> Alan B. Pearce wrote:
>
>>>>The code is somewhere in the historical records department
>>>>at Byte Craft then all I need is to find a paper reader that
>>>>has been run in the last 20 years.
>>>
>>>I think that that could be helped. There is a way to transfer paper
>>> tapes
>>>into computers using a scanner and a black sheet of paper as backing.
>
>
>> Oh, I hadn't heard of that scheme. Sounds like it could be a do-er
>> though,
>> but would require a fair amount of operator time. I have some old tapes
>> of
>> bits I wouldn't mind getting at, and have been considering building a
>> little
>> reader with some surface mount leads on some strip board as receivers,
>> and a
>> second set as emitters, with a small stepper or DC motor to pull the
>> tape
>> through. A suitable small PIC with UART to send it out as serial stream
>> and
>> control the motor would complete the scheme.
>
> Byte magazine had an article on doing exactly that, but with HAND
> pulled paper tape. e.g. no motor.
> It used 9 LED/opto paths, with the 9th channel being the clock
> signal on the drive sproket holes.
>
> http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/OAE80_Reader/OAE80_Index.htm
>
> http://esaki.ee.boun.edu.tr/~talays/courses/ee443/Chap_8.pdf
> refers to a Siemens BPX89 phototransistor array meant for reading tape.
>
> Even easier is to use a bunch of spring fingers to read the
> conduct/no conduction to a piece of PCB. No optical biasing issues.
>
> Someone could probably write code to use a web cam to
> track the holes as they moved past a backlight.
> --


A friend had an IMSAI computer way back. It had a pull the tape by hand
tape reader that used an opto on the sprocket hole has the data strobe. I
always thought that was a clever idea. Remember "chadless tape?" I had
that on my Teletype model 14 typing reperforator. The chads were not
entirely removed. Instead, one side was still attached so the printer
could type on the tape. The reader (model 14 transmitter distributor)
would move the tape, then try to stick pins up through the holes. If the
pin could go up, there was a hole. The pins would move down and the
sprocket would advance the tape to the next position...

Harold

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