have one ( it didn't matter to them how the company preformed or what is the purpose of owning stock)

By the way i think fourbanks lives in US and I'm sure that you guys can find a lot of electronic equipment much easier than we do and for less money because you are much bigger and have bigger market.

As for ebay its like taking online with a "hot chick" when you really talking with fat ugly dud nothing beats the "live" contact equipment or women

Reason No.2 for disappearance: if the "average consumer" couldn't program a VCR or set an alarm clock, they sure couldn't operate a DVD recorder.

I live in the UK but as i said above i' am just a collector of good vcr's. DVD recorders are to be stopped being made and Sony has pulled out of the market the others will be following shortly

[sanlyn]

In agreement with most of what fourbanks says. As an "outlaw" American who buys good merchandise, I keep it going as long as I can. I'm afraid my countrymen are in forever-disposable mode, where anything created or manufactured more than 15 minutes ago is "obsolete". I think I am atypical. I keep a 1998 laptop with Windows 3.1 (!) for old VisualBasic 2.0 databases. Have hundreds of VHS tapes I'm still transferring in my semi-retirement, a SONY 1991 VCR (rebuilt for more than it cost new, which wasn't cheap even back then). And so forth. The theory of expendability around here goes into the arts as well, as no classical music has been recorded here for 20 years, and New York City has only one classical music FM station. When we travel to the UK or Europe we see that people hang onto everything longer, almost every home is a treasure trove of archeological relics, and there is a sense of continuing history in all things. In the U.S. the lifespan of a brand-new shopping center here six blocks long is less than 10 or 15 years: a new one will be built, just like it, 1/4 mile down the road. The old one will decay into a slum in short order. There are no 1000 year old cathedrals or estates, no bridges 2000 years old. Waste is rampant, often ruthless, and something of a matter of policy. Amazing.

[fourbanks]

Well i have won the bid on this model and just hope it performs as the seller states

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170737528514&clk_rvr_id=291967418...torefresh=true

[fourbanks]

Well i have won the bid on this model and just hope it performs as the seller states

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170737528514&clk_rvr_id=291967418...torefresh=true

If anyone should come across the owners manual to this model could they please let me know
thanks

[2Bdecided]

sell the 9600 for 215$ to a guy that wanted to record music on them ?! and lecture me how the quality of vhs for music is better than flac or dvd audio or mp3.

That's hilarious. It was one of the best things available at home (apart from DAT) back when it was invented, but now...!

The apparent high quality (measured SNR of 90dB) is a trick, achieved with a compander and pre+de-emphasis. Try recording some high frequency tones, and hear what noise is in the background when the compander opens up and the pre-emph maxes out! That same noise is sitting just below all signals you record onto Hi-Fi VHS.

Excellent wow + flutter peformance, and pretty good distortion performance, for an analogue medium.

Better than FLAC or DVD Audio?!

Cheers,
David.

[2Bdecided]

(c) es15: any available are long in the tooth by now, and were bottom-of-the-line with optical drive problems, inferior encoder to earlier models, and poor power supply filtering puts noise in images.

You don't need the drive or encoder for pass through. Haven't noticed any noise issues.

Cheers,
David.

[sanlyn]

2BDecided, there are vague floating gray bars on captures I made with that unit as pass-thru. They show up just watching TV through its inputs. I even hooked the thing to a very pricey AC power scrubber/regulator, but it didn't help. But I saw internet posts in the long-ago past that noted this complaint, and a suggestion with a 50-cent capacitor that fixes it. Later models might have that fix from the factory, but I had to stop using my ES15 for anything. Replaced with a refurbished ES20.

[mammo1789]

If anyone should come across the owners manual to this model could they please let me know
thanks

I uploaded the manuals ( user and service for ag 1980 the same model as fs 200 but for ntsc) for you on mediafire link http://www.mediafire.com/?fpnxtzixhj419pc

2BDecided, there are vague floating gray bars on captures I made with that unit as pass-thru. They show up just watching TV through its inputs. I even hooked the thing to a very pricey AC power scrubber/regulator, but it didn't help. But I saw internet posts in the long-ago past that noted this complaint, and a suggestion with a 50-cent capacitor that fixes it. Later models might have that fix from the factory, but I had to stop using my ES15 for anything. Replaced with a refurbished ES20.

That's strange sanlyn es15 is almost as respected as es10 (from Panasonic house ) and both have best pass trough figures of all DVD recorders. I even recorded some shows on it with DVD ram and use it constantly for TV shows ( it's much faster than doing it on pc ) and I'm satisfied. I never encounter any problem with it or noise on the picture maybe yours was broken

That's hilarious. It was one of the best things available at home (apart from DAT) back when it was invented, but now...!

I must say that the old technology is building bigger myths for itself than anything else, I reaed somewhere that the prices are high because the sellers which owns them think that have the best technology ever ( which is far from truth)
The other day I tried to record old cassette from bonie tyler, on old golden series marantz cassette deck trough high end pc audio card capable of 192/24 bit and snr 113. I recorded in 32 bit flow Then i "lost" almost 5 hours on adobe audition, sound forge and others to suppress noise make some adjustments of dynamics eq and so on and was very happy it really sounded natural. Then just for comparison downloaded the album in mp3 from internet 320 kbs recorded from cd audio, and my my the difference was night and day it was much much cleaner.
My point guys old technology can never be as good as the new one no mater what is saying to you

[fourbanks]

I uploaded the manuals ( user and service for ag 1980 the same model as fs 200 but for ntsc) for you on mediafire link http://www.mediafire.com/?fpnxtzixhj419pc

Thanks mammo your a star
I am pleased to report that the unit i have just received from ebay following my winning bid is perfect in picture and sound and ranks as the finest vcr picture i have ever seen

However the top part of the case is badly scratched it looks like the unit has been in a council tip and when no ones been looking has been puled out

I wish people would look after their goods and not palm them off having mistreated them with lies and deception saying things like one very small scuff mark when the complete opposite is true

lucky for the seller i'm ok with this unit but i could have given him a black mark for lying about it's condition and have told him to up his game in future or face the consequences of a downgrade on his feed back

[mammo1789]

I first suggest you to clean the vcr thoroughly with alcohol from head and tape paths to the electronic parts especially if the seller was smoker on one of my vcrs i hate it when i opened it I saw yellow sticky like flakes all over the place as result of the smoke.
The scratch of the cabinet itself its not so much fuzz you can buy black spray for cars there cheap than sand the cover with fine sandpaper and then spray with can. It will look like new.

[fourbanks]

Thanks mammo
i hadn't thought of that but sounds good to me