# Do programs still have VCR Plus Codes ?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-programs-still-have-vcr-plus-codes/339096>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 9, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-programs-still-have-vcr-plus-codes/339096 "2006-01-09T04:14:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-programs-still-have-vcr-plus-codes/339096/1 "2006-01-09T04:14:41Z")

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I need to tape record 24 This season and my Handme down VCR has VCR Plus on it. Where can I find the Code number for VCR PLUS ? Ive tried the Local Newspaper (AJC) TV listing… but no avail.

Yes. I know the Answer is TIVO. But when your in college, and you already watch as much TV as I do… TIVO is too expensive… and detrimental to my Study Habbits.

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**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-programs-still-have-vcr-plus-codes/339096/2 "2006-01-09T07:30:53Z")

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Yep, they’re still out there, but you’ll need to sign up at [tvguide.com](http://tvguide.com) (or possibly buy the paper version of TV Guide each week):

> [@www.tvguide.com](#):
>
> [tvguide.com](http://tvguide.com) is the exclusive online provider of VCR Plus+ codes

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-programs-still-have-vcr-plus-codes/339096/3 "2006-01-09T08:38:03Z")

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AFAIK, there’s no real way that they could become materially obsolete, because they’re just a scheme of expressing the start/stop times and channel in a clever, data-compressed form.

Of course they could become practically obsolete if nobody continues to publish them, but if you had the algorithm, you could still calculate them for yourself (this would seem pointless though, as it would entail entering the start/stop times and channel into some encoding program and if you’re going to do that, you might just as well bash them straight into the VCR.

I’m only saying this because the way the question is phrased made me initially wonder if the OP was under the impression that the codes were assigned to programmes themselves on an individual scheduled basis, rather than just being a compact way to express scheduling information.

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**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-programs-still-have-vcr-plus-codes/339096/4 "2006-01-09T12:19:07Z")

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here is the masters guide to decrypting video +. Of course it would be quicker to programme manually [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_297.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_297.html)