Why, one would ask, when politicians all over Ontario are pledging to cut paper tape, would a group be seeking paper tape? Well, for one thing, the colour is different. The Nuclear Heritage group (aka SPCNHI) are not seeking red tape but instead a special “off-green” coloured, ~ 2 cm wide paper tape that is full of holes.
This type of paper tape was used in the early days of computers to input instructions and data. It survived usage well into the 1980s on many of the PDP series of computers. When it was first used, it was a big jump from the need to enter each character into the computer via a key-board, or slower even, through the use of a number of switches.
Paper tape in turn was superseded by punch cards and then magnetic media. Computer codes and data on punch cards were easier to de-bug. The term de-bug actually originated during the paper tape days. Paper-loving bugs, such as Silverfish, would sometimes seek homes in the folds of the paper tape and produce errors in the optical reading of the tape – hence the literal need to de-bug.
The Society has had donated parts of the original Datatron at CRNL as well as the paper tape reader that was used with the machine. We have been unsuccessful however securing any of the paper tape. It was produced in two formats. One was in spools that could reach up to 20 cm in diameter and the second, more popular with time, fan-fold format.
Anyone still having in their back drawers or cupboards a meter or so of the tape they would be willing to donate to the Society is asked to contact Jim Ungrin at 613 584 3055 or ungrinjr@gmail.com. He will be very willing to come and pick it up
