DAT-Heads Digest #5, Volume #3 Tue, 22 Oct 96 18:15:14 EDT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Eaton Subject: RE: 3700/90m DDS-(opinion) Reply-To: kingbeemusic@earthlink.net Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 11:24:11 -0400 Doug writes: > This is in response to the gentleman who did not understand our > warranty position on the used 3700 we are selling. We don't > want to sell it to a 90 meter dds user. If it runs hot in that > location , the 90 meter tape ,which is thinner, will stretch, > then shed and will probably damage the head. We don't > want in on that one. !! I've been lurking here for some time now but feel the need to voice my opinion on the ongoing 90m dat discussion. Some of you may know me others do not but I have been using DAT since early 1987, my first deck being the Sony DTC-100(Japan version). Doug is right on the mark here, 90m tapes, in most decks, will cause problems down the road. I once used 90m tapes in my collection at which time I started seeing problems with the performance of the machines(3700's).I attributed the trouble to ageing heads and parts. It got so bad that I was having to take apart the decks and clean them what seemed to be every day. I also noticed the machines had a higher rate of throwing loops when winding or re-winding 90m tapes. I brought my decks to the Matashusta(sp?) headquarters in New Jersey where a good friend of mine is the head Tech for Panasonic and Ramsa Pro Audio Products, he is also recognized as one of the top techs for Panasonic DAT machines in the world(Doug Oade being another). We opened the decks up in his lab and began to run some basic transport and performance tests. The tension was fine the guides were all fine the brakes were fine the heads fine so what was the problem? We opened up a new Panasonic DAT to see if maybe we were dealing with a bad tape. The 120minute Panasonic DAT performed perfectly even with repeated efforts to induce trouble. We opened a NEW 90m KOA to see the performance difference and were shocked to see loops being thrown, brakes having trouble stopping the hubs etc....I left the decks in the lab the rest of the day where the 90m tapes were tested over and over again. The results were not good. Firstly the 90m tapes ARE heavier which we all concede but what happens to the brakes and sprokets because of the xtra weight is not only bad for the machines but is also what causes the loops to be thrown which is one of the main reasons tapes jam and snap. Secondly even with good ventilation the 90m tapes shedded mush faster and heavier then regular DATS, which causes many different problems including damage to the heads(which is the most expensive part to replace in any dat deck). As a result I have since transfered all the 90m tapes in my collection to regular length DATS and am error free again. I will no longer use the 90m or accept them and would recommend that serious collectors do the same, you will over time be glad you did. Rob Eaton DAT-Heads Digest #732, Volume #2 Wed, 24 Apr 96 17:12:04 EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: /R=PSD/R=JX/U=saferstein/FFN=SAFERSTEIN/@mr.navair.navy.mil Subject: D7 FFWD Problem ---------------------------- From: Alan Gilbert Subject: Re: TCD-D3 FForward Problems Date: 23 Apr 1996 16:00:53 -0800 >>>>> >When fast forwarding through SOME tapes, my Sony Dat Walkman will stop and >then resume fast forwarding for about 30 secs of tape and then stop again - >repeating this process until the end of tape or I stop the machine. This >usually happens in the latter half of the tape - and with multiple brands. I also have the same problem with my TCD-D3. This is not a tape problem since these same tapes FF fine in my DA-30. In addition, this problem has gotten progressively worse and now it is rare I can use FF on the TCD-D3 at all. I have no other solution except to bring it into Sony. Personally, I am not ready to drop another few hundred dollars to get it fixed only to have Sony break another part of the unit (like they have the last few times they've worked on it). It seems like the techs just don't know how to work on these units anymore. <<<<< I was having the same problem with my D7. I took it to "The DAT Store", and they sent it in to Sony, and after 4 weeks and $140 I finally got it back "cleaned and aligned". I still have the problem. Everything else works fine so I just decided to live with it. Oh, by the way, it only happens on 90m tapes. -Alan ========================================================================== Alan and fellow DAT-Heads, My D7 does exactly the same thing with 90 meter tapes. It is a shame you had to 'give' Sony $140 to essentially end up where I am. I have accepted that the D7 doesn't like 90 meter tapes. It tolerates them. It doesn't ffwd them and it chokes on the end of some of them (TDK 180 min's). Maybe the market posting should say "marginal-at-best at ffwding 90 meter tapes". I treat my D7 like a baby in hopes that it will last, and it has done pretty well so far. People must remember that these little decks are portable (read 'virtually disposable') and care must be taken not to upset them as they can be temperamental. Oh, and another thing. I NEVER argue with a D7. When it doesn't like a tape I don't try to force it to like the tape. I just take the tape out and get over it. Keep trying to get the deck to do what you want (vice what it wants to do) and experience shows it _will_ eat the tape. Alan ------------- From: Gary Davis Date: 07-09-96 00:12 To: Victor Yiu Subj: D8 Page re: 90meter Dats ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- @FROM :gdavis@loop.com thank you for this useful page. I notice under the 90meter heading is two articles "against" 90m tape. I believe these people are in the minority and that their machines merely broke. Alex P. (D7) and I (D8) use 90m constantly (in both SP and LP). I've also used 120m occasionally at LP in the D8 for 8 1/2 hour continuous recording. No problems, ever. P.s. the problem of it stopping and saying "blank" when FF is usually caused (or can be caused) by a once-used computer tape that was incompletely erased (thus, the data comes and goes). --Gary