Like I said, you guys are about as close to ideal as anything I have seen, and considering the Barn has been open for less than 2 months, it is mind blowing. With the exception of the elevated canon box, everything I suggested could be up and running for less than $500 and a few hours of setup. TIVO systems are cheap. You already have the camera; all you need is the TIVO unit which you could probably get on Craigs list for less than $100. Here is an article I found awhile back:
TiVo Personal TV Recorder
You got to have one
Joe Chirico
Boston Area Diving Coach
TiVo – The Best Innovation for Diving Since the Cheeseboard
A TiVo is a “personal TV recorder”, sold at most TV/small appliance stores, that provides an automatic video playback. Once you use this machine you won't remember what you did without it. While designed to record TV shows, when set up properly, the machine allows divers to watch themselves on TV just seconds after doing a dive, without taking up the coach’s time out of coaching to rewind and playback video. Every coach or team should get one – its worth every dollar. It may even pay for itself by creating one more “station on deck” allowing room for one more diver at practice.A TiVo system is a computer hard drive, which stores and plays back a video image. It has a time delay, which should be set for 30-60 seconds. This allows the diver to dive, receive coaching and then walk over to the TV and get instant feedback. It confirms what the coach said (hopefully). It can also be played over and over, even in slow motion and freeze frame. The TiVo system can also record to a VCR.The ToVo system is perfect for Masters divers who practice on their own or for teams with no coach because it allows the diver to coach themselves. This is a tool which will help our sport. If you don’t have one yet – go get one. (It also works great for viewing your golf swing).
Tips on buying and setting up the TIVO system
TiVo has licensed its process to
Phillips,
Sony,
Replay TV. ,
Web TV. and
Echo Star Each work similarly, so buy whichever one is less expensive. Watch for rebates and do not sign up for the monthly TV guide plans. Although the second generation TIVOs are now available, and offer more storage, you will not need one with a lot of storage (minimal storage is fine for coaching purposes).Setting up the system can be a little difficult; it is not designed to be used with a video camera. I strongly suggest reading the directions. You can either install the monitor and TIVO system permanently in place, or on a cart. Most teams have used a TV cart so they can lock it up in a secure place.
Please note the
Replay TV. does not have the frame by frame back button. (do not get one)You will need to purchase the TiVo system, a video camera (usually a team parent has an old one not being used or go to your local mega-video & camera store and buy the cheapest one you can get with
video out)What you need and Cost:
Tivo System
$299
There's currently $100 rebate
Video or surveillance Camera
$0-300.00
Get the cheapest video Camera you can.
27” TV
$249-400
Get a "open box" or return set (look for S-Video in
Tripod for Camera
$10-40
TV Cart
$100
You should be able to get one for less
S Video cable 50’
$20
All other wires come with systems
You should try to get a camera with S video out and a TV with S video in. The S video is a single line (in place of 3 RCA jacks) it carries more “lines of resolution” thereby giving a better picture. If you cannot get equipment with S video, you will get a standard picture.
Set up
Since a TiVo system works by storing digital video signals on a hard drive, you must “format” the hard drive based on your needs. To do this, you must plug the TiVo system into a phone jack (it has a built in modem). The system calls an 800 phone number and downloads the latest “drivers” and formats itself. If you need a pin number to call out at work, it won’t work properly so do this part of your setup at home.All TIVO systems come with quick directions which are easy but do not cover connecting the system to a video camera. Plug your video camera into the personal television (PTV) unit, make sure it’s on. You do not need to setup any infrared (IR) blasters. Next connect the output from the PTV to your television, and plug in the power and phone. Turn it on, configure your input sources and you're about ready to go. Your PTV unit controls your input sources; you use the PTV remote to change the channel, it ferries the signal to your input source and changes the channel for you. Your PTV remote can control other devices as well. After wiring the PTV to your home system, but before you can start using it, there is a waiting period while it downloads channel lineups and configures itself ("initialization time").Things to Consider: As the quality of the recording increases, the number of hours that can be recorded decreases. For example, a Replay machine can record 30 hours on its lowest quality setting, but only 9 hours with its highest quality setting. Set it for the best quality.You will use your TV remote control to do the setup. When you come to the “program source screen” choose “cable with cable box”. As you go through the screens, you will be asked to provide your cable company and other information – none of these answers matter. You will get a screen titled “connections to receivers”; choose either the video input with RCA jacks or S video (whichever you are going to use). You need to avoid using the RF jack. Once your TIVO is setup and running, you will need to hit live TV on your clicker and make sure there is a signal coming through the video camera before use.
Prices have dropped significantly since these units were released in early 1999. ReplayTV's all-in-one approach builds the cost of service into the price of the hardware. TiVo separates these costs, so after you buy the hardware, you have to pay for the service. Which for coaches is useless. So
do not order it.
No need to read more. Go get one!
Anyway, they're just suggestions; take em or leave em. My crew will be back and we will spread the word.