Abstract: In an automatically operated magnetic tape equipment, sudden and important variations of mechanical tension are applied to the tape. In order to prevent any risks of rupture of the tape, an automatic damping of such variations is ensured by establishing that portion of the wall of the duct inputting the chamber of the receiver spool in the form of a resilient arrangement retracting from the duct when the tape which is guided therein is the subject of such a sudden increase of its mechanical tension. A mechanically actuated electrical contact, a part of a tape presence detector, is combined with this resilient arrangement.