Correct me if I'm wrong, the J1 is the feature stripped J3. So it won't play Digital Betacam, only Betacam, Betacam SP and BetacamSX (the latter of which wasn't very popular at all). I'm not sure the J1 is worth much at all. The J3 and J30 decks are cheap enough and are much more capable. I have a J30 but the front panel is badly damaged and the capstan motor is faulty too, so unless I get a scrap machine (like a J1) which can provide some spares, then I can't go any further with it. I also use a J-H3, despite having HDCAM-SR recorders, because the J-H3 is a bit easier to set up and use.
To summarize - just need to have every spare part available to you so that you can essentially replace the whole mechanism haha.
Correct me if I'm wrong, the J1 is the feature stripped J3. So it won't play Digital Betacam, only Betacam, Betacam SP and BetacamSX (the latter of which wasn't very popular at all). I'm not sure the J1 is worth much at all. The J3 and J30 decks are cheap enough and are much more capable. I have a J30 but the front panel is badly damaged and the capstan motor is faulty too, so unless I get a scrap machine (like a J1) which can provide some spares, then I can't go any further with it. I also use a J-H3, despite having HDCAM-SR recorders, because the J-H3 is a bit easier to set up and use.
What gear are you still repairing?
Waste of coffee lol