26 Mar
2021
26 Mar
'21
1:43 p.m.
Paul,
? You are correct, the Whirlwind tape was only seven tracks wide, with
the same pitch as what became eight-track tape.
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/whirlwind/Whirlwind_Paper_Tape_Format.pdf
? I'll admit that I was expecting it to be hard to find someone with an
eight-track punch and blank tape, without even trying for seven track...
There are a few of the original Flexowriters out there somewhere, but
I'm certainly not going to try using one.? The tape is for "pedagogical"
purposes, so indeed seven would be better than eight, but eight will do
fine.
? But if you can suggest a way to punch a seven track paper tape, I'm
glad to give it a try!
? And if we do end up with eight track tape, I'll be sure to add an
attaboy for anyone else who notices!
? Thanks!
/guy
On 3/26/2021 4:02 PM, Paul Koning wrote:
On Mar 26, 2021, at 3:31 PM, Guy Fedorkow via
cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
wow, what format?
The codes I'm punching should line up with a long-dead machine,
Whirlwind from MIT, so I think you'd consider them to be 7-track binary,
i.e., same size as an 8-track teletype tape with one track blank, but no
recognizable coding like ASCII.
Some machines used 7-track paper tape that is
narrower than 8 track tape. I thought Whirlwind was one of those.
paul