8 track tapes use 1/4" wide tape. Most 8 track units use heads with only two tracks implemented. There was a stepper solenoid that moved the head down (or up after all 4 stereo programs were played). Growing up in the 60s you never forget things like listening to In-A-Gadda-Da_Vida fade in the middle of the drum solo and a loud "klunk-klunk" sound and the song resuming. Some true 8 track heads were made for mastering pre-recorded tapes and maybe for consumer recorders. Marc On Mon, Feb 7, 2022 at 12:51 PM Michael Thompson via cctech < cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote: > DECtapes have 5x redundant tracks. If you could find an 8-track head that > had the same track pitch, and maybe track width, you could read the tape > but lose redundancy on the Mark and Timing tracks. That probably would not > work with a marginal DECtape. > > On Mon, Feb 7, 2022 at 3:33 PM Wayne S <wayne.sudol at hotmail.com> wrote: > >> I?ve often wondered if the tape heads from consumer tape devices such as >> cassette or 4-8 track tape players could be used or be made to be used as >> replacements. Anybody ever try that? >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On Feb 7, 2022, at 11:51, Michael Thompson via cctech < >> cctech at classiccmp.org> wrote: >>> ? >>>> >>>> From: Gary Oliver <go at aerodesic.com> >>>> Subject: DECTape head problem >>>> >>>> In debugging my DECtape interface lashup, I found that one of my head >>>> has two open windings.? Specifically, one channel has an open 'ground' >>>> with the other two lines apparently the full winding of the channel.? >>>> The second channel failing has no continuity between any of the three >>>> lines.? I have tested the other head and it has all the requisite >>>> continuity so I'm hoping I can at least get a single spindle running. >>>> >>>> Has any ever attempted repair of one of these? >>>> >>>> -Gary >>>> >>> At the Rhode Island Computer Museum we found several DECtape heads on >> TU55 >>> and TU56 drives with open connections. A volunteer got one head X-Rayed >> so >>> we could see the solder joints between the tiny wires for the head > coils, >>> and the larger twinax wires that go to the relay board. We couldn't see >> any >>> damage to the wires or solder joints. >>> >>> We tried heating the potting material to soften it, and digging it out > to >>> get to the solder joints. While digging at the potting material you > can't >>> see the tiny wires, so they will likely get damaged. >>> >>> We considered using a solvent to remove the potting material, but > thought >>> that it would eat the enamel off the head coil wires and damage them >> beyond >>> repair. >>> >>> So far we haven't found a way to repair the heads. >>> >>> Michael Thompson > > -- > Michael Thompson >