TBC-1000 Dark/Drop Out

[ninlive]

I bought a used TBC1000 from someone and they told me that the picture was darker at times when they transferred. I took the risk as I know these are getting harder to find nowadays and possibly compensate with the transfer. I decided to have someone look over the unit and check all the circuitry inside. They changed some of the caps and told me that my power adapter was giving more to the TBC than what was required and could be the reason when the unit overheated the picture would get dark.

I decided to get a new power cord. Everything looks fine. But when I transfer VHS tapes. Sometimes the picture and audio just drop out. No reason. It seems to be my TBC. I will turn off the TBC and turn it back on immediately and the a/v will be back on. Do you think I really need to get a new TBC? Or possibly it's another faulty power cable?

Here is my lineage:

(Confirm color with Kramer 810 Color Bar Generator)

Panasonic PAL/JVC NTSC > S-Video > TBC-1000 > Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle (S-Video) Thunderbolt > 2014 Mac Mini (Thunderbolt) > Blackmagic Media Express

Sometimes I wish I didn't go the Mac route. But I have been using it for over 2 decades now. Appreciate any help/input you may have for this.

[dellsam34]

I don't know about TBC-1000 much but I would confirm that the drop out is caused by it by connecting it to a TV and do a run test, Sometimes capture cards do drop out for whatever reason, Always use process of elimination when troubleshooting, never assume.

[ninlive]

I don't know about TBC-1000 much but I would confirm that the drop out is caused by it by connecting it to a TV and do a run test, Sometimes capture cards do drop out for whatever reason, Always use process of elimination when troubleshooting, never assume.

I ran all of this in to an ADVC110 with no problems. But even when I add the TBC1000 into the chain, there are drop outs.

[oln]

I know the AVT 8710 TBCs had a tendency to overheat and drop out requiring turning them off and on. Haven't heard about that on the TBC-1000 but suppose it could happen with those too. Alternatively maybe there is a bad solder joint somewhere causing intermittent signal loss to some component.

[dellsam34]

TBC-1000 has a distribution amp board to feed several outputs and since audio if affected and goes through it only not the TBC board, I have a feeling that the dist. amp is the faulty here not the the TBC part. I would suggest get it moded and get rid of the dist. amp all together. One of the members here did an excellent job doing this, you may want to reach out to him to see if he can do it for you if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/402187-Interesting-rebuilt-Datavideo-TBC-1000-on-e...ay#post2623514

[lordsmurf]

TBC-1000 issues = bad caps, almost 100% of the time
Same for AG-1980P VCR

Sometimes issues can cascade, and ruin components irreparably. So be aware of that. Expensive paper weights.

[ninlive]

TBC-1000 has a distribution amp board to feed several outputs and since audio if affected and goes through it only not the TBC board, I have a feeling that the dist. amp is the faulty here not the the TBC part. I would suggest get it moded and get rid of the dist. amp all together. One of the members here did an excellent job doing this, you may want to reach out to him to see if he can do it for you if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/402187-Interesting-rebuilt-Datavideo-TBC-1000-on-e...ay#post2623514

Thanks, sadly, they are not answering messages at this time. I would love to get another TBC1000 fixed that I have for parts. All it needs is some new caps etc. The one I am using was just overhauled in February.

TBC-1000 issues = bad caps, almost 100% of the time
Same for AG-1980P VCR

Sometimes issues can cascade, and ruin components irreparably. So be aware of that. Expensive paper weights.

This may be the case with this. Although, like I said, it was recently overhauled and they did a great job being very thorough. Maybe the damage was already done prior to the new caps/thermal paste/connections etc. Also said my power supply was outputting 16V instead of 12V. Which could have cause some irreplaceable damage. Here is what they said,

"I did discover a defect on the amp board. During testing I found that two of the outputs do not transmit color but the other two work perfectly. I am not sure if this was the case before, as I only checked one output before the refurb, but that's the only thing that makes sense. I'm guessing the old power supply messed up one of the two chips on the amp board, but I have no way of knowing for sure since. I don't have the service manual to verify. I directly connected the video processing board to my captured card and it looked perfect so that part is fine."

I will say, I used another output source and took the top of the TBC1000 off to check connections. I had no problems this time around with the unit.

Thank you everyone for your input! I am still very new to digitizing video media and it has been very humbling.

[dellsam34]

Again as I said previously get rid of the distribution amp, It is not needed anymore, Back in the day it was used to feed multiple VCR's (probably for tape bootleg), now only one output needed for capturing, Audio then will have to go directly from the VCR to the capture card which is normal, Analog TBC's don't process audio just video. Contact the party that repaired it before and tell them what you want to do.

[ninlive]

Again as I said previously get rid of the distribution amp, It is not needed anymore, Back in the day it was used to feed multiple VCR's (probably for tape bootleg), now only one output needed for capturing, Audio then will have to go directly from the VCR to the capture card which is normal, Analog TBC's don't process audio just video. Contact the party that repaired it before and tell them what you want to do.

Ok, cool! I assume the stuff needed to make this modification happen is with soldering etc? Which my skills are very elementary in that regard.

[dellsam34]

Yes, Soldering skills are a must, The TBC-1000 contains a small TBC board inside, it's the TBC-100 PCI dummy card for computers, they just added a dist. amp, They literally shoved an entire PCI card with little modification, some ports removed some left such as the composite port, Here is the TBC-100 as seen in this picture.
It could be minimized into a smaller case or leave the same case and put the power supply in there after removing the dist. amp.

[ninlive]

Yes, Soldering skills are a must, The TBC-1000 contains a small TBC board inside, it's the TBC-100 PCI dummy card for computers, they just added a dist. amp, They literally shoved an entire PCI card with little modification, some ports removed some left such as the composite port, Here is the TBC-100 as seen in this picture.
It could be minimized into a smaller case or leave the same case and put the power supply in there after removing the dist. amp.

So, just for my knowledge... All the dist amp allows you to do is use the multiple outputs on the back? I've always wondered what that cumbersome black cube is running over the board? It just seems so oddly put together.

Very disappointed that it didn't have the DV in from the inputs on the front.

[dellsam34]

Yep, That's all its purpose is. TBC-1000 is kind of like a homebrew project by a nerd turned into a consumer product. Originally the PCI card is powered by a Molex power connector (12V/5V, the white connector), 5V is for an optional fan I believe, and 12V is regulated by a Triac or something similar to power the TBC board, When put into a TBC-1000 the Molex connector is abandoned, the power regulator is removed, they added a separate power regulator (small yellow PCB on the left side as shown above), They added the dist. amp and a convenient front connector board.

I never needed one but if I have one of these here is what I would do, Remove the dist. amp. Remove the power regulator PCB and all jumper wires and their sockets, Re-solder S-Video and composite wires connecting the front connector board directly into the PCB, Install the triac back on the TBC board and use the Molex connector again by getting a Molex power supply and attach it to the chassis in the space left by the dist. amp. Add an ON/OFF switch or use the existing switch by using a Molex breakout adapter. Add a fan at the back of the unit blowing air out through the connectors holes used by the dist. amp.