Re: Burroughs BU4400 tape drive. What is it?
On 4/2/19 7:23 PM, mike--- via cctalk wrote: > The shipping guess was damn close - $97.94 (approx. NZD143.54), plus > US$10 for the actual tapes. It actually sounds like quite a good deal, > for brand new tapes. Thanks for the offer of the tape, if I get stuck > I'll drop you a note. It's $60 shipping inside the US, so $100 shipping sounds like a bargain. However, if you'd like a full-szied 10.5" reel, these aren't that. Look like 600' reels, rather than the full-length 2400' ones. --Chuck
Re: Burroughs BU4400 tape drive. What is it?
Quoting Anders Nelson via cctalk : Here is a 10-pack of 9-track tapes for $10USD: https://www.ebay.com/itm/BASF-9-Track-Mag-Tapes-Brand-New-Case-of-10/112152910883 Shipping to NZ will probably be $100... I bought one of these boxes and could send you a single tape if you need it, but I imagine there's someone with a tape they don't need closer to you. The shipping guess was damn close - $97.94 (approx. NZD143.54), plus US$10 for the actual tapes. It actually sounds like quite a good deal, for brand new tapes. Thanks for the offer of the tape, if I get stuck I'll drop you a note. Cheers, Mike
Re: Burroughs BU4400 tape drive. What is it?
Quoting Chuck Guzis via cctalk : If you're going to use this thing, do check the carbide (sometimes ceramic) cleaning blade. You want the edge to be sharp and smooth; if it's nicked or chipped, it will end up doing more harm than good. In this case, it's really just for show - I don't have a real 9-track drive, or any tapes. That was why I'd prefer an unusable tape, rather than destroying a good tape by passing it through a cleaner repeatedly. However, tapes do seem really quite cheap and easy to find. I suspect that a carbide insert for machine tools might be cobbled up as a replacement, if required. I suspect the blade is actually missing. There's am empty spot that looks like it might have taken a cartridge at once point in the tape path. Maybe nothing actually goes there, but on the tape path diagram, it seems to show something with a narrow gap the tape passes through. If I wanted to make it functional, I could fairly easily make a cartridge that fits in the spot as above, and passes the tape across a blade of that sort without a great deal of pressure. I would really like a working drive sometime, so I am actually considering doing this... Cheers, Mike
Re: Burroughs BU4400 tape drive. What is it?
Hey Tony, Here is a 10-pack of 9-track tapes for $10USD: https://www.ebay.com/itm/BASF-9-Track-Mag-Tapes-Brand-New-Case-of-10/112152910883 Shipping to NZ will probably be $100... I bought one of these boxes and could send you a single tape if you need it, but I imagine there's someone with a tape they don't need closer to you. Let me know! -- Anders Nelson +1 (517) 775-6129 www.erogear.com On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 8:41 PM Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: > On 4/2/19 3:04 PM, mike--- via cctalk wrote: > > > Looks like you're right! I'm pretty sure it's a cleaner. Everything on > > it seems to work well, once I figured out how it was intended to work. > > Just had fool the tape optical sensor (BOT/EOT?) with a piece of paper > > and it started up fine. It only seems to want to go 'slow' in reverse, > > but that may be something to do with the lack of tape. I like the tape > > counter a lot. It shows error codes when they occur, and is a dot matrix > > style LED display (perhaps not true dot matrix, just something nicer > > looking than a 7-segment display). > > If you're going to use this thing, do check the carbide (sometimes > ceramic) cleaning blade. You want the edge to be sharp and smooth; if > it's nicked or chipped, it will end up doing more harm than good. > > I suspect that a carbide insert for machine tools might be cobbled up as > a replacement, if required. > > --Chuck > >
Re: Burroughs BU4400 tape drive. What is it?
On 4/2/19 3:04 PM, mike--- via cctalk wrote: > Looks like you're right! I'm pretty sure it's a cleaner. Everything on > it seems to work well, once I figured out how it was intended to work. > Just had fool the tape optical sensor (BOT/EOT?) with a piece of paper > and it started up fine. It only seems to want to go 'slow' in reverse, > but that may be something to do with the lack of tape. I like the tape > counter a lot. It shows error codes when they occur, and is a dot matrix > style LED display (perhaps not true dot matrix, just something nicer > looking than a 7-segment display). If you're going to use this thing, do check the carbide (sometimes ceramic) cleaning blade. You want the edge to be sharp and smooth; if it's nicked or chipped, it will end up doing more harm than good. I suspect that a carbide insert for machine tools might be cobbled up as a replacement, if required. --Chuck
Re: Burroughs BU4400 tape drive. What is it?
Quoting Chuck Guzis via cctalk : Judging from the controls and lack of mechanical buffering, I'd pronounce this to be a tape verifier, or possibly a cleaner. The "half cycle" and "slow" are clues. I just bought this Burroughs BU4400 tape drive: https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=113439 Looks like you're right! I'm pretty sure it's a cleaner. Everything on it seems to work well, once I figured out how it was intended to work. Just had fool the tape optical sensor (BOT/EOT?) with a piece of paper and it started up fine. It only seems to want to go 'slow' in reverse, but that may be something to do with the lack of tape. I like the tape counter a lot. It shows error codes when they occur, and is a dot matrix style LED display (perhaps not true dot matrix, just something nicer looking than a 7-segment display). So, that's good news - to demo it fully all I need is a reel of tape, rather than needing to find or implement a controller as well. I'm in New Zealand, but I think I'd be lucky to find anything here. As a fallback, there is plenty on eBay, at least. If anyone has some damaged or otherwise unusable tape that's only suitable for demonstrating a cleaner, please drop me a note. Cheers, Mike
Re: Burroughs BU4400 tape drive. What is it?
Judging from the controls and lack of mechanical buffering, I'd pronounce this to be a tape verifier, or possibly a cleaner. The "half cycle" and "slow" are clues. FWIW, --Chuck On 4/1/19 9:42 PM, Mike van Bokhoven via cctalk wrote: > Hi all, > > I just bought this Burroughs BU4400 tape drive: > https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=113439 > As the seller says, Google comes up empty. Seems strange, I would have > expected some reference somewhere. Does anyone know anything about it? > I'm going to pick it up this evening. It'd be superb as a display piece, > but I'd be really keen to drive it with something and get it reading and > writing. > On that topic, are there any suggestions on how I could get my hands on > a few tapes, preferably with a format this drive can read? The actual > contents aren't important; even blanks would be OK, though not being > able to get it reading before moving on to writing would make the > project more difficult. > > Cheers, > Mike >
