PYTHON APPLICATIONS DEVELOPED TO READ LISTINGS AND BUILD CSV FILE
I whipped up some Python code to open listing files - printer output of the IBM 1130 simulator running tasks to print the LET (Location Equivalency Table), FLET (Fixed Location Equivalency Table) and SLET (System Location Equivalency Table), extract all the file names along with some salient information, and create a comma separated values (CSV) file to add those to a spreadsheet in the format that I have initially defined.
They ask for the Cartridge ID, the four hex characters that label the 2315 disk cartridge, a secondary name that I can maintain which is unique across all cartridge images, then read the printer file and spit out the CSV format file that can be used to import those values into a master spreadsheet recording the details of every file stored across all the archived cartridges.
SOLDERED TOGETHER THE CONNECTOR ADAPTER BOARD
The Diablo came with a cable that has a Winchester MRAC-42 connector on one end and an IDC 40 pin connector on the other. The ribbon cable has a metal ground plane across its breadth, which supports signal integrity for the 37 signals thar are carried across the cable.
I developed my Archiver PCB with an IDC 50 pin connector on a ribbon cable, supporting 25 signals with a ground wire between each signal wire. I whipped up a design for a board to connect those 25 signals to the corresponding pins of the IDC-40 connector on the Diablo cable. The board mounted one each IDC-40 and IDC-50 socket.
WORKING ON THE CHALLENGE OF THE DIABLO POWER CONNECTOR
The rear of the Diablo drive has a male Winchester MRAC-14 connector, with five active pins that carry ground, +15V, -15V, another +15V and a second -15V power rail to operate the drive. The power supplies need a MRAC-14 socket. I don't have a cable for that.
MRAC connectors are fairly rare and have strong demand which forces high prices. The used sockets on eBay are all sold as plastic bodies without any metal contacts inside. The female contacts came in several types depending on the wire that would connect to it, whether by crimp or soldering. For my purposes I need the larger solder types.
The female contacts are sold in groups for several hundred dollars. Not a price I want to pay. At worst case I would have removed the male MRAC-14 connector and switched to a more readily available connector type for power. However, I did think I had found a solution that would come in around $60 total. I found a female 9 pin connector that had the female contacts installed in the body, and I found a female 14 pin socket. Move the contacts, of which I only need 5, and viola.
However, when I received the 9 pin socket yesterday I realized that I had made a mistake. The Winchester connectors come in two flavors - MRA and MRAC - with the difference being that the MRA have the contacts permanently molded into the body, while the MRAC have contacts that can be removed and inserted. The contacts are not compatible between them, as the contacts for MRAC have a metal tab that locks them into the body.
What I had purchased was a MRA 9 pin socket with permanently molded contacts and a MRAC 14 pin body. I decided that I will find a way to re-use the contacts and put them into the 14 pin body. I spent a half hour carefully releasing the female contacts, although it required the destruction of the body.
I will find a way to anchor the contacts into the 14 pin body. It might require epoxy or some other adhesive, but after I solder wires onto the contacts I will affix them to the body so that I have a workable power connector to hook to the Diablo.
SELECTING HEADS TO MOUNT IN THE DIABLO DRIVE
I pulled the heads from the Diablo drive (the two on the left in this picture) and collected a few heads I was assembling on compatible holders. I will decide which are the best and insert those into the Diablo drive.
