Despite having CDR's and tons of DVDs, I'm still pretty bonded to old-school tech like this. Also, you can ask me about the related electronics (i.e. boomboxes, VCRs).

How do the closed captions on a VHS work?

How do the closed captions on a VHS work?


Hmm, gotta think about that for a second (good question). ;)

I'm pretty sure it's already "programmed" from the movie (because the quoted captions for a given movie are always the same), but I'm not sure when exactly this started being done on a regular basis. CC'ing only got really popular in the early '90s. For instance, my 1989 Sony TV (which I got at Goodwill a few years ago) doesn't have it, but our 1994 portable Sears brand does. I should test an old VHS tape manufactured in the actual '80s and see if it's on there, too!

P.S. I sometimes watch movies with the CC on just for fun. :D

Do you find many audiotapes you find at thrift shops etc are so old, they just don't work?  Do you sometimes try to repair the tapes?

What do you think of old video tapes that are copy protected, but aren't available anywhere else (tv, dvd)?

Is there anything I can do to fix some of my tapes that have degraded. I have boxes of them but they've sat in the attic so long that when I play some of them I get the music but a lot is missing.

Do you find many audiotapes you find at thrift shops etc are so old, they just don't work?  Do you sometimes try to repair the tapes?

Yes. To both. ;)

I buy handfuls of used tapes all the time. Most are in pretty good shape, but I've found some that are messed up too. Usually it's where they make that screechy noise through the speakers when the spools have trouble turning (dunno what to call that or if there's a way to fix it). I've found manually Fast Forwarding/Rewinding through helps it a little bit.

BTW, it seems the newer, clear-cased tapes are made better. The white colored ones manufactured in the actual '80s are "worn" more. It was right at 1990 they started making them with the clear design (I actually took note of that and remembered it at the time 'cause I'm such a geek). ;D


What do you think of old video tapes that are copy protected, but aren't available anywhere else (tv, dvd)?


They suck. ;D

Seriously, what I do with those is make a secondary copy so I don't have to wear out the original. The older VCRs made in the '80s or early '90s tend to play those okay (I have two VCRs hooked up, one is an old-school machine to Play, the other is the DVD/VCR combo which I use for all recording).


Is there anything I can do to fix some of my tapes that have degraded. I have boxes of them but they've sat in the attic so long that when I play some of them I get the music but a lot is missing.

Are they just "quieter" to where some of the music drops out or is really fuzzy?

I'm not sure if this is the problem, but sometimes when they're played alot or just when they get old, there's a little "cushion" in the center of the tape (which is what makes contact with the cassette players' heads and the ribbon) that can get loose and fall off.

I've had that happen and I actually figured this out when I was about 10. It sounds corny but it truly works: take out the entire piece (it's got a little metal holder) and cut off a piece of a cotton ball just enough to fit in, but not quite overcrowding it. That makes it run basically as smooth as new.

Where did you learn how to repair tapes/VCR's/etc? Was it all from just personal experience?

Where did you learn how to repair tapes/VCR's/etc? Was it all from just personal experience?


Well, other than cleaning the heads, I can't fix an actual machine if my life depended on it ;D (although I would probably be interested in learning at some point).

Yeah I'd say I learned about the actual tapes from a mix of personal experience and things I picked up along the way. Pretty much my whole life has included tapes. Sure, I didn't have any that were "mine" mine until I was 10, and not in a major way until 15-16, but I was always familar with them from mixes my parents made or ones we bought. That's one reason I'm so attached to '80s music.

I had to learn the hard way with some of them, though (i.e. being eaten, not fixing them correctly).

Are they just "quieter" to where some of the music drops out or is really fuzzy?

I'm not sure if this is the problem, but sometimes when they're played alot or just when they get old, there's a little "cushion" in the center of the tape (which is what makes contact with the cassette players' heads and the ribbon) that can get loose and fall off.

I've had that happen and I actually figured this out when I was about 10. It sounds corny but it truly works: take out the entire piece (it's got a little metal holder) and cut off a piece of a cotton ball just enough to fit in, but not quite overcrowding it. That makes it run basically as smooth as new.


Pretty fuzzy a lot of the time.

I'll have a look and see if this works. Thanks man.

Do you remember The Walkman? ???

Do you remember The Walkman? ???


Let's see, an early '80s technology that was widely used well into the '90s and is still marginally popular today. No, I don't remember them. ;D













Kidding aside, I'm very into Walkmen and have a few. Although I primarily listen to my portable CD player now, I still use those on a semi regular basis.

Yes. To both. ;)

I buy handfuls of used tapes all the time. Most are in pretty good shape, but I've found some that are messed up too. Usually it's where they make that screechy noise through the speakers when the spools have trouble turning (dunno what to call that or if there's a way to fix it). I've found manually Fast Forwarding/Rewinding through helps it a little bit.

BTW, it seems the newer, clear-cased tapes are made better. The white colored ones manufactured in the actual '80s are "worn" more. It was right at 1990 they started making them with the clear design (I actually took note of that and remembered it at the time 'cause I'm such a geek). ;D


The most trouble I have with tapes are ones found on the Capitol Records label from the late 70s / early 80s.  There are white ones, and black ones that have a frosted edge.  Everyone I find that looks like either of those never work, but I keep on trying.  Also, tapes on the Polygram / Arista Records label that have glued on labels on the tape .. I find sometimes they don't work, or often the label ends up peeling off ;D

The most trouble I have with tapes are ones found on the Capitol Records label from the late 70s / early 80s.  There are white ones, and black ones that have a frosted edge.  Everyone I find that looks like either of those never work, but I keep on trying.  Also, tapes on the Polygram / Arista Records label that have glued on labels on the tape .. I find sometimes they don't work, or often the label ends up peeling off ;D


Yeah, I've noticed that about the Capitol ones, too. I have found a few that Fast Forward and Rewind okay, but get "stuck" playing. I'm not sure how to fix that (gosh knows I've tried! ;D ), but I'd guess the tape ribbon is just too "stuck together" or dried out.

BTW, are tapes in Canada slightly different from US ones? I've found a few Canadian-manufactured ones in thrift stores and they're often black or have labels on them (the older ones anyway). The only labeled US tapes are the blank ones from pre-1990 (i.e. where it would be black except for the see-thru window in the middle, with say a big Memorex 90 Minute label).

Yeah, I've noticed that about the Capitol ones, too. I have found a few that Fast Forward and Rewind okay, but get "stuck" playing. I'm not sure how to fix that (gosh knows I've tried! ;D ), but I'd guess the tape ribbon is just too "stuck together" or dried out.

BTW, are tapes in Canada slightly different from US ones? I've found a few Canadian-manufactured ones in thrift stores and they're often black or have labels on them (the older ones anyway). The only labeled US tapes are the blank ones from pre-1990 (i.e. where it would be black except for the see-thru window in the middle, with say a big Memorex 90 Minute label).


The tapes getting stuck is a result of the actual tape inside cause I have on several attempts cracked open a Capitol cassette, and transferred the spool of tape into an empty blank tape that I unscrewed, and it still gets stuck and starts squealing :(

Tapes in Canada are very different from the US, both cassette and the cassette inlay card.  Generally, ones on the Polygram label (including Mercury, Arista, Polystar, etc ...) have labels pasted on the sides of the tape, and instead of having a metal thing with the felt square on it, it's just one big square of felt glued inside that the tape runs on.  Almost 80% of the time, these tapes don't work, and if they do, they start to squeal once you get into them :(

Ones on the Capitol Label in the late 70s / Early 80s generally were black and had a frosted edge, similar to that of American made tapes on the CBS Records label.  Only difference that the Canadian Capitol ones almost never work.  I have 10 copies of one called "Rock 82" and not a single one works :(

The best kind of tapes in Canada were ones on the CBS Records label.  They always work, and the labels look super cool.  From around 1983-1988, they all looked exactly like this ...

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3695/danhilluw0.jpg

^Yeah, the glued felt seems flimsier and prone to wearing off.

I usually just pop those out and cut up a cotton ball to use in its place (like I mentioned to Davey a few posts up). I've seen some old-school blank tapes from the '80s that use that, too - ironically, most felt inside blank tapes seems sturdier than that of prerecorded tapes. I've never had the felt mess up in any of my personal tapes and some are pretty well used now (I started buying them myself in about 1993, but I had some that were already older, etc)!

Yeah I've also tried the respooling too, and get disappointed when it works the same. :( I wonder if unspooling it all and letting it hang out to dry would have any effect? ;D

P.S. Strangely, most of the early '80s tapes with the white-outlined covers where there's a little red lining on the side, have held up really well. You'd think those would be decaying to dust now, but they must've been made really well.

I have two questions about VHS.

1. Why is it with a lot of tapes made up until the late '90s, have a "White Screen of Death" with that ear piercing screech?
2. During a black part of a tape, why do you sometimes here the sound of a telephone dialing?

^ I thought I was the only one who'd really noticed #1. Not sure what that White Screen 1-2 minutes after the credits was there for (perhaps to let people know the movie was over if they weren't paying attention). Yeah, it seems like the older ones have it more often. Used to scare the cr*p out of me as a kid too, lol.

Never paid attention to #2 before, but I think I've heard it at some point. I'll have to listen for it in the future. Maybe it's just the overdub of certain sounds?

Audio tapes have something similar, too. For instance, if you turn the volume way up on a tape just before a song starts, you can sometimes hear the first few notes of the song, preceded by the actual recorded song by a couple seconds. Mixtapes have this alot. What causes that, I have no idea. ;)

^ I thought I was the only one who'd really noticed #1. Not sure what that White Screen 1-2 minutes after the credits was there for (perhaps to let people know the movie was over if they weren't paying attention). Yeah, it seems like the older ones have it more often. Used to scare the cr*p out of me as a kid too, lol.

Never paid attention to #2 before, but I think I've heard it at some point. I'll have to listen for it in the future. Maybe it's just the overdub of certain sounds?

Audio tapes have something similar, too. For instance, if you turn the volume way up on a tape just before a song starts, you can sometimes hear the first few notes of the song, preceded by the actual recorded song by a couple seconds. Mixtapes have this alot. What causes that, I have no idea. ;)



The last part is probably caused by the recordings... There's no way to get rid of it 100%.

do you remember an advertising campaign in the 80s
i think it was for scotch tapes and they used a cartoon skeleton?
in it they said that if your tape wore out they would replace it ,because they are guaranteed a lifetime.
and do you have the address cos mines just worn out !    ;D