Wow, it has been a long time since I've posted here. Anyways, I have a question:

1.) I am looking to dub a tape from the National Archives soon and might have to use a U-Matic deck. It has a BNC connector on the back (according to the 'Archives website) and I was wondering how I could run that BNC to my MINIDV camcorder (Panasonic DVX100) if at all possible? Are there any convertors for this?

2.) Anyone ever recorded stuff from the National Archives?

Hi there,

You could simply get a BNC to RCA adaptor. That shall do.

Can t help you on ur second question though.

Good luck

Phil

Philippe,
Is it possible to buy a BNC to S-Video cable? I have an S-Video input available on my camcorder and was wanting to get the best quality possible.

Let me know. Thanks!

There is no "BNC to S-Video" cable - a BNC connector on a cable means you have a composite signal running on it (luma & chroma combined). S-Video is superior exactly because it separates luminance and chrominance.

According to the Panasonic specs YOU DO HAVE composite input!

Input and Output Connectors Firewire- 4-Pin (x 1 input and output)
S-Video- 4-Pin (x 1 input and output)
Composite Video- RCA (x 1 input and output)
Audio- RCA (x 2 input and output)
Mic/Line Input- XLR (x 2 input only)
Headphone- Mini Stereo (x 1 output only)
Remote- Mini Mono (x 1 input only)
Power- Proprietary Connection (x 1 input only)

So all you need is a BNC to RCA adaptor, probably a dollar or two at Radioshack.

Thanks,
Do you know if U-Matic decks have S-video out? Hard to tell...I am not getting any responses from the National Archives. I want to be prepared before making the 1000 mile trip there, lol.

The S-video out may not actually be better quality... but I'm not sure here. If the signal is a composite signal on the tape, going S-video out will introduce a composite-->S-video conversion.