Date   : Wed, 25 Apr 1990 15:16:03 GMT
From   : zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!crdgw1!ge-dab!tarpit!bilver!bill@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Bill Vermillion)
Subject: 8" drives and BBSes

In article <IO=2M+Cxds13@ficc.uu.net> peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
writes:
>Has anyone got some data on BBSes running on 8" drive machines? I'd think with
>the floppy spinning all the time you'd expect to have a big problem with disks
>wearing out. Is this a real problem in practice, or am I inventing reasons not
>to run a BBS?

Several of my friends used to do that.   There are a couple of things to note.
If you are using the old style full height drives, with AC motors, the system
do run a lot.  I ran an 8" 24 hour per day for a couple of years.  What
happens is the bearing clamping rings go first.  

There have been kits designed to power off the AC motors, and only fire up
when data is accessed.  Seem to work quite well.  You'd probably have to home
brew your own.  There was circuit diagram published YEARS ago in one of the
CMP oriented magazines, if I remember correctly.

If you are using one of the newer 8" drives, eg Shugart 860, or the Tandon 82x
series, they are DC drive.  Early models were belt drive, later direct driven.
They power up the motor on data access, as an option, and drives run only when
you need them.   The ONLY thing you need to do on those type systems is
install a delay so that the drive is at speed before data is tried or you get
"not found" or similar errors.  

I put away my 8" drives (except on my Max80) a long time ago.

bill
-- 
Bill Vermillion - UUCP: uunet!tarpit!bilver!bill
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