1945 - 2024
Found dead 10/11/24 in a "wellness check".
Little or no other information yet.
Ward Christensen created the first "BBS".
Then, when he needed to transfer files, he created XMODEM. The XMODEM
protocols became the de facto standard for transferring files.
Later, there was some competition from Kermit, but, other than being "FROM A
UNIVERSITY!", it wasn't nearly as good.
Not only are all of the greats dying off, but soon there won't be anybody
around who even knew about them.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com
Next try …
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBMV48
A.
> Am 15.10.2024 um 15:28 schrieb Milo Velimirović <milovelimirovic(a)gmail.com>:
>
> The photos didn’t make it through. I’ve got a pdp11/05 that I’d like to restore and new PSUs make total sense to me. Please send photos directly.
>
> Thanks!
> —Milo
>
>> On Oct 12, 2024, at 6:35 AM, hupfadekroua via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Once I visited LCM some years ago I was allowed to visit their repair laboratory.
>>
>> I was introduced to an approach to substitute DEC BA11 PSU modules by modern DC-DC converter modules.
>>
>> They used a 3D printed plastic chassis to mount the converter, electrolytic as well as the connectors to be fitted into the psu chassis of a BA11 enclosure, quite nice.
>>
>> See photo attached …
>>
>> Does someone knows if this stl or design has been saved while or after LCMs closure?
>>
>> Best
>>
>> Andreas
>
I was surprised to find out this morning that it seems Ed De Castro has passed on September 6 this year.
I can't see any reference to this in cctalk, so I'll try to give a short summary of Ed's accomplishments.
Many here would know that Ed worked for DEC and was project manager in charge of developing the PDP-8.
He left DEC to found DG in the late 60's and was the original designer of their Nova system, introduced to the marketplace when he was 29.
Ed was obviously a highly talented engineer, but it was the founding of DG that I would imagine was his most outstanding accomplishment.
DG wasn't the first disruptive new entrant in the computing marketplace in that period, or the largest for example with DEC and HP preceding them.
In order to stand out, DG used every trick in the marketing/advertising book that they could think of.
It seems that DG may have been the first disruptive tech startup to also display a very high level of cheeky confidence as being central to their brand.
I get the impression that DG staff took up this spirit and ran with it, at times even faster than management might have liked them to.
DG also sounds like a company that required high performance - everyone there knew what the expectations were.
Somehow a generally quiet, matter of fact engineer like Ed created a 'pirate ship' that people absolutely thrived in.
Perhaps it could even be said that DG were the template, in terms of culture, for what we imagine tech startups to be striving for even today.
There are numerous videos on YouTube that give a sense of this, including regarding the Talking Propeller Heads, the inhouse DG rock/comedy band.
Looking also at early Apple advertisements, for example, I was struck personally with the similarity in tone and style to DG's advertisements.
This quote from http://www.teamfoster.com/billteamfostercom sums up the company well:
"The company was a puzzle. It broke all the rules and yet was extremely successful. It had the reputation of being the "bad boy" of the computer industry -- heck, of any industry. And it enjoyed this reputation. DG became a public company less than two years after it was founded and shattered records in making it to the Fortune 500. Too bad Harvard never wrote a case study. It would have been groundbreaking! But if they did Harvard would have had to admit that EVERYTHING they taught about how to run a business could be wrong…"
Also this quote from https://www.ithistory.org/honor-roll/mr-edson-ed-de-castro:
"Steve Wozniak, Apple's future co-founder, (in high school at the time) was said to be enchanted with the Nova's elegantly designed architecture, and had photos of the machine taped on his bedroom wall."
And of course most of us know of Tracy Kidder's Pulitzer prize-winning book, The Soul of a New Machine.
These are just some short thoughts from someone who never worked at DG.
Hopefully some others here with deeper experience can comment also.
Vale Ed De Castro
Hi all,
Once I visited LCM some years ago I was allowed to visit their repair laboratory.
I was introduced to an approach to substitute DEC BA11 PSU modules by modern DC-DC converter modules.
They used a 3D printed plastic chassis to mount the converter, electrolytic as well as the connectors to be fitted into the psu chassis of a BA11 enclosure, quite nice.
See photo attached …
Does someone knows if this stl or design has been saved while or after LCMs closure?
Best
Andreas
A while back I started studying more about the Sharp PC-5000 (and had it up
and running at VCFSW in 2023). I'm now coming back to that project, and
one thing I was never able to find was a compatible 5.25 disk drive.
I've collected some information about this system at here:
https://voidstar.blog/sharp-pc-5000/
And I am hoping to put together a video about out. But one challenging
aspect is that its LCD screen is difficult to record (lots of
reflections). And despite having lots of schematic documentation now, I'm
still not savvy enough to try to export its screen content to an external
device that might have a backlight.
From my notes, as I recall.... The 37-pin connector at the back of the
PC-5000 is not the same as the 37-pin connector at the back of the IO card
with the original IBM PC 5150. I believe the Sharp product model number
I am looking for CE-510F (which might be the same as MZ-80B in certain
markets).
This isn't an urgent thing - the Bubble Memory modules of this PC-5000 are
still all working fine and make the system functional. But I do have a set
of disk with the system that might be interesting to try out. So just
broadcasting here, on the off-chance someone might be familiar with these
and know of a stash of accessories (most likely within a Japanese-speaking
community, where I think Sharp products were generally more popular).
Thanks!
Steve v*
Hi all,
after approx 30 years of waiting our time has come to get hands on a Cyber 180/860a.
These systems as other systems before are using 400Hz psus.
One approach would be to use a 50Hz/400Hz power converter. There are ones on the market creating almost pure sinus output with minimal harmonics.
Another approach would be to substitute the old psu by modern ones, possibly by DC-DC converters or switching powersupplies.
Does someone have experience in the substitution of psus in the multiple KW range or did this in the past?
Best
Andreas
I meant to reply-all for this.
paul
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> On Oct 9, 2024, at 5:27 PM, Zane Healy <healyzh(a)avanthar.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Oct 9, 2024, at 10:22 AM, Paul Koning via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Earlier there was a question about MSCP disk sizes. I did some checking.
>>>
>>> RSTS understands all the devices known by name in SIMH, including the "giant" RF73. As of the "big disk" support, which is in V10.1 and I think a few earlier versions, it can handle something that big. It draws the line at 4096 MB; bigger than that and it will tell you the disk is too big when you try to initialize it. I thought it might use only the part it can handle, but no, it simply refuses entirely.
>>>
>>> Paul
>>
>>
>> I hate to think what setting up a 4GB drive would look like. I have a 1GB SCSI HD for my PDP-11/73 (assuming the drive isn’t dead). I still remember just how long it took the RSTS/E 10.1 install to prepare that drive (so long I only did a single pass on the drive test).
>>
>> On a related note, Paul, do you have any idea if RSTS/E can be installed from a CD-ROM? I’ve done installs of RT-11 and RSX-11M+ from CD, but couldn’t figure out how to do a RSTS/E install from CD. I can’t remember if I was able to use 4mm DAT, or if I had to use a TK50 (it’s been a *LONG* time since I did any installs).
>
> I have never seen a RSTS kit on CD-ROM, but it should work just fine. At one time I worked with Fred Knight to help create a "combined kits" CDROM -- one that would hold RSTS plus all the layered products on a bootable CD, including at least a dummy standard CDROM file system so you could recognize it. That required placing two file systems on one device, which turns out to be possible because the starting points ("superblock") of the two are in different blocks. My RSTSFLX V2.x supports creating such a thing.
>
> While I knew of the plans, I don't think they were ever completed; I certainly never saw any actual delivery.
>
> So anyway, if you were to create a RSTS disk image file with kits on it and an MSCP bootstrap, and burn that to CDROM, I would think it would be bootable and useable. You might give it a try!
>
> paul
