28 Jan
2015
28 Jan
'15
9:27 a.m.
On Jan 28, 2015, at 08:56, Al Kossow <aek at
bitsavers.org> wrote:
I'm guessing the safest way to
do this will be to cut the band and carefully lift the band and reels off of the hubs,
then lay the
tape out flat on a paper towel and wet the parts that are stuck to the binder.
I think it may be safer to wet the tape (assuming that works) without straightening it
first. It seems to me that straightening it could apply enough force along the tape axis
to pull off the oxide.
When I get a chance, I'll look through my smallish pile of TU58 tapes to see if I have
any other not-so-precious ones with stuck bands to try.
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of trying to boot my VAX from the most precious tapes
without any special preparation, so if any of those had stuck but not broken bands, then
those tapes have already shed oxide. Hopefully in a non-critical area of the tapes, but
Murphy suggests otherwise.
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/