Sony VCR clock expires

[sherwindu]

My 10 year old Sony VCR ran out of time this year and the clock cannot be reset to

2007. Sony told me to set it to 2001, which they claim will do the same job. I tried it and so far it works for January, 2007 (gets the right day of the week). How much could it have cost Sony to extend the original clock beyond 10 years? The VCR is still very servicable, although I never could fix the capacitor that holds up the memory for supposedly 3 hours in a power outage. Now I have to reset it for even the shortest power outages. It's probably tricky, because the last VCR tech who tried to fix that said he couldn't find the right capacitor to do the job.

Sherwin D.

[trader4]

Agree that it seems pretty stupid that Sony didn't make the digital clock capable for more than 10 years. I could understand this if it were a big deal, but the cost of doing that in a typical clock chip is negligible. And not doing it is sure to piss off some people.

Regarding the cap issue, I can't imagine the cap to backup the clock is anything special. Any cap that is rated for 20V, maybe a few uf+ should work and you could replace it if you can find it and have the requisite skills. If there is an issue that prevented the tech from doing it, I would think it would be accessibility, difficulty/risk/ lavbor cost of soldering a new one in, etc. What he told you is just an excuse.

[scott21230]

You must not use it much. VCR's don't last that long.

[Jeff]

In Feb. 2009 when analog TV goes away you can pitch it. Unfortunately my VCR died recently and I had to buy a new one for the next two years.

[mm]

I used mine 2 to 6 hours a day, half recording and half playing and it lasted 17 years before there was any problem. It is a Kenwood, which I think is a Zenith.

Except maybe 10 years in I had a problem with the memory capacitor. When I found one for sale, I replaced it and that was good again. I don't think I knew what the old one looked like, and could't find it, until I bought a new one.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmm, VCR is going out of it's time. If you need it like I do I have several in the house. Some with DVD/VCR combo. They are cheap. I am moving all the tapes to DVD.

[mm]

You'll be ok until February 29, 2008, because that is a leap year while 2002 wasn't. So you'll have to set it to 2003 on that day to advance the date another day, while keeping the day of week the same.

Then you'll be ok until March 1, 2009, because that is not a leap year but 2004 was, so you'll have to set it to..... I have to go now, but I'll think about this. I'm thinking you may have to rely on day of weeek and not day of month that year, until Feb 28th of the next year, but I'm not sure, OR, remember that the day of the month is one day off, even going into the adjacent month sometimes.

I think this is a small price to pay for an otherwise good machine.

[Mark Lloyd]

Incorrect. The law (which is likely to be put off even more, as it already has some) applies ONLY to terrestrial broadcast. Cable and satellite systems can (and many will) continue to use this system for years (or even decades) more, for compatibility with existing equipment. Not everyone can afford to replace their TVs or add converters. There are also existing videotapes some people will want to play.

I expect NTSC to be used for less-critical things like security cameras for a long time. A VCR makes a good tuner, when used for such things.

Think carefully before performing an irreversible act.

Also, you could give it to Goodwill. There's still plenty of people wanting a VCR.

I notice that new VCRs and tapes are getting harder to find. The Wal-Mart here is giving several times as much shelf space to DVD machines and DVDs than to VCRs and tapes.

BTW, there are even DVD RECORDERS for less than $100.

[Mark Lloyd]

I copied the more important of my tapes to DVD. Most of the others didn't have good enough audio/video quality (for one reason the cable TV here used to be no good).

[trader4]

Not necessarily. Most people today have either cable or sat. With either of these, every box I've seen still has an NTSC output that is compatible with existing TVs and VCRs. If you rely on OTA, then you would need a digital tuner, but you're going to need that for any TV that doesn't already have a digital tuner. And if you have an old VCR, I'm betting it's very likely you're going to have a TV that doesn't have a digital tuner too. Plus the VCR still plays all your old tapes, so no need to chuck anything.

messagenews: [e-mail]...

[Mark Lloyd]

I find that I do very little timer recording with a VCR anymore, and don't worry that much about the clock.

[comcastss news groups]

OT but, WE print calendars and I never knew that there are only 14 calendars that repeat.

2001, 2007, 2018, 2029, 2035, 2046, 2057, 2063, 2074, 2085 and 2091 all use the same calendar.

Another piece of useless information...

Steve

[George E. Cawthon]

Hope you keep the tapes. Tapes last a long time, will your recordings on DVD?

[Bob]

This is just the tip of the iceberg come March 11. VCRs and any other devices that can automatically adjust to daylight saving time won't set properly unless you disable the automatic DST feature, or move to Arizona or Hawaii.

[Bob M.]

not likely; the security industry is driven largely by the consumer video market. Manufacturers won't want to develop one CCD for 4:3 cameras and another for 16:9 cameras.

[mm]

You should also adjust your computer with tzedit.exe (time zone edit), before that date, to insert the proper days for starting and ending DST. If you don't already have the program, you can find it on the web and dl it. Congress changed the dates since your OS was written, unless you got it in the past year, and maybe not even then.

[Larry Bud]

Oh no, should I stock up on survival food because my VCR might be off by an hour before I reset the clock?

[mm]

Absolutely. I've run a vcr an hour off, and it was very disappointing to record 6 hours of the wrong programs!

I now have 2 GE vcr's, almost the same model, which are supposed to be able to get the time from the tv signals, and one fails entirely and tells me to set it myself, but the other finds the time on PBS. I wonder why the difference?

[Mark Lloyd]

I was talking about video signal format, not CCD shape. I suppose they will do away with NTSC eventually. My point was that they are NOT required to by law, and won't be making that change yet.

[clifto]