Cydrome Leader <
pres...@mungepanix.com> wrote:
> Remember the tuning thumb wheels for each channel under the top panel of
> old-ass VCRs?
I remember more prehistoric stuff than that.
Somewhere around here I still have my timer from the Quasar Great Time
Machine, a non-vhs, non-beta format that died out around 1983 or so.
Although the main deck had detent tuners (you know, click knobs), the timer
to make it auto-record was an optional accessory. It was similar to those
timers of the day where you stuck plastic pins in these slots to make a lamp
turn on and off.
It sort of looked like two clock faces, one was the analog clock (complete
with sweep hand) the other was where you plugged the pins into. The idea
was, you plugged the timer into the outlet, the vcr into the clock.
Since the machine was mechanical, you just pressed rec/play down while off
and when the timer clicked to "on", it power the vcr up until the next pin
passed, which shut the machine off. Of course you had to remember to put it
on what channel you wanted before hand.
What was sort of odd, I think there were 8 pins, 4 for on and 4 for off
(only a different color, either pin knocked the timer to the other on or off
mode). Since the machine couldn't change channels, all you could do was
record up to 4 programs within 24 hours of the same channel, since the timer
was circular.
The odd part was the tape only held like 60 or 90 minutes, I think. Not
really sure where recording 4 programs would work.
I never owned one but I think Sony made a carosel adapter for some of the
beta decks, mechanically would eject/insert a new tape when one reached the
end.
The stupidest thing I remember is when RCA introduced a vcr where the timer
could be set up to a year in advance. I mean on any level, where would a
feature like that come in handy and possibly work?
Anyway with the OP's question, the model number gave me a slight tingle
being familar (it wasnt in the end) but after looking around for a bit for a
picture or anything else, it does seem to be a later model (maybe mid 90's)
than a pre-historic one.
I also remember towards the end of those (vcrs in general), there were some
that basically had no buttons on the machine except on-off (maybe play/stop
also). Even the tracking was on the remote only.
Panasonic (which used to market as National in some countries) did do some
stupid things once in a while. Next to me is a DMR-EH75V which was one of
those vhs-hdd-dvd recorders they made about 10 years ago, very handy to make
dvd's from vhs, the tape dumps to the hard drive, once there you can control
how to make the dvd. Sort of an editing deck.
The problem is the clock, there is no manual set for it. It used to use the
EPG for the info, which of course, no analog channels, no EPG, no clock.
Someone did figure out a secret menu thing, hit reset while pressing two
other buttons and some kind of "it only appears once" manual clock set comes
up in an on-screen menu, but without the EPG, I've had free watches from
cereal boxes keep better time.
-bruce
b...@ripco.com