CAPT. VIDIOT Electronic Q & A

CAPT. VIDIOT Electronic Q & A

I made several Super 8 films when I was a high school student, and now I'm wondering what to do with them. I never spliced them all together, because I recorded several soundtracks for each on a separate tape machine, and it's too awkward to keep switching tapes or to attempt to do overdubs all over again. A good friend told me that the best solution was to transfer them to videotape. First of ail, is this true? Second of all, will it cost a bunch?

—Clarence Lozaw, Boston, MA •First of all, yes, it is true. As long as you have access to a videocassette recorder, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by transferring from film to tape. Just find a video or film store that will transfer each film directly to videocassette. Check the paper for ads. You'll have to assign the order you'd like them to be recorded in—tell them, and also fell them how long an interval you'd like between films. Give yourself a little leeway, and here's why: when you bring the tape home, you can hook your audio cassette recorder directly to you videocassette recorder's AUDIO IN input and, at your leisure, synchronize the film action with your various soundtracks. Provided, of course, your VCR has fhe audio dub capability; by now it's almost a standard feature on most. Be careful, and once you've got everything down the way you want it, you'll never have to haul out the old pro|ector again. And the cost? Thomas Video, in the Detroit suburbs, might be typical—they charge $39 for the first half-hour of film transfered, and $10 for each additional half-hour—and they supply the tape. That's pretty representative of fhe rates you can get around the country these days, so do some invesfigating and you'll probably find some surprising bargains. For home movie buffs, it's literally fhe way to go. Next time you spend $20 for a projector bulb that lasts only 18 hours in the first place, give it some thought: tape is simply a much cheaper medium.

I lost the headphones that came with my Sony Walkman 4. Can I use any headphones that fit, or do I need to buy another pair that match exactly?

—R. Rose, Minneapolis, Ml •If you liked fhe sound of the original system, your best bef is fo replace fhe headphones wifh fhe same model set. This isn't hard to do as Sony and other manufacturers offer a line of replacement headphones on their acessories list —your hi-fi dealer can order them for you if they're not in stock. But if is also possible to upgrade fo a better set of headphones (Sony makes about a dozen models at prices up to $50—meaning the higest priced models cost as much as the tape player you've got). You can even mix and match, using another manufacturers's, so long as the plugs (minisfereo) are the same (check your instruction booklet). Don't, however, fry fo use fhe older, larger headphones sold for use with home stereo systems, as the volume level will be low and the sound won't be that good.

I'm really pissed. I bought the Atari 400 home computer when it first came out and paid almost $400 for it. Now I see it on sale for down to $199 at places like Uncle Steve's In New York. How can the companies let this happen? If they can sell it six months later for half the price why don't they do that to start with?

—G. Arno, Forest Hills, NY •Makes you wonder how much over $2 it costs to make a computer, doesn't it? With the state of the economy and the number of discount houses in major cities that run mail order operations, the "suggested retail price" that manufacturers used to strong arm retailers into accepting has gone out the window. These days the best bet is to wait to buy any new product until it hits the discount stores—and even then, waiting a few more months will see the price come down even lower. If you wanf something that costs $400, fhe odds are that you will eventually be able fo buy if for $200 or less. But if you want to be first on your block with a new computer or other electric toy, you're going to find you could have bought two for fhe same price a year later. I'm sure fhe manufacturers aren't happy about all this; after all, if doesn't do their image and prestige much good, but on the other hand, it does suggest that they could be selling their computers for a good deal less to start with. Although that doesnY seem to be the kind of game they're playing.

Is there a switch or something so I can connect my videogame machine and my cable box to the back of my TV without having to change the wires everytime I want to switch over from using one or the other? The adapter I got with my video game doesn't seem to fit.

—F. Jacobs, Chicago, IL •A visit to your local Radio Shack with $10 will fix you up. But before you go, make sure you know exactly what kind of plug you have on the end of your videogame oufput to your TV, and what kind of plug fhere is on fhe back of your TV for TV signal input. Many videogames use RCA phono plug outputs, while many TV sets only have coaxial inputs. If that is the case with your machine, you'll need a phono plug-to-coax adapter for your game cord, and an A-B switch box that takes coax-in's and provides a coax-out to the TV. Then you connect the game and the cable to the inputs on the switch box, and then go out of fhe switch box on a coaxial cable into the antenna of your TV set. Very simple to do, and the whole set of adapters and box won't be more than $10, but don't forget to make a drawing or bring along the plugs you need to adapt, or otherwise they won't know whatyou're talking about.

Brand name T-120 video cassettes are selling for about S8 in many stores here, but some of my friends say I should only use high grade video tapes for my VHS. They cost about twice as much. Does it really make any difference?

—T. Baker, San Francisco, CA •Personally, the Captain has yet to really notice the difference between regular VHS cassettes and the high grade cassettes—and he's watching on a Sony monitor, which should show the difference. For most recording, especially at the 2 hour speed, you'll get fine quality using regular VHS cassettes, and since these are selling for about half the price of the high grades, I personally don't think it's worth paying that much more. So long as you buy name brand cassettes such as Panasonic, BASF or RCA, you should concentrate on how much you're paying for them, not on the supposed "grade” of the tape.

I want to try to make some rap tapes but my cassette machine doesn't have a mike/line mixer. Any ideas?

—D. Belson, Atlanta, GA •You're going to need a mixer of some sort, as well as a second cassette machine or record player, depending on

what format you've got the music on that you want to talk over. There are all sorts of mixers available, but for what you want to do, you only need a four channel stereo mixer. I'd suggest you try the Radio Shack 32-1105 stereo mike/line mixer which sells for $24.95. Your music source (tape cassette or turntable) plugs into two channels of the mixer (left and right stereo channels), and your mike goes into two more channels (for left and right voice sound, or if you can get a mono signal onto the tape, do that). Then use the mixer controls to adjust the level of the mike against the level of the tape. Now connect the mixer output fo your sfereo cassette recorder, and you're set. Obviously, it's much easier if you have a cassette deck with mike/line mixing, but it can be done with a regular mixer.

My local FM station is broadcasting some concerts that I'd like to record. The only problem is that I'm going to be working while they're on. Is there any way to record radio on a cassette recorder when I'm not home? I know that there are video machines that will do that, but I've never heard of a cassette machine that will.

— S. Snadiski, Pittsburgh, PA •There isn't much demand for this type of "unaffended" recording, but Sony and several of fhe other big Japanese audio manufacturers do make cassette decks that will accept an accessory timer. You'll have to check if any of the hi-fi stores in your area carry these decks and can get the timer (be sure they get the timer before you buy the whole thing, as sometimes these accessories have a way of taking months fo come in). Another method of doing this is to get a timer at a housewares store, the kind used to turn on lights or kitchen appliances when you're not hame. Be sure the timer can handle the wattage your tape machine needs. The problem with this second class of timer is that, although they only cost $10 to $20, they aren't as exact as the digital timers used on cassette decks or video equipment. The result is that they don't turn themselves on exactly when you want them to—maybe a few minutes before or after your zero hour— so set them to go on about ten minutes ahead to ensure you get everything you want to record.

Confused about modern tech? Or just got a headache from trying to figure out what's what In electronics? Either way, Capt. Vidiot is all suited up and ready to fly to your rescue. Just drop the Captain a line at Capt. Vidiot, c/o VIDIOT. P.O. Box P-1064, Birmingham, Michigan, 48011, and all your problems are solved.