The Lemon Fool

Alarm clock, teasmaid, electric curtains....

No 5 isn't some sort of corner tape is it? Or even just corner tape which seems too simple?

AleisterCrowley wrote:Alarm clock, teasmaid, electric curtains....

You are just making wild guesses now, aren't you None of those is correct.

doug2500 wrote:No 5 isn't some sort of corner tape is it? Or even just corner tape which seems too simple?

Corner tape it is! The metal strips are galvanised steel and quite springy. The tape can be used on both inside and outside corners when dry lining.


Julian F. G. W.

UncleEbenezer wrote:

jfgw wrote:You may not know that it exists. If you keep guessing, I will leave more clues.

Most households had one.

Past tense indicates obsolete technology. Households would seem to contrast with individuals. Something like video recorders or 'phone answering machines that's been superseded - if indeed "most" applies to either of those.

Sorry, I missed this post earlier.

It has something to do with one of those.

Julian F. G. W.

jfgw wrote:

UncleEbenezer wrote:

jfgw wrote:You may not know that it exists. If you keep guessing, I will leave more clues.

Most households had one.

Past tense indicates obsolete technology. Households would seem to contrast with individuals. Something like video recorders or 'phone answering machines that's been superseded - if indeed "most" applies to either of those.

Sorry, I missed this post earlier.

It has something to do with one of those.

Julian F. G. W.

Then perhaps it's something easily misplaced, like a remote control. A bi-directional LED would help with finding it. Or might serve as placebo to an owner doubtful of it working!

If so, it would arguably make your past tense a little deceptive. Unless modern successors have dispensed with remote controls. Have phone apps and/or siri/alexa consigned them to history?

To various contributors: please make certain your post mentions the number of the object you're talking about! It has become distinctly hard to follow some strands of this thread, due to people failing either to mention it themselves or to ensure it's mentioned in the quotes they're replying to. (And remember that the posting software will eliminate too-deeply-nested quotes, taking any mentions they contain of the object number with them...)

Gengulphus

UncleEbenezer wrote:Then perhaps it's something easily misplaced, like a remote control. A bi-directional LED would help with finding it. Or might serve as placebo to an owner doubtful of it working!

No. 4 is not for a remote control. It has a specific function which is obviously needed if you think about it.

Julian F. G. W.

No. 4: The LED,
UncleEbenezer mentioned a video recorder. It was only used on VHS. Can you suggest what it was for?

No. 6: The USB device,
Not many guesses so far. The oval part part-way along the cable is a weight.

No. 9,
Suggestions have been for a roller blind, venetian blind and vertical blind. These are all very close.

No. 10,
A frame fixing has been mentioned. If you look at the photo in the OP, you will see that each end of the grey part is shaped like a wall plug and there is a helical groove in the middle.


Julian F. G. W.

jfgw wrote:No. 4: The LED,
UncleEbenezer mentioned a video recorder. It was only used on VHS. Can you suggest what it was for?

No. 6: The USB device,
Not many guesses so far. The oval part part-way along the cable is a weight.

No. 9,
Suggestions have been for a roller blind, venetian blind and vertical blind. These are all very close.

No. 10,
A frame fixing has been mentioned. If you look at the photo in the OP, you will see that each end of the grey part is shaped like a wall plug and there is a helical groove in the middle.


Julian F. G. W.

4: With the need for a pair of photodiodes it's not going to be illuminating the clock so...
- proximity/position sensor for the loading mech
- or strobe for spin rate sensing
- or dunno... som'ing else!?

-sd

AleisterCrowley wrote:Alarm clock, teasmaid, electric curtains....

Cuddly Toy (nice to suggest... to suggest...)

end of tape detector???

AleisterCrowley wrote:end of tape detector???

Correct answer!

VHS tapes have clear sections at each end. The LED poked into a hole in the cassette and would shine through one of the holes in the sides (visible with the flap open) when the tape was near one end.

Betamax used a section of metallic foil that was detected inductively, and V2000 used a reflective foil.


Julian F. G. W.

..got there eventually!
(I'm still having trouble picturing why it needs to be bi directional - I thought it would sit near the read/write head)

jfgw wrote:

AleisterCrowley wrote:end of tape detector???

Correct answer!

VHS tapes have clear sections at each end. The LED poked into a hole in the cassette and would shine through one of the holes in the sides (visible with the flap open) when the tape was near one end.

I thought of that answer a while back but dismissed it 'cos I couldn't see why it's double sided and two photodiodes accompanied it ... and still can't. It's not like you can turn a VHS tape over to play the other side ...

Edit: ditto!

AleisterCrowley wrote:..got there eventually!
(I'm still having trouble picturing why it needs to be bi directional - I thought it would sit near the read/write head)

Yeah!

Pics or it didn't happen!.

AleisterCrowley wrote:..got there eventually!
(I'm still having trouble picturing why it needs to be bi directional - I thought it would sit near the read/write head)

If you insert a tape, the machine can immediately tell if the tape is at the beginning or at the end, and can discriminate between the two. It will not, for example, try to load a tape which is at the end or allow you to rewind a tape that is at the beginning.

Julian F. G. W.

Nope.....need a picture

Aha!


https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/392819-How-can-i-play-a-VHS-tape-with-the-lid-off

https://goughlui.com/the-vhs-corner/intro-inside-the-vhs-cassette-vcr helped too (search in the page for "tape sense"). It helps if you have a VHS tape in front of you with the flap open ...

Looks like a right cockamamie scheme!

AleisterCrowley wrote:Looks like a right cockamamie scheme!

How would you do it?

Linear recording has been tried:

In 1955 BCE demonstrated a broadcast-quality color recorder that operated at 100 inches per second and CBS ordered three of them. Many other fixed-head recording systems were tried but all required an impractically high tape speed. It became clear that practical video recording technology depended on finding some way of recording the wide-bandwidth video signal without the high tape speed required by linear-scan machines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_tape_recorder

A PAL VHS recorder runs the tape at less than 1" per second in standard play.

Another reason that I can think of for having separate sensors for the start and end of the tape is that, without these, the clear leader would end up being passed over the head drum. I can imagine that this would cause increased wear or even potentially cause damage.


Julian F. G. W.