> On Sep 19, 2016, at 12:34 PM, Noel Chiappa <j...@mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
>
> So what do people think the (monetary) value of a 7-track TU10 master drive
> is? I have no idea what these older vacuum-column drives are worth - don't
> recall ever seeing on for sale. This one is in good condition, and has all its
> Flip Chips. The 7-track is a plus in some ways (rarer), and negative in
> others (can't read old 9-track tapes, which are probably more common than
> 7-track).
I don't know either, but I can say this much:
7 track tape drives are quite rare. 7 track data is not all that common
either, but it shows up from time to time. There are plenty of 9 track tapes
out there; the ability to reach 9 track media is not at risk. But for 7
tracks, it might well be. In other words, it would be a very good idea to see
this drive preserved.
Along those lines, a project I'm working on has turned up a number of 7 track
tapes, possibly 556 bpi though that is not entirely clear. They are in Europe,
where searches for working 7 track setups have come up empty. Can anyone offer
pointers? Will it take shipping the media to another continent to get the data
preserved?
paul
