Do you use a DVD recorder to record skating?

BaileyCatts

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9,333
Yes, I know I am like 15 years behind on this. Yes, I still use a VCR, so let's move on from that. I am also very stupid and could never get anyone to help me try to buy the right equipment, hook it up and show me how to use it, to convert to using a DVD recorder versus VCR so that's why I never changed over. Now I see you can't even buy them anymore. I want to try to find some on eBay but I don't even know what I am looking for to know what to get. I want it so I can play my current tapes (I have the VCR to play them) and have a DVD recorder that will record whatever is playing on my TV (either my tapes or Live current events), so that whatever is playing on my TV screen the DVD recorder will copy and record.

If you record broadcast events on a DVD recorder, what is the exact make/model of the specific device you use so I can try to find something on eBay? I just spent a stoopid amount of money buying more tapes from Amazon, but eventually I bet I won't even be able to buy tapes anymore, and the ones I have going back to the 90s are probably disintegrating as we speak. Several years ago I was going thru a bit of an emotional rage/breakdown and pitched a bunch of my skating tapes and other stuff, which I still hate myself for to this day. I at least want to try to save the Nationals, Worlds and Olympics coverages that I still have on tape, and be able to DVD record those events in the future.

Or at this point should I just say fcuk it and give it up once I can't buy tapes anymore? :shuffle: That's what I get for procrastinating and rage pitching all the stuff I loved the most in my life. šŸ˜¢
 

Japanfan

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25,532
I'm not particularly technologically literate either, @BaileyCatts. I needed help in figuring out how to convert my FS videos to DVD, but once I did, it was easy. But it took a long time, about a year to transfer tapes from 1988 to about 2011. Or maybe earlier than 2011, as I did record straight to DVD for some time.

Then, I just stopped recording at some point. I think I became weary of it. And there is so much skating available on You Tube. However, You Tube usually doesn't archive full competition, you can just get individual skaters. Although in some cases You Tube has lined the skaters up after I've search for the first one in a comp.

Sorry I can't give you advice, but good luck with it!
 

TanithandBenFan

Author of the Ice and Edge Series
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9,276
I have a Magnavox VCR/DVD Recorder that I used to convert all my old skating tapes about 15 years ago. I work at home, so I would let the tapes play to do the transfer while I worked every day since it took many hours to convert them all.

I then started using my DVD recorder to record events from my TV, but about two years ago, the events on NBC channels started getting blocked from being able to record. I have a Cox cable DVR, so I don't know if it's an issue with all cable/satellite providers or just some (I've heard others with different providers having the same issue). So, I've stopped saving anything on DVD, which is probably good since I was running out of space in my entertainment center.
 

GarrAargHrumph

I can kill you with my brain
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19,434
If you decide you don't want to convert your VHS to DVD yourself, there are companies out there that will do this for you, for a fee. Just something to keep in the back of your mind.
 

acraven

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2,599
Probably a lot more than you want to know:

Over the last ten years or so copy protection has gotten a lot tighter on average. This is a much bigger issue with DVRs than it was with VCRs. But it varies by source (meaning both the channel and the cable/satellite company). And you may be blocked from recording On Demand video when there is no restriction on broadcast programming from the same channel. Comcast has been doing that recently. You just never know what you'll be able to record and what you will not, and today's truth may not be tomorrow's. I have never had a problem transferring a homemade VCR recording to digital format, however.

There is equipment (Google "video filter" or "time base correction" and read between the lines) that may strip copy protection in some cases. How well any given filter works may vary depending on what sort of equipment you're trying to record on. My old Magnavox recorders have been more flexible than Windows Media Center on a PC. Windows Media Center has not been included in the Windows software for years and is probably essentially unavailable at this point. They turned off the electronic program guide for existing users as of December 31, so all you can do now is set a time-based recording (as you do on a VCR).

Several years ago Magnavox redesigned its recorders; they no longer contain DVD drives, so you can neither directly record a live broadcast to a DVD (which is dicey anyway, because the DVD may be bad) or transfer something from the hard drive to a DVD. I think perhaps you can swap out a hard drive when it gets full, but I'm not sure. I don't have one of the new models.

There may still be available from some online source a European-model Panasonic recorder with a DVD drive. This model has no TV tuner, so it just takes a cable feed (or I guess satellite or fiber optic feed, but I am not sure) from the analog output of your cable box. I don't think many cable providers provide clear video that can be tuned outside the cable box anyway. I haven't shopped for a DVR recently, so there may be some new players in the game. The B&H Photo Video website would be a good place to look.

Hauppauge makes a USB device that plugs into a computer and captures analog video. It can be used to capture videotape footage and convert it to digital format as well as to capture an analog cable/satellite/fiber optic feed. I haven't used the current model and don't know how well the accompanying software works. I assume it's picky about copy protection, because newer equipment tends to be that way--but again, different cable companies vary in terms of how much copy protection they impose. But if I wanted to switch from VCR recordings now (and it's a good idea for all the reasons already mentioned), I think I'd try the Hauppauge solution. At the very least, it should allow you to convert your old videotapes (as long as you have a working VCR). There may be competitors producing similar equipment.

The more serious videophiles probably just record to hard drives and back them up these days, not bothering with DVDs. No worries about damage to a physical DVD that way, and the hard drives cost less per hour of video. Unfortunately, hard drives can fail, so I'd want at least one back-up drive with a second copy of all the stuff I was saving. And then you'd need to connect that drive to your TV to watch the videos, unless you were willing just to watch on your computer--a step I have never tried to take.

A lot of people like Tivo. It's said to be very user-friendly, but I don't know whether there's a way to archive recordings to DVD, or whether it's easy to swap out hard drives (to back them up or when they get full). Hard drives in dedicated video equipment may not use standard formatting; I know the Magnavox drives on the older models did not.

It's really irritating when a DVD fails and you have to re-transfer video from your hard drive. I think cheap DVDs are a poor bargain. I'm currently using Verbatim AZO DVDs. I formerly used Taiyo-Yuden but switched when I went through several bad spindles that failed at a rate above 20%. But I've had some bad Verbatim spindles, too, so I think there's some luck involved. The cheapest sources I've found for the Verbatim AZO DVDs are Walmart (mail order) and Amazon. The price varies, and it's always worth checking both sources. The last time I looked, the cost per DVD was cheaper for spindles of 50 rather than 100 on Amazon.

If you need to edit your video (cutting out commercials, for example), I can recommend VideoReDo. There may be less expensive workable solutions.
 

Skate Talker

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8,138
I use an old Hauppauge HD PVR and either record the live broadcast from my cable box, from something I have PVR'd on my cable box, or from the On Demand area of my cable box. My problem is that this old Hauppauge uses component input and my newer cable box doesn't have that type of output so I have to use my older cable box and who knows how it will last. Also the Hauppauge software doesn't work with Windows 10 so again, stuck using my old Windows 7 desktop, which, as of tomorrow is not longer supported by Microsoft so who know how long it will last. I now only save as digital files on external hard drives, including back up. I used to do back up onto DVD's as digital files - not movies, but also found too many DVD fails and time consuming to make.
Just a note about watching these video files on TV, if you have a smart tv and a newer pc you can "send" the video to your tv screen without a hard wired connection. I have a older tv but can connect my PC via HDMI cable to any HDMI port on the tv and see videos that way, or via my WD Media player witch allows me to connect the external hard drive to the tv without the need for a PC.
 
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Peaches LaTour

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2,470
We are not tech-savvy, either, nor are we particularly interested in it. We don't even own a computer.

I have had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands & have chronic repetitive motion trauma in my upper back from years of typing for work.

So, we record off our X-xfinity on the t.v., not just skating but news, soap operas & all kinds of other shows. We can keep these, indefinitely. We have some shows on our "recorded" that have been there 2 years or longer. We watch them on & off.

We also have a DVD player.

Also, our library has free streaming services so we intend to use that in the future.
 

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