Cataloging or Recording Model Railway Items

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Il Grifone said:

 

Quite normal!

 

We're all going to need new TVs shortly (or at least another decoder box....

 

I must check some CD-ROMs I bought on eBay some time ago.

Now where did I put them?  

 

VHS tapes were only supposed to last 10 years too. The ones I tried during a recent clear out all worked.

New TVs - Why?

CD- Roms,seem to be OK if kept in ideal conditions, (Dark, Cool, damp free) mine are fine apart from those lost to sunlight or damp.

My VHS tapes outlasted the VHS recorders, the last recorder packed up and new ones weren't available when I still had quite a lot, Likewise VHS-C tapes from the Camcorder

 

[Il Grifone]

17 minutes ago, melmerby said:

New TVs - Why?

CD- Roms,seem to be OK if kept in ideal conditions, (Dark, Cool, damp free) mine are fine apart from those lost to sunlight or damp.

My VHS tapes outlasted the VHS recorders, the last recorder packed up and new ones weren't available when I still had quite a lot, Likewise VHS-C tapes from the Camcorder

 

 

There's a new digital standard on the way. TVs manufactured before 2014 (or thereabouts) will not be able to receive it without yet another set top box (not that they sit on top of the TV any more).

 

I still have a couple of functional JVC S-VCRs (quality tells). They is also a Sony which would work if I can solve it's tape transport problems. It laces up all right but the take up spool fails to turn properly. It's probably only a belt, but getting hold of it could be a problem.

 

I had the same belt problem with my Marantz cassette deck. A Post Office rubber band (the ones they always throw away) was just the right size. 

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Il Grifone said:

 

 

 

I still have a couple of functional JVC S-VCRs (quality tells).

I've had 3 x  JVC S-VHS devices and they all failed prematurely, the first was an all singing all dancing machine with separate audio level controls etc. (HR-S 5500)

It went wrong, the repair cost was way more than it was worth (It originally cost £750!)

Later I had a S-VHS ET machine, that also failed and as VHS was well on the way out it got scrapped for parts.

I had a JVC S-VHS C camcoder, that also cost around £750 and it also failed miserably, again the repair cost was greater than it's worth so I bought a JVC (why did I keep doing it?) DVL 767 camcorder and guess what that also failed.

So IMHO Quality doesn't tell at all.

Edited May 15, 2020 by melmerby

[Ian J.]

Re new TVs, yes, there is the change from DVB-T1 to DVB-T2, as the T2 standard has better usage of the radio spectrum for HD broadcasts. However I'm not sure what the timescale is for DVB-T1 to be 'switched off'.

[Il Grifone]

19 hours ago, melmerby said:

I've had 3 x  JVC S-VHS devices and they all failed prematurely, the first was an all singing all dancing machine with separate audio level controls etc. (HR-S 5500)

It went wrong, the repair cost was way more than it was worth (It originally cost £750!)

Later I had a S-VHS ET machine, that also failed and as VHS was well on the way out it got scrapped for parts.

I had a JVC S-VHS C camcoder, that also cost around £750 and it also failed miserably, again the repair cost was greater than it's worth so I bought a JVC (why did I keep doing it?) DVL 767 camcorder and guess what that also failed.

So IMHO Quality doesn't tell at all.

 

I think you were very unlucky. It's not my experience. It's also true that VHS recorders are not the most reliable items - repairing them (and CD players fitted with Sony lasers) kept me going to retirement.) Camcorders are champions for unreliability!

 

I recently bought a NAD CD player (to match my amplifier - to "Why did you buy that?" from SWMBO). I didn't need it, but the price was derisory!) It certainly sounded better than the DVD player (LG - the best TVs and DVDs IMHO)) I was using. Then it started skipping. The presence of a Sony KSS-210A laser inside explained that. Luckily they are £2.50 only eBay. (Something else on the 'to do' list....)

 

[Il Grifone]

19 hours ago, Ian J. said:

Re new TVs, yes, there is the change from DVB-T1 to DVB-T2, as the T2 standard has better usage of the radio spectrum for HD broadcasts. However I'm not sure what the timescale is for DVB-T1 to be 'switched off'.

 

The next few years I've heard, but it will be gradual. Here in Sardinia there is a test channel with a blank page, "TestHVECMain10". If you can't receive it, you need a new TV. IMHO it's not new standards we need, but new programmes that are actually worth watching!

Edited May 16, 2020 by Il Grifone
Missing article

[melmerby]

20 hours ago, Ian J. said:

Re new TVs, yes, there is the change from DVB-T1 to DVB-T2, as the T2 standard has better usage of the radio spectrum for HD broadcasts. However I'm not sure what the timescale is for DVB-T1 to be 'switched off'.

I thought it was going to be something I hadn't heard about.

DVB-T2 is already in use in the UK.

[Dragonfly]

I'll go back and delete my other post, because, simply by being on-topic, it seems out of place here.

[melmerby]

Just now, Dragonfly said:

I'll go back and delete my other post, because, simply by being on-topic, it seems out of place here.

But

This is RMWeb

You don't expect a topic to stay on line forever do you?

 

We were until a few posts back discussing various storage systems, without which cataloguing items would be useless.

[SteveyDee68]

With all this talk about CDs failing, I've quickly checked the most expensive CD in my collection.  It was a one-off burn back in 1998...   And it still works!  It is simply a back up of a failed hard drive off my boss's Apple Macintosh computer...

 

Unfortunately, the "back-up" was made after the hard drive crashed.  It took five months and the hard drive was recovered in Germany.  Neither I nor my boss were aware that the Head of Computing had decided to have that done (she was the second in command at a red brick university in the north of England) and in fact the most urgent report that was lost was rewritten within a few days of the hard drive failing...

 

He returned it to me with a wink, saying "Look after that - it cost a bit!" ... my boss never thought it worth mentioning that in actual fact we never used any of the information off the CD...

 

The accompanying invoice (that he had paid) was for just over £10k! 

 

As I said, most expensive CD in my collection - and absolutely no use to anyone!  On the plus side - it is still working!  Strangely enough, there are a few spreadsheets there that still open up in Excel despite their age, although there are also some files in formats that just won't read... WordPerfect, anyone?

 

Apologies for being rather off topic.

 

Steve S

 

 

[melmerby]

30 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

 

As I said, most expensive CD in my collection - and absolutely no use to anyone!  On the plus side - it is still working!  Strangely enough, there are a few spreadsheets there that still open up in Excel despite their age, although there are also some files in formats that just won't read... WordPerfect, anyone?

 

Apologies for being rather off topic.

 

Steve S

 

 

I can, back to WordPerfect 5.0

Not sure about Wordstar though!

Edited May 22, 2020 by melmerby

[Ian J.]

The file formats are readable if the disc is readable and you have a computer with the necessary software (either real or a guest in a virtual machine). There are quite a few computer enthusiasts who keep older computers working, and not just the BBCs and ZX80s. There will be Amstrads around too, and they should be able to read the files. I have a PC from circa 1998 with Windows 98SE on it though I haven't started it up in years and it's packed away at the moment.

[Colin_McLeod]

The computer equivalents of Hornby Dublo, Triang and Trix Twin. 

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Ian J. said:

The file formats are readable if the disc is readable and you have a computer with the necessary software (either real or a guest in a virtual machine). There are quite a few computer enthusiasts who keep older computers working, and not just the BBCs and ZX80s. There will be Amstrads around too, and they should be able to read the files. I have a PC from circa 1998 with Windows 98SE on it though I haven't started it up in years and it's packed away at the moment.

Many old programs wont run on modern hardware but you don't need an old computer for document files.

I can read the Wordperfect files on a Win 10 compatible program. (Lotus Smartsuite Ver 9)

I haven't checked but Word 2000 from the same era (also runs OK on Win 10) might also open them.

 

The biggest problem with old information is what media it is on (e.g. 5 ¼" floppy), although USB floppy drives and such like are available.

 

[SteveyDee68]

Only ever used the big floppy soft disks at work back in 1989 on a soon to be defunct word processor terminal  (that was all it did!) the size of a pizza oven!  But at university I had an Amsterdam PCW 256 (DIY upgraded to 512) which used - if I remember correctly - a non-standard sized disk - 3" instead of 3.5"?  Let's just say Alan Sugar played a blinder on that, as the Amstrad floppy disks were a lot more expensive that the standard PC disks!  I have used Windows PCs at work, but by choice have always used Apple computers!

 

The CD I have was of an Apple  computer - we had WordPerfect for Mac but when the University switched their PCs to Word we stopped upgrading the software.  The backup copy of the software runs - I think - on System 7 or 8 software, and "broke" under System 9... none of my computers will run System 8 - even my Mac SE30 runs System 6 as it's highest OS, then I have a gap in hardware so that my two G3 iMacs run System 9/OSX.  Thankfully, that information isn't needed by anybody, not even for archive purposes!

 

Getting back on topic, I have not used photos in an Excel file.  Is there any way of automatically sizing photos to fit a cell rather than the cell trying to expand to fit (given that most photos on a computer screen are huge due to the camera resolution)?

 

Steve S

[cypherman]

Hi all,

I have just come back to this topic. In reply to the people saying the cd's and dvd's degrade over time. That is true to a point. The point is that if you buy good quality disc's and store them properly you can get 20-30 years out of the disc. If you leave them in sunlight or where they may be exposed to extreme variations in temperature yes they will fail. I have home music/picture/video cd's/dvd's I have made over the past 20 years and they still work as well as the day I recorded them.  It is the old story you get what you pay for. So if you do buy cheap packs of 100 cd's at a time for a tenner then do not expect them to last.

[kevinlms]

3 hours ago, melmerby said:

Many old programs wont run on modern hardware but you don't need an old computer for document files.

I can read the Wordperfect files on a Win 10 compatible program. (Lotus Smartsuite Ver 9)

I haven't checked but Word 2000 from the same era (also runs OK on Win 10) might also open them.

 

The biggest problem with old information is what media it is on (e.g. 5 ¼" floppy), although USB floppy drives and such like are available.

 

MS Works was a pain for trying to export a database. Even MS didn't provide a means to convert a Works database file into MS Access.

I wasted a lot of time on that, before giving up and restarting with an Access file.

[Il Grifone]

I won't get get into the Apple/Microsoft argument....  I'll leave you all to make your own mind up about updated operating systems that are not back compatible.

 

I've got a lap-top that failed. (It was suffering from overheating, so my own fault  .) it won't load Windows any more, so I have to try accessing the hard drive via a caddy  (yet something else roundtuit!)

Back the Blxxdy thing up! Back the Blxxdy thing up! Ba....

Edited May 23, 2020 by Il Grifone