I am Michael St. Clair, Chuck's nephew by marriage. I'm writing from his
account to establish bona fides; apologies for any surprise it might cause.
You appear to be the people he considered his professional peers, so I'm
reaching out to you for some help. Chuck had little warning before he
passed. He left his equipment and development environments in working
order, but without a legacy plan. I'm a software engineer and data
archivist, and my aunt has asked me to find good homes for his equipment
and IP. I'm going to organize and open-source the software and other IP
that he hadn't already released. However, I don't know how to safely
use, maintain, or even store his physical gear.
I'm only in Eugene for a couple more days on this particular trip. is
there any specific physical information (that doesn't require
disassembly) that might be useful to potential adopters? I don't have
time to make a complete inventory, but here's a list of highlights and a
Drive folder containing some photographs. This is not (yet) a formal
"come and get it" offer, but it's likely a prelude to one (excluding
business documents and computers).
Highlights:
- Multiple 8-inch floppy drives in built-like-a-truck housings
- Dozens of assorted 80s and 90s-era I/O devices -- ZIP drives, 5 1/4"
readers, etc.
- rack-mounted HP 7970B tape drive
- another full-height rack-mounted 9-track tape drive with external
control panel; no manufacturer or model number on anything I can get to
- custom-built 'tape dehydrator'
- around a thousand pieces of assorted removable media, primarily 3.5",
5 1/4", 8", CD, DVD, and a variety of late-90s and 00s digital tape
formats. Per labels and spot-checks, their contents range from
widely-distributed commercial software to Sydex master floppies to lost
BASIC dialects to industrial control software in CP/M formats. Basically
25 years of Chuck's professional life and the industry around it.
- full electronics workbench with partially-finished projects, including
something involving Pertec controllers
- a variety of functioning vintage keyboards, from IBM Model Ms to
something apparently taken from an industrial control station.
Drive folder:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1KUs-x6t4OtzS_b7lxYMM7i-GxNi-QRv3
I'd very much appreciate any input.
-- Michael St. Clair
Hi Magnus,
Thanks for the link but as I said, this is a field that is still under researched with a lot of misinformation out there especially on the less academic or lab side of things.
I understand this stuff and the processes but I am here to help other people understand and acquire these skills for the future.
The thing is, if he has custom equipment for it he may have also documented a reliable workflow that could be used in smaller operations, at home setups, etc.
I'm looking to further disseminate information as well as continue the research outside of corporate interests. Making sure knowledge is handed off and widely available, including in print form.
So while your helping spirit is definitely appreciated, as a professional audio engineer I'm explaining the state of things outside of lab preservation. Not to mention, you can read posts online by professionals even talking trash on the stuff linked. This is exactly how I found out about Chuck years ago.
I'm chiming in here because I'm specifically interested in the knowledge Chuck collected, preserving any techniques he hammered into followable steps or additional knowledge not spread, and to share in more ways for others that didn't liaten or haven't figured it out yet.
He was someone who knew a lot of tricks and helped a lot of people.
- Lichen
If you have any questions or wish to contact me, Please email me directly
at useddec(a)gmail.com.
42" cab with BA23 microvaxII, plus additional BA23
42" cab with 2 RL02 drives, outer case for 11/23 and you pick which Qbus
box you want with it and what boards you want in it.
42"cab with RL02
RAMTEK Marquis model III with Compugraphic monitor
HP7475 plotter
LA36 with Datasouth board 120cpm
LA100
LA12 with carrying case
Darkroom equipment including Omega B22, D2, other enlargers, timers, tanks,
trays, etc.
I can text photos of any of these items and anything I have listed, but
have problems posting them.
If you have any US or foreign coins or currency, I'm interested in trading
for computer equipment.
If you are interested in stopping here before or after VCFMW, or when you
are in the area, let me know so we can set up a time.
I'm outside Champaign, IL, with easy access to I-57, I-72, and I-74.
Thanks, Paul
I have a Supermicro P3TDDE MB. It has two processors with their fans,
and four USA DEM DO133-065651I 64x64 133-222 memory sticks. Also the
ATX plate for the back, and a Matrox dual-VGA graphics card.
All yours for a PDF of a shipping label.
Hi all,
A customer has a problem with an old CNC Mill that uses an LSI11
for control. There is an DEC VT510 connected to the LSI11 as console,
The LSI11 is booting from an RX01 (2?) and uses some basic programm..
pretty much a museum...
The problem is, that on the Sigma Systems serial Card (similar to the
M8043) the AM26LS32 receiver is going bad afer some on/off cycles of the
computer. I've already fitted a socket for the 26LS32..
The AM26LS23 only could tolerate +-7V common mode voltage difference and
seems to be not the best part for RS232..
I've checked the terminal and changed in the meantime the X2 and X
capacitors at the line filter, the protective earth from the Line is
connected to the Pin 7 (singal Ground) of the DB25 Connectors and I
could'nt measure realy potential differences that could be the cause for
the damadge of the receiver chip.
To make it short..chase away the problem I wan't to use some RS232
Opto Isolator in the RS232 Line. I've got a used BLACK BOX SP340A-R2
and an SP400A-R3 from Ebay, additional some Power Injector from BLACK
BOX for powering that with some wall wart that wasn't included.
I've now looking for a Manuals for the BACK BOX SP340A and the SP400A to
configure the dip switches in there. There are 2 DIP Switches with 8
positions each..for configuring the power supply for the opto couplers
from the DB25 connectors it seems. Haven't found anyithing related on
bitsavers, there is blackBox in the communication archive, but nothing
related to the SP340 oder SP400..
Can anybody help please?
Regards,
Holm
--
Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe,
Goethestrasse 15, 09569 Oederan, USt-Id: DE253710583
info(a)tsht.de Tel +49 37292 709778 Mobil: 0172 8790 741
I have recently bought a DEC PDP-8/s. It hasn't been powered on for about
40 years before I got it. I cleaned it and did some repairs on it (glued
broken flip-chip handles, replaced all front panel lights, restored the
acrylic front panel to as new condition and built a new switch mode power
supply for +10V and -15V).
After testing each flip-chip individually for dead shorts on the power
rails I reassembled the flip-chips into the backplane and on power up it
shows signs of life, but has a number of problems I will have to debug and
fix.
Does anyone here have the original Engineering Drawings or good PDF scans
of the drawings?
There are reduced copies of the PDP-8/s Engineering Drawings in Appendix A
of the two PDP-8/s Maintenance Manuals on Bitsavers, but I have not been
able to find scans of the actual Engineering Drawings. Some details in the
reduced copies in Appendix A are not legible.
Thank you
Tom
Found earlier today:
https://www.facebook.com/share/16ubJMkAzw/
I was looking for an affordable source of 720K disks before I sold my 5140
so my instinct kicked in haha.
--
Anders Nelson
Bill Degnan had asked in a previous message about the DeVry Trainer that we
exhibited at HOPE_16.
The trainer is labeled: De Vry Institute of Technology Bell & Howell Schools
We don't have a lot of information about it. Like the year that it was
created, who manufactured it, who used it, home many were made, etc. The
usual information that you would put on an info card for an artifact.
Here is a picture:
https://vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/DeVry_Institute_of_Technology_…
Enjoy!
Jeff Brace
> VCF/MARCH will have 5 tables this weekend Aug 15-17 at HOPE (hope.net
> <http://hope.net/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExMFdyWUcwTTFHMUkwOHRqNwEeW…>)
> in Jamaica, Queens at St. John's University.
> Please stop by if you are in the area!
> List of artifacts on display:
> Lawrence Livermore (in a briefcase), 8080 processor.
> Heathkit trainer ET 3400.
> TTL Trainer
> Devry Trainer
> 555 Timer
> HP 5036-A
> TRS-80 Model III or IV
> Commodore PET
> IBM P-70 - Luggage
> IBM Portable - 5140
> Pong!
> Atari 5200
> Bally Astrocade
> Fairchild Channel F
> We will be promoting our events and local group.
I'd love to stop by, but $250 is one hell of an entrance fee.
John
