History (1982): HP 82176A Mini Data Cassette

This article was published by the Museum of Obsolete Media.

HP 82176A Mini Data Cassette (1982-mid 1980s)

The 82176A Mini Data Cassette was introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 1982 for use in its 82161A mini-cassette tape drive that was designed for use with the HP 41 calculator.

The drive could be mains or battery powered for portable use.

Tape speed was 30 inches per second, and each tape had a capacity of around 130KB.

The 82161A mini-cassette tape drive was later used with the 71, 75 and some other models that used the HP-IL (Hewlett-Packard Interface Loop) interface.

The 82176A Mini Data Cassette looks almost identical to the Philips-designed Mini-Cassette, but there are some differences in the shell, such as the tape openings and a notch on the top, that prevent a standard Mini-Cassette being used in the HP tape drive.