Come watch with me as I take a trip down memory lane and revisit that nostalgia and share my love of vintage retro gadgets, computers, games consoles toys and Lego, through rose tinted spectacles. I sometimes do repairs on my vintage gadgets and share my experience to try and help out others. I am not an expert, just a keen novice. My Video's are mostly unscripted. I just speak from my heart so they are not perfect. Its just for fun! 😊 I guess this is kind of a video diary for me. I hope you enjoy what I do and that something here will help you if you are looking at some of my repairs or restoration videos. If you would like to thank me by supporting the channel, please consider a donation either by pay pal or you can buy me a coffee if you like, or donate via Ko-fi ko-fi.com/retrogadgetman both links below. Thanks very much 😉 Regards your host, Frank
You will need a betamax player and a usb analogue capture card that has a composite video input and audio input. These can be found on eBay and usually come with capture software. Failing that there are people who transfer tapes to dvd for a price. A internet search will find these in your area.
You have a camera displayed that not only did I have but I used a lot. The Sony model was the HVC 2200. With a Zenith over the shoulder "portable" recorder/player. Extra batteries on a belt, a light with battery added to the whole bunch. The final weight was about 50 lbs. Not for the faint of heart. Now, an i-Phone gives better images, go figure.
I have the European version of that one HVC-2000P along with the 2010 3000 and 4000. It does get heavy carrying it all around but that's part of the nostalgia.
thanks for the video :) i have a question. What will be the problem if i can not play and record the tape. The tape rolls a bit and stops again by itself, and it does not record any further. camera is on the power, not on battery. Can you help me out please?
Best thing to do is type your model number in in RU-vid or Google and see if any one has made any repair videos about your model. As they are all different.
Interesting. So If I got this right it's best if you have a camcorder with AV in and Out so you can use the in to read the menu or playback and the out to record from. I wonder if my old camcorder still works. Been meaning to convert my tapes from many years ago.
I actually started on this exact journey about 6 years ago, wanting to make my JVC GR-C1 tapeless, and hoped that those FPV recorders would be small enough that I could mount it inside the actual case (not possible FYI). However I found that while the picture quality was ok, the sound was only 8Khz mono and really not suitable. I then looked at recorders like the Digitnow iRecord which seems to have the same firmware at the FPV devices BUT with far better sound. In the end I realised what I actually wanted was a intermediary device that would link the recording device to the camera and also power the camera (hence making the camera portable and tapeless). I also wanted to trigger the recording from the camera button, rather than directly on the DVR. This was possible via an arduino and a mod added to the recorder. I even created my own proprietry 8pin mini din standard to fulfill this with one cable and therefore allow interchangeability of recording devices. For the record I found the best was the ImmersionRC Powerplay as it uses MP4 AND records at 50fps, hence keeping the video nice and smooth. Unfortunately these are very hard to find now - although it's available for a higher price on AliExpress. For the GR-C1 I had to use a bespoke build and build the battery and logic into the GR-C1 battery casing. Then run the 8 pin cable to the modded DVR. However for any cameras that use the round 10 pin connector I have built a more generic device where you connect the camera up via this connector and it outputs again via the 8 pin connector to the DVR which can be mounted on top, and the whole thing may be mounted via accessory shoe to the camera. I've build two of these, the second in a smaller form factor, and they work well - although if using with larger power hunger ENG cameras, you're best off using alternative power source for the camera as they drain the 18500s in the device quite quickly. I'd be happy to share more info about this project if you'd be interested. It's great that I can bring these old cameras back to life using something much smaller and lighter that a VTR, and also not having to record to tape first maintains a far better final image quality. Great video btw, keep up the good work.
Thanks for all that information. That immersion RC device sounds like the way forward. I will have to get one of those one day. What you have done sounds interesting. Did you make any videos about it.
@@RetroGadgetMan I haven't done a video but a friend who has a YT channel and I did plan to do a quick video on it at some point. Would be happy to show it off on any forum and I'm sure someone of your expertise would be able to build one and probably improve on it. Happy to discuss further.
Absolutely brilliant thank you i like the nostalgic black & white really gives atmosphere I get that when i try to fix one thing the other thing goes wrong why is it like that? That many years ago its brilliant love old stuff your right you can really see what they were doing back then , very nicely set out inside
My parents had one in the 70's, much of my childhood TV watching came through that TV! We had it years. Edit. I think it was actually a kv1800, but similar.
He loves his numbers. I could have just pinned a post in the comments mentioning It. It took 90 min to re edit convert and re upload but I am glad I did it. 🙂
Does it record in 30 fps even in PAL mode? that doesn't seem all that ideal. Would ideally want something that recorded to 576i like a dv camcorder does
@@RetroGadgetMan Does the DVR do the deinterlacing itself? It would be useful to attach links to fragments of source files for all modes in order to evaluate the quality, bitrate, and type of scan without RU-vid compression
I don't know. When I make another video I will try and dig about deeper and talk about my findings. For now I am quite happy with the results for such a small and very affordable solution than tape. 🙂
Hi I just tried both models of the DSC-f505 and neither of them work with Win 10 or 11. The Sony card reader I mentioned in the video does work with both said operating systems.
i actually found that cable somewhere in my house and I tried connecting and the camera goes into USB MODE normal but I don't see anything going on in my laptop. its a Window 11 help
Hi I have just tried my DSC P73 which is close to your P71 and it doesn't work on win 10 or win 11. The Sony card reader that I mention in the video does work with both said operating systems.
@@RetroGadgetMan thanks for attempting and taking time to test it. I just hold on into the memory card until I can find another way. thank you for trying
Thank you awesome video! I wanted to try and transfer the pictures of my old folks. your channel was extremely useful. glad you made this video! keep it up!!!
hello! I found this video searching a way to transfer my old picture from my Sony camera DSC-P71 that has one of the old blue memory sticks like the one in 0:44. I even bought one of those card readers to get the old pictures of my parents. you were one of the few people who talk about these MS. Do you know how I could recover my old pictures from the memory stick? if you do could you please tell me I would be so grateful. hope you can see this message soon
Great video! Thank you for taking the time to test all those. One note to anyone buying a generic 18 in 1 card reader... Test them on a card you don't care about. One I bought smoked my card 😡 and then stopped working all together. (Ahhh the joys of knockoff garbage)
so the power only needs the positive and the earth? I thought i'd need a negative too? Also, just the one earth for the audio & video outputs? Im a novice with electronics, but trying to get this done.
SMB file sharing with Windows 95 is problematic these days, it uses such an early and insecure version of the protocol that Microsoft has fully disabled it in modern Windows, probably since Vista? Maybe XP could see it. Regardless, FTP is always the preferable solution here.
Not yet unfortunately. I was kind of hoping a viewer that owned or knows this camera may be able to point me in the right direction as to what the fault could be. I do have some other cameras that are working from around the same era that I will make videos about one day.
I'll betcha the floppy disk thing is that it's got an old DOS virus. Floppy based DOS viruses spread across business machines like STDs in an old folks home.
Just found in a draw an old Sony USB memory stick with Play, Pause, Volume, Hold and 3mm socket. No display. It’s an FM transmitter which can play to a FM radio. Must have had its own Windows program for uploading songs. It has the Walkman logo and is called a Digital Music Player.
There is a small square looking fuse between the terminals of the transformer. most likely this is blown. (can be replaced) Replacing the bridge rectifier and main filter cap is also wise to do.
@@RetroGadgetMan I worked on a lot of Philips equipment from this time period. This type of transformer with built in fuse was very common. Success with the repair.
@minimaxxl8 thanks. Before it blew there was a humming sound that wasn't there before. Fuses usually blow when something is wrong. I wonder if the windings have shorted out. I guess I'll find out when I find this fuse and replace it.
Nice job on getting it going. I used to use Adobe Photo Deluxe now and again back in the day. I think I have several install disks for it as it came shipped with various products like scanners. I have an old Pentium system of a similar age. It conked out about a decade ago. I really should try and get it going again some time.
Could be a simple fix. If it has a real time clock Dallas chip it's more than likely that the internal battery for the clock has lost its charge. That can stop a computer booting to post.
The tube used to capture the image is shot. We had one at home as my dad use to work at Philips from 1955 to 1987 in Eindhoven. This was a problem these cameras had. When new they image was actually very good, but those image tubes were a problem. I have some reels of video he shot in 1977 and 78 with this camera. that if you play side by side with what you shot are like night and day. But, again the camera was new at the time.
Thanks for the information. Have you uploaded the footage you speak of. Would be interesting to see if form a historical point of view. I think my camera is just old and worn out. A miracle it works at all.
@@RetroGadgetMan the reel to reel video deck I have is a Philips EL3400. Sadly I don't dare power it up now. It's also worn out. When my dad worked at Philips we always had lots of tech. What I am surprised is the Video 2000 my dad brought home new still works fine. I know that many of them were plagued with problems. But, he use to say if people knew how to take care of them they would always work. But, like most consumer products people don't take care of things. I remember when in 1979 when I was 9 seeing a Philips N1500 he got earlier. But, this was only a test model from before it went to market in the early 70s. that one is long gone. I still have a couple of movies released on the N1500 format, but the tapes not are unplayable.
Thanks. Its knowhere near perfect but at least it got saved. And it's still working.. it is temperamental in the winter as it gets cold in the studio so parts shrink and the eproms don't quite make contact. I need to replace all the e-prom sockets but that's a job for another day.
@@RetroGadgetMan the persistence of the vidicon tube was more than I would have liked. It was a spur of the moment purchase when I saw one, new in box, a year or so after it was discontinued. Cost me £99 at the time.
I used an inflation calculator online to get the results I mention in the video. But saying that it may as well have been £15k as it was unreachable to most people at the time.
If you get one of those multi card readers you can access it that way depending on your operating system. They can be a bit hit and miss. Or use a Sony digital camera as a card reader by plugging it in via usb. Again windows 10 onwards does not always install drivers for the older cameras.
I doubt the case is a "magnesium alloy" given you say it is "heavy". Mg is significantly lighter than Al. Al is significantly lighter than Zinc. Zinc (alloy) is the most commonly found in 'consumer goods' because it is cheap and has a low melting temp., suiting die casting.
The outside of this camera reminds me a lot of the Philips LDK44 (a.k.a. "Video 80" I think) professional television cameras that they made around the same time (late 1970s). I worked with those at a local TV station in the late 1980s and the build quality was very similar to this one. I bet it's possible to get a much better picture out of it. Maybe there are some old capacitors in there that keep some of the power rails from reaching the correct voltages... And yes a blown transformer seems very weird.
Just looked it up. Unusual looking camera and multiple setups possible for inside and outside use. The CCU is larger than the Sony's from the same time period. I suspect most of the video circuits are in the CCU instead of the camera. Maybe one day I'll inspect the capacitors to see if they are operating within there tolerances. Couldn't see any leaks but they could be hiding.
