30 May
2013
30 May
'13
11:35 a.m.
I regard the QX10 as being one of the best CP/M machines. It's quite
solid design.
I always think of it as a bit 'cute' - CP/M machines should be in big metal
crates with backplanes and separate boards for different functional areas! :-) From a design point of view it does seem well
thought out, though.
I suspoepct that spares are about as easy to obtain as for most floppy
drives :-(. Have you tried to order repalcement heads for any drive recently?
More seriously. yes, the heads can waar out, and they are unobtaianble.
There are a couple of ASICs in the control system, but I;'ve never hadn
them fail. It is possibe to rebuild the positioend nad spindle motor, but
it's a lot of work. I guess the most likely thign to fail is the dribve
belt, I am sure that can be kludged.
[...]
And I _love_ those 1/3 height floppy drives (I
assuem
you've examined one, the head psoitoner is a voice coil with optical
feedback, like a miniature RK05 positioner.
Yes, they're wonderful little things, but I do worry about how robust they
might be (and how easy it is to obtain* spares should one die in some
horrible way). I am tempted to disconnect them and run the data cable -
* I'm not sure if the 1/3 height drives that Torch used in some of their
systems are the same - if they are, I possibly still have some of those in
overseas storage.
The drives in the XXX, Graduate, etc are Epson, but they're half-height
and use a stepper motor to move the heads. They also ahve a direct-drive
spindle IITC. There are schematics for them in my XXX diagrams if I gave
you a set of those. But I don;t think any non-triivla parts exchange with
the drives in the QX10
-tony