5 Mar
2004
5 Mar
'04
8:23 a.m.
More trivia -- everyone knows 8-channel tape, and a
lot of people
(older hams especially) know 5-channel tape. There is also 6-channel
tape. It's rather specialized -- you find it in early automated
That 6 channel typestter tape is strange in one other way. In all other
paper tapes, the centres of the data and sproket holes like on a line
across the tape. On typesetter tape, the leading edges of the holes line
up, not the centres.
This means you can't punch it on a normal punch, no matter what you do
with the edge guides. You need a special die block. Most punch
manufacturers made them (for example there's a special version of the
Facit 4070), but they're not common.
In theory you need a special read head too, but in practice a normal one
will work. However you do need to fiddle with the edge guides...
-tony