Excitement builds..... and then is crushed ...

[Scorpion8]

Don't ya just hate that? Here, I pick up this tape today at the SA. It's your basic mass Type-I. But excitement? Only because it signified a tape source near geographically that just may be a source for tapes. So I grabbed it...

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p141/Scorpion008/SCAN0028.jpg

Lo' and behold, ATP apparently has gone out of business. I found an address, but their phone line has been disconnected. Darn, darn, darn!

As it turns out it's not a bad tape. Akin to a Maxell Communicator series. Probably great for voice, and there was some Russian language tutorial recording on it (since erased). Quiet though, with very little noise when no NR was used.

But dang! I was hoping ATP would be an new marketing source.

[Web Police]

Damn, that is always my hope too.

[Scorpion8]

The shell is actually quite nice. Substantial, not flimsy. And a 5-screw design, with mu-shield behind the tape head gap. They weren't el-cheapo tapes. I wonder if they got bought up or acquired?

[Des-Lab]

Those shells look suspiciously similar to the 70's and early 80's Maxell LN and UD tapes sans the "Made In USA" stamp in the mold. Wonder if there is any other commonality?

[MacGyver]

i have one of those myself, if i recall correctly. i may have gotten rid of it the last time i did a tape culling, though. i'll have to do some digging and find out...

[braxus]

A lot of Radio Shack tapes also used a shell like this one. I suspect that shell design was fairly standard among manufacturers in the 70s and early 80s.

[Scorpion8]

Found another one, this one has a slightly different shell. Still, very thick and stiff. The "Made in USA" molding is in a different spot.

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p141/Scorpion008/ATPC-60Type-ITape02.jpg

Dang, I wish these guys were still around to pester ...

[MacGyver]

yep, i definitely 86ed all the oddball no-name el-cheapo tapes in my collection a while back, including that ATP...