Need SCSI-160 Card Advice

[Anthony Ewell]

Hi All,

I have a SCSI Ultra-160 tape drive (Ecrix VXA-2)
that I needs an internal SCSI-160 controller card to run.
The Adaptec 19160 works fine with these tape drives,
but the 19160 is really, really expensive. :'( Does
anyone know of an affordable alternative that works well
with XP Pro?

Many thanks,
--Tony
aewell2gbis.com

 

[Pavel]

That is a fairly expensive drive you have there. But since you want to go
cheap why not use a plain Adaptec 2910 since you do not need booting
capability. I have seen them for $20-$40 new. I think that this controller
is capable to run this tape drive at speeds that may not be much different
from the 160.

 

[Anthony Ewell]

That is a fairly expensive drive you have there. But since you want to go
cheap why not use a plain Adaptec 2910 since you do not need booting
capability. I have seen them for $20-$40 new. I think that this controller
is capable to run this tape drive at speeds that may not be much different
from the 160.

2910 is a 50 pin SCSI-3 (20 meg/sec) card. I need a 68 pin interface.

I was hoping for a simple card with a single 68 pin internal interface.

--Tony

 

[R. McCarty]

You'll find lots of SCSI Cards offered for sale on e-bay.
Besides Adaptec there are other vendors who have SCSI
cards that are significantly cheaper.

 

[Pavel]

There are 50 to 68 pin adapters available for just couple of dollars. I have
few of those and they always worked fine. The 20/meg sec may be probably
more than you need unless you are in some sort of network heavy duty
environment. What are you going to use this tape drive for?

 

[Anthony Ewell]

You'll find lots of SCSI Cards offered for sale on e-bay.
Besides Adaptec there are other vendors who have SCSI
cards that are significantly cheaper.

R.,

You are missing the point. I am asking for where to
purchase them; I am asking for the value of your experience.

--Tony

 

[Anthony Ewell]

There are 50 to 68 pin adapters available for just couple of dollars. I have
few of those and they always worked fine. The 20/meg sec may be probably
more than you need unless you are in some sort of network heavy duty
environment. What are you going to use this tape drive for?

The tape drive is only 10 meg/sec. I like your idea. I
have a 2940 kicking around that would work fine.

Question. The tape drive does not internally terminate.
I have always used an external, active 68 pin terminator.
Would a 50 pin terminator work? Maybe these 68
to 50 pin adapters come with built in active terminators?

Next stop, belkin's web page.

Thank you!

--Tony

 

[R. McCarty]

Check out this site & controller
http://www.scsi4me.com/?menu=menu_scsi&pid=3237&display=LSIU160-bulk.htm
You can also use a USB to SCSI converter, but cost on those
will approach ~$60.

 

[Pavel]

There are couple of ways to go. If your 2940 has 68 pin connector (I think
some do and some don't) then use a 68 pin cable, put the active terminator
on it and you are done. If the 2940 only has 50 pin connector then you can
use a 50 pin to 68 pin converter and attach the 68 pin cable to it and this
way you can use the terminator. If you only have a 50 pin cable (the cables
used to be expensive) then it's up to you how to do it, just remember that
there are two types of 50 to 68 pin converters and the converter from the
first scenario will not fit the scenario where the cable has 50 pins.