One for those over a certain age
Discussion
motco said:
AstonZagato said:
P5BNij said:
brrapp said:
Staring at the testcard, waiting for Watch With Mother.
Actually looking forward to quality TV.... Parkie when his guests had talent and knew how to tell a good story without having a book to flog, Dave Allen At Large, Porridge, The Sweeney, Bouquet Of Barbed Wire, Wicker's World, The Persuaders... Great documentaries - The Ascent of Man, Civilisation (still get those though)
Great science programmes - Tomorrow's World, Horizon
Dog Star said:
Back onto old TV tech - I remember us getting our first video recorder back in about 1978 which was pretty early for a domestic machine - it was a rented thing and was one of the Ferguson badged piano key jobbies with the tape loaded in the top, no remote. It arrived on a Saturday and I remember the first thing we recorded was a bit of World of Sport wrestling with Rollerball Rocco.
This was followed by what was in the day a very flash VCR, a Ferguson 3V23 which had a remote control out of Star Trek, it had something like 8 programs, it could go forwards and backwards and slow mo etc etc and looked really cool. My dad actually bought this one and I remember going to get it with him, one of these amazing import companies down some back street in Manchester that you don't see any more. I remember it being very expensive - something like 700 quid.
That first one was our school video player,remember the pause screen and the buttons had the smoothness of smashing your face into rendering.This was followed by what was in the day a very flash VCR, a Ferguson 3V23 which had a remote control out of Star Trek, it had something like 8 programs, it could go forwards and backwards and slow mo etc etc and looked really cool. My dad actually bought this one and I remember going to get it with him, one of these amazing import companies down some back street in Manchester that you don't see any more. I remember it being very expensive - something like 700 quid.
I kept my 1979-bought piano key Ferguson going for years. It needed a new lamp in the tape end sensor and eventually a drive belt. Mine had only two buttons on the bottom left where that one has four. Built like the proverbial brick outhouse and far more rugged than its successor. I have machine number four still powered up (JVC) and 90 tapes in a cardboard box - some tapes never watched since recorded in a fit of enthusiasm back in those heady days!
motco said:
I kept my 1979-bought piano key Ferguson going for years. It needed a new lamp in the tape end sensor and eventually a drive belt. Mine had only two buttons on the bottom left where that one has four. Built like the proverbial brick outhouse and far more rugged than its successor. I have machine number four still powered up (JVC) and 90 tapes in a cardboard box - some tapes never watched since recorded in a fit of enthusiasm back in those heady days!
I bought one of these "Piano key" Ferguson VHS recorders in 1977, it cost £575 with WIRED remote control.Probably around £2500 today.
Asda were selling new VHS videos several years back for £40.
Gunk said:
Dog Star said:
Morningside said:
I saw an analogue frequency extender that was required for the old sky boxes at the car boot sale last week.
When the decoder came out I drove over 50 miles and paid £25 for a 50cm scart cable as they were hard to get hold of and that was not even RGB.
Talking about analogue Sky does anyone remember Season ripoff cards?
I may have talked about this before as my memory is going
Back onto old TV tech - I remember us getting our first video recorder back in about 1978 which was pretty early for a domestic machine - it was a rented thing and was one of the Ferguson badged piano key jobbies with the tape loaded in the top, no remote. It arrived on a Saturday and I remember the first thing we recorded was a bit of World of Sport wrestling with Rollerball Rocco.When the decoder came out I drove over 50 miles and paid £25 for a 50cm scart cable as they were hard to get hold of and that was not even RGB.
Talking about analogue Sky does anyone remember Season ripoff cards?
I may have talked about this before as my memory is going
This was followed by what was in the day a very flash VCR, a Ferguson 3V23 which had a remote control out of Star Trek, it had something like 8 programs, it could go forwards and backwards and slow mo etc etc and looked really cool. My dad actually bought this one and I remember going to get it with him, one of these amazing import companies down some back street in Manchester that you don't see any more. I remember it being very expensive - something like 700 quid.
welsh blackbird said:
And watchingr a tenth generation copy of Debbie Does Dallas!
Of which you could never see the interesting bits as the previous hirers had paused the tape at the money shot and stretched the tape leaving you watching a fizzy screen Good documentaries.....
World at war, got to be one of the all time greats. And the music, always gave me a shiver.
Back when we got that first "piano key" video recorder there were no such things as video shops. What you did was you had a sheet with a list of films on them and you sent off for them, in the post. You watched them and sent them back.
I remember my dad rented "The Stud" with Joan Collins and he also sent off for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre but that never arrived (or maybe it did and he didn't let us watch it?)
I remember me and my mate Danny we caught watching the Joan Collin's film by the builders who were working on our house extension. We were sat with glasses of Cinzano we'd nicked from the cocktail cabinet.
I remember my dad rented "The Stud" with Joan Collins and he also sent off for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre but that never arrived (or maybe it did and he didn't let us watch it?)
I remember me and my mate Danny we caught watching the Joan Collin's film by the builders who were working on our house extension. We were sat with glasses of Cinzano we'd nicked from the cocktail cabinet.
Wacky Racer said:
A friend of mine bought one of the first video recorders in the country in 1976 (Betamax) and used to travel ten miles to the newly opened Comet in Rochdale to buy a "discount" pack of five blank tapes for £100.
Around £500 today.
That place was fantastic! Well 'ith Lane. I used to go there with my dad - also for video tapes, audio cassettes and so on. It was nothing like what the Comet of today is like, it was more like what an old time parts counter in a motor factor was like. It was a wooden counter covered in plastic with the current Comet listings (I hesitate to use the word "catalogue" as it was just a paper sheet covered in tiny listings) tacked to it. They'd go in the back to get you your stuff. Around £500 today.
There was a Kwik Save there as well, but it looks like Iceland now and that open area at the right rear is where Comet used to be.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.6050273,-2.14894...
My dad has thousands and thousands of VHS tapes - they are stacked everywhere in boxes. None of them are labelled with what is on them, so we have no idea. Some of them might have a piece of paper (corner of newspaper etc) in the box saying what is on them. Same with audio cassettes - tens of thousands of them. None labelled. He doesn't like to defile the labels. Similarly he won't remove clear plastic films off stuff (eg. round the edge of a new TV). He would never erase a tape either.
Wacky Racer said:
motco said:
I kept my 1979-bought piano key Ferguson going for years. It needed a new lamp in the tape end sensor and eventually a drive belt. Mine had only two buttons on the bottom left where that one has four. Built like the proverbial brick outhouse and far more rugged than its successor. I have machine number four still powered up (JVC) and 90 tapes in a cardboard box - some tapes never watched since recorded in a fit of enthusiasm back in those heady days!
I bought one of these "Piano key" Ferguson VHS recorders in 1977, it cost £575 with WIRED remote control.Probably around £2500 today.
Asda were selling new VHS videos several years back for £40.
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