Composite video out of a flat screen?

[chuck]

I'm not sure the 12AU7 was invented by the time of the ENIAC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC

It probably used loktal tubes like 7V7s or something, untless it was even before that.

Tell you what, I wish I had maybe a 386 just for the hell of it. Even though almost all my old stuff still runs there is this one game called Johnny Vegas Poker that will not run on anything newer. It comes up with a divide by zero error. I'm not sure now but I think it would run on a 486SX but not a DX, something like that. I used it during my expensive gambling education. Yes I went out and played real poker (that's what was expensive of course) but this game had a help section that was pretty good. It would give you the odds and recommend bet or fold. It told you the odds versus the pot odds. If your odds of winning the hand are better than the bet/pot amount ratio, you bet. You can win poker fairly consistently if you play it right, until you run into others who can play it right, then your chances are equal. If you can't play it right then they will take your goodies and send you home.

Anyhoo, this $40 gizmo looks pretty good. In fact I plan on getting one. My main fetish when it comes to this was not to have DVDs, but to have PC files. The box itself does it, and if I want to put something up on youtube I just stick the stick in the PC apparently. Once I get one and get busy I will probably be THE preeminent star of youtube. The reason ? I GOT BETA ! LOL

I won't even play the beta tapes right now, they are kinda old and I might only get one chance. Plus I have a Sony SL-HFR60 and I don't trust the reel motor very much as it was a high failure rate part. Actually I wish I had a beta rewinder. I think eBay's search engine would return "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" if I looked for one there.

Us dinosaurs have to stick together.

My boss is from Austria and of course went to school there for electronics. He had to design a radio or something "showing all connections and component values" as an exam. He had forgotten to include the filament supply and the instructor drew a picture of a candle on it as a hint. When he told me this I responded "Hey, you were ready for sold state". Can't help it if the world can't catch up to us dinosaurs.

J

I hope you have better luck than I did when I tried digitising my
Sony Beta tape library 5 years ago. Everyone of them had lost
coercitivity and all that was left was snow. They were kept in a cool
dark low humidity environment. The one Memorex tape I bought (we were
told they were crap back in the day) played perfectly. Unfortunately,
the 200 plus Sony tapes were full of irreplaceable videos. Chuck

 

[klem kedidelhopper]

I hope you have better luck than I did when I tried digitising  my
Sony Beta tape library 5 years ago.  Everyone of them had lost
coercitivity and all that was left was snow.  They were kept in a cool
dark low humidity environment.  The one Memorex tape I bought (we were
told they were crap back in the day) played perfectly.  Unfortunately,
the 200 plus Sony tapes were full of irreplaceable videos.  Chuck

I really do appreciate all the different advice but as I've said
before I don't care about quality. I just want to watch my shows
without commercials using the equipment that I presently have. If all
my VCR's should one day just fail then I probably wouldn't replace
them. I might look into computer recording. Until then I don't want to
spend any additional money.

I do agree somewhat with Jurb about whats been taking place in this
country though. A prime example and one that really pisses me off is
this digital TV system we've had crammed down out throats. I happen to
be one of the millions of fringe area recipients of this bargain who
have to practically jump through their asses to squeeze even a channel
or two out of this. And there were millions more much worse off than
me who had to cave into cable or satellite just in order to get
anything. Someone got greased big time and the rest of us who who
don't give a crap about HD or can't afford to buy a new TV set got
fucked. Tell me how that was fair?

Well that's my rant for the evening. On another note I made a half
track audio tape of myself and some friends using a Wollensak tape
recorder and the ceramic mike that came with it 46 years ago. I
recently found the tape and played it on my Ampex 2 track stereo
machine and it sounded as crisp and clear as the day it was recorded.
Why does some tape whether audio or video seem to break down and is
crap while other still seems able to go the last mile? Lenny

 

[[email protected]]

" I just want to watch my shows
without commercials using the equipment that I presently have."

I can dig that. Fortunately for me I don't even watch TV. I'd bet that you only watch a couple of shows anyway. If I get the urge I would prefer to watch old eps of Gunsmoke and things like that, or Get Smart, Lost In Space. What I would really like is Star Trek but CBS is being very stingy with those. When you can't even get ONE full episode on youtube you know they are actively policing it.

I guess I can't bitch too much except for the fact that they should be in public domain. I'm one of those people who would love the RIAA to come knocking because at the trial I will bring in TONS of media. "Go through this and figure out wehat I owe becasue I already paid for this material", by their own words it is the material - not the media. My scratched up records would come in handy.

Unfortunately for what you want you are going to need set top boxe(s). I think with a splitter and one box set to 4 and the other to 3 you can have multiple event timer record, at least two anyway. You could luck out and haveanother show on one of the channels already coming through one of the boxes.

"If so, would it be

possible to obtain one that way? "

Like smuggling nylons behind the iron curtain or something ? Or dealing drugs, smuggling ? I dunno, in this country they send out a SWAT team for people who sell raw milk. No shit. They come and tear up the farmhouse, confiscate everything but your clothes, like any money, computers, firearms. Then it's hell getting it back even if acqitted. I think I'd rather deal drugs.

The other problem is that for my purposes I would need an NTSC input, so the only options available would be Japan, Canada and a couple of South American countries.

"Everyone of them had lost

coercitivity and all that was left was snow."

I find it hard to believe that that just happened to all of them. Perhaps asmall EMP ? This occurs whenever lightning strikes. If it was a few of them yes. All of them ? I hate to ask after the fact but, are you sure the VCRdidn't have bad heads ? I mean did you try them in another, or maybe make a test recording on one to see that they were actually erased ? I played a beta tape last year or so ago that was recorded back in about 1990. When I used to actually use the beta I ran across some tapes I got from someone that were in beta 1 and while my machine wouldn't play them, you could tell the signal was still there.

J

 

[chuck]

without commercials using the equipment that I presently have."

I can dig that. Fortunately for me I don't even watch TV. I'd bet that you only watch a couple of shows anyway. If I get the urge I would prefer to watch old eps of Gunsmoke and things like that, or Get Smart, Lost In Space. What I would really like is Star Trek but CBS is being very stingy with those. When you can't even get ONE full episode on youtube you know they are actively policing it.

I guess I can't bitch too much except for the fact that they should be in public domain. I'm one of those people who would love the RIAA to come knocking because at the trial I will bring in TONS of media. "Go through this and figure out wehat I owe becasue I already paid for this material", by their own words it is the material - not the media. My scratched up records would come in handy.

Unfortunately for what you want you are going to need set top boxe(s). I think with a splitter and one box set to 4 and the other to 3 you can have multiple event timer record, at least two anyway. You could luck out and have another show on one of the channels already coming through one of the boxes.

possible to obtain one that way? "

Like smuggling nylons behind the iron curtain or something ? Or dealing drugs, smuggling ? I dunno, in this country they send out a SWAT team for people who sell raw milk. No shit. They come and tear up the farmhouse, confiscate everything but your clothes, like any money, computers, firearms. Then it's hell getting it back even if acqitted. I think I'd rather deal drugs.

The other problem is that for my purposes I would need an NTSC input, so the only options available would be Japan, Canada and a couple of South American countries.

coercitivity and all that was left was snow."

I find it hard to believe that that just happened to all of them. Perhaps a small EMP ? This occurs whenever lightning strikes. If it was a few of them yes. All of them ? I hate to ask after the fact but, are you sure the VCR didn't have bad heads ? I mean did you try them in another, or maybe make a test recording on one to see that they were actually erased ? I played a beta tape last year or so ago that was recorded back in about 1990. When I used to actually use the beta I ran across some tapes I got from someone that were in beta 1 and while my machine wouldn't play them, you could tell the signal was still there.

J

No, I don't think EMP is the answer since the Memorex tape was in the
same location. I used to be a consumer electronics technician when
Beta was around and I keep my deck in good shape. Pre-recorded Beta
tapes from the same era, also kept in the same location, playback
fine. I was at a major electronics retailer's headquarters during
that time period and we got a considerable discount on purchases so
most of the Sony tapes were bought in bulk from them. Chuck

 

[Cydrome Leader]

I hope you have better luck than I did when I tried digitising my
Sony Beta tape library 5 years ago. Everyone of them had lost
coercitivity and all that was left was snow. They were kept in a cool
dark low humidity environment. The one Memorex tape I bought (we were
told they were crap back in the day) played perfectly. Unfortunately,
the 200 plus Sony tapes were full of irreplaceable videos. Chuck

the most durable VHS tapes I recall were from Kodak. I have no idea who
actually made them though, I doubt it was really them.

 

[Cydrome Leader]

Lenny I started recording HDTV in a PC 8 years ago. It was a very modest AMD Sempron on a cheap ECS mobo. Try it and you'll never go back to a VCR. Heck man, you repair that junk so you know just how crappy a VCR really is. The PC I'm on right now is recording as I type. It can also play out multiple HD streams while in record and never drops a frame. I have 2 more nearly identical machines that get used as plain jane PCs but are often in record. No heads to wear out, no dropouts no record time limits. It's way easier to implement than you think.

G?

there's still the PITA factor of using a computer as something else.

my VCR takes up 2U in a rack. I don't need a remote for it, or to even
have a TV connected to use it. You just hit some buttons and it does
stuff.

I just tried dragging an old computer to my front room to connect to the
projector. I'm still not done as I need to make some sort of PS/2
extension cable for the keyboard, I've not even thought about the mouse
yet, and I'll probably have to setup a monitor for the thing as well. I
got a DVI to HDMI converer cable, which possibly just blew up my HDMI
switcher box, but I won't know until that gets replaced. Where the hell
should I stash a keyboard and mouse connected to a computer across the
room anywas?

It's big hassle, even more obnoxious than having to flip over a laserdisc
in the middle of a movie in the dark.

 

[[email protected]]

"the most durable VHS tapes I recall were from Kodak"

Yes, as much as I hate to admit it. I used to always use and tout Maxell, high end Sony and TDK. However if you think about it, bet that most magneticrecording tape of any kind in that era was made either by TDK or BASF. Remember BASF ? Tween the two of them they ruled most of the tape field and a few other things.

However they of course made different formulations for different customers,who were then subrogated to the results.

I forgot to mention that I personally had the best results with BASF. With helical scanning, it seems there is another factor, the physical durabilityof the media. BASF was tough and if you put a T120 in a machine not quite aligned right it would be affected less than a TDK equivalent for example. However in initial recording quality the TDK was slightly better.

The is my observation and it is based on experience, in my case I usually used Sony betas although I did have one Sanyo, and Panasonic VHSes. I had one NEC VHS deck which I still actually have, it's actually branded a Harmon Kardon but it is an NEC. Top of the line, equivalent to an N-965U. This thing has the peculiar ability to record not only in hifi stereo, but linear Dolby stereo as well at the same time. I just had to have it. You could feedthe NTSC off the tuner with MTS to the linear tracks and have pretty decent stereo and record totally different material on the hifi tracks. I did this a couple of times with football games back when I was into it. It was nice on Monday night games because ABC didn't **** with the mix, we got the crowd noise in the back speakers and the radio announcer in the front. Watching on a five foot Advent we never heard a TV commercial. Sawum, didn't hearum.

Anyway, all we need now is to preserve this old stuff because eventually itwill be gone.

J

 

[Cydrome Leader]

[email protected] wrote: >>"the most durable VHS tapes I recall were from
Kodak" > > Yes, as much as I hate to admit it. I used to always use and
tout Maxell, high end Sony and TDK. However if you think about it, bet
that most magnetic recording tape of any kind in that era was made either
by TDK or BASF. Remember BASF ? Tween the two of them they ruled most of
the tape field and a few other things.

However they of course made different formulations for different

customers, who were then subrogated to the results.

I wish I had beta deck to see how the L750 tapes of Dr Who are doing.

I forgot to mention that I personally had the best results with BASF.

With helical scanning, it seems there is another factor, the physical
durability of the media. BASF was tough and if you put a T120 in a machine
not quite aligned right it would be affected less than a TDK equivalent
for example. However in initial recording quality the TDK was slightly
better.

Abot 10 years ago, when I bought my last case of VHS tapes the only option
was Fuji, and somehow they're still making (or there's some infinite
supply in a warehouse somewhere of these BGR-120 "broadcast master grade"
or something equally japanese marketing speak-ish.

Somehow most of my miniDV tapes from the same time, about 10 years ago can
still be played. some have dropouts, but if you rewind them and play onece
more, they work again. Those things are so thin, stretchable and flimsy
it's amazing they even worked the first time. I had a weird problem with
using different brands of tapes. If I used panasonic tapes, then one type
of sony tape they're all get eaten. If after cleaning the deck, I only
used the sony tapes it was ok. The rumor was there was a different
lubricant on the tape that wasn't compatible, somehow. I have no idea if
this was true, but I was able to repeat it over and over again.

 

[Mark Zenier]

you only watch a couple of shows anyway. If I get the urge I would prefer
to watch old eps of Gunsmoke and things like that, or Get Smart, Lost In
Space. What I would really like is Star Trek but CBS is being very stingy
with those. When you can't even get ONE full episode on youtube you know
they are actively policing it.
in public domain. I'm one of those people who would love the RIAA to come
knocking because at the trial I will bring in TONS of media. "Go through
this and figure out wehat I owe becasue I already paid for this
material", by their own words it is the material - not the media. My
scratched up records would come in handy.
think with a splitter and one box set to 4 and the other to 3 you can
have multiple event timer record, at least two anyway. You could luck out
and have another show on one of the channels already coming through one
of the boxes.
drugs, smuggling ? I dunno, in this country they send out a SWAT team for
people who sell raw milk. No shit. They come and tear up the farmhouse,
confiscate everything but your clothes, like any money, computers,
firearms. Then it's hell getting it back even if acqitted. I think I'd
rather deal drugs.
the only options available would be Japan, Canada and a couple of South
American countries.
Perhaps a small EMP ? This occurs whenever lightning strikes. If it was a
few of them yes. All of them ? I hate to ask after the fact but, are you
sure the VCR didn't have bad heads ? I mean did you try them in another,
or maybe make a test recording on one to see that they were actually
erased ? I played a beta tape last year or so ago that was recorded back
in about 1990. When I used to actually use the beta I ran across some
tapes I got from someone that were in beta 1 and while my machine
wouldn't play them, you could tell the signal was still there.


No, I don't think EMP is the answer since the Memorex tape was in the
same location. I used to be a consumer electronics technician when
Beta was around and I keep my deck in good shape. Pre-recorded Beta
tapes from the same era, also kept in the same location, playback
fine. I was at a major electronics retailer's headquarters during
that time period and we got a considerable discount on purchases so
most of the Sony tapes were bought in bulk from them. Chuck

Sony equipment may be good stuff, but Sony media, unless the top of
the line, is crap, subcontracted out to the lowest bidder.

I've had:
Sony VHS tape that was too wide so that the tape guides in the VCR
put a wrinkle on the edge.

A cake box spindle of Sony CD-R blanks with 2/3rds of them that
wouldn't burn, on a Sony burner.

Sony 3.5 inch 1.44 Meg diskettes that had a five percent failure rate
for a clean format. (Even the no-name Chinese diskettes from Office
Max had less failures).


Mark Zenier [email protected]
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)