I haven't used a VCR in years, but most offered some way to manually adjust
the tracking, even if they had "auto" tracking. I think my old Mitsubishi
VCR's used the channel up/down to adjust tracking while playing a VHS tape.
If the tape was recorded on a machine that was misaligned, you may need to
take the tape to a professional service that can copy the tape for you:
http://www.imemories.com/home-movies-to-dvd/
http://www.dvdyourmemories.com/services/videotape-transfer/
https://archivalcompany.com/vhs-to-dvd.asp
Of course, it's possible the tapes themselves are just no good anymore.
Especially if they were tapes you had previously used over and over.
Good luck!
Anthony
> I have a bunch of VHS tapes that I am converting to MPEG.
> They were recorded on a Grundig. I bought a used JVC, which
> looked like a good model to me. There are four tapes which
> would not playback correctly. These are ones that were
> recorded on used tapes, that had been stopped and started
> often. All the stuff recorded on new tapes is okay. Two of
> them are breaking up, with band of noise at bottom.
Often this is due to physical damage on the tape, often
visible to the eye. Make the best copy you can, then stop
the tape and remove the cartridge when you get to a bad spot.
Open the flip-up cover that protects the tape and look at
the tape to see if any damage is visible. I don't know of a way to
fix the damage if you see any, but at least you'll know what the
problem is. (No tools are involved in opening the flip-up cover; if
you need instructions in how to open the cover you shouldn't open
the cover.)
> The
> other two, the picture just drops out for about a second
> at a time.
Again, this sounds like physical damage to the tape rather than
a tracking error. Perhaps cleaning the VCR will help.
You may be able to if you can adjust the azimuth of the tape head as a last
resort.
david