19 Jan
2017
19 Jan
'17
10:46 a.m.
On 01/19/2017 09:59 AM, Nico de Jong wrote:
I have never had problems with reading 800 bpi tapes
on a Qualster
3412S. But writing is a completely different discipline. The M4 9914
(?) can do it, according to the documentation, but I've never tried
it. The 3412 is a bit weak in reading stitching tapes, the 9914 is a
lot better (I have both)
I've run into sticky tapes that have had binder bleed so badly that they
won't even make it through my tape cleaning machine--the sticky parts
hit the first guide roller and bring everything to a halt. The only way
out of that situation that has been successful for me is to coat the
tape temporarily with a lubricant (which evaporates cleanly in a few
minutes, leaving no residue). Some 3M tapes from the 70s are very bad
in this respect.
A streamer with big powerful reel servos makes me a bit nervous in those
cases. After all, the design goal there is speed, not gentleness. And
the tapes likely to be at 800 bpi are these selfsame 70s tapes.
Another aspect of streamers, particularly the SCSI variety is the lack
of control that some give. I want to keep the seesawing to a
minimum--if there's a tape error, I don't want the drive to endlessly
keep retrying the read--I note that Qualstar drives are particularly bad
at this. If there's a tape error, notify the reading program and
continue on--I can always return to the problem area later.
--Chuck