ICT 1301 - Optional Peripherals

Optional Peripherals

The 'standard' magnetic tape system (called tape type 3) used half inch (12.7mm) wide magnetic tape with ten tracks at a density of 300 bits per inch. Four of the tracks held data, four more tracks held the inverse of the data and there was a parity bit for both groups of four. This allowed single bit errors to be corrected and double bit errors to be detected. Up to eight Ampex TM4 tape decks could be connected and each ran at 75 inches per second, giving a throughput of 22,500 digits per second. Spools could hold up to 3,600 feet (1,100 m) of tape and were of the three prong design not the later industry standard expanding hub design.

The 'High Speed' magnetic tape system (called tape type 1) used one inch (25.4mm) wide magnetic tape with sixteen tracks at a density of 300 bits per inch. Eight of the tracks held data and eight more tracks held checking data. This allowed single bit errors to be corrected and double bit errors to be detected. Up to eight tape decks could be connected and each ran at 150 inches per second, giving a throughput of 90,000 digits per second. Spools could hold up to 3,600 feet (1,100 m) of tape and were of the three prong design common at the time for professional audio and video recorders.

One or two paper tape readers could be connected, each with a speed of 1,000 characters per second.

A paper tape punch of 300 characters per second was available.

An online teleprinter was available, though very few machines had these.

Towards the end of the working life span of the 1301, a single ICT standard interface could be added to allow data to written to the by then industry standard magnetic tape.