How to read TI-59 cards without a TI-59?

[Tinue]

My TI-59 has died a few years ago, but I still have all of my cards. Does anyone have an idea on how these cards could be read? The goal would be to get a listing that can be run in an emulator.

One idea that I had was to use ferro fluid. It looks somewhat promising, but I am not sure if the resolution is good enough (see picture). Also, I have no idea how to decode the magnetic pattern into a listing.

Another idea I had was to duplicate the reading circuitry: I excavated the reading head from the TI-59 after it died, and tried to duplicate the electronics on a breadboard. Unfortunately, I never got anything useful out of the experiment.

So: Does anyone have a good idea what I could do?

Thanks! Martin