[quote name=\'Queen of Nerdocrombesia\' post=\'156109\' date=\'Jun 26 2007, 06:21 PM\']
If the quality of the tape picture is poor, the DVD recorder may trigger Macrovision protection and stop recording. This can happen even if it is something you recorded yourself that does not have it. There are ways to look online to see if your DVD recorder is able to turn off Macrovision protection, not really legally, so dubber beware. That being said, sometimes when I try to dub the same thing again on a new disc, it's like nothing happened. Each pass varies.[/quote]
This is the correct answer, worded very well, which is why I quoted it. If I was a less scrupulous moderator, I'd delete Queenie's post and paste her response to make it look like it came from me, that's how good it is. It's not the age of the tape, it's the quality of the tape. (Age is naturally a factor.)
Another big thing is whether your VHS tape was recorded at the slower SLP speed as opposed to the faster, better-quality SP mode. Transferring your tape to another newer tape, ideally in the SP mode, is probably the simplest and cheapest solution, though the transfer costs you that much more in picture quality (a different creature than signal quality).
The signal stabilizer route is probably a better way to go than hacking your DVD recorder, which I really don't recommend unless you know what you're doing. Your problem there is that the good ones are pricey, and you won't know whether a cheaper one will do the trick until you try.