HOME AUTOMATION Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 It's on account of all this dreadfully good weather ...and less COVID awareness. Drat! I couldn't find anything about this so I rolled my own... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 Serendipity! I had to run by the store for a couple of items, and on a whim I walked past the movie bin. Sitting on top was this movie I have not seen since I was a kid. A bit campy, but over-all not terrible. Dragonslayer (1981) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serafini Lapo Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 (edited) 9 ore fa, OLD CS1 ha scritto: Serendipità! Sono dovuto correre al negozio per un paio di articoli e per un capriccio sono passato davanti al cestino dei film. Seduto in cima c'era questo film che non vedevo da quando ero bambino. Un po' campy, ma nel complesso non terribile. Ammazzadraghi (1981) I remember it! Wasn't it made by Disney? Maybe not... Still to be reviewed. The poster of the film is still beautiful! Edited April 14, 2023 by Serafini Lapo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 9 hours ago, Serafini Lapo said: I remember it! Wasn't it made by Disney? Maybe not... Still to be reviewed. The poster of the film is still beautiful! Not Disney, but Paramount. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert on "Sneak Previews" (back at PBS station WTTW, before "At the Movies" on WGN) gave a positive review of the movie in 1981, with particular emphasis on the dragon effects. I watched this movie on HBO, oh, probably around 1983 or 1984, along with others like "The Beastmaster," "Battle Beyond the Stars," and "Krull," and was absolutely enchanted. The whole fantasy genre of movies drew me in as a kid, especial, as Gene Siskel pointed out, with a relatable young hero. Oh, and for a little trivia, "Battle Beyond the Stars" was James Cameron's breakout special effects job which launched his career as we know it. BTW: I do not speak Italian, but the title is obviously "The Dragon of the Lake of Fire," which is an appropriately poetic name for the movie. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 19 hours ago, OLD CS1 said: Serendipity! I had to run by the store for a couple of items, and on a whim I walked past the movie bin. Sitting on top was this movie I have not seen since I was a kid. A bit campy, but over-all not terrible. Dragonslayer (1981) Campy as all hell I mean damn... My favorite back in the day was Excalibur. I probably should watch it again to see how well it has aged. I have it on VHS and yes I still have a VHS player! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 2 hours ago, Vorticon said: I still have a VHS player! Who you telling? You know where you are, right? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 20 hours ago, Serafini Lapo said: Wasn't it made by Disney? Okay, so it appears that it was Paramount in cooperation with Walt Disney Productions. Interesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 On 4/14/2023 at 2:12 PM, OLD CS1 said: Who you telling? You know where you are, right? I think the right question for this group would be: who here doesn't have a VCR? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Atari2600PAL Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 27 minutes ago, Ksarul said: I think the right question for this group would be: who here doesn't have a VCR? Me! I have a large collection of dvd/blu-ray but also have no way to play any of those currently either… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 I still have a Video2000 player in the cellar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 1 hour ago, mizapf said: I still have a Video2000 player in the cellar. I haven't seen one of those in ages. There was actually a local video rental store in Kaiserslautern that still had some Video2000 titles available up until I left Germany in 1994. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 2 hours ago, Ksarul said: who here doesn't have a VCR? 2 hours ago, Atari2600PAL said: Me! Laugh at him derisively.mp4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted April 15, 2023 Share Posted April 15, 2023 26 minutes ago, Ksarul said: I haven't seen one of those in ages. There was actually a local video rental store in Kaiserslautern that still had some Video2000 titles available up until I left Germany in 1994. Video2000 was video as it should have been, not as VHS tried to be. True picture freeze, fast forward, reverse without jerking. Cassettes with high capacity which could be flipped (like an audio tape). Video2000 was inferior to VHS in just one point: The video stores focused on VHS, in particular concerning the "adult entertainment". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 My VHS player is actually a relatively modern dual DVD-R/VHS machine I specifically acquired to transfer my old VHS home movies to DVD for safekeeping. Works really well. I also still have and use a vintage Panasonic laser disk player. You can see part of my LD collection in the picture as well I have to say that LD's did not age well from a video quality standpoint... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TheBF Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 5 hours ago, Vorticon said: I have to say that LD's did not age well from a video quality standpoint... When I worked in television back in the early 90s I couldn't imagine how TV would ever look better than what we had then. 🤣 When I did a full setup on our cameras they looked amazing to me. Then I went to a lecture on solid state pickup devices at Sony. (versus plumbicon tubes) The lecturer put up a resolution chart and the tube camera looked great. Then he panned slowly left and we watched the frequency response collapse on the scope. Switching to the solid state camera (experimental at the time) it held the image and frequency response while panning. It was an "aha" moment. "Dynamic resolution" would revolutionize sports telecasting. And the rest is not history now , it's the present. (good thing I didn't get any older) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 7 hours ago, Vorticon said: My VHS player is actually a relatively modern dual DVD-R/VHS machine I specifically acquired to transfer my old VHS home movies to DVD for safekeeping. Works really well. I also still have and use a vintage Panasonic laser disk player. You can see part of my LD collection in the picture as well I have to say that LD's did not age well from a video quality standpoint... I actually have to laugh at this one, @Vorticon. It is the same VCR that @iliketurtles and I have in the living room (I just verified the model number)--and we bought it for the same reason you did, LOLOL. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 What about this one, just dug out of the cellar (and quickly cleaned on the top): That little darling weighs 17 kg! I thought at first it was stuck on the shelf. (This is of course not the mentioned Video 2000 machine; I'll send a picture later.) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 9 minutes ago, mizapf said: What about this one, just dug out of the cellar (and quickly cleaned on the top): That little darling weighs 17 kg! I thought at first it was stuck on the shelf. (This is of course not the mentioned Video 2000 machine; I'll send a picture later.) Hopefully, the tape drive wheels haven't dissolved into a slimy rubber goo (I used to have a really nice multisystem tape machine that suffered that particular fate--the goo totally gummed up the internals of the machine and corroded some of the main board too). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 There is still a cassette inside, unthreaded, but I don't dare to power that thing up - odds are that it will tear the tape. This was our first video recorder at the end of the 70ies. As for the rubber, yes, it seems all rubber is going to "die" after some time. I still have a SLR camera in a bag (not digital, a Dynax 700 si), but you just can't touch it, the rubber is smeary, yuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 39 minutes ago, Ksarul said: Hopefully, the tape drive wheels haven't dissolved into a slimy rubber goo (I used to have a really nice multisystem tape machine that suffered that particular fate--the goo totally gummed up the internals of the machine and corroded some of the main board too). Duuuuuude. I had a tape system that happened to, and it seemed like it happened over-night. I was rather angry about it. One weekend it was fine, the next weekend it was schmoo. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 51 minutes ago, mizapf said: I still have a SLR camera in a bag (not digital, a Dynax 700 si), but you just can't touch it, the rubber is smeary, yuck. I revive foldable Microsoft Mice with Propyl-Alcohol (Iso-Propanol) ... Usually it is just the upper coating desolving, which gave the plastic a better haptic ... but not anymore. I use clear varnish on the mice after cleaning them. Perhaps that works on the body of your camera as well? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOME AUTOMATION Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 20pcs mixed square 2mm idle tire mixed square 2mm idle tire Mixed Square Cassette Tape Machine Recorder Rubber Belt for Repair 1/2/3/4mm Width Square Flat Mixed Drive Belt for Tape Recorder DVD CD BD Walkman VCR Repair Parts Kit 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 I just dug up some of my old development disks from back when I was working on my BBS program for the C64. I had forgotten how many development support utilities I had written to make my life easier. The BASIC program merger was one, but I also had one which would convert a range of 6502 code or data in memory to BASIC DATA statements to be POKEd into memory (could be used with the merger,) one which would scan a BASIC program and show a table of all IF/THEN/ELSE, GOSUB, and GOTO targets, among plenty of others. Fun days. I kind-of miss programming like that, though I am not certain I would have wanted to turn that into a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Vorticon Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 12 hours ago, mizapf said: What about this one, just dug out of the cellar (and quickly cleaned on the top): That little darling weighs 17 kg! I thought at first it was stuck on the shelf. (This is of course not the mentioned Video 2000 machine; I'll send a picture later.) Is this a Betamax machine? The tape compartment seems small. My parents had a Sony Betamax VCR and I have fond memories recording the more interesting TV science documentaries off the air for safe keeping. I wonder what happened to all these tapes... My own little Curiosity Channel stash he he... Damn was I a nerd... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mizapf Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 1 hour ago, Vorticon said: Is this a Betamax machine? The tape compartment seems small. My parents had a Sony Betamax VCR and I have fond memories recording the more interesting TV science documentaries off the air for safe keeping. I wonder what happened to all these tapes... My own little Curiosity Channel stash he he... Damn was I a nerd... No, this is VCR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Cassette_Recording The machine is quite big; the keys for rewind, play, forward, and record are about a thumb's width and went half a finger long down when pressing. For timed recording, you had to press Start and Rec, which were kept locked down until the timer started. You had to have a minimum hand size, or operate it with two hands. When you pressed stop, the pressed keys flipped back up, and really made a loud sound. The two spools of the cassette were placed on top of each other, so there was one big hole in the bottom for the motor, and it either drove the upper spool for playing and forward winding, or the lower spool for rewinding. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.