1" paper tape buy ? - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

5 Mar 2009

-------------Original Message:

Date: Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:47:06 -0800
From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com>
Subject: Re: 1" paper tape buy ?

On 4 Mar 2009 at 19:32, Roy J. Tellason wrote:

...
   I haven't
been following this thread very closely, but I trust
 someone has mentioned the 96 column System/3 mini-card:

 http://homepages.cwi.nl/~dik/english/codes/96col.html

 Holds more characters, but less data than a standard 80 column card.  
 That was the one roughly the size of a 3.5" floppy,  wasn't it?  I worked at a 
 place once that used those... 
Yep, about that size.  What made no sense to me is that each column 
is BA8421 - 6 bits.  This long after IBM had settled on 8-bit EBCDIC. 
Most installations had standardized on the 80 column card, so it 
didn't make much of a splash unless you were a System/3 installation.

Cheers,
Chuck

---------------Reply:

Well, it may not have been a big splash relatively speaking, but they
were certainly used a fair bit by Burroughs, especially in the era of
the B1700.

And to get back to the original topic, I don't see any mention of edge-
punched cards, sort of like fanfold paper tape but card stock, wider, 
and with prepunched feed holes; many readers and perfs could handle 
both PPT and EPCs. FWIW, the ones I have here are 3"x11".

mike