Teac DS-101Disk and Streamer

[mark0x01]

I have a Teac DS-101 Disk and Streamer.
My searching found no mention of these.

It is an external, SCSI interfaced, combo of a Toshiba HMK324FBS 101Mb SCSI Hard Disk and Teac MT-2ST SCSI tape drive with a Teac controller in the middle.

It can backup the hard disk to tape and back locally.

The two power supplies need attention as the caps have leaked a bit, and the case needs a touchup.
I'll get some better pictures when it gets dismantled.

 

[famicomaster2]

Huh, it's SCSI. Not what I expected at all. Thanks for sharing!

 

[NeXT]

It has that super-funky tape format that looks a lot like an audio cassette but is vastly different. What a neat little all-in-one disk expansion + backup solution.

 

[mark0x01]

This is the CT-600N tape they use, compared to an audio cassette (a blank 10min one from my compter tape distributing days)

I also have a second MT-2ST tape drive, and somewhere, the marketing pen from Teac with "60Mb in your pocket"

 

[twolazy]

Weird question, Since both seem to work the same way, why couldnt you just you a high quality metal cassette? Does it have punchouts on the leader of the tape or ? I remember some the early Metal tapes had a similar punchout in the middle of the left cassette/tape. Like the bottom tape. Couldnt I just dremel a little more out?

 

[krebizfan]

Weird question, Since both seem to work the same way, why couldnt you just you a high quality metal cassette? Does it have punchouts on the leader of the tape or ? I remember some the early Metal tapes had a similar punchout in the middle of the left cassette/tape. Like the bottom tape. Couldnt I just dremel a little more out?

There is a notch in the center to prevent the insertion of standard compact cassettes. The material was different from all the established audio cassette types. The DEC version in the TU60 used thicker tape. Note that the Coleco Adam DDP used notched cassettes as well but those used a normal audio cassette formulation.
One version of the official standard is ECMA 150 which can be found at https://www.ecma-international.org/publications-and-standards/standards/ecma-150/
There are a number of other standards for streaming tape; ECMA lists them as "3,81 mm."

It is extremely important that only DEC, 100 percent certified, Digital Tape Cassettes be used on the TU60 tape
drives. The "heavy base" tape within the Digital Equipment Corporation Cassettes was specifically chosen to be
compatible with the high drive tensions of the TU60. In addition, the head pressure pad material of the cassette has
been carefully selected to allow proper tape stacking. For optimal operational characteristics, the dynamics of each
tape drive require the use of only Digital Equipment Corporation Cassettes.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE AN AUDIO CASSETTE ON THE TU60 TAPE DRIVES. Since the tape within an
audio cassette is not designed to tolerate the high drive tensions of the TU60, use of this type cassette will result in
extremely rapid deterioration of the tape and subsequent failure of the drive due to excessive tape oxide deposits on
the read/write head and tape guides.

Because the DEC cassette is relatively more expensive than an audio cassette, it should not be used in place of an
audio cassette. The lower "high-frequency rolloff' of the digital tape makes the DEC cassette a poor substitute for
audio operations. In addition, the coefficient of friction of the DEC tape does not allow tape motion by capstan and
pinch rollers as is usually the case with most audio recorders.

 

[Chuck(G)]

I note that the Teac CT-500/600 cassettes have a notch at the top that a normal audio cassette does not have:

A nice 2 motor drive, however. I wonder if the CT cassettes can be used for audio...

 

[twolazy]

I want a similar drive for my XT. Be fun to play with what can work and what can't... Think the drive im looking for is a Cipher 5120xt or 5220xt.

 

[mark0x01]

I had to do a brain refresh on the specs.
It may be possible to use a metal audio cassette instead of the CT-500.
There is the CT-500, CT-500H. CT-600N and CT-600H and CT-600F in the tape range.
This combo has the MT-2ST-N50-05.
Tape compatability is restricted to read only for lower capacity tapes in the drives.

The Teac Tape Drive range

MT2 looks to be the origional, didn't find any details yet.
MT-2ST-20D 20MB QIC02. (Teac MT-2ST-20D)
MT-2ST-45D 45-60MB QIC-02. (Teac MT-2ST-45D)
MT-2ST-45S 45-60MB, SCSI. (Teac MT-2ST-45S)
MT-2ST-45S2 45-60MB, SCSI. (Teac MT-2ST-45S)
MT-2ST-N50 150MB, SCSI. (Teac MT-2ST-N50)
MT-2ST-N55 150MB QIC-02. (Teac MT-2ST-N55)
MT-2ST-N70 150MB, SCSI. (Teac MT-2ST-N70)
MT-2ST-F50B 600MB, SCSI, Internal, 3.5". (Teac MT-2ST-F50B)

 

[mk2s]

I just picked up a DS-1201 and it has similar tape drive but also a board with Hitachi z180 with two scsi controller chips and appears to be capable of copying the HD to tape and back with a button from the front. If anyone is interested I can send more info.

 

[famicomaster2]

That would make sense as a backup solution.