What is causinf audio crackle when i record and playback a tape in my camera

If you are experiencing issues with the playback on your Yashica Samurai Video 8 KX-77 Video Camera Recorder, here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Clean the playback heads: Use a head-cleaning cassette or a cotton swab moistened with isopropyl alcohol to gently clean the playback heads. Dirty heads can cause playback issues and poor picture quality.
2. Check the tapes: Ensure that the video tapes you are trying to play are in good condition and not damaged. Inspect the tape for any signs of damage or deformation that could affect playback. If the tapes are damaged, you may need to try a different tape or have the damaged tapes repaired.
3. Adjust the tracking: Use the tracking control on the camera recorder to adjust the playback tracking. The tracking control helps align the playback heads with the tape tracks for optimal playback quality. Experiment with adjusting the tracking to see if it improves the picture quality.
4. Test with different tapes: If possible, try playing different video tapes to see if the issue persists. This will help determine if the problem is specific to certain tapes or if it is a broader issue with the camera recorder itself.
5. Seek professional service: If the above steps do not resolve the issue, it may be necessary to seek professional repair or servicing for the camera recorder. Contact a reputable camera repair shop or the manufacturer's customer support for assistance.

Possibly faulty video recording head. Save your tapes to another format (dvd, digital files etc) and replace camera with something current. Probably is not worth to repair.

What is your signal path? The question you need to answer is, "Where are you losing the audio?" Are you losing it between the tape and the playback head, or are you losing it in the cable, or are you losing it at the TV/Recorder?

Does the camera have an audio out into which you can plug ear buds to test the audio from the camera playback?

I'm not sure what the solution is, but I am having the same probelms, and I would appreciate any help with this since I am shooting a childrens camp and I am fairly isolated and don't have the time to swop cameras or send it to get fixed. I need to know if the recording is fine (video and audio) but the playback is not working correctly...or is it not recording correctly or playing back correctly. The sound cuts out from time to time in playback. Thank you.

Try a DV tape cleaner first. If that doesn't work, see what it would take to get the audio heads realigned. Any camera store can do that for you.

Hello! If the recorded tapes playback ok on the camera and not ok on another devices, you need to readjust the playback on this camera using a tape which playbacks fine on the other devices. This means that is a small difference on the tape transport. So when the supply and takeup post rollers readjusted and the audio and video playback are good, then your camera is fine.

i have the JVC MiniDV Digital Video Cleaning Cassette. I began having trouble when I was shooting DV24P and when I went to playback I noted audio dropouts. I'm using SONY Premium DVM60 tapes. I began having Head Cleaning Required message. I have ran the Cleaning Cassette and the message disappears, but even trying a brand new tape, switching to DV playback i get the error message. Luckily, the shoot i was on the master audio was being captured by a secondary device and we were able to simply use the video from my camera. Since then, I was able to play & capture both the video & audio previously recorded in HDV30P and I didnt receive an error message. Now though I cannot record any DV audio without dropouts. When I tested just moments ago, I was able to record HDV and both video & audio were clean, but during playback I still received the Head Cleaning message. Is the record head different from the playback head? Can you manually clean the heads by removing the plastic door cover with a lintfree cotton swab and rubbing alcohol (obviously disconnecting and removing all power & powering off prior to cleaning), the same way any previous machine heads were cleaned in our stations? I think I may have got a batch of bad tapes that may have gunked up one of the heads some where and its getting missed by the cleaning tape. Is is possible that the head has been scratched, and will require replacement. If yes, is there any way to look at the head and detect this?

If it plays back pre recorded tapes then there is nothing wrong with that section of the unit. Does it playback audio and not picture or does it not playback anything.
Also, when trying to playback a recording what is seen of the screen? Snow(black and white dots or wiggly picture?

The unit uses two separate circuits to record and playback tapes. Is any thing else connected to the unit while you are recording? If you are using anything plugged into other ports on the recorder it may not see the camera input causing it to not record anything..

I Had a similar problem with my 8600. Most likely the camera
is also no longer recording. There were two problems I found,
either one could have caused the problem. 1) the 8mm tape was not
actually moving through the record/play head. With modern cameras. there are no indications that the tape is actually moving.
2) the record/play head is dirty. What I did was remove the
side plate that covers the tape cassette to allow me to verify that
the tape was moving properly. After that, I removed the tape, removed the battery, and used isopropyl alcohol and a q tip
to clean the head. I imagine there are cleaning tapes that one
can buy to do this as well. though I doubt they work as well as
a q tip. THere are two screws that hold the cover on.

Use a head cleaner tape (available on eBay most likely) and clean the recording heads.