External tape drive

Introduce yourself to your fellow forum members - what was your journey into the Sinclair world?
Post Reply
torrid
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:10 am
Location: North Carolina

External tape drive

Post by torrid »

Hola. New member, thought I would start here.

I was thinking back to the ZX81 I tinkered with in junior high. I acquired all kinds of add-ons for it. I know I had some sort of external drive that took a small magnetic tape.

I've been trying to find information about the drive online, but have had no luck. Does anyone know what the brand might have been, or maybe have a picture of one?
torrid
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:10 am
Location: North Carolina

Re: External tape drive

Post by torrid »

Well, able to answer my own question after poking around here a little bit.

It was an Exatron "Stringy Floppy":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exatron_Stringy_Floppy

Anyway, I'm glad to see there are still people playing with the Sinclair machines. Mine may be still buried in a closet somewhere in my parents' house. And it looks like everyone who stumbles across one thinks they've found a small fortune to sell on eBay.

Ha!
User avatar
gammaray
Posts: 590
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 2:44 am
Location: Texas

Re: External tape drive

Post by gammaray »

I still can't believe I threw all my Timex stuff away, including my Exatrons. So much for being 18 at the time and knowing it all :roll:
5-TS1000,UK ZX81<-Sheelagh, US ZX81, 2-TS1500/KDLX , 3-TS2040 printer, 2-TS2020 cassette decks, ZXPAND+AY, ZeddyNET, ZXBlast, UDG, ZX8CCB, AERCO, BUILDS/REPAIRS ZX Spectrum, ZX80 Minstrel, ZXMAX48 v1 v2, 2-TS-2068, ROM, 16kRAM
User avatar
1024MAK
Posts: 5103
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:56 am
Location: Looking forward to summer in Somerset, UK...

Re: External tape drive

Post by 1024MAK »

Welcome on board Torrid!

:D :D :D

Please do have a good look around. There is still plenty going on in the ZX World 8-)

Mark
ZX81 Variations
ZX81 Chip Pin-outs
ZX81 Video Transistor Buffer Amp

:!: Standby alert :!:
There are four lights!
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb :!:
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
torrid
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:10 am
Location: North Carolina

Re: External tape drive

Post by torrid »

Home visiting the folks at Christmas, and I dug out the box with all my old Sinclair stuff in it. I had forgotten all the stuff I had.

There's the ZX81 itself, which for some reason or another I had taken apart. I got it back together, though the keyboard ribbon was a pain. I'm going to have to figure out how to connect it to a modern TV to see if it still works.

Of course there is the infamous securely stable 16K RAM pack. There's a Timex Sinclair 2080 thermal printer. I still have four rolls of thermal paper, so I must not have done much printing with it.

Finally, there is my Exatron Stringy Floppy. The one wafer that had my programs on it has a broken ribbon. Even if I could get the drive to run, all that stuff is gone.

The Stringy Floppy runs through an I/O adapter from a company called CAI Instruments in Sanford, MI. It has a big "CAI/O" label on it. Anyone else have one of these? I can't seem to find any info online. Apparently you could also run a modem through it, though I never did.
torrid
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:10 am
Location: North Carolina

Re: External tape drive

Post by torrid »

It's alive!

When I got it first put back together, only 3/4 of the keyboard worked. I found this video, which shows how a tear can develop in the keyboard cable. Sure enough mine had that tear. I cut the cable back, re-attached it, and success!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-m4W95h74

I tried a couple of short programs just to see that it was functional. Next, I wanted to verify that my 16K RAM module is still good. I found this thread on another forum that discusses that.

http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/show ... p?t=120165

I had re-attach it a couple times (some things don't change in thirty years), but the RAM module seems to be working too. Next I will try out my printer and tape drive.
Moggy
Posts: 3231
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:00 pm

Re: External tape drive

Post by Moggy »

torrid wrote:Home visiting the folks at Christmas, and I dug out the box with all my old Sinclair stuff in it. I had forgotten all the stuff I had.

There's the ZX81 itself, which for some reason or another I had taken apart. I got it back together, though the keyboard ribbon was a pain. I'm going to have to figure out how to connect it to a modern TV to see if it still works.

Of course there is the infamous securely stable 16K RAM pack. There's a Timex Sinclair 2080 thermal printer. I still have four rolls of thermal paper, so I must not have done much printing with it.

Finally, there is my Exatron Stringy Floppy. The one wafer that had my programs on it has a broken ribbon. Even if I could get the drive to run, all that stuff is gone.

The Stringy Floppy runs through an I/O adapter from a company called CAI Instruments in Sanford, MI. It has a big "CAI/O" label on it. Anyone else have one of these? I can't seem to find any info online. Apparently you could also run a modem through it, though I never did.


Welcome also from me too, Torrid. :D

Great to see life being breathed into the old kit, (should that be 2040 for the printer not 2080)?

Lots of knowledgeable folk here always ready to help. :D

Regards.

Moggy.
Post Reply