A system is described that records digital data onto video cassettes and writes the data to a computer tape for subsequent processing. The system is capable of recording and playing back 172 800 bytes/s. This corresponds to the maximum rate achievable with a nine‐track computer tape drive writing 1600 bits per inch at 125 ips. A standard two‐hour cassette has a capacity of 1.2 Gbytes. Six checkbits are written with each 16‐bit word to facilitate error detection and correction. Upon playback, the data are written via DMA into a computer and then to a nine‐track computer tape. Error rates of less than 1 word in 300 000 have been achieved with an off‐the‐shelf portable video recorder and commercially available tape. The system comprises a low‐cost solution to the problem of high‐volume, fast data recording at remote locations when a small error rate can be tolerated.