Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
On Wed, Jun 10, 2015 at 12:11 AM, Chuck Guzis ccl...@sydex.com wrote: Not complete off-topic, but I just received an email from Shaun Halstead that he's looking to get rid of a CDC Keystone drive (vertically mounted) (read: TU80 family, with Pertec interface) that was apparently used on a Xerox system. If you're in the Chicago area and interested, you might want to drop Shaun a line at microf...@microfilm.kscoxmail.com I've also got a Pertec-interfaced 9-track to give away, also in the Chicago area. HP 9-track tape drive, badged as ATT 1600/6250, Pertec interface. In rack-mount case (not desktop) and has no rails. Powers-up and passes internal self-tests. Haven't run a tape through it yet. I believe this model can accomodate HP's Pertec-to-SCSI adapter board, assuming you can find one not already attached to a working drive. j
Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
Update: TZ30 located and ordered. And now I'm thinking that I ought to build a custom Pertec interface (as is being discussed in another thread) that's particularly suited for archival work, though I might still be interested in a SCSI magtape drive or SCSI/Pertec adapter anyway. -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X n...@nf6x.net http://www.nf6x.net/
Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 3:15 PM, Mark J. Blair n...@nf6x.net wrote: In order to be able to move data between my vintage and modern computers more effectively, I am looking for one or both of these items: 2) 1/2 open reel magtape drive with SCSI interface. Preferably with 6250 BPI capability. Doesn't need to be fast or fancy; just needs to be working-ish. An alternative would be to look for a cheap Fujitsu M2444AC tape drive (often seen with Sun badges). They have Pertec interfaces, but it is probably easier and cheaper most of the time to find a Pertec tape drive interface for a DEC system than a SCSI interface, and they can be interfaced to ISA bus PCs. They are built like tanks and weigh around 200 pounds, which is why they can sometimes be had for cheap if you find one within driving distance because no one would want to pay to ship one. You don't do eBay any more, and asking over $300 is way to much, but here is what the look like for reference: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191583247197 I have picked up a couple in the $50-$100 range. Maybe you can find one on a somewhat local Craigslist page for cheap.
Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
On Jun 9, 2015, at 15:44 , Glen Slick glen.sl...@gmail.com wrote: An alternative would be to look for a cheap Fujitsu M2444AC tape drive (often seen with Sun badges). They have Pertec interfaces, but it is probably easier and cheaper most of the time to find a Pertec tape drive interface for a DEC system than a SCSI interface, and they can be interfaced to ISA bus PCs. They are built like tanks and weigh around 200 pounds, which is why they can sometimes be had for cheap if you find one within driving distance because no one would want to pay to ship one. I'm looking for a SCSI interfaced drive so I can hook it up to my Sun Ultra 60, running Solaris 8. I don't run any ISA bus machines other than a 5155 Portable PC and a very crappy old 386 box dedicated to running ImageDisk, and my Sun would be much easier to use for this purpose, I think. It's also just new enough that it's not hard to get it talking to my current machines over the network, so it makes a nice bridge machine. I already have a magtape drive on my VAX, and was pleased to see it pass the diagnostic tests this weekend. It's a TU80. It hooks up to my VAX with a couple of 50-pin connectors... Hmm, maybe it has a Pertec interface, so another option might be to find a Pertec to SCSI adapter and use the same drive on multiple systems? I also already have a front-loading Kennedy drive with a Pertec interface which is earmarked for use on my future PDP-11/44 project. It needs some work, as it lost hub drive in one direction shortly after I got it. Once I repair it, using it with a SCSI to Pertec adapter would also eliminate the need to shipping yet another magtape drive around. So based on your comments, let me amend my request to say that I would also consider some sort of SCSI to Pertec interface. Thanks! P.S.: For those of you who don't mind clicking on a Twitter link, here's a picture of my VAX system as I was working on it this weekend, shortly before I took a break to let the room cool back down: https://twitter.com/nf6x/status/607650728459407360 The MacBook on top of the VAX is running tu58em. The Ultra 60 is sitting on the floor in front of the TU80 after a previous dead-end attempt to get tu58em running on it, before I figured out how to fix the issue I was having running it on my Mac. The two VAX cabinets are bracketed by my PDP-11/03 on the left, and my Nova 3 on the right. The DECwriter III is working nicely as the VAX console terminal. Oh, and my PDP-8M is sitting on top of the PDP-11/03 rack waiting for its next turn on the workbench. Photobombing the picture from the right is my IBM Mag Card II typewriter, also waiting for restoration. -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X n...@nf6x.net http://www.nf6x.net/
Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
On Jun 9, 2015, at 15:44 , Glen Slick glen.sl...@gmail.com wrote: You don't do eBay any more, and asking over $300 is way to much, but here is what the look like for reference: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191583247197 I have picked up a couple in the $50-$100 range. If their prices weren't so high, I have a friend in Santa Paula who might be able to help picking up something from them in Ventura and stashing it until next time we find ourselves in the same place. -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X n...@nf6x.net http://www.nf6x.net/
Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
On 2015-06-10 00:59, Mark J. Blair wrote: On Jun 9, 2015, at 15:44 , Glen Slick glen.sl...@gmail.com wrote: An alternative would be to look for a cheap Fujitsu M2444AC tape drive (often seen with Sun badges). They have Pertec interfaces, but it is probably easier and cheaper most of the time to find a Pertec tape drive interface for a DEC system than a SCSI interface, and they can be interfaced to ISA bus PCs. They are built like tanks and weigh around 200 pounds, which is why they can sometimes be had for cheap if you find one within driving distance because no one would want to pay to ship one. I'm looking for a SCSI interfaced drive so I can hook it up to my Sun Ultra 60, running Solaris 8. I don't run any ISA bus machines other than a 5155 Portable PC and a very crappy old 386 box dedicated to running ImageDisk, and my Sun would be much easier to use for this purpose, I think. It's also just new enough that it's not hard to get it talking to my current machines over the network, so it makes a nice bridge machine. I already have a magtape drive on my VAX, and was pleased to see it pass the diagnostic tests this weekend. It's a TU80. It hooks up to my VAX with a couple of 50-pin connectors... Hmm, maybe it has a Pertec interface, so another option might be to find a Pertec to SCSI adapter and use the same drive on multiple systems? Just fyi: the TU80 is 1600 bpi only. Johnny -- Johnny Billquist || I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip - B. Idol
Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
On Jun 9, 2015, at 22:11 , Chuck Guzis ccl...@sydex.com wrote: Not complete off-topic, but I just received an email from Shaun Halstead that he's looking to get rid of a CDC Keystone drive (vertically mounted) (read: TU80 family, with Pertec interface) that was apparently used on a Xerox system. If you're in the Chicago area and interested, you might want to drop Shaun a line at microf...@microfilm.kscoxmail.com I'm in southern California myself, but hopefully somebody else here will have a good home for it. I did a Craigslist search for tape drives earlier today, and found a Kennedy 9100 with SCSI interface in the Phoenix, AZ area. Probably a bit too far for me. But it looks cool: Seems to be the same mechanism as my TU80, right down to the membrane keypad, but in vertical orientation. Any particular reason why Pertec IF isn't desirable? I already have 1-2 Pertec IF drives; my Kennedy 9610, and presumably my TU80 based on the two 50-pin cables between it and my VAX. I don't have any Pertec interface controllers on my modernish, up-and-running computers, but I do have a fully-working Sun Ultra 60 with SCSI interface, software support for SCSI tape drives, and capable of talking to my NAS for easy file transfer to my main computer (Mac Pro trashcan). I already have two Pertec-capable projects, and I'm looking for something to help me bootstrap those rather than a third similar project. So either getting a SCSI magtape drive or a SCSI to Pertec bridge should get me there more easily. I'm coding now for a Pertec-to-USB interface board. How's that for an anachronism? It's delightful for one, that's how! Think you might make more than one of them, or share the plans? It sounds like something I could potentially use! I've considered making something like that myself, but I have so many such ideas that I am happy to let other folks make some of them for me. :) -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X n...@nf6x.net http://www.nf6x.net/
Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
Oh, and furthermore, I'm much more comfortable in a UNIX environment than anything PC/DOS/Windows. Linux is fine, but I would expect pain getting drivers for some random Pertec card. So, PC platforms that might accept a Pertec card aren't my preferred environment. -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X n...@nf6x.net http://www.nf6x.net/
Re: WTB /WTT DEC TZ30 and/or 1/2 open reel SCSI magtape drives
On Jun 9, 2015, at 20:45 , Bob Rosenbloom boba...@sbcglobal.net wrote: I have a Fujitsu M2444AC sitting in my hangar up here in Santa Cruz. You can have it if you can get someone to pick it up. Photo's here: http://www.dvq.com/Fujitsu/ You probably guessed already that my friend in Santa Paula is also a pilot! ;) Thank you very much for the offer! If I'm not mistaken, that drive has a Pertec interface, though, like the Kennedy 9610 that I already have, so I think I will let somebody else have a crack at it. That drive model looks familiar; we probably had at least one in the computer room I worked in during college in the late 1980s, and I may have done a tape mount or two on them! Hmm, I guess I have yet another option: Once I fix the hub motor drive in my Kennedy 9610, maybe I could just make my own interface for it. Maybe a small FPGA to handle the interface signals, and an off the shelf microcontroller (like a BeagleBone Black board?) to give it a UI and interface it to the outside world. Much more effort, but also more fun! I may be able to borrow a SCSI-interface magtape drive locally, but I still wouldn't mind having one of my own. And I am still hoping to find a TZ30 drive. -- Mark J. Blair, NF6X n...@nf6x.net http://www.nf6x.net/
