21 Sep
2014
21 Sep
'14
9:23 p.m.
Mark,
Thanks for the recommendation. I have tons of PCs sitting around so building
a dedicated imaging system out of one is not an issue. In regards to buying
the first 8" drive that comes my way, well I am not sure how well that will
work out given my experience with the 51TD. :) What I need to do is come up
with a list of drives that support DD, DS 8" disks and have a Shugart
interface and then bid my time finding a good price on one of them.
-Ali
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of Mark J. Blair
Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2014 1:10 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: Using an 8" drive on a PC (WAS RE: "Smartcom II" package
On Sep 21, 2014, at 12:16 , Ali <cctalk at fahimi.net> wrote:
While I appreciate the compliment (it was a compliment
right?)
building an Arduino board to make the 51TD work with an IBM controller
is not something that is even realistic for me without tons of
guidance and training. My best bet would be to get a drive that works
directly (after building an adapter for the cabling) with an IBM
controller. If that is a Shugart SA900 or QumeTrack 242 or whatever
might get me from point A to point B faster. I was hoping the 51TD
would work just as easily as I have 4 of them lying around but that is my
luck...
Yup, I can understand why inquiring about using the 51TD was your first
impulse, since that's what you happen to have sitting around. Something with
a Shugart interface will be easier to hook up to either a PC or to dedicated
imaging hardware like a KryoFlux. Whether you choose to use a PC or
specialized hardware is a matter of personal preference and convenience; I
use a KryoFlux since my daily-driver computer is a Mac, while you might find
it easier to use a PC if you already have a suitable PC system. If you don't
already have one, an FDADAP board from D-Bit will come in handy. D-Bit also
sells a power supply adapter that may come in handy; I didn't buy one of
those since the drive I set up for 8" imaging came in a powered enclosure.
Regarding which floppy drive to pick out, I don't think that will be
terribly critical. I'd say, pick out the first suitable drive that comes
along at a price you're willing to pay (that's the clincher, since 8" drives
seem to get listed at silly prices on eBay lately). I'd suggest a
double-sided drive since your System/23 boxes have double-sided drives. I
use a Tandon TM-848E since that's what I happened to buy off eBay.
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/