Really (REALLY) "Special" Question

S

starhawk

[H]F Junkie
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Oct 4, 2004
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OK, this is one for you old-timers who've been around computers since the days of UNIVAC and the like. If you've never touched a Tandy, or you think Commodore is a military rank, then you definitely can't answer my question. That said, feel free to stick around and laugh at me anyways.

The answer to /your/ question, of course, is, "Yeah, I'm probably crazy." ;)

OK, so having gotten that out of the way... how many of you remember floppy disks? Not the peewee little 3.5" kind, but the larger 5.25" kind? OK, now go back one more generation in portable data storage.

Yes. Eight Inch Floppy Disks. The ones from like 1973. I actually want to know the size of the holes in them, and the spacing in between those holes. I've goooooooogled around and poked at my usual sources for this kind of ridiculous crap, and no joy so far.

(Before you ask, I've got an idea that's actually really, really cool. But I'm not saying anything until I get my measurements.)

Don't tell me I didn't warn you :p
 
I think we have some of them around in a lab at work. If you really want I can try and dig one up and measure it.

What holes do you want measured exactly? These are bit before my time.
 
All of them, and the spacing in between. An actual scale drawing (need not be to draftsman's standards) would be an incredible bonus. Like, oven-fulla-cookies bonus.

Heck, if you were able to get me one of 'em, I could do the measuring myself. I don't mind spending a buck or two to find this out. That said, if they're inventoried as property of the company, or someone actually cares about those relics of a bygone age, then I most certainly do not want to get you in trouble.

Thanks!
 
Well, I'll see what I can do. I can probably scan one for you at the least, you can measure the image, not sure I could send it to you though, I'll ask the guy who I think has them. I don't think I'll sit down with a ruler measuring a disk from the 70s, sorry. I have stuff to do!
 
Darn, you're a few month late with this question or else I could have sent you a box full of them. I think they all went into the trash :(
I also had a drive or two left, that IIRC, my dad disassembled and kept the motors from (he likes to tinker and build stuff with old mechanical stuff like this). I think they were Shugart drives.
I'll check with him to see if there are any of the 8 inch floppies left (although I doubt it). He needed some space and asked if he could toss all my old stuff...
If there are any left, I'll gladly sent you one.
 
treadstone said:
Darn, you're a few month late with this question or else I could have sent you a box full of them. I think they all went into the trash :(
I also had a drive or two left, that IIRC, my dad disassembled and kept the motors from (he likes to tinker and build stuff with old mechanical stuff like this). I think they were Shugart drives.
I'll check with him to see if there are any of the 8 inch floppies left (although I doubt it). He needed some space and asked if he could toss all my old stuff...
If there are any left, I'll gladly sent you one.
Click to expand...

That must have been a hell of a job uploading all those 8inch floppys to your 100TB server...more than one box full I'd imagine! ;)
 
@PigLover: LOL I wonder how many 8 inch floppies it would take to store an average Blu-ray... Man that would be annoying to constantly have to change the disk to watch the 'next segment'. A message would pop up telling you to insert disk number xx out of xx :D
 
treadstone said:
@PigLover: LOL I wonder how many 8 inch floppies it would take to store an average Blu-ray... Man that would be annoying to constantly have to change the disk to watch the 'next segment'. A message would pop up telling you to insert disk number xx out of xx :D
Click to expand...

Not enough xx's there, my friend. IIRC, the largest encoding on an 8in floppy was 512KB. Assuming you have a 'small' blu-ray at 25GB, thats about 50,000 disks...a few more for something like Avatar-3D ;)

Can you imagine: please insert disk xx,xxx of xx,xxx? Sometimes I think we've lost our sense of childlike absolute amazement over just how far technology has progressed during our short lifetimes.
 
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Progressed in some senses of the word, yes. My TRS-80 Color Computer Model II was made in 1988. CPU speed? Just under a single megahertz. (Or is that mega "hurts"...?) It still runs just fine.

Meanwhile, my mother's 7-year-old VAIO laptop is on its second cooling fan, and soon will be retired instead of putting in a /third/ hard drive (!) as the original was failing when we got the "fan job" done, and the second drive is well on its way down the same path.

BTW, I am by no means an electronics engineer, but I was able to lay out a Z80 (that CPU is *still* being produced!) based system, or at least the circuitry for it, in about eight hours. It has a 4MHz CPU, 64k RAM, 64k ROM, and rudimentary input/output -- 20key hexadecimal + functions keypad, and six numerical LED modules (the seven-segment kind on alarm clocks and such) for output. First four are hex address, and the remaining two are hex data (at that address). Very similar to the TEC-1 and Southern Cross 1 designs, among others. Maybe someday I'll be able to design a tape cassette storage interface for it. BTW, does anybody know Z80 assembler and want to design a ROM chip for me? :D (that was not a serious question)
 
Still interested in getting an 8in floppy disk in the mail, if anyone has one to offer...
 
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