3 Jan
2017
3 Jan
'17
11:14 a.m.
In a message dated 1/3/2017 11:11:54 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
elson at pico-systems.com writes:
On 01/03/2017 10:58 AM, Cory Heisterkamp wrote:
While waiting for the machine, I decided to
investigate the stuck drum.
This unit has 71 read/write heads plus what appears to be an inductive
pickup for the system clock. Upon closer examination I discovered
multiple
heads in contact with the drum surface preventing
rotation. And in the
process of removing the mounting bars that secure the heads only then did
damage become visible on a couple of tracks (scored oxide under the
heads).
Most likely the same issue as the G-15 we had. Dust was
allowed to get into the drum area and pack under the heads.
Probably if you pull the heads and clean them, it will
restore clearance. Of course, the bearings may be bad, or
will have to be replaced anyway as the grease may have hardened.
What I?m wondering is if anyone is familiar with the setup/adjustment
procedure for getting the heads set correctly. There *might* be a couple
of
unused tracks I can relocate heads to, but my thought
is that if half a
dozen heads were already in contact, then the rest may be perilously
close
as well (swelled drum?). My odds of setting 71 heads
perfectly on a 50
year
old worn drum is?well?not great.
If the drum can be set up to run true again (may need
attention to bearings) then I think setting the heads up
won't be that tough. I suspect it is done with a feeler
gauge, this is low-resolution stuff with large gaps in the
heads, so the heads probably run with a gap of at least
.005" (~ 0.1mm) (I'd think, without actually knowing).
For kicks, I tried to use a piece of cheap (=thin) (0.004?) notebook
paper
as a feeler gage to see if I could identify the
offending heads prior to
support removal. This was a no-go as clearance was too tight. So, is it
true these ride 0.001? off the surface?
Well, it could be. That sounds really
close for the vintage
involved. So, maybe the drum or oxide has swelled. Anyway,
if there is much damage to the oxide, it may not make sense
to try to repair it. if the heads that jammed it left
divots in the drum, or the surface is uneven (likely if
swelling actually occurred) then it may require extreme
efforts to repair.
I suspect with temp and humidity changes, and given the age, I would be
better off building a solid state drum emulator for the 4KW mem, but
retaining the drum for the clock and possibly the 3 fast registers..if I
can get those (7) heads set correctly.
Why not just replace the whole works? If you are going to
replace the long lines with electronic memory, doing the
short lines and the clock track should be trivial. I think
a mid-sized FPGA could do it all quite easily.
My guess is that if the surface is uneven, it may not read
back data reliably. The high spots might be fine, the low
spots will have dropouts. This is all assuming swelling was
the culprit.
It is also possible that machined parts suffered stress
relief over the years. Wrought metal has stress imparted to
it when rolled, and then machining will partially relieve
the stresses, causing warpage. The warping continues over
time. To eliminate this, critical parts are machined close
to size, heat treated to relieve the stress, and then finish
ground to exact dimensions. It is possible some of the
stress wasn't relieved during manufacture.
And, nobody expected a 195x machine to be running in 2017,
especially as anybody in the computer business knew those
transistors were right around the corner, and would almost
certainly replace tubes.
Jon
Cory - then what holds the oxide to the drum? Horrible thoughts of what
happens to binder layers on mag tape... flaking, sticky shed....
ecccshhh!
I deal with this problem all the time on some of the historic video
tape we have done conversion on out of our media lab.....