One of the VHS tapes that I purchased yesterday was selected entirely on the basis of its label, which claimed that it contained (bootlegged) recordings from 1977.
Since I’m perpetually on the look-out for recordings from that year, so that I can acquire samples of the Line 20 Nielsen SID signal, you could say it grabbed my attention. 😂
Of the various recordings on the tape, only one appeared to have the Nielsen data signal, so I made a point of digitizing it: an excerpt of an NBC news/entertainment program, “The Land of Hype and Glory.”
According to the TV book, the program aired at 10 p.m. on January 10, 1978.
So, you might wonder, why does the SID data say that it was transmitted at 1:03 a.m. on January 11 ???
Well, that’s because the original videotape recording was made on the west-coast of the United States. Since the SID system only represents the current time in terms of the EASTERN time zone, if you adjust by three hours, you have the correct east coast broadcast time.
@foone It definitely has become very, very hard in the last 2 years.
One of the 2 places that I could still reliably get commercial VHS tapes from, liquidated all their tapes in Jan/Feb. 2023. The other place, which I’m way overdue on a return visit to, did have an large box ‘in the back’ full of them… but I’m not sure if even they still have them, now that a year+ has gone by.
Let us know if you have a want list. I digitized several P&S tapes for CC research, which I don’t need anymore.
Looks like the only pair from the read/write head that has continuity is yellow-black. Which, if I understand the forum64 thread correctly, is the erase coil. :(
[ On that note, I must say that the schematics are deeply unhelpful as the scrambled order that they’re in there, don’t actually match the jumper’s pinout. ]
The deeply shi**y part about this entire situation for me, is that I think I actually had continuity before I powered the 1541 on.
I’m going to make some coffee, and crack open the 1541 that I’d rediscovered at the beginning of the year, so I can make another set of measurements of the head resistance.
Words alone cannot express how exciting the prospect of getting the otherwise blown-out read heads to work again is. 🔥🧨🎆🎇
So, in my quest to actually be able to recover some family documents and recipes from the ‘80s, I’m left to scouring eBay for working 44-year-old drives.
Which, among other things I’m doing, isn’t exactly the most high priority task, but certainly one that occupies space in my mind… since waiting longer won’t make things easier.
Especially since I’m still debating making a cross-country trip to pick up a 5 1/2” drive from our storage unit there, just so I can get this done without a 1541.
@foone We’ve done that with CFAST cards, basically the same principle. (It can work for limited periods, after which the controller on the cards needed to cool down.)
@nixCraft If one believes the FFmpeg “story,” then it seems that the FFmpeg team unilaterally - and highly unprofessionally - decided to publish the details of a private negotiation on a social media site. What company would enter into a support contract with people who act in that manner?
@foone Maybe. Probably depends on the depth. I’ve seen reports on the local news in which people apparently called 911 after landing in bodies of water.
From post to production, infinity and beyond.--Video archaeologist for histories of Closed Captioning.On-Set Digital Imaging Technician.Owner of Art & Technic LLC.--ars sine scientia nihil estformerly known as @orangecomma / @artandtechnicon the bird site