BA123 Side panels and Stuck TK50

[shadoooo]

Hello,

> The same cabinet has a TK50 and I foolishly put a cartridge into it and
> now it won't come out.  It is called being 'stuck'.  How do proceed to
> get this TK50 cartridge out?

Error 'stuck' means that the tape has been "glued" to the head because of the effect
of the tape binder being converted to adhesive due to age and moisture.
You can remove the cartridge in this way:
- pull the drive out of the machine
- carefully unscrew the metal cover over the internal reel and the head to expose it
- slowly insert a paper sheet between the tape and the head, in the same direction of the tape, to detach it without damage
- slowly rotate the front motor (from bottom side) in way to rewind all the tape from the back reel to the cartridge reel
- detach the tape leader if necessary
- now keep the electromagnetic cartridge unlock mechanism pressed, and remove the cartridge from the drive

A tape in this condition of striction is probably unusable anyway, unless you back it up a little in an oven,
but even so it could be readable just for a couple of hours


> Also, the TQK50 controller never saw the drive and I was wondering if
> the PROM's (after 30 years) on the board lose their data?

Well, I never seen an UV-EPROM loose it's data, unless the erase window cover is missing and the memory exposed to the sun light.

Andrea