A reason to rummage through the VHS library
I’ve been digging into the boxes of digitized archives today, in order to keep my GEEK status in good standing. You see, when people have new equipment to test, they immediately refer to the nearest available technophile. That’s my job around here. No new gear comes through the door without my fingerprints left on all control surfaces. Today, the big box that has been “on deck” since before the holidays rose to the surface. That’s a nice way of saying “we picked up some of the other junk” but I digress.
The spouse has become a bit entrepreneurial over the last couple of seasons. No money in it, but the local students now have a service for copying media for local schools, financed in part through the largesse of the patron. We’ve had reason to order cameras, and DVD copiers and now, on the kitchen table where all good tests are done, a VHS2DVD machine. Stick in the old tape and out comes a new disc. Magic at the local level. My laptop is doubling as a TV set, so this is a new solution to an old problem (the last time I copied a VHS to digital format, it took a whole afternoon).
Actually, this unit functions rather well. I could picture owning one, except that once the big box of tapes (that we haven’t watched in years) has been transferred, it would need space on a shelf. We’re short of space, and I rest my case. Test #1 involved a tape of U2:Rattle And Hum that I bought (used from a local video club) about two decades ago. To my surprise, the tape didn’t break, and the DVD played on the two players I’m using for a testbed. And the concert was even better, now that I know this group isn’t a “one hit wonder”. Bono’s hair was a bit longer then, and the black and white shoot left our youngest rather bewildered, but I’m inspired.
On the list of things to dub, I have eight years of ECMA and three seasons of the British series that introduced me to Clannad. Treasures.
