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Taping Radio off of the VCR

B

BrettV

Guest
I have heard some people who say they have taped radio off of the VCR. I am going away for the weekend and wouldn't mind being able to tape some of the weekend shows I listen to, and was just wondering how this is done. Thanks!
 
> I have heard some people who say they have taped radio off
> of the VCR. I am going away for the weekend and wouldn't
> mind being able to tape some of the weekend shows I listen
> to, and was just wondering how this is done. Thanks!
>

I made 3 6Hr video tapes of WXSS-103.7 Milwaukee in early 2002.


Here's how its done.


If you have a radio that connects to the speakers with an RCA style jack (or has an output that has that ability)

1. Take the radio and turn it to the station you want

2. Connect the speaker to the Audio (IN) jack on the VCR

3. Set your VCR timer to record the A/V In or Line In channel at whatever time you choose.


If your radio does not have RCA connection but does have a headphone jack, you can buy a cable that has RCA on one end and headphone style on the other and record that way.


You will only be able to record one channel (speaker)
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> You will only be able to record one channel (speaker)

You never heard of stereo VCRs?

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</P>
 
> > You will only be able to record one channel (speaker)
>
> You never heard of stereo VCRs?
>

Only when I was produceing programming for the local access channel. We recorded the programs, copied them onto a hard drive for editing and recorded them onto another tape using stereo VCRs. The stereo VCRs they had there were old (Looked at least 80s or early-mid 90s). With the rise of DVD Players I didn't think stereo VCRs were that common anymore.
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> > You will only be able to record one channel (speaker)
>
> You never heard of stereo VCRs?

One reason I own a stereo VCR is to record radio programs in stereo. I bought a brand new Sony Hi-Fi Stereo VCR just last fall, to replace my dying 1999 Phillips Magnavox.

If you have a stereo receiver with RCA "Tape Out" or "Record" jacks in back, connect those to the "Audio In" on the VCR, rather than using the speaker wires. The same as connecting your stereo to a cassette deck.

When you set your VCR timer to record the radio show, make sure you program your VCR to the channel that corresponds to the "Audio In" jacks. It may be "A/V" or "Line In", but some VCR's code them with numbers or letters instead. Check your owners manual.

Make sure your receiving antenna is in a position where the station comes in well. Nothing more frustrating than coming home to play the tape back and hearing intermittent static or distortion fading in and out on the tape when you know that just a nudge of the antenna would've fixed it the whole time.

Use good quality blank videotapes. Cheap/junk brands may have audio dropouts or speed/transport problems.
 
> > > You will only be able to record one channel (speaker)
> >
> > You never heard of stereo VCRs?
> >
>
> Only when I was produceing programming for the local access
> channel. We recorded the programs, copied them onto a hard
> drive for editing and recorded them onto another tape using
> stereo VCRs. The stereo VCRs they had there were old (Looked
> at least 80s or early-mid 90s). With the rise of DVD Players
> I didn't think stereo VCRs were that common anymore.

I don't think there are that many mono VCRs being sold anymore. Every VCR I've seen for sale recently has been stereo.<P ID="signature">______________
"Get educated. Read stuff on the web and believe all of it."
-- Phil Hendrie
http://theradioblog.blogspot.com</P>
 
> With the rise of DVD Players
> I didn't think stereo VCRs were that common anymore.

Actually, it's mono VCRs that are an endangered species these days.

I checked the online sites for Circuit City, Best Buy, and Good Guys and not one mono VCR available.

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</P>
 
> I don't think there are that many mono VCRs being sold
> anymore. Every VCR I've seen for sale recently has been
> stereo.
>
I don't see many VCR's in stores these days. I still find plenty of refurbished models being sold at my local Value City Department Store, but VCR's are nearly obsolete, especially when Best Buy & Target will stop selling VCR tapes (blank included) at the end of the year.
 
I've been taping my favorite local morning radio show using my VCR for four years. I've had a few bumps along the way. One problem I've encountered is when the tuner goes slightly off the station I have the radio tuned to, it records the show with some static in the background.

Does anyone know the best way to transfer audio from a video tape to the computer? I use the same wire that connects my radio to my VCR and instead put it from the VCR's audio output slot to my computer's audio input slot. Sometimes the audio comes only out of one speaker, but sometimes it comes out of both. I guess this is the stereo VCR issue.

I've thought about purchasing RadioShark or RadioYourWay from pogoproducts.com, but the VCR is so much easier to operate I think! Has anyone used these products before? How were they?
 
> I've thought about purchasing RadioShark or RadioYourWay
> from pogoproducts.com, but the VCR is so much easier to
> operate I think! Has anyone used these products before? How
> were they?
>

I tried to put together a decent review on RadioShark here on this board. Go here.
 
Mono vs. Hi-Fi Stereo VCRs

> I checked the online sites for Circuit City, Best Buy, and
> Good Guys and not one mono VCR available.

Look at the cheapest DVD/VCR combo units. In those, typically the VCR is mono, even when the DVD player part is stereo. You can easily tell by looking at the front panel -- if there's only a single audio input (white RCA jack), the VCR is mono. A stereo VCR will have two audio input jacks (red and white) next to the video input jack (yellow).

And a "Hi-Fi Stereo" VCR not only adds stereo sound, it also makes the sound much more crisp and clear. A mono VCR has muffled sound with poor treble, not much better than a typical AM radio. Back in the '80s there were some cheap non-"Hi-Fi" Stereo VCRs with similarly poor sound, but these died out as the true "Hi-Fi" Stereo VCRs became more affordable.

Also, Hi-Fi Stereo VCRs have the best audio quality of any analog recording method available to consumers. Analog Hi-Fi Stereo VHS audio can come very close to matching the noise and distortion specifications of digital CD audio, and it actually has better frequency response than CD audio! Unlike stereo audio cassettes, there is absolutely no background hiss, thus no Dolby NR system is necessary.
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noiboc.jpg
</P>
 
Re: Mono vs. Hi-Fi Stereo VCRs

I would also assume that the record speed makes a difference. IE: SLP would not be as crisp or solid; SP would be almost perfect.

> And a "Hi-Fi Stereo" VCR not only adds stereo sound, it also
> makes the sound much more crisp and clear. A mono VCR has
> muffled sound with poor treble, not much better than a
> typical AM radio. Back in the '80s there were some cheap
> non-"Hi-Fi" Stereo VCRs with similarly poor sound, but these
> died out as the true "Hi-Fi" Stereo VCRs became more
> affordable.
>
> Also, Hi-Fi Stereo VCRs have the best audio quality of any
> analog recording method available to consumers. Analog
> Hi-Fi Stereo VHS audio can come very close to matching the
> noise and distortion specifications of digital CD audio, and
> it actually has better frequency response than CD audio!
> Unlike stereo audio cassettes, there is absolutely no
> background hiss, thus no Dolby NR system is necessary.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
Perfection is overrated...</P>
 
As a volunteer for a "Radio Cracker" station in 1992, the station used VHS tapes for recording its output as required under UK broadcasting regulations. For a temporary 28 day station on a low budget, it was ideal.

Mark.


> > You will only be able to record one channel (speaker)
>
> You never heard of stereo VCRs?
>
 
Re: Mono vs. Hi-Fi Stereo VCRs

> I would also assume that the record speed makes a
> difference. IE: SLP would not be as crisp or solid; SP
> would be almost perfect.

Hi-Fi Stereo audio is recorded onto the tape using a completely different method than the video and regular mono audio tracks, so its quality is not affected nearly as much by using the slower speeds (some VCRs offer "LP" mode, which is halfway between "SP" and "SLP"/"EP").
<P ID="signature">______________
noiboc.jpg
</P>
 
Re: Mono vs. Hi-Fi Stereo VCRs

> And a "Hi-Fi Stereo" VCR not only adds stereo sound, it also
> makes the sound much more crisp and clear. A mono VCR has
> muffled sound with poor treble, not much better than a
> typical AM radio. Back in the '80s there were some cheap
> non-"Hi-Fi" Stereo VCRs with similarly poor sound, but these
> died out as the true "Hi-Fi" Stereo VCRs became more
> affordable.

Those non-"Hi-Fi" stereo VCR's were called "linear" stereo VCR's. They only sounded even half-decent on SP (the fastest) recording speed. The true "Hi-Fi" stereo recording method is not much affected by recording speed.

Unfortunately, any recordings that were originally made in stereo on an old "linear" stereo VCR will play back in mono on a "Hi-Fi" stereo VCR. In order to play those old "linear" recordings back in stereo, you have to find one of the obsolete "linear" stereo VCR's somewhere.
 
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