Old Tech like VCRs and such

[Gingerbread Demon]

Well I'm not sure if I'm the only one here that does this but does anyone else hear like taking things apart?

I got gifted a lovely Sony VCR but the thing weighs a ton at 32 kilos. It doesn't work but they knew that I like to have a look inside things so they gave me this machine but it is so massive.

Lots and lots of circuit boards on pull out connectors.

Anyway anyone else like doing this kind of thing?

 

[Tosk]

Sometimes. But not with my VCR. It still works and I still haven't digitized all my tapes.

I did take apart my old mini-camcorder a while ago. I accidentally cut the wires to the internal battery and gave myself an electric shock. I won't lie, gave me a hell of a scare.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Sometimes. But not with my VCR. It still works and I still haven't digitized all my tapes.

I did take apart my old mini-camcorder a while ago. I accidentally cut the wires to the internal battery and gave myself an electric shock. I won't lie, gave me a hell of a scare.

I have done that a couple of times myself with internal batteries that I thought were discharged.

As for this VCR lots of tactile push button switches, amongst other things that could be very useful. I still can't get over the weight of it though. It's a beast.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Well I'm not sure if I'm the only one here that does this but does anyone else hear like taking things apart?

I did enjoy mutilating my malfunctioning Edsel of a DVD player after it repeatedly jammed up while watching movies.

I did take apart my old mini-camcorder a while ago. I accidentally cut the wires to the internal battery and gave myself an electric shock. I won't lie, gave me a hell of a scare.

Almost 40 years ago I got an instant BZZZZT on my hand when I tried to plug in an electric shaver into a wall outlet. No pain, really.....my hand's automatic defensive measures made me let go instantly. There was a smidgen of exposed wire I hadn't noticed. One of my brothers did and never considered telling us. And THAT was absolutely typical for him not to do so at that time.

I also have a Philips BluRay player which will play virtually anything correctly, but it naturally refuses to eject properly. So currently I must unscrew six mini-nuts and insert or extract any ''problem disc.''

 

[Owain Taggart]

Not a VCR, but I've been fascinated by the story of RCA's CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc). They were working on a type of record player, but for movies. It would have a stylus just like a record player, but the discs needed to be more dense due to the data needed. Only problem is, they took too long to develop it. They started in the 60's, and they were hoping to capture the home market by selling discs to consumers, but by the time it arrived to the market, VHS had arrived and was a much better format.

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[Gingerbread Demon]

Not a VCR, but I've been fascinated by the story of RCA's CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc). They were working on a type of record player, but for movies. It would have a stylus just like a record player, but the discs needed to be more dense due to the data needed. Only problem is, they took too long to develop it. They started in the 60's, and they were hoping to capture the home market by selling discs to consumers, but by the time it arrived to the market, VHS had arrived and was a much better format.

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Yes! Love these odd technologies that you don't hear much about. CED would have been cool had it happened and been put on the market.


BTW that channel is really good.

 

[StarCruiser]

Well, I did take apart a 1960's-ish Big Ben alarm clock when I was a wee lad...

Too bad it was my father's alarm clock...

 

[Moviefan2k4]

I once took apart a common telephone when I was a kid, using nothing but a pair of pliers. Of course, since I didn't have the right tools and was clueless regarding my choices, the whole thing was a mess by the end I couldn't put it back together. It was still interesting though, to see all the wires inside and such.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I once took apart a common telephone when I was a kid, using nothing but a pair of pliers. Of course, since I didn't have the right tools and was clueless regarding my choices, the whole thing was a mess by the end I couldn't put it back together. It was still interesting though, to see all the wires inside and such.

The rotary dial phone mechanism is a great bit of engineering.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

The rotary dial phone mechanism is a great bit of engineering.

Well, my aunt and uncle had a rotary phone, but the one I took apart was a standard '80s-style version with push-down buttons. I was young, and just thrilled to have something technical I could try to see inside of at the time. Thankfully, I never destroyed anything more advanced or expensive.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Not a VCR, but I've been fascinated by the story of RCA's CED (Capacitance Electronic Disc). They were working on a type of record player, but for movies. It would have a stylus just like a record player, but the discs needed to be more dense due to the data needed. Only problem is, they took too long to develop it. They started in the 60's, and they were hoping to capture the home market by selling discs to consumers, but by the time it arrived to the market, VHS had arrived and was a much better format.

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I remember them well. I don't remember the original prices involved from 1980, but I eventually bought that clunker with 14 videodiscs for 20 bucks at a yard sale. If taken apart, they look very similar to laser discs. And man, they scratched a lot more than our regular LPs. When they were sold at Woolco they inccluded THE MENAGERIE, and it had never looked so pristine to me as STAR TREK reruns WERE always on UHF only where we lived, and since our house was in a relative valley, we always had pitiful double-images of the reruns.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yes! Love these odd technologies that you don't hear much about. CED would have been cool had it happened and been put on the market.

I mean, the very idea they were going for, of a record player for video, is mind boggling when you think about it. It kind of makes sense in a way, but they ran into many obstacles that made the technology not very feasible. Especially since the discs were so fragile. They were ahead of their time, but took too much time to get them to work properly, by which time, VHS had already been on the market for 5 years and had become established. But as a tech story, it's fascinating stuff. And yes, it's a great channel for tech stories.

I remember them well. I don't remember the original prices involved from 1980, but I eventually bought that clunker with 14 videodiscs for 20 bucks at a yard sale.

Probably one of the lucky few But sounds like you got a pretty good deal for it. The discs and their sleeves look like big floppy discs

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I actually miss floppy disks. When I first got into computers they were just transitioning from 8 to 5 1/4 inch.

 

[Santaman]

I've taken apart and have cleaned a reel to reel tape recorder from the early 60's, it is a "portable" unit so as big as a fairly large suitcase and at 14KG's not all that portable..
opened it up, put some fine machine oil where it was needed and made sure all dust was gone.
Repaired/cleaned/oiled quite a few squeaky 5.25" drives, CD and DVD drives, computers like XT's and AT's here and there an old transistor radio and I'm restoring/rebuilding a Chinese scooter.
I also had to repair a Walkman, Chinese built thingy brand name is "Crown" it would not play anything at the right speed anymore so that was another take apart, adjust and re-oil job.

 

[Velocity]

In the 70s I had a clock/radio that worked by flipping numbers and one day the numbers stopped flipping and it seemed like it was trying but couldn't quite get there. I opened it up and there was a stray piece of plastic or metal that was in the way. I took that extraneous piece out and the clock went back to flipping its numbers.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

In the 70s I had a clock/radio that worked by flipping numbers and one day the numbers stopped flipping and it seemed like it was trying but couldn't quite get there. I opened it up and there was a stray piece of plastic or metal that was in the way. I took that extraneous piece out and the clock went back to flipping its numbers.

Flip clocks are great. It's genius in how they work but yet simple in the idea, cards stacked with the numbers on them flipping to reveal the numbers.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I found this video interesting to watch

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[Owain Taggart]

Flip clocks are great. It's genius in how they work but yet simple in the idea, cards stacked with the numbers on them flipping to reveal the numbers.

Yeah, flip clocks are fun. Sadly, they disappeared when digital clocks became more popular. There's probably a company who still makes them.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Yeah, flip clocks are fun. Sadly, they disappeared when digital clocks became more popular. There's probably a company who still makes them.

I just saw a bunch of flip clocks for sale on Amazon.