> On Jun 9, 2023, at 7:06 AM, Christian Corti via cctalk
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 8 Jun 2023, Adrian Godwin wrote:
>> Getting tape made to order might come in handy if you want odd sizes. 5 and
>> 8 channel tape is fairly common, but there was also 6 and 7 channel tape (in
>> widths specific to those types) which is far less common. I haven't seen 6
>> channel tape since the 1970s when it was still used in typesetting
>> equipment, and I never heard of 7 channel tape until recently (it was used
>> on some 1960s era machines).
>
> 6 and 7 channel tapes should be the same width, i.e. 22.2 mm. The LGP-30 for
> example natively uses 7 channel tapes (was also common in the former GDR) but
> punches only 6 channels.
That may be true for some of them. But typesetting usage has 6 channels on
tape sized to carry just 6. For example, the Linotype "Teletypesetter"
handbook clearly shows paper tape with 6 channels (3 on each side of the feed
holes) filling the tape.
(https://archive.org/details/LinotypeHandbookForTeletypesetterOperation1951 and
https://www.galleyrack.com/images/artifice/letters/press/compline/literature/linotype/sales/general/linotype-handbook-for-teletypesetter-operation-1951-hms-1200rgb-031-tts-tape-2048x.jpg)
I saw a specification of paper tape widths a while back, which is how I
discovered there is such a thing as 7 channel tape, but I can't find it right
now.
paul
