C2N Datasette Unit, Model 1530 - Maximum tape length.

16KVIC20 · Post by **16KVIC20** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:38 am

I have done a search about this and found many references to not using C90s and C120s. I remember from my original C2N back in the 80s that the instructions clearly told us not to use tapes over a certain length as it would damage the unit. What was the length? I had a copy of that dreadful Cascade Tape 50 on a C60, and that always seemed OK, but I think even that was too long. I have just ordered some Maxell C46 tapes from Ebay, I reckon they should be OK? Anything shorter isn't really worth bothering with.

Bacon · Post by **Bacon** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:51 am

I don't think you can damage the Datasette by using a long tape. AFAIK the reason for recommending not to use tapes with long playing time was that they were more likely to break due to being made of thinner plastic, plus they may be more prone to data loss.

16KVIC20 · Post by **16KVIC20** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:22 am

Thanks Bacon, that is worth knowing. From my recollection, they didn't exactly make that clear in the instructions.

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:01 am

I have a lot of C90's recorded in 1982-1983 and still working.

16KVIC20 · Post by **16KVIC20** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:51 am

Boray wrote:I have a lot of C90's recorded in 1982-1983 and still working.

That's good, but what about the C2N? I have a fair few C90s full of ZX Spectrum games which came with my first Second Hand Spectrum (which I bought about 4 years ago), they were recorded in the early 80s by its original owner and still work well. Any games that don't work I think probably never did due to poor tape to tape recording. Tape does seem to be quite reliable for computer data, more so than for music, perhaps.