For the time being this page focuses only on Wangtek models. I do have some Archive hardware too but have not studied it in detail yet. More to come…
Decoding the model number
Wangtek model numbers have two or three parts:
- Model
- Variant
- Format suffix
Models
| 5099 | Original 9-track design. Brushed motor, through hole dot and tape PCB design. Made 1984 to approx 1988. Early models (CG/DG) only support 310 Oersted tape (DC300XL) making them 45MB drives. “Ex” models add support for 550 Oersted tape (DC600x). Formats / tapes: QIC-11 20MB (R/W?)? DC300XL QIC-24 45MB (R/W): DC300XL/P QIC-24 60MB (R/W): DC600A/DC600XTD Interfaces: QIC-36 (EN), QIC-02 (CG, DG, EG) |
| 5125 | 15 track design. Brushless motor, hybrid SMD/through hole PCB. Introduced in late 1980s Formats / tapes: QIC-120 125MB (R/W): DC600XTD, DC6150 QIC-24 (R) Interfaces: QIC-36 (EN), QIC-02 (EG), SCSI (SC) |
| 5150 | 18 track design. Introduced around 1990. Mechanically identical to 5125. EQ variant a very popular drive. Large numbers sold. Formats / tapes: QIC-150 150MB (R/W): DC6150 QIC-150 250MB (R/W): DC6250 QIC-24 (R): DC600XTD Interfaces: QIC-36 (EN), QIC-02 (EQ), SCSI (ES) |
| 5060 | Same as 5150 but retrofitted with 9-track head and formatter ROM to serve customers still wishing to purchase 9-track drives after the 5099 was discontinued. Formats / tapes: QIC-11 20MB (R/W?)? DC300XL QIC-24 45MB (R/W): DC300XL/P QIC-24 60MB (R/W): DC600A/DC600XTD Interfaces: QIC-02 (EQ) |
| 5360 | 26 track design. Introduced early 1990s. All SMD PCB, improved head mechanism, tape entry “flap” added. Many examples of this drive and its successor are observed to have significant rework on the drive PCB, in some cases an extra chip is modded on. Formats / tapes: QIC-320 320MB (R/W): DC6320 QIC-150 250MB (R/W): DC6250 QIC-150 150MB (R/W): DC6150 QIC-24 60MB (R): DC600A/DC600XTD Interfaces: SCSI (ES) |
| 5525 | Same as 5360 but adds: Formats / tapes: QIC-525 525MB (R/W): DC6525 Interfaces: SCSI (ES) |
| 51000 | Same as 5525 (later revision PCB without any rework) adds: Formats / tapes: QIC-1000 1.2GB (R/W): DC9120 Interfaces: SCSI (HT) |
Variants
| CG | Seen only on early 5099 models (circa 1984). Full height drive with QIC-02 interface provided by early revision formatter (same design as 30006 ISA card) attached to underside. Hardwired for 310 Oersted tape only (DC300XL). QIC-02 formatter can be removed to provide QIC-36 interface. Typical usage: Mini / Micro mainframes |
| DG | Seen only on early 5099 models. No photographs or details obtainable. Likely full height drive with removable QIC-02 formatter attached. |
| EG | Full height drive. QIC-02 interface provided by QIC-02 formatter (new design, same as 30850 ISA formatter) attached to underside. QIC-02 formatter can be removed to provide QIC-36 interface. Typical usage: Mini / Micro mainframes |
| EN | Typically half height drive. QIC-36 interface. Manuals describe full height drives with bottom half empty. None confirmed to exist. Typical usage: PC backup with ISA PC-36 formatter |
| SC | Full height drive. SCSI interface provided by formatter attached to underside. Rarely seen. SCSI formatter can be removed to provide QIC-36 interface. Typical usage: Mini / Micro mainframes |
| EQ | Half height drive with QIC-02 interface provided by formatter embedded on drive PCB. Typical usage: PC backup with QIC-02 ISA interface card, replacement of earlier “EG” drives on mini / micro mainframes. |
| ES | Half height drive with SCSI interface provided by formatter embedded on drive PCB. Typical usage: PC / Server backup with SCSI host adapter |
| HT | Same as ES. Possibly faster SCSI standard. |
Format suffix
Only 5099 models have a format suffix
| 11 | Optimised for QIC-11. No photographs of these models obtainable, no details as to what makes this drive specific to QIC-11 obtainable either. |
| 24 | Optimised for QIC-24. Moveable 9-track head. |
Interfaces
QIC-36
This is often referred to as the “basic drive interface” has very low level signals such as:
- Motor start / forward / reverse
- Track select
- Tape inserted
- Write protect
- Digitised un-encoded signals to and from the read/write heads
It is too low level for software to communicate with directly. Drives with this interface require a controller or “formatter” as they are more commonly referred to as.
The formatter takes care of things such as:
- Encoding / decoding
- Error detection and correction
- Media detection
- Low level media formatting
- Motor control
- Head positioning
Wangtek made several QIC-36 controller (formatter) boards:
- 30006-xxx (ISA) – earliest known design, licensed from Colorado Data Systems – 9 track ROM
- 30850-00x (ISA) – later design – 9-track ROM
- 30850-410 (ISA) – 8/15/18 track ROM
- 400540-xxx (QIC-02) earliest design – same logic/firmware as 30006
- 30425-xxx (QIC-02) later design – same logic/firmware as 30850
QIC-02
Uses exactly the same connector as QIC-36 but is completely different. QIC-02 is what is found on the other end of a formatter. It is a software type interface accepting “read block” / “write block” type commands. It is designed to be easily interfaced to a processor bus (i.e. ISA / MCA).
QIC-02 drives / formatters still need a tiny bit of bus interface logic before they can be attached to a computer. In the case of an ISA QIC-36 controller this is all bundled onto one card.
In the case of a QIC-02 formatter or drive a further interface card is required. The wangtek 30631-001 interface card is an example of this.
SCSI
Drives with SCSI interfaces have a similar software interface as QIC-02 albeit with completely different hardware in between.
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