Commodore 1530: Магнитофон для данных Commodore 64 и других моделей.

Dedicated magnetic tape data storage device

The Commodore 1530 (C2N) Datasette, later also Datassette (a portmanteau of data and cassette), is Commodore's dedicated magnetic tape data storage device. Using compact cassettes as the storage medium, it provides inexpensive storage to Commodore's 8 bit computers, including the PET, VIC 20, and Commodore 64. A physically similar model, Commodore 1531, was made for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 series computers.

The Datasette is probably the most sophisticated tape storage method of any microcomputer. Typical compact cassette interfaces of the late 1970s use a small controller in the computer to convert digital data to and from analog audio tones. The interface connects to the cassette deck using normal audio cables like RCA jacks or 3.5mm phone jacks. Such a system is compatible with the Apple II and TRS 80 Color Computer, as well as many S 100 bus systems, and allows them to be used with any cassette player with suitable connections, but using analog tones—similar to how dial up modems work—often results in read errors instead of successful loading of data. In the Datasette, instead of writing two tones to tape to indicate bits, patterns of square waves are used, including a parity bit. Programs are written twice to tape for error correction; if an error is detected when reading the first recording, the computer corrects it with data from the second. The Datasette has built in analog to digital converters and audio filters to convert the computer's digital data into analog audio and vice versa. Connection to the computer is done via a proprietary edge connector (Commodore 1530) or mini DIN connector (1531). The absence of recordable audio signals on this interface makes the Datasette and clones the only cassette recorders usable with Commodore computers, until aftermarket converters made the use of ordinary recorders possible. Because of its digital format the Datasette is both more reliable than other data cassette systems and very slow, transferring data at around 50 bytes per second. After the Datasette's launch, however, special turbo tape software appeared, providing much faster loading and saving. Such software was integrated into most commercial prerecorded applications (mostly games), as well as being available separately for loading and saving the users' homemade programs and data. These programs were only widely used in Europe, as the US market had long since moved onto disks. Datasettes can typically store about 100 [[kilobyte per 30 minute side. The use of turbo tape and other fast loaders increased this number to roughly 1000 kByte. The Datasette has only one connection cable, with a –spacing PCB edge connector at the computer end. All input/output signals to the Datasette are all digital, and so all digital to analog conversion, and vice versa, is handled within the unit. Power is also included in this cable. The pinout is ground, +5 V [[direct current, motor, read, write, key sense. The sense signal monitors the play, rewind, and fast forward buttons but cannot differentiate between them. A mechanical interlock prevents any two of them from being pressed at the same time. The motor power is derived from the computer's unregulated 9 V DC supply via a transistor circuit.

The Datasette was more popular outside than inside the United States. U. S. Gold, which imported American computer games to Britain, often had to wait until they were converted from disk because most British Commodore 64 owners used tape, while the US magazine Compute! 's Gazette reported that by 1983 "90 percent of new Commodore 64 owners bought a disk drive with their computer". Computer Gaming World reported in 1986 that British cassette based software had failed in the United States because "97% of the Commodore systems in the USA have disk drives"; by contrast, MicroProse reported in 1987 that 80% of its 100,000 sales of Gunship in the UK were on cassette. In the United States disk drives quickly became standard, despite the 1541 costing roughly five times as much as a Datasette. In most parts of Europe, the Datasette was the medium of choice for several years after its launch, although floppy disk drives were generally available. The inexpensive and widely available audio cassettes made the Datasette a good choice for the budget aware home computer mass market.