On 08/21/2016 10:12 AM, j...@cimmeri.com wrote: > The final matter is that I'd still like to get the Teac to function > with some software, just to watch it operate (you have to really > like mechanical things to understand this strange fascination). > Having put some time and $ into the Teac, it'd be nice to get some > reward, even if only then it gets placed on the shelf afterwards.
Back in the day, I wondered if the DDS drives being as complex as they were, with the skinny less-than-4mm wide tape could even have the possibility of any longevity. But the old DDS-1 tapes I recorded more than 20 years ago are still quite readable as are the DDS-4 tapes I wrote over a decade ago. One advantage that DDS (and DLT...) has over most of the "QIC" tapes is that they use a read-after-write system like the big 1/2" tape drives, making a separate verification pass unnecessary. They also tend to follow the ANSI sequantial-access SCSI standard more carefully. You may want to consider DDS or DLT for your DEC gear. --Chuck
