Article 11: The Black Box
In most homes today we all see a black box that is about a foot and a half wide by two feet long. They sit near or on a television. We call them videocassette recorders or most of us call them VCR's.
These valued household tool keep us sane when there is only insanity on the tube. We can play or replay a movie of our choice. How many times have your seen "The Titanic?"
In the VCR there is a computer chip that keeps track of the date. This is so you can choose a certain time on a certain date to record a show, movie, football game or whatever you desire to put on tape for a later viewing. If this chip needs to know the date in order to make the recording then Y2K could have an affect on the program.
What you will need to do to test your VCR is to turn it on and set the date for Jan. 1, 2000. If the unit accepts the date you will have not problem with the change.
Some homes have alarm systems that have the date inserted into the brain that monitors the home for intruders. Why an alarm needs to know what the date is, is beyond me. You can run a simple test again by reprogramming the system and seeing if the date is accepted. If it does not accept the date, contact your supplier and informed them that the unit is not Y2K compliant. Most alarm systems are leased from a reputable company and they will be more than happy to respond to your inquiry.
Some kitchen appliances depend on a date. The more sophisticated ovens have a date mode in their programs so the cook can tell the oven when to turn on and when to turn off. I am not sure why you would want to program an oven to turn on day after tomorrow, it would seem to me that the food left in the oven to cook might not be safe to eat. But you know, I'm just a man and I don't understand these complications of the kitchen. If you suspect that your oven won't work, contact the manufacturer. By the way, if you do need this feature….be sure to have medication for food poisoning available.
I have seen a coffee maker that has a date programmed into it. It is for the traveling person and it operates as an alarm clock, coffee maker, radio and I am sure a few other handy dandy functions. This wizard of a unit will start the coffee, brew the brew and then wake you up with the music of your choice. Why it needs a date in order to do all this is beyond me but if you have this wizard pot you better contact the manufacturer.
Back to the VCR….I think we have four or five of them. Why does a family need four or five? Well, two of them don't record anymore. All they do is just play tapes….one of those just sits in storage incase the other one that just plays quits. One is on my set in the bedroom and I am king over it. It is my unit to record what I want and no one is to touch it…..accept maybe my wife when she tells me what I can record and when I can record and how I can record, etc.
The other units are scattered through the home on sets that my daughters use. I think they all function. They must be functioning since I am not being hassled by the girls for new ones.
The one in the den often is not set right and we have this little red light blinking on it to let us know that it needs to be programmed. This often is the situation after we loose power. It only takes me a week or two to sit down and do the programming!
I have a friend who has an easy fix for this. He keeps a small piece of black electrician's tape over the red light. Perfect! NO RED LIGHT TO SEE! Now that is an easy solution to get you into the new millenium!
If you need help with Y2K problems please give us a call at The Electronic Village 618-526-8301 or email me at harvey@papadocs.com.