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In my experience, the problem has resulted in
spoking, an uneven tension line readiating from the center. Over time, the
take stretches slightly at each iteration, thus momentarily dripping the
pich, introducing wow. I've not encountered dropouts which I've traced
back to this cause.
I good intermediate solution is to wrap the first
leaf around the hub rather than putting the nose of it intio the slot. I's
a two-handed job- you have to hold the tape against the hub with one hand and
swing the reel around with the other until it "catches." Sometime
this has to be attemped more than once. It sharply reduces the likelihood
of spoking from this cause.
Steve Smolian
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 6:01
PM
Subject: arsclist Slotless Reels
continued
Anyone who wants to add to or correct this feel
free...
Generally, a tape reel consists of a hub (the
round part in the middle around which the tape is wrapped) and two side walls
called "flanges" that hold the tape "pack" in place once it's wrapped around
the hub. Very often if you look at an empty reel you will see a small slot in
the central hub part. The original purpose of the slot was to hold the first
little bit of tape so that once winding began, the layers of tape wouldn't
slip on the rotating hub. However, tapes that have been wound on "slotted
hubs" and stored for any length of time often show a problem in the form of
slight tape deformation near the hub. The little indentation of the slot
itself can make a crease or dimple on the first layers of tape, and these can
in turn cause several inches of the tape pack to mirror the same crease. In
other words, the nice smooth wind that assures even tape-to-head contact is
lost, and the crease can be heard in the form of a dropout as the tape passes
over the playback head. Audio archivists have long recommended the use of
slotless reels-- that is, reels with slotless hubs. The tape is held in place
not by tucking the end into a slot but just by surface tension as it wraps
around the hub. Using slotless hubs results in a much smoother wind generally
and does away with the crease that can permanently deform the
tape.
Hope this helps!
Steve Green
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