15 Mar
2000
15 Mar
'00
7:36 p.m.
Hi
Another question.
I'm trying to put back in service PDP-11/05 used to controll aircraft
structural test sytem. I's equiped with DECcassete drive (it looks like
normal audio cassete).
Is there any replacement for them ? I mean using good audio casset or
so.
MAciek
15 Mar
15 Mar
8:52 p.m.
On Thu, Mar 16, 2000 at 07:36:53AM +0100, Maciej S Szymanski wrote:
I'm trying to put back in service PDP-11/05 used
to controll aircraft
structural test sytem. I's equiped with DECcassete drive (it looks like
normal audio cassete).
Is there any replacement for them ? I mean using good audio casset or
so.
Replacement for which, the media, or the whole drive?
DEC claimed that you couldn't use regular audio cassettes with the TU60
because they couldn't handle the high tension used by the drive. Sounds like
it could be hype but you never know. I mean, what's the point of building a
peripheral that uses regular audio cassettes, except that it *doesn't* use
regular audio cassettes? Worst of both worlds.
As for drives, I don't know of any aftermarket TU60 hardware clone. However,
if you're willing to replace the entire system with a software emulator,
Ersatz-11 includes TU60 emulation, using tape image files for media (the "full"
version of E11 can also use SCSI tapes as the physical medium for the TU60
but that seems like overkill, I mean how many GB of data do you really need
to store on one emulated ~90 KB cassette? :-) Information is on www.dbit.com,
and the command you use to create a TU60 drive is "MOUNT CT0: file.tap".
John Wilson
D Bit
16 Mar
16 Mar
2:55 a.m.
structural
test sytem. I's equiped with DECcassete drive (it looks like
normal audio cassete).
Is there any replacement for them ? I mean using good audio casset or
so.
Replacement for which, the media, or the whole drive?
DEC claimed that you couldn't use regular audio cassettes with the TU60
because they couldn't handle the high tension used by the drive. Sounds like
it could be hype but you never know. I mean, what's the point of building a
peripheral that uses regular audio cassettes, except that it *doesn't* use
regular audio cassettes? Worst of both worlds. As for drives, I don't know of any aftermarket
TU60 hardware clone. However,
if you're willing to replace the entire system with a software emulator,
Ersatz-11 includes TU60 emulation, using tape image files for media (the
"full"
version of E11 can also use SCSI tapes as the physical medium for the TU60
but that seems like overkill, I mean how many GB of data do you really need
to store on one emulated ~90 KB cassette? :-) Information is on www.dbit.com,
and the command you use to create a TU60 drive is "MOUNT CT0: file.tap".
Tu58s are findable and would make a suitable substitute at 256k a cart.
But the OS support may be TU60 specific.
Allison
7:43 a.m.
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10 Mar
10 Mar
7:40 p.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
There's a similar cassette drive mentioned in the
P850 user manual of all
places.
Tony,
should you be interested :
I have just such a cassette drive for the P850 up for grabs.
Sadly no software / drivers to go with it and it does not fit my P856..
Jos Dreesen
16 Mar
16 Mar
1:16 p.m.
You rang a bell with the comment about other units using the same
standard, a TI "Silent 700 ASR" data capture terminal is sitting in my
storage shed somewhere----neat panel up above the keyboard with lots of
lights and switches and 2 very fancy looking cassette transports. must
use those same cassettes.
Craig
Tony Duell wrote:
DEC claimed that you couldn't use regular
audio cassettes with the TU60
because they couldn't handle the high tension used by the drive. Sounds like
it could be hype but you never know. I mean, what's the point of building a
peripheral that uses regular audio cassettes, except that it *doesn't* use
regular audio cassettes? Worst of both worlds.
Ah, but it was a 'standard' at the time. I believe ECMA34 is a standard
for recording data on such drives, but I have no idea if the TU60
followed it. I suspect it was at least similar.
There's a similar cassette drive mentioned in the P850 user manual of all
places. And I've seen stand-alone RS232-interfaced drives which could be
used for data entry or data capture (Facit certainly made these, as did
dozens of other manufacturers). And I have somewhere a 'Racal Digideck'
which seems to be an drive module for such tapes.
In other words, DEC were making a peripheral that accepted tapes used by
a lot of other systems.
-tony 
1:43 p.m.
You rang a bell with the comment about other units
using the same
standard, a TI "Silent 700 ASR" data capture terminal is sitting in my
storage shed somewhere----neat panel up above the keyboard with lots of
lights and switches and 2 very fancy looking cassette transports. must
use those same cassettes.
Craig
Has anyone ever come up with a list of the various TI Silent 700 terminals?
Some how I get the feeling a person could have a large collection of nothing
but different models of them! I know I've got two different models myself,
neither have any kind of storage though, that sounds like a cool version.
Zane
1:47 p.m.
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1:54 a.m.
I've got a Tulip SCSI tapestreamer that uses "Certified Data Cassettes
and those were identical to the type I got once with a Boroughs B80 system
They've got a -notch-cut-out- on their back just off the middle.
Type I've got here = Verbatim ST-600 or Maxxell CS-600
They can still be found, albeit with a little trouble
Sipke de Wal
snip
I'm trying to put back in service PDP-11/05 used
to controll aircraft
structural test sytem. I's equiped with DECcassete drive (it looks like
normal audio cassete).
Is there any replacement for them ? I mean using good audio casset or
so.
snip
8:35 a.m.
On Thu, 16 Mar 2000, Sipke de Wal wrote:
I've got a Tulip SCSI tapestreamer that uses
"Certified Data Cassettes
and those were identical to the type I got once with a Boroughs B80 system
They've got a -notch-cut-out- on their back just off the middle.
Type I've got here = Verbatim ST-600 or Maxxell CS-600
They can still be found, albeit with a little trouble
Sipke de Wal
Fact is, I have a box of ten of the Maxell tapes that are unused.
If anyone is interested, contact me off list.
- don
6:35 p.m.
Sipke de Wal wrote:
I've got a Tulip SCSI tapestreamer that uses "Certified Data Cassettes
and those were identical to the type I got once with a Boroughs B80 system
They've got a -notch-cut-out- on their back just off the middle.
Type I've got here = Verbatim ST-600 or Maxxell CS-600
They can still be found, albeit with a little trouble
Thtat may be it. I think I've seen something like this, so must thry to
get it. I've also to chech all the stuff that comes with system, maybe
there are some spare casstes.
Any way thank yof for info.
Maciek
5:21 a.m.
At 07:36 AM 3/16/00 +0100, you wrote:
Hi
Another question.
I'm trying to put back in service PDP-11/05 used to controll aircraft
structural test sytem. I's equiped with DECcassete drive (it looks like
normal audio cassete).
Is there any replacement for them ? I mean using good audio casset or
so.
Actually... I've got a couple of cases of this media rattling around the
'Garage' (along with my TU-60's). If anyone needs a couple for restoration
purposes let me know. Probably for the cost of shipping unless you really
need more than a couple.
Which reminds me... what is the interface board for a TU-60? And anyone
got a spare???
-jim
---
jimw(a)computergarage.org
The Computer Garage - http://www.computergarage.org
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
6:06 a.m.
On Thu, Mar 16, 2000 at 08:21:29AM -0800, James Willing wrote:
Actually... I've got a couple of cases of this
media rattling around the
'Garage' (along with my TU-60's). If anyone needs a couple for restoration
purposes let me know. Probably for the cost of shipping unless you really
need more than a couple.
I'd like to buy one or two please -- my TU60 has languished unrestored for
way too long, and I sure don't want to overwrite any tapes that have anything
on them.
Which reminds me... what is the interface board for a
TU-60? And anyone
got a spare???
TA11, M7892. Or TA8E for Omnibus (dunno the M number). Sorry, don't have
a spare. FWIW I do have a couple of spare tape mechanisms (thanks Allison!),
i.e. the bare transports that fit into the TU60, which I'd be happy to give
away to anyone who's fixing their TU60 before I get to mine.
The M7892 is the kind of thing Bell Atlantic/CTS (or is it /ESS ?) would have
had a few years ago, for super high prices though... I don't know what ever
became of them, I sure hope we didn't all miss a really amazing auction or
anything.
FWIW the TA11 is a pretty simple interface, all the brains are in the drive,
so I don't think building a fresh one (for any computer) would be such a
hard project. IIRC it's parallel, not high-speed serial like the RX02, so
it might even be doable through an LPT port hack of some kind.
John Wilson
D Bit
7:39 a.m.
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5:27 p.m.
On Thu, Mar 16, 2000 at 06:39:49PM +0000, Tony Duell wrote:
AFAIK, it may _look_ like a normal compact cassette,
but it certainly
isn't one. The tape is different for one thing (I believe it's a much
higher coercivity than normal audio tape). And the cassette shell has an
extra notch on the back edge, slightly off-centre. Some drives use this
to detect which side of the tape is in use, some use it to reject normal
audio tapes.
The TU60 doesn't use the notch though, does it? I'm pretty sure I've popped
regular audio cassettes in there and they fit fine. Could be a false memory
though...
John Wilson
D Bit
8893
days inactive
8893
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14 comments
10 participants
participants (10)
-
allisonp＠world.std.com -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
donm＠cts.com -
healyzh＠aracnet.com -
ip500＠roanoke.infi.net -
jimw＠agora.rdrop.com -
jos.mar＠bluewin.ch -
macieks＠pzl-okecie.com.pl -
sipke＠wxs.nl -
wilson＠dbit.dbit.com