[HN Gopher] PaperTapeReader: A DIY reader for vintage 8-bit pape...
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PaperTapeReader: A DIY reader for vintage 8-bit paper tapes
Author : jnord
Score : 76 points
Date : 2024-06-15 08:23 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| llm_trw wrote:
| I did one of these as a proof of concept for storing gpg keys
| long term, securely and offline.
|
| My version didn't use a motor and required a human to pull the
| tape through, had a set of guide holes down the middle to
| indicate when a bit was to be read and used LEDs as both the
| light sources and the photo receptors.
|
| All in all a rather fun project which worked much better than it
| had any right to.
|
| Never did find a material which had the longevity of aluminium
| foil with the durability of 35mm film stock.
| _Microft wrote:
| How did you write data onto the tape?
| llm_trw wrote:
| For the paper version, which is the only one I tested, I used
| a co2 laser to burn the holes, a jig to center tape and a pin
| to index the holes.
| ComputerGuru wrote:
| For something as short as a gpg key, you can easily use stamped
| brass "tape" 0.1-3mm in thickness. You can roll it like tape if
| it's thin enough or just store it as a bar if your pattern is
| dense enough.
|
| (Also note that OP's version doesn't require a motor either and
| can be actuated by hand, per TFA.)
| theophrastus wrote:
| Here's from 2014 with some capacity calculations [0]. "ssh
| private key (900 bytes): 15 feet of tape."
|
| [0]
| https://heepy.net/index.php/Data_storage_capacity_of_teletyp...
| Nzen wrote:
| If we prefer paper but relax the teletype constraint, Oleh
| Yuschuk's PaperBack [0] allows encoding 500 KB on a sheet of
| printer paper.
|
| [0] https://ollydbg.de/Paperbak (posted various times to HN)
| shrubble wrote:
| CNC machines which use paper tape, use a form of Mylar.
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| https://www.dymo.com/labels-tapes/embossing-tapes/dymo-non-a...
| ?
|
| https://theforestrystore.com/collections/aluminum-tags/produ...
| ?
| 9659 wrote:
| Nice project. I like the idea of using the fill of the input
| buffer to control the motor speed. Excellent.
|
| For those that never have used paper tape, it had one big
| advantage. You could edit it. Using tape and a pair of scissors.
|
| Storing more than 1K or 2K in a roll becomes unwieldy to store
| and carry around. And do not drop it so it comes unrolled !!
| jgalt212 wrote:
| but probably less catastrophic than dropping a box of punched
| cards.
| noizejoy wrote:
| > but probably less catastrophic than dropping a box of
| punched cards.
|
| unless they were sequence numbered and you had a sorting
| machine[0] :-)
|
| [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card_sorter
| SoftTalker wrote:
| Would ordinary tape work? Paper tape was lightly impregnated
| with oil to lubricate the punches and the tape handling
| mechanisms. I'm surprised that tape would stick to it very
| well.
| 9659 wrote:
| my experience was with an ASR-33. The paper was not oiled and
| it did not travel all that fast through the reader. yes, i
| used ordinary scotch tape. how it was done:
|
| punch your 'patch'. make sure there are a couple of feet of
| nothing before and after (no data, just paper with the
| sprocket holes in it).
|
| cut into the 'master' tape at the right point.
|
| tape in your patch.
|
| duplicate the 'master' to make a new master. the ASR-33 had a
| mode where it would duplicate a tape.
| ankush263 wrote:
| Nice project
| N0b8ez wrote:
| How about a paper tape writer/puncher? Anyone made one of those?
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