7 Jul
2005
7 Jul
'05
6:39 a.m.
At 12:10 AM 7/7/05 +0100, you wrote:
The really ingenous part is that the belt attempts to rotate the take up
spool about 10% faster then the other spool. That's what tightens up the
tape if it ever gets slack.
Good luck! I could never replace a belt and make it work :=/
Better yes, cheaper - no.
Sellam would need a container ship to move all of his collection! He
should ship it all here to Florida and avoid that nasty Atlantic crossing :-)
Joe
Well, I finally got around to attempting to re-spool this stupidly
designed tape.
It's actually avery ingenious design (it's the same design, basically, as
QIC tape cartridges). Remember you want a constant tape speed past the
head. By driving the outside of the tape spools at a constant speed
(that's what the belt and drive puck do), rather than turning the spools
themselves by their axles, that's exactly what you get. It avoids the
capstan, pinch roller, slipping clutches, etc, used in audio tape and
cassette recorders.
Your description sounds like a different tape than what I was dealing
with. The tape did not come off of either spool but was instead attached
onto both spools.
THere were several designs, sure...
At any rate, the stupid tensioning belt (whatever its called) broke on me.
Oh well, fuck that tape. I'll try to read it anyway (is the tensioning
belt necessary?) I also noticed numerous spots on the the tape where the
Of course the belt is necessary. It's how the tape is driven. You can
borrow one from another tape cartridge. oxide had flaked off, so any re-attempt may well
be futile. Whoever
Obviously you've lost data where that oxide is missing. You'll also have
problems becuase these drives use optincal BOT/EOT detection (there's a
small hole in the tape, a mirror as part of the cartridge housing, and a
bulb/photodetector in the drive). The system will think it's got to the
end of the tape if it finds a clear spot.
designed these tapes is a moron. I can't
imagine how impossibly expensive
it must've been to manufacture them.
See above. Tell you what, you see if you can come up with a better design.
I hate computers.
Feel free to send me all your collection.
-tony