Care of magnetic tape
Just as with diskettes, disks and other storage media there are some guide lines of use.

• Do not expose magnetic tape to excessive heat or dust.
  Most tape read errors are caused by dust or dirt on the read/write head. It is important to keep the tape clean.
• Always store the tape reels inside the containers when the tape is not in use.
  Keep empty containers tightly closed to guard against dust and dirt.
• Never touch the portion of tape between Begin (BOT) and End-Of-Tape (EOT) markers. Oil from fingers attract dust and dirt.
• Never use a contaminated reel of tape. This spreads dirt to the clean tape reels and could adversely affect tape transport reliability.
• Always handle tape reels by the hub hole. Squeezing the rell flanges leads to tape edge damage when winding or unwinding tapes.
• Do not smoke near the tape transport or storage media. Smoke and ash are especially damaging to tapes.
• Do not put magnetic tape near lineprinters or other devices that produce paper dust.
• Do not put magnetic tape in any location where it may be affected by hot air.
• Do not store magnetic tape near electric motors or any other magnetic sources that may erase data.

Reflective tape markers
Every reel of magnetic tape must have a BOT and an EOT reflective marker, so that the transport can recognize starting and stopping areas. Tapes are always supplied with reflective markers installed. However, if the markers become detached for any reason or, if a tape leader is shortened because of tape damage, then the operator must install a marker at the position as shown in the figure below.

The TS03 tape transport has a small control panel at the left side of the unit. At the bottom is the ON/OFF switch which applies AC power to the unit. From top to bottom you have the following indicators and buttons.

• UNIT SELECT
  This is a small plug which designates the transport as unit 0 or as unit 1. In a single drive system, the drive is always designated drive0. In a dual drive system, either drive can be designated as drive 0. The unit select plugs are the same plugs as used on th TU10 tape transport and the RM03 removable cartridge disk drive.
• WRITE ENABLE
  This is an indicator which is ON whenever a tape reel is mounted with a write-enable ring installed on the supply hub.
• ON LINE
  This is a push button and an indicator. The momentary push-button which functions as alternate action. When first activated, the tape unit is placed in an on-line condition. When the tape unit is on-line, it can be remotely be selected and will be ready if tape is loaded to or past the load point. When activated again it takes the unit off-line. The indicator is ON in the on-line condition. The load function must be performed before the unit will go on-line.
• LOAD
  This is a push button and an indicator. The momentary push-button activates the reel servos (tensions the tape) and starts the load sequence. The indicator is ON when the reel servos are activated and tape is tensioned.
• REWIND
  This is a push button and an indicator. The momentary push-button activates a rewind operation. This control is enabled only when tape is tensioned and the unit is off-line. The indicator is ON during either a local or a remote rewind operation.

1. Raise the latch of the quick-release hub and place the reel of tape on the supply hub. If you want to write data to the tape, install a write-ring at the rear side of the tape reel.
2. Hold the reel against the hub flange and press the hub latch down to secure the reel.
3. Thread the tape along the path as shown in the figure.
4. Holding the end of the tape with a finger, wrap a few turns of the tape counterclockwise around the take-up hub.

Place the tape unit on-line
After the tape has been properly threaded and has been loaded and moved to the load point, press the ON LINE button and check that the ON LINE indicator is ON. The REWIND button is disabled when the tape unit is on-line. The on-line status enables the tape unit to be remotely selected and to perform all normal operations under remote control.

Rewind and unload a tape
The tape can be rewound to load point under remote control. However, you can do this operation also manually as follows.

1. If the ON LINE indicator is illuminated, press the ON LINE button. Check that the ON LINE indicator goes OFF.
2. Press the REWIND button. The tape will now rewind to the load point marker.
3. After the tape has been positioned at the load point under remote or manual control, the tape can be unloaded by pressing the REWIND button again to rewind the tape past the load point to the physical beginning of the tape.
   Remark. You can not stop the rewind sequence until the tape has rewound either to the load point or until the tension is lost at the physical beginning of the tape.

Cleaning the TS03 DECmagtape Drive

1. Remove the tape from the transport and store it properly.
2. Remove the head cover by pulling the cover gently toward you.
3. Pop the head shield by exerting a light-to-medium upward force
   on the left side of the shield.
   The shield opens up to approximately an angle of 45°.
   Do not force the shield past this point or serious damage may result.
4. Using a lint-free cloth and cleaning fluid, clean the following parts.
   • Head and head shield.
   • Load point and End-Of-Tape sensor.
   • Missing Tape sensor.
   • Tape guides.
   • Tape Cleaner.
   • Capstan (not shown).
   • Tape roller guides (two, not shown).
     When cleaning the roller guides, be careful to keep the cleaning fluid
     on the tape-bearing surface of the guides to prevent degreasing their bearings.
   If any oxide deposits have built up on the head or the tape guides, scrub them away using a swab and cleaning fluid.
   Follow this scrubbing with an other pass with the lint-free wipe.
   
5. Next, use a lint-free wipe and cleaning fluid to remove all dust and dirt from the inside of the plexiglass door.
6. Finally, push down the head shield until the shield pops into position. Install the head cover.

The TMB11 consists of a dedicated 4-slot backplane which contains the following modules.

• M105 - Address selector module
• M795 - Word Count and Bus Address module
• M796 - Unibus Master Control module
• M930 - Bus terminator module
• M7821 - Interrupt Control module
• M7911 - Tape Drive Interface module
• M7912 - TMB11 Unibus Registers module

TMB11 Controller installation
You can install the TMB11 4-slot backplane in the BA11K or the BA11F box. Put the System Unit next to the last system unit in the box, and install it with the 2 captive screws. On the backplane are power terminals that connect to the power harness 70-09559. I did not have it, and made some cables myself. The backplane needs connections to +5V (red wire), GND (black wire), and AC LO (yellow wire).
Plug the wires on the fast-on connection points. Next, install the M8920 power harness (part number 70-13008). Connect the three fast-on connectors, the red wire goes to +5V, the black wire to GND, and the yellow wire to AC LO. I made the three wire cable myself, do not use thin wires for the +5V and GND to prevent voltage drop. See the figure for the location of the fast-on connectors on the TMB11 backplane. Install the BC11A cable that goes to the TS03 (master) tape transport in the backplane slot 4, position E-F.

1. Remove the M8920 front cover.
2. Support the plate with the M8920 with one hand and loosen the 2 screws that hold the M8920 module.
   Let the module hang down.
3. Put 2 H870 edge connectors on the "C" and "D" connector of the M8920 module.
   Plug the BC11A cable from the TMB11 controller in the H870 edge connector.
4. Install the 70-10570 cables between the M8920 and the tape transport unit(s).

   M8920 connector TS03 master connector TS03 slave connector J1 J2 - J3 J3 - J5 J1 - J2 - J2 J4 - J3 J6 - J1

   Click the picture for a larger image.

   
   

5. Remove one screw from each of the 3 cable strain reliefs and looen the other screw.
   Put the BC11A cables up against the chassis. Leave enough slack so that the cables are not strained when the M8920 module is swung down.
6. Put the strain reliefs back in place and tighten all screws.
7. Lead the M8920 power harness over the hinged edge of the M8920 module.
8. Connect the harness to the fast-on connectors on the M8920 as follows:
   • red wire       --»   +5 V.
   • yellow wire  --»   AC LO
   • black wire   --»   GND
9. Neatly dress all cables. Leave service loops so that the TS03 transport can be extended from the rack and the M8920 module can be swung down.
10. Swing the M8920 moduel up and lock the module with the 2 screws.
11. Install the M8920 front cover. Push the TS03 transport into the rack.
12. Connect the AC power cord to the TS03 transport and to the 861 Power Controller.

The TMB11/TS03 subsystem has the following diagnostics:

«-»	ZTSE(x)	TS03 / TMB11 drive function timer
«-»	ZTSF(x)	TS03 / TMB11 supplemental instruction test
«-»	ZTMA(x)	TS03 instruction test
«-»	ZTMH(x)	TS03 multidrive data reliability exercise

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The PROM 23-758A9 installed on the M9312 Bootstrap/terminator module offers a bootstrap for the TS03 and TU10 tape (MT) peripherals.
The following bootstrap code is not (yet) tested. The bootstrap executions does not start at octal 1000 as usual, but at address 10000 octal to allow for large boot blocks. If the bootstrap code loops at location 10034 ("BR ." instruction) an error reading the tape occurred. The last instruction ('000000') is a halt. Substitute the '000000' with '005007' to auto start the code that is read from the tape ...