Re: Is ProDOS supported in OSX?

[russotto@grace.speakeasy.net (Matthew Russotto)]

In article <20030625194533.16978.00001695@mb-m06.aol.com>,
Michael J. Mahon <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote:
>Matthew Russotto replied:
>>>
>>>The appropriate course of action in such a situation is to construct
>>>one or more special tape transports designed to handle the tape
>>>much more delicately than the original equipment did.  Slow-speed
>>>transport that maintains most of the curvature of the tape on the
>>>reel and non-contact sensing come immediately to mind.
>>
>>You probably don't have to go that far.  The 9-track transports I'm
>>familiar with are quite rough -- they take up slack fairly quickly and
>>with a big bump at the end.  Stopping that behavior (which can be done
>>by manually taking up the slack, if the mechanism is open as many are)
>>is probably enough to keep the tape from breaking.
>
>This is probably true for most cases, but many tapes have been
>stored for so long that there is real danger of the coating coming
>off if their radius of curvature is changed too much.

For a tape that old, yeah, you're into custom transports.  Probably
you'd have to wind the tape onto a cone-shaped "take-up reel" to
maintain the radius throughout.  Head design would be a problem as it
would be difficult to keep the tape safely under tension and thus a constant
distance from the head.  Fortunately, such ancient tapes are probably
low density, simplifiying things. 
-- 
Matthew T. Russotto                            mrussotto@speakeasy.net
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in pursuit
of justice is no virtue."  But extreme restriction of liberty in pursuit of 
a modicum of security is a very expensive vice.