Dexster 1.5 basic recording trouble

[Larry]

Hello,

I downloaded dexster 1.5 last night; I would like to use Dexster to make WAV files or MP3 files from the audio segments on videocassettes (which were, in turn, recorded off of AM radio). The material consists of talk radio programs, so we're talking about 5 to 55 minute segments, not 30-60 second segments.

First tests indicate that Dexster can execute recordings of at least 5-6 minutes.

The problem is that, when played back, what Dexster has recorded is merely unintelligible noise.

The connection goes via cable from the VCR's left-right audio output jacks to a 1/8 stereo phone plug, which goes to either the 'mic' or 'sound in' input at the rear of my Dell Dimension PC (I am assuming that either of those inputs will deliver the raw sound to the PC's sound card). While the recording is being made, I can hear the intelligible sound over the PC's speakers, although there is accompanying (unwanted) background hummings.

Preliminary fiddling with the various filters has not worked to produce a playback with an intelligible voice, let alone one that is pleasant to listen to. ...I have attempted to access the 'online help' at
http://dl.filekicker.com/send/file/1421 ... Volume.swf
and at ...142174-17DG/recordingbasic.swf,
but these web pages do not successfully download.

...I am not looking to produce a fancy commercial quality music CD album; I want to essentially slap some talk radio programs from the audio track of a videocassette onto a CD-R or CD-RW, either directly, thru software, or indirectly, by making a file on the PC's hard drive, and then writing to the CD. The result should be a track of a person talking, without wild distortions or background hums. ...I can follow directions, but I'm not an audio expert, and am counting on the solution consisting of two or three simple steps that are easily corrected. (I should also mention that I have successfully recorded and played back a 45 second track via my PC's "sound recorder" program, which will not allow long recordings (longer than 30-40 seconds), which indicates that the trouble is likely with Dexster settings, rather than a hardware problem.)

Can you help with this problem?

Best and thanks,

Larry