At 01:28 PM 2/3/2006, Jeff Carroll wrote:
>I am having trouble playing an Ampex 188 Beta tape.  From the sound in the
>machine I am guessing it is sticky.  Hand winding the shell leads me to
>believe that the internal guides might be gummimng up.  I have had no
>problems with Sony L500 Betas from the same period.  Is baking a possibility
>here?  Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi, Jeff,

There have been lots of reports about SSS from videotape in 3/4" 
sizes. I wouldn't be surprised if you had it. After all, it's Ampex! (sigh).

On the AMIA list, Jim Lindner has cautioned us against baking 
anything, but especially videotapes. He has good reasons for it, 
including the possibility of the tape deforming and/or snapping back 
to an earlier geometry prior to tensilization. I hope I'm quoting him 
well in this brief summary.

Jim got his start restoring 1/2" EIAJ videotapes, including Andy 
Warhol's as I understand it. I have a lot of respect for him. Jim 
Wheeler, a videotape engineer from Ampex is also on the AMIA List.

I think joining and asking your question on AMIA-L would be a good 
source of information.

I do F1 transfers, but I haven't run across a sticky F1 tape yet (for 
which I'm thankful).

The other source of information is Specs Brothers in New Jersey. They 
are experts in cleaning tapes. Peter Brothers is also on AMIA-L.

http://www.amianet.org/amial/subscribe.html

This is an interesting crossover issue from an obviously crossover technology.

Cheers,

Richard

Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
Vignettes Media                   web:   http://www.richardhess.com/tape/
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm