So it sermsdectape heads are special. I don’t think Dec would have the desire to make them internally so they probably contractef with a company already set up to do that. Who were the big tape head manufacturers at that time? Does anyone know?
Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 8, 2022, at 12:07, Paul Koning <paulkon...@comcast.net> wrote: > > > >> On Feb 8, 2022, at 2:53 PM, Wayne S via cctech <cctech@classiccmp.org> wrote: >> >> Since so many audio tape players and computer magtape units were made it >> would stand to reason that there has to be a stash somewhere of tape heads >> and it’s just a matter of finding where they are. >> Are there any part numbers on the dectape heads? > > The schematics are bound to show DEC part numbers, but how those translate > into supplier part numbers is anyone's guess. Or perhaps they were made > internaly by DEC? > > In any case, DECtape heads are unusual. Computer tapes are normally 1/2 inch > wide (a few old tape drives had different widths, like the 14 track 1 inch > CDC tape). But DECtape and LINCtape are 3/4 inches wide, with 10 head > positions. > > Audio tapes are unlikely to be helpful; consumer reel to reel tape is 2 > tracks (interleaved for when you flip over the reel?) 1/4 inch; professional > decks might have 8 tracks or more on 1/2 or 1 or 2 inch wide tape, but I > don't remember ever seeing 3/4 inch wide audio or instrumentation heads. > > paul > >
