Hi GUEST Arthur.
Oh Dear, Wish I had good news for you....Here goes.

DAT M/C's are nowadays an "unsupported" recording medium.
This means that nobody makes the buggers anymore.
(Think BetaMax, and you'll get the picture, or not!)
I have 400 plus Dats to transfer....Yes, I've got 4 DAT m/c's, only one of which really works, and is constantly wrapped in cotton wool.

I Really do understand your predicament. But, spare a thought for the good old BBC, who are currently trying to transfer their entire sound archive onto hard drives etc.

Something like 400,000 hours on DAT alone (Leaving the millions of miles of tape to one side)

Officially, DAT machines are only good for about 5000 hours (either record or playback), After that either the heads wear out, the tolerances of the transport systems fail (The same technology as a VHS recorder), or the electronics and/or power supplies fail.

Jolly Nice!

Before I left the Beeb two years ago, a colleague, who had taken on the poisoned chalice of the "Archive" was frenetically scouring Europe trying to buy up any DAT machines left...... I wonder if he managed it?

You might be lucky enough to find a decent machine on E Bay, but, as time goes on, they will become increasingly rare.

I'm desperately trying to transfer all my stuff onto other media, before the machines die. I wish you luck, but, do it soon.

Ever heard of Dinosaurs?? Well you own one, and, I own Four!!

Good Luck to you, I wish you well

Regards Ralphie