Hello All:

Okay, I heard the NPR report about Quantegy shutting down. And, I guess,
BASF is gone. So, my quesiton is, who is making all of the cassette
tapes and VHS tapes? Certainly that's not all old stock. Is it Maxell in
Japan? Hey, you know that cassettes are 1/8", so why don't we just get
loads of them, take them out of the shells, splice them lengthwise and
use them instead!

Also, a trivia question, who made open reel tape for Radio Shack when
they reintroduced it several years ago? I goofed around with it and it
seemed perfectly consistent, and it didn't deteriorate like the last of
the 3M stock.

Chris

Chris Nagorka wrote:

Okay, I heard the NPR report about Quantegy shutting down. And, I guess,
BASF is gone. So, my quesiton is, who is making all of the cassette
tapes and VHS tapes? Certainly that's not all old stock. Is it Maxell in
Japan? Hey, you know that cassettes are 1/8", so why don't we just get
loads of them, take them out of the shells, splice them lengthwise and
use them instead!

Hundreds of companies are out there, in lots of different companies, making
cassette and video tape.

And sadly, most of them are not able to produce any degree of consistency or
the kind of accurate slitting required for professional audio use.

Also, a trivia question, who made open reel tape for Radio Shack when
they reintroduced it several years ago? I goofed around with it and it
seemed perfectly consistent, and it didn't deteriorate like the last of
the 3M stock.

Hanny Magnetics, in Korea. I don't think they reintroduced it at all,
but in fact it never left the catalogue. Tandy used to make it at their
own plant in Texas, but in the eighties pretty much all of Tandy's operation
went to Memorex, and then Memorex was bought out by Hanny. For the most
part, their Concertape is a typical low-grade red oxide tape reminiscent
of Ampex 641, and their Supertape HOLN tape is more or less like 642.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Knowing full well tongue was implanted deep in cheek as
Chris Nagorka wrote:

Hey, you know that cassettes are 1/8", so why don't we just get
loads of them, take them out of the shells, splice them lengthwise and
use them instead!

You'd best modify your tape guides, heads, etc. They're
2-1/2" on the short side. and once you've got "loads of
them" spliced together, they're going to make quite a racket
at 30 ips. And I'm a little concerned about the magnetic
property of the shells. Might take a little more bias
current than most machines are capable of.

Oh... you meant the tape...! Well, then, that's different!

That would make an intersting Gary Larsen cartoon. Along the
lines of the "Suck Button" one. Imagine 16 1/8" strips with
a splice every couple of hundred feet. No azimuth or guide
problems there...and note the convenient editing...


TM

You know that was an old Steven Wright joke, "My friend and I drove
across the country, and we split the driving. We switched every half
mile".

I forgot that I could go the other way, and take my 1/4" heads and grind
them down so they're 1/8", ha ha. (Then there wouldn't be any lengthwise
splicing!)

Slightly off the subject, but I'll mention it: current VHS tape can be
used in old EIAJ format video recorders, if for some reason you felt the
burning need to record on one. I actually did open the shell on a VHS
tape and wind it on to an old Ampex take up reel, and record it with an
old Sony AV-8650.

Here's hoping someone picks up where Quantegy and BASF left off.

Chris Nagorka wrote:
You know that was an old Steven Wright joke, "My friend and I drove
across the country, and we split the driving. We switched every half
mile".

I forgot that I could go the other way, and take my 1/4" heads and grind
them down so they're 1/8", ha ha. (Then there wouldn't be any lengthwise
splicing!)

I have seen an ATR-100 at a government agency that was fitted with 1/8"
guides and heads for playback of Nagra SN tapes. And those things use
cassette pancakes with are amazingly thin. No fun to splice.

Slightly off the subject, but I'll mention it: current VHS tape can be
used in old EIAJ format video recorders, if for some reason you felt the
burning need to record on one. I actually did open the shell on a VHS
tape and wind it on to an old Ampex take up reel, and record it with an
old Sony AV-8650.

I have a stack of blank tapes for those things, by the way. I'm not sure
why.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 11 Jan 2005 19:52:15 -0500, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

I have seen an ATR-100 at a government agency that was fitted with 1/8"
guides and heads for playback of Nagra SN tapes. And those things use
cassette pancakes with are amazingly thin. No fun to splice.

Ooh, ooh, ooh. Suppose you (not me, babe) could run two (!) parallel
1/8" tapes together through the same machine? Where do I get these
ideas? I must be a true genius; I amaze even myself. I need help.

Chris Hornbeck
"Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember."
-Oscar Levant

Chris Nagorka wrote:

Slightly off the subject, but I'll mention it: current VHS tape can be
used in old EIAJ format video recorders, if for some reason you felt the
burning need to record on one. I actually did open the shell on a VHS
tape and wind it on to an old Ampex take up reel, and record it with an
old Sony AV-8650.

Yup, done it many times.

Speaking of 1/8", my business degree thesis a bunch of years
ago was on a cassette duplication startup. In doing the
research, I spent a lot of time with 14,000 ft. pancakes of
cassette tape, bin-loop machines running at 128 ips,
loaders, etc. It's hard to say you've lived analog unless
you can claim dropping a pancake. 1/4 or 1/2 is bad enough,
but there's nothing like 14,000 feet of 1/8" in a pile at
your feet.

Carry on.



TM

T Maki wrote:

Knowing full well tongue was implanted deep in cheek as
Chris Nagorka wrote:

Hey, you know that cassettes are 1/8", so why don't we just get
loads of them, take them out of the shells, splice them lengthwise and
use them instead!

You'd best modify your tape guides, heads, etc. They're
2-1/2" on the short side. and once you've got "loads of
them" spliced together, they're going to make quite a racket
at 30 ips. And I'm a little concerned about the magnetic
property of the shells. Might take a little more bias
current than most machines are capable of.

Oh... you meant the tape...! Well, then, that's different!

That would make an intersting Gary Larsen cartoon. Along the
lines of the "Suck Button" one. Imagine 16 1/8" strips with
a splice every couple of hundred feet. No azimuth or guide
problems there...and note the convenient editing...

TM

Actually, since cassette tape *isn't* actually 1/8" you'd need 13.33333
strips for 2 inch ! Even more fun !


Graham

"T Maki" wrote in message
...
Chris Nagorka wrote:
Speaking of 1/8", my business degree thesis a bunch of years
ago was on a cassette duplication startup. In doing the
research, I spent a lot of time with 14,000 ft. pancakes of
cassette tape, bin-loop machines running at 128 ips,
loaders, etc. It's hard to say you've lived analog unless
you can claim dropping a pancake. 1/4 or 1/2 is bad enough,
but there's nothing like 14,000 feet of 1/8" in a pile at
your feet.

Carry on.

Carry out.

Peace,
Paul