• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Oldest Extant Off-Air VHS/Beta Tape You Have

Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

Do thrift stores accept other used writable media like hard drives, thumb drives, SD cards, or CD/DVD-Rws? There could be porn or copyrighted material on those. If you're VHS deck breaks, do you just buy a DVD/VHS combo or buy a used VHS deck from somewhere?
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

nomadcowatbk said:
Do thrift stores accept other used writable media like hard drives, thumb drives, SD cards, or CD/DVD-Rws? There could be porn or copyrighted material on those. If you're VHS deck breaks, do you just buy a DVD/VHS combo or buy a used VHS deck from somewhere?
Click to expand...

Thats a good question I have not been in my local Salvation Army store in a while.They take working computers .what ever is on the harddrives on those .If the last owner dump any of the copyrighted movies,music and any illegal pirated softwares and naughty porno stuff thats if they did.if they did not .they might get a suprized knock from the local poice dept.
I think I"ve mentioned before I have great luck going to my local fleamarket to find VHS VCR's.Last summer I've must of picked up about a dozen VCR's.Some with no problems some need some repair which is no problem with me since vcr repair still is one of my professions.
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

I do have a VHS/DVD player, a Sony from a couple years ago. My VHS only VCR is a Panasonic, bought at Goodwill not long ago. Plays great!

-crainbebo
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

I bought a used VCR from Goodwill last year and it works great. It cost me $9.00 and I bought a remote for it through Ebay for $12.00. I'd definitely make sure that the store has a return policy in case there is a problem. Some do and some don't.
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

If anyone here happens to come across any tapes recorded from New Orleans or Baton Rouge stations, please let me know. I really haven't had the same luck that you've all have had in terms of getting tapes. I've specifically dealt with collectors, and I've never really tried going into a thrift store (and using Craigslist hasn't worked out for me either) to find any old tapes.
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

Today I got some blanks that came off eBay Buy it Now. Thirty tapes came to my door, with various movies/TV shows taped on them between about 1987 and 2000 (that's about the old and the new for these tapes). About half of it is A&E mystery shows (like the UK detective show A Touch of Frost, from Yorkshire Television/ITV) and the rest is a grab bag. Brands included: JVC, Sony (V Premium Grade), RCA, BASF, Laser, Scotch (one), TDK (one) and a Wal-Mart T-160 that had me stumping on the front (no logo or anything except on the back a "Distributed by Wal-Mart Stores" disclaimer".

The grab bag included: about 8-9 movies copied off the factory rental VHS releases (I think people were allowed to do that, but not copy it and sell it as a bootleg, etc), a few movies taped off TV (I'm Gonna Git You Sucka w/ Keenan Ivory Wayans taped off TBS around 1996, Taste the Blood of Dracula taped off Cinemax, Grosse Point Blank taped off Starz!, etc.), and various TV shows. One tape (an OLD T-160 from BASF) has an episode of Growing Pains (taped off WSET 13 Roanoke, VA) from the original ABC broadcast, two eps of Moonlighting (also original broadcast), two episodes of Cheers (original broadcasts taped off NBC 10 WSLS Roanoke, VA), an episode of Miami Vice (probably original), the worst movie ever made Plan 9 from Outer Space, and an episode of Good Neighbors (I think it was a BBC sitcom later shown on PBS in the 80s). ALL, and I mean EVERY one of these tapes have commercials/promos/bumpers on them. The old BASF has tons of 80s nostalgic ads, including ads for Kellogg's Nurtific, Red Lobster, Big Red Gum (with cheesy jingle included), Levi's 501, Ziploc, JCPenney, and several others, and all the other 29 tapes have commercials/promos from original broadcasts, or in the case of some movies, previews copied off the rental VHS.
So, awesome finds!!

-crainbebo
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

A record/tape/CD/VHS/DVD store up north in Everett, WA got a huge lot of VHS tapes (over 2000!) from a "hoarder" down south. While most of the fifty bags looked like retail VHS (I couldn't check them all, it would take me an eternity :D) a couple bags had MORE blanks from the 1980s (that's what the the tape casings dated back to mostly, brands included Fuji, BASF T-120s, Sony, Maxell, Memorex and even an SKC in the pile). Since I was not sure if old commercials etc. were on them, I picked up a couple, as if I was buying a lottery Scratch ticket. One of them had a few eps of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (BBC series from the 70s) likely taped off PBS (if so, KCTS 9, but no promos or bumpers at all on the tape). The other had the 1988 Seafair Hydroplane Race (from Seattle, Lake Washington) taped off KIRO 7, with ALL the original 1988 commercials left on, including tons of local Seattle ads. Others that I didn't buy included: a 1992 Breeder's Cup (horse racing, likely off KING 5 since NBC had the rights at that time), and several older movies (like My Fair Lady, for example).

-crainbebo
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

I've been hunting for self-made tapes at flea markets and garage sales for a few months now, and so far from most of my trips, I've had a pretty successful haul. So far, this is what I've found on tapes I've bought from such flea markets:

-9/23/1995 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Texas Longhorns football game and some footage of the 31st Ryder Cup Matches (WTVG) w/c
-Some parts of old John Wayne movies (including The Searchers and Sands of Iwo Jima) from TNT and the Family Channel (1994-1995) w/c from all three movies
-Last ten minutes or so of an episode of the CBS miniseries Scarlett (11/17/1994 on WTOL) w/c and crunched end credits
-9/26/1996 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Ohio State Buckeyes football game (WNWO) w/c
-Half of a Cosby Show rerun originally from 1984 (recorded 9/26/1996 on WNWO) w/c
-Half of an NBC Nightly News weekend broadcast with Brian Williams (9/26/1996 on WNWO) w/c
-Bits and pieces of ESPN workout shows (Gilad's Bodies in Motion, Getting Fit with Denise Austin, Body by Jake) circa November 1991 (some commercials scooped)
-20 minutes of a CBS Morning News broadcast with Giselle Fernandez (11/6/1991 on WTOL) (the clips are kind of scattered, i.e. whatever this person recorded of the newscast was kind of random)
-Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful, and As the World Turns from 9/26/2001 (Y&R starts with WTOL news closing and Ohio Lottery drawing and ATWT is missing the end credits) w/c
-Mother's Day 1996 ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Game of the Week: Cleveland Indians vs. California Angels (also includes last ten minutes of Baseball Tonight) w/c
-Mother's Day 1996 ESPN SportsCenter with Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick w/c
-1996 Tour DuPont Stage 12 (ESPN) w/c
-First ten minutes or so of 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials (ESPN) w/c
-MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (Thanksgiving 1994 on WAKC [now WVPX]) n/c
-Several episodes of Zorro from the first and second season (on Disney Channel between 1997 and 2000) n/c
-Six tapes of Twilight Zone episodes from the Sci-Fi Channel's Twilight Zone New Year's Chain Reaction (12/31/2001-1/1/2002) w/c
-All My Children episode (August 1990 on WLS, starts with Loving end credits, missing AMC end credits) w/c
-NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 5: Chicago Bulls vs. Charlotte Hornets 5/13/1998 (on TNT, first quarter and part of second quarter taped over) w/c
-NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 7: Chicago Bulls vs. Indiana Pacers 5/31/1998 (WNWO) w/c
-NBA Finals Game 4: Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz 6/10/1998 (WNWO) w/c
-NBA Finals Game 6: Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz 6/14/1998 (WNWO) w/c
-WNWO NBC 24 News at 11:00 weekend broadcast 6/14/1998 (leads up to the start of Pensacola: Wings of Gold) w/c
-The Hobbit (Mr. Spim's Cartoon Theatre on Cartoon Network, August 1995) w/c
-Three reruns of China Beach (originally aired in 1989, recorded off Lifetime in July 1994, all three are missing the intros but include intros from two Unsolved Mysteries episodes and Intimate Portrait episode on Princess Diana) w/c
-Five minutes of footage from FNN (now CNBC) 7/25/1986 w/c
-40 minutes of Spyship episode two (1983 BBC miniseries rerun on A&E in July 1986) w/c
-Part of the 1982 movie Love Child (appears to have been taped from a pay TV channel since it was presented uncensored and without commercials)
-USA 4x400 Olympic Relay 8/8/1992 (WKYC) w/c
-WKYC Channel 3 News at 11 weekend broadcast 8/8/1992 w/c
-The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (recorded off Cinemax circa 1989-1990)
-Shane (1953 western, recorded off unknown pay TV channel)
-Arrowhead (1953 western, recorded off unknown pay TV channel)

w/c=with commercials
n/c=no commercials
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

"-Six tapes of Twilight Zone episodes from the Sci-Fi Channel's Twilight Zone New Year's Chain Reaction (12/31/2001-1/1/2002) w/c"

I have four tapes from the same event, one without ads, the other three with ads. Many ads for Gateway, Miss Cleo Psychic, Pentium 4, promos, etc.

-crainbebo
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

crainbebo said:
"Many ads for Gateway, Miss Cleo Psychic, Pentium 4, promos, etc."
Click to expand...

Along with the Subway commercial with the Clay Henry song.

His name is Henry, Clay Henry
He's a fireman and a Jared fan from Subway
He got real big on burgers and fries, now he's down to a smaller size
Gets his might from his Veggie Delight, great taste each day at his local Subway
He's Henry, Clay Henry
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

Found a pretty good deal of more tapes this weekend at another flea market. Here's what were on them:
-The Lost World: Jurassic Park (can't tell if this was taped from pay TV or dubbed from a retail tape, presented uncut and without commercials)
-Part of a Jeopardy episode from May 1991 (part of it was taped over with the aforementioned movie, starts at the end of the Jeopardy round, leads up to the start of a Disney Special from ABC, taped from WEWS) w/c
-Partial episode of the CBS miniseries Million Dollar Babies (taped in November 1994, most commercials cut out but contains partial ads for Toyota Avalon and Advil Cold and Sinus, a partial promo for Letterman, and a mid-break CBS Miniseries bumper with the old "WOIO Nineteen" logo at the bottom of the screen used during the station's early months as a CBS affiliate)
-Blank Check (taped from Disney Channel in 1997 without intermissions during free preview time period, since we periodically see a phone number at the bottom of the screen to dial to get the Disney Channel)
-Three partial episodes of General Hospital (taped March, May, and June 1997 from WEWS, two of which lead up to the start of Oprah) w/c
-Joe Kidd (WUAB Eight O'Clock Movie presentation taped in 1988) n/c but contains a voiceover from the late Gib Shanley promoting the Ten O'Clock News during the end credits
-WWF Saturday Night Main Event 4/30/1988 (more than likely taped from WOIO, but don't know for sure) n/c
-Doo Wop 50 (PBS special taped from WVIZ in May 1999, contains pledge drive breaks throughout the special)
-Ricky Nelson: Original Teen Idol (VH1 Movies That Rock presentation from August 1999, also contains a five-minute "Behind the Movie" segment about Nelson) w/c
-Close Encounters of the Third Kind (ABC movie presentation taped from WAKR circa 1985) n/c
-Green Ice (WUAB Star Movie presentation taped on 1/4/1985) w/c

w/c=with commercials
n/c=no commercials
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

Correction: Saturday Night's Main Event was actually taped from NBC (WKYC in Cleveland). I just looked up the program on Wikipedia, and apparently it aired in place of SNL from time to time between 1985 and 1992.
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

The April 30, 1988 edition of WWE Saturday Night's Main Event aired on April 30, 1988, with matches taped at the then-Springfield Civic Center (now the MassMutual Center). I have that same show in my own collection, recorded from WVIT-TV (NBC) channel 30 of New Britain/Hartford. :)
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

Made another trip to a flea market on Sunday and picked up six self-made VHS tapes. This time the content isn't quite as old as I wanted it to be, but it was still good nonetheless. Here's what I found:
-The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over concert (taped from WVIZ sometime in 1995, with pledge drive breaks and promo intershow leading up to the start of Beliefs and Believers)
-Two episodes of The Shield from February 2003 on FX
-Part of the movie Dominick Dunne Presents Murder in Greenwich (taped from USA Network in November 2002)
-Most of the 1998 National Finals Rodeo (taped from ESPN2 in December 1998)
-NHL 2Night broadcast from December 1998 (which followed the rodeo, also has the first few minutes of NFL 2Night)
-A few episodes of Scooby and Scrappy-Doo from Cartoon Network's Scrappy Doo Marathon in October 1999 (also contains "The Scooby-Doo Project" skits during commercial breaks)
-Part of the Lifetime Original Movie "Midwives" (from March 2001)
-Episodes of the Golden Girls, Designing Women, and Unsolved Mysteries (taped from Lifetime in March 2001; I forget the original airdates for the Golden Girls and Designing Women episodes, but one UM episode originally aired in 1990, and the other originally aired in 1991)
-Three late night infomercials also shown on Lifetime in March 2001 (Body by Jake Bun and Thigh Rocker, Ab-Doer, and Comprehensive Formula)
-The end of the tape with all the Lifetime shows had a few commercials taped from TNN in February 2001 before the tape ran out
-Most of a Chappelle's Show episode (which includes the WacArnolds sketch and a performance from DMX, taped from Comedy Central 2/8/2004)
-South Park episode All About Mormons (taped from Comedy Central 2/8/2004)
-After the South Park episode, whoever recorded on that tape did a lot of channel surfing on their digital cable box, so there were several miscellaneous clips from different channels, including the end of Scream and the beginning of Supercop separated by a Starz Theater intershow, scenes from Minority Report on one of the HBO channels, Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, Driven on VH1, and Extra on WOIO

The disappointing thing about a couple of these tapes is that some of the labels hinted that there would be some early to mid '90s programming on them, but they were the ones that had the Scooby and Scrappy-Doo episodes and Lifetime programs on them from the aforementioned years. One of the labels had such things as "Blossom," "American Country Awards," and "Geraldo" written on it, and the other had "Dr. Quinn," "Early Edition," "Walker Texas Ranger," and "Guiding Light" written on it (although that one also had "Scooby and Scrappy Doo" written on it, and that turned out to be all that was on it for all six hours). Similarly, the case containing the tape with the Eagles concert had "Judds movie" and "Dr. Quinn" written on it, but neither were on the tape, just the concert.
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

Scott2011 said:
Made another trip to a flea market on Sunday and picked up six self-made VHS tapes. This time the content isn't quite as old as I wanted it to be, but it was still good nonetheless. Here's what I found:
-The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over concert (taped from WVIZ sometime in 1995, with pledge drive breaks and promo intershow leading up to the start of Beliefs and Believers)
-Two episodes of The Shield from February 2003 on FX
-Part of the movie Dominick Dunne Presents Murder in Greenwich (taped from USA Network in November 2002)
-Most of the 1998 National Finals Rodeo (taped from ESPN2 in December 1998)
-NHL 2Night broadcast from December 1998 (which followed the rodeo, also has the first few minutes of NFL 2Night)
-A few episodes of Scooby and Scrappy-Doo from Cartoon Network's Scrappy Doo Marathon in October 1999 (also contains "The Scooby-Doo Project" skits during commercial breaks)
-Part of the Lifetime Original Movie "Midwives" (from March 2001)
-Episodes of the Golden Girls, Designing Women, and Unsolved Mysteries (taped from Lifetime in March 2001; I forget the original airdates for the Golden Girls and Designing Women episodes, but one UM episode originally aired in 1990, and the other originally aired in 1991)
-Three late night infomercials also shown on Lifetime in March 2001 (Body by Jake Bun and Thigh Rocker, Ab-Doer, and Comprehensive Formula)
-The end of the tape with all the Lifetime shows had a few commercials taped from TNN in February 2001 before the tape ran out
-Most of a Chappelle's Show episode (which includes the WacArnolds sketch and a performance from DMX, taped from Comedy Central 2/8/2004)
-South Park episode All About Mormons (taped from Comedy Central 2/8/2004)
-After the South Park episode, whoever recorded on that tape did a lot of channel surfing on their digital cable box, so there were several miscellaneous clips from different channels, including the end of Scream and the beginning of Supercop separated by a Starz Theater intershow, scenes from Minority Report on one of the HBO channels, Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, Driven on VH1, and Extra on WOIO

The disappointing thing about a couple of these tapes is that some of the labels hinted that there would be some early to mid '90s programming on them, but they were the ones that had the Scooby and Scrappy-Doo episodes and Lifetime programs on them from the aforementioned years. One of the labels had such things as "Blossom," "American Country Awards," and "Geraldo" written on it, and the other had "Dr. Quinn," "Early Edition," "Walker Texas Ranger," and "Guiding Light" written on it (although that one also had "Scooby and Scrappy Doo" written on it, and that turned out to be all that was on it for all six hours). Similarly, the case containing the tape with the Eagles concert had "Judds movie" and "Dr. Quinn" written on it, but neither were on the tape, just the concert.
Click to expand...

Yep, that can happen sometimes Scott. I've seen tapes with old material on the labels, but something new taped over it, like one time I spotted a tape that said "Seattle Supersonics at Utah Jazz" with a date of 1990 on it, but on it was Chu Chu and The Philly Flash taped off Showtime around the mid-90s. I refunded that tape. I also found one with softcore porn toward the end of it. I refunded that one too.

-crainbebo
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

Forgot to mention that all the programs on the aforementioned tapes included the commercials, so at least I was in luck there.
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

We made another trip to another flea market on last week and picked up ten self-made VHS tapes.
Here's what I found:
-Various clips of children's programming from broadcast stations and cable networks (taped on 10/17/1995, 3/22/1996, and 2/17/2001)
-Various station ID's and show openings from broadcast and cable stations (taped on 10/22/1992, 3/15/1993, 6/28/1994, 2/21/1996, and 10/23/1997)
-Various show promos, more station ID's, and the last 2 minutes of Bananas in Pajamas (taped on 11/23/1992, 6/23/1994, 1/22/1996, and 6/10/1996)
-Morning cable TV channel surfing including scenes from Barney and Friends on AETN, Bananas in Pajamas on KASN, Today on KARK, The Muppet Show on NickJr, The Price is Right on KTHV, Little Star on TLC, The 700 Club on KVTN, and other programmming (taped from Comcast Cable in Little Rock, AR on 10/23/1995)
-Various Prevue Channel clips from 1994 and afternoon cable TV channel surfing featuring scenes from The Fox Cubhouse and Rimba's
Island on KLRT, Prevue Tonight on the Prevue Channel, Under the Umbrella Tree on the Disney Channel, Law and Order on A&E,
local news on KARK, KATV, and KTHV, Local Forecasts on the Weather Channel, Moneyline on CNN, and many more (tapes from Comcast Cable in Little Rock, AR on 6/22/1994, 10/21/1994, 12/30/1994, 4/21/1995, and 10/16/1995)
-Various host/anchor introductions from various broadcast and cable stations (taped on 10/11/1990, 3/22/1993, 6/22/1995, 10/11/1995, and 7/21/1999)
-Various cable network ID's (taped on 1/22/1983, 4/22/1985, 10/22/1987, 5/22/1989, 2/22/1992, 4/6/1993, 3/11/1994, 9/11/1996, 7/2/1998, 2/15/2000, 4/11/2003, and 6/11/2004)
-Various movie openers from broadcast, cable, and Pay-TV channels (taped from 1981 to 2005)
-Various station ID's from broadcast stations in Little Rock, AR and the entire states of Arkansas, Texas, and others (taped from 1980 to 2000)
-Various signoffs and signons from broadcast and cable stations from 1979 to 2007 (taped from cable TV in Little Rock, AR)
 
Re: Self-made VHS tapes at Thrift Stores

branda1979 said:
-Various signoffs and signons from broadcast and cable stations from 1979 to 2007 (taped from cable TV in Little Rock, AR)
Click to expand...

To add to 'urielb22's' query: Would these sign-offs and/or sign-ons (especially in the immediate period from 1979 to at least the '80's) have any of the old-style circular test patterns, whether color or B&W?
 


Back
Top Bottom