I've noticed that it's pretty much useless when I tries to calculate your sleep quality. But it does do an ok job keeping track of the total time you slept.

Update: I cleaned the whole pathway that the tape travels within the VCR, to no avail, but I experimented with extremely lightly giving the "tension arm" (it's called something else for Walkmans...) a little more tensions, and lo and behold, at the very least it influenced the duration of each individual noise occurrence. Push to hard and the noise in the attached video above disappears, but then other artifacts are introduced. On another Sharp VCR that I had, rest in peace, you could actually adjust the tension belt by hooking it further "back", giving it more tension, but not on this LG. Here is the part in talking about:

I hate to be a Debbie Downer here, but my advice would be to not use anything to track your sleep. I used an app to track my sleep for about 12 years, and the number of times I thought "I feel great today!" - but the app said my sleep was terrible (and vice versa) was so high that I gave up on it altogether.

I've also been reading more and more reports of other people seeing similar results with Oura rings, Apple watches, etc lately. Seems like it's all just junk science.

Interestingly, the noise seems to temporarily improve if I manually, with my fingers, spin the two wheels/gears in opposite directions to give the tape a bit more tension. It soon degrades again though.

Wow! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! 🩷 I'll see if I can find a tape without creases to do further testing.

Do you think wiping the capstan and pinch roller with some rubbing alcohol would improve the pull? Like with Walkmans.

the creases in the tape you just posted is not great and would give the noise you are seen on the screen. the tape is usually under some tension when playing. there is a brake band on the supply spool of the vcr (left if looking from front of machine) this would pull some of the minor creases out but heavy creases will not. Edit: FYI video tracks are diagonal on the tape

Thanks! The VCR is an LG RC185 and the make of the tape is unknown. The underside of the tape lid say P-55. Also, I noticed these fairly evenly distributed physical lines/indentations on the tape:

Could they be related to the noise?

Oh! Thanks! I didn't even think about checking the condition of those! Different tapes have slightly different noise and artifacts. I'll examine this some more.

does it do this with a different tape? if so capstan speed is very slightly out, or maybe pinch roller has gone hard and not pulling the tape well enough?

AVM Fritz!Box. They have always been on top of the technology, having taken part in the definition of both ISDN and DSL.

Of course, they are no longer available in the US, because the US government can't just plant backdoors in them.

I'm thinking of it happens at the same time in the video it's the vhs. If not, its the vcr.

I can highly recommend a unifi setup. Mine has been stable and reliable. The aps are really all about as good, just price whatever you need and the controller software can be ran in a vm but they also sell dedicated appliances.

Going to need more information on the make/model of both the tape and the player to assist. There are a lot of bespoke implementations that could present similar issues for different reasons.

Give us the square meterage. 😊 Meanwhile, I love my two RT-AX58Us. A v1 and a v2. Both have support for partially open source Asuswrt-Merlin (v1) and Asuswrt-Merlin NG (v2). I use them as access points. Mind you, I live in 36m².

Pretty much all modern wireless setups are controlled via the browser. I use ubiquiti since we use it for clients at work and I love it. Got the gateway, 2 APs and a switch. But any reputable setup will work great and should be expandable if necessary.

I use TP-Link Omada EAP-650's with the OC200 controller (there is a new version of the controller that is supposed to be better) and OpnSense as a router. Grab a POE switch and run wired cables if at all possible, yes they can mesh... wired > wireless and they still need power. With POE they are easy to ceiling mount, I have 2 and can access my wifi from 1/2 a block from home with one mounted near the front door and one near the back. You can use an app or the web interface, you can also forgo the controller and run the software on an always on computer.

Devices that combine the wifi and router are underpowered, designed to be replaced in 2 years or so, and don't get updated enough to truly protect a network in the AI age which is where OpnSense is amazing. The Omada series allows you to literally drop in an extra AP or replace an old one, adopt and apply the setup, and be off and running. Combined with a managed switch and you can create separate vLAN's that will isolate devices until they touch the router and then you can decide what to do with it.

Tplink Omada. Deploy a controller on-prem and configure it. It has a web interface but I use the mobile app.

It has a cloud service to aid in connecting to your controller, or to act as your controller, but its not required.

I do use its cloud service, but I know in the app it gives me the option to access the controller locally or through their cloud relay. When i configure things using the browser its local only.

You should watch a YouTube on the Betamax mechanism. The mechanics packed into a small package was crazy.

The flaking is tiny like dust. Do a head clean. I used to use Isopropyl and a qtip but Google says that's bad because you could accidentally leave fibers on the head so suggests printer paper soaked in iso.

Man, watching a vhs sounds like such a violent act!

That allegory (?) was hilarious and amazing at the same time!

I don't know how S-VHS worked but it was like writing the word Titanic on a piece of paper, and getting back a 4K version of the movie instead.

But don't trust me on that, there is a more realistic explanation for how it worked.

Holy crap. Now I'm terrified to eject the tape in 2 hours 30 minutes 😱 if that has indeed happened to this one, I hope the flakes are removable buy compressed air and/or a vacuum.

Thanks! Now I have to get myself one of those S-VHS players! 🤣

This makes me believe, that some of the material that I'm digitizing as we speak was originally recorded on some variation of 8-mm tape, because the label says "1962"!

Yes they lose charge but a bigger problem is the glue that holds the iron oxide weakens and flakes off over time because of the bending and stretching of the tape being unwound, wrapped over the heads, and the heads scraping the tape.