9 Track Tape Drive Interface Variants

24 Jul 2011

...
   You did fit
the shipping lock to the RK05 positioner before moving it,
 I hope. 
 No, unfortunately I forgot about that. 
Oh well... And I think it's safe to assume that the retract battery is 
dead by now too...

...

  if the heads have moved forwards onto the
platter,
 both will probably be damaged :-( 
 Probably. I'll see. 
OK, remvoe the top cover of the RK05. If you are lucky, the postiioner 
will be 'home' and the haeds lifted off the platter. If not, I think I 
would try carefully raiding them (plastic tools) before slidling the 
positioner coil hoome. Then get the pack out (either by removing the base 
and front panel and oeprating the lock by hand, or by powering up the 
drive). Inspect the heads and platter very carefully before trying it out.

Replacement RK05 heads are not impossible to find (they're easier than, 
say, HP7900 heads). But you fit them you need an alignment disk, and 
those are decidedly rare.

-tony

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9 Track Tape Drive Interface Variants