VCR backup: did anyone of you really used it?

jman · 13 May 2011, 14:17

Hello,

these days I'm indexing some old VG magazines and I smiled at the advertisements about VCR-based solutions to perform a backup on your Amiga.

Did any of you really used such a kind of backup back in the day? Was it realiable?

cosmicfrog · 13 May 2011, 16:40

I remeber a mate of mine buying it, but as to him using it regularly I think he gave up in the end and brought a bigger HDD

ceedy · 13 May 2011, 16:56

I used to make a few long ago... just a few bits and an OP amp.

Still got a couple lying about..
But Slow!!!!!!. but did work OK used it to backup the BBS.

Yer's my own version ,

Chris

cosmicfrog · 13 May 2011, 17:24

Kewl

fitzsteve · 13 May 2011, 18:15

Lol thats brilliant!

How many MB's could you get on a four hour tape?

E240 lol, takes me back

ceedy · 13 May 2011, 18:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

Lol thats brilliant!

How many MB's could you get on a four hour tape?

E240 lol, takes me back

Can't remember too long ago..

Paul_s · 13 May 2011, 20:33

[ Show youtube player ]

and Scotch (3M) still honor the Lifetime Guarantee! (according to a poster on there)

Slayer · 14 May 2011, 05:13

Yes, I used to use it too and only used high quality TDK video cassettes

I still have the hardware etc, not sure if it's my original one however... eg probably got angry with it one day and smashed it LOL

Photon · 21 May 2011, 01:10

Chara' Data sold an interface that worked with any VCR, never used it myself but they sold a few.

haynor666 · 27 May 2011, 20:44

This system was very popular in Poland. Quite good if you have good tapes and good video recorder. About 1,5 min takes to record one disk (plus pause, sync signal) so on 180 min you have 90 disks.

Anyway it's legacy now. There is not point to used these days.

BippyM · 27 May 2011, 20:45

I used the Video Backup System

Was very good until the tapes were chewed in the vcr!!

prowler · 28 May 2011, 01:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by bippym

...until the tapes were chewed in the vcr!!

I just knew someone would say that eventually.

_ThEcRoW · 29 May 2011, 15:00

What was the capacity of these tapes in megabytes?. Just curious, as in the time these were available, i wondered how many data i could store in that tapes. Sadly i didn't have one back in the day.

ceedy · 29 May 2011, 15:06

I always made sure I didn't record at the start of any tape as the first few feet always got wrinkled by the transport mechanism..

@ ThEcRoW

Capacity obivously depended on the number of hours on the video tape ? ..

But approx 1min per mb ( ish)

.

Chris

voyager · 29 May 2011, 21:30

The original page is still online
"There are special backup modes for Amigas with an 68020 or higher CPU (A1200, A2500, A3000, A4000). The first one gives a speed improvement of a factor 2 compared to V1.5, without data compression. The typical thoughput in this case is 85MB per hour, for a total of 340MB per 4-hour video tape! The 68020-compressed mode adds data compression to this, and is up to 3 times as fast as V1.5 (depending on the compression ratio achieved). With 130MB per hour, 520MB will fit on a 4-hour tape! On an 68000 Amiga, the throughput is about 40MB per hour"

Reynolds · 29 May 2011, 21:36

We used it during a period of time around 1995-96. Closely before the CDRom writing became common on Amiga too.

"We" means Amigans in Hungary :P

Allen1 · 29 May 2011, 22:12

My mate had a similar system for the PC a long time ago. It did work but as already mentioned VCR's are great tape chewers so reliability was never something you could expect and then dirty heads or poor quality tapes meant it was more of a Fad thing than anything useful.

mcbpete · 30 May 2011, 18:57

What did it look like if you tried playing back a VHS with backups on it on a TV ?

haynor666 · 30 May 2011, 19:41

You have to play backups always to search to beginning (sync)

Black and white stripes

brett71 · 30 June 2011, 19:04

My friend and I both had these. He had a proper one, but made a homemade one for me. They worked pretty darn good for a cheap tape backup solution.

13 May 2011, 14:17	#1
jman Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: . Posts: 351	VCR backup: did anyone of you really used it? Hello, these days I'm indexing some old VG magazines and I smiled at the advertisements about VCR-based solutions to perform a backup on your Amiga. Did any of you really used such a kind of backup back in the day? Was it realiable?

29 May 2011, 15:06	#14
ceedy Old-Amiga-Git Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Somerset , in the UK Posts: 175	I always made sure I didn't record at the start of any tape as the first few feet always got wrinkled by the transport mechanism.. @ ThEcRoW Capacity obivously depended on the number of hours on the video tape ? .. But approx 1min per mb ( ish). Chris

29 May 2011, 21:36	#16
Reynolds Alien Breeder Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Szigetszentmiklos / Hungary Age: 46 Posts: 1,096	We used it during a period of time around 1995-96. Closely before the CDRom writing became common on Amiga too. "We" means Amigans in Hungary :P Last edited by TCD; 29 May 2011 at 22:19. Reason: Back to back posts merged. Use the edit function.

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13 May 2011, 16:40	#2
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	I remeber a mate of mine buying it, but as to him using it regularly I think he gave up in the end and brought a bigger HDD

13 May 2011, 16:56	#3
ceedy Old-Amiga-Git Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Somerset , in the UK Posts: 175	I used to make a few long ago... just a few bits and an OP amp. Still got a couple lying about.. But Slow!!!!!!. but did work OK used it to backup the BBS. Yer's my own version , Chris

13 May 2011, 17:24	#4
cosmicfrog The 1 who ribbits Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: leek, Staffs, UK Age: 56 Posts: 3,557	Kewl

13 May 2011, 18:15	#5
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	Lol thats brilliant! How many MB's could you get on a four hour tape? E240 lol, takes me back

13 May 2011, 20:33	#7
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,334	[ Show youtube player ] and Scotch (3M) still honor the Lifetime Guarantee! (according to a poster on there)

14 May 2011, 05:13	#8
Slayer Amiga Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: New Zealand Age: 56 Posts: 695	Yes, I used to use it too and only used high quality TDK video cassettes I still have the hardware etc, not sure if it's my original one however... eg probably got angry with it one day and smashed it LOL

21 May 2011, 01:10	#9
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,602	Chara' Data sold an interface that worked with any VCR, never used it myself but they sold a few.

27 May 2011, 20:44	#10
haynor666 retro maniac Join Date: May 2002 Location: Tarnobrzeg/Poland Age: 45 Posts: 1,748	This system was very popular in Poland. Quite good if you have good tapes and good video recorder. About 1,5 min takes to record one disk (plus pause, sync signal) so on 180 min you have 90 disks. Anyway it's legacy now. There is not point to used these days.

27 May 2011, 20:45	#11
BippyM Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Derby, UK Age: 48 Posts: 9,355	I used the Video Backup System Was very good until the tapes were chewed in the vcr!!

29 May 2011, 15:00	#13
_ThEcRoW Amiga NetRunner Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Spain Age: 45 Posts: 941	What was the capacity of these tapes in megabytes?. Just curious, as in the time these were available, i wondered how many data i could store in that tapes. Sadly i didn't have one back in the day.

29 May 2011, 21:30	#15
voyager The show must go on. Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Alkmaar Nederland Posts: 269	The original page is still online "There are special backup modes for Amigas with an 68020 or higher CPU (A1200, A2500, A3000, A4000). The first one gives a speed improvement of a factor 2 compared to V1.5, without data compression. The typical thoughput in this case is 85MB per hour, for a total of 340MB per 4-hour video tape! The 68020-compressed mode adds data compression to this, and is up to 3 times as fast as V1.5 (depending on the compression ratio achieved). With 130MB per hour, 520MB will fit on a 4-hour tape! On an 68000 Amiga, the throughput is about 40MB per hour"

29 May 2011, 22:12	#17
Allen1 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Blyth England Age: 68 Posts: 786	My mate had a similar system for the PC a long time ago. It did work but as already mentioned VCR's are great tape chewers so reliability was never something you could expect and then dirty heads or poor quality tapes meant it was more of a Fad thing than anything useful.

30 May 2011, 18:57	#18
mcbpete Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: London, England Age: 42 Posts: 239	What did it look like if you tried playing back a VHS with backups on it on a TV ?

30 May 2011, 19:41	#19
haynor666 retro maniac Join Date: May 2002 Location: Tarnobrzeg/Poland Age: 45 Posts: 1,748	You have to play backups always to search to beginning (sync) Black and white stripes

30 June 2011, 19:04	#20
brett71 Registered User Join Date: May 2010 Location: Ames, IA, USA Posts: 521	My friend and I both had these. He had a proper one, but made a homemade one for me. They worked pretty darn good for a cheap tape backup solution.

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