HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: garyp@rmtc.paramax.com (Gary Palangian [RMTC/ISP])
Subject: Re: LD/5CD changers: Pioneer M301 vs. M401
Organization: Paramax Systems
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 21:14:28 GMT

In article <1isfuvINNhaj@gossip.pyramid.com>, mowat@slipknot.eng.pyramid.com (Eric Mowat) writes:
|> I'm trying to decide between two LD, 5CD-changer models, the 301, and the 401.
|> 
|> From what I've seen, the 401 has the following extras for $100 more:
|> 1) jog shuttle
|>    [ with no digital field memory is this really much of a help?]
|> 2) S-video out
|>    [ since laser disks are already composite, this isn't really necessary ]
|> 3) It has a music calendar.  I'm not sure if the 301 does.
|> 
|> So, any advice on the 301 or 401.  Is it worth the extra bucks?
|> 
|> Also, are there any other changer models out there that people would
|> recommend?  Maybe a Sony model?
|> 
|> -- 
|> ----
|> Eric Mowat   			mowat@pyramid.com
|> Pyramid Technology Corp.	{sun,hplabs,decwrl,uunet}!pyramid!mowat

Hey Now Eric,

    Your observations are correct.  The 301 has a music calendar but
it is only displayed on the screen of your monitor.  There are 4 different
CD display screens: 1) Time remaining disk, 2) Time Remaining track,
3) Time elapsed disk, and 4) Time remaining track.  Each display is
accompanied by a music calendar.  Graphics are used to indicate which
tracks have been played, which is playing, and which remain to be
played.  The Time Remaining disk display has sound level meters
on it (but no calendar).  It is kinda cool.  I like calendars a lot
cause I can find out the 'status' of a CD with a quick glance.  While
the monitor display sounds pretty great, it does require you to have
your monitor on to use it.  This is kind of a pain.

    But if you haven't played with both these units at a store,
why would you be considering buying one?  They have a lot of shortcomings
(like a tremendous amount of mechanical noise and slow platter
ejection) that you should experience before you make your final selection.

Party On...

Gary P.

P.S.  Computability has the 301 for $409.95 delivered in 48 states
as of last week.  See FAQ for phone number.  
Newsgroups: rec.video
From: gross@ssd.kodak.com (Dan Gross)
Subject: VCR+ Recording problems...
Keywords: and they say it's easy...
Reply-To: gross@eksignal.kodak.com
Organization: Ektron, a division of Eastman Kodak, Co.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 18:56:25 GMT


	Just bought a VCR demo model from a large retail electronics
chain.  It's and RCA "Home Theater" series 680HF.  It's 4-head, Hi-Fi,
blah blah blah, w/ VCR+ programming.  The problem is I can't get the 
VCR+ to work.  One thing the floor model didn't come with is a manual,
which I am sending away for, but I gotta try to get answers this week.
A couple of questions:
	1) I've got the whole on-screen deal.  When I timer record 
stuff, I can have the VCR show all the programs it's supposed to tape.  
Should this be the case with VCR+?  (i.e. Can I check the programs the same
way?). (It doesn't do that the way it is...)
	2) Can I have VCR+ recorded stuff and Timer-recorded stuff programmed
at the same time?  (There are stations I get in that aren't in my regular 
TV listing, and I haven't fixed and compiled "decode.c" yet).  (This 
could be a factor.  Now that I think about it, the only times I've tried 
VCR+ is after I've timer-programmed something...)
	3) I don't have cable.  Are VCR+ codes based on the regular channel #s,
or the cable channel #s?  (I haven't tried the mappings yet, but I have 
tried VCR+ recording stations that map to the same cable station #, so...)
	4) The instructions say to turn the VCR off to record timer-recorded
stuff.  Do I turn it off for VCR+ or leave it on?  (The on-screen instructions
don't say.  I would assume you'd leave it on...I've tried both though....).

	Any answers greatly appreciated.  Save bandwidth by emailing flames,
please!  TIA.

						-Dan Gross
-- 
Dan Gross              		716-726-7831           gross@eksignal.kodak.com
Signal Processing Dept.		"I'll always be a wordman,
Eastman Kodak EP Bldg 3, 1 fl     better than a birdman." - J. D. Morrison
Rochester NY 14653-5908         Kodak doesn't even WANT my opinion....
Newsgroups: rec.video
From: tim@ear-ache.mit.edu (Tim Wilson)
Subject: VCR+ as problem solution
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Distribution: rec
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 00:49:00 GMT

The VCR+ strikes me as a great example of creative problem solving.
The paradigm of VCR programming promulgated by most of the
manufacturers has been counterintuitive to the way many consumers
(many North American consumers anyway) interact with their appliances.
Start time?  Stop time?  What channel?  How many times a week?  Every
day?  Every week?  What tape speed?  Anyone who's been on the other
end of the telephone trying to talk their parents through setting up
the VCR to record a single event knows this.  Throw in a cable
decoder, and you've got a paradigm that doesn't work.  

The VCR+ beats that paradigm in two ways.  The first is its code,
which seems to be the obsession in various groups:  every time
slot for every channel for every duration has a number.  What strikes
me as more creative and insightful (and ultimately necessary), is the
idea that the VCR+ does what the consumer would do if the consumer
were there:  it turns on the VCR, it changes the channel on the
appropriate tuner (TV tuner, VCR tuner, cable decoder) to the desired
channel, then it starts recording.  When the taping is over, it stops
recording and turns off the VCR.  That's an elegant solution to a
messy problem.  






--
Tim Wilson
tim@ear-ache.mit.edu
mit-eddie!mit-athena!tim
From: schwartz@ces.cwru.edu (David G. Schwartz)
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Very low light/nighttime video
Date: 7 Jan 1993 16:34:37 GMT
Organization: COMPOSERS Logic Programming Group/CWRU
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: bach.ces.cwru.edu


I want to video my son in his crib as he falls asleep.
What filter/lighting combination would give me the best
results?

I have a Sony TR-81.  The baby's room has a small nightlight
in the corner (around 8ft away from the crib) which does not
illuminate the crib or child.

Is there some sort of infrared light/filter combination that 
I could get (possibly rent) to give good results?  I don't
expect, nor want, a "daylight" type image, but would like to
at least make out facial expressions.

David


-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Schwartz - Case Western Reserve University - schwartz@alpha.ces.cwru.edu
From: M479@UKANVM.bitnet (Michael Connet)
Newsgroups: rec.video
Subject: Re: VIDEOTECH Digest V93 #37
Date: 8 Jan 93 20:41:52 GMT
Organization: The Internet

In response to "LD players: Panasonic LX900 vs Pioneer D701":

Panasonic Industrial line has released a new level three multi-disk
player which appears to be on the leading edge of available machines.
I saw this unit at a conference in October and have yet to put my
hands on it here where I can give it a true "customer test drive".
The product, the Panasonic AG-LD30 has all the features of comparable
priced players including accepting five disk formats, remote IR wand,
and full function programming. I will be at INFOCOMM in New Orleans
to once again look at this player and hope to report back to all at that time.
From: duncan@ravel.ati.com (Jim Duncan)
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
Subject: Re: cable rumors
Date: 10 Jan 93 21:07:23 GMT
Reply-To: duncan@ravel.ati.com (Jim Duncan)
Distribution: usa
Organization: K-FOX 94.5 Classic Rock (KUFX, Gilroy-San Jose, California, USA)

In article <1993Jan8.161537.9290@netcom.com> tweek@netcom.com (Michael D. Maxfield) writes:

> 100 khz would be able to contain a standard stereo fm broadcast
>signal.
Absolutely not.  A 'standard' stereo fm broadcast requires much more
than this.  Actually, the matter gets extremely complicated.  On the
off-air broadcast dial, the signals must be spaced at least 400 kHz
apart or splatter will result.  Most of the FM signals in the more
controlled environment of my local cable dial are spaced thusly. 

> Since the original poster was mentioning the DMX over a
>cable system, 

The 30 channel DMX is carried as 6x 3 mHz channels each containing 5
programs.  This is why, when there's trouble, the DMX box may appear to
lose channels 16 - 20, for instance while no others are affected.
Again, it's probably more complex than this, but there appears to be a
net 600 kHz allocation per digital program channel.  It is my
understanding that this is a high quality system using only modest
compression.   
-- 
K-FOX|      w  ["]                            | WA6MBV      
94.5 |...   |___|_____..duncan@ravel.ati.com  | Jim Duncan  
KUFX |          H                             | 408.297.5977   
********  \_____I_____/  37 3 10N/121 59 10W  **************
From: wdp@gagme.chi.il.us (Bill Pfeiffer)
Subject: Re: cable rumors
Originator: wdp@gagme
Organization: Gagme Public Access UNIX, Chicago, Illinois.
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 07:55:49 GMT

In article <1993Jan5.233440.13746@netcom.com> tweek@netcom.com (Michael D. Maxfield) writes:

>Not really.  One single video channel occupies 6 mhz of bandwidth.  One
>standard FM radio channel occupies about 100khz.  
                                          ^^^^^^
BZZZT! Wrong answer MIKE.  An FM channel uses 200khz, which is why
FM is spaced out on only 'odd' number steps (I.E 92.1 92.3 92.5 92.7...).
You will not see a 92.2 or 92.4 in the USA anyway.

William Pfeiffer
Moderator - rec.radio.broadcasting - Internet Radio Journal
To submit articles send them to rrb@airwaves.chi.il.us
To subscribe, send e-mail to journal@airwaves.chi.il.us
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
From: tweek@netcom.com (Michael D. Maxfield)
Subject: Re: cable rumors
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 10:37:32 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.222153.1@vax.sonoma.edu> gallaghe@vax.sonoma.edu (mycal) writes:
>
>Well most stations that I've seen that run just strait stereo have a bandwidth
>of about 40Khz.  Closer to 100Khz with a subcarrier.  200Khz is the channel
>spacing and is the max bandwidth centered on the actual operating frequency.
>
For FM BROADCAST signals, 100% modulation is considered 75khz deviation swing.

Once again (not trying to start any sort of flame/technicalities battle) if
a signal is to be transmitted over a cable system, and if the signal is not
meant to be picked up by the standard FM broadcast receiver, then these
standards do not need to be conformed to... (The cable regulation act requires
that existing standards be met where applicable for compatability, but in
the case of digital radio, there is no standard as of yet.)

What little I know about the DMX system follows.  The 30 channel Digital
Music Express service provides the service via cable in 5 (or is it 6) 
blocks of 6 (or is it 5) program channels.  Thats all I can be sure of. 
There was an FAQ on DMX posted to the net a few months back that how wide the 
data channels were, and the method of multipexing the 5 (or 6) program
channels into each data channel.  

Hope this helps a bit more, and... would someone have happened to log
that FAQ on DMX?  I seem to recall, about one a month at least, someone
asks about DMX on the net.  

       tweek@netcom.com  tweek@tweekco.uucp  WWIVNet 5@5058  4@5056 
          I'd rather get my cable service from the phone company,
                than my phone service from the cable company.


Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
From: mxl@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (marc.a.levy)
Subject: Re: universal descrambler
Organization: AT&T
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 20:17:31 GMT

In article <PASCARU.92Dec30152321@dewey.etdesg.trw.com> pascaru@dewey.etdesg.trw.com (Ted R. Pascaru 111200 ccC355) writes:
>does anyone have a listing of all the fixes amd mods for the radio
>electronics universal descrambler?  if so, please let me know, mine
>isn`t quite working yet. i get excellent lock, but crappy color.
>
>thanks
>ted
>pascaru@etdesg.trw.com
> 

Ahh, yes.... Crappy color..  

If you installed the "Auto Lock" fix, as it has been called,
you are actualy bi-passing the 3.85 mhz chroma color burst
curcuit, therefore, have no color ajustment (R34 and C32 do
nothing) if this is true, remove the added capacitor from
ic 3, pin 12 to ic2 pin 15, and re-install R45.

If this is not the case, try re-locking the picture.  Accurate
color IS a function of accurate lockup.

On my unit I noticed that some video looks green when not
properly locked, looking at the 3.85 mhz on the output of the
Q3 curcuit (I think this is a frequency devider and filter of
some sort) The wave is verry noisey, and slopy.  This may be
due to a bad design or noise in the curcuit.. I have not yet
had time to look at this area more closley, so if anyone out
there has, let us know!

I found in general, adding .1 bipass caps directly across the
pins of all of the IC's helps alot, as well as a few other
locations.  The layout of most of the mail order boards are
horrible, with small ground traces weaving in and out of
signal paths.  The more bipass's the better.. Just make sure
you keep them on DC lines..

Marc

Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv,rec.arts.tv
From: wvhorn@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (William VanHorne)
Subject: Re: DOORS vintage performance on cable 1/4/93
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 14:11:39 GMT

In article <1993Jan4.120445.5539@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> becker@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (John Becker) writes:
>The cable TV E! Entertainment channel is starting to show re-runs of the
>Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour tonight, January 4. These shows haven't been
>aired since they were on originally in the late '60s on CBS. At that time,
>they were considered very controversial, and the show was eventually
>cancelled due to the brothers refusal to co-operate with the
>ultra-conservative CBS censors.
>
Well, actually, they were cancelled when there Neilsen ratings showed them
45th out of 60.  As long as the brothers rated 20+, CBS's attitude was "damn
the censors!".  Hopefully E! will air the shows chronologically, since they
were brilliant in their first year, and less than ordinary after.

Bill "trapped 25 years in the past" VanHorne

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   "And when the world is overcharged with inhabitants, then the last remedy
        is Warre; which provideth for every man, by Victory or Death"
                        -- Thomas Hobbes "Leviathan"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
From: rmutton@alfred.carleton.ca (Ross Mutton)
Subject: Re: Closed Caption
Organization: Carleton University
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 17:30:13 GMT

In <1993Jan9.180840.25447@ultb.isc.rit.edu> rxv9839@ritvax.isc.rit.edu (Bob Vogel) writes:

>re: 1993Jan8.050013.21006@worak.kaist.ac.kr
>Closed captioning is carried on Line 21 of the vertical blanking interval.
>Sears (a department store) carries standalone decoders, however what you need
>is one that has a video input.  I don't know if theirs do or not.  It should
>be technically possible, but I suspect most caption decoder makers would 
>assume that people are receiving at RF and not include video.

If the VCR or laser disc player has an rf output (Ch. 3 or Ch. 4), by
feeding the rf output through the caption decoder, you then get
captioning from your video source (assuming it was captioned in the
first place).

Ross Mutton
Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
rmutton@ccs.carleton.ca
613-788-3814   FAX 613-788-3928
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
From: jeffb@audiolab.UWaterloo.ca (jeff bamford)
Subject: Re: CATV Operator Dropping MTS Signal
Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 18:15:23 GMT

All this talk about MTS on cable has got me to realize that the cable company
at home (in Fredereicton, NB) most be doing better than the average US 
company.  They have WLBZ, MITV  (broadcast channels) in stereo as well as
CNN, A&E,TNN & MuchMusic all in stereo (to be fair these channels are in a 
group of 6 that are $4 extra) and FirstChoice & Family Channel are both in
stereo (both are movie networks).

Here in Waterloo I am not sure as I don't have a stereo TV but I am under 
the impression that many of the channels are in stereo, but CATV is much more
regulated in Canada.


-- 
****************************************************************************
*   Jeff Bamford      jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca                          *
*  UW 519-885-1211 ext. 3814  Office: PHYS 206  Local: 519-664-1463        * 
****************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
From: mandrews@portal.hq.videocart.com (Mike Andrews)
Subject: Re: Why is cable so bad?
Organization: VideOcart Inc.
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 00:13:38 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.161044.29164@nynexst.com> rsilvers@cirrus.nynexst.com (Robert Silvers) writes:
>
>	I ordered cable last week from Continental in Cambridge, MA.  It was
>SO bad, I cancelled it the next day.  We also have an antenna on our roof, and
>the networks came in MUCH better with that.  It also seemed like the cable audio
>was not stereo.  I only wanted cable for CNN and maybe the Discovery Channel,
>but those were scrambled.  I did not buy a new cable-ready TV to have to use
>their piece-of crap wood-grained cable box with its seperate remote-control.
>What if I had a VCR and wanted the tuner to change cable channels for taping?
>Don't mention VCR Plus because I do not need a kludge to send IR signals to
>my cable box.
>
>The cable manual describes the box as being a "feature" because your TV does not
>need to be cable ready!  What a joke.  If they really need to raise basic rates
>to get passable quality, then let them do it -- but my guess is that the rate is
>high enough and they don't improve quality because they don't care or know the
>difference.  Does no one else care?  Aren't their a lot of people with good
>enough TVs to complain?
>
>							--Rob.

We have the same deal here in the Chicago burbs and in most parts of
the city of Chicago. This new cable legislation that the cable industry
fought so hard is supposed to mandate that they unscramble the channels
for cable ready TVs. 

The cable company that wired the north side of Chicago set up the system with
attenuators on the premium channels so cable-ready tvs got snow on unordered
channels - a much saner system.  The decoders boxes they installed were 
mere cable tuners, not descramblers. I think that last year the scrambling
company took them over and changed it to the silly scrambled setup.

Another aggravation is that you can't even buy decent hardware to handle the
decoder box. I haven't been able to find any decent RF switch boxes so I get
herringbones on many channels on the cable-ready VCR because the RF level
when it's switched to the cable is wrong. The VCR goes to black on playback 
of some channels because there is too much noise.  (I suspect that the
signal level is too HIGH).

-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Mike Andrews                                             VideOcart, Inc.
mandrews@hq.videocart.com                                300 South Wacker Drive
Network Administrator                                    Chicago, IL 60606 USA
From: kucharsk@solbourne.com (William Kucharski)
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
Subject: Re: CATV Operator Dropping MTS Signal
Date: 5 Jan 1993 15:59:26 -0700
Organization: Solbourne Computer, Inc., Longmont, CO
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: anthrax-fddi.solbourne.com

While reading article <1993Jan5.145151.1@sc9.intel.com>, I noticed that
rcrandall@sc9.intel.com said the following:
>At least you get MTV in stereo, not me here!  I know it would not cost very
>much to add an MTS encoder to all the signals.  I cannot figure these guys out,
>they must be extremely cheap.

Actually, I believe MTS encoders run in the four figure range.  More
importantly, there is also most likely the issue of the signal path between the
service descramblers and the RF encoders.  If the decoders are in location "A"
and the RF encoders in location "B", the entire signal path in between must be
upgraded to carry a stereo signal if it was not originally designed for such.
-- 
| William Kucharski, Solbourne Computer, Inc.     | Opinions expressed herein
| Internet: kucharsk@solbourne.com   Ham: N0OKQ   | are MINE alone, NOT those
| Snail Mail: 1900 Pike Road, Longmont, CO  80501 | of Solbourne Computer, Inc.
| President, "Just the Ten of Us" Fan Club        | "Dittos from Longmont, CO"
From: sillett@edc3jr.gsph.pitt.edu (Robert L. Sillett)
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
Subject: Is the Cable Act text available?
Date: 5 Jan 93 05:03:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: blue.1388
Distribution: usa
Organization: Epidemiology Data Center, University of Pittsburgh


The subject just about covers it.  Does anyone know of an ftp or
mailserver site where I could grab a copy of the Cable TV Act?

Thanks

--- Bob


--
| Robert L. Sillett                Internet:    sillett@edc3jr.gsph.pitt.edu  |
| Systems Analyst		   US Mail:     127 Parran Hall               |
| Certified Novell Engineer (CNE)               130 DeSoto St.                |
| University of Pittsburgh                      Pittsburgh, PA  15261         |
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush)
Subject: Re: Why is cable so bad?
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 01:45:20 GMT

It's not always true that a chat with the system's chief engineer will
help.  Ever since the big switcheroo on the cable satellites late last
year, my cable system, TCI in Waltham MA, has been sparklie-plagued.
Lately, Court TV has been all but unwatchable, Univision has been
questionable, and there have been occasional sparklies on MTV and
BET.

This is clearly unacceptable performance on the part of the cable co., so
I talked with system engineer Mark Kelly...who told me in effect, "Yes,
we know there's a problem.  We may fix it eventually.  But it could take
a while."

I'm not taking this from them.  If I can get through to the system's
business manager, I intend to demand the problem be fixed...NOW...and that
I receive a credit for the time the system has been effectively down.
I will tell him or her, very simply, that if I don't receive FULL 
satisfaction by close of business that day, I will be calling some
people I know at my congressman's office.  Weak threat?  Not since Waltham
was redistricted into the Mass. 7th, represented by Ed Markey, author
of the cable bill.  Oh yes, I'll also be calling TCI in Denver and 
the Waltham Cable Commission...which I'm sure has quality of
service standards.

I may live under a monopoly (for now), but I'll be damned if that
makes me powerless against corporations like TCI!

Anybody else have problems that bad with T(he) C(ustomer) (is)
I(nsignificant)?

--Scott Fybush
Newsgroups: rec.video.cable-tv
From: stevela@csulb.edu (Steve La)
Subject: Re: Forsale: cable tuner (PIP, A/V output, remote, etc), $85
Organization: Cal State Long Beach
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 20:23:22 GMT

The cable tuner has been sold.  I received lots of emails, but I am sorry that
I can't respond to each individual, and thanks for those who replied...

-Steve