Topic: My First Tape : Eaten by D8

[bhadella]

Ha! Ha!  Now I know why so many people hate the shells on Sony DDS tapes....I patched from the board for Ray's Music Exchange last night.  I used a 90m tape because I was worried that they wouldn't take a setbreak.  I finish recording, eject the tape and it is tight coming out.  I give a gentle tug and the tape comes out, with the casing a little open and the tape cut from it rubbing against the hinges of the door....What precautions (outside of not using 90 meter tapes and Sony tapes) can I take so that this doesn't happen again?

Thanks

Brian

[Chuck]

(outside of not using 90 meter tapes and Sony tapes)
 
That's it right there.  

[nickgregory]

some decks just dont play nice with Sony DDS tapes...

[bhadella]

I knew I was playing w/ fire but didn't think I would get burned the first time...Is it best to always pull the tape immediately after your done?  Would a warm deck (especially the walkman style) heat the casing/shell making it a pain?  Would I create more issues for myself by leaving the tape in till I got home?

Thanks again for everything.  If it wasn't for TS, I wouldn't have know that Sony and 90 meter tapes were trouble......even if I ignored the warnings..

Brian

[leegeddy]

some decks just dont play nice with Sony DDS tapes...

Sony D100?
Sony M1?
Sony PCM-R500?
Sony PCM-2600?

never 1 single issue in playing over 400 DDS tapes.

could it be the users' fault and we tend to blame the equipment when things go airy?  

marc

[nickgregory]

it is more than a coincidence that alot of the sony portables have problems with DDS tapes.  That being said, I have used them in the life of my D100 without a problem

[zhianosatch]

My D8 ate Manson's opener on a Sony 60 after I dropped it, (hain't out of alignment or anything, everything plays phine in other decks), but nothing else has been fucked up. I also switched to Maxell DDSes and they feel a lot more bitchin'.

[cpclark]

damn, ate it during ray's, they are one of my favorite bands, im from, cincy myself, sorry to hear that, use the maxell DDS tapes and i think you will have less problems

[jhirte]

I've had 2 Sony DDS 60 meters get eaten in my old D8. Had several bad tapes (bad batch??) on some shows.. Nebula and Mudhoney. The Nebula tape wont even play on my Tascam decks.
No problem after switching to Maxell HS-4's.

-Jim

[greenone]

I knew I was playing w/ fire but didn't think I would get burned the first time...Is it best to always pull the tape immediately after your done?  Would a warm deck (especially the walkman style) heat the casing/shell making it a pain?  Would I create more issues for myself by leaving the tape in till I got home?

I always pull my tape out right after I'm done...don't rewind with anything but my home decks. That way if it does get caught, it chews it at the end instead of at the beginning (which can ruin your whole tape). I wouldn't wait until you get home; the longer you leave the tape in there, the more chance it has to get caught on something. If it does get caught, DON'T pull on it. Turn the deck upside down and jiggle it until you can get it out - I don't know what it gets caught on, but good old gravity will usually get it off with no problems.

If your deck's warm, that's not a good thing...I can't remember mine ever being warm to the touch unless I was in a warm place.

--Dave

[Brian Skalinder]

One thing I've found to help in preventing jammed tapes is to press all action buttons well after pressing the previous one.  I found all my portable DAT decks (D7/D8/D100) have wanted to jam if I

[a] try to unload/eject too quickly after stopping play/record/ff/rw
try to play/record too quickly after rewinding/fastforwarding
[c] try to play/record too quickly after loading
[d] try to rw/ff too quickly after play/record

You get the idea.  Take a long pause between pressing action keys and it may help.  I know it helped me.

[bhadella]

I will use all of the advice.  Thanks again, this forum is a dat-saver....

[Chuck]

I knew I was playing w/ fire but didn't think I would get burned the first time...Is it best to always pull the tape immediately after your done?  Would a warm deck (especially the walkman style) heat the casing/shell making it a pain?  Would I create more issues for myself by leaving the tape in till I got home?

I always pull my tape out right after I'm done...don't rewind with anything but my home decks. That way if it does get caught, it chews it at the end instead of at the beginning (which can ruin your whole tape). I wouldn't wait until you get home; the longer you leave the tape in there, the more chance it has to get caught on something. If it does get caught, DON'T pull on it. Turn the deck upside down and jiggle it until you can get it out - I don't know what it gets caught on, but good old gravity will usually get it off with no problems.

If your deck's warm, that's not a good thing...I can't remember mine ever being warm to the touch unless I was in a warm place.

--Dave

This is very good advice.
Remove the tape before you pack the deck away and go home. I would never leave a DAT in the deck after the deck is turned off.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

[a] try to unload/eject too quickly after stopping play/record/ff/rw

The quoted advice is very important for the D7 and D8.  The only times I've had tapes get eaten in the 9 years I've had my D7, were exactly because of this.  Usually it's when I screw up on timing and have to swap tapes in the middle of a set and I'm in a panic.  

One thing I always do now is let the tape continue to record for 5-10 minutes after the end of any set so that if there is a problem with the unload the munched tape is not at the close of the set.

[bhadella]

How do you use a tape that has the back end of it turn up?  What is the process to open to casing and reset it to pull to data from it?

Brian

[chuckcage]

 

Best way to avoid stuck tapes: use an NJB3!

 

[RastaFish]

I am curious if you "unpacked" the tape before you recorded with it?  The only time I have had a tape snap on me was one of the few times I had not taken the time at home to FF and RW the tape in advance, and usually I record 60-90 seconds of A-time on the tapes in advance as well.

[Tim]

I am curious if you "unpacked" the tape before you recorded with it?  The only time I have had a tape snap on me was one of the few times I had not taken the time at home to FF and RW the tape in advance, and usually I record 60-90 seconds of A-time on the tapes in advance as well.

I never unpack my tapes. It's pointless head wear on your portable, ffwding and rwding will kill those sony portables very quickly. I might fwd a minute or so and rewind, but that's it.

[nickgregory]

I unpack my tapes on my home deck

[nic]

never had a problem(or missload) with the D8 and M1 with Sony DDs tapes, but damn if all 2 times I used a DA-P1 with a Sony DDS it missloaded and/or ate the tape.

go figure...ymmv

[greenone]

How do you use a tape that has the back end of it turn up?  What is the process to open to casing and reset it to pull to data from it?

Brian

Brian - look on the bottom of the tape; you should see two grooves that start at the shutter end of the tape and run to the top of the two circular cog holes. If you look closely at the grooves you'll notice that there are tiny little teeth that protrude up - these are what hold the shutter in place. If you slide your fingernails down the grooves and push the teeth down, the shutter should slide back toward the front of the tape (where the copy-protect door is). Once it's all the way open you'll hear a click and the shutter will stick. Then the cog teeth will be exposed, letting you turn them to wind the slack back onto the cogs. Use your fingernails to push the teeth down again and the shutter will snap back into place, and you're grooving again!

[Brian]

i need a home deck badly......my sony m1 doesn't like all the packing even though it has never failed me once(knock on wood).  I wanna get a panasonic sv3800 or a tascam da30mkII. all this gear to get........and so little cash

[Scuba Jeremy]

Knock on wood, never had a tape jam ever in my PCM-M1, bought it new. Used over 100 DDS tapes and 3 DATs. I'd almost use DATs, but I can't justify the cost over DDS when I look at good run I've had with the tapes so far.

[drewloo]

One thing I've found to help in preventing jammed tapes is to press all action buttons well after pressing the previous one.  I found all my portable DAT decks (D7/D8/D100) have wanted to jam if I

[a] try to unload/eject too quickly after stopping play/record/ff/rw
try to play/record too quickly after rewinding/fastforwarding
[c] try to play/record too quickly after loading
[d] try to rw/ff too quickly after play/record

You get the idea.  Take a long pause between pressing action keys and it may help.  I know it helped me.

While I totally agree w/ Brian about using lots of patience and care when loading/recording, I was suprised to see Doug O. say that the Sony has logic controls and will only do the operation *you* desire when *it* is ready to do it.  I think that's what he basically said, anyway.  Maybe Sony needs (or needed) to make the 'logic' controller not quite so quick so it gives a bit more time between commands?  That said, I think the few times my D8 ate a tape was due to operator error and cheap shells.

Drew

[Brian Skalinder]

While I totally agree w/ Brian about using lots of patience and care when loading/recording, I was suprised to see Doug O. say that the Sony has logic controls and will only do the operation *you* desire when *it* is ready to do it.  I think that's what he basically said, anyway.  Maybe Sony needs (or needed) to make the 'logic' controller not quite so quick so it gives a bit more time between commands?  That said, I think the few times my D8 ate a tape was due to operator error and cheap shells.

Yeah, I remember reading the same thing.  But the ONLY times I've had misloads, chewed tape, or snapped tape, it's been in one of the scenarios I listed.  As you say, maybe the Sony portables logic controller is a bit to quick.