Want to Borrow a Dysan Calibration Diskette

[Great Hierophant]

My IBM PC 5150 has two Tandon TM100-2A drives, but only one works reliably. The other one tends to give finicky results, even after a proper head clean. I believe it may not be in alignment, but in order to determine its true issues, I would need a Dysan Alignment Disk. I believe this is a digital alignment disk that does not require an oscilloscope. Testdrive uses them and Testdrive works on an IBM PC (and presumably other 8088 PCs).

I figure its much cheaper to ship a diskette back and forth than a drive, and I would only have myself to blame if I screwed up the alignment and destroyed the drive. I would want to check every 5.25" DD drive I own, and I own five of them. I think the safest way would be to insert the disk in a hardcover book (a children's book would do) and then ship the disk.

I know a company called Accurite sells digital alignment disks, but who knows whether its software works with older PCs. Their disks are also very expensive.

I think I can be trusted with someone's valuable property

 

[MicrocomputerSolutions]

Good Luck trying to find someone to loan you an Alignment Disk.

Alignment Disks are factory calibrated, and have a finite useful life. Every time you use one, you take the chance that the drive will malfunction and destroy the usefulness of the disk by damaging the prerecorded alignment tracks, or removing/scraping the oxide. And, you will shave oxide off the surface, shortening the useful life of the disk. It's not like borrowing a hammer, screwdriver, or wrench.

I only use analog alignment disks in my business, and I paid between $75-$100 each for them. I also have a box full of damaged ones from when I made the mistake (more than one time over the years) of dropping them into drives that were bad, and the Customers did not warn me ahead of time that the drives had problems that were not related to alignment. You can ruin an alignment disk with a single use/misuse.

I would not loan anybody a working alignment disk.

 

[Great Hierophant]

I understand that an analog alignment disk requires an oscilloscope, whereas a digital alignment disk like the Dysan needs software that understands its layout like Testdrive. Without an alignment disk and/or an oscilloscope, the ability to diagnose floppy disk problems and fix them is severely limited.

 

[hargle]

I have a 5.25" floppy disk by CheckIt!/Touchstone Software Corporation called a Mini-Spiral Disk
It says "This specially manufactured disk is for floppy mechanics testing only. Do not format or attempt to store data on this disk."

I got the disk out of a recycling dumpster at my workplace, so I have no investment in it. the disk appears to be in excellent condition- even comes with the original sleeve.
I do not have any other software for checkIt! (looks like you can get it from vetusware) If this disk is of any value to you, I'm happy to ship it out.