I remember my parents had a VCR that was so easy to program, I literally could grab the remote, hit the buttons and put a tape in....didn't even need to have the TV on or anything. I remember one time my dad was watching something and I told him I needed about 20 seconds to program the VCR to record something and he started to turn the TV to channel 3, turn on the VCR and hand me the remote...I told him "Dad, all i need is about one second of the TV, i can turn on the VCR, hit the TV/VCR button and you can continue watching your show while I program it".....his mind was blown when he saw me hitting buttons on the remote like what appeared to be a mad man and program it....once I was done, he said "when it gets done recording, I want to see the tape to see if you actually recorded what you were wanting to record"....thankfully, it wasn't any late night "Skinemax" :)
I remember getting a Rabbit, just before the FCC pulled the plug. They actually worked very well! I guess the feds just got mad, because they weren't getting anything out of the deal... I could however, see an issue, if too many homes had them, in a crowded subdivision. It would be like everyone on ch-19 of a CB, trying to broadcast at the same time. All you'd hear would be noise... On a similar note, it's the reason WiFi can really get slowed down in heavily populated neighborhoods, and why 5ghz is much faster.
In the UK, by the mid 90s, we had Video+, with corresponding codes printed in the TV listing magazines. But, we also had a superior system compatible with some VCRs - Programme Delivery Control (PDC). PDC wasn't limited to a set time. Each TV channel (at the time, we only had four terrestrial analog channels and a few satellite and cable channels) would broadcast a PDC code just ahead of the programme you wanted to record. So long as you had programmed your VCR with the corresponding PDC code from the TV listing magazine, your VCR wouldn't start recording until it received that PDC code. At the end of the programme, another PDC code would signal the VCR to stop. But because the signals were sent by the broadcasters themselves, if a programme was delayed (thanks to, say, the football overrunning), then the VCR wouldn't just start recording at the set time regardless, and you ended up with a soccer match being dragged out. Instead, it would just sit there, and wouldn't record until the programme you wanted actually DID start. It worked beautifully and made recording shows at awkward hours much easier.
I worked for Nobody Beats The Wiz in the 90's. I can't count how many times I had to tell customers that there was NO 8MM adapter, and likely never would be. IIRC, the damned Rabbits also simply never worked properly.
VCR+ was the best, and you COULD most certainly punch in a code & add extra time to live broadcasts, at least on the standalone model. There used to be a quick little dos program you could run to generate your own codes. I loved it because back then with cable set top boxes, there was no way to change channels if you were out!
Kinda hoped you would touch on the tape blockers. If I remember correctly they were essentially fake brick like tapes meant to be put into to the VCR to block the opening. It was meant to stop little kids from shoving crap in to your VCR.
+Jeremy Bridges I'm surprised my parents never bought one of those when I was a kid. I broke so many VCRs back in the day haha. I think they eventually just put the VCR on top of the TV so I couldn't reach it. Kind of funny to think you can't do that anymore with flat screens.
+Jeremy Bridges My mom should have known about that. When I was really little, I stuck a feather in the VCR. Needless to say, I did do it damage, and our neighbor actually had to record our shows for us because the VCR recorded tapes in poor quality!!
VCR Plus remotes: I always wondered what that thing was in my grandma's TV room when I was a kid! Now I see why I was so vehemently told never to touch it, haha.
I remember having one vcr-to-tv system in my childhood. It was called EZTV. I hear we got it so my grandpa could watch a video without leaving his bed. (His condition was worsening and he became confined to his bed. He sadly died in 2007. I believe it was from COPD.) I once found it going through my attic a few years ago. I tried to see how to set it up, however I never got the chance to see it. Furthermore, the setup tape was damaged over time so that didn't help. It is currently bueried in storage.
I had always been told that the worst thing I could do to any kind of magnetic tape format was to use a head cleaner because they were abrasive and would eventually erode the important stuff on the head itself. So I took to using either 91 percent isopropyl alcohol or Everclear (which I always marked "NOT FOR DRINKING" to keep a couple of skater friends out of it) with cleaning pads/swabs. But of course, revealing the nature of the American consumer, gotta have the swag to go with the new toy. As per usual, good and interesting episode!
I discovered that VCR head claning fluid had the smae ingredient in it as those little bottles of "Rush" which was amylnitrate, which was an awesome solvent and gave a really weird either/nitroglycerine effect when you put it near your nose. I always felt gross and nauseous from it. Can't imagine why you would do that during sex which is what it was sold for. I would forget I was having sex and just lay down while on it.
By the time the first analog TV switch off in the United States occurred in July of 2009 (4:09), the use of VCRs to record TV off-air became pretty much dead (5:21), and with it the end of VCR Plus in 2010. (5:56)
OMG! Evil closing credits. And yes, you got me by stopping the sound and starting it again. I had turned my volume back up when it started again. My parents had a VCRC camcorder with manual adapter. (The one you had. No batteries, I believe. ) The adapter still works, and we were still occasionally using it up until about 2012, when my parents finally got a digital recorder.)
I remember my first VCR being a used one I literally traded my stereo set to get. It was a 1985 or so model that was one of the first front-loader models (it displayed prominently on the door "FRONT LOADING" I recall) and I somehow figured out, with no manual or anything, to program it so I could record a documentary my father had on about the Alaska Highway (or something or another about Alaska and the Yukon) that was going to be rebroadcast later. And it worked. In our house, we eventually had (before mine) two VCRs. The newest one in the living room, and the older one in the TV/computer room (along with our "hot cable box" we bought from a friend of one of my parents that actually had Playboy on it for at least one day). Therefore, we didn't need something like the VCR Rabbit. (I do recall that commercial of the wife and the kids each bellyaching on where they wanted the VCR. lol)
The Unknown Comic! Maybe I should send Ben my VHS copy of Night Patrol. My grandparents were pretty tech-savvy in the 80s and had a separate tape-rewinding machine before we did.
The only time we had a tape rewinding machine was the one from Blockbuster...and it broke one of our tapes because it didn't stop gently at all, and probably harder than an early VCR would have. We ended up taking it and the tape back to the store, where they fixed our tape and gave us a refund for the rewinder, all the while begging for us to find the box for it so they could send it back as defective, because they otherwise could not. (We couldn't find it unfortunately.)
2:40 I had a later version of that video head cleaner! The pointer icon was animated, and it displayed a set of bars and played a test tone while cleaning.
The VHS I had, not only had Videoplus+, it also had PDC(Programme Delivery Control). Which was for if a show was running late, it would time the recorder accordingly, and so wouldn't miss it. I believe PDC used teletext for the data source.
I know how to program our VCR very well, but we have a master-slave extension cord and everytime we turn our tv off, everything turns off. So the programming will be deleted, the program will never be recorded and the clock will be reset to flashing 12:00. I hate it.
I don't know why I collect VHS Head Cleaners as part of my video collecting, but I do. At least the dry ones with the tests on them. What I wouldn't give to find more of them.
+thememorylanechannel I collect those and T120 tapes (sealed only, I like the designs and graphics) in addition to my main collection. The Blockbuster video head cleaning tapes go for big bucks. But the one I have doesn't have any cool message on it or anything, just static.
I still have the Scotch head-cleaner but mine has a advertisement for (now defunct) Genovese Drug Stores. (They were based in Long Island with some Connecticut locations.) But I agree - those things seem to do nothing if not make any VCR problem worse.
I had the same complaints about the VCR Plus system...b/c of the lack of flexibility (as pointed out here), recordings always started and ended exactly at the scheduled time, so if your program ran early/late, you were out of luck. As one of my gifts for Christmas 1993, I received a Zenith VCR with both standard programming and VCR+ built-in, but after a couple of tries with the latter (thinking it was cool to punch in the programming code, and it would record the show for you), I found the standard option worked better to ensure nothing got cut off.
I purchased a VHS cleaner within the past few years. I don't know if it was actually new or had been sitting around for a decade. The alcohol was still good. I have never used a cleaning tape that actually played anything. I had the wet ones with the white porous material. They really do clean the heads. (I had a seriously bad batch of BASF tapes that shedded particles - dirty head after one pass - just after cleaning the heads.) I have cleaned with swaps as well. I never used a dry head cleaner. Over the years, I just got tired of opening the units. The head cleaner by Allsop was my favorite (black with red stripes/lines on packaging) was my favorite. It has the foam pads.
I remember when we had our Sony VCR (i think early 90s) it had an option called "Showview" to automatically program the VCR, only problem that every code written on major tv magazine were completely bogus and never got the date, hours and time of recording After all the programming of that thing was easy enough, but after many years we just waited for the program to barely start and press "record" on the fly and switch to the other program we wanted to watch live lol
Once when I was 10 or so I found one of those cleaning tapes with the cleaning solution that dried out, and when I attempted to play it, it made this loud noise that scared the crap out of me.
I too had an RCA VHS with Built in VCR Plus Player during 1997-1998. We had a 1993 version until '97, but replaced it with a newer one in 1997.(TBF, it was owned by my Stepdad). I share your pain, Ben. VCR Plus was a pain in the ass to use and was convoluted as hell. VCR Rabbit was modestly successful from what I've read, it was temporarily recalled from the Market in September 1986. It stayed on the market until 1992. VCR Voice or Smart Voice wasn't really all that popular from what I remember. No wonder why it was shortlived. Co Pilot wasn't very popular either, but novel. Actually, the first VHS C Adapter was available as early as 1985. VHS Cleaning Tapes first hit in the Spring of '85. VHS itself was officially discontinued from format use Worldwide on December 31,2002. On January 1,2003, DVD officially phased out VHS forever.
VCRplus was pretty much standard on VCRs in europe they also had PDC a system where the tv channel controls the recording through teletext. Very handy if a live TV event delays the next program. Have you heard of the Panasonic Barcode VCR system?
I was the only one in the house who could use the Videoplus+ (as it is/was known in the UK) to record things. We also had Programme Delivery Control (now defunct) in the 90s so it was really difficult to miss a recording when you combined them both.
I think VCRs required different types of head cleaners. If you used the wrong one, like using the dry head cleaning VHS tape in a VCR that needed a wet one and vice versa, you could damage the VCR. The manual usually told you which one to use. (Maybe that was the "reasoning" behind the feline Macrovision variant known as KTC?)
you didn't touch on decrypter boxes (for copying copy protected rentals that became a thing for awhile after vcrs started building in anti copying features)
In the UK, we have a similar system to the Rabbit called the DigiSender, developed by a company called AEI Security, despite the name, it doesn't use digital signals, it broadcasts analogue PAL over the 2.4GHz band (ie the same bandwidth used by Wifi, Bluetooth and microwave ovens) it's *VERY* prone to interference. As to how they can get away with using the DigiSender name when it actually sends analogue signals (and in SD only) ...it can be used with Sky Digiboxes? It has a Magic Eye system thats supposed to send remote signals from the receiver box plugged into the remote TV wirelessly to the transmitter that's suposed to beam the signals through an IR blaster... but it rarely works. I remember VCRPlus, that was used in the UK too, complete with VCRPlus numbers, I don't remember anyone ever using it, just the numbers in the TV guides of the time. I also don't think VCRPlus reacted to well to chages in programming schedule. I dont think the VCRPlaus remote would work with modern TV signals, the VCRPlus system I think relied on codes to be broadcast by the TV station, which are no longer broadcast. The thing about American made voice recognition systems, especially those made in the 1990s is tht they'd have never worked in the UK, largely due to the huge variation that we have with accents. Google's voice recognition on Android works surupisingly well with my broad regional accent, but I still prefer typing. The VCR Pilot looks like a terrible idea. So many things to go wrong. I had a dry head cleaning tape, from BASF I think it was, the announcements came complete with a German accent. "Video Cleanink, Audio Clenink, Care und Prevention ...Stop Eject! Stop Eject!"
I actually used to own a few vcr cleaning tapes A dry tape and a wet tape although I personally used the dry tapes but then again even as someone who knew how a vcr works to a degree I’ve never really used my cleaning tapes that much
When I was young, VCRs were affordable enough that we could have one for both of the TVs in my house (though I think it was mostly so we could record more than one show at once). Consequently, the whole concept of the VCR Rabbit is completely alien to me.
I'm an 80's child. I was really expecting the Panasonic VCR programming wand! articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-12-11/entertainment/8704020115_1_bar-codes-button-pv I still remember it and thought it was so cool in 87' Back then we has a crappy RCA VCR from 1984
I watched this video right before going out thrifting... sure enough, one of the first things I saw was a brand new and sealed VCR Co-Pilot. Shame they are not worth anything, they literally sell for almost nothing on eBay brand new.
I hated how there were so many vcr with mono sound and almost every tape had stereo I use to try to only watch movie at friends houses that had stereo vcr because it was too hard to hear the words in movies when they only had a mono unit
I’m surprised the VCR Co-Pilot was made as late as that. I never needed it, as I was a total geek who never had trouble programming my VCR (apart from idiot things like user error and unforseen circumstances like power outages). I always saw it as a “dad thing,” and it looked way more old-fashioned than something made in the late 90s (I imagine the dials were more comforting to its intended audience). I used tape-head cleaners a time or two (including one with a bottle of alcohol INSIDE the “tape”) but always worried that they’d do more harm than good, so I just gave up. My Philips S-VHS deck is precious to me! Reminds me of those CD laser lens cleaners, did they actually do ANYTHING?
I'm pretty lazy about just using wet cleaning tapes. They generally clear up the picture for me. Sometimes, you have to do it more than once to get it to work. I have cleaned VCR heads a few times, and luckily I never screwed up my heads. If you clean your video drum vertically, you will tear up your video heads. To prevent this, I usually take foam swab, press it against the video drum, and manually turn the video drum. You should pull the swab away from the drum and press against areas higher or lower. Don't turn the drum and move the swab up or down while it is against the drum. My brother always told me to never clean the head in a vertical fashion. He forgot one day and bricked his VCR. If the fact that just a simple error can destroy your VCR, than I suggest you don't clean a VCR manually yourself. Either get someone to do it for you, or just use a head cleaning cassette. For the general person, a quick pass with a cleaning cassette should take care of it.
Some of my VHS decks can't handle the wet cleaning tapes. Something about the way the cleaning tape is stored and moved inside the cart just... makes them freak out/ I've stumbled upon the original version of the Rabbit multiple times over the years, often complete in box or sealed; I've never seen any of the wired ones until now. Now that analog signals are kaput, it might be worth having a set, since there's not much of anything getting in the way causing interference.
Many VCRs in UK and Europe also had PDC, that timed the VCR from information in the channel's teletext data. So the VCR would start recording when the shows actually started, even if they were running late, due to live events or sports. As the US doesn't use teletext, they wouldn't have had PDC on VCRs either.
Ben and Ed...might I suggest an addendum .5 as per VCR ephemera? I think at least a handful of your fans (incl. myself) would enjoy your take on the VHS television tuners...
In the VCR days I had a head cleaning device, and it was pretty useful, especially since (unlike an audio cassette deck) you couldn't get to the heads on most machines.
My money is still on beta. Its going to make a come back; its not in a recession its in it accumulation phase and now is the best time to buy into beta. NYSE symbol: BTA
I plan on doing a period piece about troling in the early days of the internet (ie the 1980's), so does anyone know where i can get a charger for my VHS camcorder (as well as some antique computer stuff)?
I forgot about the whole " can't program VCR " thing of the 80s / 90s . I beat myself up over not being able to savantly use after effects and certain photoshop programs with, literally hundreds of options/ procedures/ menues .... but, back then, it was fine and accepted that even supposedly very bright and educated people complain that : operating a timer is way too hard for anyone to understand. having been a small child at the time, and, hearing adults talk about it, I understand the attitude to an extent. it may not have been the actual operation of the device, but, not understanding when it malfunctions. If there was a short power outage or brief surge or flicker, it could reset the device clock to midnight. the recording time remains stored in the device memory, so, unless the outage ended at precisely midnight, it will offset recording time...a lot of what people blamed their own user error on was just a problem with the machines internal clock or even TV guide not having an accurate listing... I guess that copilot thing worked because, it used the remotes battery powered clock ( not subject to outages ) and, it limited the recording window to 24 hours ahead ( avoiding date mix ups ) I like how the copilot cycled through possible universal remote codes instead of having the user input one. they had to do as much as possible to placate the dumb and lazy and whiny crowd. the modern " catch up on shows , on demand... " stuff is basically: them taping it for you. you just have to remember the name of the show.
I forgot about the whole " can't program VCR " thing of the 80s / 90s . I beat myself up over not being able to savantly use after effects and certain photoshop programs with, literally hundreds of options/ procedures/ menues .... but, back then, it was fine and accepted that even supposedly very bright and educated people complain that : filling in times and dates in the fields indicated is way too hard for anyone to understand.
You can't make up fake codes for it. The VCR+ codes are broadcast from the networks themselves. Also you never talked about VCR security alarms. It was a motion-sensitive VHS cassette that you would "arm" by flicking a switch on it or inserting a special key, and then you have a short time limit to put it into the VCR and leave. The switch cannot be flipped while it's inside the VCR unless you unscrew the top panel. They came out back in the days when someone would break into your house and steal not your money, not your jewelry, not your H-fi system....but your VCR. And there is nothing wrong with the automatic VHS-C adaptors. If your tape jams or something, all you have to do is put a fresh battery in, durrr. I've used them for 15 years and that's all that's ever happened. The battery will become too weak to move the gears and it will slow down or not work. That's the main reason why people even get rid of them, they dont know that you have to change the battery every so often and think it's broken. The manual ones are a pile of shit. And the cleaning tapes do work. I've used them on many VCR's. And they are not worthless. I've used ones that are 10 to 15 years old and even one 24 years old and they still work.
+MrWolfSnack About the VCR+ codes, you can make up your own codes, or else how could the PlusCode generator featured at 6:00 (look at the purple square about the discontinuation of codes) work?
Windows OS If you work for NASA. Read this, it will tell you about how the algorithm for those codes works www.straightdope.com/columns/read/782/how-do-the-tv-program-codes-for-vcr-plus-work
We tried those back in the early '90s. The only thing they did was cause issues with the mechanics of the VCR. Rewinding on your VCR is good for it. It keeps the mechanism from jamming while working the lubrication back into it. Tape rewinders never lasted very long anyway. Your VCR is designed to rewind tapes so let it do it. Rewinders are just "snake oil" gimmicks.
The ostensible reason to rewind a tape outside a machine was to keep the tape from contributing to head wear because the tape could be in contact with the read-write heads while it was rewinding. I don't accept the premise that rewinding the tape in the machine helped maintain it. All use of the mechanism of a cr gradually contributes to its wear and eventual mechanical failure. And if a vcr was nadequately lubricated from the factory, then the answer was to add lubricants, not to increase friction of moving parts by rewinding tapes in it.
The old "Are Tape Rewinders "good or bad?" debate. It depends on which you were tying to save the VCR or the VHS. Mylar tape contracts by 0.0246% when you rewind at speeds over 70 feet per minute FPM, but only stretched at 0.0247% when you high speed FF at 92 FPM. So by some cleaver math you could balance the two leaving 3.749465 feet of tape with 0.0036% of lag which was taken up by the tapes leader. The formula on the VCR BBS's at the time was R(in FPM)xDT(in kelvin)- STP/ Y^2x(Sqrt RY)/n(no. of mols of FeO2 by mass on mylar tape)xY(Y being mass of tape by Oiler's VCR constant)^R=% of VCR head wear/VHS tape wear, multiple by 2 if your VCR had 4 heads.
Head cleaning tapes - heaven help you if you bought one that said “If you can read this message, your tape heads are clean! Stop the player NOW!”, in a foreign language you can’t speak, or it said it in several languages, none of which you spoke!
You didn't mention the other programming system that worked through hand-scanning a wand remote over barcodes in the various listing magazines. Perhaps that was only a British thing - TVTimes I think? I used to have great fun scanning the barcodes on tins of soup and what not to see what times they would specify. I am sure there is a Ramsey Campbell story in that process somewhere; you scan a carton of Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodle and next morning you find the video has recorded the immolation of your estranged Grandmother by Rage Demons or some such...
+morelenmir Yup, I remember the barcode wand, I also remember the tv advert for the video co-pilot on uk tv. :) Remember the first vcrs with perfect freeze frame?, they would advance a couple of frames to get a good one. :)
Oddity Archive, I would like to Sponsor a future episode.. Not in advertising on a product I do not make or have any interest in kinda way but in a let me hand you money and say thanks kinda way.
Thats not true voice recognition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111one. OMGZZZZzzz BEN IS WRONG!!!! It was just a recording of a word (sound) you said (made) and it would look for that sound. Like when the Motorola V60 first came out. The upside is it can learn any language even klingon! But its just looking for the pattern you recorded, its not smart enought to know any language, that would take up way too much memory. Although they did have voice recognition chips as far back as the 1980's with radio shacks six? command robot chip that could kind of understand single words like stop turn etc..
what is with the thing in front of your face? I just found your channel. were you horribly disfigured from your eyes down? I am not one to usually comment on how someone presents themselves on their channel, but I guess this is the exception to the rule. it just seems kinda weird to me. I dunno. whatever makes you happy have a nice day and I did sub, by the way.
I remember my parents had a VCR that was so easy to program, I literally could grab the remote, hit the buttons and put a tape in....didn't even need to have the TV on or anything. I remember one time my dad was watching something and I told him I needed about 20 seconds to program the VCR to record something and he started to turn the TV to channel 3, turn on the VCR and hand me the remote...I told him "Dad, all i need is about one second of the TV, i can turn on the VCR, hit the TV/VCR button and you can continue watching your show while I program it".....his mind was blown when he saw me hitting buttons on the remote like what appeared to be a mad man and program it....once I was done, he said "when it gets done recording, I want to see the tape to see if you actually recorded what you were wanting to record"....thankfully, it wasn't any late night "Skinemax" :)
This video makes me so grateful for DVR. I grew up in the dark ages and didn't know it.
I remember getting a Rabbit, just before the FCC pulled the plug.
They actually worked very well!
I guess the feds just got mad, because they weren't getting anything out of the deal...
I could however, see an issue, if too many homes had them, in a crowded subdivision.
It would be like everyone on ch-19 of a CB, trying to broadcast at the same time.
All you'd hear would be noise...
On a similar note, it's the reason WiFi can really get slowed down in heavily populated neighborhoods, and why 5ghz is much faster.
The FCC banned the VCR Rabbit because, it's essentially an unlicensed TV station not complying with Part 15 of FCC rules.
More like VHS rabbit. (2:47)
In the UK, by the mid 90s, we had Video+, with corresponding codes printed in the TV listing magazines. But, we also had a superior system compatible with some VCRs - Programme Delivery Control (PDC). PDC wasn't limited to a set time. Each TV channel (at the time, we only had four terrestrial analog channels and a few satellite and cable channels) would broadcast a PDC code just ahead of the programme you wanted to record. So long as you had programmed your VCR with the corresponding PDC code from the TV listing magazine, your VCR wouldn't start recording until it received that PDC code. At the end of the programme, another PDC code would signal the VCR to stop. But because the signals were sent by the broadcasters themselves, if a programme was delayed (thanks to, say, the football overrunning), then the VCR wouldn't just start recording at the set time regardless, and you ended up with a soccer match being dragged out. Instead, it would just sit there, and wouldn't record until the programme you wanted actually DID start. It worked beautifully and made recording shows at awkward hours much easier.
I worked for Nobody Beats The Wiz in the 90's. I can't count how many times I had to tell customers that there was NO 8MM adapter, and likely never would be.
IIRC, the damned Rabbits also simply never worked properly.
Lol
VCR+ was the best, and you COULD most certainly punch in a code & add extra time to live broadcasts, at least on the standalone model. There used to be a quick little dos program you could run to generate your own codes. I loved it because back then with cable set top boxes, there was no way to change channels if you were out!
Kinda hoped you would touch on the tape blockers. If I remember correctly they were essentially fake brick like tapes meant to be put into to the VCR to block the opening. It was meant to stop little kids from shoving crap in to your VCR.
+Jeremy Bridges
I'm surprised my parents never bought one of those when I was a kid. I broke so many VCRs back in the day haha. I think they eventually just put the VCR on top of the TV so I couldn't reach it. Kind of funny to think you can't do that anymore with flat screens.
+Jeremy Bridges My mom should have known about that. When I was really little, I stuck a feather in the VCR. Needless to say, I did do it damage, and our neighbor actually had to record our shows for us because the VCR recorded tapes in poor quality!!
+Robdeltonie Yeah because you got particles from the feather onto the recording drum. Especially if it was a feather duster.
+Jeremy Bridges My 5th grade teacher told me about the time her son shoved a jelly sandwich in her VCR. XD
+Megafoxy Have you ever seen Toxic Custard's How to Destroy Your VCR?
VCR Plus remotes: I always wondered what that thing was in my grandma's TV room when I was a kid! Now I see why I was so vehemently told never to touch it, haha.
I remember having one vcr-to-tv system in my childhood. It was called EZTV. I hear we got it so my grandpa could watch a video without leaving his bed. (His condition was worsening and he became confined to his bed. He sadly died in 2007. I believe it was from COPD.) I once found it going through my attic a few years ago. I tried to see how to set it up, however I never got the chance to see it. Furthermore, the setup tape was damaged over time so that didn't help. It is currently bueried in storage.
I love how you tweak the intro all the time! Stay classy Ben! :D
Is that patric Stuart at round 5:00? "Number 1 I order you to take a number 2!"
I had always been told that the worst thing I could do to any kind of magnetic tape format was to use a head cleaner because they were abrasive and would eventually erode the important stuff on the head itself. So I took to using either 91 percent isopropyl alcohol or Everclear (which I always marked "NOT FOR DRINKING" to keep a couple of skater friends out of it) with cleaning pads/swabs. But of course, revealing the nature of the American consumer, gotta have the swag to go with the new toy. As per usual, good and interesting episode!
+soonerterp They do not erode anything, that's just some myth perpetuated by people that dont know shit.
I discovered that VCR head claning fluid had the smae ingredient in it as those little bottles of "Rush" which was amylnitrate, which was an awesome solvent and gave a really weird either/nitroglycerine effect when you put it near your nose. I always felt gross and nauseous from it. Can't imagine why you would do that during sex which is what it was sold for. I would forget I was having sex and just lay down while on it.
@@daveb5041 it relaxes your b-hole muscles for easier penetration
By the time the first analog TV switch off in the United States occurred in July of 2009 (4:09), the use of VCRs to record TV off-air became pretty much dead (5:21), and with it the end of VCR Plus in 2010. (5:56)
OMG! Evil closing credits. And yes, you got me by stopping the sound and starting it again. I had turned my volume back up when it started again.
My parents had a VCRC camcorder with manual adapter. (The one you had. No batteries, I believe. ) The adapter still works, and we were still occasionally using it up until about 2012, when my parents finally got a digital recorder.)
"Ya, I'm one of those crazy people that dismantles VCRs to clean them."
Ditto.
as an 80s kid, far older than you. You've been taking me on an amazing joureny into nostalgia.
RIP Siskel & Ebert...also had one of those later Scotch head-cleaning tapes (as seen @ 2:39).
I remember my first VCR being a used one I literally traded my stereo set to get. It was a 1985 or so model that was one of the first front-loader models (it displayed prominently on the door "FRONT LOADING" I recall) and I somehow figured out, with no manual or anything, to program it so I could record a documentary my father had on about the Alaska Highway (or something or another about Alaska and the Yukon) that was going to be rebroadcast later. And it worked.
In our house, we eventually had (before mine) two VCRs. The newest one in the living room, and the older one in the TV/computer room (along with our "hot cable box" we bought from a friend of one of my parents that actually had Playboy on it for at least one day). Therefore, we didn't need something like the VCR Rabbit. (I do recall that commercial of the wife and the kids each bellyaching on where they wanted the VCR. lol)
0:36 All hail the mighty Godspell 8-track! :D
+Ray Murray I was about to write that, glad I'm not the only one who noticed
+OddityArchive Please upload the entire Godspell cart to the Annex. It is loved by many!
+Ray Murray I endorse this idea too. I'd love to hear the whole thing.
The Unknown Comic! Maybe I should send Ben my VHS copy of Night Patrol. My grandparents were pretty tech-savvy in the 80s and had a separate tape-rewinding machine before we did.
The only time we had a tape rewinding machine was the one from Blockbuster...and it broke one of our tapes because it didn't stop gently at all, and probably harder than an early VCR would have. We ended up taking it and the tape back to the store, where they fixed our tape and gave us a refund for the rewinder, all the while begging for us to find the box for it so they could send it back as defective, because they otherwise could not. (We couldn't find it unfortunately.)
2:40 I had a later version of that video head cleaner! The pointer icon was animated, and it displayed a set of bars and played a test tone while cleaning.
The VHS I had, not only had Videoplus+, it also had PDC(Programme Delivery Control). Which was for if a show was running late, it would time the recorder accordingly, and so wouldn't miss it. I believe PDC used teletext for the data source.
I know how to program our VCR very well, but we have a master-slave extension cord and everytime we turn our tv off, everything turns off. So the programming will be deleted, the program will never be recorded and the clock will be reset to flashing 12:00. I hate it.
I don't know why I collect VHS Head Cleaners as part of my video collecting, but I do. At least the dry ones with the tests on them. What I wouldn't give to find more of them.
+thememorylanechannel I collect those and T120 tapes (sealed only, I like the designs and graphics) in addition to my main collection. The Blockbuster video head cleaning tapes go for big bucks. But the one I have doesn't have any cool message on it or anything, just static.
I still have the Scotch head-cleaner but mine has a advertisement for (now defunct) Genovese Drug Stores. (They were based in Long Island with some Connecticut locations.) But I agree - those things seem to do nothing if not make any VCR problem worse.
I had the same complaints about the VCR Plus system...b/c of the lack of flexibility (as pointed out here), recordings always started and ended exactly at the scheduled time, so if your program ran early/late, you were out of luck. As one of my gifts for Christmas 1993, I received a Zenith VCR with both standard programming and VCR+ built-in, but after a couple of tries with the latter (thinking it was cool to punch in the programming code, and it would record the show for you), I found the standard option worked better to ensure nothing got cut off.
My dad use to take the cover out from his Panasonic and cleaned the VCR's head with newspaper and alcohol.....it worked like a charm!
I purchased a VHS cleaner within the past few years. I don't know if it was actually new or had been sitting around for a decade. The alcohol was still good. I have never used a cleaning tape that actually played anything. I had the wet ones with the white porous material. They really do clean the heads. (I had a seriously bad batch of BASF tapes that shedded particles - dirty head after one pass - just after cleaning the heads.) I have cleaned with swaps as well. I never used a dry head cleaner. Over the years, I just got tired of opening the units.
The head cleaner by Allsop was my favorite (black with red stripes/lines on packaging) was my favorite. It has the foam pads.
I use to record the old Adult Swim, Toonami, and FOX Kids on VHS. Ah good times.
I remember when we had our Sony VCR (i think early 90s) it had an option called "Showview" to automatically program the VCR, only problem that every code written on major tv magazine were completely bogus and never got the date, hours and time of recording
After all the programming of that thing was easy enough, but after many years we just waited for the program to barely start and press "record" on the fly and switch to the other program we wanted to watch live lol
14:54 I had that same Target head cleaner back in the 90s.
Once when I was 10 or so I found one of those cleaning tapes with the cleaning solution that dried out, and when I attempted to play it, it made this loud noise that scared the crap out of me.
I too had an RCA VHS with Built in VCR Plus Player during 1997-1998. We had a 1993 version until '97, but replaced it with a newer one in 1997.(TBF, it was owned by my Stepdad).
I share your pain, Ben. VCR Plus was a pain in the ass to use and was convoluted as hell.
VCR Rabbit was modestly successful from what I've read, it was temporarily recalled from the Market in September 1986. It stayed on the market until 1992.
VCR Voice or Smart Voice wasn't really all that popular from what I remember. No wonder why it was shortlived.
Co Pilot wasn't very popular either, but novel.
Actually, the first VHS C Adapter was available as early as 1985.
VHS Cleaning Tapes first hit in the Spring of '85.
VHS itself was officially discontinued from format use Worldwide on December 31,2002. On January 1,2003, DVD officially phased out VHS forever.
VCRplus was pretty much standard on VCRs in europe they also had PDC a system where the tv channel controls the recording through teletext. Very handy if a live TV event delays the next program. Have you heard of the Panasonic Barcode VCR system?
I was the only one in the house who could use the Videoplus+ (as it is/was known in the UK) to record things. We also had Programme Delivery Control (now defunct) in the 90s so it was really difficult to miss a recording when you combined them both.
I think VCRs required different types of head cleaners. If you used the wrong one, like using the dry head cleaning VHS tape in a VCR that needed a wet one and vice versa, you could damage the VCR. The manual usually told you which one to use. (Maybe that was the "reasoning" behind the feline Macrovision variant known as KTC?)
you didn't touch on decrypter boxes (for copying copy protected rentals that became a thing for awhile after vcrs started building in anti copying features)
My grandma could figure out to program her VCR and my step-dad could not! LOL! He came to me whenever he needed anything recorded.
Some websites like www.dagenstv.com/ (swedish) still uses Showtime codes or VCR+ (same thing) So it is still in use! It is 2015
Only one VHS player was harmed in the making of this video
In the UK, we have a similar system to the Rabbit called the DigiSender, developed by a company called AEI Security, despite the name, it doesn't use digital signals, it broadcasts analogue PAL over the 2.4GHz band (ie the same bandwidth used by Wifi, Bluetooth and microwave ovens) it's *VERY* prone to interference.
As to how they can get away with using the DigiSender name when it actually sends analogue signals (and in SD only) ...it can be used with Sky Digiboxes?
It has a Magic Eye system thats supposed to send remote signals from the receiver box plugged into the remote TV wirelessly to the transmitter that's suposed to beam the signals through an IR blaster... but it rarely works.
I remember VCRPlus, that was used in the UK too, complete with VCRPlus numbers, I don't remember anyone ever using it, just the numbers in the TV guides of the time.
I also don't think VCRPlus reacted to well to chages in programming schedule. I dont think the VCRPlaus remote would work with modern TV signals, the VCRPlus system I think relied on codes to be broadcast by the TV station, which are no longer broadcast.
The thing about American made voice recognition systems, especially those made in the 1990s is tht they'd have never worked in the UK, largely due to the huge variation that we have with accents. Google's voice recognition on Android works surupisingly well with my broad regional accent, but I still prefer typing.
The VCR Pilot looks like a terrible idea. So many things to go wrong.
I had a dry head cleaning tape, from BASF I think it was, the announcements came complete with a German accent. "Video Cleanink, Audio Clenink, Care und Prevention ...Stop Eject! Stop Eject!"
Was that Patrick Stewart at 5:02 ?
Maybe
+Kyle Burke Sure sounds a lot like him!
I actually used to own a few vcr cleaning tapes
A dry tape and a wet tape although I personally used the dry tapes but then again even as someone who knew how a vcr works to a degree I’ve never really used my cleaning tapes that much
When I was young, VCRs were affordable enough that we could have one for both of the TVs in my house (though I think it was mostly so we could record more than one show at once). Consequently, the whole concept of the VCR Rabbit is completely alien to me.
I'm an 80's child. I was really expecting the Panasonic VCR programming wand! articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-12-11/entertainment/8704020115_1_bar-codes-button-pv I still remember it and thought it was so cool in 87' Back then we has a crappy RCA VCR from 1984
I watched this video right before going out thrifting... sure enough, one of the first things I saw was a brand new and sealed VCR Co-Pilot. Shame they are not worth anything, they literally sell for almost nothing on eBay brand new.
I have the VCR Co-Pilot remote with instructions.
I hated how there were so many vcr with mono sound and almost every tape had stereo I use to try to only watch movie at friends houses that had stereo vcr because it was too hard to hear the words in movies when they only had a mono unit
I’m surprised the VCR Co-Pilot was made as late as that. I never needed it, as I was a total geek who never had trouble programming my VCR (apart from idiot things like user error and unforseen circumstances like power outages). I always saw it as a “dad thing,” and it looked way more old-fashioned than something made in the late 90s (I imagine the dials were more comforting to its intended audience).
I used tape-head cleaners a time or two (including one with a bottle of alcohol INSIDE the “tape”) but always worried that they’d do more harm than good, so I just gave up. My Philips S-VHS deck is precious to me! Reminds me of those CD laser lens cleaners, did they actually do ANYTHING?
History Lesson Dings - CHECK
TV off effect @ 12:46 - CHECK
A genuine laugh out loud riff @ 11:32 - CHECK!!!!
I'm pretty lazy about just using wet cleaning tapes. They generally clear up the picture for me. Sometimes, you have to do it more than once to get it to work. I have cleaned VCR heads a few times, and luckily I never screwed up my heads. If you clean your video drum vertically, you will tear up your video heads. To prevent this, I usually take foam swab, press it against the video drum, and manually turn the video drum. You should pull the swab away from the drum and press against areas higher or lower. Don't turn the drum and move the swab up or down while it is against the drum. My brother always told me to never clean the head in a vertical fashion. He forgot one day and bricked his VCR. If the fact that just a simple error can destroy your VCR, than I suggest you don't clean a VCR manually yourself. Either get someone to do it for you, or just use a head cleaning cassette. For the general person, a quick pass with a cleaning cassette should take care of it.
Some of my VHS decks can't handle the wet cleaning tapes. Something about the way the cleaning tape is stored and moved inside the cart just... makes them freak out/
I've stumbled upon the original version of the Rabbit multiple times over the years, often complete in box or sealed; I've never seen any of the wired ones until now. Now that analog signals are kaput, it might be worth having a set, since there's not much of anything getting in the way causing interference.
I remember my dad found some VCR-Cs and the adapter about ten years ago. It barely worked back then, so I doubt it works at all anymore.
I'd like to see an episode about the Video 2000 format.
It was called Video Plus+ here in the uk, I didn't know even that had different names. Same logo though.
Many VCRs in UK and Europe also had PDC, that timed the VCR from information in the channel's teletext data. So the VCR would start recording when the shows actually started, even if they were running late, due to live events or sports. As the US doesn't use teletext, they wouldn't have had PDC on VCRs either.
Ben and Ed...might I suggest an addendum .5 as per VCR ephemera? I think at least a handful of your fans (incl. myself) would enjoy your take on the VHS television tuners...
+William Petree Wheels within wheels... = D
omg my grandmother always had those mini cassete adapters for her camcorder back in the day.
Ahhh those awesome vhs c addaptors. I accidentally broke a few in my day of transferring.
In the VCR days I had a head cleaning device, and it was pretty useful, especially since (unlike an audio cassette deck) you couldn't get to the heads on most machines.
These Head-Cleaner Tapes could wipe out the damage of those "Theater-recorded bootleg" VHS tapes. (14:23)
No mercy for you Vhs player, Mwa Ha ha ha!
My money is still on beta. Its going to make a come back; its not in a recession its in it accumulation phase and now is the best time to buy into beta. NYSE symbol: BTA
Dave B "Oh, no! Beta!"
People though not being able to program a VCR was cool. But programming a VCR was simple.
Was anyone else here the one family member that would get called to set peoples VCRs?
My parents still have one of the automatic VHSC adaptors and it operates on 2 AA batteries haha.
I plan on doing a period piece about troling in the early days of the internet (ie the 1980's), so does anyone know where i can get a charger for my VHS camcorder (as well as some antique computer stuff)?
I forgot about the whole " can't program VCR " thing of the 80s / 90s . I beat myself up over not being able to savantly use after effects and certain photoshop programs with, literally hundreds of options/ procedures/ menues .... but, back then, it was fine and accepted that even supposedly very bright and educated people complain that : operating a timer is way too hard for anyone to understand. having been a small child at the time, and, hearing adults talk about it, I understand the attitude to an extent. it may not have been the actual operation of the device, but, not understanding when it malfunctions. If there was a short power outage or brief surge or flicker, it could reset the device clock to midnight. the recording time remains stored in the device memory, so, unless the outage ended at precisely midnight, it will offset recording time...a lot of what people blamed their own user error on was just a problem with the machines internal clock or even TV guide not having an accurate listing... I guess that copilot thing worked because, it used the remotes battery powered clock ( not subject to outages ) and, it limited the recording window to 24 hours ahead ( avoiding date mix ups ) I like how the copilot cycled through possible universal remote codes instead of having the user input one. they had to do as much as possible to placate the dumb and lazy and whiny crowd. the modern " catch up on shows , on demand... " stuff is basically: them taping it for you. you just have to remember the name of the show.
I forgot about the whole " can't program VCR " thing of the 80s / 90s . I beat myself up over not being able to savantly use after effects and certain photoshop programs with, literally hundreds of options/ procedures/ menues .... but, back then, it was fine and accepted that even supposedly very bright and educated people complain that : filling in times and dates in the fields indicated is way too hard for anyone to understand.
Ironically, the voice control on my phone went off during the VCR Voice Programmer segment.
You can't make up fake codes for it. The VCR+ codes are broadcast from the networks themselves.
Also you never talked about VCR security alarms. It was a motion-sensitive VHS cassette that you would "arm" by flicking a switch on it or inserting a special key, and then you have a short time limit to put it into the VCR and leave. The switch cannot be flipped while it's inside the VCR unless you unscrew the top panel.
They came out back in the days when someone would break into your house and steal not your money, not your jewelry, not your H-fi system....but your VCR.
And there is nothing wrong with the automatic VHS-C adaptors. If your tape jams or something, all you have to do is put a fresh battery in, durrr. I've used them for 15 years and that's all that's ever happened. The battery will become too weak to move the gears and it will slow down or not work. That's the main reason why people even get rid of them, they dont know that you have to change the battery every so often and think it's broken. The manual ones are a pile of shit.
And the cleaning tapes do work. I've used them on many VCR's. And they are not worthless. I've used ones that are 10 to 15 years old and even one 24 years old and they still work.
+MrWolfSnack About the VCR+ codes, you can make up your own codes, or else how could the PlusCode generator featured at 6:00 (look at the purple square about the discontinuation of codes) work?
Windows OS
If you work for NASA. Read this, it will tell you about how the algorithm for those codes works
www.straightdope.com/columns/read/782/how-do-the-tv-program-codes-for-vcr-plus-work
Wow. A tad bit overkill. Surprised that they were able to make it into a computer program.
VCR Co-Pilot was exactly like setting the machine to record, except with an extra, costly device.
In other words, it's the advanced version of VCR Plus. (9:58)
What about tape rewinders?
We tried those back in the early '90s. The only thing they did was cause issues with the mechanics of the VCR. Rewinding on your VCR is good for it. It keeps the mechanism from jamming while working the lubrication back into it. Tape rewinders never lasted very long anyway. Your VCR is designed to rewind tapes so let it do it. Rewinders are just "snake oil" gimmicks.
The ostensible reason to rewind a tape outside a machine was to keep the tape from contributing to head wear because the tape could be in contact with the read-write heads while it was rewinding. I don't accept the premise that rewinding the tape in the machine helped maintain it. All use of the mechanism of a cr gradually contributes to its wear and eventual mechanical failure. And if a vcr was nadequately lubricated from the factory, then the answer was to add lubricants, not to increase friction of moving parts by rewinding tapes in it.
The worst thing you could do was "pause" a tape, Rewind or Fast Forward with picture rolling.
The old "Are Tape Rewinders "good or bad?" debate. It depends on which you were tying to save the VCR or the VHS. Mylar tape contracts by 0.0246% when you rewind at speeds over 70 feet per minute FPM, but only stretched at 0.0247% when you high speed FF at 92 FPM. So by some cleaver math you could balance the two leaving 3.749465 feet of tape with 0.0036% of lag which was taken up by the tapes leader. The formula on the VCR BBS's at the time was R(in FPM)xDT(in kelvin)- STP/ Y^2x(Sqrt RY)/n(no. of mols of FeO2 by mass on mylar tape)xY(Y being mass of tape by Oiler's VCR constant)^R=% of VCR head wear/VHS tape wear, multiple by 2 if your VCR had 4 heads.
They were more for people renting alot of movies who would need a fast way to rewind.
Head cleaning tapes - heaven help you if you bought one that said “If you can read this message, your tape heads are clean! Stop the player NOW!”, in a foreign language you can’t speak, or it said it in several languages, none of which you spoke!
Holy crap! I have one of those vcr voice programmers
Voice remotes would later catch on with Satellite & Cable TV boxes in the 2010s. (8:05) Fun Fact & Coincidence.
What is called the intro song?
+Борис Борисов It's an original song from Ben himself, called Pavanned I think.
+robertsd247 Manos the Hands of Fate...
Alert7981 Thanks for the info.
You didn't mention the other programming system that worked through hand-scanning a wand remote over barcodes in the various listing magazines. Perhaps that was only a British thing - TVTimes I think? I used to have great fun scanning the barcodes on tins of soup and what not to see what times they would specify.
I am sure there is a Ramsey Campbell story in that process somewhere; you scan a carton of Chicken and Mushroom Pot Noodle and next morning you find the video has recorded the immolation of your estranged Grandmother by Rage Demons or some such...
+morelenmir Yup, I remember the barcode wand, I also remember the tv advert for the video co-pilot on uk tv. :)
Remember the first vcrs with perfect freeze frame?, they would advance a couple of frames to get a good one. :)
+morelenmir You scan a carton of...and an old lady sends spiders to eat your soul?
William Petree
And an old lady sends you a VIDEO of spiders to eat your soul! In Lower Brichester..
Alas...poor Ben's VCR...
nice
everclear works wonders for cleaning
does anyone know what the theme song is? tried finding it everywhere
+greenphlem The song was written by Ben, it's named: Pavanned
+greenphlem Pavanned by Ben "Benny Boy Himself" Minnotte.
Ah, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert - the proto-redditors.
The trouble with the wet cleaners was if you lost the cleaning solution bottle :-)
Jeez I come back after a few years to find your still using that box and that opening sequence? High time to give the show a modern update yeh?
Remember the time when a 90 second intro was an idea?
I’ve done far longer.
Who is that woman at the end of the intro, sort of shying away? Makes me wonder every time I watch the intro.
Marius du Plessis It's from the cult classic "Manos Hand of fate"
Oddity Archive, I would like to Sponsor a future episode.. Not in advertising on a product I do not make or have any interest in kinda way but in a let me hand you money and say thanks kinda way.
Lol I too open up my SL-F1 betamax to lean the heads.
Push the tape in lol
Do an episode on local access warnings.
+86fan He did, last year.
MrWolfSnack Thanks.
86fan
It's somewhere in his uploads. I think it should have a photo of a storm warning that's hot pink with a lightning bolt cloud or something.
MrWolfSnack I can't find it.
Oddity Archive: Episode 51 - Weather Warnings
Oddity Archive: Episode 2 - Emergency Broadcast Salute
86fan
Thats not true voice recognition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111one. OMGZZZZzzz BEN IS WRONG!!!! It was just a recording of a word (sound) you said (made) and it would look for that sound. Like when the Motorola V60 first came out. The upside is it can learn any language even klingon! But its just looking for the pattern you recorded, its not smart enought to know any language, that would take up way too much memory. Although they did have voice recognition chips as far back as the 1980's with radio shacks six? command robot chip that could kind of understand single words like stop turn etc..
Nobody beats me because I’M THE WIZ!!!! Yes, I’m the Wiz! I’mtheWiz!!
what is with the thing in front of your face? I just found your channel. were you horribly disfigured from your eyes down?
I am not one to usually comment on how someone presents themselves on their channel, but I guess this is the exception to the rule.
it just seems kinda weird to me. I dunno. whatever makes you happy
have a nice day
and I did sub, by the way.
Dear Strong Bad,
How do you type with boxing gloves on?
Crapfully yours...
Not First!