Reel to Reel Tape Running Times

If you have own old reel to reel tapes, then it’s useful to know how long they’re going to run for. Unfortunately it’s not that straight forward to find out. There are several different speeds that tapes might have been recorded at, and even the diameter of the tape reel isn’t much of a clue. For example there could be anything between 1200 and 2400 feet of tape on a 7 inch reel (this is achieved by the tape itself varying in thickness – 2400 feet on a 7inch reel is pretty thin and much more prone to damage) ,plus of course there are all the different recording speeds to consider as well. The table below gives you a guide as to what tape running times to expect – unfortunately the only way to find out for sure is to play the tape, unless some considerate person had the foresight to label it up!