Ali, I recently bought a Qualstar 1052 from Nico de Jong, which may fit the bill if you're happy with 1600 and 3200bpi. I believe he has another available. http://www.farumdata.dk/lagersalg.html
Regards, -Tom On 22 August 2015 at 00:10, Ali <cct...@fahimi.net> wrote: > Hello All, > > Recently I came across a complete Pertec interface (card, manual, software, > and, cables) thanks to list-member Shaun. Of course what is the point of > having an interface if you have nothing to interface it to! > > So I've been looking at, and learning a bit, about 1/2" tape drives. I've > also looked into acquiring one. But before going down this path I wanted to > see what pitfalls, warning signs, etc. I should be on the lookout for. I am > looking for a unit mostly to experience the tech and to play around with. I > do not plan on recovering data from any particular system or format. > However, it would be nice if I could setup a system that actually worked > for > backups of say an IBM AT for demonstration purposes. > > Having read some old InfoWorld and PC Mag articles I can see there were a > number of tape drive manufacturers well into the early 90s. Based on the > reviews the Cipher and Qualstar units seem to be well suited for my > purposes. Any other brand/models I should keep an eye out for. I know IBM > also had some 1/2" 9 track tape drives (9437 and 9438) but neither was a > Pertec interface from what I have gleaned. The 9347 used a proprietary > interface and the 9348 used HVD SCSI which is atypical. There was > apparently > a 9348-012 model which used narrow SCSI so should interface with a standard > Adaptec card. However, I have not been able to determine if it used > standard > SCSI commands and could be accessed say with a tape backup program under > Windows 9x/NT or DOS. > > Of course the biggest problem is finding one locally in the LA area. > Unfortunately my only resource is eBay and prices there are definitely not > hobbyist friendly (not to mention shipping). If anyone has a line on a > working drive in the LA area (to save on S&H and avoid the dangers of > shipping) or a reasonably priced one elsewhere I'd appreciate it. TIA for > any help. > >
