On 10/21/2017 12:43 AM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
No, it turns out the answer is to set the preamp gain at
spec. It appears to do nothing but create more problems if
turned up higher than that. It was worth a try. --Chuck
Well, then, now you have your answer! From working with
tapes and drives a long time ago, I seem to recall that
unless you had print through, the difference between a 1 and
a 0 was quite large, so there really was no need to fine
tune the gain or slicer levels. If you had varying signal
amplitudes, it was more likely dirt on the heads, really bad
tape weave or something crazy like that, and mechanical, and
not variation in the tape signal itself.
We tried some extended-length tapes that were about half the
thickness, and quickly saw nasty print through trouble, and
got rid of all of it. (This was likely at 1600 BPI, might
have even been worse at 800 BPI.)
Jon
