I have a mini DV tape that the case is broken and the tape is cut. Is it possible to salvage this? Does anyone do this kind of repair, ie splice and reload the tape into a new cassette?
You don't splice. You sacrifice a new cartridge, remove the new tape and wind the broken tape on it. Recover what you can and repeat with the other half. If you don't have good hands, good vision, good light and a dust-free environment, you may want to find a tape repair shop.
Yes,
I've had it done. They pulled the cassette apart, wound the shortest end into an empty cassette and joined the other bit onto the spindle.
End result is two tapes. You need to sacrifice one MiniDV tape to get the empty cassette.
I would NOT recommend you do this yourself. If you're in Sydney, Australia, lookup TVD. they did it for me.
Bob.
We stopped offering repair and recovery service a couple of years ago because of the damage that was being done to our equipment by working on tapes that had been in fires, torn apart by thieves, etc.
However, if you're unable to find anyone near you who does this, I'm sure Judy will repair the tape for you and put it into a new cassette. To minimize loss, she'll splice the two broken ends and put the entire tape into a new cassette. We can't guarantee how long the splice will hold, but we can make a copy for you onto a new miniDV tape.
Email me at jack at videoccasions-nw.com if you're interested.