Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Does anyone here still use VHS?

5511 views
38 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Mpls/St.Paul
  • 13,892 posts
Posted by wjstix on Monday, October 26, 2015 9:04 AM

Yes, I have a combined DVD/VCR player hooked up to the living room TV. I still buy tapes once in a while; my LHS is selling off their old videos for $5 a pop, and I can often find videos at RR flea markets for even less. I figure at those prices the slightly higher quality of DVDs isn't really worth the extra money.

Stix
  • Member since
    November 2012
  • From: Kokomo, Indiana
  • 1,463 posts
Posted by emdmike on Sunday, October 25, 2015 4:14 PM

I have been slowly converting my VHS stuff over to DVD.  Whenever I take an afternoon to watch train tapes, I set up my stand alone DVD burner and feed it thru that to make the clone.  I do keep the VHS stuff as the master.  Some of my VHS tapes are so heavily watched they have issues like my old copy of "Todays Chicago Railroads".  Some are not available on DVD so if I want it on that style, its up to me to dub it over.  Mike

Silly NT's, I have Asperger's Syndrome

  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: San Diego
  • 954 posts
Posted by stokesda on Sunday, October 25, 2015 4:09 AM

Yes, because I have a widescreen set of the original theatrical relase version of the original Star Wars trilogy (i.e. Han shoots first) that I bought in the mid-90's. I once tried to copy them to DVD so I could cut the cord on VHS, but it turned out to be too complicated so I just stuck with my old VHS tapes.... plus, the kids have some assorted random VHS videos they watch from time to time.

Dan Stokes

My other car is a tunnel motor

  • Member since
    October 2005
  • From: Detroit, Michigan
  • 2,284 posts
Posted by Soo Line fan on Saturday, October 24, 2015 9:27 PM

I copied all of my train videos over to DVD. Every evening, I would do a couple and they turned out well.

Unlike hollywood movies and shows, there really is no good on line source, authorized or pirated Pirate to view train videos.

Jim

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Chi-Town
  • 7,712 posts
Posted by zstripe on Saturday, October 24, 2015 8:50 PM

LensCapOn

What's VHS?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(hiding now...)

 

VHS.......Video Home System.

Take Care! Big Smile

Frank

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: upstate NY
  • 9,236 posts
Posted by galaxy on Saturday, October 24, 2015 7:49 PM

We JUST got rid of many VHS tapes as we bought a new MRRing space with a HOUSE over it.

Some are/were replaced with DVDs of the same, but some weren't. We don't think we will miss them, trains or Disney or not.

SO, we won't miss them I am sure.

Geeked

 

-G .

Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.

 HO and N Scale.

After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Canada's Maritime Provinces
  • 1,760 posts
Posted by Railphotog on Saturday, October 24, 2015 5:33 PM

Several years ago I copied all of by VHS tapes to DVDs, took quite some time as I had over 100 of them.  Not all of them were model railroad programs, many were of prototype railroads and other interests of mine.  To date I have not watched one of them!  Nice to have them copied though.

 

 

Bob Boudreau

CANADA

Visit my model railroad photography website: http://sites.google.com/site/railphotog/

  • Member since
    April 2011
  • 649 posts
Posted by LensCapOn on Saturday, October 24, 2015 2:21 PM

What's VHS?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(hiding now...)

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Saturday, October 24, 2015 9:14 AM

Medina1128

Since the minicam that I have will only interface with a VHS VCR, I still have 2 VCRs. Can anyone provide a link or site for minicams that will directly interface via USB to my PC?

 

This is the camera that I’m using in my PA & E7A.
 
The camera above is NTSC and needs an adapter to connect to a computer.
 
My camera adapts to a USB port using a Diamond VC500 Adapter.  Chances are the camera you have now will work to your computer using the VC500.
 
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 
 

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Clinton, MO, US
  • 4,261 posts
Posted by Medina1128 on Saturday, October 24, 2015 8:18 AM

Since the minicam that I have will only interface with a VHS VCR, I still have 2 VCRs. Can anyone provide a link or site for minicams that will directly interface via USB to my PC?

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: Anderson Indiana
  • 1,301 posts
Posted by rogerhensley on Saturday, October 24, 2015 6:31 AM

Yes, I have a VHS player and many many tapes. I also can play disks as well. VHS is not obsolete. :-)

 

Roger Hensley
= ECI Railroad - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/eci/eci_new.html =
= Railroads of Madison County - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/

  • Member since
    September 2007
  • From: Charlotte, NC
  • 6,099 posts
Posted by Phoebe Vet on Saturday, October 24, 2015 3:57 AM

Yes.

Dave

Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Chi-Town
  • 7,712 posts
Posted by zstripe on Saturday, October 24, 2015 2:22 AM

WOW! Yes I DO and they are all still great....You just have to make sure that they are stored properly, humidity, temp. wise. Almost all the VHS tapes I have left are live concert type...Pink Floyd,Cool AC/DC, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, NeilYoung, Rolling Stones, etc., etc. Feet of Flames, Celtic Singers/Dancers and too many to type. Had many movies, that I gave away, just kept some. All coupled to a JVC player and JVC 250Watt Equalizer tuner amp. Lisa/Dual Turntable, Akai reel to reel 10'' recorder player, which also works....got it in Vietnam 67' paid 90.00 for it, shipped home in hold bagage free...was going for 450.00 in the states. Sound comes from 15'' 64oz Woofers tunned port Walnut cabinets, 8'' exponentional horns for highs, 4''/6'' for mid-range, total of 6 speakers including some 12'' spread out in my rather large living room. Forgot the Blue Ray Sony player and the Samsung 46'' 1080p TV. I was a Stereo freak. But I also repaired them, including TV's and CB radio's on the side...with My two friends and I. I'm not rich...but I'm not poor either and I worked hard to get the things I desired....not uncommon, for Me to ever work two jobs, at the same time. Vinyls....My eldest Daughter and Husband, have them all....She's 50...school teacher, two kids of Her own..one just started college.

Where's the time going???Tongue Tied

Take Care, All Big Smile

Frank

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Sandy Eggo, CA
  • 1,279 posts
Posted by Ray Dunakin on Saturday, October 24, 2015 1:02 AM

Yes. Although I mostly watch dvds, I still have tons of stuff on tape and occasionally watch them. I have a lot of home video that can't easily be transferred to digital, mainly because the more recent VHS players automatically rewind if there is even a tiny gap between recorded segments.

 

I also have "store bought" videos. Some aren't available on DVD, and in most cases even if they were, there's not much point in replacing them when the tapes still work just fine. (And strangely enough, I've never had a VHS tape go bad, but I've had lots of DVDs become unplayable.)

 

 

 Visit www.raydunakin.com to see pics of the rugged and rocky In-ko-pah Railroad!
  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Canada
  • 1,284 posts
Posted by wickman on Saturday, October 24, 2015 12:40 AM

ah  nope. 

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • 993 posts
Posted by hobo9941 on Friday, October 23, 2015 11:46 PM

I still have a VHSplayer, recorder, and boxes of tapes. I also have some 8 tracks and an 8 track player, amongst other err old stuff. Some times I play the Fred Sanford card, and tell my daughter, "Someday all this will be yours"! Whistling

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,897 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Friday, October 23, 2015 9:09 PM

We still use multiple formats here - DVD, VHS and BlueRay. At least 4 working VCR's in the house.

Easily have a hundred or more VHS movies - a few are trains.

At one time we had about 600 VHS movies - than the wife went through them and sold off stuff no one ever watched via yard sale.

Easily have 300 to 400 DVD movies - some trains.

AND, still have over 1700 vinyl records, most all in VG to near mint condition, only ever played on my carefully set up high quality turntables - two of them hooked up to the system.

AND, about 800 music CD's......

Sheldon

 PS - and in a train related, but unrelated topic, I still have paper copies of Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman from about 1955 to present - nearly perfectly complete.

 

    

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Huntsville, AR
  • 1,251 posts
Posted by oldline1 on Friday, October 23, 2015 8:52 PM

I have a ton of commercial & home made railroad & other VHS tapes as well as  BETA tapes and I watch them all the time.

Roger Huber

Deer Creek Locomotive Works

  • Member since
    January 2008
  • From: Tampa, Florida
  • 1,481 posts
Posted by cedarwoodron on Friday, October 23, 2015 8:21 PM

I have harvested a number of small motors from old VHS machines that can be readily used in a variety of model railroad applications.

So I guess I still "use" it as well.

Cedarwoodron

  • Member since
    September 2014
  • From: 10,430’ (3,179 m)
  • 2,311 posts
Posted by jjdamnit on Friday, October 23, 2015 7:01 PM

Hello All,

Yes!

In fact our old VCR just died and we replaced it.

I use it to record Formula 1 races because they are on in the wee hours of the morning. Cheaper than a DVR or Hopper service from Dish Network.

Hope this helps.

"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Friday, October 23, 2015 6:51 PM

I was really into video back in the late 70’s, 80s, and 90s then it finally wore off to a dribble.  In the late 90s I started converting my home made Bata tapes to DVD format.  With the end of Beta I switched to S-VHS for home movies and I have converted those to DVD too.
 
I guess I lucked out with my tapes, I occasionally slip a tape in a machine and they still look pretty good.  I still have two Sony Super Bata SL-360 and two Mitsubishi Super VHS U770 machines that work very good, even my regular Beta tapes from the late 70s and early 80s still look pretty good.  Some have a lot of dropouts but I haven’t found one that won’t play, I run a cleaning tape through them before and after every tape to keep the heads clean.
 
A couple of years ago I charged the battery in my Mitsubishi S-VHS-C HS-CX7 camera and it still worked.  I took a lot of model railroad video with my Sony Batamax SL-2000 and the Mitsubishi Compact over the years.
 
Now days my video is down to my two wireless locomotive cameras and saving it on my computer.
 
 
Mel
 
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
  • Member since
    February 2008
  • From: Potomac Yard
  • 2,767 posts
Posted by NittanyLion on Friday, October 23, 2015 6:27 PM

Milepost 266.2

In 20 years, the question will be "Does anyone here still have any media in any physical format at all?"

 

Probably, in some sort of follow-on to micro-sd cards.  If you want to count a datacard as a physical format in the first place.

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Western, MA
  • 8,571 posts
Posted by richg1998 on Friday, October 23, 2015 5:39 PM

Yes.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • 65 posts
Posted by CRIP 4376 on Friday, October 23, 2015 5:09 PM

Yes, we have four VHS/DVD players.  You can still buy them at Walmart.  Most of my Pentrex and Green Frog tapes are VHS and I still pick up more for $2 - $4 at swap meets.

I did buy Honestech VHS to DVD 8.0 Deluxe to convert tapes, but haven't done anything with it yet.

Ken Vandevoort

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: Westcentral Pennsylvania (Johnstown)
  • 1,496 posts
Posted by tgindy on Friday, October 23, 2015 1:51 PM

Still have two VCRs that are used more as a channel tuner/receiver (than for VHS).  Example:  An older TV that only tunes in channels 1-13, or 1-45, can see higher TV channels thru the VCR as a tuner on the garage workbench, and in the trainroom.

Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956

  • Member since
    May 2012
  • 1,855 posts
Posted by angelob6660 on Friday, October 23, 2015 1:27 PM

I owe a VHS/DVD player, but the dvd player needs a new motor. I still watch movies and tv shows that recorded years ago that didn't came out on video. I have two railroad videos on dvd that I can watch in the living room that has a working dvd player when nobody's home.

Modeling the G.N.O. Railway, The Diamond Route.

Amtrak America, 1971-Present.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
  • 9,352 posts
Posted by BATMAN on Friday, October 23, 2015 1:09 PM

I have two VHS and one Beta deck in the closet. The tapes have all gone into the recycle bin. VHS and Beta tapes begin to deterioate at about eight years of age. The tapes I bought in the eighties were in terrible shape and they were stored well. Ones from the nineties were not much better and have been recycled as well.

My Grandfather bought one of those wind up 8mm movie cameras back in the early fifties and did a lot of home movies. Not only did he get footage of the most beautifull baby ever born,Smile, Wink & Grin he also shot a lot of RR steam action in and around Winnipeg. My sister had it all put on Beta in the early nineties and I have since transfered it to DVD a few years back.

That, along with all our current home video and the most important photo's that are on DVD or CD have had three copies of each made. One set at the inlaws, one set at my sisters and a set for home. It only takes seconds to whip off a copy on the computer and you never know when your house could burn down.

I think the three decks will be off to the recycling depot soon as I just can't see a reason to keep them. They served me well.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

  • Member since
    March 2007
  • 599 posts
Posted by Milepost 266.2 on Friday, October 23, 2015 1:04 PM

I have one in the closet.  Still have some video I recorded with a VHS camcorder.  No idea when or if I will ever use it again.

In 20 years, the question will be "Does anyone here still have any media in any physical format at all?"

  • Member since
    November 2014
  • 44 posts
Posted by The Ferro Kid on Friday, October 23, 2015 12:32 PM

Sure do.  Play back RR videos, including some used ones I bought for cheap on eBay past coupla years.  And play some That 70s Show, Married wth Children, and Malcolm in the Middle episodes I taped off the air.

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!