[78-L] testing-1-2-3

ron at fial.com.invalid ron at fial.com.invalid
Tue Jan 28 01:54:23 PST 2020


I can find new old stock VHS blank tapes on ebay for about $2 each.  And they still pop up 
lots at estate sales around here.  And if find tons of new in the box blank tapes on the local 
Craig's List.  For example today, 10 qty. sealed Sony blank VHS tapes for $7 total.   Not 
much market for them anymore.

The talk about VHS reminded me that I still have a VHS head-cleaner  and a VHS re-winder.  
We have lots of VHS tapes we keep in a cabin in the mountains.   It is isolated and did not 
have Internet until about 10 years ago.   There are three VHS  units there, all purchased on 
ebay to replace defunct units over the years.  One does VHS to VHS copying, one plays DVD 
and VHS,  and one is just a VHS player..  Most of the later VHS decks use the same 
mechanism from the Funai factory.   Funai made VHS mechanisms until July 2016.  So there 
a lots of fairly new decks out there.

We kept all the VHS Disney kids movies which helps with grand kids. Also loads of movies, 
many purchased at garage sales for 25 and 50 cents.    Its only NTSC  (Never The Same 
Color), but it still works well.

I have never had a problem with dirty VHS tapes. We have movies from when VHS first 
came out that still  play fine.  They have been stored in a dry basement with fairly constant 
temperature, many for almost  50 years.  I have tossed a bad tape, but not more than 2 or 3 
in my memory, mostly because of bad tracking.   Likely the tape was abused, left in a hot car 
or such.    We always start and stop a VHS tape, never pause it   Pausing is very risky.    A 
couple of times I have had to transfer a tape (movie) to a new or scavenged cartridge 
because of cartridge problem or defect.
Put that on you bucket list  (not fun) :)

Regarding cleaners, the deck mechanism is complex and hard to work with. but if you 
removed the spinning head ( it may spin in  a slot on the shiny tape drum, or the whole drum 
may spin).  and  wrap some sort of non-shedding felt or other dry cleaning material around 
the drum.  That would clean the oxide side.       It would be difficult to build you own 
mechanism to unlock the cassette door, open the door, draw the tape out, and pass it by a 
cleaning mechanism.  Also following proper tensioning rules for the tape. But if you do,  I can 
envision a mechanism that wraps the tape around a drum for about 140 degrees, and on the 
other side, a reel that pulls a cleaning towel or felt around the drum from the other side, to 
slowly expose a new cleaning surface as the tape is cleaned.  And a vacuum nozzle would 
be a good idea.  Get the dust oxide out of there.   These are all mylar tapes and the oxide 
coating seems very stable.

Incidentally,  12 to 18 inches of VHS tape makes a very nice ribbon for indicating the wind 
direction on a sailboat, let it flutter up high on one of the stays, as a 'tell-tale'.   The tape is not 
recyclable, because of the coatings.  The tape is strong, you could tie things up with it.   Bit 
the black Polypropylene case can be recycled.      Some genius should figure out how to put 
an adhesive on the oxide and sell it as wrapping tape!

Ron Fial

____________

Date sent:      	Sun, 19 Jan 2020 16:58:06 -0600
To:             	78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
From:           	"Rodger J. Holtin" <rjh334578 at gmail.com.invalid>
Subject:        	Re: [78-L] testing-1-2-3
Send reply to:  	78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>

> 
> Also read a story a few weeks ago about a shortage of audio cassettes. The remaining manufacturers cannot meet the demand. I thought it was a satire from The Babylon Bee or The Onion but it was a legitimate story. 
> 
> None of which, of course, helps Malcolm clean up and rescue his existing VHS collection. 
> 
> Rodger Holtin
> 78-L Member Since MCMXCVIII
> 
> For Best Results Use Victor Needles
> 
> Sent from my sluggish old iPhone, which explainz any bad typjng, bad spellimg, nonsensical word choices, delays and all other lapses. 
> 
> > On Jan 19, 2020, at 3:59 PM, Kristjan Saag <saag at telia.com.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Malcolm, have you tried Britain? Still broadcasts on long wave. Produced 
> > 78's into the late 1960's (production music labels), issued pre-recorded 
> > reel-to-reel tapes well into the 70's.
> > 
> > VHS tapes, by the way, are used these days for audio production. Music 
> > producers who've grown up with the errant quality of video tapes hope to 
> > recreate their low-fi sound for some of their productions, using the VHS 
> > machines as audio recorders.
> > The previous generation, or, perhaps, the one before that, the 
> > rockabilly fans, hunt unrecorded reel-to-reel tapes in order to get the 
> > right atmosphere for their recordings.
> > Kristjan
> > 
> > 
> >> On 2020-01-19 20:39, Malcolm wrote:
> >> Thanks for the reply and ideas, Rodger. I have given thought to 
> >> building a unit that cleans the VHS tape from an old VCR - stripping 
> >> everything out but the tape path mechanics and installing some kind of 
> >> removable pads which I could either run dry or wet (thus the 
> >> "cannibalized" remark in my original post) - but have yet to do so. 
> >> Unfortunately finding a true tape cleaner, not a tape _path_ cleaner, 
> >> which can remove gunk from the tape, had been a futile search. But 
> >> there were dual purpose rewinders/cleaners out there once upon a time. 
> >> Seemingly, no more! And you're right about the cartridge - just like a 
> >> cassette kinda. Doing away with that and allowing the tape spools to 
> >> be put into a nice reusable metal cart that could be cleaned after 
> >> each use would be the way to go. That way everything stays clean. Once 
> >> I get the tape clean I would immediately transfer the vids to computer 
> >> to DVD and toss the tape. Unfortunately the US is seemingly one of the 
> >> only countries in the world that doesn't still use audio cassettes and 
> >> VHS or NAB carts to trade material. The Netherlands? Japan?? Probably 
> >> like us. Too close to the cutting edge of current technology to care 
> >> about or use obsolete gear and formats.  VCRs and carts got 
> >> complicated had too many components. And too many components generally 
> >> means too many screw ups to go with them. Sigh. Thanks again for your 
> >> interest! Best, Malcolm ******* On 1/19/2020 8:46 AM, Rodger J Holtin 
> >> wrote:
> >>> Malcom, It may be that your inquiry about VHS tapes put a chill on 
> >>> the 78rpm proceedings. :-) Guessing nobody had a good answer for you. 
> >>> Wish I did. I have a deal with a friend of mine in the next town - I 
> >>> transfer records, reels and audio cassettes, and he does the video 
> >>> tape stuff. I scored a still-in-the-box rewinder at Goodwill a few 
> >>> months ago and gave it to him. If I was more of a techie than I am, I 
> >>> would love to build a tape transport for audio and VHS cassettes that 
> >>> would allow the user to remove the tape from the problematic plastic 
> >>> cartridge that hides the tape from the users watchful view while 
> >>> playing, rewinding etc. My friend has toyed with the idea but hasn't 
> >>> done it yet. It seems to me that's the only way to get the tape 
> >>> clean. As long as it's still hidden in that black box, it's probably 
> >>> holding more hidden dirt and dust bunnies. Oh, to chuck the cassette 
> >>> and keep the tape. I'm sure somebody has built one, but like the 
> >>> Archeophone, it costs more than my car. Rodger Holtin 78-L Member 
> >>> Since MCMXCVIII For Best Results Use Victor Needles -----Original 
> >>> Message----- From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com 
> >>> [mailto:78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Malcolm 
> >>> Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2020 10:26 AM To: 78-L Mail List 
> >>> <78-l at klickitat.78online.com> Subject: Re: [78-L] testing-1-2-3 
> >>> That's possible. It is, of course, winter. It's even cold here this 
> >>> morning! Mal ******* On 1/18/2020 11:01 PM, Taylor Bowie wrote:
> >>>> Maybe no messages have been sent? Taylor B. -----Original 
> >>>> Message----- From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com 
> >>>> <78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com> On Behalf Of Malcolm Sent: 
> >>>> Saturday, January 18, 2020 10:20 PM To: 78-L Mail List 
> >>>> <78-l at klickitat.78online.com> Subject: [78-L] testing-1-2-3 Am I 
> >>>> still here? Been getting no messages lately. Mal 
> >>>> _______________________________________________ 78-L mailing list 
> >>>> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com 
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