Blue tape retainers
Dennis Boone
drb at msu.edu
Tue Jun 9 16:53:10 CDT 2015
> I am curious: NOS tapes that I bought in the last year or so came
> with the foam blocks, but I don't recall ever encountering either a
> foam block or the magic plastic tape "back in the day" on tapes from
> the rack that I handled as a backup operator. I presume that if they
> came with blocks, they were discarded when the tapes were
> unpacked. Is it really necessary to secure the tape end in normal
> use, or is it just needed during shipping to keep the tape from
> getting loose on the reel during transport?
For my money, there ought to be one always, though careful handling in a
controlled environment can probably get away with skipping them.
Shipping is where the worst stresses occur, of course, so is the most
important. I've received a number of tapes for imaging over the last
few years, and I don't think a single one had anything to keep it
packed. One such tape had slipped an outer chunk of the pack around the
inner rest, producing a hard crease. Needless to say, there was a read
error there.
De
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