Unopened Sticky and Non-sticky tapes wanted for research at the Library of Congress

  • Thread starter Thread starter breitung1
  • Start date Start date
B

breitung1

New member
I'm a scientist at the Library of Congress working on pre-play identification methods for sticky/degraded magnetic tape. I have a few of the very common tapes Ampex 406, 478, Scotch 227, 908 etc., but to validate the method (see IRUG 2012, Barcelona, Breitung abstract), I'm hoping to find in-kind offerings of any of the following (or others you know of that are known to degrade).:

Agfa PEM-468, 469, 526
Ampex 373, 407, 457, 499, 2020
Audiotape/Capitol Q15
EMTEC SM911
Melody 169
Scotch/3M Classic, Master-XS, 175, 201, 250, 806-9,
966, 967, Pro-206, 207, 226, 986
Sony - PR-150, FeCr, SLH, ULH-72-370-BL
TDK 150H

Because of the ease of confusion of boxes, hubs, reels, tapes after opening, only unopened/sealed tapes are useful.
Also - if you know of other sources (besides ebay, etc.) or places I should post this request, please let me know.

Thank you kindly -
 
working on pre-play identification methods for sticky/degraded magnetic tape
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, why would the Library of Congress be concerned about shedding of tapes that have never been opened?

hmmm, sounds like something the NSA would do... ya know those terrible ole "terrorists" might be using " analog tape" now that the NSA is building that insideous 5mil sq ft Yottabyte scavanging and storage facility. Btw, has the LoC made any "agreements" with the NSA, DHS, FBI, ATF, DOJ, or any other Fed scumbag agency that's spying on us now...you know...supplying them with stuff you find on old tapes? Never can tell what you might find..like some kind of suspicious Muslim jam session or a plot to break into Watergate..:rolleyes: hmm, I wonder what kind of tape was used on those ole dictaphone thingys?....OOOOOOH!..now I get it.:facepalm: DOH!!
 
Last edited:
If you never open a reel of tape....how do you know if it is sticky or non-sticky...?????? :)

Gotta' put it on a machine and at least try to run it before you can truly tell.


Also...you don't mention what size format you are looking for.
 
note to self ..file under...

Library of CONGRESS=oxymoron
 
If you never open a reel of tape....how do you know if it is sticky or non-sticky...??????
Click to expand...
umm, I believe the answer was...

pre-play identification methods for sticky/degraded magnetic tape.
Click to expand...


Wouldn't wanna get those Federal tape machines all dirty would we..after all, the gov pays these scientists WAY too much money to spend their time cleaning tape paths huh.:)
 
miroslav said:
If you never open a reel of tape....how do you know if it is sticky or non-sticky...?????? :)

Gotta' put it on a machine and at least try to run it before you can truly tell.


Also...you don't mention what size format you are looking for.
Click to expand...

His request makes perfect sense. The aim is to link all sticky shed prone formulations with their original tape boxes for pre sorting purposes. Then you dont have to play the tape because SSS prone tapes are best baked before playing them to avoid tape damage. You already know it is SSS, at least so long as it is still in its original box.

Miroslav, this is the sort of stupid ignorance that gives this Analog only forum a bad name, and you're supposed to be a moderator here, God help us.

Why dont you and the other idiot chronicle give the guy some credit. I'll bet he knows a lot more about the subject than you obviously do... if you dont know anything on the subject at least admit it rather than trying to act the wise guy and make yourself look like complete idiots.

Tim
 
Well maybe he's working on pre-play identification methods...but I'm not sure how to tell if I have sticky tape by just looking at it through the plastic bag...so how does one decide which tapes to send to them? :D

I guess if you have a case of XYZ tape, and a few reels from it are bad, you could assume the others are too...but, not necessarily.

Just not sure how many folks would send them unopened/unused tapes...without some kind of specific "pre-play" identification method...which is what I guess they are trying to develop. ;)
 
Tim Gillett said:
His request makes perfect sense. The aim is to link all sticky shed prone formulations with their original tape boxes for pre sorting purposes. Then you dont have to play the tape because SSS prone tapes are best baked before playing them to avoid tape damage. You already know it is SSS, at least so long as it is still in its original box.

Miroslav, this is the sort of stupid ignorance that gives this Analog only forum a bad name, and you're supposed to be a moderator here, God help us.

Why dont you and the other idiot chronicle give the guy some credit. I'll bet he knows a lot more about the subject than you obviously do... if you dont know anything on the subject at least admit it rather than trying to act the wise guy and make yourself look like complete idiots.

Tim
Click to expand...

Tim...not sure what you are blathering on about....

I have NO issues with his "study"....just making the point that there is no simple way to tell if an unopend tape is sticky by looking at it...so how does one choose a tape to send to them?

Please explain that if you can.... :)
 
miroslav said:
Well maybe he's working on pre-play identification methods...but I'm not sure how to tell if I have sticky tape by just looking at it through the plastic bag...so how does one decide which tapes to send to them? :D

I guess if you have a case of XYZ tape, and a few reels from it are bad, you could assume the others are too...but, not necessarily.

Just not sure how many folks would send them unopened/unused tapes...without some kind of specific "pre-play" identification method...which is what I guess they are trying to develop. ;)
Click to expand...
dude ..... he wants ALL available tapes so HE can tell if they're sticky or not and test ways to determine that without playing the tape.
Obviously for tapes going into storage so they can tell if it needs to be transfered to another media or can be stored as-is.

And he said types of tape "that are known to degrade".
He doesn't care whether you know for sure if that particular reel is sticky or not.

And he wants unopened tapes so he can be SURE that they are, in fact, the type listed on their box.

Lastly Library of Congress is the repository for all print and recorded material that exists, or at least as close to it as possible.

If he really is from Library of Congress they're obviously working on ways to keep their archived material safe and playable or on ways to transfer it to other media.
And I have, in fact, read articles about them working on these very sorts of problems.
 
The LOC already has huge numbers of tapes. A tape in its original box that is known to be SSS prone can be identified as in the category of tapes that should not be played until further tests determine if it needs treatment. That's sound conservation/preservation method. It would also save time and money.

The list he supplied of SSS prone tapes is probably the same list that Beck uses in this forum. So long as the tape is in its original box type, and probably many if not most in the LOC collection are, it can be identified as one of those tape types without opening it or playing it. What's so hard to understand about that?

Well said Lt. Bob.
 
Now that I think about it, I've got a box or two full of old, some used, but some never opened 1/4" tapes. Think I'll burn em. Of course, now that ole CIA fuckface Jose admitted to burning the "torture videos" in his new book, even after a Federal judge/DOJ threats of contempt, and then the standard judicial capitulation to "national security" crap(you know...it's OK to break the law by destroying evidence of torture..as long as you are a political elite who admits it in a book and profits from it:facepalm:) I guess maybe I should think about it first. Never know what kind of act they'll use under the NDAA now. Burnin tapes might get ya a lifetime pass to Gitmo..or better yet..a friendly DRONE sent from your favorite Pres to KILL YOU!!:mad:...like I said..never know what's on those ole tapes ya bought at a yardsale..... in DC....like perhaps..a friendly meeting between Cheney and Osama..you know..discussin things like tall buildings or airplanes or utility knives..you know..small talk stuff.:)
 
breitung1 said:
I'm a scientist at the Library of Congress working on pre-play identification methods for sticky/degraded magnetic tape. I have a few of the very common tapes Ampex 406, 478, Scotch 227, 908 etc., but to validate the method (see IRUG 2012, Barcelona, Breitung abstract), I'm hoping to find in-kind offerings of any of the following (or others you know of that are known to degrade).:

Agfa PEM-468, 469, 526
Ampex 373, 407, 457, 499, 2020
Audiotape/Capitol Q15
EMTEC SM911
Melody 169
Scotch/3M Classic, Master-XS, 175, 201, 250, 806-9,
966, 967, Pro-206, 207, 226, 986
Sony - PR-150, FeCr, SLH, ULH-72-370-BL
TDK 150H

Because of the ease of confusion of boxes, hubs, reels, tapes after opening, only unopened/sealed tapes are useful.
Also - if you know of other sources (besides ebay, etc.) or places I should post this request, please let me know.

Thank you kindly -
Click to expand...

I DON'T THINK SO! NO OFFICIAL CONTACT INFO. NO WEB SITE FOR MORE INFO. I would like people to send me boxes and boxes of sealed tape too. LOL
 
And he did steal my list. Seems like the LOC would have a different one than the one I wrote up from scratch.
:facepalm:
 
Beck said:
And he did steal my list. Seems like the LOC would have a different one than the one I wrote up from scratch.
:facepalm:
Click to expand...

hell ..... you seem to be the undisputed king of analog tape info .............. even to the Library of Congress!

:D
 
Again...I don't find fault with the idea of the study or it's intent...and I guess I should be more specific with my tongue-in-cheek responses before anyone else jumps in to make a major issue out of it and/or starts name-calling to make their point. :rolleyes:

If people can't tell if tapes are sticky, I doubt many will eagerly send their unopened/unused tapes considering that NOS tapes are not cheap and readily available.
Also...with the way the NOS tape market is these days, there's not too much stock out there that is still unopened/unused.
Not to mentoin...just the tape brand/type doesn't really tell the whole story. How it was stored can be a major impact, and one can't deduce that from an unopened/unused tape. Most everyone claims their NOS stock was stored meticulously in climate controlled environments, but it's not always the case, so in one instance a particular brand/type may stay perfect for many years whiil in another environemnt it becomes sticky.
For anyone wanting to criticize that perspective...let me know how many unopened/unused NOS tapes you are sending to the guy.

Now...if they offered to pay going prices for NOS unopened/unused tape... ;)

And Beck beat me to it...the whole thing looks like a scam....
 
To be fair to the OP...I did check his IP address, and it does appear to be from the Library of Congress/US Gov...but that doesn't necessarily prove that this is a legit study/request by the LOC.

That said.... my view on the unopened/unused tape stands.
Honestly not sure how many folks will just "send" their NOS tapes based on the OP's post.
Tim....are you putting together a case of tape for the guy...? ;)
 
miroslav said:
And Beck beat me to it...the whole thing looks like a scam....
Click to expand...

Google Eric Breitung, Conservation Scientist. I did. He presented a paper at IRUG Conference, Barcelona last month.

The only way the guy posting could be scamming is if he's impersonating Eric Breitung, and is posting from the LOC. Pretty elaborate scam, I have to admit... but then these days a box of unopened SSS reel to reel tape is like gold isnt it. Think of the money he stands to make...;)
 
Tim Gillett said:
Google Eric Breitung, Conservation Scientist. I did. He presented a paper at IRUG Conference, Barcelona last month.

The only way the guy posting could be scamming is if he's impersonating Eric Breitung, and is posting from the LOC. Pretty elaborate scam, I have to admit... but then these days a box of unopened SSS reel to reel tape is like gold isnt it. Think of the money he stands to make...;)
Click to expand...
I really hadn't thought of the money aspect. If I had any unopened reels I sure wouldn't give them away.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top