We've made magnetic tape at home, and it (sort of) works. I was hoping to improve its quality, but so far I had no progress in the last month, so might as well share what me and @yottatsa managed to do, plus some thoughts on the topic.

Edit: now there's videos: https://tech.lgbt/@nina_kali_nina/111286617790635607

🧵 (next posts will be unlisted)

Nina Kalinina (@[email protected])

Attached: 3 images I know some of you are here for the tapes, right? So, more experiments with DIY tapes! First, a GIF of actually making the tape - applying Fe3O4 over regular scotch tape. Fe3O4 - black iron oxide or Mars Black - actually resulted in a very good tape! I've made a few recordings and posted them on YouTube. I have no cable to capture the audio from the reel deck, so: 0) No tape, audio playback from my laptop over Elizabethan's tube amplifier - sort of a baseline of the quality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSGPdbGg2f4 1) Playing the very same song from Fe3O4 tape that I made this evening - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl1x1X-kgWU 2) And now Fe3O4 tape made out of paper and glue - it sheds like crazy, the glue needs to be replaced or baked https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K4qBm3tucTI Cleaning up the Fe3O4 - black pigment - from all over the desk was not fun. Thank you my beloved @[email protected] for helping a lot with it. If I were to use paper tape again, I'd run the whole length of the tape between two sponges before running it in the deck.

LGBTQIA+ and Tech
@nina_kali_nina @yottatsa why would you want to make magnetic tape?
@Ladybelle @yottatsa why wouldn't we want to make it? :3 It's fun, it's totally useless for capitalism, it can be used for art, it can find applications in permacomputing!
@nina_kali_nina @yottatsa where can I get some?😃
@Ladybelle most art shops stock on Mars Black ink pigment and sticky tape!
@nina_kali_nina that’s great! I think I’m a little beyond being able to do something like that at this age but I’m glad you can.