Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!cadre!km
From: km@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU (Ken Mitchum)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs
Subject: tape cartridge differences
Keywords: DC300 DC600A
Message-ID: <1631@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU>
Date: 20 Oct 88 12:09:22 GMT
Organization: Decision Systems Lab., Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.
Lines: 16

I hope this is not a ridiculously simple question, but I am interested
in finding out what the differences are between DC300 and DC600A tape
cartridges (besides the length). Specifically, is there a different
pattern of tape holes that can be detected to determine which cartridge
is in the drive?

I bought some surplus Cipher "floppy tape" drives (model 526) at a hamfest.
They work fine with DC600A tapes, but stop dead after retensioning DC300
tapes. Length is not the problem, as the 150 ft version of DC600 also
works. The Cipher manuals are of no help, only to say to use DC600 tapes.
Since I have a large potential supply of DC300 cartridges, I would like
to use them if possible.

 Ken Mitchum
 Decision Systems Labs
 University of Pgh