20 Jul
2018
20 Jul
'18
11:16 p.m.
I seem to remember the original QIC11 standard was (or at least included) a
4 track version. And the later 9 track format kept those 4 tracks in the
same
place and put 5 more, one on each side and 3 between them if you see what
I mean.
So unless you need to read 2 tracks simultaneously (e.g. becuase it uses
the
encoded where a pulse on one track is a '0', a pulse on the other is a
'1'
and
pulses on both together are a marker) you can probably get the data off
the tape
with a raw 4 track or 9 track drive and a custom controller.
That didn't work when AJ read my S8000 tapes at least. Some of the tracks
had to be read a few stepper motor steps off the nominal track to give a
good read.
And I did the decoding in software. No custom conroller hardware.
/Mattis
-tony