TU-58 questions

From: Ethan Dicks <ethan_dicks_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Sun Jul 8 02:28:06 2001

--- "Clint Wolff (VAX collector)" <vaxman_at_qwest.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Ethan,
>
> I built some magic cables and plug the bare drive & board into a
> PC to dump the tapes. If you are interested, I'll dig up the
> source to the DOS program I used...

Perfect. What's it written in? C? I'd like to consider attempting
to optimize it if possible - kinda-of worst case is to read each block
in order which requires 4 passes of the heads. I'm wondering if it's
possible to do it in two passes if you don't mind reordering the data
on the receiver's side.

The cables look somewhat straight-forward. I was thinking of making
a PC-floppy-to-TU-58 power supply harness (plenty of parts here) and
a 2x5-Berg-to-RJ-45 board so I can hook the TU-58 into all the modular
serial stuff I'm using here (got a small pile of Cisco serial connectors
and flat-cables - the way they have this stuff wired up, if I trade out
their ribbon cable with a 10BaseT patch cable, it's like adding a null
modem (pins 4 and 5 are ground, 2 and 6 are TxD and RxD, etc)
> I also have the TU58 tech manual, so I can post the jumpers if
> needed. I'd do it now, but Nascar is starting and I need to pour
> myself a coke :)
>
> Clint
>
> PS This message posted in memory of Dale Earnhardt, who lost his life
> in the last turn of the 2001 Daytona 500.
>
> On Fri, 6 Jul 2001, Ethan Dicks wrote:
>
> >
> > Now that I have found a missing box of TU-58s, I plan to back them up
> > for archival and emulation purposes. The easiest TU-58 drive I have
> > access to is from an 11/730 (I have a VT-103 in storage, but the other
> > drive is already out). Being as old as it is, the pinch rollers have
> > turned to goo, naturally.
> >
> > Can someone give me a tip on what size Tygon tubing people have been
> > using for replacement rollers? Is this something I can find at a
> > Home Despot or do I have to go to an aquarium shop? Do you clean off
> > all the residue from the aluminum hub, or do you just pull the goo off
> > and put the Tygon right on?
> >
> > Is there an online listing of the jumpers on the TU-58 logic board? I
> > want to make sure it's strapped to something useful. Looking at the
> > internal power cable, Red could be +5 and Orange could be +12V, but
> > does anyone know for sure? I plan to make an adapter cable and power
> > the drive off of a PC floppy power plug.
> >
> > What's good software to make a physical block-for-block backup of a
> > TU-58 tape? I don't care if it's UNIX or Winblows, I can do either.
> >
> > Are there any magical things that have to be done with the data cable, or
> > can I just make sure gnd, pin 2 and pin 3 go through?
> >
> > Thanks for any and all help. Last question: does the VMS Hobbyist program
> > cover VMS 3.x?
> >
> > -ethan
> >
> >
> > =====
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> >
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>


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Received on Sun Jul 08 2001 - 02:28:06 BST

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