TU10 DECmagtape
| TU10 | |
 TU10 drive | |
| Tape speed: | 45 ips (Forward/Reverse) 150 ips (Rewind) |
|---|---|
| Size: | 19"W x 26"D x 26"H |
| Weight: | 150 lbs |
The TU10 is a classic big tape drive from Digital Equipment Corporation, able to store 5-20 Mbytes on a 2400' 0.5" wide tape on a standard 10-1/2" reel. It supports 7-track operation at 200, 556, and 800 BPI, and 9-track at 800 BPI.
The tape transport utilizes a single capstan, with vacuum columns. The TU10 drive contains a fair amount of electronics, in the form of FLIP CHIP modules in a 19" wide wirewrap backplane (mounted fore and aft in the drive itself).
It was first used with the PDP-10; to connect to UNIBUS PDP-11's, one of the TM11 series of magtape controllers is used. Details of the controller-Master interface are given here.
The TM11 controller connects to a 'Master' TU10 drive, which includes extra modules in the backplane; additional 'Slave' drives (up to seven) may be connected to the Master drive. The additional Flip Chips perform extra functions (e.g. CRC); they also convert the Positive bus from the controller to the Negagive bus native to the TU10.
7-track/9-track Differences
The only significant difference between the 7-track and 9-track drives is the head. The Flip Chip suite is the same for both, since the per-track boards are all 9-track, and simply leave the last two bits disconnected when used with a 7-track head (see e.g. drawing # TU10-0-09, note "9 Track Only").
The drive does has to be able to indicate (to the controller) whether it is a 7-track or 9-track. Drawing # TU10-0-07 shows (center) an incoming signal on pin AJ1 of the M514 board (slot 21) called "7 CH"; that signal is intended to ground the input (which is otherwise pulled high), so there is an optional jumper to ground on the backplane to indicate 7- or 9-track (A21C2, per the Maintenance Manual, Appendix A.5).
In addition, certain operational delays are different; the M768 module contains configurable diode arrays to control these.
Module Inventory
This table shows the number of Flip Chips of each type in the electronics backplane of the Master and Slave TU10's:
| Table | Master | Slave | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| G050 | 1 | 1 | Dual Gap Head Read Amplifier |
| G060 | 1 | 1 | Mag Tape Compressor, 9-Track |
| G062 | 1 | 1 | Mag Tape Peak Detector, 9-Track |
| G064 | 1 | 1 | Mag Tape Slicer, 9-Track |
| G350 | 1 | 1 | Mag Tape Write Driver |
| G741 | 2 | 2 | Negative Clamp Load |
| G741YA | 1 | 1 | Negative Clamp Load |
| G932 | 1 | 1 | Capstan Servo Pre-Amplifier |
| G933 | 2 | 2 | Reel Motor Amplifier |
| G9340 | 1 | 1 | Brake Logic |
| G9341 | 1 | 1 | Brake Actuator |
| M050 | 1 | 1 | Inverter Driver |
| M100 | 1 | Bus Receiver | |
| M514 | 1 | 1 | TU10 Transceiver |
| M640 | 1 | Bus Driver | |
| M763 | 1 | 1 | 9-Track Write Buffer |
| M765 | 1 | 1 | 9-Track Read Buffer |
| M767 | 1 | 1 | Clock and Skew Delay |
| M7670 | 1 | 1 | Forward BOT Timer |
| M7671 | 1 | Bus Driver | |
| M7672 | 1 | Command Buffer | |
| M7673 | 1 | Data Checker | |
| M768 | 1 | 1 | Delay Selector |
| M769 | 1 | 1 | Function Control |
| M890 | 1 | 1 | Motion Control |
| M891 | 1 | CRC and Write Gating | |
| M892 | 1 | Write and Gap Timing | |
| M895 | 1 | Read Timing | |
| M896 | 1 | CRC Checker | |
| M958 | 1 | Positive Bus Terminatoh | |
| W726 | 1 | 1 | Switch Filter |
Module Locations
This table shows the Flip Chip modules locations in the integral backplane in Master drives:
| Slot | Top | Bottom |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | G933 | |
| 2 | G933 | |
| 3 | G9341 | |
| 4 | G932 | |
| 5 | M908@ | G9340 |
| 6 | M958%% | |
| 7 | M929@ | |
| 8 | M640 | |
| 9 | M891 | |
| 10 | M7673 | |
| 11 | M7672 | |
| 12 | M892 | |
| 13 | M895 | |
| 14 | M7671 | |
| 15 | M100 | M896 |
| 16 | M7670 | |
| 17 | M903@ | G741YA% |
| 18 | M903@ | G741% |
| 19 | M903@ | G741% |
| 20 | M768 | |
| 21 | M514 | |
| 22 | M922@ | M767 |
| 23 | M050 | W726 |
| 24 | M890 | |
| 25 | M769 | |
| 26 | M763 | |
| 27 | G350 | |
| 28 | M765 | |
| 29 | G064 | |
| 30 | G062 | |
| 31 | G060 | |
| 32 | G050 | |
@ = Cable
% = only at end of device bus; M903 cable otherwise
%% = Not required when used with a TM1 control
Slave drives appear to hold a sub-set of this list; slots 6-15 are empty in Slave drives.
Note: In the TU10 Slave backplane drawings, slots 28-30 show different module numbers; however, those original module numbers are crossed out, and the same module numbers as in the Master drive are written in by hand (on the master copy). The captions in those slots (e.g. "Peak Detector"), however, match those of the written-in boards, not the boards originally listed. Thus, the original numbers may be erroneous.
TU10W
A later version, the TU10W, is effectively a TU16 (itself effectively un upgraded TU10), with the Flip Chips of the Master replaced with single board (M8926) (also used in the TE16) to make it useable with a TM11 series controller.
