Re: CBM 8280

From: William Levak (wlevak_at_cyberspace.org)
Date: 1999-09-05 01:31:55

On Sat, 4 Sep 1999, Radioactive Warrior wrote:

> How strong a feild do those home bulk-erasers generate?  I don't own one
> but I have seen my friend use his to blank audio tape.  How long does it
> take for the field orient all the media particles (10 sec? 100 sec?)
> Does it help at all to rotate the disk around the field many times to
> 'exercise' the particles or dosen't it matter?

Bulk erasers come in many sizes and configurations.  Whether you must
rotate the disk depends on the geometry of the magnetic field.  Ones that
use electomagnets are more efficient than ones using permanent magnets.
The electromagnet changes the magnetic field 120 (or 100) times per
second.  It is this changing field that counteracts the residual field.
I use an eraser designed for video tapes.  This is powerful enough to
easily penetrate floppy disks and audio tapes with little effort.
The usual procedure is to move the disk or the bulk eraser in a circular
motion and gradually pull the eraser away from the disk.  Doing this 2 or
3 times is generally enough to restore a disk to "new" condition.
Military security specifications prescribe the field strength and the
number of times to bulk erase in order to get a complete erase for each
type of media.  If these specifications are followed, residual data cannot
be recovered even with the most sophisticated equipment.  After all, that
is the point of the specifications.

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