8 inch floppy media wanted - Australia

[HarryDoPECC]

Hi all,
I think I'm about to get lucky in my search for vintage software for some machines in my collection - see https://dopecc.net/computers/ai/  on my site if you are interested.

I use Fluxengine http://cowlark.com/fluxengine/ to read, process and archive vintage media and I have the hardware set up and working with 5.25 and 3.5 inch disks.

The Ai software will arrive on 8 inch disks.  I have 8 inch drives but no 8 inch media.  I doubt that there will be any unused disks in the set I have found.

So I'd like to get at least one 8 inch disk that I can use when setting up and testing the 8 inch hardware.  Interface is different to 5.25 and there will surely be some tinkering with the drive hardware.  So a scratch disk would be really helpful.

Anyone can help?  Happy to pay for disk/post.  I'm in Melb.

Thanks!

[Stray Electron]

   That looks a lot like a computer that I used to own.  IIRC it was an APC made by NEC. I'm pretty sure that mine had a Z-80 and I think that it run CPM.  I got disks for it from Don Maslin but Don died probably 25 or 30 years ago.  He had a huge collection of CPM software and supplied a lot of people with disks and SW for old machines. I don't know what happened to his SW collection but I think his wife thought it was pretty valuable and was intending to sell the entire collection.

[HarryDoPECC]

For completeness and avoidance of confusion, the machine shown on my site is the Ai Electronics model ABC-24.  It has dual 5.25 disks.

I also have its bigger sibling, the ABC-26.  The -26 has essentially the same electronics but has dual 8 inch disks.  I believe that the software I have found is ABC-26 so I will need to set up for reading/archiving 8 inch media.

Since the machines are otherwise very similar I am hoping that much of the ABC-26 environment will be able to be run on the -24.  Hoping....

[Stray Electron]

   From what I remember, the normal 8" floppy disk were closer format to 3.5" disks than to the format of the 5 1/4" disks.  IIRC the 3.5 and 8" drives had the same rotational speed and transfer rate so a 3.5" disk controller could operate an 8" drive.  Somewhere I still an 8bit ISA card that could operate all three sizes of drives and I should have the manual too. I will look for it.

[Stray Electron]

For completeness and avoidance of confusion, the machine shown on my site is the Ai Electronics model ABC-24.  It has dual 5.25 disks.

I also have its bigger sibling, the ABC-26.  The -26 has essentially the same electronics but has dual 8 inch disks.  I believe that the software I have found is ABC-26 so I will need to set up for reading/archiving 8 inch media.

Since the machines are otherwise very similar I am hoping that much of the ABC-26 environment will be able to be run on the -24.  Hoping....

   Yeah, I wasn't sure if your machine had 5 1/4" drives or 8".  I'm pretty sure that mine had 8". But your's looks like the little brother of the one that I had.

[Stray Electron]

    What do you know, everything was right where I remembered that I left it.  The card is a Compaticard IV and I have the two SW disks with it (5 1/4") and the manual.  I did a quick check of the manual and it will operate 3.5, 5.25 and 8" disks.  IIRC these cards had their own BIOS and their own disk controller IC and it extended the BIOS used in the PC to allow the controller to read and write disks formats and to use timing and transfer rates that a normal PC couldn't.

[Halcyon]

You might like to get in contact with the guys at softdup.com.au to see if they are able to source 8" disks. They get a lot of their stock from floppydisk.com in the USA.

[Whales]

I wonder if you can get sheets of mylar with the magnetic material on them, then lasercut parts and make your own?  I assume a (possibly) compatible material is made for magnetic backup tape market, but that would probably be in narrow (not sheet) form.

(Side adventure: modern search engines are useless at answering the question "what material are floppy disks made of".  They return junk results describing other things about floppy disks.  Wikipedia citations to the rescue https://web.archive.org/web/20101009094541/http://www.hardware-bastelkiste.de/floppy.html)

[Alex Eisenhut]

I've got one, still need it?

[kgbkgb]

I have 2 full boxes of unopened 8" disks. Nashua brand - I seem to recall these were not the best media. I also have a full unopened, sealed box of verbatim datalife disks. Most of my operational software was on 3M or verbatim disks. Im in Darwin. Dont ask why i still have this stuff   

[HarryDoPECC]

Hey, thanks all for the replies.  I have got a few options to chase now.  Appreciate everyones help.

[mariush]

floppydisk.com  carries a bunch of 5.25" and 8" floppy disks : https://www.floppydisk.com/5point25

Yeah, you have to give them a call for 8" info - probably because they have low stock of them.

I remember them from some documentary/interview about them being the last that sell new floppy disks or something to that effect.

[Alex Eisenhut]

All I know is that shipping from Canada is expensive and slow. There's an ebay listing in Australia right now for 9 disks, I'm sure if you contact the seller they might sell you just one.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/266157193062

[HarryDoPECC]

Thanks all, have got it sorted.

Appreciate the interest and the useful suggestions.

AC