HP-85B tapes

[Mike Maginnis]

Thanks for the tips!  I'll make sure it's clean tonight.

- Mike

On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 18:46:54, Joe R. <rigdonj at cfl.rr.com> wrote:
>   The first thing that you need to do is to check the tape drive wheel and
> see if it's gummy! If you put a tape in with a gummy wheel you'll ruin it
> because the gummy material will stick to the tape and then it will be wound
> up between layers of the tape. Then the next time that you use the tape the
> gummy material will rip the magnetic media off the tape! Usually they're so
> far gone that the "rubber" is melting and running. If it's not obviously
> bad then use your finger or the eraser end of a pencil and press it to see
> if it's soft. You should not be able to leave a permanent dent in it. If
> it's soft or runny then don't put a tape in it unless you're willing to
> ruin it.
>
>    BTW the old 40Mb tapes for the early tape drives (like the Irwin drives)
> for PCs will work in those drives. You can find those around the trift
> stores, surplus stores and hamfests. You can format them on the HP-85 using
> the INITIALIZE command. Oh! And DEC CompacTapes will work in it too.
>
>
>     Joe
>
> At 02:20 PM 11/8/05 -0700, you wrote:
> >Anyone have one or two tapes they'd be willing to part with, or let me
> >borrow briefly?  I've got two of these machines and no tapes to go
> >with, so I don't have a way to test the drives.
> >
> >Contact me off-list if you can help out or suggest a source.
> >
> >Thanks.
> >
> >- Mike
> >
> >
>
>