[rescue] Dumping SunOS tapes

[John Hudak]

thanks Peter....Ohhhh, QIC cartridges...
I understood where the belt is but didn't realize that it actually moved
the tape in the manner described.

So the issues are belt residue xfer to tape, and belt
elongation/deterioration.

It seems that replacing the belt with a new one is the way to go.  googling
found this helpful video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70PDHfdbsvY&feature=youtu.be

You will also need a new belt.  I didn't find any sources of belts but...If
you contact these ppl you can get a new cartridge and use the belt from
that.
http://www.athana.com/html/dc.html

Cleaning tape residue.
the trick is to remove the goo without removing the binder and iron.
Hopefully the tape was rewound....
Ive used 70% isopropal alcohol (NOT Ethallcohol)  with a Q-tip on the iron
coated side and NuFinish (yes the car wax) on the non iron coated side.

I would not even try to read the tapes once...I came across some statistics
that tapes over 20 yrs old the success rate in using them is less than 5%.

Good luck
J




On Fri, Sep 8, 2017 at 11:02 AM, Peter Stokes <peter at ashlyn.co.uk> wrote:

> Hi John
>
> I think you misunderstand where the belt is.
>
> The belt is actually inside the tape cartridge and a single capstan wheel
> rubs
> against a wheel in the cartridge to move this belt which moves both spools
> of
> the tape. The belt, unlike cassette deck belts etc, is very thin, much like
> the tape itself. Each length of tape has varying sizes of belt as the belt
> runs around the tape spools themselves.
>
> If you link to here
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-inch_cartridge
>
> You will actually see an old Sunos tape cartridge and others.
>
> Peter
> ---------------------------
> Peter Stokes
> Ashlyn Computer Services
> Mbl: 07977 532320
> ---------------------------
>
>
>
>
> On 8 Sep 2017, at 15:56, John Hudak <jjhudak at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Could you please show me a picture (pointer) of the cartridge + belt you
> > are talking about?
> >
> > I do some 'vintage' tape deck restoration and have access to a few belt
> > suppliers....
> > If one knows the geometries of the belt,  one can try to match it to
> > existing.
> >
> > Something doesn't make sense to be tho...someone posted something about
> > belt being matched to length of tape? I don't see how tape length would
> > dictate belt geometries, and even if it did, I'd think the economies of
> > mass production of a single belt would significantly outweigh the cost of
> > producing multiple belts.....
> > Thanks
> > J
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 8, 2017 at 7:50 AM, Richard <ejb at trick-1.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Folks
> >>
> >> OK so the SS2 is installed 4.1.3_U1 (sans Presto Card) and the Archive
> >> 150 Tape drive is operational and confirmed not destroying tapes :-).
> >>
> >> I have however checked a couple of tapes and the internal belts have
> >> degraded/snapped on some (anyone know of a replacement belt?). Others
> >> are good and I can recover data from tar/dump backups. I have a box of
> >> about 50 tapes so I should be able to get data off of the original Sun
> >> tape set, even if it is mix and match. I am however being pessimistic
> >> and working on the understanding that I will get 1 go per tape with the
> >> potential for tape breakage or other damage occurring.
> >>
> >> So here is the question.
> >>
> >> What format/tool do people suggest I use to image the tape such that
> >> others could use the images.
> >>
> >> thank in advance
> >>
> >> Richard
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
> > _______________________________________________
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