Author Topic: Blank DAT? What the heck?! (Read 6515 times)

IceMan · « **on:** July 26, 2005, 11:05:38 AM »

Taped a show the other night and was able to easily fit both sets on to a single 90. I checked my levels..things were real nice. I get home and go to listen to it today, load it in..and it reads "Blank" on my D8. 1/2 the tape was used I had to FF and Rewind etc. Any ideas?! Damn it..freaking bummed.

Nick Graham · « **Reply #1 on:** July 26, 2005, 11:06:57 AM »

Classic tape misload...

+T for your troubles

IceMan · « **Reply #2 on:** July 26, 2005, 11:49:14 AM »

aieeeeeee..drat new DAT too. Should I toss the DAT or re-use?

Thanks for your help.

grider · « **Reply #3 on:** July 26, 2005, 04:19:40 PM »

I would say its time to have the dat machine heads realigned, if you recorded fine, then your deck got jostled around on the trip home, you reinserted the tape but the misaligned heads could not read the properly recorded tape it would be blank, Nate Fisher loaned me a master dat once and I took it home and it appeared blank to my DAP1 but I'm sure it read fine with his machine, don't give up just yet Jon

ethan · « **Reply #4 on:** July 26, 2005, 04:25:31 PM »

Quote from: IceMan on July 26, 2005, 11:05:38 AM

Taped a show the other night and was able to easily fit both sets on to a single 90. I checked my levels..things were real nice. I get home and go to listen to it today, load it in..and it reads "Blank" on my D8. 1/2 the tape was used I had to FF and Rewind etc. Any ideas?! Damn it..freaking bummed.

Most likely a misload or as others mentioned alignmnet problem. Another problem that I've had is my decks head amplifier went out. The head amp amplifies the single that's written on the tape. When it goes the tape is written on but not strong enough to be picked up by playback decks. In this situation it's possible to find a real high end pro deck like the Sony 2700 which will read it if there's anything at all on it.

-e

Tim · « **Reply #5 on:** July 26, 2005, 04:53:32 PM »

here's a trick so you can catch it next time that happens

turn the light on
open the deck
load the tape
close the deck

if the light goes off you had a misload and you need to start over

now if you are running on batteries and the deck goes into sleep mode it will have to reload the tape when it powers backup and you can get a misload even if the 1st load was correct

dnsacks · « **Reply #6 on:** July 26, 2005, 05:27:15 PM »

or, a fair bit before show time, load the tape, record a bit, rewind back to beginning and hit play. If you see levels, you know the tape loaded properly.

Then, when you're ready to "really" start recording, play the tape back again. Once you see levels, hit pause and then hit record -- since the tape will not unload after playback (where it was showing levels), you can be pretty confident that the tape's in fact loaded and ready to roll.

IceMan · « **Reply #7 on:** July 27, 2005, 09:25:55 AM »

Thank you all for the responses! I have been in need of a good dat service but every time
I think I can send it for a week or 2 to get serviced I panic I won't have it back in
time to tape the "next" show!

Again, thank you all.

Tim · « **Reply #8 on:** July 27, 2005, 02:20:38 PM »

AFAIK - getting the deck serviced will have no impact on the load/misload issues, it's just one of the quirks of the d7/d8's

macdaddy · « **Reply #9 on:** July 27, 2005, 02:33:13 PM »

is this an issue with the d100..?

also, i was told that you shold tape the prerecord stuff on another deck - that a portable deck can misload, show leveles, on record and playback, but not really be correct. i you do the test record (for level check) on another dat machine, and then put the tape in the portable deck and see levels, then you know that all is good for sure... is that accurate..?

Nick Graham · « **Reply #10 on:** July 27, 2005, 02:39:14 PM »

Quote from: macdaddy on July 27, 2005, 02:33:13 PM

is this an issue with the d100..?

also, i was told that you shold tape the prerecord stuff on another deck - that a portable deck can misload, show leveles, on record and playback, but not really be correct. i you do the test record (for level check) on another dat machine, and then put the tape in the portable deck and see levels, then you know that all is good for sure... is that accurate..?

If I remember correctly, it's an even worse issue with M1/D100s than D7/D8s.

The only tape misload I've ever had was with a D100 and I only used it maybe 6 months. I ran a D8 for 2 and a half years and never had problem 1. Take that FWIW.

Cooker · « **Reply #11 on:** July 27, 2005, 03:32:14 PM »

4 1/2 years of heavy D8 use - not one misload
3 years with an M1 = 4 misloads.

Tim · « **Reply #12 on:** July 27, 2005, 03:51:33 PM »

I had all of my misloads with a D8

greenone · « **Reply #13 on:** July 28, 2005, 10:38:59 AM »

Quote from: Tim on July 27, 2005, 03:51:33 PM

I had all of my misloads with a D8

Ditto here...though I've only ever used a D8. Had maybe a half-dozen misloads but only ever lost one show because of it - after the first time, if I get a misload, I just throw the tape away.

I found it most often happens when you're in a hurry or if the deck falls shut (i.e. you don't close it carefully). Close it gently and you're better off. Tim's light trick is a good one, I use it all the time.

macdaddy · « **Reply #14 on:** July 28, 2005, 11:11:32 AM »

does the light trick work with the d100..?

shaggy · « **Reply #15 on:** August 03, 2005, 04:32:58 AM »

I never heard of a M1/D100 misloading in my 4 years of digital taping. I have personally known no fewer than two D8 mishaps (Blur stealthing with Steve Robinson - LOST, John Cale stealthing with my buddy - backup with my deck). I agree, it seems to be related to being too rushed and not closing the lid properly.

rocksuitcase · « **Reply #16 on:** August 03, 2005, 08:50:22 AM »

I had the classic Mis load this past weekend at a small all day music party. I know it was a misload because it was tape 1, I had no headphones so didn't notice it at the show, and tapes 2-4 are fine. It was a Sony 90 m (doh) which has been the topic of other mis load stories, so my bad for knowing in the first place. The previous comment about the D-8 going in rto sleep mode has me thinkning that may have been the cause, as they were slow to get everything set up in the beginning and I put it in to pause/record a few times with out actually letting it roll.
FWIW, I have had this happen about 3 times since I owned this D-8 bought new in 1997

George · « **Reply #17 on:** August 03, 2005, 08:26:07 PM »

Quote from: Cooker on July 27, 2005, 03:32:14 PM

4 1/2 years of heavy D8 use - not one misload
3 years with an M1 = 4 misloads.

(hugs his M1)

Thanks to tim and dnsacks about the pointers, i think i'll start doing that to ensure i don't get a misload.

While were on the topic of misloads and realignments...how often do you guys run a dat cleaner (dry), i was wondering how many hrs inbetween would be a good number.

Tim · « **Reply #18 on:** August 03, 2005, 08:33:52 PM »

Quote from: rocksuitcase on August 03, 2005, 08:50:22 AM

I had the classic Mis load this past weekend at a small all day music party. I know it was a misload because it was tape 1, I had no headphones so didn't notice it at the show, and tapes 2-4 are fine. It was a Sony 90 m (doh) which has been the topic of other mis load stories, so my bad for knowing in the first place. The previous comment about the D-8 going in rto sleep mode has me thinkning that may have been the cause, as they were slow to get everything set up in the beginning and I put it in to pause/record a few times with out actually letting it roll.
FWIW, I have had this happen about 3 times since I owned this D-8 bought new in 1997

I don't know that headphones would help as the D8 is a 2 head deck and only 4 head decks allow for true monitoring of what is actually being recorded. On a 2 head deck you are just hearing the same signal that is inputing to the deck, so as long as a deck is recieving signal you'lll hear the music but will still not know if the deck is actually recording that music.

someone correct me if I'm wrong but this is my understanding

leegeddy · « **Reply #19 on:** August 03, 2005, 08:48:10 PM »

going on 3 years with a D100 and an M1. not a single misload.

sony DG dds and maxell HS tapes all worked fine in my decks.

i guess i'm one of the lucky ones.

marc

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #20 on:** August 03, 2005, 09:16:45 PM »

i only had one misload w/ my old d-8, thats in 6 years of heavy use! 97-2003!

always used my backlight, so maybe theres something to that, the only time i didnt use my backlight was at phish 7/11/2000, and i only missed the first song and got it at setbreak anyway, so no biggie

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #21 on:** August 03, 2005, 09:17:40 PM »

oh, and i ran the dry tape cleaner about every 50 hrs

Tim · « **Reply #22 on:** August 03, 2005, 09:31:57 PM »

Quote from: Bean on August 03, 2005, 09:16:45 PM

i only had one misload w/ my old d-8, thats in 6 years of heavy use! 97-2003!

always used my backlight, so maybe theres something to that, the only time i didnt use my backlight was at phish 7/11/2000, and i only missed the first song and got it at setbreak anyway, so no biggie

the backlight doesn't prevernt a misload, it just lets you know if one occured

blu666z · « **Reply #23 on:** August 04, 2005, 12:58:38 AM »

Quote from: Shrinkynuts McAngrypants on July 26, 2005, 04:53:32 PM

now if you are running on batteries and the deck goes into sleep mode it will have to reload the tape when it powers backup and you can get a misload even if the 1st load was correct

Is this accurate?

-Kevin

Tim · « **Reply #24 on:** August 04, 2005, 01:31:09 AM »

yes

when a deck goes into sleep the tape unloads itself and the deck powers down. when you restart the deck the tape has to reload again and there is a chance that it could misload on that second load.

heath · « **Reply #25 on:** August 04, 2005, 08:14:55 AM »

regarding cleaning tapes.

i prefer not to use them. i have heard that more harm is done than good. i have no evidence to back this up, but i feel much more confident opening the sucker up and cleaning the heads myself.

h

rocksuitcase · « **Reply #26 on:** August 05, 2005, 08:52:43 AM »

Quote from: Tim on August 03, 2005, 08:33:52 PM

Quote from: rocksuitcase on August 03, 2005, 08:50:22 AM
I had the classic Mis load this past weekend at a small all day music party. I know it was a misload because it was tape 1, I had no headphones so didn't notice it at the show, and tapes 2-4 are fine. It was a Sony 90 m (doh) which has been the topic of other mis load stories, so my bad for knowing in the first place. The previous comment about the D-8 going in rto sleep mode has me thinkning that may have been the cause, as they were slow to get everything set up in the beginning and I put it in to pause/record a few times with out actually letting it roll.
FWIW, I have had this happen about 3 times since I owned this D-8 bought new in 1997

I don't know that headphones would help as the D8 is a 2 head deck and only 4 head decks allow for true monitoring of what is actually being recorded. On a 2 head deck you are just hearing the same signal that is inputing to the deck, so as long as a deck is recieving signal you'lll hear the music but will still not know if the deck is actually recording that music.

someone correct me if I'm wrong but this is my understanding

Tim, I think you are correct. I should havve said that I had time to check between sets and didn't have headphones to check with, nor did I think to play it back after the first band and just look to see if there was a signal recorded. doh! I am just lucky the other three tapes were OK.

What do you all think about those Sony 90 m's ( or any 90m?) being a main culprit for misloads