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From: ayk@camex.camex.com.COM (Andrew Kobayashi)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: WangDAT/Dilog compatability
Message-ID: <1612@camex.COM>
Date: 1 Nov 90 15:07:27 GMT
Sender: news@Camex.COM
Lines: 27

We've gotten some 4mm evaluation units from WangDAT and Dilog.
The former is the WangDAT 2600, which can cram up to 2.6 gigabytes
on one 60 meter long 4mm tape by virtue of a compression chip.
(Your mileage may vary. :-)  The latter is call a DAT Stacker,
and it has a carriage that holds a stack of eight 4mm tapes.
The drive itself writes a "mere" 1.3 gigabytes per 60 meter tape,
for a total capacity of around *ten* gig.  Sheesh.

The problem i'm running in to is apparently the old bugaboo of
"conflicting standards".  Both drives claim to adhere to the DDS
standard.  And indeed i can make a tape on the WangDAT (in
uncompressed mode) that the Dilog happily reads.  But i cannot
read tapes made on the Dilog unit on the WangDAT.

I've got calls in to tech reps at both manufacturers, but what i
am afraid is going to happen is a lot of finger-pointing about
incompatible implementation of the "standard".  I was wondering
if anyone out there had any real information, or will i have to
rely on the manufacturers to tell me the truth about each other?
:-)

I make the standard disclaimer about vested interest in either
unit.

		--Andrew Kobayashi
		  CAMEX, Boston, MA, USA
		  ...!uunet!camex!ayk, ayk@camex.com