About the Interface

There are six main elements in this program. Starting from the left they are: Home

Reel Size

This is the reel selector section. This section shows the 5 most commonly used standard reels and their hub size combinations. To select a reel, either click on the picture or select it from the option buttons below.

For the hub sizes, the following radiuses are used:

  • 0.875" - 5 in. reel small hub
  • 1.125" - 7 in. reel small hub
  • 1.500" - 5 in. reel large hub
  • 2.000" - 7 in. reel large hub
  • 2.250" - 10.5 in. reel

These values are a rounded average approximation of the many reels I tested. Most reel brands measured the same, but on some rare occasions, there were a few brands with a slight different size either larger or smaller but the size was consistant within a brand.

I did not include any other hub from 3 or 4 inch reels. If you really want to calculate the tape pack for other reels with other sized hubs then use these equations.

NOTE: 3", 4", "8, 12", 14" and 20" are not commonly used on most consumer or "prosumer", high-end, systems so they are not included here. However, "8, 12", 14" and 20" reels use the same hub size as 10.5" reels, so there is no difference when determining pack size.


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Tape Speed

This is the tape speed selector section. This section provides most commonly used speeds found on most consumer and "prosumer" open-reel tape decks.

NOTE: ips. = "inches per second".


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Timing

This is the time measurement section. This section displays the calculated time or reads user specified time to be used when calculating the length of the tape.

The rectangles at the top contain the latest computed time. The upper box is the total time in minutes. The lower box is the total time breakdown into hours, minutes, and seconds. If you click on either of them, the time will be copied into the minutes edit box.

You can enter a time either as total minutes or as a breakdown of hours, minutes, and seconds.

NOTE: Generally this is where the time can be read after the length, biased on the tape pack measurements, have been calculated first.


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Tape Pack

This is the pack measurement section. This section displays the calculated tape pack or reads user specified pack measurements to be used when calculating the length of the tape. The user can either enter inches in decimal notation or discrete fractions.

If you click on the rectangle at the top containing the latest computed tape pack, it will copy it into the decimal tape pack edit box.

You can enter a pack mesurement either as total inches in decimal notation or in discrete fractions.

NOTE: The more accurate you can measure the pack, the more accurate the calculation will be. But keep in mind that 7" and 5" reel hubs will vary in radius slightly, depending on manufacturer so accuracy will always have some limitations.


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Tape Dimensions

This is the tape dimensions section. This section is where the calculated length is displayed or where you select the length and tape thickness to calculate timing or tape pack.

You can either type in a tape thickness or select it from a list of supplied tape thicknesses.

If you click on the rectangle at the top containing the latest computed tape length, it will copy it into the tape length edit box.

Click on the "down arrow" button next to the tape length edit box to select form a list of common lengths.

NOTE: A tape that is commonly considered a 1 mil tape is in reality closer to 1.5mil or more, and a 1.5mil is closer to 2mil or more. Tape thickness listed on most packaging and other marketing materials were usually a measurement of the base material only and didn't include the oxide or backing layers. The current list of thicknesses included in the program were either taken from the manufacturing specs or empirically determined.

If you would like to customize the length or tape thickness lists, edit the respective files: TapeFootage.dat and TapeSpecs.dat to add or remove any lengths or thicknesses that you like. The files are located in the Tape Pack Calculator application directory.


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Graphical Representation

This section displays the physical representation of the tape pack and how the tape's dimensions fit on the selected reel.

This view can be scaled.

Depending on the resolution of your monitor, most of the time the scaling can be adjusted to match the actual size of the reels.

To make adjustments to the scaling:

  1. Double click on the scale label in the upper right hand corner. This puts the view into "scale adjustment mode". The label will change color to indicate that the scaling can now be changed.
  2. Click the right mouse button anywhere on the ruler to increase the scaling by 0.1 pixels.
  3. Click the left mouse button anywhere on the ruler to decrease the scaling by 0.1 pixels.
  4. Holding the shift key while clicking will make the scaling change by increments of 1 pixel.
  5. Double click the scale label again to return it into "safe mode".

NOTE: When adjusting the scaling, use a good ruler to match the tick marks as close as you can. WARNING: When adjusting the scaling, be careful of parallax errors especially on CRT monitors.

Clicking elsewhere in this view will prompt patronizing remarks.


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