> The other project is a low-volume device that reads floppy discs at the flux 
> transition level. It's basically meant to allow 'odd format' discs to be read, 
> analysed and (where required) copied. There are a lot of 'vintage' computers 
> out there and not a lot of copies of install discs and the like. Problem being 
> that PC floppy controllers can't generally copy these discs. So the obvious 
> solution is a box that can read and write discs at the lowest level possible. 
> This is the 'big thing' that I REALLY don't want to screw up. The HDL code is 
> all done, I just need to build up a prototype, write the software and squash 
> the inevitable bugs.
>   
Sounds like you might be well served to "re-engineer" the reading 
mechanism for the disk itself if your going to all that effort anyway. I 
imagine that modern amps and D/A converters and the like would be loads 
better than something your going to find in an 8.5" fdd drive. Perhaps 
even to the point of making up a magnetic scanner based on a cd drive or 
some such. You should be able to get lots more information about what a 
particular bit is sposed to be then?
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