I've discovered that three of my four RA8x drives (one 82 and two 81s) now
refuse to spin up. All the failing drives give "SPIN ERROR" as the reason
and I've discovered, by an combination of educated guessing and parts
swapping with the working drive, that all three have bad optical sensors for
the tachometer disk.
Surfing around I see that this is a known problem. Apparently the
compound that was originally used to pot these sensors turns opaque over
time and, being as they're optical sensors, that really reduces their
effectiveness. I've seen some reports of people trying to repair the
sensors by either sanding off a layer of the epoxy potting compound, or even
trying to dissolve it somehow, but that seems to be a little bit hit or
miss.
Doesn't seem like these should be hard to replace though. They're just an
infrared LED and a phototransistor in a cute plastic case, and that
technology is still pretty common today.
Has anybody found a replacement for them? Does anybody have any
suggestions?
Thanks,
Bob
I just acquired the several Bubbl-Tec bubble memory boards for QBus, and was wondering if anyone had manuals or more information than the couple of web pages I've found with high-level descriptions:
MBC-11A bubble memory controller
MBB-11A bubble memory board for use with MBC-11A
QBI-11C bubble memory board
QSB-11A bubble memory board with RX01/02 emulation
It looks like I can just drop the QSB-11A into a system and it should work as if it's an RX01 attached to a controller, but the other boards appear to need cabling and possibly jumpers to configure them for use, and maybe custom drivers/code too.
-- Chris
Found some documentation relating to Sturthers-Dunn Director 4001 PLC
and a SixNet technical config guide, all from the 1980's.
Anyone want it for shipping or pickup in MD?
C
The seller has this listed as a Gigabyte GA-6BXU Rev 1.5 mainboard.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/195259246091
According to Gigabyte's website the GA-6BXU has only one CPU slot. This one
as you can see has two.
The only dual Pentium II slot main board I could find manufactured by
Gigabyte is the GA-6BXDS shown here:
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-6BXDS#ov
Notice the number of electrolytic capacitors beside one of the CPU slots is
different from that shown in the main board for sale.
The seller has not responded to my inquiries which may be a tip off in
itself.
Thanks
Don Resor
The seller has this listed as a Gigabyte GA-6BXU Rev 1.5 mainboard.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/195259246091
According to Gigabyte's website the GA-6BXU has only one CPU slot. This one
as you can see has two.
The only dual Pentium II slot main board I could find manufactured by
Gigabyte is the GA-6BXDS shown here:
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-6BXDS#ov
Notice the number of electrolytic capacitors beside one of the CPU slots is
different from that shown in the main board for sale.
The seller has not responded to my inquiries which may be a tip off in
itself.
Thanks
Don Resor
Hi,
I have 15 manuals, flyers, and miscellaneous papers from/about the
Symbolics, Inc computer(s), database, and more.
Pictures at http://www.sieler.com/symbolics
If anyone's interested, please email me (sieler(a)gmail.com)
List:
Concordia__Object-Oriented_Document_Management___Symbolic_Inc__copy
Introducing_Statice___The_first_Object-Oriented_Database_System__copy
Lisp_Machine_Summary
Lisp_Machine_Summary__a_bit_rough
Program_Development___Help_Facilities
Program_Development___Tools_and_Techniques
Reference_Guide_to_Symbolics-Lisp
Symbolics_Concordia
Symbolics_Marketing
Symbolics___3600_Symbol_Processing_Systems
Symbolics__a_brochure
Symbolics__flyer
The_Symbolics_3670__Discover_the_power_of_symbolic_processing
The_Symbolics_Genera_Programming_Environment__from_a_magazine
VERAC_Announced_GeoFlavors___on_Your_Symbolics_Lisp_Machine__flyer
thanks,
Stan
Anyone near Chicago want to pick-up a nice Altair 8800B with Altair floppy drive for $1500?
It isn't mine, and the working status is unknown. They don't want to ship it.
Pictures available here:
http://oldcomputers.net/temp/
Let me know and I'll connect you.
Thanks-
Steve.
The following info is found here: https://vcfed.org/vcf-swap-meet/, but I'm
pasting here for your reference.
VCF’s Annual Swap Meet
Vintage Computers & Electronics, Radios, TVs, Amateur Radio, Other Tech
October 8
8AM to 2PM (General Public)
7AM (Setup for Vendor)
VENDOR REGISTRATION HERE
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMNS0XBHc2enjQjhTYiFON-T0v2YTYAw4…>
*$5 GENERAL ADMISSION per person!*
*ADDRESS*:
**OUTDOOR Swap Meet**
*GPS location*: Google Maps
<https://www.google.com/maps/place/40%C2%B011'05.5%22N+74%C2%B003'47.9%22W/@40.1848619,-74.0643212,350m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m13!1m6!3m5!1s0x89c228394afc24b3:0x793045909b6e8fba!2sInfoAge+Science+and+History+Museums!8m2!3d40.1857343!4d-74.0593097!3m5!1s0x0:0xbe14db9783fe1872!7e2!8m2!3d40.18486!4d-74.0633081>
*Satellite Map*:
*Street Map*: Swap Meet Parking
*EMAIL*: swapmeet AT vcfed DOT org
*PHONE*: 732-722-5015
*Flyer:* 2022-VCF-Swap-Meet-Flyer
<https://vcfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022-VCF-Swap-Meet-Flyer-1.pdf>
*VENDOR COST* is per space. First space is $20, each additional space is
$10.
This time it is an *outdoor *swap meet. *Bring your own table!* Table isn’t
required, but recommended.
A space is considered a 18 feet by 9 feet (the general size of a parking
space).
* Reservation doesn’t guarantee sales.
* The Vintage Computer Federation is only providing a space, vendors must
bring their own tables.
* In case of inclement weather, money paid will be refunded.
* All items that you bring must be taken with you. No items are to be left
behind.
* Porta Potties on site
Free Pile Policy <https://vcfed.org/2022/02/25/vcf-swap-meet-free-pile/>
*AFTER THE SWAP MEET, COME VISIT OUR VCF MUSEUM @ INFOAGE!*
We are open from 12PM to 5PM: VCF Museum <https://vcfed.org/vcf-museum>
The Vintage Computer Federation Museum is located near the swap meet and is
part of InfoAge Science and History museums.
InfoAge and VCF Museums are open every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday from
12PM to 5PM
InfoAge museums: infoage.org.
=========================================
Jeff Brace
VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President
Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner
Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity
https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/>
> Message: 6
> Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2022 19:32:47 -0500
> From: Chris Zach <cz(a)alembic.crystel.com>
> Subject: Re: MicroVAX CTI (DEC Professional) card
> To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
> Message-ID: <448ec9e0-a5df-7dd2-65f4-6294e6ebec82(a)alembic.crystel.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
>
> Well, auction is over, I didn't bid on it, and I hope someone here got it.
>
> That said, the more I look at it, and the more I look at a true MVII
> card the more I wonder just what was missing on this card. A true MVII
> has a pair of rather large custom ASICs in the center of the board and I
> can't believe the 80186 (or whatever that chip is on the top center of
> the board) could emulate it all.
>
> So it would be interesting to see what this thing was and what it did.
>
>
I bought it. I know it's long odds that I can get it to do anything,
especially without that daughter card, but, waddahell, it's an
interesting DEC PRO collectible. I reckon I'll plug it into a PRO and
see if it responds to attempted accesses. If the ROM contains PDP11 or
VAX code, I'll disassemble it and see if there are any clues there.
--
Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR
Control-G Consultants
lee.gleason(a)comcast.net
