17 Nov
2006
17 Nov
'06
8:53 p.m.
"Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
I've had this thing kicking around for a very long
time and could
never figure out a use for it. It's an ALF 811 diskette copier and
copies 96 tpi 5.25" diskettes. It seems not to care a bit if the
floppies are FM or MFM or if they're DD or HD. It will NOT copy 48
tpi media.
It's eBay item 320050592195.
It's kind of cute, but since there is no way to retain an image of a
diskette, just the physical media, it hasn't been terribly useful.
I do note what looks like an empty socket for a MAX232 next to a
header on the PCB, so it's possible that there's an RS-232 interface
that I'm not aware of.
If there is a RS-232 type interface, it is probably to an automatic
floppy disk changer. It feeds blanks in and stacks copies out.
The 3.5" changers were kinda nifty, but the 5.25"
and 8" floppy changers were moderately cantankerous, combining
the worst parts of a sheet feeder with the worst parts of a card
hopper.
Tim.