Desperate...Help...HP 9-track drive...

From: Bruce Lane <kyrrin_at_bluefeathertech.com>
Date: Thu Oct 14 00:59:35 1999

At 22:32 13-10-1999 -0700, you wrote:

        <snip>

>I tried removing the interface cable and no-go. I'm not sure if you
>remember, but when we dragged the beastie up to my house and tried to load
>a tape, it took a couple of tries before it worked...ideas?

        Possibility: The emitter portion of the BOT/EOT sensor may have failed. I
don't recall what 'F5' on the display means, but I'm pretty sure it's an
error code.

        I seem to recall that the sensor on that drive used an infrared LED. There
are two ways you can check if it's actually emitting (besides checking the
voltage across it, of course).

        One is to look at it through almost any video camera/camcorder or digital
camera. Such units are sensitive to IR emissions, and will show such as a
bright white light in a monochrome viewfinder (I have no clue what it would
look like with a color viewfinder).

        Second option is to pick up one of those little cards at Radio Shack that
glows when exposed to IR emissions. It's billed as being a tester for TV
remotes and such, but hey, IR is IR no matter how you look at it.

        Just my $.02 worth. Hi, John. I'm doing digital basics this quarter, and I
think I've survived Boolean and Karnaugh Maps (whew!).


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com // E-mail: kyrrin_at_bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio: WD6EOS since Dec. '77
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our
own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
Received on Thu Oct 14 1999 - 00:59:35 BST

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