https://youtu.be/B80_fuJ7yrI
You know that VHS tapes have two separate audio tracks (stereo and mono). Normally when the stereo track is corroded I just switch to the mono track when digitizing. But THIS time, SOMEHOW, something completely different was recorded to the mono track. It appears to be some kind of weather radio channel....?
In terms of value this tape is priceless -- I've digitized hundreds of tapes and never run across this kind of quirk before. As an archivist, though, this tape sucks -- neither track is any good, so I can't win either way.
The problem appears to have been from the cable provider -- only programs recorded from certain stations that day turned out like this. ABC has a weather station, NBC has silence and CBS has....CBS from earlier in the day. Other channels turned out fine.
Have any of you ever heard of such a thing? What could have caused this?
This also might be a good opportunity to ask, once again, if anything can be done about distorted hi-fi tracks like this one.