My experience with cassette tapes goes back to 1969.  That experience
causes me to disagree with Dan.  I relate the sound of squielling tapes to
a tape that is much worn.  I do not know the exact cause.  Perhaps it
relates to the cartridge in which the tape is housed.

It is always a good idea to clean tape heads and capstin drives on
machines.  They will wear longer and they will not muffle the sound of the
tape if they are dirty.  I use grain alcohol for this purpose. I wet a cue
tip with the alcohol and rub the wetted cotton on the heads and the
rubber of the capstin drive.   Tom Burgunder

On Mon, 29 Aug 2005, .dan. wrote:

> It means the head is worn and the machine should be replaced.  A temporary
> fix sometimes works.  Without a tape in the machine put it into play and
> then advance both speed controls to full.  Using a cloth press it against
> the wheel and shaft that are turning near the front of the opening for a
> few seconds to wipe any material from them.  Then wipe the tape head which
> is a square thing protruding near the middle of the front of the tape
> opening to wipe any material that may have become attached. It is best to
> ask your lending library for a replacement even if the fix seems to work
> because the squeal will start soon again.
>
>                                XB
>                                 IC|XC
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> To join or leave the list, send a message to
> [log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
> "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
>  VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
> http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
>


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html