How To Keep Your VCR Recording

When The Power Goes Out

By Carmine V. Ratto

It's a scorching hot night but everything is going well. You're home doing some work around the house and you're grateful for the air conditioning. Out of nowhere the power goes out for just a split second, and then it hits you that you were taping the 83rd episode of Babylon 5. The one when you finally find out how Bester was manipulating Mr. Garibaldi. And now because the power went out for just a few seconds the VCR stopped recording. You get that sinking feeling in your stomach as you realize that now you'll have to wait for one hundred and nine episodes to air so that you can record this particular one over again. One hundred and nine episodes to hear the words of Bester:

"After I'm gone, you will be able to move again, and you will remember it all. You will be yourself again. You can try to tell the others what happened, but under the circumstances, I doubt very much that anyone will believe you."

I couldn't take this any longer. There had to be some way that I could stop this from happening. After I exhaust myself doing my impersonation of Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes, damning the whole world for its stupidity, I search for a way to keep the VCR recording even if the power goes out. Finally I realized that the solution is connected to my computer. In fact I consider it such a necessity for a computer that I hadn't given it a moment's thought after originally hooking it up. An Uninterruptible Power Supply - a battery backup - is a device that is connected between a computer and the wall outlet; it supplies power from its internal rechargeable battery when there is an AC power interruption. By having a battery backup on my computer I don't lose any of my work when the power goes out, so why not use a UPS to provide backup power for my VCR?

The next step was to shop for the right UPS. I wanted something that wouldn't be too big; I just wanted it to run my VCR and satellite dish for a few minutes. I didn't want to plan on if the power was out for two hours or more. But you could do so if you choose, it will just mean a bigger unit.

My criteria lead me to choose the APC Back-UPS Office. It gave me enough power to do what I wanted but not take up a lot of room. If you want to figure out how long it will run your system, you can follow the link the APC site and there is a calculator there.

The greatest thrill was when I discovered it worked. Nothing is as satisfying as seeing your careful precautions avert disaster. I was taping an episode of The Sopranos on HBO when the lights when out for a few seconds. The VCR kept running, totally unaware of its power predicament. When I played back the tape of The Sopranos it was perfect, it didn't miss a beat.

So you can go out and spend big bucks on a power conditioner for your home theater, and as far as I know they don't have a battery back up, or you can do what I did and you won't miss even one second of recording your favorite shows.