Ikon Ultra Drive

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Pernod70
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Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by Pernod70 »

Does anyone actually have the Ultra Drive that's in the archive at http://archive.worldofdragon.org/index. ... ltra_Drive

I'm interested in knowing the model number of the actual tape unit used in them.

Similar units were available for a few different machines, including BBC and Nascom, but these were known as Hobbit drives. The Hobbit was advertised as 100K capacity, whereas the Ultra Drive was 200K, so presumably different tape units used.

The Ultra Drive was also advertised as coming soon for BBC, Electron, C64, etc. but have so far only found evidence that it existed for the BBC.
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robcfg
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by robcfg »

I need to take a look, as I think I had more pictures of it.

Sadly, the owner did sell it long ago. Maybe someone from the forum got it?
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robcfg
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by robcfg »

I'm afraid I cannot find the pictures of the drive mechanism :(
Pernod70
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by Pernod70 »

robcfg wrote: Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:50 pm I'm afraid I cannot find the pictures of the drive mechanism :(
Hopefully it's current owner will eventually see this. Presume this is the only unit that's ever been seen?

I'm currently emulating the Hobbit drive for the Beeb, and MDCR for the Atom, both use the same tape unit which is already emulated for the Philips P2000T. If I get these two working then I'll see if the Ultra Drive ROM works with the same tape unit.

The Ultra Drive advert vs. the Hobbit advert clearly indicates the Ultra is faster and has double the capacity, so suspect it's a different tape unit.
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robcfg
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by robcfg »

Yes, it’s the only unit I’ve seen so far.

I tried to use some tapes but wasn’t able to “format” them, so probably the unit needed some service.
admin
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by admin »

Just catching up...I have one in storage, been there for quite a few years, so if it's not mega urgent I should be able to get it out and take some internal photos
Simon Hardy
Pernod70
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by Pernod70 »

admin wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:50 pm Just catching up...I have one in storage, been there for quite a few years, so if it's not mega urgent I should be able to get it out and take some internal photos
Excellent, whenever you can it's mainly the tape unit that needs identifying.
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by admin »

Here are some photos of the insides - only 2 labels that I can see so hopefully they can help you identify the drive model. I have some tapes for this and they are all 30min tapes if that helps.
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Simon Hardy
Pernod70
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by Pernod70 »

admin wrote: Fri Oct 07, 2022 12:54 pm Here are some photos of the insides - only 2 labels that I can see so hopefully they can help you identify the drive model.
I'm surprised there's no obvious model number anywhere. Your photos look remarkably similar to one that I got from a Hobbit owner, especially the one with serial number and large cog. So maybe they are the same tape unit, difficult to say.

There's a technical manual for the MDCR at http://www.nascomhomepage.com/pdf/mdcr.pdf. On the last page is a layout of the circuit board, would you say this matches yours?
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Re: Ikon Ultra Drive

Post by admin »

Yes - connectors and ICs are all in the same place...so I suspect its the same drive......
Simon Hardy
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