Paper tape supplier

[rob]

Does anyone know if you can still get paper tape as used for data
storage back in the day ?
I have seen paper tape readers available but not any usable punches so
thought I might try and build something to do the job, but I'll
obviously need some paper tape to play with.

Thanks all.

[Andrew Herbert]

Hi,

I see you have a UK email address so presume you are looking for UK supplies?

I used to use a company called GNT, but they have closed down now.  

They sold punched tape and reader/punch devices into the CNC market and also for some governments still using old fashioned teleprinter communication networks.

I have one of their devices and a small reserve of 8 and 5 hole tape to allow me to punch new tapes for some vintage computers I look after.

A bit of Googling turned up:

but I haven’t used them.

It looks like 8 hole tape is about £50 a reel.  

Andrew

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[Malcolm Ray]

I have bought tape from JRW recently. Not cheap, and I suspect that once their dwindling stock is gone, that's that.

"New old stock" tape sometimes comes up on Ebay, of course.

I too have a GNT punch, which in theory I'm building a USB interface for. In practice this means going down various interesting rabbit holes.

As for Rob's plan to build a DIY punch... well, good luck! Definitely a fun project!

Readers are pretty easy (just shine a light at the tape and detect the holes using photodiodes). But a punch is a minor miracle of precision engineering, by comparison.

Malcolm

[Andrew Herbert]

My GNT punch / reader (GNT4604) is connected to a Raspberry Pi using a serial to USB adaptor bought off Amazon.  I used the PySerial library to write Python programs to read in and punch out tapes.  Happy to share my code if it helps you.

Andrew

On 24 Jan 2024, at 16:25, Malcolm Ray <m...@apathetic.org.uk> wrote:

I have bought tape from JRW recently. Not cheap, and I suspect that once their dwindling stock is gone, that's that.

"New old stock" tape sometimes comes up on Ebay, of course.

I too have a GNT punch, which in theory I'm building a USB interface for. In practice this means going down various interesting rabbit holes.

As for Rob's plan to build a DIY punch... well, good luck! Definitely a fun project!

Readers are pretty easy (just shine a light at the tape and detect the holes using photodiodes). But a punch is a minor miracle of precision engineering, by comparison.

Malcolm

On Wed, 2024-01-24 at 16:14 +0000, Andrew Herbert wrote:

Hi,

I see you have a UK email address so presume you are looking for UK supplies?

I used to use a company called GNT, but they have closed down now.  

They sold punched tape and reader/punch devices into the CNC market and also for some governments still using old fashioned teleprinter communication networks.

I have one of their devices and a small reserve of 8 and 5 hole tape to allow me to punch new tapes for some vintage computers I look after.

A bit of Googling turned up:

[Malcolm Ray]

My GNT-3601 (punch, no reader) lacks the optional serial interface, and just has a proprietary parallel interface. Thanks for the offer, but I'm having too much fun figuring this out for myself!

Regards,

Malcolm

[Mike Katz]

If you find a supplier for fanfold paper tape, please post it here.

[Clem Cole]

For folks in the US, check out: https://www.aetherltd.com/supplies.html

ᐧ

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[Malcolm Ray]

Ah, Teletypes. From what I seem to remember, ASR33 Teletypes needed oil-impregnated paper tape. I bet that stuff is rarer than hen's teeth now.

[Boris Bokowski]

Is anyone here aware of suppliers in Germany or the EU?

Or is there perhaps a kind soul with a paper tape punch and some spare tape who would be willing to create a couple of tapes for me and my PiDP-8, e.g. the BIN loader and FOCAL 69?

I recently bought a Ghielmetti brand paper tape reader in good condition, and figured out how its interface works. At this point, I only have one example paper tape with CNC commands. Ideally, I would like to read actual PDP-8 software.

Thanks!

Boris

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[Eric Bruno]

I remember Mylar punch tape,  wonder if something similar could be 3D printed?

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 24, 2024, at 13:05, Malcolm Ray <m...@apathetic.org.uk> wrote:



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[Clem Cole]

If you have access to Silhouette CAME0, Cricit or similar, this might work.   A possible issue is C# - he claims it will work on Mac / Linux with some external support - but I've just fired up a VM.

https://github.com/1944GPW/ptap2dxf

ᐧ

[The Oracle]

Serendipitous....... This post shows up the same day my new FACIT N4000 shows up. I'm looking for both 5 Track (11/16") & 8 Track (1")

[Tom Lake]

They can use oiled tape but don't actually need it. I use dry tapes on my 33 all the time with no breakage and no wear that I can detect.

[Johnny Billquist]

I have some recollection that the ASR should have oiled tape. But unless
you use it a lot, and don't oil it yourself, I doubt it would be a
problem anyway.

I'm also fairly sure that the DEC punchers should *not* have oiled tape.
But it's all in the manuals...
Also, for the DEC punchers, you wanted folded tape, while the ASR should
have it on a roll. I bet folded might be harder to find today.

Johnny

On 2024-01-25 18:12, Tom Lake wrote:
> They can use oiled tape but don't actually /need/ it. I use dry tapes on

> my 33 all the time with no breakage and no wear that I can detect.
>
> On Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at 4:05:34 PM UTC-5 Sheepless wrote:
>
> Ah, Teletypes. From what I seem to remember, ASR33 Teletypes needed
> oil-impregnated paper tape. I bet that stuff is rarer than hen's
> teeth now.
>
> On Wed, 2024-01-24 at 15:30 -0500, Clem Cole wrote:
>> For folks in the US, check out:
>> https://www.aetherltd.com/supplies.html

>> <https://www.aetherltd.com/supplies.html>

>> ᐧ
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 24, 2024 at 11:15 AM Andrew Herbert
>> <andrewjam...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I see you have a UK email address so presume you are looking for
>>> UK supplies?
>>>
>>> I used to use a company called GNT, but they have closed down now.
>>>
>>> They sold punched tape and reader/punch devices into the CNC
>>> market and also for some governments still using old fashioned
>>> teleprinter communication networks.
>>>
>>> I have one of their devices and a small reserve of 8 and 5 hole
>>> tape to allow me to punch new tapes for some vintage computers I
>>> look after.
>>>
>>> A bit of Googling turned up:
>>>
>>> Punch Tape Supplies & services : JRW Developments, Industrial &
>>> Commercial electronics design, programming, installation and
>>> servicing

>>> <https://www.jrw.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=24>
>>> jrw.co.uk
>>> <https://www.jrw.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=24>
>>> favicon.ico
>>> <https://www.jrw.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=24>
>>>
>>> <https://www.jrw.co.uk/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=24>

>>>
>>> but I haven’t used them.
>>>
>>> It looks like 8 hole tape is about £50 a reel.
>>>
>>> Andrew
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 24 Jan 2024, at 14:46, rob <r...@robsbots.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone know if you can still get paper tape as used for
>>>> data storage back in the day ?
>>>> I have seen paper tape readers available but not any usable
>>>> punches so thought I might try and build something to do the
>>>> job, but I'll obviously need some paper tape to play with.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks all.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the
>>>> Google Groups "[PiDP-11]" group.
>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from
>>>> it, send an email to pidp-11+u...@googlegroups.com.
>>>> To view this discussion on the web visit

>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/011b20f9-5189-477b-8766-006bbcc8ac3f%40robsbots.co.uk <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pidp-11/011b20f9-5189-477b-8766-006bbcc8ac3f%40robsbots.co.uk>.

>>>
>
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--
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|| on a psychedelic trip
email: b...@softjar.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

[Paul Duncan]

Hi,

I have another (related) question. A looooong time ago (mid-1980's)I attended Southport Technical College in the UK, and I still have two paper tapes written by an ASR33, hooked up to a PDP-11/03 (I think - it may have been an 05) running (I think) RT11. I have this long term plan to design and build a paper tape reader using a 3D printer and an Arduino. But I would like to get a couple of copies done, so that I don't wreck the original. My tapes are in the UK, but I am in the US at the moment, so no time soon. But I just wondered if anyone (in either country) would be able to do some copies?

Thanks!

Paul.

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[Michael Katzmann]

From what I understand, the paper flight strips (fanfold and rolls) will work.

https://www.hermieusupply.com/en-EN/flight-strip.html

Michael

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[Malcolm Ray]

That's what's recommended by the owner of my ISP, who has an ASR33.