Hard Sector Diskettes, was Re: Northstar Horizon

---snip--- Hi There is a problem with Heiko's and that is that you have to remove the disk from the envelope. I created a jig that I use to punch holes that I made from an old SA400 disk frame. It has the advantage that one can punch the holes while still in the envelope. I put some small aluminum blocks where the optical sensor and LED used to be. I have detents on the flywheel that correspond to the locations where the holes should be. I use the shank of a #93 ( I think that is the right size ) bit as the punch. This I sharpened such that it has two flukes, similar to what a paper punch has. To punch disk, I rotate the floppy to expose the index. I slide the drill shank through one of the holes in the punch block and the disk index hole. I rotate the flywheel to the detent that corresponds to the index and close the disk door. This clamps the disk on the spindle, and aligns the index. I then rotate the flywheel and punch each hole as indicated by the detents on the flywheel. It is slow but on can create about one a minute this way. I've checked the alignement of my detents by observing on an oscilloscope. I've used these disk on both my H89 and my Poly 8813. They work fine. I have a N* but haven't had time to play with it. I do have a machine that uses 32 hard sectored 8 inch disk. I've not had the need to create more disk for it yet. I suspect I could make a similar punch from an old disk drive frame. Dwight _________________________________________________________________ View Athlete?s Collections with Live Search http://sportmaps.live.com/index.html?source=hmemailtaglinenov06&FORM=MG…