1 Mar
2026
1 Mar
'26
1:45 p.m.
On Mar 1, 2026, at 3:56 PM, Martin Bishop via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Fan fold tape was used in DEC PC05 readers and suchlike see eg
https://retrocmp.com/stories/dec-pc05-papertape/242-dec-pc05-working-with-p…
Any DEC diagnostic, of the PT era, I have ever seen was issued on fan fold - much of
DEC's PT oeuvre is available online
I have fond recollections of using fan fold diagnostics etc etc on a DG Nova 2. Always
looking for bad memory ... Found it all too often.
Great technology until it spills, then you have to re-fold it by hand ...
Personally, I have always prefered the dump in dustbin (literally), respool on hand
winder technology.
Many hours spent plotting mainframe generated tapes on Nova - BC "before
comms", ie < ~ 1980
Martin
Yes, that's the approach I saw first. The EL-X8 had 3 readers, each capable of over
1000 characters per second, which is pretty amazing for 1964 technology. More amazing
still, they could stop and restart on command, without missing characters. In other
words, the stop/start combined required less than 1 ms, the time between consecutive
frames on the tape.
I'm pretty sure that shop had powered tape winders, because winding long strings of
paper by hand power would get pretty tiring during a full shift. After all, this was a
batch system with all input -- programs and data -- on paper tape, so during a given shift
the operators probably handled a hundred tapes, maybe more.
paul