HP Forum Archive 10

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You should not be able to Message #1 Posted by Mike on 13 Jan 2003, 5:36 p.m. You should not be able to run the tape off, no matter how many times you try.

Re: You should not be able to Message #2 Posted by Richard Freeman (Australia) on 13 Jan 2003, 6:07 p.m., in response to message #1 by Mike It appears the Drive has a few problems. when I hit the rewind button the motor runs for maybe 1 Second and then the display comes up with Error 43 (unexpected beginning of tape or end of tape marker or tape transport failure). Covering the photo transistor with my finger (and pressing the tape sensor in) I can get the motor to keep running so it looks like I will probably have to strip the deck down and figure out how the light is leaking in. I did not have time to pull it to bits last night. Regards Richard Freeman

The way it's supposed to work Message #3 Posted by Mike on 13 Jan 2003, 6:19 p.m., in response to message #2 by Richard Freeman (Australia) Assuming the tape is properly threaded, and there are no problems with the drive, you should not be able to run the tape off. The way it is supposed to work is that the light shines on the tape. Because the tape is not transparent, the light is blocked and the motor continues to turn. When the tape holes pass over the light, the light passes through the tape and and the light is reflected to the sensor. That will be the signal to shut the tape off. "unexpected beginning of tape" is an error that I usually associate with old tapes. Old tapes often have missing oxide and hence it looks like many holes where they are not supposed to be. But you say these are new tapes. Have you inspected the tapes to verify that there is no missing oxide or transparent spots on the tape?

Re: The way it's supposed to work Message #4 Posted by Richard Freeman (Australia) on 13 Jan 2003, 6:31 p.m., in response to message #3 by Mike Yep I Have had a look at the tapes when reloading them on the spool visably they seem to have plenty of coating on them and the tape seems to be aligned on the rollers etc. and it also happens with four different tapes (all new.. well they have been sitting in storage for a while unused might be a better description) there seems to be a lot of light coming from around the tape head (from the lamp used to sense the motor movement I think) and I was suspicious that this was reflecting off the case. is this normal ? how sensitive is the photo-transistor ? Regards Richard Freeman

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