I have a tape stuck in my Digibeta DVW-A510P player. The tape has come off the spool and is flapping around inside the cassette. All the tape is back in the cassette (no tape threaded around the head). The cassette is stuck in the lower position with the cassette flap open. I've tried the restart with eject button pressed to no avail - the spool just continues to rotate at alarming speed! The manual guide for winding the cassette manually does not seem to be applicable to my machine as the seems no access to remove the side panels. Any ideas anyone?

Been a long time since I opened up one of these machines!

Are you talking about these instructions?...

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/831742/Sony-Dvw-A500p.html?page=23#manual

You should be able to remove the top panel first, which should allow you to remove the side panel (Sony refer to it as 'Plate MD') 

Hi Bruno, Many thanks, I couldn;t find a way of getting the side panel off to access the compartment cog. But then I found that if I pull out the front panel I can just about reach it, then discovered that the whole caddette mechanism can lift out. Tape now retrieved, didn't come off the spool - had actually snapped about midway through winding. Thanks again.

Drat a post I can contribute to and I get there too late...

Sorry Pat, it was a bit of a Eureeka moment when I managed to extract the stuck tape. Now I just need to find out where to get that powder that shows up the control track pulses so I can join the tape back together again

Roger Owen:

Sorry Pat, it was a bit of a Eureeka moment when I managed to extract the stuck tape. Now I just need to find out where to get that powder that shows up the control track pulses so I can join the tape back together again

Seloptape. Normally ok for one or 2 passes. Just clean the shiny side with alcohol to make sure no sticky glue can get to the heads.

Roger Owen:

Sorry Pat, it was a bit of a Eureeka moment when I managed to extract the stuck tape. Now I just need to find out where to get that powder that shows up the control track pulses so I can join the tape back together again

You mean something like this:

https://store.arnoldmagnetics.com/product/284/magnetic-viewer-b-1022

 

Ah, takes me back...

That is how we used to cut match of the day and start transmitting highlights before the match had finished.

On 2" quad.

Hi Roger.

D

My first ever video editing!!  Cut on an Ampex 1000, serial number 8.  Stainless steel particles suspended in some solvent or other - can't recall what now - cuts made with a purpose-built guillotine that cut at a precise 13 minutes of arc, and spliced with Mylar tape.  And if you didn't clean the tape well enough a dropout shower that you wouldn't believe, because this was pre-dropout compensators. 

And they call them the good old days.

Hi David, How the devil are you? Could be accused of showing our age if we are not careful! I was too busy at the time sticking selotape all over 35mm film, but my first 2'' edit session was with 'Editech' " 2 M/C at TVI for a series of TV Commercial for BOAC!

Haha, that's brilliant! So glad I was a 'Film' editor, Tape editing made me very cross - even though I invested heavily in 3 m/c equipement in the early '80's. So glad when NLE appeared - it was a *** sight closer to editing film - which of course was the original Non Linear Editing system.

jwrl:

My first ever video editing!!  Cut on an Ampex 1000, serial number 8.  Stainless steel particles suspended in some solvent or other - can't recall what now - cuts made with a purpose-built guillotine...

I still have 3M anti-magnetic scissors originally built to cut Revox tape, which came in handy when needing to fix damaged cassette and 1 inch tapes in an emergency. I have to admit that I've only seen 2 inch machines taking the dust, never actually seen a working one. But I do agree that the moviola is the first NLE ever!

jwrl:

My first ever video editing!!  Cut on an Ampex 1000, serial number 8.  Stainless steel particles suspended in some solvent or other - can't recall what now - cuts made with a purpose-built guillotine...

I still have 3M anti-magnetic scissors originally built to cut Revox tape, which came in handy when needing to fix damaged cassette and 1 inch tapes in an emergency. I have to admit that I've only seen 2 inch machines taking the dust, never actually seen a working one. But I do agree that the moviola is the first NLE ever!

luca.mg:

I have to admit that I've only seen 2 inch machines taking the dust, never actually seen a working one.

Here you go Luca:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHDU1wXw1sU

The moustache and sideburns have gone too these days I started life in the biz in sound with Nagras and dubbing theatres and my 1st job was recording optical sound tracks on 16mm - I can still remember having to do X-modulation curve tests for the lab