22 Jan
2015
22 Jan
'15
8:39 a.m.
Need input from anyone that has a HP7970 tape drive mounted in a rack.
Fortunately, all my 7970's have come with the special mounting bracket. This
is not a part of the 7970 itself. It is a long flat metal bar that mounts on
the left of the rack. It bolts in from the front, and provides threaded
holes on the side further back in the rack. While the right side of the 7970
is bolted into the rack from the front, on the left side - you open the
chassis and bolt from inside the chassis on the left wall into the threaded
holes provided by this mounting bracket.
Given that, it would appear to me that mounting a 7970 WITHOUT that special
mounting bracket would not be easily done. I'd like to know if anyone has
mounted a 7970 in a rack without said bracket and if so - how did they do
it? Since I've always used HP racks and the special 7970 mounting bracket my
experience is probably blinded, but I don't see a way to do it without the
bracket.
Best,
J
10:37 a.m.
It was written...
-----
Me neither. I got the bracket for mine.
----
Ok, just making sure there wasn't some way to do it without the bracket that
I was overlooking. While I do have brackets for all mine, I am sure that at
some point I will get a unit I don't have a bracket for so I was
investigating having "modern brackets" made as a "just in case". If
there
was in fact no obvious other way to mount them - I figured people may want
me to get more than one made. Speak up quickly if you need one....
J
11:41 a.m.
I think I've one without a bracket, but I have to check it when I 'm at home this
weekend.
-Rik
-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: "Jay West" <jwest at classiccmp.org>
Verzonden: ?22-?1-?2015 16:37
Aan: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>
Onderwerp: RE: calling all HP7970 tape owners....
It was written...
-----
Me neither. I got the bracket for mine.
----
Ok, just making sure there wasn't some way to do it without the bracket that
I was overlooking. While I do have brackets for all mine, I am sure that at
some point I will get a unit I don't have a bracket for so I was
investigating having "modern brackets" made as a "just in case". If
there
was in fact no obvious other way to mount them - I figured people may want
me to get more than one made. Speak up quickly if you need one....
J
11:44 a.m.
On 1/22/2015 7:37 AM, Jay West wrote:
It was written...
-----
Me neither. I got the bracket for mine.
----
Ok, just making sure there wasn't some way to do it without the bracket that
I was overlooking. While I do have brackets for all mine, I am sure that at
some point I will get a unit I don't have a bracket for so I was
investigating having "modern brackets" made as a "just in case". If
there
was in fact no obvious other way to mount them - I figured people may want
me to get more than one made. Speak up quickly if you need one....
J
I could use two brackets. I have three 7970's but only one has the bracket.
Bob
--
Dentopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it.
I've been practising it for years.
-Prince Philip
23 Jan
23 Jan
3:32 a.m.
Gee, my 7970E is still on a dolly. And definitely no bracket came with mine.
I hadn't realized I needed one. Looking at this monster drive, there is a
lip on the right side that you can access only if you swivel out the whole
front panel that holds the tape mechanism, as if you were servicing the
unit. That lip has the holes for mounting on the rack. So far so good. On
the left side though, there is just the hinges that allows the
aforementioned panel to swivel out. Right where the rack mounting holes
should be. No access there to screw anything! How the hell does the darn
bracket work? You'd attach the bracket first to the rack, then slide in the
drive and screw it in to the bracket *from the inside* of the opened unit,
while delicately balancing 130 pounds of tape drive? Yikes!
I think I am just saying I might need one bracket ;-)
Marc
-----Original Message-----
From: Jay West [mailto:jwest at classiccmp.org]
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2015 7:38 AM
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
Subject: RE: calling all HP7970 tape owners....
Ok, just making sure there wasn't some way to do it without the bracket that
I was overlooking. While I do have brackets for all mine, I am sure that at
some point I will get a unit I don't have a bracket for so I was
investigating having "modern brackets" made as a "just in case". If
there
was in fact no obvious other way to mount them - I figured people may want
me to get more than one made. Speak up quickly if you need one....
J
7:26 a.m.
Marc wrote...
----
[snip] How the hell does the darn bracket work? You'd attach the bracket
first to the rack, then slide in the drive and screw it in to the bracket
*from the inside* of the opened unit, while delicately balancing 130 pounds
of tape drive? Yikes!
----
Yep. Fortunately, the one that I am actively using was already mounted in
its final rack when I got it. For expediency, I've just been moving the
cable to different systems as I need it. But for the current system build, I
have to mount one "from scratch" so am going to go through the process you
describe soon. I'm betting the rack wheels need to be chocked.
"Delicately balancing"... hah. I was going to mount the drive yesterday but
then decided I should check into having more brackets made so I'm sending my
bracket off for measurement/duplication (to see if it's even possible, it
may not be). The bracket has a lip that the drive sets on while you do the
bolting so it may not be "that bad". If the bracket can be duplicated, I'll
wait till copies are made. If not, once I get my bracket back, I'll go
through the process and let you know how it goes and if there's any tips I
discover/share to make it easier.
In the event that the lip doesn't help, my thought was to mount a couple of
the HP angle-iron rails (flat surface up!). That way the tape could sit on
this while you wrangle the bolts and then remove the angle-iron rails.
Here is a link to pictures of the bracket, in case someone has it laying
around but doesn't realize "this is what that's for"...
www.ezwind.net/hp2000/7970E/
The bracket is pictures 0520 through 0525
----
I think I am just saying I might need one bracket ;-)
----
You're added to the list, qty 1
J
9:13 a.m.
On 1/23/15 4:26 AM, Jay West wrote:
Marc wrote...
----
[snip] How the hell does the darn bracket work? You'd attach the bracket
first to the rack, then slide in the drive and screw it in to the bracket
*from the inside* of the opened unit, while delicately balancing 130 pounds
of tape drive? Yikes!
----
Yep.
This is exactly the way that Kennedy 9000 tape drives mount as well.
I wonder who copied who.
Pertec is similar WRT hanging from pegs, but they are castings which have the
nasty habit of cracking.
3:27 p.m.
On 2015-Jan-23, at 6:13 AM, Al Kossow wrote:
On 1/23/15 4:26 AM, Jay West wrote:
I have a HP 7970A, date codes 1970, that uses the same mounting bracket/method, if that
helps the determination.
The A is 800 BPI, darn it, so I can't R/W common 1600 BPI tapes.
Marc wrote...
----
[snip] How the hell does the darn bracket work? You'd attach the bracket
first to the rack, then slide in the drive and screw it in to the bracket
*from the inside* of the opened unit, while delicately balancing 130 pounds
of tape drive? Yikes!
----
Yep.
This is exactly the way that Kennedy 9000 tape drives mount as well.
I wonder who copied who. 
11:25 a.m.
On Fri, 23 Jan 2015, js at cimmeri.com wrote:
On 1/23/2015 7:26 AM, Jay West wrote:
I can attest that it can be done by one person, but I don't recommend
it. :-)
Mike Loewen mloewen at cpumagic.scol.pa.us
Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
In the event that the lip doesn't help,
It's a two person job, but the lip definitely helps. The hardest part is
just lifting the machine up.
3:29 p.m.
On 2015-Jan-23, at 8:25 AM, Mike Loewen wrote:
On Fri, 23 Jan 2015, js at cimmeri.com wrote:
My experience, and my sentiments, too.
Steel-toed boots advisable.
On 1/23/2015 7:26 AM, Jay West wrote:
I can attest that it can be done by one person, but I don't recommend it. :-)
In the event that the lip doesn't help,
It's a two person job, but the lip definitely helps. The hardest part is just
lifting the machine up.
3469
days inactive
3470
days old
11 comments
8 participants
participants (8)
-
aek＠bitsavers.org -
bobalan＠sbcglobal.net -
hilpert＠cs.ubc.ca -
hp-fix＠xs4all.nl -
js＠cimmeri.com -
jwest＠classiccmp.org -
marc.verdiell＠gmail.com -
mloewen＠cpumagic.scol.pa.us