LL
(For our younger readers, Radio Rentals was a shop which hired out TVs and VCRs)
We were a Granada rental family. If not renting, buying ex-rental VCRs.
London Lite
Founding member
(For our younger readers, Radio Rentals was a shop which hired out TVs and VCRs)
We were a Granada rental family. If not renting, buying ex-rental VCRs.
NW
(For our younger readers, Radio Rentals was a shop which hired out TVs and VCRs)
We were a Granada rental family. If not renting, buying ex-rental VCRs.
My parents rented from Martin Dawes, which existed within parts of the North West. Unbelievably, Martin Dawes still exists and you can still rent from them.
I believe Granada (rental) and Radio Rentals became part of the same company after a while, before folding altogether.
(For our younger readers, Radio Rentals was a shop which hired out TVs and VCRs)
We were a Granada rental family. If not renting, buying ex-rental VCRs.
My parents rented from Martin Dawes, which existed within parts of the North West. Unbelievably, Martin Dawes still exists and you can still rent from them.
I believe Granada (rental) and Radio Rentals became part of the same company after a while, before folding altogether.
SP
I remember my dad's panic when our (DER rented) Ferguson Videostar eject mechanism failed with a Blockbuster tape in it. DER sorted it quickly enough with no damage to the tape.
Very happy memories of learning to dub edit camcorder footage with a pair of Panasonic machines at school. Using the record deck's jog/shuttle wheel to find the out point of the previous shot, go into record/pause mode, play the next shot on the other machine from a few seconds before, release the pause on the record deck half a second before the bit you want starts.
When I got to Uni I did a video module in the first year. We were supposed to use the Sony edit controllers their machines had. I crash edited my stuff in the manner I was used to and got it done in half the time.
Very happy memories of learning to dub edit camcorder footage with a pair of Panasonic machines at school. Using the record deck's jog/shuttle wheel to find the out point of the previous shot, go into record/pause mode, play the next shot on the other machine from a few seconds before, release the pause on the record deck half a second before the bit you want starts.
When I got to Uni I did a video module in the first year. We were supposed to use the Sony edit controllers their machines had. I crash edited my stuff in the manner I was used to and got it done in half the time.
PH
We had PYE video recorder, from memory it was around 1986 we got it as a family.
I've still got in my loft, all the Tour De France editions from 1994 to 2000 all recorded from Channel 4 every night. Only 30 mins in those days of course!
There is probably a couple of old general tapes up there as well with old TSW/ Westcountry presentation.
I bought my 1st DVD in 1998 from Comet open box offer. £99 it cost a Panasonic. Weirdly it never went wrong, only becoming defunct as my Samsung TV didnt have a scart lead and with this lock in looming I just bought a Bush one for £25. Its come into it's own this last 10 days!
I've still got in my loft, all the Tour De France editions from 1994 to 2000 all recorded from Channel 4 every night. Only 30 mins in those days of course!
There is probably a couple of old general tapes up there as well with old TSW/ Westcountry presentation.
I bought my 1st DVD in 1998 from Comet open box offer. £99 it cost a Panasonic. Weirdly it never went wrong, only becoming defunct as my Samsung TV didnt have a scart lead and with this lock in looming I just bought a Bush one for £25. Its come into it's own this last 10 days!
RO
we had previously rented a video recorder from Radio rentals, but in the mid 80s, mum bought a video recorder from Asda in Dunfermline. It was braded Questar, and was pretty good.
One thing was, the cassette went into the machine, and a metal carriage would take the cassette down into where the tape would play. Sometimes, the cassette would get stuck, and the power light would blink. So, to release the cassette, you had to press the power button, and out the cassette came.
The remote control was basically controls to play the tape etc, but it was linked to the machine via a cable. It worked well for several years, until we bought a Sony VCR in 1992.
A friend of mine had a Questar as well, and on one occasion, the cassette was getting stuck. So, he came up with the idea of putting the cassette in, and as the carriage was about to grip the cassette, he would pull it away. The carriage went down and up. He done it again, and it went down and up. He tried to reinsert the cassette, and it got stuck again. So, he went through it all again. The carriage went down and up. He tries it again, and the carriage went down..... AND DIDN'T COME UP! Well, he was trying everything to get it up. Pressing eject made no difference, as there was no cassette in. Eventually, I knew what to do. I stuck my fingers in the flap, touched and tried to move one of the cogs, that played the tape, and the carriage came back up.
Needless to say, he didn't do it again.
One thing was, the cassette went into the machine, and a metal carriage would take the cassette down into where the tape would play. Sometimes, the cassette would get stuck, and the power light would blink. So, to release the cassette, you had to press the power button, and out the cassette came.
The remote control was basically controls to play the tape etc, but it was linked to the machine via a cable. It worked well for several years, until we bought a Sony VCR in 1992.
A friend of mine had a Questar as well, and on one occasion, the cassette was getting stuck. So, he came up with the idea of putting the cassette in, and as the carriage was about to grip the cassette, he would pull it away. The carriage went down and up. He done it again, and it went down and up. He tried to reinsert the cassette, and it got stuck again. So, he went through it all again. The carriage went down and up. He tries it again, and the carriage went down..... AND DIDN'T COME UP! Well, he was trying everything to get it up. Pressing eject made no difference, as there was no cassette in. Eventually, I knew what to do. I stuck my fingers in the flap, touched and tried to move one of the cogs, that played the tape, and the carriage came back up.
Needless to say, he didn't do it again.
RO
One thing I disliked about VCRs, and had experience of, was when they developed an appetite, and started to chew tapes! With the Questar I mentioned, on one occasion, we bought these cheap JVC tapes out of Woolworths. Well, about a fortnight later, one of them got chewed in the machine. Dad, rather frustrated, as it was a programme about Pavarotti on the tape, had to the take the cover o the VCR off, to try and untangle the tape. He did, and checked using another cassette, that they were going in and out properly.
Bear in mind this was with the cover OFF the machine. Eventually, the cover was put back on. Sadly, a week or so later, another of those cheap tapes from Woolies went the same way!
There was also the strange one, when a tape was being rewound in the Questar video. In the Sony machine, when you were rewinding a tape, as it got near the end, the machine slowed down. Probably to prevent what once happened with the Questar machine, where a tape rewound, and it would always stop suddenly quite fast once reaching the end. But, alas, just once, there was a loud twang. I had an idea what had happened, so we ejected the tape. Sure enough, the tape had snapped off the other reel!
Bear in mind this was with the cover OFF the machine. Eventually, the cover was put back on. Sadly, a week or so later, another of those cheap tapes from Woolies went the same way!
There was also the strange one, when a tape was being rewound in the Questar video. In the Sony machine, when you were rewinding a tape, as it got near the end, the machine slowed down. Probably to prevent what once happened with the Questar machine, where a tape rewound, and it would always stop suddenly quite fast once reaching the end. But, alas, just once, there was a loud twang. I had an idea what had happened, so we ejected the tape. Sure enough, the tape had snapped off the other reel!
NJ
We had an Amstrad branded video. My parents had a lot of Amstrad branded stuff (including a hifi system with record player (it was pre-CD) and associated speakers). It was rock solid and lasted years as did a lot of the other Amstrad stuff they had. Even an Amstrad TV I had was like the Duracell bunny, it kept going and going and going... I eventually gave it away to my sister's now ex-boyfriend.
Of course Amstrad in that regard as an electronics producer doesn't exist anymore, Sky took it over since Amstrad made the bulk of the Sky receivers over the years (indeed the currently supported Sky+HD boxes are Amstrad and I believe Sky Q is technically Amstrad made too).
Neil Jones
Founding member
Bush, Ferguson and Baird seemed to be the only ones that made VCRs when I was growing up. Of course there were others but never saw them at Radio Rentals.
We had an Amstrad branded video. My parents had a lot of Amstrad branded stuff (including a hifi system with record player (it was pre-CD) and associated speakers). It was rock solid and lasted years as did a lot of the other Amstrad stuff they had. Even an Amstrad TV I had was like the Duracell bunny, it kept going and going and going... I eventually gave it away to my sister's now ex-boyfriend.
Of course Amstrad in that regard as an electronics producer doesn't exist anymore, Sky took it over since Amstrad made the bulk of the Sky receivers over the years (indeed the currently supported Sky+HD boxes are Amstrad and I believe Sky Q is technically Amstrad made too).