• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Making 8" physical diskettes...

D

Druid6900

Veteran Member
Joined
May 7, 2006
Messages
3,809
Location
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Looking for another set of opinions;

I have everything I need to produce actual diskettes, theoretically, for just about any 8" drive from images.
The question is, do you think there is a market for the service?
Yah, Nay, Maybe?

Thanks
 
I never encountered much need for the service.

People want to get away from floppies, really. We have computer users today who have never even held a floppy, much less an 8" one.

There are a few folks transferring images to emulators for, say, CNC, but you'd better know the equipment and the market.

So you can produce disks for, say, a Memorex 650 8" drive?
 
Id say the need will always be there just for demonstration. Id buy a few boxes but I think you would lose money on the venture.
 
$40 for a set of 3 8" floppies doesn't really make much of a profitable venture, does it? You have to wonder what kind of shipping will ensue for $5.

IIRC, the last bunch of 8" floppies I was asked to duplicate were from a Fairchild Sentry 700 ATE box. That was a few years ago.

On the other hand, I'm asked to recover data from 8" floppies quite frequently. The original equipment usually no longer exists. But this also entails converting said data to a modern format.
 
Druid6900 said:
Looking for another set of opinions;

I have everything I need to produce actual diskettes, theoretically, for just about any 8" drive from images.
The question is, do you think there is a market for the service?
Yah, Nay, Maybe?

Thanks
Click to expand...

you mean you can create the proper magnetic surface on the mylar sheets and punch them with the proper holes?
Dwight
 
Dwight Elvey said:
you mean you can create the proper magnetic surface on the mylar sheets and punch them with the proper holes?
Dwight
Click to expand...
I clicked on this thread hoping for that, and was let down


Chuck, you can send floppies via USPS media mail which is super cheap and has the same quality tier as first class.
 
I see people on eBay regularly selling freshly written boot disks for things like Apple II and Kaypro machines. Those are usually hobbyists trying to help other hobbyists.

The thing that would worry me would be idiots who pulled a bug-infested rust bucket out of a storage shed and expect just plopping in a floppy disk will magically make it work. Even on a well preserved and maintained machine, guarantees can be difficult.

Also, there are many oddball formats out there. I'm not aware of anything other than vintage machines that can properly write hard-sectored media. I would expect some non-MFM/FM 8" formats (especially anything like GCR) to be headaches. Then there are the odd TPIs. So practically, you would limit yourself to systems and models you are familiar with.
 
Never tried sending disks via media mail. I figure that the data is worth more than the postage. Thus far, I've pretty much restricted myself to using MM for printed documentation.
 
My thoughts on postage are that regardless of what carrier or service tier you choose, the chance of mishandling by the savages in the distribution chain are equal, so why pay more?
 
Chuck(G) said:
My experience is that boxed USPS Priority Mail travels well. Fedex Express Saver is also pretty good.
Click to expand...
My experience with the USPS is more encompassing in that everything I've sent has traveled well and that includes First Class, Parcel Post, Priority, Flat Rate Priority and Media Mail. I've also sent packages to international destinations via USPS without incident and that includes some monitors. I've had great success with FedEx as well. My conclusion is that if it's packed right it will survive the trip.
 
^^This--packing.

Just finished sending off 150 lbs of tapes. 12x12x12 double-walled boxes (6), 10 tapes/box; surrounded by large-bubble wrap, nothing moves inside. Tapes arrived intact without so much as a scratch. My rule of thumb is if you shake the box and can feel something moving inside, you haven't packed it well enough.

In the past, for heavy gear, I resorted to reinforcing the box interior with plywood. In a couple of cases, I constructed a crate.
 
I try to package stuff to endure being spiked into the ground like a celebratory touchdown football, since it seems that is exactly what package handlers do.
 
I sell 8" TRS-80 disks from images on eBay to support the model2archive project. After the work of imaging, obtaining new media ($5 a piece for new disks), listing, going to the post office, etc. etc., trust me that this is not a money making endeavor. :) It's strictly a passion affair to help people to be able to play with their old computers.

There is a population of users out there who do not want or have the skills to create their own 8" disks or to use a floppy emulator. They just want to use their old computer from time to time to show their friends how it works. But, they will only buy a few floppies because of that limited usage. The market is pretty tiny.

In regards to shipping, I use USPS Media Mail and have not had a single incident.
 
OK, I have a Model 12 external drive, a FDADAP card, some single-sided disks, some double sided disks and a controller that will write FM and MFM.
Add Anadisk, omniflop and a couple of other bits of software and, in theory, I should be able to write physical disks from images.
Not everything I do has to make money.
Perhaps some person picked up a system with 8" drives and would like to use it for more than a night-light. I may be able to provide them with some usable software at a break-even point.
I have this stuff, I may as well put it to some use.
If it doesn't find an audience then I sell the components off on eBay or my site and I'm ahead of the game....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top