Found the Eureka Mine Train video, I can't believe it.

[pazzap]

It's taken me years but by chance I found it in a bag in the garage. I was moving house very slowly for a long period of time and it's literally the last thing I found 10 minutes ago. This has a POV on the tape but I no longer have a way to even see what's on these tapes to extract it. I am 50 now and was in my early 20's when this was filmed.

It's video Hi-8

It's analog and the tape was in a sealed Coles cooler bag, so even though the bag was filthy the tape honestly has no dust on it and should work completely fine.

I mean it's been in the shade, in a zipped cooler bag. The blurred text was not me trying to hide my name LOL, that's just how old the tape is.

If anyone in Melbourne has a Hi 8 Cam they are willing to lend, that would be a start and the only thing I can think of for now. Any other ideas are welcome.

Note, I am leaving in 9 days to go OS for a 7 week coaster trip, but maybe when I get back?

If anyone can help out before I leave, I will do what needs to be done to get this incredibly rare POV on YouTube within the next few days. I do have a car and can drive. I am pretty sure there will be other personal stuff on there I don't want people to see, otherwise I'd just drop the tape off to the nearest person who has a way to access it, but no, I have to go through it myself, sorry.

I found all 3 tapes, that is a pic of one, so I have to go through all of them to find the right one which was with my friend Mark when we took the POV and that was a trip where we had driven from Melbourne to QLD in an EB Falcon. i.e. a long time ago. But yes these are definitely the tapes I have been searching for for over 2 years.

Will wait for your thoughts.

 

 

[Stevie]

Holy crap, we've been waiting years for this. I'm sure there's a few people here who can help out with information to get those digitised and uploaded to youtube 

[jayw]

I wonder what it would cost to get a digitisation place to do this. Keen to see this footage...

Could get a quote and crowd fund it? I'd chip in and would a guess a few others here would if there isn't anyone that could do it.

This place is in Melbourne - https://www.melbournevideoconversions.com.au/video-tape-conversions/

Edited July 5, 2023 by jayw
Added Link

[REGIE]

That’s so cool!   Yeah either find a place that can do it Or perhaps you could buy a tape player and a HI-8 to DVD converter kit?   They are both pretty cheap on eBay now.  Then all you need is if you own a laptop or computer with a CD/DVD slot you could get it onto a blank dvd. then it’s pretty easy to get a dvd processed to digital.    But that would be much more complicated than going into a place if one is still around.  Used to be a place in coolangatta That did it but I think they might only do DVD to USB convertions now.   Hope you find a way to get the video!!.

 

[Naazon]

Brisbane City Council Library's have media conversion stations for free.

 

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/things-to-see-and-do/council-venues-and-precincts/libraries/facilities-services/media-conversion-stations

 

Just BYO USB.

[pazzap]

I'm in Victoria as said.

But thanks.

No it has to be in private, it was not JUST the day at DW on the tapes, and as said, I have to go through all 3 of them. I am not willing for any service place to see my personal stuff, sorry. I have to be the one to do this. Please respect my privacy on that

@ Regie, I have a very good laptop (GT77 MSI) but it doesn't have an optical drive. I'd have to buy a USB one.

As long as I can audition and find the tape and know the exact spot it is on, then I am ok with it if I've confirmed there's nothing private either side of it. It's been almost 30 years, I can't remember precisely.

I think I will just try to find a dirt cheap working hi 8 cam and at least find the timestamp of the video portion we need. As long as it's a cam with one of those little screens, that's all I will need.

Then I can take it to a conversion place. I am a really private person and I was young and there's likely video of us doing stupid things on there and I am really funny about it.. After all I am an old man now.

I'll do that. I'm going to sleep now but I'll search ebay tomorrow for a cheap working cam with an in built screen, then go through the 3 tapes, find it, make sure I am happy to give the tape to someone else once I have confirmed everything is "safe", then I'll take it to a conversion place. That part sounds like a good idea. I mean I'd need a capture card to get it into the laptop, I presume they make them in thunderbolt which is just pcie, so I'll compare prices.

If it ends up costing hundreds of dollars, I might crowd source for a portion of it, but it's not really something I want to do either unless I just can't afford it after this coming trip which is going to be a real doozy.

It all sounds like it might be impossible to do before I leave, but I'll even keep an eye out for a cheap cam in the states if I haven't found one before I go. I just wish dad still has his. Would solve everything.

 

Hmm, cheapest one I can find at a glance that is in full working condition

Sony CCD-TRV438E Video8/Hi8 camcorder, excellent working condition!!! | Video Cameras | Gumtree Australia Whitehorse Area - Box Hill South | 1311278670

They are bloody expensive!

I need to sleep, but now this is on my mind and will bug me. I have to find a capture card compatible or see if the output can be converted to HDMI so a cheap usb capture card would work.

 

[Naazon]

5 hours ago, pazzap said:

I'm in Victoria as said

Sure, but a quick search of similar finds Geelong also has the same offerings so I'm sure other regional areas or larger metro areas offers it also. The links practically have identical text so I would say they are a standard offering service.

https://www.grlc.vic.gov.au/learn/saving-family-stories

And for privacy the two services linked are self serve.

[Brods]

15 hours ago, Naazon said:

Brisbane City Council Library's have media conversion stations for free.

Thank you so much for this! I never knew this existed 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

[iwerks]

I still have a Hi8 camera and DVD recorder, but I’m in WA. Sorry. 😢 

[pazzap]

2 hours ago, iwerks said:

I still have a Hi8 camera and DVD recorder, but I’m in WA. Sorry. 😢 

That's OK LOL. We all live where we live

I think I have to devote time to this when I am back. I am already behind and manically trying to get everything else done before I leave. I'll check into the self serve places but I'll also ask round the family as someone might have a cam.

I'll be checking into the forum from OS, will there be any issues logging in from the US? It's not going to flag my account as hacked or anything? I exclusively use Nord VPN when I am on hotel Wi-Fi, for security purposes, and I'll be using quick connect for it to automatically choose the closest access point.

I travel on a small cabin compatible bag even for 7 weeks. I just wash as I go and basically take a few necessary undergarments, ONE pair of jeans, one shorts, and a couple T shirts and that's it. People think I am crazy but it works for me. I can hop off the plane and just go straight to customs. The point of telling you this is that there's no room for a cam if I find one there, it's a small cabin bag and it is full to the brim. I don't even know if I will have room for the three tapes or if the few hundred grams of the tapes would take me over weight, but furthermore I am concerned about analog tapes and x-ray machines, so before I even consider that I would need someone to assure me they can't be affected, as what's on there is coaster gold. 

I actually wish I had found them when I came back, as it's all I can think of since I located it yesterday. I made the forum post straight away, with excitement, but I feel under the weather, swamped. I also just got over Covid last week, for the THIRD time.

But yeah, this trip has been planned and saved for since last year, so I have to focus on that, there was some sort of issue with passports (mine was a renewal) with their systems, I am going into town tomorrow to try sort it all out. Even that!

I just feel overwhelmed if that makes sense. I haven't even organised the cattery yet because I have been trying to find a house sitter for the entire time, and so on, you know how it is, and I have to work every day till I leave. Busy busy!

Sorry!

But I promise I will keep a close eye and if something crosses my path, I will take it and do it before I go or whilst I am there (once confirmed the x ray can't affect the tapes and they fit in my bag).

 

I am going to have dinner then crash by 8. I am wrecked, been up since 330am. I'll check when I wake up for any replies.

The one that is making the most sense is the self serve, but that will take time and I don't have that time before I leave, plus, DVD is  useless to me, I need a place that does to mpeg USB for example, so I need to research even that. Time time time.

Peace to all. It's not far off. This trip means everything to me right now though, for a lot of reasons

 

 

 

 

[Whombex]

Logged into Parkz fine using a (Sim Corner) Spanish sim card while lining up for rides at Disneyland Paris. As long as you know your login credentials I believe you'll be fine.
Good luck with the video transfer. If you do upload it, definitely watermark it because there will be bad actors wanting to re-host it themselves.