WTD: 9 track open reel for PDP-11

On 12/28/18 2:57 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: I once rode on an USAF general's jet with a load of 844 packs. That probably was pretty good bandwidth for the time... One thing that escapes many who have never "been there" is that tape is *cheap* compared to other forms of storage for the same time. Government, institutions and corporations didn't just buy them by the pallet-load; they bought them by the truckload. Another thing often not considered is that open-reel tape is extremely durable. Use a reel for a year or two, have it cleaned and recertified, and you're off and running. Usually, during the process, the tapes got shorter, as they tended to wear more at the beginning of the reel. Discard the dicey section, put on a new BOT marker and you're good for another year or two. A five-to-ten year working life on a reel of tape was not unusual at all. Let's see you do that with your LTO carts! --Chuck