BVW70 just picked in Havana

[RJMiranda]

Hi, guys. Look at what I found!
Let me explain to you that getting an old VTR in my country is not the easy thing it looks everywhere else.
First, for the time being we still use Standard Definition TV (NTSC, that is) so this gear, if working, is not going to appear in a "old-stuff" sale.
Second, we don´t have any "old-stuff" sale either, and very often the owner keeps old equipment for spares instead of getting rid of it.
Cuban TV still uses this model of VTR (and the not-so-strong PVW-2800) for its daily programming!
That said, a friend that works for a foreign press agency, who knows I hate to see broadcast equipment being junked, told me several months ago there were at his workplace a couple of VTRs nobody wanted. Yesterday he called me again, and this is what I got.
The other VTR is a Sony UMatic BVU-800. It looks fair on the outside, but it does not power up. Looks like a dead power supply. I have the service manual, some day I will give it a try.
But this Betacam baby is almost working! A cassette was stuck inside and there was no communication between the control circuit and the front panel, but it is already working!
The machine has seen a lot of work (it shows) but every button lights, tape transport works as new, and RF PB level is good and healthy. (I have not yet tried to record).
Only thing is with the chrominance channels. Only PBs in black and white with occasional color noise. Tomorrow will look at it with a scope. Don´t seem to be faulty heads.
I want this VTR to digitize original works (music videos, short and long-form fiction, documentaries) made by Cuban independent filmmakers between 1980-2000, before the tapes get lost.
Betacam color CTDM circuits are highly complex... let´s see. Wish me luck!