Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22843 Location: UK

Ages ago I made a start on copying old VHS onto DVDs, then lost interest somewhat. I've made a start on the job once again, and today was treated to footage of the Lombard RAC Rally of 1991, followed by 1992 editions of Top Gear.

Some of the tapes have got damp in them so had to go in the bin, but there are plenty more and it takes time to copy them all to DVD. It doesn't feel right to chuck out videos of Grand Prix from, say, 1999, but do I really want or need to keep the footage??????? Hmmmmmm

RJ
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ukdave2002 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4287 Location: South Cheshire

VHS.....my first proper job was working for Sharp Electronics designing bits of VHS Recorders Shocked

If you dry the damp tapes out, then fast forward and rewind a couple of times they should play.

Dave

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22843 Location: UK

I didn't do the heads of our previous VCR/DVD player any favours when I ran a slightly mouldy ( Shocked

) tape through it, not surprising really, I've still got quite a few ok-ish tapes to go at though Smile

Clarkson's mullet from 22 years ago is amusing to see.

RJ
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peter scott · Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7219 Location: Edinburgh

Rick,

You may find that the tape archive will be more robust than the DVD one. I have nothing but trouble with the two DVD recorders that I have, whereas I seldom have any problem playing a tape.

Peter
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Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22843 Location: UK

JC T ONE · Joined: 30 Oct 2008 Posts: 1139 Location: Denmark

I kept my VHS tapes too, the stuff I know I have is BBC,s Hardtalk with John Cooper, and a old programme about Juan Miguel Fangio, his whole life in motor sport is told, really good programme.

I also have the beginning of an episode of "Tim the Toolman Taylor" that starts off, with him & Al entering the studio in a SCCA Mini Cooper Cool

I also need to get started on my Fathers old 8mm soon, he has footage of the MG club racing on public roads (in town) in the 50ies Shocked

some really hairy footage Wink

amazing what you could get away wuth in the old days.
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exbmc · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:17 pm Post subject: VHS tapes

I have a complete TV series, on a tape. Might be from the 90's, called The Power and the Glory. That was all about racing, old sports cars etc.
I don't recall which channel it was on, never repeated as far as i know.
That would be worth putting on DVD.

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22843 Location: UK

Ellis · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:58 pm Post subject:

I prefer VHS cassettes to DVDs. Quality VHS cassettes last a long time and it's a pleasure just to insert one and just press "play", "record" or "OTR" rather than mess about waiting for a DVD to initialise or format.

I did start transferring VHS to DVD last year but abandoned the process due to the length of time it takes.
I have some programmes from the early to mid 1980s on VHS and they still play all right probably because the cassettes themselves were good quality Agfa ones.

I had every Nigel Mansell Formula 1 race where he either won or did well between 1986 and 1992 on VHS.
In 1995 my cousin came to stay for a week after some medical treatment with her two young children and to keep them quiet (the kids) they were allowed to watch cartoons or whatever they wanted on Sky in the front room.

A few weeks after they left I wanted to see the Mansell/Senna duel at the 1992 Spanish Grand Prix again. The tape was labelled but on "play"I was rewarded with a tape full of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles !

The little b*****s had used tapes randomly and of course I hadn't thought or had the foresight of removing the plastic tab.

Another tape originally with the sci film "Silent Running" had Daffy Duck and Tom and Jerry on it !

Don't you just love children!
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clan chieftain · Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 2041 Location: Motherwell

I was the same Ellis converting tapes to DVD. I done quite a few and then got fed up. I also kept the tapes I had copied in case the DVD got damaged. My DVD player doesnt play copies and many dont. I ended up buying a cheap DVD player from Tesco for £30. So now I have two. I have tapes over 20 years old that still play ok so I decided not to copy them.
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MVPeters · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 822 Location: Northern MA, USA

VHS tapes
It's worth looking for VHS tapes at boot sales etc for the CONTENT alone. Many commercial tapes have not been reproduced in DVD format. For 50p a piece you'll find some good stuff.

DVD players/recorders
Search the web for your model number & "DVD hack". Many players can be modified, via codes entered through the remote, to play DVDs from any region.

Hard disk DVD recorders DVDR or DVR
Well worth the investment! They are much more available in the UK than the US & features vary a lot, but you end up with a digital format that can be transferred to any other media with no loss of quality. There's no point in recording VHS tapes at high resolutions, so a DVR will hold many, many hours of VHS tapes very conveniently. Go for at least a 500gb drive.

I have a stack of DVR, DVD player & a multi-format VHS player/recorder. I can play/record almost any DVD or VHS from almost anywhere in the world.
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JC T ONE · Joined: 30 Oct 2008 Posts: 1139 Location: Denmark

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22843 Location: UK

JC T ONE · Joined: 30 Oct 2008 Posts: 1139 Location: Denmark

talking of VHS tapes, our news had a report of a former VHS film destributor, who had to clear out the place he had stored them in.

Cant remember how many it was ? but the tv clip showed more than one of the big scrap containers, as they were loading pallets of tapes into it Rolling Eyes

All these tapes were brand new.

It reminds me of the scene in Mad Max (Thunderdome)with the kids & the record .
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Ellis · Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:55 pm Post subject:

A thought came to me on re-reading this topic.

Does anybody still use their Betamax recorders and Betamax tapes?

I hadn't seen a Betamax machine since the early 1980s until I saw one for sale at a car boot sale in August last year.
The machine and a cardboard box full of tapes had a £10 asking price label.

It was unsold when I left some three hours later.
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1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet