User manual MAXELL CARE AND HANDLING GUIDE

[. . . ] Maxell's Professional Philosophy over three decades, Maxell has been dedicated to producing the finest magnetic recording media available. The strength of our commitment is evident in the superiority of our whole line of tapes and disks. We take special pride in our ultra-high quality professional audio and video products, because it is in these that the virtues of our original magnetic particles and exclusive advanced technologies are the most obvious. Reliability, durability and performance are the attributes that characterize our professional audio and video tape products. [. . . ] The coercivity of the magnetic particle used in the recording media itself Figure 2 shows Maxell's professional recording formats and the approximate coercivity of the magnetic media used in those formats. It is easy to see that older formats used magnetic media with lower coercivity, while most newer generation formats tend to use higher-level magnetic media. The formats with the lower coercivity will be the easiest to magnetize and therefore more susceptible to stray magnetic fields. Stray fields can come from a wide variety of sources, including loudspeaker magnets, fluorescent tube ballasts, handheld metal detectors (such as those used by airport security personnel), electrical transformers and especially electrical induction motors. The magnetic fields from these devices can cause an increased low frequency noise or higher levels of print-through. Total erasure is also a possibility, but not very common. Other devices such as walk-through metal detectors and radar signals generally do not cause problems unless these signals are of extremely high strength. Fortunately, this is a rare situation. 8 Unlike photographic film, X-rays do not affect magnetic recordings in any way. Problems from stray magnetic fields are very rare, even for recorded media shipped internationally without special precautions. However, it is a comfort to know that the magnetic field strength between the source and the target diminishes at a logarithmic rate as the distance increases. This means that even if the tape is near a magnetic source, the chances of it affecting the recording on the tape are very small unless the tape is very close to the source. Compared Coercivity of Various Media Coercivity (kA/m) 200 DDS-3, DDS-4 DVCPRO 180 160 140 120 100 80 S-VHS TR-3, TR-4 LTO-1 SDLT-1, DLT-IV D-5 DDS-2 HDCAM, Hi8 D-3, Digital Beta, DLT-III, Beta-SX, Beta-SP 8mm, D-2 DDS, DAT, MiniDV 60 40 U-matic-SP, Betacam Hi-Bias Audio, U-matic 3480 Low-Bias Audio 20 0 9 Environmental Conditions TEMPERATURE All current magnetic tapes, with the exception of magnetic evaporated tapes (e. g. , AIT, miniDV, Mammoth, etc. ), are composed of a formulation coated onto the basefilm (polyester or equivalent chemical compound). The magnetic formulation contains a variety of chemicals, including head cleaning agent, binders, surface lubricants, plasticizers, dispersants and of course, the magnetic particles. The temperature conditions recommended by many media manufacturers are dictated by a combination of the basefilm, binders and other components used in the tape itself and/or the plastics used in the cassette shell. The need to maintain dimensional stability of the cassette shells and the tape are critical factors in determining an appropriate operating range of temperatures. The basefilm on which the magnetic formulation is coated is somewhat temperature sensitive. Temperature variations will cause the film to expand or contract. This "growth" or "shrinkage" (which can be quite significant) may create stress within the tape pack that could result in physical damage to the tape. The magnetic particles of the formulation remain relatively stable and unaffected by extreme temperature. 10 HUMIDITY Except for metal evaporated tape, all magnetic tape uses some form of binder system. Acceptable Operating and Storage Conditions for Major Data Tapes Operating Conditions Temperature 5 to 45C (41 to 104F) 15 to 55C (59 to 113F) 10 to 45C (50 to 113F) 10 to 40C (50 to 104F) Humidity 20 to 80% RH 10 to 80% RH 10 to 80% RH Operating Conditions Temperature Humidity 5 to 32C 20 to 60% RH (41 to 90F) 5 to 32C (41 to 90F) 16 to 32C (61 to 90F) 20 to 60% RH 20 to 80% RH DDS-1, DDS-2 DDS-3, DDS-4 LTO, LTO2 DLT-IV, S-DLT 20 to 80% RH 16 to 32C (61 to 90F) 20 to 80% RH 18 to 28C* 40 to 60% RH* (64 to 82F)* * For archive Figure 5. Safe Storage Conditions (based on SMPTE RP-103) 12 Physical Damage SURFACE QUALITY As mentioned in the Cleanliness section, any surface abnormality may cause a spacing loss. Surface abnormalities include dirt and debris, physical damage to the tape surface, and physical and magnetic scratches. [. . . ] It is possible to cause the tape to snap if the tape is severely jammed in the VTR or tape drive, but this is in the worst case. It is strongly recommended to check tape slack in a reel and remove a slack before usage. If reels or cassettes are loosely wound and stored with their flanges horizontal, layer-to-layer pack slippage may occur due to a looseness of the pack. Slipped packs are then susceptible to damage. [. . . ]