9 Dec
2005
9 Dec
'05
5:24 p.m.
I was chatting with someone else who prides himself on computer arcana and
I mentioned that I had some 3.25" diskettes and drives. He said "You must
mean 3" diskettes."
"No, I mean 3.25" soft-jacket Dysan microfloppies" says I. "Never
heard of
such a thing" replies he. So I sent him a photo of a diskette and a drive
(I've got two drives and a box of diskettes).
How rare are these things?
Cheers,
Chuck
9 Dec
9 Dec
5:50 p.m.
On 10/12/05, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
I was chatting with someone else who prides himself on
computer arcana and
I mentioned that I had some 3.25" diskettes and drives. He said "You must
mean 3" diskettes."
"No, I mean 3.25" soft-jacket Dysan microfloppies" says I. "Never
heard of
such a thing" replies he. So I sent him a photo of a diskette and a drive
(I've got two drives and a box of diskettes).
How rare are these things?
Cheers,
Chuck
I've never seen of these can you send me a picture ?
Dan
6:14 p.m.
On 12/10/2005 at 1:50 AM Dan Williams wrote:
I've never seen of these can you send me a picture
?
Dan
I've posted a photo at:
http://www.sydex.com/photos/325.jpg
Cheers,
Chuck
10 Dec
10 Dec
4:06 a.m.
On 10/12/05, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
On 12/10/2005 at 1:50 AM Dan Williams wrote:
Nice, what machine did it originally come from.
Dan
I've never seen of these can you send me a
picture ?
Dan
I've posted a photo at:
http://www.sydex.com/photos/325.jpg
Cheers,
Chuck
4:20 a.m.
Isn't that from the same jerk who has recently made incredibly
expensive vacuums that 'never fail to suck' (Dysan)??? -Grin.
-John Boffemmyer IV
At 07:06 AM 12/10/2005, you wrote:
On 10/12/05, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com>
wrote:
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.13/197 - Release Date: 12/9/2005
On 12/10/2005 at 1:50 AM Dan Williams wrote:
Nice, what machine did it originally come from.
Dan I've never seen of these can you send me a
picture ?
Dan
I've posted a photo at:
http://www.sydex.com/photos/325.jpg
Cheers,
Chuck
4:11 p.m.
On Sat, December 10, 2005 12:20 pm, John Boffemmyer IV said:
Isn't that from the same jerk who has recently
made incredibly
expensive vacuums that 'never fail to suck' (Dysan)??? -Grin.
-John Boffemmyer IV
Recently? Jerk? Expensive?
'K.
--
adrian/witchy
Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UKs biggest home computer collection?
9:25 a.m.
On 12/10/2005 at 12:06 PM Dan Williams wrote:
Nice, what machine did it originally come from.
I have no idea; the drives and disks were sent to me by the fellow in
charge of cleaning house over at Dysan. I'd requested some 6.4MB Drivetec
5.25" floppies (I have a drive), but he didn't have any extras, so he sent
me the drives and a box of disks as a consolation prize. So they've
probably never been used. The drives have no manufacturers mark, but I've
seen similar drives labeled "Shugart Venture".
Cheers,
Chuck
9:04 a.m.
> I was chatting with someone else who prides
himself on computer arcana and
> I mentioned that I had some 3.25" diskettes and drives. >
> How rare are these things?
On Sat, 10 Dec 2005, Nico de Jong wrote:
well, in my 20+ years in media conversion, I've
never come across one.
We've discussed 3.25" before.
The Seequa Chameleon 325 was the only machine that I ever saw that came
with one. (in my 25+ years of media conversion :-)
But there were a lot added to other machines, including PC, by software
publishers in preparation for something that never came together.
On 9/24/2005 at 9:52 AM Fred Cisin wrote:
The Dysan 3.25" was kinda neat. Dysan bet the
company that the
"shirt pocket" disk (3", 3.25", 3.5", 3.9") that would
succeed
would be the one with software availability.
and they didn't want to do
complete retooling
So, they overextended
themselves creating a software publishing/distribution company
providing MOST of the big popular software titles on 3.25".
'Course George Morrow said that the solution was to cut a deal with
the clothing industry to enlarge shirt pockets to 5.25" or even 8".
I have a drive, and used to have some extra Micropro diskettes (including
alignment disks!) that I gave away.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com
6:50 a.m.
At 09:04 AM 12/10/05 -0800, you wrote:
> > I was chatting with someone else who prides
himself on computer arcana
and
> I
mentioned that I had some 3.25" diskettes and drives. >
> How rare are these things?
On Sat, 10 Dec 2005, Nico de Jong wrote:
well, in my 20+ years in media conversion,
I've never come across one.
The Seequa Chameleon 325 was the only machine that I ever saw that came
with one. (in my 25+ years of media conversion :-)
I once took apart a Loral 1553 bus-analyzer that had 3 or 3.25 inch
drives. I gave the drives and disks to Don Maslin. IIRC the disks were made
by Dysan. I don't remember who make the drives but it was one of the common
manufacturers.
We've discussed 3.25" before.
Yes, you should be able to find a lot of information in the archives.
Joe
12:03 p.m.
On Sat, 10 Dec 2005, Joe R. wrote:
--
Fred Cisin cisin at xenosoft.com
XenoSoft http://www.xenosoft.com
PO Box 1236 (510) 558-9366
Berkeley, CA 94701-1236
I once took apart a Loral 1553 bus-analyzer that
had 3 or 3.25 inch
drives. I gave the drives and disks to Don Maslin. IIRC the disks were made
by Dysan. I don't remember who make the drives but it was one of the common
manufacturers.
I gave 2 3.25" disks to Don Maslin (one alignment, and one with Micropro
internal stuff)
The difference between 3, 3.25, 3.5 is pretty obvious.
3.25 is the only "soft-shell"
We've discussed 3.25" before.
Yes, you should be able to find a lot of information in the archives.
Joe
12:11 p.m.
Rumor has it that Joe R. may have mentioned these words:
I once took apart a Loral 1553 bus-analyzer that
had 3 or 3.25 inch
drives.
I can't speak for 3.25, but Amdek made (or at least packaged) 3" floppy
drives/disks for at the very least the Tandy Color Computer. If I'm not
mistaken (which entirely could be) they were 'electrically compatible' with
standard (read: IBMish) 5.25" drives. Also IIRC (tho this very well could
be wrong) Tony at least once mentioned they were available for a UK
machine... Beeb? Acorn? I *think* Acorn, but don't quote me on that.
What I've always wanted to do (and I have the drives, but not the time to
do it) was graft one of the 2" floppy drives that came on the Zenith
MiniSport onto one of my CoCos - internally. I always thought that would be
neat...
Course, now that CF is cheap & plentiful & there's CoCo IDE interfaces with
CF slots right on 'em, it wouldn't be very difficult to hack up a
"big-storage" internal solution on a CoCo nowadays. But 10 years ago, the
2" 720K floppy seemed to be "the way to go." ;-)
Laterz,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
--
Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers
zmerch at 30below.com
Hi! I am a .signature virus. Copy me into your .signature to join in!
12:50 p.m.
On Sat, 10 Dec 2005, Roger Merchberger wrote:
I can't speak for 3.25, but Amdek made (or at
least packaged) 3" floppy
drives/disks for at the very least the Tandy Color Computer. If I'm not
mistaken (which entirely could be) they were 'electrically compatible' with
standard (read: IBMish) 5.25" drives.
Amdek also sold a 3" drive for Apple][! If it connector to the stock
Apple disk controller card, then that one was NOT "electrically
compatible".
Also IIRC (tho this very well could
be wrong) Tony at least once mentioned they were available for a UK
machine... Beeb? Acorn? I *think* Acorn, but don't quote me on that.
Amstrad
12:52 p.m.
On Sat, December 10, 2005 8:11 pm, Roger Merchberger said:
I can't speak for 3.25, but Amdek made (or at least packaged) 3" floppy
drives/disks for at the very least the Tandy Color Computer. If I'm not
mistaken (which entirely could be) they were 'electrically compatible'
with
standard (read: IBMish) 5.25" drives. Also IIRC (tho this very well could
be wrong) Tony at least once mentioned they were available for a UK
machine... Beeb? Acorn? I *think* Acorn, but don't quote me on that.
Add me to the 'I've not seen a 3.25 either but I've read about them' list.
As for 3", they were used in the UK by the budget home computer brands -
Sinclair, Amstrad, Tatung, Oric (Tangerine) etc. It was a while before the
brands that were still left started using 3.5"....1986 or thereabouts
IIRC.
Sinclair themselves, ie led by Clive Sinclair, never made or packaged any
sort of floppy drive but once Amstrad bought the rights in '86 they
released machines like the Spectrum +3, and under their own brand the
CPC664, CPC6128,CPC6128+ and the venerable PCW series of word processors
that revolutionised home word processing.
Tatung built 3" drives into the Einstein and Tangerine put 3" drives out
in france with the Oric Stratos, not many of those got to the UK.
Enterprise had planned 3" drives for the 64 and 128 but ended up producing
a Shugart interface for 5.25 drives before going bust.
--
adrian/witchy
Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UKs biggest home computer collection?
11 Dec
11 Dec
2:56 a.m.
Witchy wrote:
As for 3", they were used in the UK by the budget
home computer brands -
Sinclair, Amstrad, Tatung, Oric (Tangerine) etc.
Did Sinclair use them purely because Amstrad had taken them over (or were
about to) and Amstrad forced them to use that drive? I remember magazine
articles around the +3 launch complaining that it didn't have a 3.5" drive.
The other possibility is that there wasn't room in the case for a bigger drive
whilst keeping it the same footprint / style as the +2 :-)
Actually, I'd followed Sinclair up to that point - it was the fact that the +3
had a 'funny' drive which put me off getting one; I held out with my +2 for a
bit longer and ended up getting an Amiga...
cheers
Jules
7:33 a.m.
On Sun, December 11, 2005 10:56 am, Jules Richardson said:
Did Sinclair use them purely because Amstrad had taken them over (or were
about to) and Amstrad forced them to use that drive? I remember magazine
articles around the +3 launch complaining that it didn't have a 3.5"
drive.
I think so. The 3.5" drive was too expensive at that point, though it
didn't stop the likes of Opus producing the Discovery for the Spectrum - a
disk unit that was more expensive than the machine it fastened to!
The other possibility is that there wasn't room in
the case for a bigger
drive
whilst keeping it the same footprint / style as the +2 :-)
What's half an inch between friends? :)
Actually, I'd followed Sinclair up to that point -
it was the fact that
the +3
had a 'funny' drive which put me off getting one; I held out with my +2
for a
bit longer and ended up getting an Amiga...
I'd stopped using any machine at all 'cos I'd got bored with my Spectrum
and Grandstand cartridge system and couldn't afford to get anything else.
I managed to get myself an Amiga at cost price once I'd started work
though, 1987-ish. I think that's where the rot started setting in and I
lost interest in writing things for the machine and concentrated on
playing games!
--
adrian/witchy
Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UKs biggest home computer collection?
11:03 a.m.
Did Sinclair use them purely because Amstrad had taken
them over (or were
about to) and Amstrad forced them to use that drive? I remember magazine
articles around the +3 launch complaining that it didn't have a 3.5" drive.
Did Sinclair ever use the 3" drive (or any other floppy?) The Spectrum +3
was surely late enough to actually be an Amstrad (which would explain the
3" drive).
Actually, I'd followed Sinclair up to that point -
it was the fact that the +3
had a 'funny' drive which put me off getting one; I held out with my +2 for a
I always thought the 3" disk was mechanically superior to the 3.5" one.
Pity more manufacturers didn't use it.
-tony
10:56 p.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
Not that I'm aware of. The +3 was definitely post-Amstrad
Well, there was no crappy flimsy shutter to get ripped off. The
single-sided drives used a belt-drive mechanism (the only double-sided
drive I have to hand is direct drive but I wouldn't be surprised if
there was a belt-driven version) and the belts wore out making them
unreliable after a while. Easy to fix though.
Gordon.
Did Sinclair
use them purely because Amstrad had taken them over (or were
about to) and Amstrad forced them to use that drive? I remember magazine
articles around the +3 launch complaining that it didn't have a 3.5" drive.
Did Sinclair ever use the 3" drive (or any other floppy?) The Spectrum +3
was surely late enough to actually be an Amstrad (which would explain the
3" drive). Actually,
I'd followed Sinclair up to that point - it was the fact that the +3
had a 'funny' drive which put me off getting one; I held out with my +2 for a
I always thought the 3" disk was mechanically superior to the 3.5" one.
Pity more manufacturers didn't use it.
12 Dec
12 Dec
3:22 p.m.
I always thought the 3" disk was mechanically superior to the 3.5" one.
Pity more manufacturers didn't use it.
Well, there was no crappy flimsy shutter to get ripped off. The
single-sided drives used a belt-drive mechanism (the only double-sided
1:24 p.m.
On 11/12/05 19:03, "Tony Duell" <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Nope. It was Microdrives or nothing with Sinclair stuff. Someone, I'm not
sure who, did badge a 3.5" drive as a Sinclair unit for the QL but I've no
idea if it was Sinclair themselves since the associated controller was a
MicroPeripherals design and the casing was identical to at least 2 other
controllers I've got downstairs :)
Did Sinclair
use them purely because Amstrad had taken them over (or were
about to) and Amstrad forced them to use that drive? I remember magazine
articles around the +3 launch complaining that it didn't have a 3.5" drive.
Did Sinclair ever use the 3" drive (or any other floppy?) The Spectrum +3
was surely late enough to actually be an Amstrad (which would explain the
3" drive). I always thought the 3" disk was mechanically
superior to the 3.5" one.
Pity more manufacturers didn't use it.
They certainly feel more solid and can take an awful lot more abuse than
3.5" drives; I've never had a disk stick in a 3" drive for example, and when
they become unreliable just change the drive belt and you're away again. The
Betamax of the floppy drive world.
--
Adrian/Witchy
Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator
Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer
collection?
10 Dec
10 Dec
1:24 p.m.
I can't speak for 3.25, but Amdek made (or at
least packaged) 3" floppy
drives/disks for at the very least the Tandy Color Computer. If I'm not
mistaken (which entirely could be) they were 'electrically compatible' with
standard (read: IBMish) 5.25" drives. Also IIRC (tho this very well could
be wrong) Tony at least once mentioned they were available for a UK
machine... Beeb? Acorn? I *think* Acorn, but don't quote me on that.
There certainly were 3" drives that were electrcially compatible with
5.25" ones. I have a couple of Hitachi drives that I use on a CoCo. They
were not sold _for_ the CoCo in the UK, just spare drives that I plugged in.
3" drives were common on Amstrad 8 bit machines in the UK (CPC664,
CPC6128, PCW8256, Spectrum +3 etc). IIRC, the PSW drives at least had a 26
pin
interface connector, not the 34 pin one used on 5.25" drives, but the
signals were the same, just on different pins.
Another UK machine to come with 3" drives as standard was the Tatung
Einstein. A Z80-based machine that ran something called Xtaldos (a
sort-of CP/M clone). There was single 3" drive as standard, a second one
could be fitted internally, and 2 more added on an external connector.
These drives certainly had 34 pin connectors, same pinout as 5.25" ones
The Oric disk drive was also a 3" unit.
And yes, I've seen 3" drives sold for the BBC Micro (which was an Acorn
machine). Not an offical Acorn product, though.
-tony
4:38 p.m.
There certainly were 3" drives that were
electrcially compatible with
5.25" ones. I have a couple of Hitachi drives that I use on a CoCo. They
were not sold _for_ the CoCo in the UK, just spare drives that I plugged in.
3" drives were common on Amstrad 8 bit machines in the UK (CPC664,
CPC6128, PCW8256, Spectrum +3 etc). IIRC, the PSW drives at least had a 26
pin
interface connector, not the 34 pin one used on 5.25" drives, but the
signals were the same, just on different pins.
They are compatible on the cpc's. I have a 3" disk in one of my pc's
for copying files. As well as a 3.5" disk on a cpc. You just need a
switch on the cable to select disk side.
Dan
2:22 p.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Merchberger" <zmerch at 30below.com>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 7:11 AM
Subject: Re: 3.25" diskettes
I can't speak for 3.25, but Amdek made (or at
least packaged) 3" floppy
drives/disks for at the very least the Tandy Color Computer. If I'm not
mistaken (which entirely could be) they were 'electrically compatible'
with standard (read: IBMish) 5.25" drives. Also IIRC (tho this very well
could be wrong) Tony at least once mentioned they were available for a UK
machine... Beeb? Acorn? I *think* Acorn, but don't quote me on that.
Amstrad CPC's used 3" diskettes (180kb capacity).
cheers,
Lance
// http://landover.no-ip.com
Classic machines, classic software //
11 Dec
11 Dec
3:06 a.m.
Chuck Guzis wrote:
Smith-Corona PWP's used 2.8" diskettes and
didn't Zenith offer a 2"
diskette at one time?
Ah, but the 2.8" disks were the recently-discussed "Quick Disk" drives,
that read about 128k off one big spiral track.
They showed up in musical equipment quite a lot - old Akai samplers
(S612, S700), Korg SQD sequencer and the Roland S10 sampler spring to mind.
Ebay link for an S700:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7371548630
Gordon.
7267
days inactive
7269
days old
24 comments
12 participants
participants (12)
-
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
cclist＠sydex.com -
cisin＠xenosoft.com -
gordonjcp＠gjcp.net -
john_boffemmyer_iv＠boff-net.dhs.org -
julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk -
lance.w.lyon＠gmail.com -
nico＠farumdata.dk -
rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com -
williams.dan＠gmail.com -
witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk -
zmerch＠30below.com