Table of Contents
Advertisement
5. Cleaning and demagnetizing
your tape deck head
To be performed every 50-100 hours of tape running time or when
cassette unit tails to read tapes reliably.
You'll need the following tools and materials:
I) Tape head cleaner. ("NORTRONICS" Brand is recommended.) Do
not use Tricloroethane or any other plastic or rubber solvent.
Alcohol may be used in an emergency, but is not recommended for long
term use.
Cotton Ss abs. "Johnson & Johnson" Brand is recommended: the
cotton seems to stick to the end of the swab better.
3) Tape Head Demagnetizer: "NORTRONICS," "HAND-DE-MAG"
and "ROBINS" brands are recommended. Unit must have protective
plastic or rubber covering on pole piece so as not to scratch delicate
head gap.
HOW TO PROCEED:
I) Turn Off PL T.
2) Press PLAY on tape deck to make heads available.
3) Use tape head cleaner and one side of a cotton swab to clean surfaces of
RECORD/PLAY (RIP) and erase head. (See Figure 7.)
Scrub gently, noting if there is any build-up of tape oxide
particles on or around head gap of the R/P head. If so, this is
sufficient reason for unreliable performance.
Also clean pinch roller and other tape bearing surfaces if tape
head cleaner is suitable for this purpose. (Check label.)
4) Plug in demagnetizer and activate it while it is at least one foot
away from cassette heads.
5) Slowly move demagnetizer up to RIP head and around on head
surface. Rate of motion should he approximately one inch per
second during this time.
6) Slowly move demagnetizer to erase head and then to all other
ferrous metal surfaces which cone into proximity with the tape.
7) Now slowly move demagnetizer away from heads and do not
1
48
de-activate field until demagnetizer is at least two feet away from
heads.
Tape head cleaning and demagnetizer procedure is now complete.
Inspect R/P head surface for wear. If tape has worn a groove on head
surface more than a Couple of tape thicknesses deep and program
reading performance is still poor, then replacement of tape head is
indicated. (This usually occurs after three thousand or more hours of
tape running time.)
6. References
Entering BASIC. J. Sack and J. Meadows, Science Research Associates,
1973.
BASIC: A Computer Programming Language, C. Pegels, Holden-Day,
Inc., 1973.
BASIC Programming. J. Kemeny and T. Kurtz, Peoples Computer Co.,
1010 Doyle (P.O. Box 310), Menlo Park, CA 94025, 1967,
BASIC, Albrecht, Finkle and Brown, Peoples Computer Co., 1010
Doyle (P.O. Box 310), Menlo Park. CA 94025, 1973.
A Guided Tour of Computer Programming in BASIC, T. Dwyer,
Houghton Mifflin Co., 1973.
Programming Time Shared Computer in BASIC, Eugene H. Barnett,
Wilev-Interscience. L/C 72-175789 ($12.00).
Programming Language #2, Digital Equipment Corp., Maynard,
MA 0 101 BASIC Computer Games, Software Distribution Center,
Digital Equipment Corp., Maynard. MA 01754 ($7.50).
What to Do After You Hit Return, Peoples Computer Co., 1010 Doyle (P.
O. Box 310), Menlo Park, CA 94025 (S6.95).
Basic BASIC, James S. Coan, Hayden Book Co., Rochelle Park, N.J.
Advanced BASIC, James S. Coan, Hayden Book Co., Rochelle
Park. N.J.
49
Advertisement
Table of Contents
