13 Oct
2015
13 Oct
'15
11:28 a.m.
From: Paul Koning
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2015 7:55 AM
> On Oct 12, 2015, at 9:16 PM, Rich Alderson
<RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org>>
> wrote:
> ...
> The M tracks are longitudinally encoded (6-bit values chosen such that
> they read the same as NRZ backwards and forwards for DECtape, 4-bit
> values for LINCtape) to predefine blocks (cf. disk sectors) for data.
More precisely: it's Manchester encoding, not NRZ.
The result is that
mark track codes are complemented and reversed end for end if you read
them in the opposite order.
OK, what I had readily to hand was the TC02 DECtape Control maintenance
manual (from the PDP-9 series, DEC-09-I3CD-D), where page 2-3 states:
Data is recorded by the Manchester method in which a prerecorded
timing track synchronizes read/write operations. When writing on
the tape, the write amplifiers supply the maximum current in either
one direction or the other (non-return to zero, NRZ).
So yes, you're correct to observe that NRZ is not as important as Manchester
in a description of *reading* the data. Thank you for the correction.
Rich
Rich Alderson
Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer
Living Computer Museum
2245 1st Avenue S
Seattle, WA 98134
mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org
http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/