Exatron Stringy Floppy

The Exatron Stringy Floppy (or ESF) was a continuous loop tape drive developed by Exatron for use with the Radio Shack TRS-80 microcomputer, among others, and was launched in 1979. The tape cartridge was about the size of a credit card, although about twice as thick. The magnetic tape itself was 1/16-inch wide - string-like.

The tape was wound in an endless loop, in much the same manner as 8-track tapes.Fact|date=December 2007 Data and programs were stored sequentially on the tape so that data requests had to scan through the tape until the desired data/application was located before being read. Due to way the tape was fed back on the reel, Stringy Floppy tapes had a relatively short life expectancy compared to either the 8-track or floppy alternative.Fact|date=December 2007

Comparisons

According to Embedded Systems magazine the Exatron Stringy Floppy used Manchester encoding, achieving 14K read-write speeds and the code controlling the device was developed by Li-Chen Wang (who also wrote a Tiny BASIC, the basis for the TRS-80 Model I Level I BASIC.)

In the July 1983 issue of COMPUTE!'s Gazette the ESF for the VIC-20 and the Commodore 64 was reviewed. The April 1983 issue of Creative Computing reviews the Winter CES show where Texas Instruments showed the TI Compact Computer 40 (CC-40) which included an optional peripheral, "a wafertape digital tape drive similar to the Exatron Stringy Floppy ($139)."

Although the Stringy Floppy was about four times faster than the popular cassette drives of the time,Fact|date=December 2007 the device never became very popular because floppy disks soon filled the data storage needs of personal computers.Fact|date=December 2007

Other systems

The Sinclair Microdrive, sold as a peripheral for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and built into the Sinclair QL, was another String Floppy-type continuous loop tape drive.Fact|date=December 2007

Entrepo also made a Stringy Floppy drive called the Quick Data Drive (QDD). It was designed for use with the Commodore 64 and some Timex Sinclair machines. The same mechanism and cartridges were used in the Rotronics Wafadrive for the ZX Spectrum. There was also a Stringy Floppy released for the Exidy Sorcerer.Fact|date=December 2007

Unreleased systems

In February of 1983 Coleco announced a "Super Game Wafer" wafer tape system for their ColecoVision system. However by October of that year these plans were canceled and still later in 1983 Coleco turned their focus on the Coleco Adam utilizing a completely different tape system.Fact|date=December 2007

The Coleco Adam-oriented magazine, Expandable Computer News (ECN), features in their May 1987 issue a picture of the ColecoVision Super Game Module containing a wafer tape drive. The premiere issue of ECN in 1984 says Coleco was planning on using the Exatron Stringy Floppy in their announced "super game pack expansion module". However, the ColecoVision FAQ cites a February 1984 Video Games Magazine article stating that the floppy system Coleco was considering was an Entrepo floppy wafer system. Regardless of the OEM wafer drive brand, the stringy floppy for the ColecoVision was vaporware.Fact|date=December 2007

External links

* [http://www.digibarn.com/collections/devices/stringy-floppy/ Exatron Stringy Floppy as described by Bill Fletcher]
* [http://www.webweavers.co.nz/system-80/hardware_accessories.htm ESF Model 1 'Simply Amazing!' Advertisement]
* [http://vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=7 VintageComputer.net report on ESF]
* [http://dcsutherland.smugmug.com/gallery/400300 Image gallery: TRS-80 Model 1 ESF]
* [http://dcsutherland.smugmug.com/gallery/402857 Image gallery: TRS-80 Model 3 ESF]
* [http://dcsutherland.smugmug.com/gallery/448582 Image gallery: Timex Sinclair Stringy Advert.]
* [http://www.hansotten.com/himages/msxsvi777.jpgImage gallery: SVI-777 MSX Stringy Floppy Drive]
* [http://www.sacnews.net/adamcomputer/sgm.jpgImage gallery: ColecoVision proposed stringy floppy expansion module]
* [http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/scripts/picshow.php?
]

* [http://www.embedded.com/98/9806pt.htm June 2006 Embedded Systems magazine article mentions technical aspects.]
* [http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n4/18_1983_Winter_Consumer_Elec.php TI CC-40 Wafertape mention at 1983 Winter CES]

* [http://www.sacnews.net/adamcomputer/01.html#ECN1-2 1984 premier issue of Coleco ADAM magazine, ECN, mentions ESF in ADAM's development]
* [http://www.sacnews.net/adamcomputer/20.html 1987 ECN article showing picture of the Super Game Module device]
* [http://www.emulationstation.com/systemlist.asp?ID=7 ColecoVision Super Game Wafers / Expansion Module #3 timeline]
* [http://www.d3signer.com/colecoworld/faq/colecofaq410.html#3.3 ColecoVision FAQ: reference stating the Coleco "Super Games" wafers were using the Entrepo system]
* [http://www.devili.iki.fi/Computers/Commodore/articles/Beyond_the_1541/ Description of the Entrepo Quick Data Drive (QDD) stringy floppy for the C64]
* [http://www.trs-80.com Exatron Model 1 ROM dump v4.1]