RK05 alignment - without alignment pack?

With a good eyeball and a careful hand u can align to data. Since you have what you hope are calibrated drives, I would try taking a formatted pack on a good drive and writing 1F and 2F signals on alternate tracks, 2F on TK00, 1F on TK01, etc. (I don't know what the RK05 code is but 1F and 2F translates to some repetitive pattern). It is not necessary to do so on the whole pack, just circa TK00 and someplace in the middle of the pack. The analog signal will have a broad flat peak region as u move the heads across the track, so u can either eyeball the center of a track or better yet use a micrometer gauge to measure the region and then move it to the center. I'm not sure whether it is better to look at the entire track or two sectors 180 degrees apart. Depending upon the resolution of the recording system, the peak of a 2F should be about 0.7 of the 1F, so it should be obvious as u move across a track. Since you are liable to be several tracks off, the first thing you have to do is find Track Zero, which should be where the 1F/2F repetition starts. Once u get all the heads aligned at Track Zero, do it again at TK01 where you should have a clear track center (1F surrounded by 2F). Then move to the center and look at the signal again. You don't have to move the heads, just apply pressure to the carriage and see if you are more or less centered. The acid test is then when u read the pack :-) Tom