RE: [AV Media Matters] Video storage

[Jim Wheeler <Jimwheeler@aol.com>]

Steve brings up a point I should have mentioned and that is that how tapes
are wound before storage is critical!

Tapes must be fast-forwarded to the end and then fully rewound
before storage AND this must be done on a machine that has good tape
guiding and proper tape tension.  The person who services your
equipment will know what to do.  If not, then hire someone who does.

My guess is that most tapes are placed on the shelf without being
fully rewound first.  That means that the tapes will have stresses
caused by the repeated stops and starts that normally occur during
use.  The full length winding will eliminate these stresses.

About 1/3 of the way out from the hub, the tape sometimes will be in
compression so that is where pack distortions are more likely to
occur. Large diameter tapes are more likely to have problems.

At Ampex, we determined that if the outer pack radius divided by the
inner pack radius is less than 2.5, the pack is unlikely to have
stress problems.

Jim Wheeler