Paper Tape Testers Wanted (Free software!)

[n0jcf]

I have been performing archeology on hundreds of paper tapes I received with my vintage 680b and tty model 33... and have found that the rubber bands that were used to keep the tapes in a roll have melted into various piles of goo, stains and other strange forms that have made a mess of a lot of the tapes. The really sad one is an original MITS assembler/editor tape set for the 680b in an UNOPENED bag that has two rubber bands melted all over the tapes inside the bag.

Clearly the oil on the tapes has accelerated the demise of the rubber bands. Does anyone have any techniques for further dissolving the rubber while safely preserving the tapes?

It's really a mess... sad.

Chris

[Geoff Harrison]

The first thing I thought of was the old trick for removing gum from someone's hair: try freezing it. Put one of the tapes in the freezer for a couple of hours and see if the gummy rubber gets hard enough to crack off without damaging the paper.

Geoff.