11 Dec
2005
11 Dec
'05
7:14 p.m.
I don't know about the content, but units that
used these cassette tapes to
simulate a paper tape reader or punch were not uncommon in the early-to-mid
Probably the most common was a verstion of the TI Silent 700. It had a
box fitted on top containing 2 tape drives and a handful of boards of
logic to control them. You could use them like punches or readers
(save/load data either locally or to the line, copy data between the 2
tapes, 1 character at a time I think, etc).
As an aside, I bought a Microwriter the other day. It contains an 1802
processor. While looking for the user manual for that chip (I found it),
I came across the manual for the RCA developemnt sysetm for the 1802.
Said manual contains scheamtics and ROM sources, BTW. And in the same box
were the binary paper tapes for the editor and assembler and a cassette
containing the same stuff to be read on such a Silent 700
Another format (or at least I think it's another format) used the full
width of the tape in one go and recorded 2 tracks. A pulse on one track
was a '0'. A pulse on the other track was a '1'. A pulse on both tracks
together was some kind of marker. The HP9830 uses this format, the
'maker' being na end-of-byte marker. I think other machines used it for
end-of-file or similar.
-tony