Found an old Beta VCR and Tapes in my parents' attic

There a four boxes of tapes all from the 1975, 1976 and 1977. Mostly daytime shows and movies of the week. Where would I go and how much would it cost to get all of these tapes converted? Does anyone know?

• Why would you want them? The quality would be horrendous.

• Burn them.

• Oh my god. They are my parents' sex tapes. My mother is riding up and down on my dad, her sagging breasts bouncing up and down and she calls out, "Fuck me daddy!! Give it to me." I can't look at them again.

• By an EyeTv video converter for about 80 bucks.

• [quote]Why would you want them? The quality would be horrendous. Not necessarily. They could be fascinating. Shame it's Beta, VHS to DVD machines are quite common. If you have the player, watch them and them decide which ones are worth converting. Then post them on a youtube channel to little reward, if any.

• Watch Sinister. Then decide what to do with them.

  Get%20back%20to%20us

• If any of these are old soaps, there are folks who'd go crazy for them on YouTube.

• I will do that r5. The tapes are labeled. DOOL, Somerset, AW, Doctors, Donohue, I think it will be a hoot to watch this.

• [quote]There a four boxes of tapes all from the 1975, 1976 and 1977 This is quite early for a home TV recorder. Most people didn't have them yet. Again, these could be rare recordings.

• [quote]The tapes are labeled. DOOL, Somerset, AW, Doctors, Donohue, Are you sure they're '70s. More likely 80s and therefore less interesting and rare. I'm not even sure beta was around in the USA in the mid '70s, OP What makes you say> [quote]There a four boxes of tapes all from the 1975, 1976 and 1977. Are they actually dated or were you just guessing?

• [italic]Somerset[/italic] went off the air in 1976, FWIW.

• They're dated on the box. The machine is big and bulky. My mom says that my dad bought the machine when she decided to go back to work and she wouldn't have to miss her 'stories'. She went back to work in December 1975.

• Convert them to digital, OP!

• oohh any Merv Griffin or Dinah Shore?

• The only Sony consumer VCR that was out in the U.S. in 1975 was the SL-6200, which you had to buy packaged with a TV. In any case, that was really sweet of your dad, because a VCR would've cost upwards of $2,000 at the time.

  http://rewindmuseum.com/betamax.htm

• That's it r15. It is huge.

• Here's a fun find: the first segment of an [italic]All My Children[/italic] episode from 1971. It's on videotape rather than a kinescope, which makes it extra-rare. The commercials are a hoot, too. Pop-R-Corns, anyone?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DrejHXWbLiZc

• Yes OP, you'll have to do it yourself. Any professional place won't convert them because of copyright laws. Previous poster is correct. Buy a combo VCR/DVD recorder for 150 bucks. If you had the tapes converted professionally, it would cost more than that anyway. I don't know what to tell you about the Beta tapes though.

• [quote] oohh any Merv Griffin or Dinah Shore? That deserves a MARY!

• [quote] I don't know what to tell you about the Beta tapes though. He could check out R4's lead. I hope you post back, OP. Post a link to your youtube channel, let us know how you get on. Here's a pic of a 1966 video recorder for sale at Harrods in London. It cost 1200 pounds...an average car in England cost about 700 in '66. Someone must have bought it and could have tremendously valuable recordings.

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/20909064@N05/4786702174/sizes/z/in/photostream/

• $150 is too much for a VCR/DVD machine. Shop around, some are $50.

• Once you've converted em, post the NBC News Updates on YouTube! Those things are fascinating.

• Those programs are good finds, OP. Much of NBC soaps prior to the late 70s no longer exist -- the tapes were considered expensive, so they were wiped and re-used. You might have some true rarities on your hands!

• If I were you OP I would donate them to the TV archives. After keeping a copy for yourself. Those are very VERY rare TV episodes.

• Anything pre-1978 is rare for Another World, along with the other Procter & Gamble soaps -- none of them started archiving until 1978. Apparently DOOL has a full archive.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lost_television_broadcasts

• OP, you have just given renewed hope to every hoarder in America. Seriously, though, you could have some extreme rarities there. Congrats on asking before tossing!

• Hang on, OP, I'm gonna give Vicky Wyndham a quick call and see if she wants to chip in to pay for the digitization of the Another World episodes. Stay tuned...

• R27, here. Ms. Wyndham just told me to go fuck myself with a rusty breadknife, so I guess it's a no go.

• Where is Beverly Penberthy's gay nephew?

• Donate them to groups like this, OP. They will preserve them. Most of their collections come from schools that taped shows for classroom presentations, and just happened to catch brief segments of commercials.

  http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/

• Well I packed up the boxes. I thought there were 4, two more were hidden behind some other junk. I've loaded them in my car. My sister got a bunch of china and stemware. My brother and his wife got some artwork. I got old beta tapes. :) I'll keep you posted on what happens.

• BETA and VHS tapes (consumer versions) are highly degradable stock that really only has a 15 to 20 year shelf life before the picture starts disappearing from the tape, OP.

• [quote] Buy a combo VCR/DVD recorder for 150 bucks. There are no Beta machines to buy for this. OP plainly stated that the tapes are BETA.

• you can always find a place to convert beta to dvd

• [quote]BETA and VHS tapes (consumer versions) are highly degradable stock that really only has a 15 to 20 year shelf life before the picture starts disappearing from the tape, OP. Not true. Old magnetic tapes are very durable. The only thing you have to be aware of is moisture: the magnetic oxide absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, making the adhesive fail and the oxide will crumble off the surface during playback, damaging the tape and degrading the quality of the recorded information. These tapes need to be "baked" professionally (not literally baked, it's the industry term for the process). That is, put in a dehumidifier at a raised temperature for a number of hours. Do not attempt this yourself. It isn't an expensive process. Seek advice from a professional - an experienced audio mastering engineer should be able to help.

• R17, that was great stuff, thanks for posting it. I remember Future floor wax!

• [quote]you can always find a place to convert beta to dvd I had a thing, can't remember what it was called. You plugged it into the back of the old video player and then into your computer and recorded onto software on your computer. It was a bit shit but I'm sure there's better stuff out there now. Just read up on it. I hope you can post some of your stuff onto YT, OP...and post the link here. Even the commercials will be of interest to some people. This reminds me, in those earlier days of youtube, you could post practically anything and instantly get hundreds of views.

• Came for parental porn. Disappoint.

  No%20pun%20intended

• That's quite find. Will be interested to hear exactly what is on the tapes.

• If one of the tapes features a ghostly pale girl crawling out of a well, I'd have a swap meet as soon as possible.

• I bought my first Betamax in 1981. It was over $800. The fun part of those tapes would be the commercials.

• Someone is having a laugh.

  http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/betamaxhd.html

• I agree with R41. I think the commercials would be more interesting than the shows.

• I would be more than happy to convert them to DVD for you for free,you pay postage both ways. These recordings sound RARE! I have dozens of Beta players and DVD recorders. Let me know.

  http://www.youtube.com/user/pizzaguy2002%3Ffeature%3Dmhee

  Mike

• any days of our lives tapes?