HQ Macro-Plus.....

[TheGMan]

Anybody got one of these that works?

I have a large collection of video tapes in my private collection (a lot of which are from the early 80's) and would ideally like to transfer them to a more usable media. I say usable as my home cinema is not set up for videos (purely DVD) I came across this little black box that sits between your VCR and DVD recorder and lets you copy from VHS>VHS, VHS>DVD, DVD>VHS and DVD>DVD. You simply connect the power supply to it, scart input one end and scart output the other and Bobs your Uncle. Or so I thought....

I don't know whether I have a dodgy unit or whether the item is this bad and not worth the £20 I paid excluding P&P which is why I thought I'd ask....

Has anybody used one of these successfully?

The picture I got did allow me to record the source however the top bit of the picture was skewed, the picture flickered badly and every now and again the picture went off. The copy was unwatchable.

I've tried three different VCR's and four DVD recorders with it just in case it was an issue with the recorder or VCR. Have spoken to the guy that sold it to me and he's said he'll swap it if I return it, however, I just want to know is it worth sending the item back for swapping or whether I should just ask for a refund? I don't want him to send out another one of these if it's gonna be exactly the same.

TIA

[redwudz]

Did you try a non-commercial tape and see how it performed? There is always a jagged line at the top of the screen with VHS captures. You don't normally see it on a TV as it's hidden by the TVs overscan. But it will show on a computer screen. It's been attributed to video head switching noise. Most times it can be ignored. Flickering and picture loss and tearing horizontally, along with brightness changes are symptomatic of Macrovision.

It sounds as if this box isn't filtering out Macrovision interference. You could try another unit, but the information on the unit from the net didn't sound too good. As mentioned, if you get the same results with a home recorded tape, may just be a bad unit.

Also should mention that VHS tapes may have different levels of Macrovision. Some tapes wouldn't display on a video monitor, so later tapes seem to have a lower level of the interference.

[TheGMan]

Jagged line at top of screen is there regardless of whether its a capture from VHS or DVD.

Have just tried recording off terrestrial TV to a blank Video..... Tape should have no macro protection on it.

Connected VCR straight to DVD and it recorded fine.

Connected the above fore-mentioned box in-between VCR and DVD. Jagged 'jumping' line at top of screen appears, picture flickers/jumps badly, DVD recorder keeps coming up with 'no signal' End result, unwatchable.

Does this mean the box is defective or just rubbish?

TIA

[redwudz]

I've no way to know the merits of the box, but at the minimum, yours seems defective. Macrovision removers used to sell for about $20US ten or so years ago here. But not as many commercial VHS tapes out there any more. You can probably also use a TBC (Time Base Corrector) for Macrovision problems when you back up your tapes, but the cost will be much higher.

If that's the only Macrovision remover you can find, I'd see if you can find a few people that have had success with it. Macrovision is not so hard to remove. The circuit is very basic.

Or look around to see if there are other removers available. If there aren't, the cost seems reasonable these days and you could give a replacement a try. But a option to return the replacement would be nice if you still have problems.