Are you connecting to a reader or building a reader.
Have you a picture of the tape? How wide is the tape.
Would it be possible just to scan the tape and write a picture decode?
8+1 I guess the +1 is the timing key on the tape and the other 8 holes are the 8bit data with a hole = 1
Could do an optical reader, with 8+1 sensors (Or 1 that moves).