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old tape drives.

S

sexton772

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Joined
May 4, 2011
Messages
5
Location
ca
im looking for an old 1950s ibm tape drive. i been looking and i can not find one for sale at all. if some one can give me any information about it.
 
Such as IBM 729s? That doesn't surprise me--they're real museum pieces--and that's where you'll find them, along with the Univac Uniservo I drives.
 
would you know of any. i really want one. i mean i know its not going to be cheap. but if i could just find one for sell it would be a big help. by the way if i were to find one what would i be looking to pay 1000 or more like 10,000. i cant even find price information on them.
 
Your best choice if you want something that remotely looks like one of the classics is the Qualstar Reel-to-reel drives they made and people sold for pretty much every platform.
P7262878.jpg
 
No, the OP is looking for a vacuum-column drive and a 7-track one at that (9 tracks didn't come along until the 1960s).

I'd suggest talking with Paul Pierce who might know of the whereabouts of one, since really old IBM gear is his area of interest.

I'll add that equipment in the 50s and 60s tended to have a much longer working life than today's gear. The IBM 729 drives were used on second-generation equipment, such as the 7090 and continued in use right through the third-generation IBM S/360. All of this is, of course, very late 1950s gear--earlier gear not being solid-state is much much rarer. Finding an old Univac Uniservo metal-tape drive would be quite an accomplishment.
 
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sexton772 said:
im looking for an old 1950s ibm tape drive. i been looking and i can not find one for sale at all. if some one can give me any information about it.
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I hope your punctuation and grammar improve if you do find one for sale. Somebody selling something like that is going to want a 'qualified' buyer.
 
It has occurred to me that perhaps the OP was a bit confused and perhaps thinks that any 1/2" tape drive must be from the 1950s (in fact, they were in common use though the 90s at least). That being the case, any old 1/2" drive might suffice. One of the San Jose area collectors reports that he has a Fujitsu X2444 drive headed for the scrappers if someone doesn't claim it.

I have the problem of assuming that people always know what they're talking about. My apology if this is not the case.
 
Chuck,

Lots of things are possible. But when I see a complete newbie who doesn't know where the Shift key is looking for a 60 year old piece of high tech gear, a few warning flags go up. In this particular case:

  • If I knew I really needed something that special, I'd probably have model numbers.
  • I'd probably want to make a good impression. Proper punctuation, grammar and spelling would be a must.
  • I might provide some background on what I'm trying to accomplish so that I could get better/more directed help.

This post had none of these attributes. It's hard to take seriously.
 
Look bro. i dont care about my grammar im just trying to find a show piece for my house. why do yall have to make it so technical come on now. lets all just be friends. I mean NeXT summed it up for me, thats just what im looking for. i dont care about model numbers. or what the thing is i just want a nice discussion piece. besides money talks bro aint no kind of grammar makes up for that.
 
As I mentioned, there's a collector in San Jose who will probably let you have it for free if you show up in person (soon) with some help to haul it away. I assume that your location "ca" means California.
 
sexton772 said:
Look bro. i dont care about my grammar im just trying to find a show piece for my house. why do yall have to make it so technical come on now. lets all just be friends. I mean NeXT summed it up for me, thats just what im looking for. i dont care about model numbers. or what the thing is i just want a nice discussion piece. besides money talks bro aint no kind of grammar makes up for that.
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First, nobody hear is your "bro."

Second, I'm glad that you think that money talks. You're going to need a lot given the way you communicate.

Good luck on your quest ...
 
Omg thank you soooo much chuck g. Your the freggin bees knees. Awesome. How might I find said person?
 
I thought Bumping the thread would be better than posting a new one I to am looking for a vintage tape drive to use in a set for a show I am working on. I am looking for something similar to pictured. Any leads or Ideas would be great. I haave contacted paul.

Thanks
MartinView attachment 7795
 
MartinFahrer said:
I thought Bumping the thread would be better than posting a new one I to am looking for a vintage tape drive to use in a set for a show I am working on. I am looking for something similar to pictured. Any leads or Ideas would be great.
Click to expand...

You don't mention where you are located. Location plays a big part in this kind of thing, as these drives can weigh a hundred pounds or more. If you're nearby I *may* be able to help you, provided you don't care about functionality.

The attachment did not come through, however.

-Ian
 
RetroHacker_ said:
You don't mention where you are located. Location plays a big part in this kind of thing, as these drives can weigh a hundred pounds or more. If you're nearby I *may* be able to help you, provided you don't care about functionality.

The attachment did not come through, however.

-Ian
Click to expand...

Ian shipping is not a problem I can have freight and pickup arranged. I am in NY but it will be used in Irving Texas shoot me an email. martin.f@rcn.com
 
OK, yeah, the drives I have look nothing like those. Those drives are very old vacuum column type drives - mainframe type. There would be a separate tape controller unit box that controls those - and is again the size of the drive. It is going to be quite difficult to find one. The drives I have are smaller ones, minicomputer type. Integrated interface boards, smaller. They still use the vacuum column air bearing type setup, but it's much smaller and hidden from view. They're rack mount units, the reels are one above the other, and are mostly hidden behind a plastic cover with a fairly small window - just enough to see the supply reel turning.

-Ian
 
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