6 Apr
2019
6 Apr
'19
2:11 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk <cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org> On Behalf Of Chuck Guzis via
cctalk
Sent: 06 April 2019 01:46
To: Paul Koning via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: Re: Storage for 1/2" open reel tape
On 4/5/19 5:31 PM, Paul Koning via cctalk wrote:
Honeywell had it on their systems as well. It was great when it worked but sometimes a
tape wouldn't load....
If this works, which is most of the time,
it's a great time saver. As an
operator you just hang the reel on the spindle,
hit "load" and walk away to
the next task.
I think IBM may have originated this magic; several of the later DEC tape
drives
supported it as well (TU77 and TU/TA78, if memory serves).
Univac had an interesting setup for Uniservo tape
drives--I see a lot of reels
with a short (maybe 6") "leader" with a hole spliced onto tapes.
I'm not sure how that worked--but on many, if not most of the reels I've
seen, the splicing tape has dried out and the little leader just falls right off.
IBM and Honeywell tapes usually had a little dimple in the end so it didn't stick
down.
There was a special tape cutter you could get that rounded off the end and put the dimple
in,
--Chuck
Dave