atari2600land's Blog

Have you had any problems playing those old videotapes? I've been digitizing my wife's 100+ pre-recorded casette collection and I've come across several which squeak or are sticky and won't play properly. Apparently this is a known issue - basically the adhesive which is used to stick the magnetic particles to the actual tape can go bad or leak through. Some years, brands & formulations are worse than others, but no magnetic tape is safe - typical lifespan is around 10 years.

Have you had any problems playing those old videotapes? I've been digitizing my wife's 100+ pre-recorded casette collection and I've come across several which squeak or are sticky and won't play properly. Apparently this is a known issue - basically the adhesive which is used to stick the magnetic particles to the actual tape can go bad or leak through. Some years, brands & formulations are worse than others, but no magnetic tape is safe - typical lifespan is around 10 years.

When it comes to playing them, I have no problems at all. Converting them to DVD however is another story. Some of the time, when I copy them to DVD, the picture jumps or half-seconds-worth don't record at all, which makes the end result look botched. I've made a couple tracks so botched up that I've had to erase them completely. Sometimes, it goes weird at different places. You'd think a company like Magnavox would make a better VHS to DVD recorder, but I didn't buy it, it was a present recieved at X-Mas last year. Now I bet those things are a dime a dozen I should mention, however, that there have been a few tapes made in '95 that are so bad I had to throw them away.

Nice link!

 

Thanks for sharing it.

 

Here's one I put together along with Scott, a local audio production guy....

 

http://www.pdxradiospots.com