recovering cartridge tapes

[Brent Hilpert]

On 2010 Jul 19, at 5:33 PM, Dave McGuire wrote:

> On 7/19/10 7:59 PM, Brent Hilpert wrote:
>>>   Every vacuum-column drive I've seen has used pressure sensors to
>>> determine the position of the tape loops within the columns.  Granted
>>> I've not seen a HUGE variety of different drives, but...just sayin'.
>>>
>>
>> On the desk beside me, I'm looking at a part from a Honeywell vac-col
>> tape drive. It's an aluminum extrusion 1/2-inch wide and about 6 
>> inches
>> long, with a masked glass plate on one side. Inside, spread along the
>> length are 8 selenium photocell strips.
>
>   Wow, that's nifty.  What vintage is that drive, any idea?
>
It was 7-track, so along with what I saw of the construction, early-mid 
60's.
I only got some bits and pieces, mostly the head/capstan deck, never 
actually saw the whole thing.