OT

dtudela wrote on 5/4/2009, 12:46 PM
I know this is off topic somewhat, but I am in desperate need of information on how or where to get a MiniDV tape repaired. I just filmed a three hour dance recital and tape #2 just broke at the very beginning. Initially, when I loaded the tape in the camera to capture the footage I got the "Eject Tape" message from the camera. After a couple attempts to load the tape again I finally discovered the problem was a broken tape. Does anyone know of a service that can repair the tape? I appreciate in suggestions.
--Darrell

Comments

Earl_J wrote on 5/4/2009, 2:14 PM
Hello Darrell,
so, is there anything recorded on the tape?
If it is blank and you just want it repaired, I'd say chuck it. . .
it might cost more to get it fixed than buying a new one.
If there is something on it, and you need it saved, that's a different story.

Until that time... Earl J.
dtudela wrote on 5/4/2009, 3:23 PM
Yes, the tape is one of three tapes of a dance recital that I filmed Sunday--about 75 minutes of footage on this one. I found a few data recovery services on line that I am looking into. Thanks for your reply.
--Darrell
corug7 wrote on 5/4/2009, 3:24 PM
You can do it yourself, just be very careful. I'm offering this advice without any guarantee and what you do is at your own risk. With that said, you should be able to splice the tape together at the broken point. If the broken part is inside the cassette, you can unscrew it from the bottom and wind the tape by hand until you get to the broken part. Cut off any stretched portions of the tape with a razor blade and butt the two broken pieces together, and splice the underside with a piece of splice tape. Be very careful with this part because Mini-DV tape that is not straight can cause problems with the tape path and the heads. Also, make sure no adhesive from the splice is showing from behind the tape, because it will gunk up the heads and throw off the tape alignment.

Expect to pay about $25 bucks or so to have it repaired at a service bureau. That's what we charge.

Edit: Once you have recovered the data, chuck the tape. Mini DV is not easy to repair correctly.
dtudela wrote on 5/5/2009, 8:59 AM
Thanks to coruq7 for your reply. We've inspected the tape and there are no visible screws. This is a Panasonic mini DV model (AY-DVM83PQ) 83 minute tape. Since there are no screws, we'd probably rather have someone that has some experience do it...would that someone be you or do you have a recommendation?
TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/5/2009, 9:37 AM
I had to do this with a DVCPro tape that broke with a show on it we were showing in ~60 minutes. :eek: The break was near the start of the tape so what I did was open up the tape (BE VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY CAREFUL!), cut off the bad part, take the bad part off the takeup reel (are the even called that in cassettes?), attach the good part to the takeup reel, put tape pack together, yelled "YEAH!" when it worked, played the show & chucked the taped. Only reason I fixed the tape was because we NEEDED it.

It's very stressful & you need to the very very patient. If the break is far enough in that you have footage before & after the break (more then a minute or two), do the same procedure but take a blank tape, empty it's tape & attach the start of the broken tape to the reel in a new cassette.

good luck!
JackW wrote on 5/5/2009, 10:32 AM
Hi Darrell: We've done a number of these repair jobs over the years for clients and the procedure is essentially what's been described by others here.

We will break the cassette apart (if there are no screws) and insert your tape into a new cassette after splicing the broken ends together. We then make a copy of the repaired tape since there is no way of being sure the repair will hold together as it goes over the heads. We use a commercial splicing tape, but the splice still comes apart about half the time.

If you decide to do this yourself be very careful when you take the cassettes apart: there are lots of little plastic and metal pieces inside that have a tendency to leap out when the cassette is opened.

Let me know by email if you want us to do the repair.

Jack