TRS-80 curiosity

[Tony Duell]

On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 3:51 PM, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> So, I just picked up an MISE from Bartlett Labs (cause I really liked
> the M3SE I had) and decided to revive one of my TRS-80 MOdel I's.
> In my box of "stuff" I found an interesting ribbon cable the function
> of which I don't know.  It is a 40 pin to 50 pin ribbon cable with a
> black box connecting them that is labeled TANDY.  I know of nothing
> the Tandy made that used a 50 pin connector other than a hard disk.
> Could that be what this is for?  Anybody ever seen one?  I no longer
> have any Tandy External HD's but then, with things like MISE and FreHD
> why would one still want one other than for nostalgia.
>
> bill

Although I never had one, I beleive Tandy made an adapter that plugged
into the Model 1 expansion bus (40 pin) and gave you a (cut down?)
Model 3 expansion bus (50 pin). As you suggest it was commonly used
to connect Model 3 hard disks to the Model 1, but I think it worked with
some other devices too.

-tony