The video attached to this story was provided to KXAN by the Texas Archive of the Moving Image in 2023.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Archive of the Moving Image, or TAMI, wants your old VCR and video decks so it can continue to preserve the state’s recorded footage.
The nonprofit announced the start of its “Equipment Round-Up” on Tuesday.
TAMI Technical Director Ari Negovschi Regalado said that the archive is “expecting the end-of-life” for its video tape decks. Those are critical for its work converting physical media to digital.
“We are expecting the end-of-life for many of our current video decks, for which we do not have backups,” Regalado said in the announcement. “We are down to our last two U-matic machines and urgently need donations, of this format and many others, in order to keep doing our important preservation work.”
Currently, the archive is looking for the following gear:
- 1″ decks
- U-matic decks
- VHS players
- Hi8 cameras and players
- Cleaning tapes
- Digibeta decks
- Computer monitors
- UPS power supplies
- New hard drives
- XDcam decks
Some of the equipment that TAMI is searching for, such as VHS players, haven’t been made in years or decades. Tech like power supplies, hard drives and monitors are still made, but the announcement said they’re necessary to “keep our operations running smoothly.”
To schedule a drop off, contact the archive at info@texasarchive.org.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
