HP Protocol Analyzers

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Thu Sep 12 20:17:00 2002

>>> I have a 4951. It uses the same tapes as the HP-85, HP 9825, etc.
>>> IIRC
>>> they're DC-100 tapes and you can use the same (40MB?) tapes that were
>>> used in PCs.
>>
>>Really? Didn't know the PC tapes would work in the older drives.
>>Given that the storage capacity of a DECtape and an old PC backup tape
>>are so wildly different, I didn't assume the media was compatible even
>>if the shell would fit in the drive.
>
> You have to reformat them but yes, the OLD PC tapes work fine in the
> HPs.

I'd be somewhat surprised. I thought there were some mechanical
differences between DC100 cartridges (HP and DEC) and DC2000 cartridges
(40 MB & up, found on PCs and Macs in the 80s).

>>> You can also reformat and use DECTapes.
>>
>>Right. That's what my boss used to do. I have plenty of
>>4951-formatted DECtapes to last me a while (5-10, IIRC).
>
> Just be carefull who you tell about that. The DECheads get real
> sensative to anybody putting DEc stuff to REAL work. :-)

I've got quite a few reels of DECtape, and I can't imagine how you
could possibly jam them into a cartridge tape slot, nor how they could
be expected to do anything useful if you di.

Presumably the tapes in question are TU58 tapes, which are unfortunately
known as "DECtape II".

Anyhow, the big problem with reformatting them for use on other systems
is that there is no known way to format them back into TU58 tapes if
you ever need any. :-(

And I could definitely use some TU58 tapes, but not if they've been
formatted into something else.
Received on Thu Sep 12 2002 - 20:17:00 BST