Panasonic NV M10 VHS Camcorder No Colour Buzzing Noise Repair 

Thanks. That looks similar to the pal NV-M5 model from looking at pictures. Hopefully it works OK.

@@nowt1002 I'm tempted to buy a Hitachi VM-2000A, which was one of the only camcorders they produced using a Saticon tube. But from what I've read there's lots of leaky capacitors. In my experience desoldering capacitors isn't as bad, so recapping the boards would be a fun project. I also have a Canon VM-E1 8mm camcorder from 1985 that uses a Saticon tube, but it shuts off in the VTR mode after a second of playing/recording. I think the reel sensor is defective.

I've got these two camcorders. My Hitachi one has bad caps I think although I've not looked at it for ages, I remember it did work but had a bad picture. My vme1 also has bad caps I think, again I haven't looked at it for ages. I can't find a service manual for the Canon one. I remember reading that they are similar to some Sony models in terms of the mechanism side of things so a service manual for one of those models might do for certain things.

@@nowt1002 Yes the mechanism on the VM-E1 is basically the same mechanism as the early Sony Video8 camcorders (CCD-V8AF and CCD-V110). They use a U-loading mechanism similar to U-Matic and early Betamax mechanisms. Also there are a lot of Sony ICs on the boards internally. I have the NTSC schematics for the VM-E1 but nothing like a disassembly guide. Just the schematic and board "map". I'm pretty sure it's a problem with the reel sensors but I don't know because I haven't opened it up yet. I don't think the VM-E1 would suffer from bad capacitors as it's from 1985 before the crappy SMD capacitors.

​@@nowt1002My PV-210D works. I think the belt could use replacing but it's good enough and it's quiet enough where it's not a big concern. Have you ever opened up your Canon VM-E1? I'm wondering how hard it is to get to the boards for the servo since I think the problem is a reel sensor problem. They're located behind the mechanism and I'm not sure how to disassemble the camera.

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised. It seems to happen more if they've not been powered for a long time. The little black panasonic caps from this time seem to be quite bad for it, the purple ones don't tend to be as bad in my experience. I suppose it is 30 years old though so well past the expected life of the machine. Yeah it probably would be best to replace all or most of the caps but I can't be bothered with that. I might replace a few more of the power supply filter ones.

From what I can find I think it's from 1990. The mc10 is a bit earlier, 1988 I think. I think the mc10 is more similar to the m7 despite the model number.

@@nowt1002 hope my camera on the repair list ha

There is a really interesting training document published by Panasonic that details the M7 and MC10 as it looks like they introduced some quite fundamental circuit changes from previous models. It even details the method that the camera uses to extract colour information from a single CCD which is really fascinating.

That sounds really interesting. Is it available on RU-vid or anywhere? I have seen th training manual which covers both cams. I can't remember what it said were the major changes from the M5. There is a noticeable improvement in picture quality between the two though.

You can't lubricate the video heads, the bearing is sealed. They don't often fail though. What is fault you are having?

You can look into the lens to see if whether the iris is opening or not, they can get stuck. Its more likely to be an electronic fault though I would think.

Wow, appreciate the quick reply! I just emailed you, I'll start there! thanx again! @@nowt1002

Iris is closed! Is there a way to get into the lens without pulling the whole camera apart? Thanx again...

Not really. You have to take it apart to quite a great extent to get to the iris block. The service manual shows you the steps involved. There's also some photos on this site. www.experimental-engineering.co.uk/2016/09/08/panasonic-nv-m5-vhs-camcorder-teardown/

When you say recorded sound is good, is this the camcorder's recordings played back on another machine? Or a recording from another machine played back on the camcorder?

@@nowt1002 oh sorry, yes when the recordings are played back on another machine

It does suggest the chip ic4501. The audio that plays back OK on the other machine, is that the mono or the hifi? The only audio that doesn't go through that chip is the audio that goes to the mono head for recording. All audio to the outputs goes via that chip and the audio for hifi recording goes through it.

Although having said that, it could still be the supply to that chip. The audio to the mono head does interact with that supply when it goes through a transistor buffer q4505 and q4506 but it is only that once, the rest of the audios interact with it multiple times so if it's a bit poor but not as bad as mine was it could be that the mono recorded audio gets away with it but with the others it has a cumulative effect. I would rule out the supply and other caps around that area before condemning the chip.

@@nowt1002 thank you for spending considerable time looking into this, I will check out the supply to the audio as you suggest

You need the sliding flap in the camera rec position to record the camera picture. The 'tape' error means that the tape you've put in is not a recordable one. There is a square hole on the front spine of the cassette, you will need to cover this with tape to record on the tape. Blank tapes have a plastic tab covering it. For the date and time there is a small battery compartment on the bottom of the camcorder near the back. It takes a button cell (can't remember the exact size). You need to unscrew a screw to open it.

@@nowt1002 😊Thank you very much! now I know in two clicks what is where and where to) because the construction of the whole studied, but could not write down, did not fit. 😄And now here it is! I'm writing it down) And another question then, if you happen to find the time to answer it) On the monitor itself (in the eye) color is displayed in black and white, does this mean that when outputting recorded video (for example, on digital) the image will be the same? 😔

No, it's just the viewfinder that's black and white, its a monochrome crt, the recordings are in colour (assuming it's not faulty like mine was).

@@nowt1002 Hello! I'm here for your help again. Such a problem, I seem to have learned to record, work with the camera, but there is one problem, the recorded material either disappears or is included in a chaotic order. That is, let's say I recorded a certain video sequence from 0001 to 0030 seconds, pressed pause, opened the "Camera Rec/VtR Play/rec", rewind to timing 0001, press play, and it just turns on white noise. Sometimes it may turn on the old video I recorded, sometimes it may not turn on at all. Can you please explain how it works? The video is saved and then as if it is not saved :/ There's no one else to turn to, you're the only expert I know)

@@nowt1002 and that's it! ahahhpphppha, I figured it out) it turns out all recorded videos are rolled back to 999x seconds)