TK50 Image Archive
The TK50 specification lists a design lifetime of 30 years for TK50 tapes. Some of the older tapes in my collection are starting to approach this age, so I think it's important to create a digital archive of these tapes before they become unreadable.
After some searching, I found some code to create tape images compatible with the SIMH emulator. This code successfully compiles on a CentOS 5.4 system, and works with an external SCSI TK50 drive, using the /dev/nst0 device. Using this code, I made the following images of my TK50 tape library. Several of these images have been tested with SIMH.
After the destruction of a tape, the TK50 became unreliable. Some searching turned up a TZ875-TA 5-slot tape changer, which is able to read TK50 tapes. This drive has proved much more reliable in making tape images.
| Part Number | Tape Label | File |
|---|---|---|
| AQ-FP86M-BN | VAX FORTRAN V5.5 BIN TK50 | Aq-fp86m-bn_vax_fortran_v5.5_bin_tk50.tap.gz |
| AQ-FP86N-BN | VAX FORTRAN V5.6 BIN TK50 | Aq-fp86n-bn_vax_fortran_v5.6_bin_tk50.tap.gz |
| AQ-HY27F-BE | DEC GKS RTO V4.2 BIN TK50 | Aq-hy27f-be_dec_gks_rto_v4.2_bin_tk50.tap.gz |
| AQ-JP22E-BE | VMS V5.3 BIN TK50 1/2 VMS BINARY |
Aq-jp22e-be_vms_v5.3_bin_tk50_1_2_vms_binary.tap.gz |
| AQ-KX71A-BN | MICROVMS V4.7 BIN TK50 | Aq-kx71a-bn_microvms_v4.7_bin_tk50.tap.gz |
| AQ-NJ58A-BE | VMS V5.2 BIN TK50 WARRANTY MANDATORY UPDATE |
Aq-nj58a-be_vms_v5.2_bin_tk50_warranty_mandatory_update.tap.gz |
| AQ-NZ22D-XH | PWRKS V4.1 DOS FOR VMS TK50 | Aq-nz22d-xh_pwrks_v4.1_dos_for_vms_tk50.tap.gz |