Things that confirm your age

[Sithlord75]

43 minutes ago, Ben B said:

 

Then try explaining a VCR to youths who already think DVD's are outdated tech in the age of downloads and streaming...

 

They won't believe you...

 

Rotary phones!

[Tackleberry]

10 hours ago, 101 said:

 

I think the fact that you were listening to Radio 2 in the first place means you are no longer young! 

Im 38 and listen to radio lol

[AndrewC]

I was going through a box of spare cables and other hifi related gubbins and came across a trio of 8-track tapes. 10cc, Supertramp, Rick Wakeman (in quadraphonic no less) I haven't owned an 8-track player since 1979. 

[melmerby]

Listening to the launch of Radio Caroline.............

Listening to American AM stations in the early hours after European broadcasting had closed down for the night.

[jcm@gwr]

Listening to Radio Caroline on a home-made crystal set!

[melmerby]

5 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

10cc, Supertramp, Rick Wakeman (in quadraphonic no less) I haven't owned an 8-track player since 1979. 

I've still got a Quadraphonic Vinyl LP.

[AndrewC]

4 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I've still got a Quadraphonic Vinyl LP.

I have quite a few including an Australian pressing of Dark Side of the Moon, on pink vinyl. My current amp has a quad SQ decoder built in. (ancient) Can't find a quad 8-track player though. 

[melmerby]

1 minute ago, AndrewC said:

I have quite a few including an Australian pressing of Dark Side of the Moon, on pink vinyl. My current amp has a quad SQ decoder built in. (ancient) Can't find a quad 8-track player though. 

I have a feeling my home cinema amp might decode it as it has various other surround sound decoders.

I've also got some quadraphonic CDs.

I have heard any in quad mode.

[Big James]

Younger family members talking about classic albums and including stuff from my childhood. 
 

big james 

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Ben B said:

 

Then try explaining a VCR to youths who already think DVD's are outdated tech in the age of downloads and streaming...

Philips stacked spool VCRs (N1400 - N1702).

1hr recording time and a mechanical timer on the earliest ones.

I had an N1502 hybrid which would record for 3 hours and had a much much better picture quality than the "new" VHS ones when they arrived.

[Reorte]

Realising that I'm not missing out at all by not trying to cram electronics in to everything (although I do like some purely for entertainment purposes), and finding the world ever more impersonal, lifeless, obsessed with never having time to stop and think, and depressing.

 

Maybe that's just me but it's been getting me called a grumpy old man long before I was old chronologically! Probably backed up by being that guy parked at the end of the bar in the pub (or was when I still could anyway).

Edited September 8, 2020 by Reorte

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, jcm@gwr said:

Listening to Radio Caroline on a home-made crystal set!

 

I had a 6-transistor pocket radio, and used to listen to Caroline when I should have been asleep.  It was heavy on those little 9v batteries!

 

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

I had an N1502 hybrid which would record for 3 hours and had a much much better picture quality than the "new" VHS ones when they arrived.

 

As did Betamax, but for some reason people preferred VHS...

 

[jcm@gwr]

8 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

I had a 6-transistor pocket radio, and used to listen to Caroline when I should have been asleep.  It was heavy on those little 9v batteries!

 

 

 

The advantage of a crystal set, no batteries needed!

[Rugd1022]

14 hours ago, eastglosmog said:

Just going through a chest of drawers and finding some black and white photos I took of a Portsmouth Navy day in 1963.

 

There's a very good chance that both of my parents were there that day - they were both in the Navy lark (Mum was a sailor and Dad was in the WRENs, boom boom!), they first met the year before in one of the pubs by the harbour and were stationed there until they got married in '64.

 

I was born in the '65 but do feel old sometimes, I can remember the Apollo 11 moon landing (just), the Beatles splitting up, decimalisation, pre-Tops loco numbers and the shock of seeing David Bowie in a sequined jumpsuit with orange hair on Top Of The Pops.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Rugd1022

[62613]

14 hours ago, Tankerman said:

My old Merchant Navy discharge books, I have two because the government  changed the rules in 1972, they date from 1968 to 1977. When I look at them I wonder where the young man with lots of curly black hair went.

I've got mine from 1972, but not the earlier one; and all my service records (the ones you received from the chief when you left the ship, which were used to prove your sea time for your tickets); as well as memorabilia from Spithed in 1977; like you, I look at a dark-haired stranger in the photos!

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

I used to listen to AFN and Luxembourg on one of these.

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/vidor_regatta_cn420a.html

Supposed to be portable but with the battery in I would change that to "transportable" as it weighed about 5kg.

[Metr0Land]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

I had a 6-transistor pocket radio, and used to listen to Caroline when I should have been asleep.  It was heavy on those little 9v batteries!

 

 

As did Betamax, but for some reason people preferred VHS...

 

 

I thought the main reason for the success of VHS in the UK was they penetrated the rental market.

 

Out 1st video recorder was 1981, amongst the first half million users in UK.  A lot of people couldn't understand the need for it.  My main reason initially was I was doing an OU course and I wanted to record progs at unseemly hours.  If I watched the prog when broadcast I was unlikely to retain much of it anyway.  Much better to play and replay the prog at sociable hours. 

 

Of course once we had the machine it was a boon.  IIRC we were still renting colur tv's at the time as they were seen as high tech and not very reliable.  This new recorder thingy seemed as if it were likely to be troublesome so much better to rent, and VHS had got a big foothold in the rental companies.

[Metr0Land]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

I had a 6-transistor pocket radio, and used to listen to Caroline when I should have been asleep.  It was heavy on those little 9v batteries!

 

 

Indeed transistor radios often seemed to be.  IIRC the solution was to get a bulky PP9 battery and hold it in place on the outside with serious duty rubber bands.  A bit Heath Robinson but a money saving solution.

[Steamport Southport]

11 hours ago, PatB said:

Realising you're older than pretty much every senior cabinet and shadow-cabinet member in Parliament (and, obviously, know far better how to run the country). 

 

Hopefully not sailing too close to the politics wind. 

 

 

Move to America.

 

The two vying for The White House will be 75 and 78 by the time of the election!

[simontaylor484]

Trying to explain to your kids that shops didnt open on Sundays.

 

Extolling the virtues of proper wrestling from exotic locations such such as Bolton town hall on a Saturday afternoon. And how much better Big Daddy was than Hulk Hogan. 

Payphones and phonecards 

Oh and Dr Who was scary and you did hide behind the sofa

Edited September 8, 2020 by simontaylor484

[TheQ]

2 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

Trying to explain to your kids that shops didnt open on Sundays.

 

Extolling the virtues of proper wrestling from exotic locations such such as Bolton town hall on a Saturday afternoon. And how much better Big Daddy was than Hulk Hogan. 

Payphones and phonecards 

or early closing on a Wednesday lunch time... Salisbury was still doing that well into the 1990s

 

 

[simontaylor484]

Castleford still does that 

[simontaylor484]

Just now, simontaylor484 said:

Castleford still does that  

Lots of things close but not everything. Pontefract used to be Thursday afternoon.

When we went caravanning as kids we had an AA handbook of towns so you could look up early closing etc for main towns

[The Stationmaster]

Worst sign of getting old - being seen by a Doctor who looks about 12 years old but who you quickly realise is fully qualified and allowed to practice on their own.   Sign you are old - remembering watching the Queen's Coronation on tv. 

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

 

As did Betamax, but for some reason people preferred VHS...

 

No they didn't

The major rental companies were signed up by JVC and as more than 90% of cutomers rented, that's what they got.

For one period the best selling VCRs were the Video 2000 which beat the rest into a cocked hat for picture quality, but they were only a small portion of the actual VCRs delivered to homes

Where I worked (we were a technical bunch), out of 10 in the group (IIRC) 8 had various Video 2000 (all purchased), one had VHS (rented, I think) and one didn't have a VCR.

 

One of the problems with the V2000 was the actual cost of manufacture (all made in Europe) and it was also made to an overhigh technical & engineering specification, especially the Grundig 2x4*, whereas the VHS was less sophisticated and were made of cheap and cheerful parts in Japan.

 

*when mine eventually needed replacement I dismembered the thing and found that it contained (IIRC) 7 high quality motors, the JVC only had 2 or 3.

Edited September 8, 2020 by melmerby