14 Jan
2026
14 Jan
'26
10:42 a.m.
That's good to know. I've seen people complaining it's impossible to find.
I don't actually have any punches or readers myself but I've seen things
like printers that use a small loop of mylar tape for programming vertical
tabs.
Is it rare enough that I should cache the other two reels ? I've got more
clutter than I need if it's not. The shop is in St Neots, Cambridgeshire,
UK.
On Wed, Jan 14, 2026 at 6:26 PM David Wade via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
wrote:
On 14/01/2026 18:17, Adrian Godwin via cctalk wrote:
I bought a reel of paper tape at an office supply
shop today.
It was in their 'bargains' room and is marked
NCR
SYSTEMEDIA
01-6388181
Telex 888634
PTI
Made in England
It cost me £0.50. I think they had two more reels. it's age is indicated
by
having a London phone number that was made
obsolete 30 years ago.
However, what surprises me is that it's 17.5 mm (0.69", 11/16") wide.
This
seems too narrow for 7-hole tape and too wide for
the tape used for
telegrams. Is it for 5-hole tape ?
Yes 5-hole tape used for Telex and RTTY. Also the Manchester Mk1
apparently from equipment Alan Turing "liberated" from Bletchley park.
Later Ferranti computers also used this media...
I have a few reels of both this and 1" tape (non-oiled) should any one
need any...
Dave
G4UGM