It started so innocent
It started innocently enough when I saw a project on Adafrut for a ESP32 QT Py called the Video Nub Shank for injecting composite video. Purchased the parts and I found a TV, courtesty of Goodwill:
Made in 2003, it was newer than I expected, but it has the look. Sadly, it seemed the video input was dead:
Hello failure, my old friend. Cracked it open, nothing looks burned out. It MUST be either a bad video input or a bad project. So, I plugged it into my more modern TV:
It looked too new
So it works. Pretty cool. But this doesn't fit the aesthetic. I was off to Amazon to find the finest bottom dollar RF modulator. However, before I could, some aesthetic appropriate tech fell in my lap.
The Hitachi VT-8500E, per the spec, it weighs 26 pounds, can record every day of the week on a programmable schedule, and was built in 1981. This would have been a pricey piece of kit back in the day and I just found it in a literal trash pile. More importantly, it has a RF out on the back and my TV has RF in. After obtaining the necessary cables and adapters, we have a result:
Next
Absolutely nothing, since hooking up an antenna in line with an amplifier to the VCR and seeing how far I can get the signal would probably be illegal...
