ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN LIMA NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 1989 ^^^^^ MAKING VIDEO TAPES WITHOUT A VIDEO CAMERA ^^^^^^^A NEW SERVICE TO THOSE MEMBERS WHO CAN'T ^^^^^^^^^ATTEND OUR REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^by Charles Good ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Lima Ohio User Group The concepts discussed here were inspired by an article by Everett Smith published in the Aug 89 newsletter of the K-Town 99ers and by a demonstration put on by John Parkins (C.O.N.N.I.) at the 1988 (not the 1989) Lima Multi User Group Conference. I have long known that it was possible to output from the 99/4A to a VCR. What I didn't realize was that this can be done easily without a video camera using "off the shelf" cables instead of custom soldering my own home made cables. I also didn't realize until recently how easy it is to add a spoken commentary to a video tape of computer output using nothing more than an ordinary cassette tape recorder. If I had known these techniques a few months ago, the videos we made of our 1989 conference would have had much better audio and video quality. From now on, the Lima User Group will videotape all of the demonstrations shown at our regular monthly meetings. The video tape will include simultaneously the computer video output, the computer audio output, and a spoken commentary by the person presenting the demonstration. A copy of the tape made at each meeting will be kept at Dave Szippl's home and made available on loan to all local members at no charge. We will make copies of these tapes for all out of town members who are interested. Paid out of town members of the Lima User Group need only send a VHS tape and $1 ($0.90 postage and $0.10 for the "send the libarian on a Florida vacation fund"). We will copy the tape for you at no charge and put it back in the mail to you. This will allow ALL OUR MEMBERS, particularly out of town members to learn from the demos presented at our monthly meetings. You will be able to hear the demonstrator's verbal commentary and the questions members ask during the demos. What you see and hear will be less "slick" than the demos at our MUG Conferences. Mistakes and equipment failures sometimes occur. Demonstration topics will be listed in this newsletter each month. -------------------------------------------------- AUGUST 1989 VIDEO DEMONSTRATIONS- "House of the Rising Sun", a music program that pushes the limits of the 99/4A's sound generation. The program is enhanced by Ray Kazmer (of Woodstock fame) with a very nice graphic. This is Public Domain and will be available from the group Library in September. "QD40" a beta testing version of the new enhanced Funnelweb Quick Directory in 40 columns. This is for those who don't have 80 column cards and contains many of the features found in QDAV, the 80 column enhanced Funnelweb quick directory described on page 1 of our Sept 89 newsletter. QD40 is not yet available for release. -------------------------------------------------- The main equipment you need to output directly to a video tape, besides a VCR and a 99/4A console, is a MONITOR CABLE. This is the cable normally used to connect the console to an RGB composite color monitor such as the 10 inch monitor TI used to sell. This is TI part number PHA2010, and is available for $15 from L.L. Conner Enterprises (317-742-8146), Tex Comp, and probably any other dealer that sells 99/4A hardware. Hook one end of this cable to the console where the RF modulator (TV adapter) normally attaches. Hook the other ends of the cable to the VIDEO IN and AUDIO IN female phono jacks in the back of the VCR. Attach a TV in the usual way to the VHF OUT antenna jack in the back of the VCR and you are ready to go! You can hear the audio and view the video output of the computer on the TV and at the same time optionally record the output onto video tape. To allow for a spoken commentary you need a cassette tape recorder and some cables from Radio Shack. The T.I. PRORAM RECORDER, or the almost identical GE Computer Program Data Recorder (model 3-51588) we once used to store 99/4A tape programs and data work fine. You can't use small tape recorders that mute the EAR(phone) jack when you press RECORD. Buy a small "Y" shielded phone cable with two female and one male end (Radio Shack #42-2436) and plug it into the AUDIO IN jack in the back of the VCR. Plug the audio part of the MONITOR CABLE into one branch of this "Y" cable. Connect a shielded cable between the other side of this "Y" to the SPEAKER or EAR(phone) jack of the tape recorder. Small tape recorder EAR(phone) jacks such as that on the "TI Program Recorder" need a "mineature phono plug". The appropriate Radio Shack cable is #42-2444 which is 6 feet long and has a mineature phono plug at one end and a male "regular" phono plug at the other. If you can't find this particular cable for the cassette recorder-to-VCR link, you can use Radio Shack cables with stripped ends, a 3 foot phono cable (#42-2370) and a 3 foot mineature phono cable (#42-2434). Just twist and tape the ends together. Using this setup, you need to push RECORD on the cassette tape recorder to record a spoken commentary onto the video tape. This allows the built in tape recorder microphone to pick up your voice and send it to the VCR via the EAR(phone) jack. You can, if you wish, use an external microphone attached to the tape recorder's MIC(rophone) jack. With most recorders you can only push RECORD if there is a cassette tape in the recorder. If you don't want to use the cassette recorder with a tape inside, you can usually reach inside the tape compartment with a finger and push the pin that is normally pushed by the write protect tab on a cassette tape. Pushing this pin will allow you to push RECORD and activate the microphone. To turn off the microphone push cassette STOP. With this setup you can make VCR recordings that simultaneously include the video putput of the computer, the audio output of the computer, and the voice of the person presenting the demonstration. This can be done WITHOUT A VIDEO CAMERA. Neat! Because it is so easy to do, there is alot of potential for dealers, software authors, and user groups to video tape stuff and make the videos available to the TI community. .PL 1