4 Mar
2017
4 Mar
'17
1:39 p.m.
On 03/04/2017 01:27 PM, Mark J. Blair via cctalk wrote:
I mostly remember the shop-vacuum-like whine of the
vacuum pump, and
the fluttery thwack of the tape loops forming on load-up. The other
tape motion sounds didn't stick in my memory so much. I do remember
the buzzy grind of the capstan motors on the C240's tape drive; I
don't recall whether that drive's OEM was Fujitsu or Hitachi, but I
found it quite enjoying to watch as an engineering student.
You could tell from across a noisy computer room when one of the guys
was running the tape I/O section of the Navy COBOL audit tests. The
short-record section made a 607 or 657 tape drive sing quite loudly. I
believe that attribute was used for the CDC rendition of "Anchors Aweigh"...
--Chuck