In article <4C4457FD.7434.156248F at cclist.sydex.com>,
"Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> writes:
On 19 Jul 2010 at 13:21, Richard wrote:
If we build a similar device for these cartrdige
tapes we can avoid
the capstan and drive belt problems and recover the data in a secure
manner.
I don't understand (I'm probably very dense today). The belt ensures
that the supply and takeup reels in a DCxxx cartridge move together.
The reels are not accessible without disassembling the cartridge.
How would one handle a cartridge with a broken belt with your idea?
I think you answered your own question: you disassemble the cartridge.
The belt is not necessary to read data from the tape, only to keep the
two reels in the cartridge moving together.
This is similar to the 9/7-track reading device: there are no takeup
and feeder reels as they are normally present in a working drive. The
tape is not pulled over the read head under tension. With tapes that
you had to recondition via baking, you don't want to put them under
tension anyway. The tapes are lightly pulled over the read head. I
don't know the exact mechanics of the transport, but I believe it is
electronically controlled and not manual. However, it exerts far less
physical stress on the tape as I understand it.
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