On 7/21/19 11:41 AM, ED SHARPE via cctalk wrote: > Great > info!https://www.zdnet.com/article/to-the-moon-ibm-and-univac-appollo-11s-integrators/?ftag=TREc64629f&bhid=46856739
Since I'm just winding up (I hope!) archiving a batch of tapes from JPL from the 60s and 70s, I might toss in a word or two. The bulk of tapes that I see from between 1968-81 are 7-track 800 bpi odd-parity, often with the notation "Univac 1108" or "Univac 1100". After about mid 1981, the tapes tend to be 9 track 1600 PE ones, even if from Univac 1100 36-bit gear. Text is all Fieldata. The Lunar orbiter (1966-67) selenodesy tapes that I processed originated on IBM 7094 gear, so probably 729-IV drives. There are exceptions. The tape from the Galilean moon radar experiments conducted from Arecibo (ca. 1975-76) is a short-record (ca. 128 characters) 200 bpi 7 track even-parity tape in IBM BCD (think 1401). Labels on some unprocessed tapes hint at data from other Jovian satellites. There are also several card-image tapes (even parity) that I haven't examined. There are others--I've only described the tapes that tickled my fancy and got my attention. Doubtless there are some real gems buried in the unexamined tapes. Sadly, most of the tape labels limit themselves to the owner/programmer, tape number and date, so you get what you get. Please don't ask for the data--that belongs to JPL and I'm not at liberty to release that, nor the physical tapes. What's surprising is how well these crusty old beggars read. JPL used the cr*p out of their tapes, with some tapes having the first 600' removed (tapes wear from BOT, so re-certifying involved discarding a sufficient amount of tape from the front of the reel and applying a new BOT marker. Keeps me off the streets, it does. FWIW, Chuck