4 Oct
2004
4 Oct
'04
3:50 p.m.
Paul Koning observes:
Are the DECtape marks 6 bits even on the PDP-8? That
would be
strange, it would mean there would be two mark words per 3 data words.
Strange but true. I got the info from a DEC _Small Computer Handbook_ for
1967, and confirmed it in a later 8/I edition because it didn't make
sense to me either. :) It does show kind of an odd overlap, but
evidently they liked it anyway.
What machine did DEC first use DECtape (not LINCtape) for? If it was
something with an 18-bit word length maybe it would make sense, but I
remember reading somewhere that it was first used on the PDP-5...
-O.-