brent@itm.UUCP (Brent) (04/11/84)
blank line
OK, so now you see how much cassette tape equipment costs. What
about the tape itself? It varies.
First, the shell: There are two types: sonic weld and five-screw.
This refers to the method used to hold the two halves together. Five-
screw is the preferred method. The sonic-weld shells tend to get mashed
out of spec when the ultrasonic horns clamp down on them to make the
weld. Next consideration is the slip-sheets: the "washers" that are
above and below the tape in the shell to help the tape wind smoothly.
Again, two major types: Graphite-impregnated paper or Polyolifin. Poly
slip-sheets are better. The paper ones tend to char during winding
at 1500 ips. There are a dozen other design factors, but these are the
major two. So what's the cost? A top-end shell: the Data-Pak Pathfinder
five-screw poly washer costs 23 cents. I've bought $45 alignment tapes
and found them wound in Data-Pak shells. A cheap import sonic-weld
shell may go for as little as 10 cents.
Next the tape: The best bulk tape (in my opinion) is AGFA. It's
highly polished, accurately slit, beautiful material. A C-60 worth
of the top-end PE-611 will cost about 40 cents, the next down, PE-619
will cost about 23 cents. Capital gave me a case of C-60 material
and a case of C-90 material once (a case being 40 - 10,000 foot hubs).
I wound in one tape, looked at it, and threw the whole lot in the
dumpster. Many dup houses use Capital tape. Certron is worse. One
of the industry jokes is Certron tape in a Shape shell. That's less
than 20 cents per C-60. Also note: all the above tape is Ferric, not
Chrome or other 70 us equalized material. The bottom line: tape
material is cheap, the equipment ain't.
--
Brent Laminack (akgua!itm!brent)