[rs] SSL certificate updated

[Owen Smith]

I don't think putting volts on a capacitor stops it drying out! I also have a unit in storage.

Storage of spares is a tricky subject.

These days batteries in equipment are the biggest problem for storage, especially if they're rechargeable. Lithium Ion batteries are permanently damaged if you let them go dead flat in storage, you should aim to keep them around 50% charged (fully charged is bad for them too). Some other types of rechargeable batteries eventually eat through their casing and then start eating through the PCB with acidic or alkali chemicals that come out of them. Newer gear isn't so bad for this, backup batteries in consumer goods appear to be falling by the wayside thankfully in favour of Flash or EEPROM and clocks that simply lose their time on power loss and then get it over the air or Internet when power comes back. Supercaps for backup also seem to be less of a problem.

After that it's electrolytic capacitors drying out, but that takes quite a lot of years.

Corrosion can also be an issue.

Storage locations should be cool and dry if possible. My HDR Fox T2 stash is in the loft, not the best place but better than the garage which is damp due to being a seperate building.

 

[mihaid]

@TVGrrr: If you buy one let us know what it is like. I have only read about this model, I've not seen it in action. I don't think it comes with a hard drive: you can either record to a networked drive (NAS etc.) or a local USB drive. It would be interesting to find out how well it plays with the HD and HDR-FOX. You should be able to mount the recording location on a HD/ HDR-FOX. I wonder if the recordings play with full transport controls?

I second that

 

[aw1]

I still miss the "if you liked that you may like this" automatic recording facility on my Series 2 TiVo. Driven by your giving a recording you liked a thumbs up or three while watching it. The algorithm was proprietary, but worked well. As I recall, an automatic recording would not usurp a scheduled one, and would be the deleted when space ran low. It would be wonderful if CF/RS could be enhanced to do something similar.
I bought it second had after sales of it new stopped, at more than the last retail price, and it served me well for many years until its EPG was decommissioned.
I was miffed when TiVo relaunched in the UK, but tied themselves to Virgin cable, which I can't get.