diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi/sauce-0.1.0.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi/sauce-0.1.0.tm
index 8e5f3572..3a6291a5 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi/sauce-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi/sauce-0.1.0.tm
@@ -271,40 +271,30 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::sauce {
         #sauce spec says 'character' type is a string encoded according to code page 437 (IBM PC / OEM ASCII)
         # - in the wild - string may be terminated with null and have following garbage
         # - 'binary scan $rawchars C* str' to get null-terminated string and pad rhs with spaces to cater for this possibility
+        #"C" specifier not available in tcl 8.6
+
 
         #dict set sdict title        [string range $saucerecord 7 41]     ;#35 bytes 'character'
         set rawtitle                [string range $saucerecord 7 41]     ;#35 bytes 'character'
-        if {![catch {binary scan $rawtitle C* str} errM]} {
-            dict set sdict title [format %-35s $str]
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict title [string repeat " " 35]
-        }
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawtitle]
+        dict set sdict title [format %-35s $str]
 
         #dict set sdict author       [string range $saucerecord 42 61]    ;#20 bytes 'character'
         set rawauthor            [string range $saucerecord 42 61]    ;#20 bytes 'character'
-        if {![catch {binary scan $rawauthor C* str} errM]} {
-            dict set sdict author [format %-20s $str]
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict author [string repeat " " 20]
-        }
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawauthor]
+        dict set sdict author [format %-20s $str]
 
         #dict set sdict group        [string range $saucerecord 62 81]    ;#20 bytes 'character'
         set rawgroup              [string range $saucerecord 62 81]    ;#20 bytes 'character'
-        if {![catch {binary scan $rawgroup C* str} errM]} {
-            dict set sdict group [format %-20s $str]
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict group [string repeat " " 20]
-        }
-
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawgroup]
+        dict set sdict group [format %-20s $str]
 
 
         #dict set sdict date         [string range $saucerecord 82 89]    ;#8 bytes  'character'
-        set rawdata              [string range $saucerecord 82 89]    ;#8 bytes  'character'
-        if {![catch {binary scan $rawdate C* str} errM]} {
-            dict set sdict date [format %-8s $str]
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict date [string repeat " " 8]
-        }
+        set rawdate              [string range $saucerecord 82 89]    ;#8 bytes  'character'
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawdate]
+        dict set sdict date [format %-8s $str]
+
 
         if {[binary scan [string range $saucerecord 90 93] iu v]} {
             #4 bytes - unsigned littlendian
@@ -407,13 +397,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::sauce {
             dict set sdict tflags ""
         }
         set rawzstring [string range $saucerecord 106 127]
-        #Null terminated string use C to terminate at first null
-        if {[binary scan $rawzstring C* str]} {
-            dict set sdict tinfos $str
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict tinfos ""
-        }
-
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawzstring]
+        dict set sdict tinfos $str
 
 
 
@@ -503,6 +488,23 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::sauce {
 tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::sauce::lib {
     tcl::namespace::export {[a-z]*}  ;# Convention: export all lowercase
     tcl::namespace::path [tcl::namespace::parent]
+
+
+    #get_string caters for possible null-terminated strings as these may be seen in the wild even though sauce doesn't specify they should be null-terminated
+    if {[catch {binary scan x C v}]} {
+        #fallback for tcl 8.6
+        proc get_string {bytes} {
+            set cstr [lindex [split $bytes \0] 0]
+            binary scan $cstr a* str
+            return $str
+        }
+    } else {
+        proc get_string {bytes} {
+            binary scan $bytes C* str
+            return $str
+        }
+    }
+
 }
 # ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
 
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/ansi/sauce-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/ansi/sauce-999999.0a1.0.tm
index e209d7c5..265fa837 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/ansi/sauce-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/ansi/sauce-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -271,40 +271,30 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::sauce {
         #sauce spec says 'character' type is a string encoded according to code page 437 (IBM PC / OEM ASCII)
         # - in the wild - string may be terminated with null and have following garbage
         # - 'binary scan $rawchars C* str' to get null-terminated string and pad rhs with spaces to cater for this possibility
+        #"C" specifier not available in tcl 8.6
+
 
         #dict set sdict title        [string range $saucerecord 7 41]     ;#35 bytes 'character'
         set rawtitle                [string range $saucerecord 7 41]     ;#35 bytes 'character'
-        if {![catch {binary scan $rawtitle C* str} errM]} {
-            dict set sdict title [format %-35s $str]
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict title [string repeat " " 35]
-        }
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawtitle]
+        dict set sdict title [format %-35s $str]
 
         #dict set sdict author       [string range $saucerecord 42 61]    ;#20 bytes 'character'
         set rawauthor            [string range $saucerecord 42 61]    ;#20 bytes 'character'
-        if {![catch {binary scan $rawauthor C* str} errM]} {
-            dict set sdict author [format %-20s $str]
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict author [string repeat " " 20]
-        }
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawauthor]
+        dict set sdict author [format %-20s $str]
 
         #dict set sdict group        [string range $saucerecord 62 81]    ;#20 bytes 'character'
         set rawgroup              [string range $saucerecord 62 81]    ;#20 bytes 'character'
-        if {![catch {binary scan $rawgroup C* str} errM]} {
-            dict set sdict group [format %-20s $str]
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict group [string repeat " " 20]
-        }
-
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawgroup]
+        dict set sdict group [format %-20s $str]
 
 
         #dict set sdict date         [string range $saucerecord 82 89]    ;#8 bytes  'character'
-        set rawdata              [string range $saucerecord 82 89]    ;#8 bytes  'character'
-        if {![catch {binary scan $rawdate C* str} errM]} {
-            dict set sdict date [format %-8s $str]
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict date [string repeat " " 8]
-        }
+        set rawdate              [string range $saucerecord 82 89]    ;#8 bytes  'character'
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawdate]
+        dict set sdict date [format %-8s $str]
+
 
         if {[binary scan [string range $saucerecord 90 93] iu v]} {
             #4 bytes - unsigned littlendian
@@ -407,13 +397,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::sauce {
             dict set sdict tflags ""
         }
         set rawzstring [string range $saucerecord 106 127]
-        #Null terminated string use C to terminate at first null
-        if {[binary scan $rawzstring C* str]} {
-            dict set sdict tinfos $str
-        } else {
-            dict set sdict tinfos ""
-        }
-
+        set str [lib::get_string $rawzstring]
+        dict set sdict tinfos $str
 
 
 
@@ -503,6 +488,23 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::sauce {
 tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::sauce::lib {
     tcl::namespace::export {[a-z]*}  ;# Convention: export all lowercase
     tcl::namespace::path [tcl::namespace::parent]
+
+
+    #get_string caters for possible null-terminated strings as these may be seen in the wild even though sauce doesn't specify they should be null-terminated
+    if {[catch {binary scan x C v}]} {
+        #fallback for tcl 8.6
+        proc get_string {bytes} {
+            set cstr [lindex [split $bytes \0] 0]
+            binary scan $cstr a* str
+            return $str
+        }
+    } else {
+        proc get_string {bytes} {
+            binary scan $bytes C* str
+            return $str
+        }
+    }
+
 }
 # ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++