Crazy idea for new cartridges

[georgeo]

Hi everyone,

I realise this is a crazy idea but I've been wondering what it would take to produce new Microdrive cartridges. Naively, a cartridge looks to be made of a two-piece plastic case, some rollers, a loop of magnetic tape, plus a felt pad.

Are the original design drawings, tooling, and moulds still around or could they be easily recreated? Are there any manufacturers that could make new cartridges? How many cartridges would need to be produced in a run to make it financially viable?

It might be possible to improve on the original design -- using better-quality tape or making higher-capacity drives, or even (craziest idea of all) replacing the magnetic tape by some form of tape head that could 'play back' content of a Microdrive image file.

I'd be interest to hear what others thought,
George.

[tofro]

Yep. Agree. That idea is indeed crazy

Reproducing the purely mechanical parts shouldn't be too much of a problem - Send them to China, they can re-engineer nearly everything - In earnest, the measures could pretty easily be taken from existing cartridges, and I don't really think to produce new parts would be rocket science. Building the tools for die casting the plastic is, however, still expensive and only viable for production runs that go into the 10-thousands.

I guess the biggest problem should be finding a reliable source of the tape material. Videotape is no longer produced in quantities and no longer widely used in non-specialist applications. Even at the high tide of videotape usage, when the QL was still on sale, Sinclair had tremendous problems finding an alternative supplier that was willing to produce the tape.

Tobias

[georgeo]

Okay, not being able to get video tape might suggest the MP3 tape-adaptor approach might be better, where you replace the tape by a magnetic head. Although the cartridge would need a trigger to start 'playing' magnetic signals, plus a way of recording if full read/ write functionality were to be supported. I wonder if the MP3 tape-adaptor technology is sufficiently accurate to be used at the higher speeds required by a Microdrive?

[tofro]

Georgio,

search a bit through the forum, here:

http://qlforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=584

was a promising approach to a QL microdrive image to SD-Card technology. I think gertk has managed to get that thing properly working, but apparently it has never reached the masses...

Tobias

[georgeo]

Hi Tobias,

Thanks - I should search more thoroughly next time before posting. It's a shame that the trail went quiet, as it seemed a mature prototype. Until then, I'll have to make do with real, 1980's cartridges (plus my disk interface, when I get it to work properly).

Thanks again,
George.

[Martin_Head]

Could a 3D printer make a Microdrive cartridge case? Instead of having a hub to wind the tape on, and making the tape slide over itself. Make the tape a fold up loop like a printer ribbon cartridge.

The replacement cartridge could be made bigger to hold the loop loosely, by making it stick out of further from the front of the QL.

As for the tape, VHS video cassettes are still available. And it should be easy enough to make a jig to slice it into strips.

[Outsoft]

Hi everyone,

I realise this is a crazy idea but I've been wondering what it would take to produce new Microdrive cartridges. Naively, a cartridge looks to be made of a two-piece plastic case, some rollers, a loop of magnetic tape, plus a felt pad.

Are the original design drawings, tooling, and moulds still around or could they be easily recreated? Are there any manufacturers that could make new cartridges? How many cartridges would need to be produced in a run to make it financially viable?

It might be possible to improve on the original design -- using better-quality tape or making higher-capacity drives, or even (craziest idea of all) replacing the magnetic tape by some form of tape head that could 'play back' content of a Microdrive image file.

I'd be interest to hear what others thought,
George.

Absolutely OUTSTANDING idea!!!

We have just made a MD CLEANER TAPE printed in 3D by a friend in Austria so...why can't be printed a real MD too?

I will prefer a MD much similar to the original one and with tapes (no SD card or MP3).

It will be very interesting to see an improvement on the MD cartridge and the tape too!!!

We have all the SW to dump and recreate the image so...well done, I will help you absolutely in this project!!!

[georgeo]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the vote of confidence and for the information about the cleaning cartridges. I don't think we have progressed from crazy idea to project yet. Plus, not having an engineering background nor any electronic hardware skills, I'm not sure I can make a significant contribution to this project. However, it does look as if there are several threads of possible activity, which could lead to something.

Can you tell us a little more about the cleaning tape -- e.g. does it include a spool of tape, as for traditional cassette head-cleaning tapes? Sourcing, sizing, and installing the actual magnetic tape may be a key hurdle in the manufacture of new cartridges.

Speak to you soon,
George.

[tcat]

Hi,

Very interesting idea, I woudl like to pursue as well. Once having a jig to cut VHS in stripes, spooling a new tape in, how to actually go about glueing both ends into a loop?

Tom

[Outsoft]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for the vote of confidence and for the information about the cleaning cartridges. I don't think we have progressed from crazy idea to project yet. Plus, not having an engineering background nor any electronic hardware skills, I'm not sure I can make a significant contribution to this project. However, it does look as if there are several threads of possible activity, which could lead to something.

Can you tell us a little more about the cleaning tape -- e.g. does it include a spool of tape, as for traditional cassette head-cleaning tapes? Sourcing, sizing, and installing the actual magnetic tape may be a key hurdle in the manufacture of new cartridges.

Speak to you soon,
George.

Well there is a simple hole on the left and we use a sponge (with alcool) to clean the roller

We can't clean the HEAD, that nees a tape cleaner inside or a manual rotating part inside.

For the cartridge...I think It can be possibile to produce it with standard 3D printers