Fidelipak Tape Cartridge Reloading
Lloyd Piper
cartridges. I am trying to save several cartridges that are used in an
electronic steeple bell system at my church. Fidelipak tape systems
were the standard for "cart" systems used by radio stations.
TIA for any pointers or URLs that may help me save these tapes.
Lloyd Piper
Ken Nelson
As a lad, I made some after-school money at a local radio station
re-loading broadcast carts. From memory, here's what I recall...
-you need special 1/4" 'cartridge' tape, which has a graphite backlube.
Honestly, I doubt that this manufactured anymore, but check broadcast
suppliers (Harris-Allied, etc). Unlubed tape will give you grief unless
you have an ultra-slack wind (but will be unreliable).
-open the cart, dump the old tape. For bonus marks, wash & rinse the cart
case (dish soap & water, Windex , Fantastik or similar), and inspect the
head pads, and replace if worn or missing
-we had a special winder deck with a mechanical counter on it that helped
us measure the amount of tape going onto the cart. You can probably get
away with an old reel-to-reel deck with the wind tension WAAY down.
Wrap the tape end clockwise around the empty cart spool, leaving about 1 -
2 " hanging out. Spin the reel clockwise to load the desired amount of
tape. Tension should be light. Remember that the tape must be loaded with
the oxide side OUT! (did you just say "oops" ?)
- now comes the art part. Put the loaded spool back into the cart. Pull on
the initial tape 'hangout' to pull about 6 " of tape out. Lay the tape
ends into the cart, threading through guides and posts. You can now
estimate where the splice should be. Mark your estimated splice point. The
trick is to estimate enough slack so that the tape will move freely
without binding up, but not so loose that it's really sloppy and likely to
catch, or slip out of a guide.
Carefully lift up the tape ends and lay them into an editing block, making
sure you haven't added a twist into the loop. Cut the tape ( 45 degree cut
is quietest and runs smoothest through the machine) and position for
splicing. You will be putting about 1" of GOOD splicing tape across the
back. The backlube should be cleaned off the tape ends using a Q-Tip and
isopropyl alcohol. Make the splice, carefully lift tape out of the block,
and thread into the cart shell.
Reassemble the cart, and record (you do have a cart recorder, right?)
There seems to be a few cart machines available out there for a pittance.
I think I saw an ITC Delta triple-deck player listed for $100 on digibid.
Anybody remember 4-track McKenzie carts, used in Hollywood-type
laugh-track machines?
Lloyd Piper
I'm actually trying to save the recording on the cart, so I can transfer
it to another medium. I know I can pull the tape out and play it on a
reel to reel machine. However, due to the performance license
restrictions on the original tape, I must reload the original (worn out)
tape back into the cart. As long as the church owns the original
carts, they are permitted to use an "archival" copy on any media,
according to the license.
Since these tapes are about 18 years old,
and have been used daily, the lubrication is probably gone.
Ken Nelson wrote in message <38A07F35...@here.please>...