RE: arsclist Umatic Video Cassettes

["James Lindner" <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yes, this is very well documented. I do not recommend baking for helical
scan tapes due to some problems that can occur in skew and tracking
error. It has to do with the non-linear base material distortion that
can occur. PET has a "memory" and would like to return to its original
form when exposed to heat. That is not an issue with linear tracks but
can be for helical recordings. Even if they are baked, they still will
need to be cleaned with a pelon or similar wipe material. RTI makes
machines that do this. I believe that the machines cost around $9k for
Umatic, but they may be able to send you to a company that has them and
will clean tapes for you. There are other companies in the restoration
business. One is the company that I founded and am no longer associated
with - VidiPax. Others include Specs Brothers in New Jersey and there
are others that you may wish to contact. As the other poster noted,
Baking can make tapes worse. I only use baking as a last resort. 

jim

James Lindner
Managing Member

Media Matters, LLC.
15 Washington Place, Suite 2M
New York, N.Y.  10003
Tel+Fax 212-982-4413

Moderator: AV Media Matters ListServe
To Subscribe to AV Media Matters ListServe send an email to:
AV-Media-Matters-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Harry Rice
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 7:23 AM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: arsclist Umatic Video Cassettes

With some Ampex 279 Umatic video cassettes dating from the late 1980s
and early 1990s I am experiencing something like the sticky shed
associated with audio tape.  Is this something that's pretty well
documented?  Is baking a likely solution?

Harry Rice
Berea College
-
For subscription instructions, see the ARSC home page
http://www.arsc-audio.org/arsclist.html
Copyright of individual posting is owned by the author of the posting
and
permission to re-transmit or publish a post must be secured
from the author of the post.

-
For subscription instructions, see the ARSC home page
http://www.arsc-audio.org/arsclist.html
Copyright of individual posting is owned by the author of the posting and
permission to re-transmit or publish a post must be secured
from the author of the post.