1st stage loader for IMSAI - need ascii to binary conversion

[Chuck Guzis]

David Griffith wrote:

> This paper tape fiddling made me wonder if anyone ever made a cassette
> tape interface that emitted RS232 signals and looked to the computer
> like a paper tape reader/writer.  

Definitely.  I used a lovely Techtran dual-cassette unit before I had 
a floppy drive for my MITS 8800.  Buffered in 128-byte blocks, fully 
searchable and block-addressable.  Used as a replacement for an ASR 
tape unit--it understood XON and XOFF control codes.  Baud rates to 
2400, IIRC.

These were fairly common at one time in CNC applications, such as 
embroidery and machining before they were replaced by floppy-disk 
paper tape emulators.

Data was recorded as NRZ rather than FSK, however.

Cheers,
Chuck