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8 inch floppy media wanted - Australia

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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:

--- Quote from: HarryDoPECC on February 06, 2023, 02:14:32 am ---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....

--- End quote ---

   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.

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