[rescue] Dumping SunOS tapes

[John Hudak]

I forgot to mention that I came across some postings that claim the belts
in the DC6150 were more resistant to aging then the original....something
about a change in the mfg process for the 6xxx series.  Belts in those
units might be likely donor candidates....

This issue, in general, is not unique and a lot of postings about solutions
seem to be around...the trick will be to find 'the' way as opposed to the
dead ends.

I'll see if I can find something from the belt suppliers I deal with.
J


On Fri, Sep 8, 2017 at 11:51 AM, John Hudak <jjhudak at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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