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Resurrecting Chernobyl’s Tech: The SKALA Punch Tape
Resurrecting Chernobyl’s Tech: The SKALA Punch Tape Reader Restoration!
#Resurrecting #Chernobyls #Tech #SKALA #Punch #Tape
“Chornobyl Family 🇺🇦”
Welcome to the continuation of our exploration of the Chernobyl SKALA computer system! This time, we’ll be putting its super-fast punch tape reader into action. We have the exact same type of device that stands in the SKALA machine room at Chornobyl NPP – an FS-1501, made in Czechoslovakia in…
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Those connectors were made by MEZ and their type numbers are imprinted in the bakelite from front side (it's 55667 for the first one, the second one isn't very visible in the video). Sadly, no one really lists the type numbers when selling so finding it by that is going to be impossible. Even in Slovakia, they are very rare.
Здається я маю пару саме таких конекторів. Саме "тата і маму".
Завтра доберуся, де вони заховані, гляну чи точно такі ж.
Якщо що, пишіть в приват, чи що…
П.С. віддам безкоштовно.
I grew up in the 80's and used to using magnetic storage mediums like cassette tapes and floppy disks. I never thought that paper tape could be used to program a computer or to store data. Seeing this tape reader in action made me wonder how programming with paper tape works or how a program is written using it.
Amazing!!! Thanks
Do you know the pin layout? And if the cable is 1 on 1? Or with connection inside? The casing should not hard to design. And the cable can be what ever😅 ot is this to easy thinking? Sorry
Wow, congrats! I saw one FS-1501 on OLX a couple of years ago.
I'm having vague plans of building homebrew transistor-based computer and such mechanical devices are very cool for input.
Awesome restoration! The FS-1501 surprised me with its performance (speed, size of the device, and sound during operation)
excellent vid
Maybe other youtubers from Czech can help? Like @DiodeGoneWild – he restore sometimes old tech
How can I decode these tapes? I have some readers like this and another ones and a lot of tapes. I can read the holes visually, but how do I know what symbol does a line correspond to and if I can even find there something meaningful?
A touch faster than my Sagem TX20 telex machine reader.
Those connectors look similar to the ones on Siemens Kleinpolrelais – Relay – T. Rls 64a Bv 3402/1 | eBay
well the flat blade pins, not the alignment posts, so maybe a socket for a Siemens relay will get you part of the way.
That is super fast! Great restoration of this tape reader. I enjoyed your videos!
Nice restoration work 🙂
Seems to be a trend for tech to show up in agricultural locations this week, been watching a series this week of someone restoring an amiga stored in a field on another channel.
A thought for those proprietary connectors, if you knew someone with a resin printer, they may be able to make a replacement faceplate, that you may be able to retrofit onto the existing plug, or it looks like the manual had a bit of a wiring diagram. It may not be too difficult to recreate a compatible board/cable. (Just looks like the pins are spade connectors, so all you’d need to do is make a compatible shell, slot a bunch of spade connectors into it and wire it up,
wow, finally its working !!!
you could use Arduino mega with level shifter ics to control and read data from the punch.
cheers
Looks amazing, great job!
It looks like a rather nice piece of equipment!
Hi, I have found one connector like you looking for, can you give me your E-mail adress please to send photos?
4:21 By my standards, that unit is in good condition 😅
Wow! Congratulations on the success of your SKALA documentary video! I really enjoyed it, so I'm glad a lot of others got to see it too.
As for your paper tape reader, I think you've done a great job restoring it, so I really hope it can read the data from the tapes successfully!
What caused the short circuit that cut power to the lights?
Chicken coops are improper storage areas for things Czechoslovakian. And electronic hardware. (Except chickens. That's ok.)
Are we sure it's photoresistors and not photodiodes or phototransistors? In my experience with only cheap CdS photoresistors, they are very slow.(250+ milliseconds response time.).
That is such a cool restoration Alex – my thought would've been to powder coat the case but I see you took got the pros to re-spray it … looks great. It's also good to see all the socialist "shibari" is intact! 😉 /Brett
I used to work in IT and it never ceases to amaze me how intricate older equipment can be.
Very cool! You did a great job restoring it, it looks excellent. I'm amazed at how fast it is! I didn't think a tape reader could run that fast.
I noticed their is an image of a tape on the side of each page of the manual. I wonder if there are any easter eggs hidden there.
Interesting video, excellent work, thank you!