22 Jul
2006
22 Jul
'06
5:56 a.m.
On 7/22/06, Robert Armstrong <bob at jfcl.com> wrote:
Now if only there were some magic to keep a
TK50/TK70/TZ30 drive working
for more than ten minutes. And by "working", I mean anything that doesn't
require disassembly of the drive and the computer to free a jammed tape.
Actually reading the bits is more than I could hope for :-)
I had some serious problems with an external TK50 drive that came with
an original Failed Circus upgrade of a uVAX-I to uVAX-II ($20K in
1985? 1986?) of that nature. What did it for me was to fix
intermittent contact of the drive motor cables to the mainboard of the
drive - they use 0.1"-spacing right-angle press-in-type connectors
(don't recall the brand), the same style (but smaller size) as what
fails in the original BA-23 power harness. Unlike the power supply
harness, I don't think it's an overcurrent issue per se, but after 10+
years, the contacts don't seem to be as reliable as when they were
new.
Getting good power to the motors fixed the problem _I_ had with tapes
getting stuck in that particular drive. YMMV.
-ethan