k brown
Well-known member
I've encountered on other forums the statement that this transport (900/1200/F-4400 series) are not suited for use with back coated tape, but the people saying only that those trasports 'don't like it', but not really saying why.
Since the only part of those transports that comes in contact with the back of the tape is the felt 'snubber' disc that provides back-tension to keep the tape in contact with the heads (as there are no pressure pads on the heads), I can only guess that the back-coating causes too much friction with the felt disc; but how would that negatively affect recording or play back, or is it a matter of it putting too much wear on the heads?
If that's the case, I'm wondering if putting a thin strip of something smooth over the felt to reduce friction would do the trick (like thin cotton fabric).
Has anyone experimented with this? I mostly ask because I have a bunch of XLI and BASF SM468 tape I'd like to use, and very little non-back coated tape.
Since the only part of those transports that comes in contact with the back of the tape is the felt 'snubber' disc that provides back-tension to keep the tape in contact with the heads (as there are no pressure pads on the heads), I can only guess that the back-coating causes too much friction with the felt disc; but how would that negatively affect recording or play back, or is it a matter of it putting too much wear on the heads?
If that's the case, I'm wondering if putting a thin strip of something smooth over the felt to reduce friction would do the trick (like thin cotton fabric).
Has anyone experimented with this? I mostly ask because I have a bunch of XLI and BASF SM468 tape I'd like to use, and very little non-back coated tape.
