On 03/07/2016 01:35 PM, Matt Patoray via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
One thing I had thought to do with that tape juke is to use a sheet metal nibbler to cut a "window" in the main door, put some lucite/plexi in there with a rubber surround to make it look good, then write some code to move the tape picker around inserting/rearranging tapes. I hate modifying hardware, and normally I'd never consider such a thing, but as you observed, the thing just isn't old enough to be "vintage" to anyone but the most clueless PC person, and they're not terribly rare either. But most people are never in an environment where such things are in use, so it'd be a new experience to see one batting its positioner around.
Simmilar to the StorageTek tape juke is the Sony BetaCart and its variations, but insted of DLT tapes it contained some form of videotape cassette either BetaCam 1/2" variants or D-2 3/4" tapes. The system was introduced in 1985 and allowwd a TV station to air many different videotapes automatically, the minimum system consisted of 1(expandable to 4) BetaCam VCR modified to take tapes in from the side, a cart robot that could hold 30 tapes, an AV matrix switcher and a custom control computer with bar code printing and reading cability.
Oh yes. I'd love to find one of those systems intact. A fantastic example of early-ish computer control in a non-computer-related tech industry. The broadcast industry seems to have been a fairly early adopter of computerization in process control (rather than just "human" tasks") areas. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA