8 Hole Paper Tape

Mus.Cat. NEWUC:2003.17 Mnfctr: Newcastle University Date: 1965 (circa) Ser. No: - Model: -
Comp: Paper Tape Width: 1" (25.4mm) Length: 29 ft (8.84 m) Thickness: 0.11 mm Weight: 18 g

Roll of paper tape

Eight hole paper tape was 1" (25.4mm) wide
and had rows of holes punched through it at ten rows per inch.
As well as the 8 data holes there was a smaller sprocket hole.
The sprocket hole was punched on every row and
in early times engaged with a tooth of a wheel
that fed the paper tape through a reading device.
Latterly with optical readers they were used to sense a row.
The other eight possible positions were punched
with a combination to represent characters of the alphabet,
numbers, and special characters.

KDF9 8 Hole Paper Tape Code

This table of paper tape codes is from the
"Technical Manual for Flexowriter Automatic Writing Machine published in 1964."
by Friden Ltd.
Mus.Cat. NEWUC:2003.18 Mnfctr: Friden Ltd Date: 1964 Ser. No: - Pages: 48
Comp: Technical Manual Width: 280 mm Length: 217 mm Thickness: 4 mm Weight: 188 g

The paper tape was 1" (25.4mm) wide
and had 8 positions where a hole could be punched.
Between the 4th and 3rd position was a sprocket hole,
this was much smaller and engaged with the teeth of a sprocket wheel
that moved the paper tape.
It could have been in the middle between the 5th and 4th position,
but then there would have been confusion
over what way to lay the paper tape in the reader.

Later, with optical readers there was no sprocket wheel,
just a friction drive.
Then the sensing of the sprocket hole
triggered the other eight light sensors
to detect a data hole.

It is of interest to note that the 8th hole is only used twice,
for Code Delete and Space.

FUNCTION 87654 .321
FUNCTION 87654 .321
SHIFT





. 32

H

7

4.


TAB



5
.3


X6

65
.32
Space
8

5
.3


N

7

4.32
^0

65
.



U

76

.3
1
Q

7 6 5
.

1
J

7
5 4.
2
A

7


.

1
÷ 7

6

. 3 2 1
[ 1

6

.

1
M

7

4. 3
1
Z

7 6
4.
2

I

7
5 4.

1
W

7 6 5
. 3 2 1
K

7

4.
2 1
S

7 6

. 3 2

(
8


6
4.


] 2

6

.
2

, .

6 5 4. 3 2 1
X

7 6 5 4.



O

7
5 4. 3 2 1
E

7
5
. 3
1
L

7
5 4. 3

D

7


. 3


) 9

6 5 4.

1
< 3

6 5
.
2 1
: /



4. 3 2 1
C

7
5
.
2 1
P

7 6

.


R

7 6 5
.
2

ne* +

6
4. 3
1
F

7
5
. 3 2

_ _

6 5 4.
2
> 4

6

. 3


-> ->
7 6 5 4. 3
1
V

7 6

. 3 2

; ;

6 5 4. 3

T

7 6 5
. 3


* -

6
4. 3 2
G

7


. 3 2 1
£ 10

6
4.
2 1
= 5

6 5
. 3
1
CR



5
.
2
B

7


.
2

ESC

7 6 5 4. 3 2
Y

7 6
4.

1
NORMAL



5
. 3 2 1

* We do not have all the characters in the HTML standard character set: ISO Latin-1 (ISO8859-1),
in particular there is not the NOT EQUAL character, an "=" character overstruck by an "/",
shown as "ne" in the table above,
and also the RIGHT ARROW, shown as "->" in the table above.

TAB - The TAB key moves the carraige to the next tab position and punches the TAB code.
CAR RET - The CR key returns the carraige and spaces the paper to the next line.
ESCAPE - The ESC key punches the ESC code with no other action.
NORMAL - The NORMAL key locks the keyboard to type upper case characters and punches the NORMAL code.
SHIFT - The SHIFT key locks the keyboard for typing lower case characters and the upper character where there are two characters on a key.
_ - The Underline key prints "_" but does not move the carraige, so that the next character printed is underlined.

There are some special characters:
Code Delete 8 7 6 5 4. 3 2 1
Run Out




.



Verify Off Stop



4.
2

Code Delete is all holes punched across the paper tape, it is effectively the same as a
Run out or simple Feed Hole.

Someone asked why table was in the order it was, the answer is that it is in keyboard order:-

Keyboard

Whilst sorting that out I sorted the table a different way, namely by the characters.


58  _ _   654. 2 	The first column is the numerical value of the holes punched.
46  - *   6 4.32 	The second column is NORMAL shift character printed.
60  ; ;   654.3  	The third column is the SHIFT case character printed.
15  / :     4.321
63  . ,   654.321   The first eight characters are special characters.
43  £ 10  6 4. 21   It looks as though the 5th hole is punched
125 ->   7654.3 1   to make an even number of holes.

48  0 ^   65 .      The next ten are the numeric characters 0 - 9.
33  1 [   6  .  1   
34  2 ]   6  . 2    There are no 8 or 7 holes.
51  3 <   65 . 21   There is a 6 hole.
36  4 >   6  .3     The last four positions is binary from 0 - 9.
53  5 =   65 .3 1   The 5th hole is punched to make even parity.
54  6 x   65 .32 
39  7 :-  6  .321
40  8 (   6 4.   
57  9 )   654.  1

65  A a  7   .  1   The next 26 are the characters A - Z.
66  B b  7   . 2    
83  C c  7 5 . 21   The first fifteen are the characters A - O.
68  D d  7   .3     The last four are binary 1 - 15.
85  E e  7 5 .3 1   Once again the 5th is punched to make even parity.
86  F f  7 5 .32 
71  G g  7   .321
72  H h  7  4.   
89  I i  7 54.  1
90  J j  7 54. 2 
75  K k  7  4. 21
92  L l  7 54.3  
77  M m  7  4.3 1
78  N n  7  4.32 
95  O o  7 54.321
96  P p  76  .      The last eleven are characters P - Z.
113 Q q  765 .  1   They have a 7 and 6 punch.
114 R r  765 . 2    The last 4 positions are binary 0 - 10.
99  S s  76  . 21   Once again the 5th is punched to make even parity.
116 T t  765 .3  
101 U u  76  .3 1
102 V v  76  .32 
119 W w  765 .321
120 X x  7654.   
105 Y y  76 4.  1
106 Z z  76 4. 2 

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