Need help re-animating my dead Astra 1620

[undeadmechanic]

Ok, first, I must bore you with a bit of history.

 

Years upon years ago I stumbled upon an Astra 1620 floppy drive in a pawn shop for 5 bucks (the guys there had NO idea what system it was for) & snatched that puppy up. I played with it back in the day, even used it as my sole drive(s) for quite some time. Then, the gremlins got it. Very erratic reads, so I mothballed it. Then, like 7 years ago, I packed up and moved to Dallas and left my beloved A8 behind. Some time passed, then I came home and retrieved my collection and took it back to Dallas with me, however, I could not find my Astra 1620. A short time later, I met Dr. Clu and my fondness for collecting Atari crap went into overdrive. Now, I have moved back to Arkansas and set up shop here again. Just this morning, I located my Astra in the attic buried under a pile of old newspapers & photo albums. My heart skipped, I jumped for joy, and nearly fell through the ceiling... Much to my chagrin, I have spent the last couple of hours looking for info on Astra drives, and so far I have not found anything other than reviews and comparisons to other drives.

 

I need to know if ANYBODY knows where I can get a tech sheet, specs, or anything on this drive. The drive is useless when compared to my XFs and Indus GTs, but it's in my collection for a reason. I wanna at least try to resurrect it. Just point me in the right direction, and if that doesn't work, I'll start picking brains on here...

 

Thanks,

David

[+Larry]

Ok, first, I must bore you with a bit of history.

 

Years upon years ago I stumbled upon an Astra 1620 floppy drive in a pawn shop for 5 bucks (the guys there had NO idea what system it was for) & snatched that puppy up. I played with it back in the day, even used it as my sole drive(s) for quite some time. Then, the gremlins got it. Very erratic reads, so I mothballed it. (snip...)

 

I need to know if ANYBODY knows where I can get a tech sheet, specs, or anything on this drive. The drive is useless when compared to my XFs and Indus GTs, but it's in my collection for a reason. I wanna at least try to resurrect it. Just point me in the right direction, and if that doesn't work, I'll start picking brains on here...

 

Thanks,

David

 

Unfortunately I do not have any Astra tech docs, but I do remember that some used the pull-down mechanisms. Does yours? If so, I'd try swapping one out for a standard (Tandon-type) 5-1/4" mech. Also, some of those pull-down mechs had issues with emi. How are the belts? Other than general tune-up stuff, that's all I can think of for now.

-Larry