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Pertec ISA interface card

NeXT

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Oct 22, 2008
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Kamloops, BC, Canada
As mentioned in the hardware section, I have a Qualstar 1052 MiniStreamer 9-track tape drive which unfortunately does not have it's ISA controller board. It ended up in a system that was scrapped.
I'm assuming that almost any ISA Pertec interface card will work so long as it has the needed 63 (or somewhere close to that number) pin connector that the drive connects to.
Would anyone happen to have one sitting around anywhere?
 
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Still searching for this controller card and ebay is still showing up nothing. Even the gouging recyclers/resellers have nothing to offer.
 
This is actually a pretty good deal, compared to the stuff being pushed on ePay.

Edit: Sorry that I didn't see that it was sold. But this is the one you want, not the PCTD II or PCTD III.
 
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Aw rats. :(
You sure that it would of worked?

I've got one--and the drivers Mine is hooked to a Fujitsu M2444 drive. Works fine.

Have patience; they still turn up from time to time. It's not the only one by any means, but is probably the most common one that will work. Whatever you do, stay away from the PCTD III--it uses an early FPGA that needs the driver to download its firmware and it is a very slow card--it probably wouldn't work on anything much faster than a 386. The PCTD16 has 256K of onboard buffer and is pretty sli
 
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Okay then, I'll keep searching but if anyone finds a card that I have not found, please make me aware of it as this tape drive currently does nothing but sit on top of my monitors.
 
BuMPage.
I'm still eying ebay but so far nothing much other then the usual stuff that costs $300, has no picture and is probably not waht I want.
Has anyone found one in there card collections?
 
Do you happen to have any part numbers etc for some card to you could use ?
I have a big box full of cards but most of them I have no clue what they do or are ;)
 
Well there were three specific models of ISA cards mentioned, the Computer Logics PCTD16, PCTD II and PCTD III as well as there exists images of two other Pertec tape drive controller cards.

atc16.gif

atc8.gif

I think there was also an adapter for my line of Qualstar drives which converted the Pertec interface into a regular SCSI interface but good luck finding that.
 
I'm toying wtih the idea of building a microcontroller-based Pertec drive controller, with either an RS232 or ethernet interface. It shouldn't be more than a dozen chips (mostly drivers and receivers). Any interest out there?
 
I have a TX-8 card. It was sold by Overland Data. I have no information on this card at all. I also have a TXi-16 card connected and running still. I have manual and docs for that, which would probably include the pinout for the TX-8 (they used the same cables). Let me know if interested and I'll make sure it is stil laying around.
 
I have a TX-8 card. It was sold by Overland Data. I have no information on this card at all. I also have a TXi-16 card connected and running still. I have manual and docs for that, which would probably include the pinout for the TX-8 (they used the same cables). Let me know if interested and I'll make sure it is stil laying around.

Something like this?
 
I should add that you need to match your card to your drive. If you've got a fast streamer (e.g. 75 ips), a naked 8-bit card isn't going to pass the data fast enough to keep the tape moving. Even on vacuum-column drives, start-stop operation is expensive. The tape gets moving, then the data in a block is passed to the controller. If the controller doesn't assert IGO somewhere in the IRG, tape motion will stop, the tape will be backspaced to a block or two preceding the next block to be read and the drive will make a running start at the next block to be read. Repeat as needed--it gets pretty ugly.

My PCTD16 has 256K organized as a ring (circular) buffer, so it can read quite a bit of data before having to catch its breath. The PCTD III, by comparison has a 256-byte FIFO.
 
From what I know, the Qualstar MiniStreamer 1052 is not the most demanding of tape drives made, nor the most efficient.
As you point out, it is nice to get a controller specific to my drive to speed things up however considering I have been at this for five months now I'm starting to get a little desperate and I'm now looking for anything that will work with it, no matter how slow.
If I want something faster I guess in the future Ic an look for a scsi drive like the IBM 9348.
 
I was quite surprised to see this thread, I've not spotted it, and I think I posed the same question.

I'm toying wtih the idea of building a microcontroller-based Pertec drive controller, with either an RS232 or ethernet interface. It shouldn't be more than a dozen chips (mostly drivers and receivers). Any interest out there?

Yes I would! probably RS232 would be more useful from the point of view of interfacing it with older kit/software.
 
Yes I would! probably RS232 would be more useful from the point of view of interfacing it with older kit/software.

Well, that's one! What I had in mind was something small enough to slip into a unit such as my Fuji 2444, stealing some +5 to run. I was considering a 512K buffer, which would let most tapes spin quite a while before the buffer got full. The Pertec interface itself is pretty stupid; there's no handshaking during a data transfer between the drive and controller. On a read, for example, the drive simply puts out a "here's data" pulse and doesn't care if it was picked up or not. A write takes whatever's on the data output lines, sends a pulse signifying acceptance and that's it.
 
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