DAT tape lengths

[Donald D Rice]

In article <1991May15.154453.26014 at mlb.semi.harris.com> dcb at dave.mis.semi.harris.com (Dave Brillhart) writes:
>I'm looking at a TLZ04 drive.
>
>It says 60m in the tape.

This brings up a question.  I'm using Genuine Digital DATs, which are marked
as being 60m, which I would interpret as 60 meters.  In various supply
catalogs, though, you can buy DATs marked as 60, 90, or 120.  Are these
numbers referring to lengths in meters or times in minutes?  Since traditional
audio cassettes come in 60, 90, and 120 minute sizes, the DAT markings are
kind of ambiguous.

If 60 is the "standard DAT," what would be the effect of using the longer
tapes?  More capacity?  More fouled tapes?  Is there a distinction between
tapes for audio and tapes for data in the DAT world?  I haven't seen much in
the way of audio DAT equipment, so I don't know if there are a lot of
different grades of DATs available as there are for audio and video
cassettes.

-- 
Don Rice                                  Internet: ddr at flux.isr.alaska.edu
Geophysical Institute                     E-mail:   fnddr at alaska.bitnet
University of Alaska                      Phone:    (907) 474-7569
Fairbanks, AK 99775                       Loran:    64.86N 212.16E