----------RECEPTION, TV
 
>> I use the sensitive tuner in an older broken vcr
>> (never throw those out as they had the best tuners)
>> which doesn't have a blue screen of death (argh!).
 
PM> Good tip, that. The newer ones are duds in that department. And I
PM> think I have one of those old ones around here somewhere.
 
> I have more than one, and am wondering how much of
> a hassle it would be to figure out what was what
> with it...
 
 Can't really say. From my superficial reading
 -- but this sounds optimistic to me -- supposedly
 just 2 or 3 things account for 80-90 percent of the
 trouble. So it might not be much of a hassle.
 
 But I think what Mike is saying above is that
 you can use a broken one as a tuner? At least one
 in which the tuner is intact.
 
 PM> And I think it was Roy who mentioned a VCR
 PM> repair kit for $20 [?] that I meant to ask him
 PM> about but never got around to. Am in 
 
> That was a power supply repair kit.
 
 Oh. Am pretty sure mine is a dried out belt
 (again from what I've read) because it worked fine
 before it was simply not used for about a couple
 of years. It works now but eats tapes.
 
 [Unless something got in it? I did my annual
 dis-assembling of my air conditioner recently and
 found the usual few dozen bees, wasps, and other
 assorted dead insects.]
 
 If it is the belt the problem is finding a local
 parts supplier who carries VCR belts for older
 models. [Mike, you know of any such supplier?]
 Of course the longer I put off looking for
 it the less chance there'll be of me finding an
 old belt replacement.
 
> The one older VCR we have here has a small
> switching power supply, and when we got this home
> entertainment center furniture (nothing special),
> there's a hole in the back for the wires to come
> out, only reconnecting it did *not* bring it back
> to life.  A little checking turned up a blown fuse
> and a switching transistor that was a dead short.
> Replacing these got the same result, so I got the
> kit. The kit replaced diodes, a number of
> different capacitors, and I forget what else, in
> addition to the transistor. Some of those parts
> were no doubt contributing factors to the thing's
> demise, in particular I heard in here that
> manufacturers are making do with lower
> temperature-rated caps than are good, and I think
> the kit had those in there. Anyhow, when I plugged
> it back in I got a clock display right off, and
> it's been working fine ever since. That was 4-5
> years ago. Not bad when you consider we bought the
> thing used for $50 in the first place. 
 
  I think it's worthwhile, the older ones having,
 as Mike pointed out, much better tuners, and
 therefore far better recording capabilities as
 well. As least as compared to the very flimsy
 looking new models I'm using now, and the ones my
 kids use. But their attitude is that this stuff is
 disposable.  Different generation.
 
> Did you want me to dig out the info in the company?
 
 Thanks for the offer, but see above.
 
 PM> Someone else pointed out another use for old
 PM> VCRs -- that you can dub video tapes with two old
 PM> VCRs, something you supposedly can't do with
 PM> newer models.
 
> The two we have here being in different rooms,
> that's actually something I haven't tried yet.
 
  I think at some point -- 1990? -- the
 mamufacturers were required to add some chip that
 defeated your doing that. Copyright laws stuff.
 
> And the junkers sitting in storage don't work, and
> are good for parts only.
 
  I should have kept some of those for that
 reason, but I tend to keep so much stuff it
 becomes a problem... However, there must be some
 kind of law that says a few days or weeks after
 you toss something is when you'll need it. [g]
 

--- Maximus/2 3.01