[IMC-Audio] VCR as audio recorder

[parallax at riseup.net]

When I was at Radio for Peace International, we used to use a VCR all the
time, since it was able to record longer than any other other medium
(aside from a computer, of course).  We would record 8 hours of
programming onto a videotape as we were broadcasting it live every day. 
Then at the end of the broadcast day, we would play a few promos or a Jim
Hightower commentary or something while we rewound the tape to play for
the next 8 hours.  We went home and went to bed, and we had a guard who
would keep an eye on the place and also monitor the tape to make nothing
went wrong while it played overnight.  Sometime in the middle of the
night, when the tape got to the end, he would play a few more promos and
rewind it to play back a second time, until we came in later in the
morning (completing the 24 hour cycle)and began a new broadcast day,
recording another 8 hours of new material on a second video tape.  As I
recall, we just alternated between 2 videotapes for months on end, bulk
erasing them and re-recording over them every day.

For such a low-tech solution, I was amazed at how decent the audio sounded
and how many times we could re-use the tapes before the quality started to
dissipate (not that it would have been terribly important for the audio to
sound crystal clear, since this was shortwave radio, after all).  I don't
think it was any particularly special or expensive type of VCR-- just a
standard, consumer-grade VHS deck.  I don't know if they could have gotten
anything much fancier there in Costa Rica.  The only occasional problem
was that some of the cheaper VCRs they purchased would sometimes only last
for a few months, since we were using them 24/7.  Otherwise, it worked
like a charm.

If you have any further questions, you should contact James Latham of RFPI
at jiver1952 at yahoo.com

Scott