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This is my personal project to index and expand wikipedia's coverage of magnetic tape topics. Maybe it will grow into a "real" wikiproject.
[edit] Overview
[edit] Core technology
[edit] History
[edit] Preservation
[edit] Formats
Template:Audio format
Template:Home video
Template:Magnetic tape data formats
Magnetic tape data storage formats |
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Three Quarter Inch (19 mm) |
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Half Inch (12.65 mm) |
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Eight Millimeter (8 mm) |
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Quarter Inch (6.35 mm) |
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Eighth Inch (3.81 mm) |
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Stringy (1.58 - 1.9 mm) |
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Other:
- ~2.5 mm -helical - Datasonix Pereos - 1 GB compressed, powered by 2x AA batteries, connected to Parallel port. Slow and bad reputation [1]
- The Advanced/36 9402 tape drive, c.1994, had a capacity of 2.5GB. from System/36 - QIC?
- 3.81 mm - linear - Digital Data Pack (a.k.a. DDP) (1983) - part of the Coleco ADAM
- 6.35 mm - linear - Irwin Magnetic Systems EzTape - proprietary Quarter Inch format.
- 8 mm - linear - IBM 3570 MP (1997) - Trapezoid shape, "low latency," inspiration for LTO Accelis concept.
- 12.65 mm - linear - IBM 3590, IBM 3592/TS1120 - [2], IBM's Enterprise tape redbook, TS1120
These are "Instrumentation" formats and probably do not belong on the "data" template:
- 19 mm - helical - Ampex DIS (DD-2) [3]
- 25.4 mm - transverse scan - Ampex DCRsi [4]
[edit] People
[edit] magnetic recording pioneers
[edit] mag tape serial entrepreneurs
- Ben C. Wang - Wangco, Rexon, WangTek, WangDAT
- Juan Rodriguez - StorageTek, Exabyte, Ecrix
- Kelly Beavers - Exabyte, Datasonix, Ecrix
- William B. Beierwaltes - Colorado Memory Systems, OnStream
[edit] Companies
[edit] Mag tape (data) corp
list of brands another list
- Anacomp - computer services company, owned graham for a while, tape manf briefly [5]
- Xidex Corp. - acquired by Anacomp in 1988. microfilm related company
- Xidex Magnetics - magtape manf., co-founded by Bert L. Zaccaria,
- Recording Media Group International - USA website dutch company with lots of ex-EMTEC staff. now making analog audio tape.
- eMag Solutions - "electronic discovery" company, Atlanta, spun off of Anacomp in 1999 [6]
- Graham Magnetics - last manufacturer of 9track tape, Graham, TX, acquired by Anacomp in 1994 [7]
[edit] Drives
- Aiwa - tape products
- Alloy Computer Products - Austrailian manf of QIC, now other stuff [8]
- Ampex - better organize
- Anritsu - Japanese, Formerly made 9 track tape drives.
- Colorado Memory Systems - Loveland, CO, tape drive vendor, [9] found by ex-HP (Loveland) engineers (Alan Richards & Bill Beierwaltes), acquired by HP in 1992.
- ComByte - ??
- Datasonix - short lived, made the Pereos, a tiny helical scan tape data cartridge. drive had a parallel port interface and battery pack.
- Digi-Data - Columbia, MD, [10], old 9track manf, founded 1960, now makes RAID things.
- Laser Magnetic Storage - old 9track manf, now part of Plasmon (company).
- Kennedy (company) - old 9track manf, defunct.
- Mountain Network Solutions - Scotts Valley, CA, "Mountain Tape"
- OnStream Data - tape drive vendor product: ADR, Advanced Digital Recording, windows only backup tape format, based on Digital Compact Cassette.
- Overland Data - owned Tecmar and also made its own 9,18 & 36 track tape products. acq. tecmar Jan 2000
- Tecmar
- Iomega - tape products sold to tecmar in 1999
- Legacy Storage Systems (TSE:LEG) acq. of RExon from Chap 11 FY96 results, incl rexon acq. renamed tecmar 1996 reorg of LSS, drop other 2 lines of biz, focus on tecmar
- Rexon - tape drive vendor DAT deal w/ sony, travan announce, boca video product, NASDAQ:REXN, closed WangTek and WangDAT facilities in CA in 1994. closed Solon, OH and Ponce, PR facilities in 1995, consolidated to Longmont, CO design center and Singapore factory. filed for bankruptcy sept 1995, acquired by Legacy mar 1996
- WangTek - acq. by Rexon in 1991, Simi Valley, CA & Ponce, PR.
- WangDAT - also acq. by Rexon in 1991 [11], Irvine, CA.
- Sytron - PC backup software division, Westboro, MA. Sold to Arcada Software July 28, 1995 [12].
- Perkin-Elmer
- Wangco - Ben C. Wang's first startup.
- Quantum Corp.
- Tandberg Data
[edit] Robots
[edit] Factories
- List of magnetic tape factories - world wide, with chronology. I think there are fewer than 20 or so, but magnetic tape is and was very widely used. There are only a few functions that a plant does. oxide production, base material production, binder production, coating, slitting, and packaging. Few, if any, factories do all the functions. Here is a template/example: List of alumina refineries
- Ludwigshafen am Rhein - BASF/IG Farben - developed Pfelumer's paper tape into cellulose acetape w/iron oxide (Type C). tank car explosion in July 1943, non-war related, disabled production line.
- Wolfen, Germany - AGFA/IG Farben - relocated production here after above explosion. began operation in 1944. This became part of "East Germany" and was called ORWO.
- Leverkusen, Germany (near Cologne) - AGFA - relocated production to new factory here in 1948.
- Munich - AGFA --> BASF --> EMTEC, production moved here in the 1970's and merged with BASF in 1991. Spun off in 1996 and renamed EMTEC in 1997. EMTEC went out of business in 2004. Plant assets were moved to RMGI's existing plant in Oosterhout in 2006. liquidation info
- Oosterhout - Recording Media Group International/Media Products Oosterhout/Dupont Philips Magnetics, currently (2007) making the EMTEC analog audio formulations with many old EMTEC engineers. [19]
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- Opelika, AL - Orradio Industries --> AMPEX --> Quantegy
- Graham, TX - Graham Magnetics
- Hutchinson, MN - 3M / Imation ?? Videotape coating, slitting, packaging
- Camarillo, California - Imation, data-tape
- Weatherford, Oklahoma - Imation, data-tape
- Willstätt, Germany - EMTEC [20]
- Greenwood, South Carolina - Fujifilm/SKC
- ?? - Rhône-Poulenc
- ?? - Sony
- ?? - Fuji
- ?? - Maxell
- Kyushu, Japan - TDK Mikumagawa plant ??
- Luxembourg - TDK, converted to optical media.
- Zelenogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia - "ECP" Federal State Unitary Enterprise, Production Association, Electrochemical Plant, CrO2 formula audio, video, & data tapes. Started in mid 1990's with assistance from BASF.
- Saehan Media - Korean VHS tape maker, liquidated? by Lone Star Equity Group
- SKM Limited - also Korean
- York, PA - ATR Magnetics
- Mexico City - Auriga-Aurex, audio & video tape production and packaging.
- Avranches, France - Pyral since 1985 at Avranches. makes perforated magnetic tape for sound recording in cinema film cameras.
- ?? - Matsushita Denki Sangyo - Second source for S-AIT. (Sony is primary)