11-06-2022, 04:00 PM
Loading from tape from an Apple ][, a microbee or other home computer that uses a 3rd party tape deck has always been unreliable at best.
Even the well known quality brands such as National(Panasonic) & Sony can be problematic.
This is because tape decks are designed to play music and as such contain audio features like ALC (Automatic Level Control), EQualisation, Dolby Noise Reduction, bias adjustments and tone controls that distort the signal. Other issues include azimuth adjustment, tape speed variation, mic & output impedance. If the azimuth is not correctly adjusted unwanted crosstalk can occur. Sanyo is notorious for speeding up.
What's required is a tape deck that faithfully records & reproduces 1200 and 2400 Hz tones - Nothing more & nothing less.
The D1122 Micron Computer Program Data Recorder from Altronics proved to be quite reliable although their automatic rewind button release didn't always work.
Modern audio WAV players work reliably.
Even the well known quality brands such as National(Panasonic) & Sony can be problematic.
This is because tape decks are designed to play music and as such contain audio features like ALC (Automatic Level Control), EQualisation, Dolby Noise Reduction, bias adjustments and tone controls that distort the signal. Other issues include azimuth adjustment, tape speed variation, mic & output impedance. If the azimuth is not correctly adjusted unwanted crosstalk can occur. Sanyo is notorious for speeding up.
What's required is a tape deck that faithfully records & reproduces 1200 and 2400 Hz tones - Nothing more & nothing less.
The D1122 Micron Computer Program Data Recorder from Altronics proved to be quite reliable although their automatic rewind button release didn't always work.
Modern audio WAV players work reliably.