Re: Apple II cassettes by Brutal Deluxe Software

[Dave Rawson <TheGuy@_Remove_This_Part_DRawson.Com>]

Don't know if this is of any help, but back in the day, when struggling 
to get consistent loads of tape data (games) loaded into my diskless 
Apple, I found my Nakamichi portable never had a problem, unlike some of 
the players at work.

I believe the difference was that the Nakamichi consistently produced 
1-volt peak-to-peak output.

The inconsistencies with other tape loaders had more to do with low 
output matching into the Apple than any tape-to-head contact (which 
certainly does occur, I know). The symptoms of lost bits due to poor 
shell construction and too-low voltage can appear identical.  It's only 
when a crappy cassette is played in a highly reliable machine that the 
one masking as the other becomes obvious.

In other words, sometimes it's not an unreadable tape, it's that the 
low-voltage tape information coupled with low output voltage _combine_ 
to fall below a readable threshold.


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---