What will you do for firmware? I do believe the developer was around, maybe still is. But wanted an enormous amount of money. On Tuesday, December 27, 2022, 09:58:51 PM EST, Jim Brain via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: On 12/27/2022 8:47 PM, Chris via cctalk wrote: I remember it, and I believe I have all those issues, as a project to complete at some point. Jim -- Jim Brain brain(a)jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

Those are for a different board. Maybe close enough? On Tuesday, December 27, 2022, 10:09:16 PM EST, Will Cooke via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: boot eprom download -- scroll down https://peripheraltech.com/PT68K1A.htm I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men. Nikola Tesla

Which issue of Radio Electronics? Bill On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 10:47 PM Will Cooke via cctalk < cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote:

On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 7:56 PM Jim Brain via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 7:57 PM Will Cooke via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: Wow reading those old articles is interesting. Reminds one how far we've moved from the computer hobbyist era, truly a byegone era. Of course I'd forgotten how magazines spooned out an article 4 pages per month to maintain subscriptions. If only they had foreseen the era of Netflix binging. I merged all the issues, removed all the unrelated pages, deskewed and OCRd. If anyone is interested (assuming the info is public domain) I can upload somewhere.

I don't know which issues it's in, but they are all here: https://worldradiohistory.com/Radio_Electronics%20_Master_Page.htm

"While not necessarily the basis fir the pt68k, there was a similar European project computer that was touched on a month or 2 earlier. I have not seen or heard any other mention anywhere else though. The box they had it in had an exceptionally sexy bezel." March and May 1987. It was nothing more then an intro to a project they could have featured. But that bezel!

That looks like an exceptionally cool project. If anyone here thinking of recreating the gerbers? I’d be interested in a board if that happens. There are a number of 68000 based machines currently available, but this one is quite appealing due to the ease of expansion. - Alex

On Dec 27, 2022, at 7:47 PM, Will Cooke via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: That’s the difference between the PT68K1 and PT68K1A. The system featured in Peter Stark’s “Build the PT-68K” series in Radio-Electronics was actually the PT68K2, which is the version with PC-XT slots, keyboard support, and PCB size/layout. There don’t seem to be ROM images on the web site for that. They do exist on Bitsavers, look for Peripheral Technology. — Chris

What was the name of Steve Ciarcia's outfit, Micromint? I see no entries for that. That bizarro-world IBM compatible he offered years ago is insane enough to love. Want to build me one.

That's only page 1 lol. Artwork for the board/s never was published as I recall. I wonder if he still has it. On Wednesday, December 28, 2022, 04:58:34 PM EST, Will Cooke via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: His company was Micromint.  The computer was the MPX-16 https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Consumer/Archive-Byte-IDX/IDX/80s/82-…

Circuitcellar magazine is still around. I think Steve sold it a while ago then bought it back just a few years ago. Try contacting him at https://circuitcellar.com<https://circuitcellar.com/inside-this-issue/&g… Sent from my iPhone On Dec 28, 2022, at 14:07, Will Cooke via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: Yeah, I know it's just one page of one article of a series of them. The rest are in the pages of Byte, which are on the same web site. There is also a story about it on the web, written by Steve. With the name and date from that one page, a quick search turns up lots of stuff. On 12/28/2022 4:02 PM CST Chris via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: That's only page 1 lol. Artwork for the board/s never was published as I recall. I wonder if he still has it. On Wednesday, December 28, 2022, 04:58:34 PM EST, Will Cooke via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: On 12/28/2022 3:36 PM CST Chris via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: What was the name of Steve Ciarcia's outfit, Micromint? I see no entries for that. That bizarro-world IBM compatible he offered years ago is insane enough to love. Want to build me one. His company was Micromint. The computer was the MPX-16 https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Consumer/Archive-Byte-IDX/IDX/80s/82-… I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men. Nikola Tesla

On Wed, 28 Dec 2022, Chris via cctalk wrote: micromint MPX-16 I had two of them, one having the optional board for 5150/5160 keyboard. I ran the DeSmet compiler on them. 20? years ago, I had to give away a lot of stuff, including them. I think that Sellam got them, but much of his collection was lost. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com

Not likely to show up. They looked generally like a PC motherboard. They had 9 62 pin ISA slots, with alternate (5) positioned same as 5150 (could use a 5150 case), and then another 4 placed in between those. (for those who don't remember, 5150 (PC) had 5 slots; 5160 (XT) had 8 slots, but the spacing was different. Also, one slot of the XT had "timing difference(s)", so IBM filled it with a "FREE" serial port, so that people wouldn't plug other boards into it.) I MIGHT have had one in an aftermarket 5150 case (same as aftermarket 5160 case, but with removable back slot panel, with a 5 slot panel) One was loose - instead of a case, it rested on top of an issue of MicroTimes. I did not have top covers on many of my machines. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com On Wed, 28 Dec 2022, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote:

On Thu, 29 Dec 2022, Chris via cctalk wrote: The two that I had both came as just motherboards. I put one, along with an ordinary 5160 power supply (had to make a cable) into an aftermarket case for 5150/5160, using the 5150 back panel, which gave me external access to every other slot of the MPX-16. I considered putting into a Compaq luggable case. The other one sat on top of an issue of MicroTimes, on top of a two drawer file cabinet, with disk drives and the power supply sitting next to it. That power supply, which happened to come along with that motherboard was long and thin, and didn't fit anything else that I owned. I had a terminal on another file cabinet next to it. I think that I ran MS-DOS 2.00 I don't remember them being offered in cases, ready to use, but they may well have been, despite my not being interested in that configuration. In those days, I sometimes soldered sockets onto bare generic xt/5160 motherboards. -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin(a)xenosoft.com > On Wednesday, December 28, 2022, 06:40:38 PM EST, Fred Cisin via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: > > Not likely to show up. > > They looked generally like a PC motherboard. > They had 9 62 pin ISA slots, with alternate (5) positioned same as 5150 > (could use a 5150 case), and then another 4 placed in between those. > (for those who don't remember, 5150 (PC) had 5 slots; 5160 (XT) had 8 > slots, but the spacing was different.  Also, one slot of the XT had > "timing difference(s)", so IBM filled it with a "FREE" serial port, so > that people wouldn't plug other boards into it.) > > > I MIGHT have had one in an aftermarket 5150 case (same as aftermarket 5160 > case, but with removable back slot panel, with a 5 slot panel) > One was loose - instead of a case, it rested on top of an issue of > MicroTimes. > > I did not have top covers on many of my machines. > > -- > Grumpy Ol' Fred            cisin(a)xenosoft.com > > > On Wed, 28 Dec 2022, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote: > >> Fred, >> >> Those don't sound familiar, are they SBCs? >> >> If I did end up with them, it's a crap shoot as to whether they'll turn up >> or not.  I was left with 20% of the collection and I've gone through about >> 25% of that 20%, and I re-discover neat and interesting stuff all the time >> as I continue to dig through boxes. >> >> Sellam >> >> On Wed, Dec 28, 2022 at 2:48 PM Fred Cisin via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; >> wrote: >> >>> On Wed, 28 Dec 2022, Chris via cctalk wrote: >>>> What was the name of Steve Ciarcia's outfit, Micromint? I see no entries >>>> for that. That bizarro-world IBM compatible he offered years ago is >>>> insane enough to love. Want to build me one. >>> >>> micromint MPX-16 >>> >>> I had two of them, one having the optional board for 5150/5160 keyboard. >>> I ran the DeSmet compiler on them. >>> >>> 20? years ago, I had to give away a lot of stuff, including them.  I think >>> that Sellam got them, but much of his collection was lost. >>> >>> -- >>> Grumpy Ol' Fred                cisin(a)xenosoft.com

I should probably put the right parts in. https://circuitcellar.com/cc-blog/ciarcia-onward-upward/ "Let me warn any budding entrepreneurs that these four events test your gambling tactics more than your business acumen. In my case, Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar was the product 30 years ago, along with the supporting manufacturing company. It grew quickly and afforded certain luxuries (e.g., Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris, etc.) typically necessary in our culture to designate achievement. Too little business was not an issue. The “too much business” event happened right after the introduction of the IBM PC. Circuit Cellar was the third company in the country to market an IBM PC clone. I thought it was a good idea. Everybody who couldn’t get a real IBM PC started banging on our door for an MPX-16. We got $1 million in orders in just a few weeks! What was I supposed to do? Certainly not what 99% of you would have done—I stopped taking orders!" I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men. Nikola Tesla

Naah. If you were big time, then you spent your time with legal battles, marketing, etc. and didn't get a chance to play with the fun stuff. On Thu, 29 Dec 2022, Chris via cctalk wrote: > So Columbia, Compaq, Circuit Cellar? > > It probably wouldn't have been dirt cheap to put together, over a grand, which was not a lot considering. But it seems he must have fumbled the ball. He could habe been really big time. > > On Wednesday, December 28, 2022, 08:36:15 PM EST, Will Cooke via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: > > I should probably put the right parts in. > https://circuitcellar.com/cc-blog/ciarcia-onward-upward/ > > > "Let me warn any budding entrepreneurs that these four events test your gambling tactics more than your business acumen. In my case, Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar was the product 30 years ago, along with the supporting manufacturing company. It grew quickly and afforded certain luxuries (e.g., Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris, etc.) typically necessary in our culture to designate achievement. Too little business was not an issue. > > The “too much business” event happened right after the introduction of the IBM PC. Circuit Cellar was the third company in the country to market an IBM PC clone. I thought it was a good idea. Everybody who couldn’t get a real IBM PC started banging on our door for an MPX-16. We got $1 million in orders in just a few weeks! What was I supposed to do? Certainly not what 99% of you would have done—I stopped taking orders!" > > > >> On 12/28/2022 6:42 PM CST Will Cooke via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: >> >> >>> On 12/28/2022 6:21 PM CST Chris via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: >>> >>> >>> I do seem to recall some off the wall looking case in the articles. I'm not going to reread them right now. I was under the misconceived assumption these would all be foumd in such a case. >>> >> Apparently they sold a LOT of them, according to Steve in this article: >> Let me warn any budding entrepreneurs that these four events test your gambling tactics more than your business acumen. In my case, Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar was the product 30 years ago, along with the supporting manufacturing company. It grew quickly and afforded certain luxuries (e.g., Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris, etc.) typically necessary in our culture to designate achievement. Too little business was not an issue. >> >> Will > > I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men. Nikola Tesla

On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 7:04 PM Will Cooke via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: $399-450. Ouch. Too bad there aren't open-source Gerbers as I have most of the parts for this knocking around.