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VHS-C: A lazy idea that's also perfect
🕑 Added 2025-08-11 20:07:46 +0000 UTCHello! I have a new video for you today. And with this Patreon post, I'm trying something new (by request). As always, you'll find a direct link to the video on YouTube below. But I am also uploading the video directly to Patreon so those of you who'd rather not use YouTube have that option. I'd be happy to continue doing this assuming it works well. But, here's the YT link:
Some notes on this project: would you believe scope creep happened again? This was supposed to be a quick one, but much of my script was spent comparing VHS-C to Video8 and as I was going over the dimensional differences I realized I should really have a Video8 camcorder and tapes to play with. One eBay stop and a few script revisions later and I think the video was much improved.
And some Cube updates: I've begun the process of logging data from the engine computer to try and determine how likely an exhaust leak as the cause of the P0420 is. It's possible that the first video may come by the end of the month, but I've settled on making the catalytic converter the first topic. It is, after all, the big reason why engines became so computerized. But it turns out Nissan used a less-conventional-than-usual oxygen sensor setup for the Cube which isn't a huge deal but does change things a fair bit. I'll keep y'all posted on what's going on there.
kay bye
Comments
Pepijn Schmitz
Do we know whether it was luck that the layout of the VHS cassette allowed for this drop-in solution, or whether it was already explicitly designed to be able to do this later? My guess would be the former.
Killianti
By the time I encountered these cassettes, their purpose and design constraints were very obvious. It's really nice to get the early history of the technology.
tim1724
caption issues (on YouTube): I saw "right" in place of "write" around 14:00 ("right protect"). And sometime before that it transcribed "doodad" as "duad" or something like that, but I didn't catch the timestamp.
Ryūji!
I remember back at my grandparents house, I had a VHS tape player in my bedroom, complete with a CRT TV! Good times. :)
MethodScript Contributors
Love having this directly on Patreon!
Benjamin Rippel
Did audio in pro VHS and pro Betamax vary much? When I was in TV in 2001 (phew) for a summer, we had the hand me down Beta stuff from the bigger TV market. (I am so GLAD I didn't have to haul around the 3/4" decks!!!) Some of our anchors wanted to hassle the cross-town lower resourced station that was stuck with VHS for their news coverage.
