tape questions help

[JsPitts]

Hey I have some old 1/4" tapes and an old player. I was wondering some stuff:

1- how do I know (other than playing it) whether a tape is "tails out" or whatever?

2- if my player has the option for "1/2mm or 1mm" tension, which do I choose and why?

3- If I have some old nasty tapes and I want to bake them, do I just leave them on the reel, and bake them at like 130 degrees or whatever? My toaster oven could do the trick then I guess

thanks

[DAS]

Hey I have some old 1/4" tapes and an old player. I was wondering some stuff:

1- how do I know (other than playing it) whether a tape is "tails out" or whatever?



You have to play it. This is why engineers normally mark the reels...so the next engineer knows which end he has.



2- if my player has the option for "1/2mm or 1mm" tension, which do I choose and why?


This usually relates to the reel size and/or tape thickness. It may be trial and error in your case if you don't have any documentation.



3- If I have some old nasty tapes and I want to bake them, do I just leave them on the reel, and bake them at like 130 degrees or whatever? My toaster oven could do the trick then I guess

thanks

You can leave them on the reel when baking, but I usually would at least remove the top reel to expose the tape to the air better. Keep in mind that baking is more about drying out the tape than heating it up. Be very, very careful with ovens.

[JsPitts]

Thanks! that helps a lot

one more question if you don't mind:

If a tape is recorded on both sides, how do I play the other side? (other than unspooling the whole tape, and rewrapping it by hand)

[DAS]

Tape cannot record on "both sides" in the way I think you mean it above. With tape the "other side" is the other half of the same surface of the tape: two tracks going one direction, and then two more going the other direction. To switch sides you take the reels off the machine and turn them over and re-thread the tape. You are playing the same physical side of the tape, but now the other half of it lines up with the playback head. Just like cassette tape. I hope this makes sense...

Of course most pro machines are set up to use the whole tape surface going in only one direction. This is the difference between a quarter track 2-track machine and a half-track 2-track machine.

[JsPitts]

Can you just make sure I have it right:

So once I play through side A, the reel on the right will be full of tape. Now I take the blank one from the left side, and put it on the right side. In the process, I put the full one on the left (but have to flip the reel over so it spins right)?

Sorry for the stupid questions, I just dont know these things. Thanks for your help.

[DAS]

Yeah, you got it right.

[JsPitts]

Thanks DAS, appreciate it.

[5454stevef]

Hey I have some old 1/4" tapes and an old player. I was wondering some stuff:

1- how do I know (other than playing it) whether a tape is "tails out" or whatever?

2- if my player has the option for "1/2mm or 1mm" tension, which do I choose and why?

3- If I have some old nasty tapes and I want to bake them, do I just leave them on the reel, and bake them at like 130 degrees or whatever? My toaster oven could do the trick then I guess

thanks

um.... I'd sure think twice about using a toaster oven for baking your tapes. Toaster ovens, with their small confined space and closely set radiant heating elements, have very little fine control over temperature, they're mainly designed to just radiate heat onto something until it's browned. You might get intervals of intense heat interspersed with intervals of cooling - if the tapes are valuable to you, you might consider using a conventional oven.

Just a thought.

[DAS]

Since we're on the topic I've had my best results with a decent sized cardboard box and a powerful hairdryer.

(I should have added this before)

[JsPitts]

Yeah indeed. Toaster oven seems like a bad idea.

I have another question, this one may be a little more intelligent:

I have these tapes from old orchestral/voice recordings. They say that they are 7.5ips, stereo. However, when I play them back at 7.5 ips, the voices sound a little like Alvin and the chipmunks, and at 3.75ips, sounds like halloween music.

Is there some sort of adjustment I have to make?

[DAS]

Look for a pitch control or some other speed adjustment. It's hard to believe the speed would just be "off" by that much, but if some part of it is malfunctioning you can get extreme variances like this.

[JsPitts]

Yeah thats the weird thing, it really is very chipmunky.

My tapes that are at 3 3/4 ips seem to be playing back fine, but I could be wrong on that. Is there some sort of adjustment to change the pressure on the capstan or pinch roller?
EDIT: My tapes recorded at 3.75 ips are also playing back too quickly.


I have people wanting me to convert reel to reels, and I can't do it :(

Is there some sort of typical motor adjustment? anything?

[DAS]

Pinch roller pressure could be the issue. That's usually controlled by some type of solenoid. They can go bad, but it isn't common. A bad pinch roller could also cause speed variances. But in either of these cases the speed will (usually) roll up and down noticeably. If it's constant I wouldn't look there first. You may have to figure out what regulates capstan and reel speed (sometimes it's a DC voltage, and in other cases an FM modulator) and look into it from that perspective. A repair may be in order.

[Smithcok]

Well, if its a constant speed, I would check to make sure that the capstan motor is connected to the capstan in the proper way. Check to make sure that the belt is looped around the right section, and that everything is even and cool.