11 Dec
2025
11 Dec
'25
12:04 p.m.
Well I've not placed one into an 1131 console since oh... the summer of
1968, but they do look 1130 disks.
The 1131 drive is quite mechanically complex (voice coil and ratchet),
watched an IBM SE (in white shirt and tie, with Tek portable scope) open
one for servicing.
See more at http://ibm1130.org
Contrast with the Wang calculator disk drive which looks like a little
top loader, you took the platter out of a paper sleeve, gave it little
wet pad wipe and dropped it onto the spindle. No cartridge at all. At
the time I was struck by the different platter packaging approaches.
-Robert
On 12/11/25 7:33 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
On Dec 10, 2025, at 8:02 PM, Kurt Nowak via
cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Hey all -
I came across a big box of 12 of these disks which my dad acquired through
work back in the 70s, and squirreled them away in the attic after they had
copied the data. 4 of them have a broken metal access door. I opened one of
the broken ones (in a clean of an environment as possible) to see what was
going on inside. It looks like the door is held on by plastic divets that
have broken off. They might be able to be repaired with small screws. I
have no idea if these are functional or not. I am offering them up for free
for anyone that can use them. I'm willing to ship or you pick up in San
Diego.
Here is a link to photos of them:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wnzqjAtiq44MGU-wDJR-AQdzu-Mkyii8?us…
-Kurt
They look like 12 sector packs, so while they probably are not RK05
formatted given IBM ancestry they would likely be useable in an RK05 drive. The
"access door" is just a shutter for the air inlet, to keep the dust out. If the
door is missing the platter isn't as protected but would still be useable. That
assumes of course that there is no contact between door and platter when the pack is
installed in a drive.
If I had an RK05, or a 360 model 44 :-) I'd be interested.
What system were these used on? I see a label that says "1130".
paul