FW: DecTape & LincTape.

O. Sharp ohh at drizzle.com
Mon Oct 4 22:50:48 CDT 2004


Paul Koning observes:

> Are the DECtape marks 6 bits even on the PDP-8?  That would be
> strange, it would mean there would be two mark words per 3 data words.

Strange but true. I got the info from a DEC _Small Computer Handbook_ for 
1967, and confirmed it in a later 8/I edition because it didn't make 
sense to me either.  :)  It does show kind of an odd overlap, but 
evidently they liked it anyway.

What machine did DEC first use DECtape (not LINCtape) for? If it was 
something with an 18-bit word length maybe it would make sense, but I 
remember reading somewhere that it was first used on the PDP-5...

                 -O.-




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