Theory
of
Operation 2-7
During
the
write operation,
the
selected drive must have head-load,
head
select, write
enable
and
write
data
signals. During the
read
operation,
the
selected drive
will
perform a
head
load.
The
write
enable
line remaining high implies a
read
operation.
Under
these
conditions the drive
will
transfer
read
data
to the controller. Controller step
and
direction
commands
are received initiating a track-seek operation
on
a selected drive.
The
selected
drive transmits a track
00
signal to the controller
whenever
the
read/write
heads
are
at
track
00.
Positioning the carriage-mounted
read/write
heads
is accomplished by a band-driven step-
per
motor. Each step
command
from
the
user system increments the
stepper
motor
which,
in turn, moves
the
band.
The
band
increments the
read/write
heads
one
track for
each
step
command.
A
read
or write operation begins by placing
the
read/write
heads
in contact with
the
disc
with a
Head-Load
command
at
the desired track. To write
on
the
disc, write
enable
is
sent
by the controller to condition the write logic.
The
write current
then
in
the
head
reverses
polarity synchronous with
the
high-to-low transitions of
the
write-data pulses from
the
controller.
The
current
reversals
cause
magnetic flux reversals
on
the
desired disc track.
Erasure of previously
recorded
data
is
simultaneously accomplished during
the
writing
operation in addition to a delayed tunnel
erase
which ensures disc interchangeability.
To
read
from
the
disc, magnetized bits in
the
format of
the
pre-recorded
data
are
sensed
by
the
read/write
heads. This signal
is
amplified, digitized
and
transmitted to
the
controller.