pjduplooy Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Hi guys. I was just watching this video on Youtube from a UK content creator Nostalgia Nerd on Digital Tape Drives for various systems, including the C64 and the ZX Spectrum. I want to know if there is any such thing available for the TI? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 While this is cool and all, it is probably more necessary for digital tape systems like what you find on the Commodore line of computers. The TI, however, uses audio signalling and you can just collect wav, aac, m4a, or mp3 files and play them from a digital player, computer, or even your phone. The primary caveats, however, are that most audio outputs limit volume for hearing protection, and the TI expects audio input at speaker-level (it acts like an 8ohm speaker.) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjduplooy Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 In the video he also shows the Spectrum, which also used Volume Control for Tape Operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 55 minutes ago, pjduplooy said: In the video he also shows the Spectrum, which also used Volume Control for Tape Operation. I would think this makes such a device unnecessary. Really, I remember CD-ROM devices for the C64 which used the audio output of the CD and an adapter on the tape port. So while I see this as unnecessary, it is not without some practicality: it is a dedicated device to hold tape files; probably compatible with T00, TAP, and T64 files, which are not audio; and for countries in which tape was as popular as, if not more than, floppy disks, there are a lot more titles to keep track of. Could the TI world benefit from such a device? My vote is "no," as, from what I can tell, the tape library of the TI is rather limited, and pretty much every tape title is available in another format. It might have some use for cartridges which require the tape drive for some of its games (Aventure?) One of the audio-output devices might have some use, but I suspect the audience in the TI arena is not worth the investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOME AUTOMATION Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Some assembly required... Byte Magazine Volume 00 Number 11 - Core Memories 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 11 minutes ago, HOME AUTOMATION said: Some assembly required... Byte Magazine Volume 00 Number 11 - Core Memories Came for the electronic tape drive, stayed for the ferrite core memory. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrhodes Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 1 hour ago, OLD CS1 said: Came for the electronic tape drive, stayed for the ferrite core memory. A new core memory! Sorry, could not stop myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOME AUTOMATION Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Oops, looks like there's another one in there... Byte Magazine Volume 00 Number 11 - Core Memories :: CC-7 SPECIFICATIONS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOME AUTOMATION Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 And, it keeps getting better... Byte Magazine Volume 00 Number 11 - Core Memories :: Build a FAST Cassette Interface 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrospect Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 8 hours ago, OLD CS1 said: from what I can tell, the tape library of the TI is rather limited This would not be the case if all of the old cassette games that came out in the UK could be recovered. We're still miles off this being a thing yet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 1 hour ago, Retrospect said: This would not be the case if all of the old cassette games that came out in the UK could be recovered. We're still miles off this being a thing yet. Yeah, what is it with you guys and tapes over there? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrospect Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 50 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said: Yeah, what is it with you guys and tapes over there? We didn't have the wealth that American's had (or even the people living in London, us northerners were piss-poor) so we had to "make-do" with the computer and the cheapest of hardware. I knew a lad from school, he got bought a second-hand ZX81. He asked his dad for a memory expansion and all he got was a belt round the head. We had a dilemma in the UK. The TI-99 was selling for £99 during 1983 but the disk drive and memory expansions (needed for machine code games) was actually more than a new BBC Micro or Commodore 64. So it just didn't make sense to expand the system and all it ended up being, was a stepping-stone to another system, one that COULD have machine code on tape with no need to buy extra hardware. We just didn't like buying disk drives. We only used them on the Amiga 'cos we were forced to. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 22 hours ago, Retrospect said: We just didn't like buying disk drives. We only used them on the Amiga 'cos we were forced to. LOL Right! Truth told, it was the cost of a storage system that drove me away from the TI in the first place. I suffered the slings and arrows from my Commodore, Apple, and Atari friends and stuck to my TI, until I just could no longer afford it. I was just a wee sprout and my money only went so far so I had to be practical: I picked up my first Commodore 64 for $40 and a disk drive for $25 and I could go to the BX and get a game for $5. A buddy across the street would loan me stuff if I needed -- like a modem for late-night BBSing and the sort -- and within a year I picked up a true 1541 for around $40, got a printer for Christmas, and gifted an Epyx FastLoad. None of that was happening for me with a TI. Tape technology was and remains pretty impressive to me. Turbo-loaders and such are on-par, IMNSHO, to what VDSL2 has done for audio signal-based broadband. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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