Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!think!harvard!cmcl2!seismo!rochester!ritcv!cci632!ccird2!rb
From: rb@ccird2.UUCP (Rex Ballard)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc,net.periphs
Subject: Re: Storing Data on a VCR
Message-ID: <772@ccird2.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-Apr-86 14:31:19 EST
Article-I.D.: ccird2.772
Posted: Thu Apr 17 14:31:19 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 19-Apr-86 14:16:57 EST
References: <169@ablnc.UUCP>
Reply-To: rb@ccird2.UUCP (Rex Ballard)
Organization: CCI Telephony Systems Group,  Roch, NY
Lines: 33
Keywords: PC IBM-PC PC6300 IBM-compatible
Xref: watmath net.micro.pc:7852 net.periphs:1041
Summary: Not new, fairly reliable.

The original article was put in net.micro.pc, but is being sent to
net.periphs in hopes of getting wider input.
In article <169@ablnc.UUCP> rcpilz@ablnc.UUCP (Robert C. Pilz) writes:
>
> 
>I just read about a new device that can transform a videocassette
>recorder, (I assume either Beta-format of VHS), into a backup
>storage system for the PC's hard disk.
>My questions are:
>Has anyone used such a device? If so, how long does it take to do a backup?
>Are there problems, recommendations?

I haven't used the Alpha-Micro system, but Corvus also has (had) a
"VCR Backup" interface.  It worked fairly well (no serious problems),
and used the video in/out plugs.  As I recall, it was a "pure streamer"
and couldn't start/stop, so the whole disk had to be backed up and
restored, single file backup wasn't possible.  This was several years
ago.  Backup took about 1 minute/meg.

Conservatively, VCR technology can store 1 megabyte per second, and
VHS tapes can be packed to 6 hours.

Actually, with slight changes in the drive motors, it would be possible
to store something like 7 Gigabytes on a VCR (anyone interested
in the library of congress :-) unformatted.  I remember a guy working
on a "helical head tape drive" that used stepper motor tranport, and
VCR-like heads with digital comparators and other special modifications
to the VCR which could theoretically store 30 Gigabytes.  I don't
know what happened to it, or him (he was buying the original video
disk players in hopes of turning them in to disk drives).

Does anybody know what else might be available in "helical head"
drives?