22 Jul
2011
22 Jul
'11
12:47 p.m.
On 07/22/2011 01:08 PM, Jochen Kunz wrote:
Got a PDP-11/34 today. It came with a RK05, a
Tektronix 4012 + hard
copy unit and a Western Peripherals TC-130 9 track tape controller.
Unfortunately I had to leave the actual tape drive behind. No space
left on /dev/car and way to heavy for my herniated intervertebral
disk...
Fantastic haul! Can you go back with help for the tape drive?
Now the problem: I own a Cipher 880 9 track tape with
Pertec interface.
It works well on my QBus VAXen and the PDP-11/73. So I am used to the
2 x 50 pin cables / connectors found along the Pertec interface. But
the TC-130 tape controller has one 50 pin cable labeled "control", a 26
pin cable labeled "read" and a 26 pin cable labeled "write". There
are
two connector adapters to adapt the 26 pin cables to 36 pin connectors.
I found the TC-130 manual on bitsavers. From a quick look at the signal
names the interface of the TC-130 is not Pertec. But what else?
Is there any way to connect the TC-130 to my Cipher 880?
There are two types of "Pertec" tape interface: Formatted and
unformatted. The formatted interface has two connectors, and the
unformatted interface is the three-connector control/read/write
interface. Your formatted-interface F880 won't be able to connect to
the TC-130.
More motivation to go back for that tape drive!
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL