Highway Patrol fans

[Dee_Ann]

If you're a fan of the show and want to get recordings of all the episodes, thisTV is running them all in proper order and they are starting over with season 1, episode 1 this Saturday.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047739/board/thread/183861425

 

[Tron]

Sounds good, Dee! I usually buy DVDs of the shows I want, but many, many series are unavailable as official DVD releases...

 

[Corrado]

I have all the episodes recorded myself. I started in the 1957 season when I discovered the show one Sunday morning at 11:00AM EDT. After that I was hooked and began recording them at 5:00AM and 19 DVDs later, I'm pretty sure I had all of them when thisTV cycled back to where I started.

I'm not entertained at all by modern crime drama programs but I love Highway Patrol, Quincy ME, Perry Mason, Adam 12 and Dragnet.

 

[Conky]

I've recorded most of them and converted to x264 courtesy of This!. the best part is that the episodes are a whopping 26 minutes so they're probably uncut. Keep an eye out for Spock and remember leave your blood at the Red Cross or your local blood bank and not on the highway

 

[Tampa8]

Have recorded most all the episodes from ThisTV also. True classic. Porbably the best Police show theme song ever.
Over and out.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I don't get the radio talk they do. "21-50 bye" and "21-50 bye?" and "10-4?" "10-4."
I know what 10-4 is, I see it on Adam-12 and other shows plenty enough.
I am assuming the stuff like "21-50" is the car numbers, like "1-Adam-12".

But what's up with the "bye" and "bye?" and all that? Sometimes they will say some code stuff as if it's a question.
It sounds weird and corny, I never, ever saw any other cop show where they talked on the radio like that.

I'm guessing real cops don't talk anything like any of what you see on tv though I have no idea.
Is this all just made up hokem for tv with a faint hint of reality thrown in just for grins?

BTW, I checked to see if this series is for sale on DVD and it appears that only season one is and the other seasons are not, yet.

One last question, what is a good way to edit out commercials and convert the recordings to smaller file sizes? I can record stuff but the files are enormous and fill up the disk really fast. I've never had any luck finding any easy or even usable way to edit the files down.

Thanks..

 

[Larry1]

If you are still using MyTheatre, and recording with MyTheatre (or another computer satellite program) you can edit the files with VideoReDo. With my recordings I usually use the Quick Stream Fix (QSF) function first to re-index the files. This helps in keeping the audio from going out of sync and change the container to MPEG. This does not re-encode the file, just changes the packaging. I usually do not re-compress the files, but just edit them as I do not want to loose the quality. I store most of my files on hard disks. Some I do copy to DVD's as data files and if someone wants a DVD of one of the shows I have, I either use the DVD creation function of VideoReDo or ConvertXtoDVD.

 

[Dee_Ann]

If you are still using MyTheatre, and recording with MyTheatre (or another computer satellite program) you can edit the files with VideoReDo. With my recordings I usually use the Quick Stream Fix (QSF) function first to re-index the files. This helps in keeping the audio from going out of sync and change the container to MPEG. This does not re-encode the file, just changes the packaging. I usually do not re-compress the files, but just edit them as I do not want to loose the quality. I store most of my files on hard disks. Some I do copy to DVD's as data files and if someone wants a DVD of one of the shows I have, I either use the DVD creation function of VideoReDo or ConvertXtoDVD.

Cool... Thank you, I will look into that app this weekend. Hopefully they will have a try before you buy option. I hate buying stuff then find out it doesn't cut the mustard after the fact..

 

[Anole]

I've used VideoReDo to edit out commercials starting back in early 2005.
Over the years it's become a lot more complicated than it was back then.
Just concentrate on the simplest of tasks, trim the start, end, and cut out the commercials.
Save as MPEG, and as mentioned by Larry, use the QSF feature for best results.

Some DVD players should be able to play the .mpg files directly, though that is not a standard feature.
I used to make slightly non-standard DVDs that would play everywhere, but that's something to learn later on.
You can get a version of VideoReDo with DVD-making capabilities built-in, but I started with it before they had that feature, so favor other methods.

They do have a try-first feature that's good for a week or two of experimenting. (full features)

edit:
If I recall correctly, they have three versions you can buy (but can try all for free).
- just editor for .mpeg (what you need)
- edits mpeg and makes DVDs
- edits and creates mpeg4, h.264, as well as mpeg, and makes DVDs too.

 

[Tron]

There is another stream cleaning program which I'm trying called TS Doctor. Updates are frequent, and the program has many useful applications, including conversion to .TS from .DVR (Openbox) format, very accurate error logging, joining of split files (i.e., Visionsat), and Blu-Ray prep. I intend to review the software here in a separate thread sometime in the near future.

 

[kingofku]

Thank for the tip. Unfortunately I can only get "This" when I'm travelling. Fortunately, I was able to acquire a complete DVD set of the series.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Well heck..

I talked to my dad last night and I asked if he wanted me to record any of these oldies for him and he said not to bother.
He said that in the day those shows, like Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt were exciting and at the time seemed realistic but now he thinks they are too corny to tolerate.
What the heck Dad?? Seriously??

I can't believe that. Well, maybe he will want the war stuff. I forgot to mention those as I don't like or watch them.

I wish they had a DVR of some kind and there was an easy way to give them like weeks worth of stuff at a time rather than burning DVDs one at a time.
Oh well..
I guess the best solution is to help them get their own dish so they can watch what ever they like when ever they want to.

 

[Anole]

The lower resolution and lower data rate of much FTA video, lowers quality.
However, it also lets you make DVDs with more episodes on 'em.
(this is without re-encoding, a time-killing task)

I used to burn many episodes of shows broadcast in 544x480 @ around two megabits per second.
Half hour shows are 22 minutes without commercials. Hour shows are 42 minutes without.
I've since moved on, and can't remember the exact numbers, but I believe it was around 3 hours of video per disc.
That would easily be four one-hour shows per disc. (and maybe 8..9 half-hour shows)
Your mileage would vary, depending on the original source material and running time.
At my cost of under 25¢ per DVD, I always found it very attractive.

An alternative solution I used several years ago, was based on some 40/60/80 gigabyte portable USB drives.
The 8 gigabyte thumb drive was just too small to bother with.
The Western Digital drives were self-contained, and powered by the USB connector, and were made with 2½ inch laptop drives.
I'd picked them up surplus to strip-out the hard drives for some old laptops, but that project got canceled.
At the time, I plugged them into a Philips DVD player, which had a USB port, and that was my poor-man's media center.

You record on your back-room computer now, so you could examine and play with the video to determine resolution, etc.
Here's MediaInfo, a free program that will dump more specs than you want to know. -

 

[Conky]

I bet if you showed your dad a few eps he'd be hooked, if only for all the classic cars. My dad likes all the old Roadmasters and Rocket 88's. I dont care if it's a little corny, it's a neat window into a by-gone(better?) era.

2150 is Dan Matthew's own radio call sign. Like ponch and John from Chips were 7mary3 and 7mary4

Bye is just a way to let the guy on the other end of the radio know you're done talking. replaced by "over"

I use VLC to convert my VideoRedo edited recordings into mpeg4. Its easy and free(VLC anyway, not Videoredo).

 

[Dee_Ann]

I bet if you showed your dad a few eps he'd be hooked, if only for all the classic cars. My dad likes all the old Roadmasters and Rocket 88's. I dont care if it's a little corny, it's a neat window into a by-gone(better?) era.

Oh! Good idea. I'll mention that. My dad likes old cars and especially Buicks. He's a Roadmaster nut, he owns three 90's era Roadmasters. They ARE really, really nice cars... I wouldn't mind having one myself..

He also has a few OLD cars, he owns a 1930's Buick and two Packards, one from the 40's and one from the 50's. They just sit in a warehouse rusting away though. When I was little we had two Studebakers and MY first car was an old hand me down Dodge Dart which I see frequently on the Beverly Hillbillies.

2150 is Dan Matthew's own radio call sign. Like ponch and John from Chips were 7mary3 and 7mary4

Bye is just a way to let the guy on the other end of the radio know you're done talking. replaced by "over"

OH..... I never heard that before. I've heard them use "over" lots of times but never "bye".. And they often say things on the radio as if asking a question and that was flipping me out. VERY different from newer shows.

Apparently this show ended and went away a few years before I was born so I never saw it or heard of it before I got satellite TV.

For some reason the corniness of it appeals to me. Like bad B movies and such. And of course the lack of gore/splatter like modern crime shows where the whole point of the show is to shock and sicken you with extreme violence, gore and perversion. CSI and stuff like that. Ugh. I hate those new shows.

Most of all what I like the old shows for is the fashion. I'm into the "retro" look and I get lots of fashion ideas from the old shows. It gives me a reference point for when I go hit up flea markets and second hand shops looking for 50's and 60's stuff.

I use VLC to convert my VideoRedo edited recordings into mpeg4. Its easy and free(VLC anyway, not Videoredo).

I never could figure out how to use VLC to do anything other than a simple video viewer. I know it's supposed to do lots of things but I just couldn't get anywhere with it beyond just watching a video with it. I'm not really the brightest bulb in the box.

 

[Anole]

I never could figure out how to use VLC to do anything other than a simple video viewer.

I didn't realize it could.
Read somewhere there is also a jump-forward (past a commercial?) feature, but it didn't seem to work.

For conversion, I use the equally free, SUPER program.
Biggest down side is determining which of the 100 mode/formats you want it to write.
Otherwise, it's a peach. - :up

edit:
Oh, if I recall, you have to figure out how to download SUPER from their site.
I guess it's a test. If you work it out, then you can use it.
If you can't, then ... well ...

 

[Dee_Ann]

I didn't realize it could.
Read somewhere there is also a jump-forward (past a commercial?) feature, but it didn't seem to work.

For conversion, I use the equally free, SUPER program.
Biggest down side is determining which of the 100 mode/formats you want it to write.
Otherwise, it's a peach. - :up

edit:
Oh, if I recall, you have to figure out how to download SUPER from their site.
I guess it's a test. If you work it out, then you can use it.
If you can't, then ... well ...

It took a LOT of clicking and digging but I found it...
http://www.erightsoft.org/GetFile3.php?SUPERsetup.exe

 

[Dee_Ann]

It took a LOT of clicking and digging but I found it...
http://www.erightsoft.org/GetFile3.php?SUPERsetup.exe

BEWARE! Super tries to install a browser toolbar add on during its install !!!
Pay close and careful attention to the pop-up install boxes!

 

[the_man_one]

super is spyware (addware) laced..... try dvdflick for authoring & imgburn for burning & flick has a 1 click option (both free)

DVD Flick

The Official ImgBurn Website

 

[Corrado]

I noticed the creators of Highway Patrol tended to leave some things in that today would have been edited out. I have noticed numerous episodes where the reflections and shadows of the film crews and cameras were clearly visible. One outside scene in a field away from everything, the sound of an engine was heard running nearby, perhaps a generator? Another one, Dan jumped in the patrol car and grabbed the mic and was talking into the back of it.

Ever notice how often they jump into the passenger side of the car and climb over to the driver's side? The states are rarely mentioned on the license plates and covered with tape or the make of the car is simply like a 55 sedan. I love all the old cars and the way the cops always get their criminal in the end.