Things that make you :)

[Guest]

3 hours ago, nigb55009 said:

My Wife has a Fiat 500X. It`s smart enough to tell you if there`s a problem with tyre pressures, but not which tyre is faulty.

 

 

I had one like that. And it would go off if a tyre was out by around 2psi.

The one I have now shows me the actual pressures.

[Dunsignalling]

1 hour ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

The camera is in the toaster that also talks to the washing machine and kettle!

 

 

 

I know the kitchen is where the best socialising takes place during parties, but that's plain silly. 

[melmerby]

4 hours ago, 30801 said:

We have a smart oven that connects to the internet.

Can it automatically set the time when the clocks change?

No it bloody can't.

My non smart central heating timer, now 13 years old changes with the clock changes. (MSF radio control?)

My car has a touch screen DAB+ radio/media player/Satnav does not use the time data from the DAB signal and has to be set manually.

My previous car same make, same range had a much more basic manual DAB radio/CD player and did get the time info from the DAB data🙂

[uax6]

Isn't all this IoT (internet of things) technology just for the sake of it? None of its actually useful, and actually increases the chances of data breaches as there is no way to update the software in use. Think of the cost in extra electricity that is consumed by all this pointlessness....

 

Our Microwave spends most of its time turned off at the plug. The cooker would too, except that you have to set the time before the bleeding thing will cook, and its a pain in the arse....

 

Andy G

[franciswilliamwebb]

5 hours ago, uax6 said:

None of its actually useful, and actually increases the chances of data breaches

 

It's for this reason I no longer store personal information on my light bulbs 😉

[Guest]

13 hours ago, 30801 said:

 

I had one like that. And it would go off if a tyre was out by around 2psi.

The one I have now shows me the actual pressures.

 

Funny thing this morning it went off proper. Showing 10psi on the display and a big nail in the shoulder of the tyre.

 

[kevinlms]

9 hours ago, uax6 said:

 

Our Microwave spends most of its time turned off at the plug. The cooker would too, except that you have to set the time before the bleeding thing will cook, and its a pain in the arse....

 

Andy G

The microwave is usually one of the easiest things to set the clock on.

 

Some items such as ovens can be quite difficult to remember.

 

I'm one of these people who can't stand clocks showing the wrong time (I don't mind a few minutes, but those hours out - no way).

For non essential clocks, there is always the option, of black tape over them!

[The Johnster]

I like my clocks to show the right time if possible, and flashing LED displays drive me nuts (back in the 80s I seemed to be the only person in the known universe who bothered to set the clock on his vcr).  There are two battery analogue clocks that don’t though, the layout ‘Cwmdimbath Time’ clock, and one laid on it’s back with the 12 pointing due north, set to 13 minutes after GMT, astronomical time for this longitude; the real time, just to show that I know what the real time is and of absolutely no practical use whatsoever, just because I like that sort of stuff.  

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

I like my clocks to show the right time if possible, and flashing LED displays drive me nuts (back in the 80s I seemed to be the only person in the known universe who bothered to set the clock on his vcr).  

 

Surely you put a piece of black tape over the clock so as not to attract burglars? 

[kevinlms]

37 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

I like my clocks to show the right time if possible, and flashing LED displays drive me nuts (back in the 80s I seemed to be the only person in the known universe who bothered to set the clock on his vcr).

Ah yes, the number of people who couldn't record anything, if they weren't home to press the record button!

[MJI]

57 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

I like my clocks to show the right time if possible, and flashing LED displays drive me nuts (back in the 80s I seemed to be the only person in the known universe who bothered to set the clock on his vcr).  There are two battery analogue clocks that don’t though, the layout ‘Cwmdimbath Time’ clock, and one laid on it’s back with the 12 pointing due north, set to 13 minutes after GMT, astronomical time for this longitude; the real time, just to show that I know what the real time is and of absolutely no practical use whatsoever, just because I like that sort of stuff.  

 

My VCRs had the correct time on them, but I hated when one drifted a few seconds out, had 3 on the go (all used).

 

 

[kevinlms]

2 minutes ago, MJI said:

 

My VCRs had the correct time on them, but I hated when one drifted a few seconds out, had 3 on the go (all used).

 

 

Setting it to record something was pointless anyway, because the TV stations started/finished a few minutes out from the published times. Even if you allowed a bit of overlap, chances are that you would miss the start/finish of a show!

Having watched a movie on TV and finding that your recording stopped short, 2 minutes before the end, meant that you had wasted the time.

My wife used to go to see if she'd caught the end. My view was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That was MUCH worse, seeing the end of a movie, before you'd seen any of it!!

[MJI]

Was not too bad, just pad by a few minutes.

[Dagworth]

2 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Setting it to record something was pointless anyway, because the TV stations started/finished a few minutes out from the published times. Even if you allowed a bit of overlap, chances are that you would miss the start/finish of a show!

Having watched a movie on TV and finding that your recording stopped short, 2 minutes before the end, meant that you had wasted the time.

My wife used to go to see if she'd caught the end. My view was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That was MUCH worse, seeing the end of a movie, before you'd seen any of it!!

PDC was your friend

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_Delivery_Control

 

Andi

[PeterStiles]

20 minutes ago, Dagworth said:

PDC was your friend

 

PDC didn't exist... And it could easily be more than "a couple of minutes" - anything from an Important Football Match Going To Overtime to a late scheduled PPB would kick things out of kilter...

 

Luckily TV wasn't broadcast 24x7 (hey, the phrase 24x7 didn't even exist) so you could bribe another member of the family to record for you...

 

Nah, that never worked either.

[stewartingram]

No such thing as an important football match - ever!

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Dagworth said:

PDC was your friend

If the information was correctly uploaded by the broadcaster.😁

Even now with all digital TV there are problems with programme start/finish times or split programmes that want to reserve e.g. 8550 minutes.

It all depends on the human interface at the broadcaster's end.

 

Remember those VCR's with a numerical code (published in TV guides) that you scanned or entered to record a program

 

6 hours ago, kevinlms said:

The microwave is usually one of the easiest things to set the clock on.

We've got a catering microwave, it doesn't have a clock on. It also doesn't have one of those silly revolving dish things, in fact we've never had a microwave with one of those.

It does however have a memory where cooking programmes can be stored.

[MJI]

One problem is that with vcrs they got quite poor build quality by late 80s.

 

I still have a working 1982 deck.

[The Johnster]

I knew more than a few people who coukd not operate their tvs, never mind VCR.  Yet for some unfathomable reason this demographic managed fine if the vcr was built in to the tv.  They could manage knobs and switches, but not ‘modes’, wjhhere the same button performs different tasks in different modes.  I used ‘NICAM Stereo’ VHS as a stereo audio recording medium, much better than cassettes, more robust and a choice between longer playing times and better audio quality from faster running speeds.
 

 I was never really happy until the age of mp3 and streaming though; I no longer possess any audio or video material in any physically existing format, it’s all algorithms and electronic mythology... sounds better, though!

Edited April 26 by The Johnster

[PhilJ W]

I started out setting the time on my microwave but the clock used to lose several minutes a day that I had to keep adjusting it, in the end I gave up.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

 I used ‘NICAM Stereo’ VHS as a stereo audio recording medium

Surely the Nicam was just the decoder for the TV signal audio?

The actual recording would be the standard VHS, which by then was probably FM stereo

 

My first S-VHS recorder could record audio in FM quality with no compression, it even had VU meters and recording level controls.

Much better than MP3

The recorder was built like a tank with an all metal case and metal chassis, everything about it was quality.

My second & last S-VHS recorder was very plasticy and horrid

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, MJI said:

One problem is that with vcrs they got quite poor build quality by late 80s.

 

I still have a working 1982 deck.

The standard VHS deck was poor quality from the outset, that's why they were so much cheaper than any other systems and ideal for the rental market.

The JVC launch model in the UK (piano keys) relied on rubber belts and slip pads for the different speeds required for the capstan and spools.

Some of the later introductions were a bit more sophisticated.

 

I had a Grundig 2x4 Super (V2000 system), there was a seperate motor for everything.

A loading motor, a lacing motor, a capstan motor, a head motor and 2 spool motors and they were all expensive custom designs, not off the shelf Mitsumis.

This not only making them extremely complex but rather heavy & bulky as well.

They did make some cheaper ones later on with less complex operating systems, the quality had gone by then.

Edited April 26 by melmerby

[J. S. Bach]

My video preference is the Laserdisc format. I have a Panasonic the plays both side of the disc; at the end of side one, the video "freeze-frames" for a couple of seconds until the pickup mechanism flips to the other side then the video resumes playing. Not very distracting at all and sure easier than getting up to change sides manually.

[MJI]

My 1982 deck is very robust despite being a portable.

 

Also great picture quality.

[kevinlms]

I have a number of VCR cassettes of railway items, now the last player I had died, but I inherited a combined VHS/DVD LG player, but remote is missing. With this particular machine, you can't even start something without it. All you can do is insert tapes and discs and eject them!

 

I have a universal remote that claims to be combatable, but blowed if I can get it to work!

 

My brother MIGHT have the remote.