Direct mp4 download or play: My First Home Video
I’m quite sure this is the first video recording of my family. There is no date stamp on the tape, but this would have been 1986 or ’87. The Styrofoam packaging from the box of my new Sony CCD-V110 8 millimeter camcorder is visible on the sofa next to my mother. Also, the box appears briefly as I’m panning. My mother, father and two cats Big Butt (fluffy white long fur), and Baby Doll which I refer to as Tabatha Stinkaton or Stinkington.
This camcorder recorded in regular 8 millimeter video and mono AFM (audio frequency modulation) also known as Hi-Fi. The built-in microphone was very sensitive, especially to higher frequencies and had a slightly “tinny” quality. It picked up a lot of noise from the camcorder, as well. There’s an external microphone jack and using an external microphone improved the sound quality quite a bit. Also, I figured out how to connect the output of an audio mixer to the microphone jack without causing overloaded distorted sound. If I’m remembering right, the microphone jack had plug-in-power present (a low voltage, usually a couple of volts to power electret condenser microphones), which needed to be blocked with a capacitor.
The last part of this video features briefly using an external microphone, the display of my police scanner and the tuning indicator of my RadioShack shortwave receiver. The sound was of the scanner and several other radio tuners and possibly TV audio, plus some digital delay echo. This audio was mixed to mono and connected to the camcorder.
Sony CCD-V110 8 mllimeter camcorder
Bearcat 300 police scanner
Realistic DX-302 receiver
Hre’s a link explaining how “Hi-Fi” sound works in video recorders:
10 users commented on " My First Home Video "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackDoesn’t digital delay make radio sound wonderful?
Thank you David for sharing this with us. Your mother was such a sweetheart. Loving the cb chatter with the feedback and delays. I could listen to nothing but that all day. Wanted to ask you if you ever heard of the conet project? It’s a collection of number station that you can download for free online. I really get a kick out of listening to it. Might you by chance have more recordings of Cb squelchs, feedbacks, and delays?
Again, thank you for sharing that! And as always, hope you’re doing well.
Rich, you’re right and it it isn’t even stereo! I’d almost forgotten about this recording. I think this was the delay unit I was using at the time.
Dillon, you need to check out websdr.org. There you are able to tune live radios from around the world right on your computer. I have many posts that feature strange radio noises. Here are a few: The entire category “Ham Radio Jammers,” and posts “Numbers,” “849 – 1138 Has Been Disconnected,” “Seattle Scanner Radio Ambience 3-13-2009,” and “Radio Catheter.”
Thank you very much good sir! When I get back home later, I shall enjoy these nice links you shared.
Listening to your uploads first before I check out that website. I’m really enjoying it. I find myself wondering what these guys are doing now. Do they still do and act the way they did before? I honestly could listen to stuff like this for hours. I have this scanner application on my phone that has amateur radio as well as police, fire, etc. I used to listen to this one that was in LA.
Thanks again David!
Here is 147.435, Los Angeles.
I think that might have been the one I listened to years ago.
I hope you’re okay with foul language. Those hams were especially nasty last night.
I’m alright with it. It’s when they start talking politics that I tap out.