21 Dec
2012
21 Dec
'12
11:58 a.m.
On 12/21/2012 11:23 AM, Chris Tofu wrote:
I'm looking at this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shugart-model-801-8-Floppy-Drive-/230897115754?pt=U…
and it seems to be very similar to the drives in my Intel MDS box
(blue if that matters, and that's all I have of an MDS system). The
listing calls it a Shugart 801. I seem to recall Fred stating that a
S* 800 was a *good* drive to utilize w/some peecee disk controllers.
Is an 801 also *good*? I e-mailed the seller intending to grill some
info out of him.
I think it's safe to say that the SA801 was probably the most
widely-used 8" drive during the 1970s. Be aware, however, that it's a
single-sided drive.
The SA801 differs from the SA800 mostly in that the 801 has some added
circuitry for separating index from sector holes on hard-sectored media
and write-protect sensing is standard (it was an option on the SA800).
AFAIK, all of the MDS boxes from the 800 on, used SA801s.
If you pick a used one up, be certain to check the almost bewildering
number of customer cuts/jumpers on the PCB before deploying the
unit--and redoing them if needed. There were some pretty strangely
set-up drives around in those days.
Bitsavers has a nice collection of reference material on both drives.
--Chuck