Recording off-air - time-limited
Posted by: Chris Metcalfe on 05 August 2001
Nice to come back after a fortnight's holiday and find that nothing much has happened here... folks still debating the CDX vs the CDS1, whether dealers are any good etc.
My most pressing problem this summer, apart from not having enough time to visit all the excellent restaurants and pubs in Norfolk and Suffolk (amazing lunch in Burnham Market), is how the hell do you record long-ish radio programmes (specifically the Proms) - two to three hours and you're out anyway? What a waste of a NAT02.
All the recording hardware seems limited to about an hour. Someone once told me you can hook up the hifi/tuner to a Nicam VCR, but I've no idea ho you would use the tuner in this configuration, or how to connect. Is this feasible, is the sound OK, or are there alternatives?
Posted on: 05 August 2001 by Cheese
Not really the most practical solution, but an old open-reel tape machine is lots of fun. If you can find one with super-slow speed like 2.38 cm/s, you're in for (IIRC) about 12 hours of recording with full-size reels. For documentary purposes, that is.
If you want it to sound good (and it bloody can !), use higher recording speeds, say 9,5 cm/s at least, and buy a fully revised machine of decent quality - check the other recent threads about that topic.
Cheese - may all beings be happy 
Posted on: 05 August 2001 by Mick P
Chris
In a nutshell.......try looking at Revox reel to reel tapes. They are being maintained by a cottage industry and you can pick up a good working model for about £300.00. You can pay less than that but the quality suffers.
Have a surf on the net......there is loads of info.
I have just ordered a CDS2, but once the wife has calmed down, I may well treat myself to one. The sound by all accounts is brilliant.
Regards
Mick
PS Cheese my apologies for repeating you but we wrote at the same time.
Posted on: 05 August 2001 by Cheese
quote:
Cheese my apologies for repeating you but we wrote at the same time
Too bad that I'm not Mr Pig - would have been the starting point of another funny clash
Cheese - may all beings be happy
Posted on: 05 August 2001 by Chris L
A solution I use (although it's "fidelity" is, perhaps, rather debatable) is my PC.
Two ways: first is a program called TotalRecorder for recording streaming audio over the 'net. It grabs the data stream directly, so is pretty good at avoiding breaks when net traffic is bad.
Second, is to use the line input on the sound card to record using something like the CooEdit application.
Either of the above, you can save to wav file, edit the file to fit on one or more CD's, and write to the CD's - assuming you have enough HDD space for the audio data.
Just a thought. The URL's are:
TotalRecorder
and
CoolEdit 2000
Chris L
Posted on: 05 August 2001 by Stuart Frazer
I recently heard a system playing with one source as a vcr. It was just a quick demo but all the same from what I heard it was fine. It was a Nicam JVC about 10 years old, I think it was Mana'd as well with a decent cable.
Give it a try.
Stuart
Posted on: 05 August 2001 by Steve Toy
About ten years ago, I made a recording onto VCR, using a Panasonic NICAM model - one of the first, from Nicam TV, I think it was "Top-of-the-pops!" I then recorded onto cassette tape for the car. The result was rather impressive at the time!
It's always a nice day for it, have a good one 
Steve
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Pierre Isabelle
You can use a DAT recorder with a 3-hour tape (90 meters, I believe). Normally these longer tapes are intended for DAT computer backup machines, but
they do work perfectly on most music recorders.
Also, some DAT recorders have built-in timers; others can be controlled by a remote harwired device (a computer, for example).
-- Pierre Isabelle
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Phil Sparks
If you've already got a nicam VCR then it's worth giving it a go, you simply connect it up to a tape in/out on your preamp, select the aux or line input on the VCR, set the timer and away you go. A few things to look out for - many VCRs will have auto-record levels which, particularly with classical music may mess things up. Also the VCR may be earthed (or the TV which it's connected to may be earthed) to avoid earth loops, disconnect the VCR from your HiFi when you're not using it.
When we had parties I copied a few party tapes onto a single half speed 8 hour video tape and the quality was OK (not great but OK).
One of the big advantages with a VCR is that it's already got a timer.
One other thought, current minidisc recorders have got a long play facility, I think the quality isn't supposed to be great but they're small and cute.
Phil
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Stephen Bennett
My NTL cable tv has Radio too. I just record as if it was TV. 8 hours on long play! The quality is OK - better than the cassettes I have.
Regards
Stephen
[This message was edited by Stephen Bennett on MONDAY 06 August 2001 at 10:44.]
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Rockingdoc
I have a six-head Phillips VCR which can run super slow, but at any speed a 4 hour tape should meet your needs.
I think my open-reel tape deck sounds better though.
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Mick P
Stephen
The tuner on my secondary system takes its signal from NTL.
I find that I only get a stereo signal some of the time. Do you get yours all of the time.
Regards
Mick
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Rico
Chris
I know you already have a fine-sounding HiFi VHS - this is a cheap (as you already have it) and effective solution.
Just hook up the VHS on a tape loop from your 52 (IIRC)... select TUNER (or applicable input for your Tuna) on the red record out row... set the VHS up to timer record from the input that the signal comes in on from the pre-amp. It might be "SCART1" or "EXT1" "EXT2"... bob's your nearest living aunt. Oh, remember to select the station on the Tuna you wish to record.
I have used this on occasion, and cannot tell the difference between the recorded tape, monitoring off-VCR on the loop, or the tuner input - and all this via a crappy DIN-SCART cable I made up using (horrors!) CAT-5 cable. I think the CAT-5 ultimately thins out the bottom-end, but with the state of most VHS decks this is no bad thing. Certainly good enough to listen & enjoy, and on occasions, keep or transfer to another medium.
So as you can see, it's a "piece of wees" as we say back home. Give it a try and let us know how you get on.
Rico - let them eat Kans.
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Stephen Bennett
quote:
I find that I only get a stereo signal some of the time. Do you get yours all of the time.
Not sure Mick - I only record Radio 4. I'll check.
Regards
Stephen
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Martin M
The Sony TCD-D8 DAT recorder has a 'half-speed' option where the sampling rate is dropped to 32 kHz, but the difference is irrelevant for taping the radio. You'll get 4 hours off a standard DAT tape. The quality is normally rather good (better than mini-disc and my Nakamichi) and the recorder is portable so you go round taping your own concerts should the fancy take you.
Posted on: 06 August 2001 by Chris Metcalfe
...for all the replies. As Rico said, I already have a decent Nicam VCR (Sony) so I'll give that a go first. The only annoyance is having to move it from one room to another. (Mine's an 82 btw).
As far as Reel-to-reel goes, I'm sure it's brilliant but I really need a timer-friendly machine (plus good ones are expensive). Mick - I thought you were happy with the CDX (?!).
The DAT or Minidisc are possibilities but obviously I don't like the idea of risking quality-loss. For the same reason I wouldn't currently consider a PC or Cable-based solution.
The one question which no-one seems to be able to answer is - why were cassette decks (the main hifi recording medium for 20 years) ever fitted with timers?
