jmccorm Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 I'll be using this thread to archive the TRACE (Tulsa Regional Atari Computer Enthusiasts) club disks. Most of them require BASIC. They'll have a 'DOC' option which contains special instructions for any of the programs. A few regular local authors make contributions, but most of it is public domain and/or magazine programs. Archiving these disks has been very rough on my drives. I now have two Atari 1050s which are no longer able to read disks, and an Indus GT which makes an ungodly whining noise as it spins. I'm not sure that I'll be able to get through the rest of these before my drives die, and a few of these disks have bad sectors which may never be recovered. Sample disk screenshot: Here's what I have so far: TRACE Club #33 December 1985 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #29 July 1985 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #21 November 1984 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #20 October 1984 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #17 July 1984 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #16 June 1984 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #13 March 1984 Basic.ATR 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Send a message to (Kevin) Savitz. He lives for doing this kind of stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) I now have two Atari 1050s which are no longer able to read disks, and an Indus GT which makes an ungodly whining noise as it spins. I'm not sure that I'll be able to get through the rest of these before my drives die, and a few of these disks have bad sectors which may never be recovered.Fantastic work here! I've found when doing archiving sessions like this I pretty much have to do it with drives top shell off, so I can qtip swab the head after every disk or pass of the same disk. Many deteriorating disks leave very visible residue on the head which along with inhibiting a good read, the abrasiveness will accelerate further wear of the media. (Main indicator seeing concentric 'scratch lines' on the media) The GT whining noise is either the felt pad clogged up and vibrating (maybe rotate the pad a bit from the top, or gently scratch it up a bit underneath to 'unflatten' the surface, or the top hub clamp that needs a little 3-in-1 oil. The 1050 and GT use the same Tandon mech, just more tightly packed in. Maybe this will give you better success with the rest of the disks, or improve results with the ones you've done already. Edited February 4, 2018 by Nezgar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) Fantastic work here! I've found when doing archiving sessions like this I pretty much have to do it with drives top shell off... This was exactly the advice that I'd hoped that someone would chime in with. Thanks! After I finish the TRACE disks, I'm very tempted to send the rest of the collection to someone in the US who specializes in archiving this stuff. Along the way, I somehow managed to acquire the software collection of one or more other collectors, and this is going to be too much for me to process. The disks I now possess are a mix of commercial software, public domain software, and pirated software. I've also got holders full of cassettes that I have just about zero interest in personally archiving. Sadly, I have yet to locate my own personal disks. I was really hoping to recover some of the software that I myself wrote, especially some of the really unique BBS software that I wrote from scratch (save for the binary putstring and the x/y/z-modem routines). I really wanted to find a live data disk with the message boards still intact. Sadly, the only thing I've found so far was my Amodem 7.50 disk. But it has features that I wish were in my modern-day SSH client software. EDIT: BTW, do you dry-swab the head, do you use rubbing alcohol, or something else? Edited February 4, 2018 by jmccorm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) I start used the moisture from hot breath , no spit . if it's more stubborn I step it up to isopropyl alcohol (the clear high alcohol content type) none of mine say rubbing, as that has oils and such in it for like a back rub or something and sometimes dyes and the like to make it pretty colors... Edited February 4, 2018 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 One more disk from the Indus GT before I start some drive cleaning. TRACE Club Disk: TRACE Club #24 February 1984 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #24b February 1984 NO-Basic.ATR This was the first club disk that I've come across that claimed to be double-sided. I'll go back and check the other disks to make sure that this was a rare exception. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Remember if using cleaning disk that the top long hole should be close.. single sided drives get their felt pressure pads destroyed otherwise. It may seem obvious but it been proven not to be... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 EDIT: BTW, do you dry-swab the head, do you use rubbing alcohol, or something else? Qtip damp with Isopropyl Alcohol. I've been using 70%, aka Rubbing Alcohol, but the other 30% is just water. it evaporates within seconds, especially if you 'help it' with a little breath. The drive head should look shiny like glass when looking at a reflection of light on it. There's not really a risk of shorting anything since its ceramic. Just don't drip any elsewhere in the drive. Be very careful not to touch the wet q-tip on the felt pad above. The 2 pads I did this to seemed to irreparably disintegrate and needed to be completely replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 Thanks to a special recovery effort by Atari_Ace, we have another club disk. The story of the data recovery is in the included .txt file. If you are grabbing these as part of an archival or distribution effort, I'd appreciate if you download and keep the .txt file along with the .atr file. TRACE Club Disk: TRACE Club #32 Utilities October 1985 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #32 Utilities October 1985 Basic.TXT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) The head cleaning on the Atari 1050 did wonders. Here are more club disks: TRACE Club Disks: TRACE Club #35 February 1986.ATR TRACE Club #31 September 1985 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #22 May 1985 Basic.ATR TRACE Club #18 August 1984.ATR TRACE Club #14 April 1984 Basic.ATR NOTE: Knowing what I now know, I would not have included the disk numbers in the titles. The order to the disks appears to come from the enthusiast that I acquired the disks from. It seems that he made a mistake in the numbering. Please consider the Month and the Year of the club disks to be authoritative. Edited February 5, 2018 by jmccorm 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 I'd ask Al for thread edit priviledges and fix up whatever needs fixing.... the web has a way of adding everything correct or corrupted to its life blood. We who collect such things do the same. Later on that corruption spreads. It's the way of things and you have can have the power to stop it and make it the best you think it can be. If you can't because of health or time constraints ask someone to do it for you and have Al grant that person privs over your thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) I'd ask Al for thread edit priviledges and fix up whatever needs fixing.... the web has a way of adding everything correct or corrupted to its life blood. Good point. I'll ask to remove the disk numbers from the previous disks. Here are three new disks which will probably follow the new format. Actually, this will probably sort better if I go even further and swap the month and the year. TRACE Club Disks: TRACE Club September 1984 Basic.ATR TRACE Club March 1985 NO Basic400-800 OR XLATOR.ATR TRACE Club April 1985 NO Basic400-800 OR XLATOR.ATR NOTE: For whatever reason, as marked, they decided to produce at least two club disks that required an Atari 400/800 or a translator disk. Edited February 5, 2018 by jmccorm 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) Remember if using cleaning disk that the top long hole should be close.. single sided drives get their felt pressure pads destroyed otherwise. It may seem obvious but it been proven not to be... This is something I have not considered. I've been using a couple cleaning disks with the top holes open for many years. I have two 1050's, one I've had for well over a decade, and one I got just this past year. I've not noticed a problem yet from my first 1050, One of the cleaning disk I use originally had the top hole covered, it was perforated, and I ripped it off because I alternated the side I use. But now you have me scared to use them again. They get used a few times a year...I guess I better check on the condition of my felt pads! Edited February 5, 2018 by Gunstar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 A top slot cover could be made from another jacket and taped onto which ever side you wanted to use for top that day. Yes, be very afraid to grind off your felt pads otherwise when using a single head drive. Can not emphasize how the cleaning power of alcohol is vastly increased with what might seem to be a minor increase is it's formulation. Night and day difference people. Please ONLY use 93% and higher isopropyl, you can find it sitting right beside the 50% stuff in many stores too. WD-40 works too but very slowly so give it much extra time and then rinse with alcohol swabbing as per usual. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Just have to put it out there as it messes with me each time I read the title "TRACE" Not to be confused with Richmond, British Columbia, Canada's "The Richmond Atari Computer Enthusiasts" one of the groups that was in my area... Similar to the two SPACE groups - "Seattle Puget Sound Atari Computer Enthusiasts" of which I archived their PD disk collection (Have to check if I have any disk images that aren't online still), and "Saint Paul Atari Computer Enthusiasts" Cheers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Yes we seem to have double TRACE and double SPACE equipped groups here! lol couldn't resist! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Remember folks, if the heads' dirty, your disks squeal, it spreads to others, it's for real. So keep your head clean! this has been a public service announcement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Two more. TRACE Club Disks: TRACE Club 1985 June Basic.ATR TRACE Club 1984 January Basic.ATR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 This should be the last one until I find my own personal stash of disks. This disk was physically damaged (scraped tracks of magnetic media) in my initial attempt to archive these club disks. Thankfully, the damage was confined to DOS, DUP, AUTORUN, and MENU, so I was able to pull all of those pieces from a previous club disk and then change the string to reflect the new month and year. TRACE Club Disk: TRACE Club 1985 January Rebuilt Basic.ATR TRACE Club 1985 January Rebuilt Basic.TXT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 For convenience, here are all the above disks in one ZIP archive. More to come as I find them. TRACE Club Disks: TRACE Club Disks vol 1.zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccorm Posted February 7, 2018 Author Share Posted February 7, 2018 I came across an early club utility disk. TRACE Club Disks: TRACE February 1984 Utilities Disk #1 (Basic).ATR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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