My opinion is that the not slowing down when it gets to the beginning or end of the tape is grim.

I heard there is one kind of rewinder that is better than another. It might have something to do with how the two reels spin in relation to each other, but I'm not sure.

FWIW, mine does slow as the end nears. There seems to be some sort of sensory mechanism.

I've used my Maxell rewinder dozens of times without issues of any kind.

David Hurdon

<<<-- Originally posted by Ken Tanaka : FWIW, mine does slow as the end nears. There seems to be some sort of sensory mechanism. -->>>


That seems quite sophisticated and well worth it. What did you pay for your rewinder?

See my post above.

Sorry Ken, I juxtaposed the responses while I was reasding them and thought someone else had purchased theirs for $30.00

Ken, what is the brand and model of the battery-powered DV tape rewinder you said you got from Tape Resources? They have only the Maxell MDV-RW1 on their website at present. There are numerous warnings on customer reviews on comparison websites, saying that this model malfunctions and eats tapes frequently.

On the B&H website, they show two DV rewinders, powered by battery or AC adaptor, by Lenmar and Power 2000. They look exactly alike in their photos and their descriptions are identical. Do you suppose they are trustworthy?

Steve McDonald

Mine is a Sima model SRW-62. It's worked fine. It uses 4 AAA batteries.

I sure wouldn't buy a unit that has a bad rep, although I've never checked mine. Trustworthy? <shrug>

Grazie, Ken, for that tip. I like Sima products. I've had two of their battery chargers for years and they've worked flawlessly, as well as several other of their odds and ends.

A rewinder seems such a small part of a video system, but if it chews up your tapes, it becomes quite significant.

BTW, I think Radio Shack is dumping the Maxell rewinders. They are selling the last models for $19.95

I ordered the Sima SRW-62 DV rewinder from Crutchfield for $40. + $6. shipping. I should get it in my mailbox today. I have one well-used DV tape designated as the sacrificial test unit. I like the idea of using batteries and saving one of my scarce AC outlets in my multi-branched web of power strips and cords. I will run it through a dozen times, and see how well it's treated, before I put my precious camera tapes at its mercy. Report to follow in a few days.

Review of Sima Rewinder
 

My Sima SRW-62 came in the mail today. I have run a DV tape forward and back in it several times and so far, so good. It still plays back without a glitch.

This little rewinder fits in the palm of my hand and is running on 4 AAA batteries. You can buy an optional AC adaptor for it that outputs 6 volts DC, 500 Ma. It runs smooth and quietly. The cassette is easy to insert and it's best to tip it up and let gravity pull it out.
It is said to have a smart sensor that shuts it off, before it might crash at the tape end. This seemed to work.

It's advertized as running through a 60-min. tape in 2 minutes. It took 2 min., 15 sec. to fast-forward and 2 min.
24 sec. to rewind. Perhaps it would be a bit faster on an AC adaptor. If it drains the batteries too fast, I will dig one out of my parts bin and use it. But, the batteries make it handy. You could take it into the field and at home, it doesn't occupy a scarce AC outlet.

I also have a Solidex 8mm/Hi-8 rewinder that has worked for 15 years and has never damaged a tape. However, it is difficult to fit a cassette into it just right and it's tempermental in getting it to engage and start. The Sima SRW-62 has no such problems and is much faster. I'll wait a couple of months before I pass full judgement on it, but for now, I see no reason not to give it a good rating. Thanks to Ken T. for suggesting it.

Seeing a notice of your follow-up post to this thread I couldn't help cringing. I really didn't want to read that your new Sima arrived with a big appetite.

Delighted to learn the contrary, Steve! That's a true "tip" on ejecting the tape, too.

I just received a Lenmar MDV66 rewinder...from the specifications I assumed it would slow near the end like Ken's Sima unit...but it don't. I'm a little concerned about using this rewinder. Has anyone used this model for sometime? Any problems?

Mark, even when a tape rewinder is specified as "slowing" near the end of the reel, it doesn't really slow in the sense that it reduces its drive speed. What actually happens is that it senses the clear leader several inches from the end and stops. This causes the tape to be almost or completely motionless when the leader section reaches its end. I don't know if your Lenmar model does this or not. To test my rewinder, I ran an old, unimportant tape back and forth near the end a dozen times, to see if it would be damaged. With my Sima rewinder, I could detect no problem with this tape.
If you used a DV tape more often than this, it might develop degradation from other causes.

How these little rewinders sense the leader, I don't know. A VCR has a continuously burning little light that shines through the transparent leader and triggers a sensor that stops the tape.
VCRs also have "smart" tape position awareness that slows the drive motor some distance from the tape's end.

Someone needs to sacrifice their rewinder to dissect it and analyze its mechanisms, so the rest of us will be informed about this.

I have an old S-VHS camcorder with a small tape-inspection window in its cassette hatch door. Several times when I was shooting in late afternoon and bright sunlight was coming at a low angle, it abruptly stopped recording.
Only after some time, did it dawn on me that the sunlight was going in at just the right angle to strike the tape-end sensor and shut it down. I solved this, by putting a piece of tape over the window. If you have a VCR opened to inspect its tape drive in motion, you have to be careful where you shine a flashlight or even let a bright overhead light penetrate, as the drive motor can be stopped by it.

Steve McDonald