[vcf-midatlantic] disk duplicating machines

[william degnan]

On Wed, Aug 31, 2016 at 2:15 PM, Ian Primus via vcf-midatlantic <
vcf-midatlantic at lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote:

> I have a 3 1/2" one (non-standalone) that I figured out the protocol
> for, and got working. I've never been able to find a 5 1/4" one - I
> kind of wonder how the disk loading would work, given that 5 1/4"
> disks are less "sturdy" and vary more than 3 1/2" media. With mine, it
> will jam if the disks already have labels on them, or if they are
> cheaper disks made of thinner material and more flexible.
>
> Are yours standalone, or do they require an external computer? Mine is
> basically just an external floppy drive with an RS-232 controlled disk
> changer attached. I wrote some shell scripts to multipart .tar
> archives to a stack of floppies.
>
> -Ian
>
>
They're both stand-alone.

Might be worth having a workshop at my house some time this fall to try
these out and others..  I also have a lot of new things here, some of which
I need to poss find new homes for or trade.  Lately exploring hardware by
Sun, SGI, Next, DEC Rainbow.    I have a Comptometer to repair.  The list
is a mile long.

I am very close but not yet done with my DEC 11/40, but I have taken two
months off, spending more time outside in the summer weather and a lot of
music-related projects.

I also have a Visual 1050 on my workbench.  Need to re-cap the hard drive
controller.

Bill