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From: authorplaceholder@inmet.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Re: 9-track tape drives
Message-ID: <6200043@inmet>
Date: Fri, 18-Jul-86 12:55:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: inmet.6200043
Posted: Fri Jul 18 12:55:00 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Jul-86 07:55:34 EDT
References: <690@osu-cgrg.UUCP>
Lines: 43
Nf-ID: #R:osu-cgrg.UUCP:-69000:inmet:6200043:000:1760
Nf-From: inmet.UUCP!roger    Jul 18 12:55:00 1986


**********@<-<-<-< Choke on it, Line Eater!**********

	I used an Alloy single-reel 9-track system for two years, for
	backups and data tranfers -- never had a hardware problem.  
	The drive itself is built like a tank, and weighs near as much. 
	The control panel is idiot-proof; you can't hang the system up,
	no matter how you punch the membrane keys.

	The interface was proprietary, although I heard they were going
	to go SCSI.  The control software is fairly straight-forward
	and seemingly quite robust - it never really hung-up on me either,
	despite lots of reasonable opportunities to do so.  You can write
	ASCII or binary files to and from the tape, or you can
	use a compressed backup-restore format.  If you are writing ASCII
	or binary files, you can specify block and record length, and 
	number of blocks or records to be written.  (There was one bug in
	the routine that wrote binaries to DOS -- it insisted on writing
	only in even segments, even though it properly informed DOS that
	the file type was binary.)  

	I don't have comparable experience with any other PC-compatable
	9-tracks, but if robustness and reliability are your major criteria,
	you can't go too far wrong with this system.
	

					    Roger Brockett

				        ...!ihnp!ima!roger


	     ************************************************
	     *	"A multitude of mesons are within you all." *
	     *                                              *
	     *				- RACTER            *
	     ************************************************

   	Std. Disclaimer - If any of the above opinions represented those 
			  of Intermetrics, Inc -
			  it would be the first time.

	Additional Disclaimer -  I don't know anybody who knows anybody
				 at Alloy Computer Products