Sony SL-C9UB

Introduced in 1982, the SL-C9 was one of the best Betamax models ever made for the PAL system. It is crammed with features that put it years ahead of any other VCR at the time (and ahead of many machines today). These features include:

• Real-time tape counter - displays tape position in hours, minutes and seconds
  
• Index search (APS) with a 'Go To' button allowing you to find the start of a recording with ease
  
• Tape remaining gauge (6-LED bar graph display)
  
• Stereo sound recording and playback with Beta Noise Reduction, long before stereo TV broadcasts began.
  
• Audio dubbing (re-recording of one or both sound channels on a recorded tape)
  
• Superb special effects. Tapes can be played back at speed or in slow motion, forward or reverse, with perfect picture quality.

I have two of these excellent machines, but sadly they are beginning to show their age. The cassette loading mechanism is delicate and the small plastic gears break easily, leaving a tape stuck inside. This was the problem with my first C9 when I bought it for 12 pounds at a junk sale. Unfortunately someone had forced the tape out of the machine, breaking off the 'Tape In' flap. I managed to repair the loading mechanism but now another fault has developed. Playback is fine until near the end of the tape, about the last 15 minutes of an L-750. Then the capstan speed seems to go too slow; a white noise bar rolls down the screen and the sound wobbles. I've seen this fault in another C9 but I couldn't fix it by adjusting the capstan speed preset. If anyone can help me fix this problem, please e-mail me.

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