- test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org - classiccmp.org

by dastar＠crl.com

Oh yeah, it's at http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~alexios/MACHINE-ROOM Go there now! Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

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Alexios' MACHINE ROOM

by dastar＠crl.com

I just visited Alexios Chouchoulas' MACHINE ROOM web page and it is downright cool. There is a lot of good information there, and the database is pretty complete as far as micro's go. Check it out. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

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Moving my Collection?

by starling＠umr.edu

I'm going to be moving my collection a couple hundred miles from Austin, TX to Tyler, TX. I'm wondering if anyone has any packing or moving suggestions (packing material, special treatment of media, etc). The stuff is going to be moved by a moving company (Atlas probably) but I'm doing much of the packing ahead of time. I'm seriously considering moving the oddball monitors and magnetic media myself. I don't trust them with these easily harmed things and if they're damaged, they have little or no reimbursement value, but are difficult to find again. Anyone have any magical tips on packing and moving? chris

28 years, 10 months

10
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Tiger Learning Computer

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

Okay, let's see if I can include the file this time. Sheesh. :) Ok, this isn't exactly a classic computer. It's more the rebirth of a classic in a slick new case (looks like a laptop, but isn't) with a slick new desktop. If you don't think it's appropriate here, I won't be upset if you hit delete. :) I got my Tiger Learning Computer (hereafter TLC) from Pennys today. The outside box was smashed beyond all recognition, but the inner box, which only touched the outer one in two spots, was intact, and the computer undamaged. Inside the inner box was the actual retail box, with the pictures on it, the "Apple Technology" symbol on it and so on. It's an eerie feeling opening a brand new computer in retail packaging like that. I haven't done it since I got my Commodore 64, after weeks of waiting for it on backorder at LaBells (aka Best, now extinct) we picked one up at KMart. You C=64 collectors probably experience this all the time, opening a box to find *a computer* inside, ready to plug into the TV and compute. For me, it'd been 13 years. So what does $179 bucks plus shipping (box smashing was, presumably, free) get in 1997? Well, you get a solid feeling little computer that feels remarkably like an early power-book in your hands. You get the "wall wart" power supply. You get 6 cartridges, one of which is your battery-ram "disk", another of which has appleworks 4.3 on it. The rest each have a switch and two applications. They plug (upside down) into slots on either side of the machine. But I'm ahead of myself here. Hookup. Pretty much plug and play, although I did get a chuckle when I noticed that this computer has no RF modulator. Now that everyone owns a VCR with video IN jacks, it's not necessary anymore. So, white wire to audio in, yellow wire to video in, power, flip the VCR input to line in, hit the switch. And smile to myself as it boots up in prodos. Just for a second before the desktop and sound effects load. First annoying thing: The voice that says "Please select an activity" every time you boot. I'm finding I boot a lot. I can tell this is going to irritate me in the long term. I'm not enough of an Apple 2 wizard to know what video mode it came up in. It looks like about 16 colors, and about the resolution of CGA. Not as fine as my old '64 was capable of, but much faster. Using the thing. Ok, I've owned it for about 4 hours now and I have a horrible crick in my neck >from lying on the living room floor looking up at the TV, so I haven't even tried all the apps yet. If anyone's interested, let me know, I'll follow up. Loading programs is almost exactly like running them off a floppy, except that you can never boot from the program disk. You have to go to the disk icon on the desktop and tell the tiger to run the program. Not very intuitive, but I'm sure kids will figure it out as fast or faster than I did. Especially if they read the instructions. :) I just expected them to load automatically. My bet is in the next ROM version of the tiger they will. Appleworks 4.3 looks remarkably like it did on my friend's 2E all those years ago, except of course that it's not as sharp on my TV as it was on his apple monitor. I suspect a newer TV directly connected instead of through the VCR would perform better. That failing an old Commodore 1782 monitor should be something to see. Wish I hadn't given mine away. My nostalgia for Apple2 is limited here, like I said, I was a commodore 64 geek. WE didn't have to have disks to boot. (In fact, for the first 3 months I had my 64, I had no storage device at all, so my first programs were short, enjoyed to the point of boredom, and then utterly lost when the computer was powered off.) On the other hand, the odds of the '64 making a comeback like this are slim and none. They never had the educational following. So all in all, it's been a weird experience for me with this little computer. Objectively, it's not a bad little machine at all. The keyboard bites - although it may get better as it gets used/my hands adapt back from Microsoft wave keyboard. The sound is first class - even better than my '64s old SID chip. Graphics are about as good as can be expected on an 8 bit apple 2, except in color. Software is still a little weird - nothing beyond what it came with. Of course, if I can get my hands on a copy of "Kermit, a file transfer protocol" and type in the 83 line basic Kermit so I can communicate with the rest of my systems, I hopefully will be able to run all kinds of a2 software on it. The weird part isn't objective though. Part of me is rejoicing at the idea of this little throwback to the early 80s. I got a little piece of the excitement I had unpacking my 64 the first time unpacking the Tiger. And seeing it abuse my TV into pretending to be a computer monitor, even though it is a little fuzzy, made me smile. This, for me is how computing was. Part of me sits and scoffs at the tiger - and my '64 for that matter - when in the next room I have a lan full of reasonably modern PCs with orders of magnitude more power. Even my quasi-classic GS is head and shoulders above the tiger as a computer. But the tiger has something none of my other machines do. I'm not sure what, to be honest, maybe just nostalgia, maybe not. Anyway, I'm keeping it. Even if I do keep expecting the flip top to have a screen in it. (at least it comes off. :) -Jim -- Jim Strickland jim(a)calico.litterbox.com -- "...It tells me that goose stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them." -Dr. Henry Jones Sr. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- Jim Strickland jim(a)calico.litterbox.com -- "...It tells me that goose stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them." -Dr. Henry Jones Sr. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

28 years, 10 months

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Tiger Learning Computer

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

-- Jim Strickland jim(a)calico.litterbox.com -- "...It tells me that goose stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them." -Dr. Henry Jones Sr. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

28 years, 10 months

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Great weekend for old computers!

by BigLouS＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-06-02 13:26:32 EDT, kaikal(a)MICROSOFT.com (Kai Kaltenbach) writes: > First off, I got two Apple ///+ machines in a thrift store! Anyone have > a copy of SOS for these suckers? If no one has a copy try http://www.allelec.com. They have it with II emulation for $7.95. However their minimum order is $25.00. Lots of Apple and mac stuff available though. Lou

28 years, 10 months

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capturing legacy documentation

by groberts＠mitre.org

At 12:10 AM 6/3/97 -0400, Mr. Self Destruct wrote: > OK, lately, I have been placed in a sort of dilemna... I have literally > been deluged with e-mails/posts from people asking for MY MANUALS ... > I will grudgingly go to my nearest copying center and make > copies .. perhaps it is time for this group to stand up and begin to truly capture the history and documentation of classic computing - and to do it on line. for starters this means capturing manuals which are all too often lost first. next (and more challenging legally) is software. we could use some solid legal advice on what can and can't be posted but i find it hard to believe that anyone could object to putting scanned-in versions of most older manuals on the internet since: 1) many of these companies are no longer in the business, and 2) even if they were they would probably themselves make such a service available or welcome a third party to do it. i think all we really would have to do is make sure the original copyright notification was preserved in the on-line version. i realize system software is a tougher issue but perhaps we could start with the manuals. so we would need a home location (Bill Whitson: how about the "Archives" section of the classic computer web page you've set up? http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw/ccl.html) and some folks with scanners who can get things into HTML format (and others? .doc? .pdf?) and upload. comments on this proposal? are there already similar archives out there? - (i know of some Commodore ones), if so we should point to them. I'm not aware of any one location to go to find classic computer documentation, and judging from the traffic on this list it's sorely needed. - glenn +=========================================================+ | Glenn F. Roberts, Falls Church, VA | Comments are my own and not the opinion of my employer | groberts(a)mitre.org

28 years, 10 months

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Apple II bits (North-West UK)

by jonathan＠holly.ninja.ml.org

Hi! I have a small collection of Apple II bits that I'd like to get rid of. From memory, I have 3 cases (2 with keyboards inside, and one with a motherboard as well), one original cardboard box (with a lovely picture of somebody's hand pointing at the machine!), and 3 or 4 (non-original :-) cardboard boxes full of hardware and software. The hardware mainly consists of unidentified expansion cards and cables, from what I remember. If anybody who is vaguely local to Manchester, UK, wants any of this, they're welcome to it - I am by no means an Apple expert, and this stuff is just taking up space. In most cases I've not even powered it up - it was rescued from the Robotics lab at my old school, when they decided they would throw it all away! I will happily go down and look through the boxes if anybody wants me to have a go at identifying the bits contained therein. Let me know if you are vaguely interested! ___ _ _ ___ _ _| (_)(\)(-) | (-)(-)(\)

28 years, 10 months

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Some more finds

by george.lin＠documentum.com

I have begun to open up the boxes that I got this Saturday and found some more interesting stuff. Boy, this is like Christmas and only better (People don't send me junk as Christmas presents). There is a mint-condition Epson HX-20 stashed in the bottom of a box. It comes complete with the hard case, PS, serial cable, and a set of manuals. The system works but it seems that the battery won't hold a charge. I will probably need to swap out the internal NiCads before it can be a real portable. I found another handheld device named "Trans Term." It's about the size of a HP-71 but thicker. It has a membrane QWERTY keyboard. The LCD can probably display only a few lines at most. It has a DB25 port (probably for a modem) and a power-in jack. There is no other identification or marking. I have not tried to power it up since I don't have the PS. Does anyone know something about it? For many years, I thought Microsoft released Flight Simulator as their only game. I was wrong. I found a game that Microsoft released for TRS-80 Level 1 BASIC named Microsoft Olympic Decathlon. The game is on tape. The manual is copyright 1980. It has the old Microsoft logo on it. George -- ______________________________ ______________________________ / /\ / /\ / George Lin _/ /\ / Opinions expressed in this _/ /\ / Antique Computer Collector / \/ / message do not necessarily / \/ / http://museum.home.ml.org /\ / reflect my employer's. /\ /_____________________________/ / /_____________________________/ / \_____________________________\/ \_____________________________\/ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Apple IIe, IIc, Mac 512K, Atari 800, 800XL, 1040ST, Falcon030, VCS, 5200, ColecoVision VGS, Commodore 64, 64C, 128, plus/4, Compaq suitcase PC, Eagle II, Epson HX-20, KayPro II, 4, Nintendo NES, Osborne Executive, TI 99/4A, Timex Sinclair 1000, 1500, TriGem SLT-100, TRS-80 Model I, III, 100, Color Computer 2.

28 years, 10 months

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capturing legacy documentation

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Agreed... I have a scanner w/OCR and I'm perfectly willing to scan critical pages such as DIP switch/jumper settings, etc. but 500 pages of general usage instructions is a bit much. Kai > ---------- > From: Mr. Self Destruct[SMTP:more@camlaw.rutgers.edu] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 1997 10:44 AM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: capturing legacy documentation > > > I would agree with this as well, but it WILL be hard to find someone > who > has the space/time to scan a 500+ page manual... > > Les > >

28 years, 10 months

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3B1 free to good home (fwd)

by pcoad＠crl.com

Found this in comp.sys.3b1. This is a nice machine, and the price is right if you are in the Los Angeles area. --pec -------------------------------------------------------------------------- AT&T UNIX PC (3B1) 1MB RAM 40MB Hard drive Manuals OS, GNU development tools Good condition. Free to good home. You pick up (Los Angeles area) or pay for shipping. Send e-mail to jim(a)lutefisk.jetcafe.org. Jim -- Jim Larson jim(a)lutefisk.jetcafe.org -- end of forwarded message --

28 years, 10 months

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Trackstar 128 (RE: Name those cards game)

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

| Yes, sir! That's the card. If you'd like more info, I *think* these are | detailed in my 1989 Tandy Computer Catalog I have at home... Yep! Page 25, "Now you can run Apple IIc educational and game software on your Tandy 1000...with the TRACKSTAR 128 adapter. Imagine having the best of both worlds in one computer...Supports the use of Apple joysticks or game port devices such as Muppet Learning Keys. [???]" $399.95 Kai

28 years, 10 months

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Current want list

by jeffh＠unix.aardvarkol.com

Here is a current want-list in case anyone happens aross any of it or has any of the stuff still stashed away and would like to part with it: 1) Mini-expander for Mattel Aquarius, as well as the data cable for the datasette and any software. 2) Commodore 1531 datasette drive for the C-16 or Plus/4 3) Speech Editor cartridge for the TI-99/4a 4) floppy controller, with or without drive, for a CoCo-3. If anyone knows the pinouts for the data cable for the Aquarius datasette, that'd also be a huge help. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Jeff jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Apple II+, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore 128D, 16, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Mattel Aquarius, Osborne Executive, Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 10 months

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Epson HX20 Manuals...

by more＠camlaw.rutgers.edu

OK, lately, I have been placed in a sort of dilemna... Since my post on a IIe that I had aquired (where I mentioned also getting HX20 manuals and tapes) I have literally been deluged with e-mails/posts >from people asking for MY MANUALS ;) I contacted my aunt (the donater of said items) and learned that she still had the HX20 lying in the basement. ("You want THAT one too?") Since I now have a use for these manuals, here is my best solution to all you manual-less HX owners out there. For the greater good of the horribly addicted old and crappy computer collectors, I will grudgingly go to my nearest copying center and make copies (bound if desired) of my HX manuals available to you for cost. I know this is not the best/cheapest solution but I am trying not to play favorites here; this way everyone can be happy (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) and I can keep my manuals :) Anyone who is interested, feel free to contact me. A NOTE!!! Each manual (there are 2, parts 1 and 2 of course) weighs in at about 250+ pages each so that is something you might want to consider before agreeing to a copy; please don't waste my time, or yours... LeS more(a)crazy.rutgers.edu

28 years, 10 months

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Great weekend for old computers!

by zmerch＠northernway.net

Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, a bunch of people on this list said: >First off, I got two Apple ///+ machines in a thrift store!... yadda, yadda, yadda... [[ Editor's Note: I put this in the beginning so people wouldn't read the first half of the posting and flame the HEdoublehockeysticks out of me... Please read this with the tounge-in-cheek, winkie's throughout attitude with which it was written... tho unforch, it's sadly true....... ;-) ]] You people make me sick! Mr. I got 42 classic systems from one guy this, and Ms. I saw 18 fully loaded computers at the thrift shop that!!! I've had it up to here (imagine a hand held up above the head) with you weasels! Do any of you send your good fortune / good luck my way? NooOOooOOooOOoo! All I've seen the last three weekends of garage saleing is this: A non-functional Atari 5200 game system and 5 games for $5 USD. System worked but neither controller did... until a quick visit with Intern Victorinox to clean the connections... A follow-up visit with Dr. Dremel is in the works, but I've not had time. Altho, the system did come with the trackball controller, and as the SN# of the controller is 000786, I'm wondering if this item is relatively rare... My 7-year-old loves it (as does Dad...) and I feel it will stay in my collection for some time to come... Back to my rant, I finally got up the nerve/time to go visit the Salvation Army Thrift store on my lunch hour (the only T.S. in my town, AFAIK) and guess what the sum total of computer-stuffs I saw there: an HP (I think... no markings) LaserJet drum/toner cartridge. With no price, so they prolly wanted $8million 'cause they didn't know what it was. And I'm sure it wouldn't fit in my HPLJ5L (which BTW I paid full price for 'cause it was the first non-business-owned 5L in town). So, for all you "I get 77 like-new classic systems for a penny every weekend" I have but one thing to say: :-PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP At least the 3rd weekend in June, we'll be travelling 250 miles closer to civilization, and may be able to find some interesting buys there. I'll keep you posted. Also, see my next post. I think almost *everyone* will be happy with me when you read it. See ya, "Merch" -- Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed, Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.

28 years, 10 months

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Wanted: Amiga 500 internal floppy

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

This is a bit new for most of this group, but anyone have an internal floppy drive for an Amiga 500? And/or a dead Amiga 500 from which a floppy drive can be scavenged? thanks Kai

28 years, 10 months

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Some more finds

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

| From: George Lin[SMTP:george.lin@documentum.com] | For many years, I thought Microsoft released Flight Simulator as their only | game. I was wrong. I found a game that Microsoft released for TRS-80 | Level 1 BASIC named Microsoft Olympic Decathlon. The game is on tape. | The manual is copyright 1980. It has the old Microsoft logo on it. Don't forget Microsoft Adventure, circa 1979, which was coded by Gordon "HPFS" Letwin himself. I still have the poster. Kai

28 years, 10 months

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Eproms... you want 'em, he's got 'em!

by idavis＠comland.com

At 02:23 PM 6/2/97 -0400, Roger Merchberger wrote: >Mel Howard >M. C. Howard Electronics, Inc. >www.mchoward.com >E-mail: mchoward(a)prismnet.com >1-800-490-6896 >512-837-2525 >FAX512-837-3246 >I would recommend doing business with him, and I would be interested to >learn what other "artifacts" he has available... as you don't find many >folks with 1702's in stock, it would seem. > >Anyway, I hope this gets a few more classic machines working again... > >Thanks, >"Merch" >-- >Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed, >Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should >zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice. > I went to the web page, and signed the guestbook. As a total coincidence, I got directions to the place. As it turns out, it is about 2 blocks from where I work. I will go visit the place, and see if he has any kind of "list of stuff", specifically old stuff. After I go visit, I will post a message and let you know what he's got that might be of interest. We know he has eproms, but I'll head over there and see what kind of supply he has. Isaac Davis idavis(a)comland.com indavis(a)juno.com

28 years, 10 months

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another weekend tale: northstar, hp, cadr 6 & 7, et al

by frank＠5points.com

This is my first posting to the list. Reading about everyone else's exploits saving old systems, I have to add what I got myself into this past weekend. After responding to a usenet posting about an old computer, I discovered that the poster (who turned out to be a fellow MIT alum three states away, a fact at least tangentially relevant to some of what follows) was about to toss into the local landfill some old stuff he had stored in his basement. A nice guy, he had offered this stuff to everyone he knew, but (incredible as it may seem to this list) he found no takers. Some scheduled home reconstruction required he have the basement empty by June 1. I volunteered to drive the 3 hours one way and pick it up. So, for nothing but my time and the cost of gas, here's what I saved: 1) A Northstar Horizon. Nice condition. With 64k memory and compupro z80 boards. Plus system software (cpm and northstar dos), hard sector 5.25 floppies, and a cardboard box full of docs, including the system manuals, misc s-100 books, and even the documentation for Microsoft's Fortran-80 in its original funky rust colored vinyl binder. If anyone has any s-100 boards they can spare, and would be willing to sell, that could help expand this system beyond the cpu-memory-floppy controller basics it has now, I'd love to hear from them. 2) Two HP-86B's, with cp/m, modem et al cartridges, software for waveform and circuit analysis, plus another box full of docs. Unfortunately, no original external disk drives, so here's another thing I'm looking for, if anyone has them to spare. 3) TRS-80 Model II disk drive system. Has three 8" drives in a single enclosure. Haven't checked it out yet to see if it works. 4) The guts from both the CADR 6 and CADR 7 MIT Lisp Machines from the late '70s. These were the basis for the machines later from Symbolics. Actually, my new found friend decided to keep the steel racks for an as yet to be determined project <G>. This may have been just as well because I had no room to haul the two 6 foot tall cases back to my house. So I had to leave them behind, power supplies still attached. But I got all the internal boards, fans, cables et al from the lisp machines, including the two 5 foot tall back planes and a couple dozen boards measuring about 12" x 18" each. I'm going to try to get the cases too, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. The machines weren't running at the time he got them from someone at MIT. Steel racks or not, I may have just acquired myself a lifelong mission to search for someone who can make these work, since I'm out of my league here. Since this is a list devoted to classic computers, I don't need to go into details about the couple of 386's, monitors, and one or two hardware mutants (would you believe a Tandy-DEC hybrid?) that also got tossed into my Toyota. Altogether an interesting bunch of stuff. Frank Frank Peseckis frank(a)5points.com http://www.5points.com/

28 years, 10 months

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Switch settings for Seattle Computer Products RAM card?

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Anybody have the switch settings for the Seattle Computer Products 16K Plus (SCP-16K) S-100 bus RAM card? thanks! Kai

28 years, 10 months

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Great weekend for old computers!

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

I had a lot of great accomplishments this weekend on the classic computer front! First off, I got two Apple ///+ machines in a thrift store! Anyone have a copy of SOS for these suckers? Regarding my problems with the Apple II+ booting, I found another II+ for $20 and figured it would be easier to replace the whole system unit rather than the RAM (24 x $0.79 for 4116's) at that price. It works! So it wasn't the drives or controller cards causing the problem. I received my two North Star Horizons via UPS (a trade for a couple of TRS-80 Mod 100's and a C128), along with 50-60 diskettes and documentation. Got one of them up and running late last night, but need to find some RAM card docs (see separate mail on that). A friend at work gave me an Amiga 500, I set that up this weekend and played around a bit, that's a fun machine. Kai

28 years, 10 months

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Tiger Learning Computer

by jim＠calico.litterbox.com

And now, in the "the more things change, the more they stay the same" category, By now most of you have probably heard of the Tiger Learning Computer. It's an apple 2E clone that plugs into your tv and has rom carts for its programs. Let's see. Color, plugs into a tv, can be cartrige driven, less than 200 bucks US. *sigh* I think Commodore died too soon. The 64 was all this and more. Now if I could just find one of the little beasties... (the TLC, not the C=64 - it wouldn't be the same as the one that was MINE.) -- Jim Strickland jim(a)calico.litterbox.com -- "...It tells me that goose stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them." -Dr. Henry Jones Sr. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

28 years, 10 months

2
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A question...

by kevan＠motiv.co.uk

I've been given a challenge... and need some help.... Question: Which 80's home computer had an A-Z keyboard layout, and not QWERTY -- Kevan Old Computer Collector: http://staff.motiv.co.uk/~kevan/

28 years, 10 months

3
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free stuff

by dastar＠crl.com

Hope someone can take advantage of some of this: ---#1--- I would like to see my Apple II+ system go to someone who would appreciate it. II+, 64K RAM, keyboard shift mod, 300 baud modem, 1 floppy drive, Taxan amber monochrome monitor, UCSD Pascal, various game software, Softline and SoftTalk magazines. Location: Ventura County, CA Merleen Gholdston -- ---#2--- A friend of mine forwarded this to me, unfortunately I have no cash. :( ------------------------------------------------------------------- * Alan Cruikshank * * HYPERWARE CONSULTING * * e-mail: <cshank(a)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> * * http://freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~cshank * ------------------------------------------------------------------- *** This special offer is from: David M. Dantowitz, <david(a)dantowitz.com> If anyone wants a bunch of Apple II computers for Free (shipping from New Jersey) let me know. There's a bunch of II, IIc, and IIe computers, mono chrome and color monitors, extra drives, cables, printer boards, software and other stuff. They're about to be dumped into a dumpster, so if anyone has a desire for the machines and grade school software, let me know. ----------------- End Forwarded Message ----------------- ---#3--- I have about 30-35 servicable Apple IIes that need a home. My school district no longer needs them and I need to get rid of them quickly. If you are interested in more infomation email me or call me at 414-788-7600. John Bestul, Little Chute Area School District. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

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stuff to pass along

by dastar＠crl.com

Auction Web is a crappy place to get old computer junk from, but there is a guy auctioning off an HP9000/300 and another guy with a Radio Shack Model 1 and Model 4 (TRS-80 I believe). The 9000 is going for (I forget how much) but the TRS-80s are at $26 but nobody has bid yet (the guy started it at $26 which is too much). If it doesn't sell someone can go in and make the guy an offer after the auction is over. You can get to auction web by going to http://www.ebay.com/aw Once you're there, search on item pzp53335 for the HP9000/300 and item zyl71421 for the TRS-80s. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

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HELP!!! Apple IIe - doesn't work!

by more＠camlaw.rutgers.edu

This past weekend, my aunt cleaned out her basement and presented me with all the old computer stuff she had stored there. Not much but I did get an old XT and a pretty complete IIe system. First, here's what I got: About 5 feet of disks (apple II) of which about 25 or so were CP/M (?) About 10 feet of books including (and I don't know why) users manuals and tape software for an "Epson HX20 Notebook Computer" (didn't get the computer tho :( looks neat no the cover) Since I am new to Apple's and really don't know what I'm talking about I will "attempt" to describe the system I got. Whomever had it before my aunt really did a number on it; all the punch-out plates in the back are gone and numerous ribbon cables are coming out every little crevice! First the basics: It came with 2 Disk II Disk Drives which I am still not sure even work. OPening the iie up I find: CPU has been replaced (?) with a ZIPCHIP 4 (?) In slots: AUX: This is probabl;y the most interesting board. It says Ramworks II on it and has a piggyback board attached to it that I think is supposed to be a RGB board. 1: is empty 2: has a Grappler + Parallel Printer INterface 3: Empty 4: Mouse Interface 5: Empty 6: Disk II Interface 7: (This one stumps me) Its a pretty long board and attaches by way of a wire to a panel on the back that says "VIDEX" The panel has a toggle switch and two RCA ports that say "M" and "A" Is this another Video board? OK, here's the problem! When I turn it on......nothing happens! The enhanced light comes on (?) and all I get on the screen is a sqaure pattern of reversed @ sysmbols and such. What is this? Other than that, the computer beeps once before this appears and the drives just blink their lights real quick (no motor spins, etc.) What's wrong here guys? Thanks, Les

28 years, 10 months

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Don't laugh - simple ][e questions

by nickc＠ladyland.demon.co.uk

Hi chaps... I just picked up an Apple ][e complete with DuoDisk box and orange monitor. Great thing is it also has also the DOS 3.3 manuals and disks and bits and pieces in their original packaging! All i paid for was the petrol (yeah, i'm in England!) to go over and pick it up. Opening up the case reveals that it has a number of cards plugged in including a memory expansion card - does anyone know what size RAM this gives me? how can i check (forgive me for i have not RTFM yet!). It seems to work fine, so my big question is can i use any old 5 1/4" disks in it? is it capable of formatting any old 5 1/4" disks? I ask for two reasons: 1) so i can make back-up copies of the DOS 3.3 disks and 2) so i can save stuff. TIA...Nick. -- Nick Challoner nickc(a)ladyland.demon.co.uk Aviation photographs at: http://www.ladyland.demon.co.uk "Bother" said Pooh, as he deleted his root directory.

28 years, 10 months

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HELP with Apple II+ booting!

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

This seems to be the weekend for Apple II series boot problems! My Apple II+ will boot a diskette called the "Zardax Utilities" but it won't boot anything else. When I boot with the Zardax Utilities diskette, I get "APPLE II" on the screen, some disk activity, then the Zardax menu comes up. When I put in a different bootable diskette, I get "APPLE II" on the screen, and then after a moment's pause, a bunch of garbage characters are added. This happens with various bootable diskettes, including some brand-new shrinkwrapped Atarisoft games (whose docs say they are bootable). With the garbage on the screen, if I hit Shift/Break or Ctrl/Break or whatever, I can get to the ] BASIC prompt. I've switched out the Drive 1 and the diskette adapter card. Any idea what's wrong? thanks Kai

28 years, 10 months

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TRS-80 Model 4P

by bm_pete＠ix.netcom.com

Greetings, I'm hoping for a little advice here: While scanning an auction web page (http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=hok055925) I found an item I have in the garage. which sold there for $76.50. This brings two questions to my mind: 1: Is it worth $76.50? 2: Would be unethical to email the non-winning bidders with an offer to sell my computer to them? _______________ Barry Peterson bm_pete(a)ix.netcom.com Husband to Diane, Father to Doug, Grandfather to Zoe and Tegan.

28 years, 10 months

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Tandy TRS-80 Model 4's for UK collectors...

by kevan＠motiv.co.uk

Hi, I recieved the following email through my web site. I really don't have the room for these so if anybody is interested then feel free to contact him. (He does know I have forwarded this email.) Kevan ------- Forwarded Message

28 years, 10 months

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Kaypro

by jeffh＠unix.aardvarkol.com

Here's an Email I recieved today, just in case any of you are interested. >To: JeffH >From: dasarno(a)aol.com >Date: 28 May 97 21:20:02 -0500 >Subject: Kaypro > > >Jeff - >I came across your name by reference the keyword Kaypro. I have a >mint condition Kaypro 10, all manuals, back-up disks. It looks like >it just came out of the box and works great. But, have absolutely no >use for it. Do you have any ideas? Is there an aftermarket or should >I donate it to some school computer lab. Thanks > >Don S. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Collector of Classic Computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, MegaST-2, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4, VIC-20, Kaypro 2X, Mattel Aquarius, Osbourne Executive, Radofin Aquarius, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer 3, and Model IV. Also Atari SuperPong and Atari 2600VCS game consoles

28 years, 10 months

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PS/2

by groberts＠mitre.org

At 07:59 AM 5/30/97 -0400, Roger Merchberger wrote: >> especially when the PS/2's came out. The PS/2's had *no* way to hook an >> internal 5.25" floppy > >Does the PS/2 not have any 5.25" drive bays? Weird. :) remember that at the time the PS/2 came out IBM was trying to re-assert their lead in the industry (they largely failed). they decided to move to a completely new architecture which they hoped would set a new standard (e.g. 3.5" floppy; Microchannel; VGA graphics). the microchannel failed because they tried to license the technology, but people found ways to breathe life into the old ISA bus instead. the small floppy and VGA were obviously successes, but IBM underestimated the need for backward compatibility to the larger floppies (obvious in hindsight). - glenn

28 years, 10 months

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HELP with Apple II+ booting!

by BigLouS＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-05-29 21:36:06 EDT, shoppa(a)alph02.triumf.ca (Tim Shoppa) writes: > The chips aren't hard to find or replace, it's just that I've seen > neophytes smoke a half-dozen drives in a matter of minutes while > swapping cables around. (Yes, i've smoked a couple myself.) I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one frying Disk II's although I only seem to fry the 74LS125's on the drive. Lou

28 years, 10 months

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monitors for use with old computers.

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

The Commodore 1084 is a versatile, inexpensive monitor on the used market. It has composite, Y/C, analog and digital RGB inputs with front-panel switching, as well as built-in audio (the 1084S is stereo). The Commodore 1702 is an older model that should be even cheaper. It has composite and Y/C connections switchable only on the rear panel, and monaural built-in audio. I'm sure both of the above were available in PAL versions, probably with the same features. Many older systems can be wired to use Y/C connections (e.g. Atari 8bit, C64) by using a custom cable on the video DIN connector instead of the Ch3/4 TV output. Y/C connections (also known as S-video) will yield a _much_ higher quality picture. The Commodore monitors use dual RCA connectors instead of the mini-DIN4 connector more commonly associated with S-video, but electrically it's the same. If you had a newer system with S-video output (e.g. PlayStation/Saturn) it would be simple to make a mini-DIN4-to-dual-RCA adapter cable. I use a Commodore 1084S for my Amiga, Atari ST and IBM CGA/EGA applications; a (ultra cool) Samsung GXTV (http://sosimple.com/gxtv.htm) for various systems, including those that have only Ch3/4 output (e.g. Mattel Aquarius, Timex-Sinclair ZX) and for watching TV in the computer room :), and a Sony PVM-2030 broadcast stacking monitor for the modern video game systems. I'd like to find a Sony GVM-1311Q, which is a 13" monitor that accepts composite, Y/C, digital and analog RGB, the latter at up to 1024x768. That covers just about everything except Hercules Mono. Kai > ---------- > From: Pete Robinson[SMTP:Pete@madhippy.demon.co.uk] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Thursday, May 29, 1997 12:15 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: monitors for use with old computers. > > I'm fairly new to the collecting scene and I'm looking for a monitor I > can use with some of my systems. I'm mainly interested in the 8bit > home > computers, spectrum, c64, atari, dragon, bbc etc > > I'd like to know if there is a particular type of monitor that can be > used on the above machines. I'd like to buy, say one, I can use with > all > of the above. > > I know there seems to have been a few different methods used in > producing the video signals and, from reading newsgroups, I get the > impression that it is sometimes possible to select video > outputs/monitor > inputs such that, even if the monitor is not directly compatible, a > reasonable result can be obtained. > > Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. > -- > Pete Robinson > pete(a)madhippy.demon.co.uk > http://www.madhippy.demon.co.uk - faqs, emulators, links, web > utilities. >

28 years, 10 months

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FS on Ebay: HP 86, Apple IIe, IIc

by gmast＠polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu

I'm cleaning out my closet due to financial need. (and lack of time and space). I put 3 computers on the auction yesterday: ? HP 86 Computer, Drives, Modules ? http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=otr9161 ? Apple IIe Computer, Duo Drive, 64K ? http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=cjt6509 ? Apple IIC Computer ? http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=znb774144 Much more to come. I'm seriously cleaning house over the next few weeks.

28 years, 10 months

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Recent Finds & RE: laser discs...

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Recent finds... Been adding to the Atari collection, last weekend snagged a 410 tape recorder for 99 cents, noticed a bit of rattling and discovered a plastic part had fallen off the rewind key mechanism (it triggers a reed switch, probably to mute the signal when rewinding.) glue or tape should fix it. Now all I have to do is find those games I have... I think I have a Telengard tape that has atari on it, I wonder how it will compare to the 64 version... And I also have an Automated Simulations game somewhere (the science fiction one like apshai?), it could have an Atari version on it as well... I might have a possible candidate for a power supply for the growing Atari collection (from a thrift store with a table full of various PSs, and mention of boxes more in the back, gotta check there more often!), it is a 9V AC 1.6 amp supply... so, how much difference is there between 1.6 and 1.7 amps? The least rated supply (listed in the Atari FAQ) to run on an 800/1200XL is a 1.7 amp, can the 1.6 cause problems? (I have yet to try this as the plug is the too small and I will have to solder on a more suitable one for it to work.) Also got an 810 drive, did a power test tonite, the disk went through a 'seek' of some sort (still one PS and no disks, so it's best I can do for now) Now I have disk drives that match the 1200XL and 800! Speaking of the 1200XL I mentioned earlier the keyboard was not functional, a fellow user on the comp.sys.atari.8bit newsgroup suggested checking the keyboard connector, and by-jimminy, it was loose! (Now who would open a perfectly good computer...well..ok, who wouldn't open a perfectly good computer. *grin*.) Books,tapes,disks are nowhere to be found for the Atari (at thrift shops/book stores/flea markets), so far (since a month or two ago) not a one spotted, and I thought Commodore books were hard to find. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Monochrome monitors are pretty cheap out there, picked up a basic Zenith green screen for someone for $2.95, saw a few more similarly priced. -=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- My best find of the week: one thrift store had a 128D unit sans keboard (a 128D is a Commodore C128 computer with built-in 1571 disk drive, latest ROMs, and 64k video RAM) for $7.00. I figured it would be a great 'parts source' for my flat C128 (which has only 16k VRAM and old ROMs), I assumed the 128D was DOA, only to discover it is functional, the drive seems ok too! (booted a CP/M system disk and Renegade, two disks with 128 boot sectors I knew of). Now I'm gonna have to scrounge/hack up a 128D keyboard. (dang it all!) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- RE: Laser Discs >From: bm_pete(a)ix.netcom.com (Barry Peterson) >Subject: Re: More p-code (was: Re: Another weekend haul story > On Tue, 27 May 1997 20:06:29 -0700 (PDT), someone said: >>Also, anyone remembers TI's videodisc controller card? I remember some of >>the ads and catalogs saying something to the effect of "The Videodisc=20 >>controller is for industrial use only, it is not for use in the home" >It's PHP 2300 "Video Controller", and listed in 1982 for $699.95! (I >didn't buy one) I got a couple LDs from thrift shops the first ($20) was the great grandaddy Magnavox 8000, still has major tracking problems but it can't interface to anything anyway. The second ($9.95!) is a Poineer 6010? Anyway, it is an 'industrial grade' LD player (had an Armstrong Flooring disc in it). I have some articles for LD interfacing: one for the VIC-20 in a 1982 COMPUTE! and one I think for RS-232 in a 1983 BYTE; but this LD player already has an RS-232 inteface built-in so that point is moot... I am waiting to bail it out of repairs (very minor ones fortunately). Anyone got a Dragon's Lair LD lying around??? Larry Anderson -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/ Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

28 years, 10 months

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HELP with Apple II+ booting!

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Still no joy on the Apple II+ boot problem. The machine appears to definitely have 48K RAM; at least the NEC chips have "416" on them. Any way I can tell in BASIC? I have 3 disk controllers and 3 drives. The disk controllers have 2 different ROM versions; one is half copyrighted 1979 and half 1981, while the other is all 1981. The card model is 650-X104. There's another ID number, one is 820-0006-02 and the other card is 820-0006-D. Help!!!! Kai > ---------- > From: Eric Fischer[SMTP:eric@fudge.uchicago.edu] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 1997 10:02 AM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: HELP with Apple II+ booting! > > kaikal(a)MICROSOFT.com says, > > > My Apple II+ will boot a diskette called the "Zardax Utilities" but > it > > won't boot anything else. > ... > > When I put in a different bootable diskette, I get "APPLE II" on the > > screen, and then after a moment's pause, a bunch of garbage > characters > > are added. > > My best guess is that maybe you have a 13-sector (DOS 3.2) disk > controller and one 13-sector disk (the one that works), and the > rest of your disks are 16-sector so the 13-sector controller > doesn't know what to do with them. Unfortunately I can't remember > where to peek to find out the DOS or controller version number, > so I don't know how you could verify this. > > The other alternative is that if your Apple II+ has less than 48k > of memory, the other disks may be expecting a 48k system and loading > DOS into a part of memory that doesn't exist on your computer. The > Zardax Utilities disk may be one with a relocatable DOS image on it > (a "master" disk) created with "MASTER CREATE" and the rest are just > plain fixed-address disks. This would certainly explain why random > junk was getting loaded into video memory instead of where it belongs. > > eric >

28 years, 10 months

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monitors for use with old computers.

by Pete＠madhippy.demon.co.uk

I'm fairly new to the collecting scene and I'm looking for a monitor I can use with some of my systems. I'm mainly interested in the 8bit home computers, spectrum, c64, atari, dragon, bbc etc I'd like to know if there is a particular type of monitor that can be used on the above machines. I'd like to buy, say one, I can use with all of the above. I know there seems to have been a few different methods used in producing the video signals and, from reading newsgroups, I get the impression that it is sometimes possible to select video outputs/monitor inputs such that, even if the monitor is not directly compatible, a reasonable result can be obtained. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. -- Pete Robinson pete(a)madhippy.demon.co.uk http://www.madhippy.demon.co.uk - faqs, emulators, links, web utilities.

28 years, 10 months

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Seen on web: ads of interest to this list

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Found these ads on the web, they might be of interest to some! ANTIQUE DATA GENERAL LAPTOP FOR SALE Data General MODEL NO. 2217A. I have a Data General One laptop (Model No. 2217A) with full size Expansion Chassis, and several original manuals and programs -- Lotus 1-2-3 Rel. 1A, Microsoft Multiplan, DGBlast (communications), GW-Basic, Programmers Manual, Flight Simulator II, and Ashton-Tate Framework. Laptop has 512 mg memory, dual 720 floppies (max available on machine at time; no internal hard drives in this generation). Expansion chassis has 4 available slots and a bay for a full-size hard drive. Purchased new in 1986. This is clearly an antique, and might be of interest to DG freaks (if there are any) or computer museums; this was one of first clam shell laptops. Interested? Please reply directly to Al J. Daniel, Jr.by e-mail.mailto:adnyc@ix.netcom.com SEAGATE 8 INCH HDD FOR SALE Used SEAGATE 8 inch HDD -- condition unknown. Any interest.E-mail. ice8(a)eosinc.com

28 years, 10 months

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Another weekend haul story

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Well, thanks to a mobile GPS, I managed to visit 30 thrifts in one day this weekend, and ended up with: - Atari 400 - IBM Portable PC 5155 - Two more Osborne 1's (for trade) - An Indus GT floppy drive for Atari 8bit (this is the best Atari 8bit drive ever made!) - Apple Disk II new in box - Another TRS-80 Model I (system unit only) - Atari 1040ST and SC124 mono monitor (floppy wasn't working but I fixed it--I think) - Another Mac 128 (with bad floppy, I have the parts to fix) - Pile of diskettes for the TRS-80 Model 4/4P, including original TRSDOS, SCRIPSIT, ZORK I, etc. - Manuals for my TRS-80 Model 4P - Some shrink wrapped games for the Apple II, Atari 8bit, and C64 - TI 99/4A "P-Code Module", whatever the heck that is (goes in the expansion bay) - Atari 65XE game computer - Atari 7800 ProSystem with PS, RF adapter and 3 joysticks - Colecovision driving expansion module Kai

28 years, 10 months

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Current for trade/wanted list

by josh＠netins.net

I am intrested in the macs, the 128 & 512. How much? I do have a few dos 3.3 master disks for the II series (the origional apple disks!). Intrested? I'll try to dig them out! Josh M. Nutzman +----------------------------------------------+ |"Life is like a river, you go with the flow...| | but in the end you usually end up dammed." | | -The Red Green Show | +----------------------------------------------+

28 years, 10 months

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Forgot one more! UK folks pls comment (RE: Another weekend

by jonathan＠holly.ninja.ml.org

> Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 10:04:36 -0700 > From: Kai Kaltenbach <kaikal(a)MICROSOFT.com> > Almost forgot - I also picked up an Apricot F2. For those in the > US, this is one bizarre machine. It's only about 7" wide, 4" tall [...] > > Any additional information -- and pointers to a boot disk -- > appreciated! If you (or anybody else) want, I can copy your message into the Fidonet "APRICOT" support echo. There aren't all that many messages in there at the moment, but I am sure that there are still folk with working Apricot machines, that would be glad to help. Let me know, and I'll post your messages in there for you, and forward replies either to this list, or back to you personally. Best wishes, ___ _ _ ___ _ _| (_)(\)(-) | (-)(-)(\)

28 years, 10 months

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HELP!!! Apple IIe - doesn't work!

by BigLouS＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-05-27 23:56:45 EDT, you write: > Should I take one of the video cards out? Are they supposed to BOTH be in > there? If when you boot the machine it comes up with Apple IIe then you have an enhanced IIE. If it says Apple II then you have an unenhanced IIe. Part of the enhancement upgrade involved replacing roms on the motherboard so perhaps the upgrade was done improperly (unlikely). Pulling cards is the best way to isolate the problem. First pull the videx card. If that doesn't solve the problem then pull the AE card, the mouse card and finally the printer card. If your still having problems then you may want to replace the Zip chip with a stock 65C02 (an enhanced IIe uses a 65C02 rather than a 6502). If you still have problems then you may want to try a different controller card or just throw the thing out the window. :-) Lou

28 years, 10 months

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Terak's (was: Re: Another weekend haul story

by zmerch＠northernway.net

Whilst in a self-induced trance, Charles P. Hobbs happened to blather: >Hey, DOS *is* CP/M as far as I'm concerned (look how long it took to >kick that 8.3 filename habit! :-) It is not easy to calculate how long it took for them to kick the habit, as the habit has not yet been kicked... think of it as still being on the nicotine patch. The long filenames of Win95 are only a *bunch* of 8.3 filename placeholders conveniently disguised to the end user. Wanna waste a whole weekend over nothing? Run MS-DOS 6.22's scandisk/defrag on a Win95 volume and see how long it takes you to straighten that mess out... it's easier to reformat and reinstall. HTH, "Merch" -- Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed, Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should *not* zmerch(a)northernway.net | be your first career choice.

28 years, 10 months

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Atari 800 XL (fwd)

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

If you're looking for an Atari you might want to talk to this guy. Bill ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 18:29:18 -0700 From: Steve <stevemr2(a)televar.com> To: bill(a)booster.bothell.washington.edu Subject: Atari 800 XL Hi Bill I have an Atari 800 XL along with several cartridges, tapes with programs and the 1010 player. This machine is like new as I take care of my equipment. I haven't used it for several years and have been thinking about selling everything. Even back then I saw how computers were advancing and I decided not to try to keep up. Last year I finally decided to buy a new computer. Quantex with P133, 2.1 gig HD, etc. I was into the computer thing in the late 50's early 60's when still a kid. If you know of anyone who would be interested in this equipment, which is in cherry condition and all power supplies, cables etc come with it along with several programs on tape (Zaxxon, Chess, Slot Machine, Sky Chart, E-Factor and LOTS more), several carts (Missile Command, Donkey Kong, Defenders...and more). Thanks....................Steve From: Steve Hagensicker <---<----->---> stevemr2(a)televar.com Homepage: Netsurfer Central <-----> http://www.televar.com/~stevemr2/

28 years, 10 months

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Forgot one more! UK folks pls comment (RE: Another weekend haul story)

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Almost forgot - I also picked up an Apricot F2. For those in the US, this is one bizarre machine. It's only about 7" wide, 4" tall and 16" deep. It has a wireless infrared keyboard and wireless hand-held trackball! I never knew these were sold in the United States. It's marked 60Hz so it's not an import. About all I know about it is from a couple of web references -- 1985, 8086 CPU, 512K RAM, dual 720K drives, ran a modified OEM version of MS-DOS. Any additional information -- and pointers to a boot disk -- appreciated! thanks Kai > ---------- > From: Kai Kaltenbach > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 1997 9:40 AM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Another weekend haul story > > Well, thanks to a mobile GPS, I managed to visit 30 thrifts in one day > this weekend, and ended up with: > > - Atari 400 > - IBM Portable PC 5155 > - Two more Osborne 1's (for trade) > - An Indus GT floppy drive for Atari 8bit (this is the best Atari 8bit > drive ever made!) > - Apple Disk II new in box > - Another TRS-80 Model I (system unit only) > - Atari 1040ST and SC124 mono monitor (floppy wasn't working but I > fixed > it--I think) > - Another Mac 128 (with bad floppy, I have the parts to fix) > - Pile of diskettes for the TRS-80 Model 4/4P, including original > TRSDOS, SCRIPSIT, ZORK I, etc. > - Manuals for my TRS-80 Model 4P > - Some shrink wrapped games for the Apple II, Atari 8bit, and C64 > - TI 99/4A "P-Code Module", whatever the heck that is (goes in the > expansion bay) > - Atari 65XE game computer > - Atari 7800 ProSystem with PS, RF adapter and 3 joysticks > - Colecovision driving expansion module > > Kai >

28 years, 10 months

3
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bringing heath 120 back to life

by groberts＠mitre.org

i'm trying to fire up the old Heath H-120. it seems to have "forgotten" how to see the floppy disk controller, i get: DEVAULT DEVICE CONTROLLER ERROR i've checked quite a few things (e.g. reseat card and chips, look for cold solder joits, etc. - see my more extensive posting on comp.sys.zenith.z100). it seems like maybe getting hold of another H207 card (floppy controller) would be worth trying - or maybe even a whole Z100 system for swapping parts. are these still showing up at auctions? (DOD was of course a big Z100 customer). How do i find out about these auctions? anyone know of a source for spares or help with this sort of thing? thanks. - glenn +=========================================================+ | Glenn F. Roberts, Falls Church, VA | Comments are my own and not the opinion of my employer | groberts(a)mitre.org

28 years, 10 months

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New Finds...

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Saturday my wife had chanced upon a Commodore 64 system (computer, 1541 drive, cables, power supply) whith some books & magazines. Since the flea market was closing there was a final offer of $10.00. Needless to say I bought it (for $8.36, all the change I had left), mainly because it was worth $10.00 for the stuff and the disks, books, and magazines caught my attention. Besides the system I got a users guide for the computer and drive, a programmer's reference guide, and a couple software manuals. Many of the disks seem to be copies of stuff, I'll have to scan them to see if there are any lost treasures... The Magazines included 6 Commander magazines from 1983/84 (this is the first time I've had the opportunity to flip though this publication.), Commodore Power/Play June/July 84, a Popular Computing and a Personal Computing magazine (the latter two have very little Commodore coverage and were talking about the Apple II and IBM as on even playing fields.) Also a Scholastic K-Power Collection of computer programs, "10 awsome/original/unusual/super/fantastic/computer puzzles and games" The computer seems to be dead ('m glad he didn't sell it to someone for the $50 he was asking for it), the drive is in great shape (as it helped copy many disks for me today) and the magazines are facinating. In the Magazines: I finally saw an ad for the OSCAR bar code reader, looked good to me, one argument they had in the ad was the unreliability of tapes, heck, I have tapes older than that ad that still work, but it would be cool to have a bar code reader for my computer(s). The issue of Popular Computing had a review on the Jupiter Ace 4000 (looks kinda like a Sinclair ZX80, but has FORTH as it's built-in language) Pretty in-depth too, 5 pages long with a screen shot and an overview of the differences of ACE FORTH to other FORTH standards. The K-power is kinda a rosetta stone of BASICs with similar programs for Adam, Apple, Atari, Commodore 64, IBM PC, TI-99/4A, TRS-80 Color Computer/Model III/4, and VIC-20. Some programs deal with at least low-res graphics and another with music. Later on I fondled a Compupro 10 at a thrift shop, like like it was a multi-user machine with 4 console ports, 3 printer ports, a SCSI/SASI port and an 8" drive port (to compliment it's two 5.25" drives bays it already has. Will have to browse the web and see if I can see what it was about. Larry Anderson -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

28 years, 10 months

2
1
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'Uniform' from Micro Solutions, 1986

by jeffh＠unix.aardvarkol.com

I pulled out a disk I had sitting here which I totally forgot I had. It's the program 'Uniform', version 2.02, from Micro Solutions and is copywrited 1986. This is the PC version, and I hadn't tried it before because it's been quite a long time since I had a PC with the 5-1/4" drives. Well, I installed it onto the MS-DOS 2.11 boot disk copy I keep with the IBM 5155 and began trying different CP/M formats with it, including Kaypro 4 and Osbourne Executive formats. It read both formats flawlessly, though I've not tried formatting an Osbourne or Kaypro disk on the PC and then reading it on the real machine since Uniform does that as well. The leaflet which comes with the disk says that on an XT, the program supports 110 different CP/M formats, while on an AT it supports 160 (I'm assuming with a HD disk drive). I knew that I could read a number of different CP/M formats using CP/M 3.0 on the C-128, but hadn't given this program much attention before. Is there anyone out there who still uses this program for data exchange? Jeff jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com <--- new address ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Collector of Classic Computers: Amiga 1000, Amiga 3000, Atari 800, Atari 800XL, Atari MegaST-2, Commodore C-128, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore VIC-20, Kaypro 2X, Mattel Aquarius, Osbourne Executive, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer 3, TRS-80 Model IV Plus Atari SuperPong and Atari 2600VCS game consoles

28 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

TRS-80 Model 4P

by gmast＠polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu

> On Mon, 26 May 1997, Barry Peterson wrote: > Gee, it's started already 8-( No, it started a long time ago. > No, it worth about $0.50. Of course, you have all the documentation, and > the disks that go with it. That might make it worth $1.50. It's worth what someone will pay for it. Nobody is forcing anyone to pay "too much" for anything. It's called supply and demand. > It's much better to get rid of it locally - $25 and it yours. Come pick it > up! Better for you, better for it. Nice if you can find someone locally to take it off your hands. Why do you think there are so many computers at the thrift stores with garage sale price tags on them. The general public doesn't want them. > > 2: Would be unethical to email the non-winning bidders with an offer > > to sell my computer to them? > > Only to those of us who want to preserve the beasts - rather than sell > them off for a profit. I don't think there's any harm in trying to get a fair price for anything. We're not talking about selling food to starving people at ridiculous prices and this stuff is selling way below it's original cost. As more of this stuff is trashed and recycled, it's just the way it works. Best thing to do is get your stuff while it's still cheap. Then someday, if you ever get rid of it you can donate it to a needy collector and feel really good about it. I'd really like to pick up a 1964 mustang convertible for $500 but those greedy bastards want more than they cost new! Can you imagine? All I want to do is preserve it.

28 years, 10 months

2
1
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new acquisition

by dzander＠solaria.sol.net

A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text Size: 1256 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/attachments/19970524/e8743f11/at…

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Spare Chips

by chemif＠mbox.queen.it

At 10:12 22/05/97 +0100, you wrote: >In article <Pine.LNX.3.91.970522045703.16495A- >100000(a)vennea.demon.co.uk>, Alexios Chouchoulas >> >> While we're talking about EPROMs, anyone care to suggest a cheap burner? >>Preferably one I can buy in the UK, but any ideas would be lovely. I've >>looked at some, but they're all in the UKP250+ price range. I'm seriously >>considering building my own... >> > > >Alexios > Maplin do two under 200UKP - the EPP1-F at 162.99 and the EPP-2 >199.99 (both prices inclusive of VAT). I bought a EPP1-F a long time ago >at one company I worked at and it seemed OK for small EPROMS/EEPROMS (up >to 128k x 8. Comes with a DOS-based editor and utilities but claims to >work on any computer with an RS232 and terminal software. > >>From the catalogue, the EPP-2 is the same but goes up to 512k / 8Mbit >PROMS. I fully agree: I own a HI-LO (the company name producing the EPP and ALL family) EPP-01A eprom programmer since three years, and never had problems. Features: NMOS/CMOS EPROM : from 2716 to 27512 and 1 Mbit EEPROM: 2816, 2816A, 2817A, 2864A, 28256A Page Mode EPROM : 27513,27011 Quick program time: 20 secs for a 27256 Easy to install Easy to use software Its price here in Italy was abt. 160 UKP (incl. VAT) > But if price doesn't matter and you're looking for performances, take a look at this jewel ><http://www.mwmedia.com/tpvs/hi-lo/pld/all07.htm> > >Hope it helps. > >-- >Riccardo Romagnoli, Forli' - Italy > >

28 years, 10 months

1
0
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Heath

by tomph＠ix.netcom.com

Hi Ward, Would you let me know if you still want this Heath. It's been sitting in a box in my van for over a week now. If you don't want it I'll give it to someone else. If you do want it, can we make some arrangement for the transfer. I have to move it out of here by Wednesday, next week so, if I don't hear from you by Sat. I'll assume your not interested. Thanks Tom

28 years, 10 months

2
1
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Sinclair ZX80

by MicroAge97＠aol.com

i found a page that has the plans to build your own zx80. www.babytalk.demon.co.uk/zx80/zx80.html dave

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Teaco floppy drive excerciser

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

Hi. I recently picked up a Teaco floppy disk tester/excerciser for commodore and apple II disk drives (probably any GCR drive I'm guessing). Unfortunately I got no documentation or interface cables for it. Anybody know anything about it? It looks like it will be a fun gadget and I'd love to get it working. Bill ---------------------------------------------------- Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Sinclair ZX80

by pcoad＠crl.com

On Thu, 22 May 1997, Stephen D. Jensen wrote: > I was wondering if anyone has a Sinclair ZX80 that they would like to sell. > I bought the kit and built one when they first came out. It was my first > home computer! A few years later somebody stole it from our house after my > Wife and I had seperated. Why they would steal that I don't know! I have a > ZX81 but it's just not the same. Of course, it won't be the same not having > the one I built myself but I'd still like to have one for my collection. > I don't have a ZX80 to sell. (I'd like one too.) I can address part of the problem. There is a place which has instructions, part lists, ROM images, schematics, etc. for building a ZX80. Below is the article posted to alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt last December. --pec -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Path: nexp.crl.com!nntp.crl.com!howland.erols.net!surfnet.nl!tudelft.nl!elektron.et.tudelft.nl!not-for-mail From: grant(a)babytalk.demon.co.uk (Grant Searle) Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt Subject: Build your own ZX80 Date: 23 Dec 1996 12:42:13 +0100 Organization: Home Lines: 32 Sender: achhbot(a)morra.et.tudelft.nl Message-ID: <achhbot_19866(a)elektron.et.tudelft.nl> NNTP-Posting-Host: morra.et.tudelft.nl X-NNTP-Posting-Host: babytalk.demon.co.uk X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.0.82 X-ACHHBot: Processed. If you are interested in the internal workings of the ZX80 or ZX81 and would like to build a ZX80 yourself using readilly available components then please check out the following site: www.babytalk.demon.co.uk/zx80/zx80.html The later ZX81 is very similar to the ZX80 except a lot of the ICs in the 80 has been merged into one chip. As a result, you can learn a lot about the workings of the ZX81 by referring to the ZX80 circuit. I have several computers from the start of the 80's but have always liked the Sinclair ZX80 for the following reasons: 1. It was so tacky :) 2. It did not have a single dedicated IC in sight. It is because of the second reason this page has come into existance. Here I show you how to build your own piece of history. ALL parts for the ZX80 are available from most of the larger electronic companies. I hope it is of interest/use. BTW. As you will see from my site I am a very keen ZX80er. However, I don't have one (anymore). If you have one (working, dead or in bits) then please contact me on grant(a)babytalk.demon.co.uk as I am sure we can work something out. The above site is continually under construction as I will add further details when I have time. All suggestions will be considered. Grant.

28 years, 10 months

3
2
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TRS-80s looking for a good home

by dastar＠crl.com

I hope this makes it to the list. My posts haven't been showing up lately. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Newgroups: comp.sys.tandy Subject: (fwd) FREE: Two TRS-80s Hello all, While cleaning my closet, I've rediscovered two Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer machines and a bunch of accessories. I'd like to give these things away to somebody with an interest in the thing rather than toss them into the dumpster. If you are interested, please respond to devolder(a)oakhill.sps.mot.com. Here's the contents of the box of stuff I want you to have... TRS-80 w/16K RAM TRS-80 w/32K or 64K RAM (I forget which) Tandy Cassette drive and cable 2 joysticks 2 game cartridges, Polaris and Football 1 EDTASM+ cartridge and manual TRS-80 Programming manuals (they cover BASIC and some ASM) Another book on specifically programming the TRS-80 in ASM, very good. Some magazines circa 1985 with articles on the Coco. Other literature which provide programming examples for the TRS-80. While I don't want any money for these, I will ask to be reimbursed for shipping. Please respond ASAP because I'm in the process of packing up to move. Thanks, Eric -- Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

1
0
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A Tragedy Averted

by gram＠cnct.com

Here in New Jersey, many towns have periodic "cleanout" garbage collections in which the residents are allowed to throw away just about anything their hearts no longer desire. Furniture, appliances, you name it -- they'll pick it up and cart it to a landfill. There are usually lots of pickup trucks and vans roaming the streets the night before, since much can be salvaged -- and there are some severely depressed areas not far away, such as Newark. Last night my fiancee spotted a serviceable couch two blocks from our house and dragged me over to help her lug it home -- we just finished a room in the attic and it needs furnishing. Two houses away from the couch someone had placed a TRS-80 Model II, its disk expansion bay, and a Line Printer VI by the curb. I could not allow this to be buried in Pennsylvania. There were also a couple of Wyse 50 terminals which will work fine on my various *nix boxen. While I was loading these treasures into the car, the perpetrator carried out sundry other (non-computer-related) items to the curb, and I asked him about the system. Seems that while it still works, he's out of space and hadn't used the system since he moved his body shop's bookkeeping systems to newer hardware. He said that he had a bunch of software in the attic, so call him in about a week. Then he brought out and presented me with a Kaypro 10. So it looks like at least part of the weekend is spoken for, while I clean these machines and check their functionality. Eight bits forever! -- Ward Griffiths "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe

28 years, 10 months

4
4
0 0

Regular Posting: FAQ

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

============================================================================ ClassicCmp - The Classic Computers Discussion List FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) v1.3 Last Update: 5/2/97 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is written with the primary purpose of making readily available answers to the more common questions appearing on ClassicCmp. It is Maintained by Bill Whitson <bill(a)booster.u.washington.edu>. The infor- mation in this document has been gathered from a variety of sources but, in general, the members of ClassicCmp should be credited for all contain- ed herein. I have, of course, endeavored to be as accurate as is possible and often failed ;). If you have questions, comments, or corrections (always welcome) please contact me at the address above. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updates: New section 2.8 New section 3.3 New section 4.3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- About ClassicCmp ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. About the List ----------------- 1.1 What is ClassicCmp? 1.2 Why is ClassicCmp? 1.3 What's a Classic Computer? 1.4 Who runs this thing? 1.5 Don't you know you're duplicating what others have done? 2. Protocol and Etiquette ------------------------- 2.1 What can I talk about? 2.2 Can I talk about PCs? 2.3 Can I talk about Mini/MainFrames? 2.4 Can I post advertisements? 2.5 Can I ask people to give me their computers? 2.6 Can I ask for help fixing item x? 2.7 Where should I look before posting a dumb question? 2.8 Can I type obscenities about Microsoft in ALL CAPS?!? 3. Misc List Information ------------------------ 3.1 How many subscribers are there? 3.2 How many subscribers use machine x? 3.3 Is this list archived? 4. ClassicCmp Resources on the Net ---------------------------------- 4.1 Does ClassicCmp have a Web Site? 4.2 How come the Web Site is so ugly? 4.3 Does ClassicCmp have an FTP Site? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Collecting ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.1 Where can I find Classic Computers? 5.2 How much is machine x worth? 5.3 Will thousands of innocent machines be scrapped if I don't save them? 5.4 I just picked up a new machine. What should I do? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hardware and Media ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1 What's the best way to clean these dingy tan boxes? 7. Media -------- 7.1 What's a hard sector disk? What's a soft sector disk? 7.2 What's SS/SD, DS/DD, DS/QD, DS/HD, etc. 7.3 Can these formats be interchanged? 7.4 What disk sizes are there? 7.5 How do I take care of old media? 8. Component Failure Issues --------------------------- 8.1 Do EPROM's go bad? 8.2 How about ROM's, other chips? 8.3 How about capacitors? 8.4 Anything else? 8.5 So how do I backup all this stuff like you suggest? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Software ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.1 Where can I get a system disk for platform X? 9.2 What's the best way to back up my software? ============================================================================ 1.1 What is ClassicCmp? It's a mailing list for the discussion of classic computers. Topics center on collection, restoration, and operation. It is also an appropriate place for stories and reminiscences of classic computers. 1.2 Why is ClassicCmp? Uh, why not? There are lots of people who love these old machines and it seems like a fun idea to get together and talk about them. 1.3 What is a Classic Computer? Any computer that has not been manufactured for 10 years is a classic. This definition is one I made up and it's entirely arbitrary. It seems to work OK, so I've kept it. 1.4 Who runs this thing? That would be me, Bill Whitson - email bcw(a)u.washington.edu. 1.5 Do you know you're just duplicating work other people have done. I get a "reinventing the wheel" e-mail at least once a week. If you show me another group of computer collectors that claims a membership as large as this one I'll show you a group that must be very hard to find. Obviously there are other groups of collectors and I'm cheering them on - I don't see a problem with duplicating and reduplicating lore that's quickly disappearing anyway. [][][][][][][][][] 2.1 What can I talk about? Anything related to classic computers as defined above. There are many people on this list that really know what they're talking about, so you might want to check facts before you start shooting off messages. 2.2 Can I talk about PCs? Yes. PCs which haven't been manufactured for 10 years. Even then, be aware that in many cases you would get a better response posting to PC newsgroups. 2.3 Can I talk about Minis/MainFrames? There has apparently been some misconception that this is a list for micros only. You'll note I said "misconception". 2.4 Can I post advertisements? Sure. As long as they're related to _classic_ computers. And, of course, use your brain - don't spam. 2.5 Can I ask people to sell/give me their computers? Sure. But you're not likely to get a very nice response. Mine, for example, would be: Get your own f***ing computer! There are several people on usenet who will vouch for this. When someone posts about one of their machines without offering to sell it - it's really a pretty good bet that they're not secretly trolling for offers. See section 5 for info on how to find yourself a computer. 2.6 Can I ask for help fixing item x. Yes. Be aware that it may be difficult to help you fix things if you don't have much knowledge of how computers work or of how to use basic electronics tools (DMM, soldering iron, EPROM burner, etc). I'm no whiz with this stuff and the little knowledge I have has come from asking questions and then buying books to find out what "Simple... Just check the voltage on the caps in the PS to make sure one of them isn't flaking out!" exactly means. 2.7 Where can I look before posting a dumb question? It might be a good idea to take a look at what's available in the Archive section of the ClassicCmp web site (see below). 2.8 Can I type obscenities about Microsoft in ALL CAPS!?! Check your anti-MS baggage at the door, please. We all have our opinions about MS and their products but it's best to stick to discussing them in reference to _Classic_ computers. MS bashing is not only off-topic but potentially insulting to those members of the list who work for them. [][][][][][][][][][] 3.1 How many subscribers are there? Around 230, fluxing daily. 3.2 How many subscribers use machine x? Check the web site (see below). The Classic Computer Encyclopedia shows the number of machines registered by subscribers. 3.3 Is this list archived? Yes. The archives are available on the FTP site (see below) in the directory /pub/classiccmp/archive. The file name format indicates the month/year of the archive. Keep in mind that they are quite large. [][][][][][][][][][] 4.1 Does ClassicCmp have a web site? Yep. http://weber.u.washington.edu/bcw/ccl.html 4.2 How come the web site is so ugly? How come a PET is so ugly? Who cares as long as it works? 4.3 Does ClassicCmp have an FTP site? Yes. Anonymous FTP at 140.142.225.27. Look in /pub/classiccmp. There's not much there that's not available on the web site. I'm starting to load old drivers and system disks on occasion. There is an incoming directory which subscribers may use for ClassicCmp-related file transfers if needed. [][][][][][][][][][] 5.1 Where can I find classic computers? The best places seem to be thrift stores and swap meets. These are closely followed by pawn shops and mom and pop computer stores. The holy grails are electronics scrap yards - but they tend to be wary of individual pick-and-choosers. Oh yeah - garage sales! 5.2 How much is machine x worth? Precisely as much as you'll pay for it. Oh, you're selling it? Then, precisely as much as I'll pay for it. Seriously, no one prices these any more. I have an old Computer Blue Book that lists many classic computers but the prices are just ridiculous. Some machines (Apple Lisa's, old old Mini's, and unreleased prototypes) are starting down the road toward their original selling prices but it's unlikely that most will ever be worth more than the cost of their components. 5.3 Will 1000's of innocent machines be scrapped if I don't save them? Yes. This is the impetus behind every collector's tireless and selfless effort. Each machine we fail to save has it's gold parts mercilessly hacked off and sold (just like rhino horns - and look at the rhinos). The remainder is then sent to China to be made into bicycle spokes (you probably think I'm joking). Save a computer! Act now! Remind your wife of the rhino and cuter, fuzzier animals. It might work. In all seriousness - there are a large (and growing) number of so called "computer and electronics 'recyclers'" who take usable computers and recycle them into "reusable scrap". Small amounts of gold, silver, and platinum are extracted and the remainder of the material is generally just marketed to less wasteful countries. 5.4 I just picked up a new machine. What should I do? Don't power it up yet! All of the following should probably be done before that power switch gets flipped. Open the case - clean and visually inspect components. You're looking for traces of smoke, water, corrosion, loose screws, blown caps and resistors, etc. You can avoid a number of problems just by taking a peek inside. If you have the tools (and the machine is sufficiently rare) pull and dump backups of all EPROMs, ROMs, and PALs. Disconnect the power supply from the rest of the computer and start it up on a "dummy load". A six volt headlight bulb has been recommended as a convenient load. These should be available >from any decent Volkswagen shop. Hopefully this will prevent frying the rest of the machine with a flaky power supply. You may want to check the voltage output before you do this as it could be no where near the 5V average in micros. Even if you don't want to connect a load it's still probably a good idea to power it up separately from the computer for the first time. If you have a really rare beast it may be worth powering up some of the key capacitors out of circuit just to get them warmed up. Now you can power it up. Assuming it works, take a blank disk, format it, write some data to it, and read it back before using your precious software with it, as a bad disk drive could really ruin your day. [][][][][][][][][][] 6.1 What's the best way to clean these dingy tan boxes? Cases: It seems best to start gently with such old equipment. Try soaking in a little water and dish soap and then scrubbing. This takes care of most jobs. For removing stickers try mineral oil or Goo-Gone (available at most hardware stores - in the US at least). If those don't work, acetone can be good but, if overused, can do more harm. For removing marker, almost any solvent is good (alcohol, naptha, etc) but will definitely discolor or dissolve plastic if not carefully applied. Lava soap is also good for removing marker but can smooth off textured plastic. For removing sun or tobacco discoloring a product called Purple Stuff available from auto parts stores (again, in the US at least) seems to do the job almost effortlessly. Connectors: For edge connectors a plain pink eraser seems good for removing corrosion. Apparently other colors of eraser indicate a different texture - which may be damaging. Make sure to wipe the connectors with a clean cloth after erasing on them. There are a large number chemicals on the market that "magically" remove corrosion from components but as I don't know how safe they are, I'm not anxious to promote any of them. For pin style connectors a toothbrush and some softscrub or other mildly abrasive cleaner do wonders. Keyboards: I find a cycle through the dishwasher does a really nice job on keyboards. Just be sure they're completely dry before you put any power to them. [][][][][][][][][][] 7.1 What's a hard sectored disk? What's a soft sectored disk? We'll start with soft-sector since they're simpler to explain. On a soft-sector floppy disk the information that marks where a sector begins and ends is written to the disk by the computer (part of the formatting process). This means that various computers can use the same floppy disk types because the format of the disk is control- led by the operating system. Hard sector disks use a system of perforations in the media to mark the beginnings and ends of sectors. This means that computers which used hard sectored disks required the exact disk type they specified rather than a generic soft-sector floppy. A number of differently sectored disks were available - at least 10, 13, and 16 sector formats. 8 inch and 5.25 inch disks commonly used hard sectoring. To my knowledge it was never used with 3.5 inch disks. 7.2 What's SS/SD, DS/DD, DS/QD, DS/HD, etc. These all refer to the number of useable sides on a disk and it's density (how "efficiently" the magnetic bits are pushed together). SS/SD is a Single Sided - Single Density disk, the earliest available type I believe. The storage afforded by a single density disk was very small compared to today's standards. Single Sided disks were popular because they were cheaper than DS and could be easily modified with a hole punch into double sided disks. SD was followed by Double Density which, amazingly, doubled the amount of storage space. Double Density was followed by the extremely short-lived Quad Density which doubled a DD disk. QD was short lived because High Density was right on it's heels and nearly doubled disk capacity again. DS/HD was as sophisticated as 5.25" disks became. 3.5" disks have progressed as far as DS/EHD double-sided / extra-high density. 7.3 Can these formats be interchanged? Well, that may depend on what computer you are using, but in general the following substitutions may be made: Desired Format Substitute --------------------------------------------------- Single Density Double Density Double Density none reliably Quad Density High Density High Density none Other substitutions may be made, but due to physical differences in how the disks are made they are generally unreliable. It can almost be guaranteed that data written to a proper density disk of poor quality will last longer than data written to a good quality disk of the wrong density. 7.4 What disk sizes are there? Physically? There are 8 inch, 5.25 inch, and 3.5 inch as "standard" disks. There are also some unique and/or short-lived sizes such as 3 inch disks used by Amstrad and 2 inch disks which were pioneered for use in laptops and then quickly forgotten. 7.5 How do I take care of old media? Step one is Back It Up! After that, make sure it's kept in a clean, dry, temperature-controlled environment (I keep mine in a broken freezer). With disks it seems important to keep them standing on end rather than lying flat - the same goes for cassette tapes. I like to exercise disks and tapes at least once every six months although I have no real evidence that this has any positive effect. I have modified an old C64 floppy drive to simply spin when a disk is inserted and send large stacks of disks through it on a regular basis just to make sure they're not starting to stick up internally. An exciting and somewhat recent development is that availability of classic computer emulators that can make disk images of old media on PC's and Macs. This seems to be a very good way to backup disks since they will eventually go bad no matter how well we take care of them. The official line seems to be that floppy disks have a shelf-life of approximately 10 years. With proper care many are lasting a lot longer. [][][][][][][][][][] 8.1 Do EPROM's go bad? Definitely. They apparently are considered to reliably contain data for (on the outside edge) 15 years. This amount can be considerably reduced if, for example, the sticker over the window has dried out and fallen off. Luckily EPROMs were not used too extensively but they're out there. An EPROM writer/reader is a relatively cheap investment and an easy fix. Even if an EPROM has "forgotten" it's data it is still fine for being "re-educated". 8.2 How about ROMs and other chips? Things wear out. It's likely that even components which have not been fried by catastrophic failure will simply start to die someday. ROMs can be dumped to a file and re-written if they die. Other custom chips which are all too common in micros will be far more difficult to replace. The best advice is to stockpile these chips when you can - but someday even unused chips will probably start to turn up bad. In this case the best defense is to stockpile information in the hope of being able to modify an existing component to meet your needs. 8.3 How about capacitors? This seems to be another large concern, but rather than being an unreplaceable component a capacitor will take your unreplaceable components with it when it goes. It's a good idea to check out all the caps in a system if you haven't fired it up in a while. Caps go bad with time (even tantalum caps, apparently - although they are more reliable) and should be replaced if they are suspect. It's unlikely that it will be impossible to find a replacement capacitor as they are much more standard electronic components. 8.4 Anything else? Documentation: If there's anything which is entirely unreplaceable its the docs for uncommon equipment. Once they're gone, they're gone. I regularly pick up docs I find for equipment I don't have just because I may someday. Paper will, of course. go bad over time but it will be obvious and they will be easily duplicated. Hard Disks: ST-251s, ST-502s, MFM, RLL... old hard disks are going to go bad. Then they'll be gone. Theoretically, I suppose it's possible to crack a hard drive and replace a dead bearing, realign, relaminate, etc... but I've never heard of anyone doing these things in their base- ment. Perhaps in another 5 or 10 years many of us will be experts at this. 8.5 So, how do I back up all this stuff like you suggest? This answer will undoubtedly get longer as I learn more. The best ways seem to be to dump the particular ROM (or whatever) using the approp- riate equipment to a floppy disk (which most of this equipment allows).

28 years, 10 months

7
11
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Spare Chips

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

> > I have found what seems to be a decent supply of eproms. I was > looking at > > an old 2400 baud fax modem for my pc, and noticed that it had what > looked > > like an eprom on it. I pulled the chip and peeled off the label, > and it was > > a 27256 eprom. I also bought a 2400 baud modem at a thrift store > for $2.00 > > and it had a 27128 eprom in it. This was cheaper than buying the > eprom by > > itself. I paid $3.00 for a 2764, and didn't even price a 27128. I > am going > > to start picking up all of the old cheap, almost worthless modems > and > > grabbing the eproms out of them. You can probably pick up the modem > for > > less than the price of the eprom that it holds. If anyone else > knows of a > > cheap source of eproms or other chips, share it with us. > > >This is a great suggestion, worthy of the FAQ. Beware that you don't > > >cannabalize what could be considered a classic peripheral though. > > We pretty much cleaned out the Dallas 1st Saturday sale a few months > ago of cheap boards that had eproms. Gobs of 2764's for $0.25, plenty > o 27128's, but very few bigger chips. One notable exception. Some > strange board in a tiny pizzal style box. for $10 we got 4x 1-meg > 80-ns 30-pin simms, a 27128, and *8* 27010's and a few other useful > chips. > > -Mp >

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

CA 'Naked Mini'

by ard12＠eng.cam.ac.uk

Does anyone on this list know anything about a machine I've just rescued? It claims to be a 'Computer Automation' Naked Mini, and mine appears (alas) to be incomplete I have the 4U rack case, the backplane, frontpanel (which seems to use membrane switches and LEDs), CPU board (At least I assume that's what it is - it's got some 74x181 ALU chips on it) and 2 core memory boards. The PSU is missing, but even so I think it was worth saving. I guess I can hack something together. I have no docs on this at all, so any info would be welcome. I don't fancy working it all out my own. Talking of docs, does anyone have a copy of the I/O reference manual (or whatever the title is) for the HP9100 calculator? This manual was written for people who wanted to interface non-HP peripherals to the HP9100 (HP's first ever calculator), and contains hardware info on the connector on the back of that machine - info that's not in the operation/programming manual. I'd be interested in any info on that I/O port - I want to try a few things. -- -tony ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill

28 years, 10 months

3
4
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FS: Radio Shack 5 MB Ext Hard Drive (Ebay)

by gmast＠polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu

I have a RS TRS-80 5 Meg external hard drive on the auction at Ebay. It's in good physical condition but I don't know the working condition. Someone pulled one of the interface cables out. There is a picture and a little more info in the listing. Only going for $20 so far. Auction ends Thursday 1:15 PM. http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=inz25894 Thanks, Greg

28 years, 10 months

1
0
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Any good thrift shops in the LA area?

by george.lin＠documentum.com

Hello, I will visit Los Angeles over the Memorial Day weekend. Are there any good thrift shops in the area? Thanks. George -- ______________________________ ______________________________ / /\ / /\ / George Lin _/ /\ / Opinions expressed in this _/ /\ / Antique Computer Collector / \/ / message do not necessarily / \/ / http://museum.home.ml.org /\ / reflect my employer's. /\ /_____________________________/ / /_____________________________/ / \_____________________________\/ \_____________________________\/ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Apple IIe, IIc, Mac 512K, Atari 800, 800XL, VCS, 5200, ColecoVision VGS, Commodore 64, plus/4, Compaq, Eagle II, KayPro II, Nintendo NES, Osborne 1 TI 99/4A, Timex Sinclair 1000, 1500, TriGem SLT-100, TRS-80 Model I, III, 100, Color Computer 2.

28 years, 10 months

3
2
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Any good thrift shops in the LA area?

by idavis＠comland.com

At 11:49 PM 5/20/97 -0800, you Tim wrote: >Also some excellent military electronic surplus. I once found almost all the >components needed to build a Sidewinder missile there. Gyros, >radar domes, infrared sensors, the works. > >Tim. (shoppa(a)triumf.ca) > A true hacker. Why go waste all that money on a pre-assembled Sidewinder missile when you can just go get all of the parts and put it together yourself. Plus, the pride you will feel when your baby takes off and blows something up. There's nothing like it. Isaac Davis idavis(a)comland.com indavis(a)juno.com

28 years, 10 months

1
0
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Regular Posting: Mail Basics

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

ClassicCmp Regular Posting Mailing Lists and How to Talk to the List Robot Last Rev: 5/2/97 This message is posted with frequency proportional to subscription rate (or monthly). Point of contact: Bill Whitson (bcw(a)u.washington.edu) Mailing List Basics A mailing list is a simple device which takes an e-mail and redistributes it to a group of people. People can add and remove themselves from the distribution list by Subscribing and Unsubscribing. When you send a message to the list, it is first examined by the robot for key words that tell it to process an automatic funtion (like help, subscribe, unsubscribe, etc). If the message does not contain a keyword it is sent to the distribution list. How to Talk to the Robot There are a few List Processor commands that you might want to use. To send a command to the list processor, write a message to listproc(a)u.washington.edu (Do NOT send the message to classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu). In the body of the message (not the subject line, that is) write one of the following commands, then send the message. SET CLASSICCMP MAIL ACK Tells the robot to send you a copy of messages you write to the list. This is the default. SET CLASSICCMP MAIL NOACK Tells the robot NOT to send you a copy of messages you write to the list. I don't recommend this. SET CLASSICCMP MAIL DIGEST Tells the robot to send you a digest of messages rather than each as it is posted. With this option you will get a weekly bundle of messages and keep a nice, tidy in-box. SUBSCRIBE CLASSICCMP Your.Address Subscribes you to the list. UNSUBSCRIBE CLASSICCMP Your.Address Removes you from the list. That's the basics. If you need to know more just drop me a line at bcw(a)u.washington.edu. Some requests may take a couple days as I just don't know that much about the list processor ;).

28 years, 10 months

1
0
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stuff for trade

by marcw＠lightside.com

> > It's an IBM 370 mainframe emulator. Here's what I've heard: > > There should be a "P" card that should have two Motorola 68000s, both > modified in varying ways and produced under license by IBM on it, plus a > 8087. It should attach to the M card that has 512K of ram on it. And > then there's a PC3277-EM card that is just a 3270 terminal emulator that > should attach to the mainframe. > > I don't know much more about this, since I'm just getting all this > information second hand. It's allegedly in a book called _Upgrading and > Repairing PCs_, but I don't know the author. > I have that book. It's by Scott Mueller and the one I have is 1988. Here's what it says (to add to your info): "...All this hardware is run by a program called the 3270 PC Control Program. This combination can support up to seven concurrent activities: one local PC DOS session, four remote mainfram sessions, and two local electronic notepads. With the assistance of the 3270 PC Control Program, information can be copied between windows, except that a PC DOS window may not receive information. " The cards used are: 3270 System Adapter (communication 'tween the 3270 PC & 3274) Display Adapter (replaces PC's mono/cga card. No graphics unless...) Extended Graphics Adapter - XGA (required to get graphics) Programmed Symbols adapter (provides graphics with 3278/3279 stations) IBM also had an XT 370 that used the PC 370-P, PC 370-M, and PC 3277-EM cards. The P card emulates the 370 instruction set. This card has the Motorola 68K cpu's. It also has the 8087. The M card is the 512K mentioned above. And the 3277 card hooks up to the S/370 mainframe. So I reckon you have the XT 370. The price of the 370 attachments was $3,000 over the price of the XT this stuff had to go into. Jeez! Marc -- >> ANIME SENSHI << Marc D. Williams marcw(a)lightside.com marc.williams(a)mb.fidonet.org IRC Nick: Senshi Channel: #dos http://www.agate.net/~tvdog/internet.html -- DOS Internet Tools

28 years, 10 months

5
4
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Gas plasma displays

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

Greetings. Recently I picked up a manual for a machine called the "Laser Concept 286/16 Laptop" for the sole reason that it has a couple of good photos of the machine's red gas plasma display. I remember seeing some other systems with this kind of display in magazines. (The GRiD Compass comes to mind?) Anyway, I'm wondering why this technology was so little used. What were the major disadvantages? And do these displays still survive today? (Does anyone have one?) I think gas plasma displays look extremely cool, but I've never actually seen one in real life. They could be a real pain in the eyes to use for extended periods? Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca

28 years, 10 months

19
44
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Kaypro 4

by David_A._Vandenbroucke＠hud.gov

>Anyone ever heard of a Kaypro 4? I know what the Kaypro is, but this >specific model? When was it released and what does it run? What type of >CPU does it have? Gee. One I can answer. I'm not a collector like you folks, but I did use Kaypros and other CP/M machines for about a decade. The Kaypro 4 is your basic Kaypro transportable with a Z80 CPU (probably 4 MHz) and 64K RAM. It has two DSDD floppies which give 390K each in Kaypro's format, which is where the "4" comes from. At some point in 1984 or later, Kaypro switched from using Roman to Arabic numerals. Thus the 4, as opposed to the IV, is a later machine. Some of the later machines had a built in 300 bps modem, but if memory serves those all had "X" suffixes, as in Kaypro 2X (which paradoxically also had DSDD floppies, not the SSDDs of the Kaypro II). --Dav david_a._vandenbroucke(a)hud.gov

28 years, 10 months

1
0
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Informations about Wang and Nixdorf

by kunz＠germany.cerf.net

Hi, I have a few old computers at home up and running, but without documentation. Does someone has information about the following systems or can point me to a source of information (servers, books, software) ? Vendor: System: Operating System: Wang OIS 140/III OIS 9.9 Nixdorf 8870 Niros DEC uVAX II netBSD Epson HX-20 Basic Hitachi 6805 developing system The uVAX is common, but Informations about the Wang and Nixdorf are hard to find. Thanks for any help, -- Karlheinz

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Kaypro 4

by dastar＠crl.com

Anyone ever heard of a Kaypro 4? I know what the Kaypro is, but this specific model? When was it released and what does it run? What type of CPU does it have? Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

1
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Preserve the other stuff as well Was: Re: yo

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 07-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >So what's the point? Preserving the machines is good, but it is only >part of the picture. What is the good of preserving a machine if all >of "culture" that surrounds the machine is lost? Agreed, which is why my more common systems, such as the Atari 800 and Vic-20 are fairly filled out with peripherals and such. Take for example my VIC-20..it has the following: VIC-20 boxed, VIC-1541 floppy, VIC-Modem, VIC-1525 printer, C2N Datasette, manuals for the VIC-Modem anad 1541, as well as 9 cartidges and about 6 original cassette tapes of programs, including one tape still in it's packaging. This to me is quite a well rounded system, much like one would find someone using on a daily basis. Unfortunately, for some of my systems, such as the Aquarius, it's not so easy to find the software and such for it. But I definately pay at least as much attention to searching out the add-ons as I do the systems themselves. In fact, at this point, my attention is likely to turn mostly to the add-ons and such, as I've aquired the more common systems I've sought and likely won't be aquring them as a whole as often. >Save those manuals, flyers, ads, boxes, packing foam, and twist-ties. >Save them even if you don't have a machine to go with them. One thing I always noticed about people into antique and classic cars is that a lot of them also search out the advertisements and such for thier favorite marque. It'd certainly be interesting to do such a thing for the computers as well. Too bad I tossed out all of my older magazines years ago. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 10 months

4
3
0 0

ADDS Multivision

by jonathan＠holly.ninja.ml.org

Hi! I have in my basement a genuine ADDS Multivision machine. It's runs a multitasking version of CP/M, called MUON, and used to run brilliantly until I accidentally ran the SYSGEN utility which, I found out later, overwrote the config information. It now refuses to boot, saying "Stack error" or something equally useful :-( Has anybody heard of this machine before - or, even better, does anybody have boot disks for MUON v2.3 ?? I would phone up ADDS, but they're in America and I don't particularly fancy all the international phone calls from the UK! I don't have their address or fax number or anything - and that's not even mentioning the fact that quite probably, nobody there will know a thing about this machine! :-( If any of you can help in any way, it would be much appreciated!! Thanks, ___ _ _ ___ _ _| (_)(\)(-) | (-)(-)(\)

28 years, 10 months

3
2
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stuff for trade

by dastar＠crl.com

Well, I had a good weekend, acquiring lots of stuff too numerous to list. I got a genuine IBM PC (this time for sure), an Atari 1040ST, a Visual Computer Inc. Commuter "lap-top" (circa 1983 with a small flip-up LCD display, runs DOS), a Tandy TRS-80 Model 2000, TI Silent 700 Portable Data Terminal, Atari 800XL... I also picked up some extras for trading. Currently I have a couple original IBM PCs and PC XTs and a couple TI Silent 700 protable data terminals (with acoustic couplers). One of the IBM PCs is an oddity: it is actually labelled the IBM 3270 Personal Computer and inside it has three cards connected together to form the video card. It has one 9-pin male 'D' connector on the back (like a standard monochrome monitor adaptor). I was told this was for an enhanced graphics monitor. It also had a card in the slot next to the CPU. The card has a CPU on it, and has a ribbon cable going from the card to the socket on the motherboard where the CPU used to be. Any ideas what this is? I don't know if I want to trade this just yet. But if anyone is interested in a genuine IBM PC for trade, I can get more. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

2
1
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Byte Jan 87 retrospective.

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

At 01:09 PM 5/18/97 -0700, you wrote: > >On the line of interesting storage devices - does anyone remember the >"scanner" that read strips of encoded data. I don't remember what it >was called, but for a little while they printed some of these strips in >Nibble. I think it was an Apple II only thing. I guess you could read >and print these strips and they generated programs when you scanned >them. It's called a Causin 'Strip Reader'. Cable and software kits were available for both PC compatable and Apple II series computers. I have one in my collection, but with no software at present. (have not got a picture on the web page yet either - foo!) Have been trying to track down the software for either system... >Also, some personal bad news - my van was broken into on Friday night >and a large load of classic equipment was stolen (I'm preparing to move >and the it was the easiest place to store it). Aw heck! ('course, I do the same...) -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174

28 years, 10 months

1
0
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Magazine retrospectives

by BigLouS＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-05-18 01:02:33 EDT, Sam writes: > Exactly. The Apple ][e bootstrap does a lot of work to read the boot > sector off the disk. It creates the 6&2 encoding table, looks for the > boot sector and reads it, decodes it and then jumps to it, all in less > than 256 bytes. Impressive as all hell. Woz is a god damn GOD. AMEN brother. Jobs who? Lou

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Digital RX-02 dual 8" drive unit

by dastar＠crl.com

Hmmm, I don't know if it was caused by last night's drunken stupor, but the e-mail from the person interested in the RX-02 got lost somehow. If you were the person interetsed, could you pleae e-mail me again? Sorry about that. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

strange storage devices

by dastar＠crl.com

On Sun, 18 May 1997, Jim Willing wrote: > On the line of interesting storage devices - does anyone remember the > "scanner" that read strips of encoded data. I don't remember what it > was called, but for a little while they printed some of these strips in > Nibble. I think it was an Apple II only thing. I guess you could read > and print these strips and they generated programs when you scanned > them. Yes, I very much remember these and very much remember it always being on my wish list of things to add to my Apple. I never did get one. I posted a WTB ad on an Apple newsgroup a while back for one and some guy responded but he gave me this bullshit "tell me what you're willing to pay" line for it and so I told him $25 and he never replied. Anyway, if anyone's got one and wants it to go to a good home, let me know. > Also, some personal bad news - my van was broken into on Friday night > and a large load of classic equipment was stolen (I'm preparing to move > and the it was the easiest place to store it). So, if you live in the > greater Seattle area and you see a good amount of the following show > up when you're poking around, please let me know (I'm not as much > concerned about the equipment as I am about my addressbook, insurance > folder, and vehicle registration.). > > Stolen: IBM 6360 disk drive, Macintosh, Mac 512, Box of CompuPro s-100 > boards, Box of misc. manuals, Commodore DPS-1101 printer, TI99/4a > expansion box, Turbo C64 disk drive, CBM 8050 dual disk drive, Atari > 520ST, 2 commodore vic-1541 disk drives, 1 blue chip disk drive. Now this is some seriously fucked up shit. > I'm sure the thieves thought they really scored but I'm guessing it > will soon turn up at a thrift store or pawn shop when they can't > move it. Some of the equipment may be blood-stained. I have mounted > razor blades across the bottom of my car stereo and they found them > when trying to rip it out ;). The dash was very bloody - quite > gratifying. HAHAHHA! That's great. Well, I hope you get your stuff back, but at least you made the assholes suffer. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Digital RX-02 dual 8" drive unit

by dastar＠crl.com

I picked up a Digital RX-02 dual 8" drive unit today that I have absolutely no use for but figured someone in this discussion group would want. Please contact me personally if you are interested in taking it off my hands (dastar(a)crl.com). Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Magazine retrospectives

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

Sam, That's not entirely true. ;-) I'm being paid to write optimized assembly code for an upcoming game from (of all people) Microsoft. 12,000 lines of hand tuned assembly, with some truely wonderful gems of small, efficient code in it. I must admit though that we had an editor >from one of the gaming magazines come by the other day and mention that the only other gam company still writing serious assembly was NovaLogic... It does seems like a dying art. But I'm off topic. What I wanted to bring up was Creative Computing Magazine , pre 1981. I was only 10 - 14 years old during that time period, but I remember the content as being fantastic. There were fewer rules and a much more hardcore audience then. Does anyone remeber "Computer Myths Explained" and the great line drawings of robots and wierd machines that took on a life of their own. I'd love to get a collection of those drawings... -Matt Pritchard mpritchard(a)ensemble.net > -----Original Message----- > From: Sam Ismail [SMTP:dastar@crl.com] > Sent: Saturday, May 17, 1997 2:41 AM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: Magazine retrospectives > > On Fri, 16 May 1997, Captain Napalm wrote: > > The Apple disk conrtoller ROM which read the boot sector off of a disk > > was 256 bytes! Amazing piece of code. You won't find anything > comparable today, at least in any mainstream software (ie. windows). > > Sam >

28 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Osborne computer (fwd)

by scott＠walde.cprompt.sk.ca

I don't think I have to add anything to this email I recieved today... Can anyone out there save it? ttfn srw ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 19:09:49 +0100 From: Mike O'Neill <mikeon(a)globalnet.co.uk> To: walde(a)dlcwest.com Subject: Osborne computer Hi and I wonder if you can help. I have and Osborne computer (I'm not sure which one but it is an 80 col display with 2 x 185k drives and EProms fitted to hot it up and allow burning in of favourite software such as Wordstar and dBaseII). I don't want to trash the machine and am trying to find out a contact in UK who might be interested in giving it a home as a piece of computing history. The machine still works and is in good order although I havn'e fired it up for some time. Any help you can give would be appreciated. I can be reached at mikeon(a)globalnet.co.uk. Hope you can help and thanks in anticipation. Best wishes Mike O'Neill

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

DD vs QD (Was: Re: FAQ updates/changes)

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

>On Wed, 21 May 1997, Scott Walde wrote: > I've actually had very little problem using _good_quality_ 360k (DSDD) > disks in my Tandy 2000, which has a 720k drive (DSQD). I believe the > magnetic material was the same from the DD to QD, just packed > tighter/finer(?). Am I wrong? I do know that some later T2k's preferred the usage of HD diskettes vice DD ones. This could possibly be a change in the drive mech that Mitsubishi used for the basis of the M4853-1. Mine used to use DD disks just fine, which is what I used since the QD ones were difficult to find and were expensive. Other people I talked to had no luck with the reliability of DD diskettes though and found that the HD ones would work just fine. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

IBM 6151

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

I dont know if this machine qualifies for discussion, but i know nothing about this model, and perhaps someone does. Its an IBM, and the model number is 6151 and appears to be in a slightly modified IBM AT case. it has an led display and a 5.25 drive and non standard connectors inthe back. i get nothing but a blinking cursor on powerup and some incrementing numbers on the led display. i think it might have sort of unix on it, as a piece of paper has the root passwoid taped to it. anyone know what this is? what is worth $20? david

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

I'll post the results to this news group. I've been out of touch for the last couple days, so I don't know what plans have been made so far. As I said before: the response from this list has been fantastic. Another piece of classic computing history will be rescued from oblivion and made available for users everywhere (via the emulator project). -Matt P > > You can help preserve a bit of history. > [...] > > I don't have a VAX handy, so I can't help, but would you please > notify > this list if you succeed in reading the data? Things like this don't > happen > every day. :-) > > Alexios > >

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

arcade game advertisements

by dastar＠crl.com

The other day I was looking at an ad on the back of a comic book. It was for a nintendo or sega game or whatnot. I then remembered how when I was a boy how Atari and other such companies used to advertise their games on the backs of comic books. Anyway, my point is that looking at the backs of old 80s comic books is a neat way to look back at the games that were available back then. It gives a nice historical perspective. Speaking of historical perspective (or something) I just got Pitfall for the Atari 2600 today (a game I had way back when I had my first 2600) and I must say even by today's standard it is a bitchen game. As far as creativity and just the sheer fun of playing it, it beats a lot of the dreck out today. I can't wait until my Pitfall II comes in. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

1
0
0 0

Lists

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

Just a quick note - I've uploaded the remainder of the lists I'm working on (PCs and clones, peripherals, and operating systems) to the web site. The PC/clones list is nearly complete and the others are still very much "in progress". I don't know how useful they'll really be right now, but if you're bored you can send me additions and corrections. Bill ---------------------------------------------------- Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw

28 years, 10 months

2
1
0 0

Gas plasma displays

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

At 06:39 PM 5/15/97 -0500, you wrote: >I remember seeing some other systems with this kind of display in >magazines. (The GRiD Compass comes to mind?) If I remember correctly, we had a Compaq 'lunchbox' portable machine that had a gas-plasma display on it. It was a '386 machine and the display pivoted outward and could be adjusted for the best viewing angle. I've seen a couple other systems with these displays as well, but don't recall which ones or if I had any problems with them. It seems to me that the gas-plasma was fairly easy on the eyes. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Collector of Classic Computers: Amiga 1000, Amiga 3000, Atari 800, Atari 800XL, Atari MegaST-2, Commodore C-128, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore VIC-20, Kaypro 2X, Mattel Aquarius, Osbourne Executive, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer 3, TRS-80 Model IV Plus Atari SuperPong and Atari 2600VCS game consoles

28 years, 10 months

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Whoops...

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

BTW - they're at http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw/misc.html Bill ---------------------------------------------------- Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw

28 years, 10 months

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Equipment available

by gram＠cnct.com

Unfortunately, I can't take advantage of this due to being on the wrong edge of the continent. But if anyone else is interested, go for it. The TRS-80 Model II IMAO was always one of the most rugged and reliable systems I ever used. Ward Griffiths "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 08:43:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Andy K. in San Francisco <scooter(a)california.com> To: gram <gram(a)cnct.com> Subject: Re: Model 2000 Xenix Hi There: I saw the posting that you placed on comp.sys.tandy that proclaimed yourself as a 16/6000 specialist/expert. I still have one that I don't use...it is taking up too much of valuable desk space...any suggestions on how to sell (for very little of course) this computer system. It is 1 MB, 20 MB primary, 12 MB secondary...2 8" double density disk drives... I also have two tandy 12s and 2 Model IIs and a VT-52 in the basement wrapped up in plastic. Software, manual, etc. etc. etc. While I was working for Toni Kelly of Bay Area (now in Dallas), we shipped a model II and it was a nightmare, so I would rather not ship it. Suggestions welcome...the owner of club-100 suggested I could ask $50 for the Model 2s, $75 for the Tandy 12 and maybe $150 for the 16/6000. Yes I know people have gotten them free or from garage sales/thrift stores...I would rather not have to dump these "boat anchors." Thanks, take care, andy k. in San Francisco scooter(a)california.com

28 years, 10 months

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Some stuff I found on the NG today...

by gmast＠polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu

Hello, I saw a post on the misc.forsale.computers.mac-specific.misc newsgroup tonight that had a bunch of vintage computer stuff in it. Including some mac software, lisa books & software, Lisa keyboard, Apple II stuff and some non-Apple stuff too. I didn't want to quote the thing here because it's a long list so go to the newsgroup or Dejanews and search this title: Apple items for sale Posted by: jmorand(a)tiac.net (Doug M.) By the way I don't even know this guy, I just thought the prices looked reasonable and you folks might need something he has. Greg

28 years, 10 months

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Odyssey

by dastar＠crl.com

Been pretty slow around here of late. I went to a thrift store and ended up finding a copy of John Scully's _Odyssey_. Although I hate this man and hold him solely responsible for the demise of Apple and especially the Apple ][ (please don't start a holy war over this, its just my stupid opinion) I found the book to contain tons of great history on Apple during the 80s and decided it would make an excellent read and historical reference. Even though it was in crummy condition, it was only $2.95. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

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Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

I just wanted to say this: Already several people have offered to help out by getting the files off the RLO2 disk packs. Right now, Jim Willing seems to be the guy to do it (he also seems to be closest to the disks, which I think are in central CA). I've put him in touch with keith Robinson who is heading up the Intellivsion emulator effort. Let me just say that I am overwhelmed by the favorable response that has come from the people on this list. The sense of community and people that value computer history has left me with a lump in my throat. Thanks to all, -Matt Pritchard > -----Original Message----- > From: A.R. Duell [SMTP:ard12@eng.cam.ac.uk] > Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 1997 4:50 AM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: RE: Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters > > > > > > > This news just in: > > > > According to Ray Roux, who maintained the VAX systems, we were > running > > Unix, BSD 4.1. The platters are 14", with the label: Data Cartridge > > RL02K-DC. > > In that case, they're RL02 packs, with a capacity of 10.4 Mbytes. > There > are plenty of working RL02's about - I have a couple myself on a > PDP11, > although it's non-trivial to ship the packs to me. I am sure you'll > find > somebody in the States who can help. > > > -- > -tony > ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk > The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill

28 years, 10 months

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Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

This news just in: According to Ray Roux, who maintained the VAX systems, we were running Unix, BSD 4.1. The platters are 14", with the label: Data Cartridge RL02K-DC. --------------------------- Any help in finding a system that can read it, and someone willing to help out is massively appreciated! -Matt Pritchard > -----Original Message----- > From: A.R. Duell [SMTP:ard12@eng.cam.ac.uk] > Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 1997 12:43 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters > > > In addition to all the games that people know about, the Blus Sky > > Rangers have some 14" DEC platters taken from 2 VAX systems that > were > > used for development. These files on these platters include source > > code, screen shots and data from *UNRELEASED* Intellivision games. > Some > > of these probably were announced titles that never shipped, others > were > > never even announced. > > 14" platters could be almost anything (off the top of my head, RK04, > RK05, > RL01, RL02, RK06, RK07, RM02, RM03, RP04, RP05, RP06, Several CDC > drives, > etc). And a drive that capable of reading one will not read any of the > others (even if they will physically fit into it). > > If you can find out what they were written on, there's a good chance > that > somebody will still have at least one working drive... > > > -- > -tony > ard12(a)eng.cam.ac.uk > The gates in my computer are AND,OR and NOT, not Bill

28 years, 10 months

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Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

I know there was mention on this group a few weeks back about disk platters. Here's the situation: You can help preserve a bit of history. There is a project underway in the classic gaming community to release the entire *entire* Mattel Intellivsion library on an Emulator for the PC and Macintosh. This project is being spearheaded by the Blue Sky Rangers - a group of original Mattel Intellivision programmers. In addition to all the games that people know about, the Blus Sky Rangers have some 14" DEC platters taken from 2 VAX systems that were used for development. These files on these platters include source code, screen shots and data from *UNRELEASED* Intellivision games. Some of these probably were announced titles that never shipped, others were never even announced. If anyone has working equipment that can read these platters, and extract the files to some other medium, and is willing to get involved to preserve these games before they are lost forever, please contect me at mpritchard(a)ensemble.net or matthep(a)netcom.com I thank everyone in advance, -Matt Pritchard

28 years, 10 months

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movie computers

by davidv＠cs.mun.ca

hey, does anyone know the name of the computer/portable in the movie "Single White Female". I know it looks like a "lunchbox" type machine, but that's about it. thanks, Dave ------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Vincent davidv(a)ganymede.cs.mun.ca -------------------------------------------------------------------------

28 years, 10 months

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movie computers

by more＠camlaw.rutgers.edu

I hope this isn't repeating a post as I accidently lost a few of the threads to this subject... ANYWAYS... I just re-watched "Electric Dreams." In it, the computer (Edgar) cmoes to life blah blah blah... Anyone know what kind of computer he/it was? The credits list Kaypro as a contributor... Les

28 years, 10 months

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Call for Help: Retrieve files from 14" DEC platters

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

> 14" platters could be almost anything (off the top of my head, RK04, > RK05, > RL01, RL02, RK06, RK07, RM02, RM03, RP04, RP05, RP06, Several CDC > drives, > etc). And a drive that capable of reading one will not read any of the > others (even if they will physically fit into it). > > If you can find out what they were written on, there's a good chance > that > somebody will still have at least one working drive... > > Thanks, Tony! > I'm checking on what type of platters they are right now, and will > post my findings to this list.

28 years, 10 months

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magazine collection and heath-kit 89

by dastar＠crl.com

When I was at my parents' house, I also went to visit my old-timer neighbor. My parents told me he wanted to talk to me about getting a new computer. He has one of the first 1000 HeathKit H89 systems to come off the assembly line. I remember going to his house back in 1988 a couple times to trade programming tips with him and playing with it. He built it himself. It's in cherry condition, with the original Heathkit covers for both the computer and the heathkit printer. I gave him advice on buying a new system and offered to buy his Heathkit from him, but I don't think he's ready to sell it yet. Before I left I emphasized that when he's ready to part with it to call me. I'm looking through this old issue of Popular Computing (I also found a good run of this magazine). This issue is September 1983. These things are awesome. Let's take a look at this one... The cover story is "Demystifying Computer Languages" and has a column each for APL, BASIC, C, COBOL, FORTH, FORTRAN, LISP, Modula-2, Pascal, PROLOG and Smalltalk. You see, that's another thing that was great about the 80s...not only did you have diversity of systems, but you had a viable diversity of languages. Sure you could argue that today, but let's face it, this is a C dominated world. Hmm, cool, there's a hacking article, "Profile of a Computer Abuser". And some way cool Do-itYourself article on how to build a $4 printer stand. Let's see, there's the standard Elephant Memory Systems disk ad (remember those? Always with a yellow backdrop, a lot of times on the back of the mag). Anyway, here's an ad for a Percom Data disk drive for the T-99/4a for $499. So whoever found that TI-99/4a disk in the thrift shop, keep looking for the Percom Data disk drive. Here's the basic IBM ad with the lame Charlie Chaplan impersonator. Ok cool, a big price page for a company called computer mail order (how generic). Timex Sinclair 1000, $39.95; Commodore 64, $239; Pet 64, $569; Sanyo MBC-555, $795; Eagle IIE-1, $1,369; and on the CMO top 100, we have Choplifter at #1 for the Apple, WordPro64 for the C64 and Donkey Kong for the Atari. Moving on, we have an add for Fontrix (a cool Apple ][ page designing program), an ad for Commodore 64 that compares its under $600 price to the $1395 Apple, the $999 TRS-80 III and the $1355 IBM PC. Wow. A 2-page ad spread for the Apple ///. Dum de dum, hey an ad for the HP-86 personal computer. I don't think I've ever seen one of these...its like an Apple in design, with the keyboard and CPU all one unit. I never knew HP made such a beast. I'll have to find me one of those. (are we bored yet?) Oh, here's a good one: an ad for a C64 that says "More power than Apple ][ at half the price" (what a joke) and for the VIC-20 that says "a real computer at the price of a toy" (they got the toy part right). I betray my thinly veiled Apple ][ bias. Moving on, here's a funky user definable keyboard called the keywiz VIP (and in parenthesis it says Very Intelligent Peripheral) made by a company called Creative Computer Peripherals. I guess you can assign a keyword to each key and it was compatible with the Apple and TRS-80. Then an ad for the TI Compact Computer. It shows a typically preppy 80s type dude sitting at a desk (presumably in a library) with a typically preppy 80s type chick sitting on the other side and the ad copy says "20 pages of notes, a thesis, algebraic forumlas. Can you make a date at eight?" The guy in the ad has one finger on a key on the computer which has a disk drive attached, and one holding a pen as he writes down notes on a yellow legal pad. Brilliant. I'll take two. Ok, here's an add from Wisconsin Discount Sales, showing a Panasonic 32K for $249, an Atari 800XL with, instead of a price, the word "NEW" in a blast bubble. Here's something funny. In caption from the article on Prolog, it says "Japanese researchers have chosen PROLOG as the standard language for their fifth-generation computer project. If the project succeeds, it's very likely that we'll all be programming in PROLOG by 1995!" I guess we all know the outcome of that particular project. Anyway, then there's a review of the Radio Shack PC-4 "programmable calculator" and the Casio FX-700P pocket computer. Hey, a ComputerLand ad. They are now back in business as Vanguard by the way. Blah, blah, blah. More ads. Blah. And that's pretty much it. I hope you enjoyed this tour of the September 1983 issue of Popular Computing. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

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What a weekend...

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

Wow. I didn't intend to buy any computer equipment this weekend but ended up passing a church swap meet with a big sign that list "compters" <sic> on it. Later in the day I spotted a pawn shop that had a sign up that said "Collectable PCs - get them while you still can!" Just how much temptation can one resist? Anyway I'll divide this into two groups - stuff I know things about already and stuff I don't have a clue about. Stuff I know about TI/99 Expansion box with disk/memory/rs232 Atari 520ST Commodore 128 (spare) Commodore Cassette (original) Macintosh (M0001) DEC Rainbow 100 Documentation in box DEC Rainbow OS disks Samda Word Processor for DEC Rainbow 25 RX50 disks labelled MICRO/RSTS - I don't knwo what they are but I'm guessing they're not for the Rainbow. I really needed some RX50 disks though. 34 C64/128 disks with programs 18 Apple II disks with programs FORTRAN on disk for the TI99/4A (the first disks I've ever seen for the TI) EagleWriter II for the Eagle Computer 12 Assorted CP/M disks 17 8" TRS-80 Model II disks Set of OS disks for Heath/Zenith Z-100 VisiCalc and a couple other Atari 800 disks Various old PC disks Some power supplies and RF modulators Hardware Maint manual for Novell Netware/68 (includes info and schematics for almost all early novell hardware!) Stuff I don't know about IBM 6360 dual 8" floppy system (for what?) TRS-80 TRP-100 printer TRS-80 Color Graphics Printer Commodore DPS-1101 Printer Alphacom VP-42 Printer (for VIC-20 only it says) NEC PC8801A (no keybd, disk drives) Excelerator Plus Disk Drive (looks like for commodore serial bus) MicroSci Disk Drive (Disk II clone, right?) Timex-Sinclair 1000 with plug-in box on the back (RAM module?) (I never realized from pictures how small these were!) TRS-80 RAM module (looks like the T-S RAM module) It was a fun weekend (glad I drive a van!) Bill ---------------------------------------------------- Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw

28 years, 10 months

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re-found magazines

by dastar＠crl.com

Well, I was too busy with other stuff and unfortunately couldn't attend a real good swap meet this weekend, but I did re-discover a cache of magazines in my parents' barn. I found out I had an entire run of Creative Computing, I have almost the complete run of A+ (including the first issue...this is an Apple ][ mag), a (I think) complete run of Incider (another Apple ][ rag), a few issues of byte from 1981 (the SmallTalk issue) and 1984, a couple issues of Family Computing from 1984, an issue of SoftTalk, and some other miscellany. This stuff is as good as gold! Creative Computing is a total blast going through all the ads. The main thing that struck me is the diversity of computer systems that were available in the early 80s. Contrast that with what you got today (Wintel crap/Macincrap). That diveristy is what we are discovering today. I think in 10 years there probably will be no memorable classic computers worth collecting from the 90s. MAYBE the Mac portable, and I can't think of anything else right off hand. There is just going to be this hideous montage of various IBM PC clones by different manufacturers or just run-of-the-mill computer shop PCs. Bleah! Long live the thriving micro-computer revolution of the 70s and 80s! Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

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What a weekend...

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 12-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: Bill, That's quite a haul you made this weekend. I've never been lucky enough to come across so much at once. Normally it's a couple of items at the most. >Macintosh (M0001) Lucky you! >FORTRAN on disk for the TI99/4A (the first disks I've ever seen for > the TI) I've got a bunch of disks for the TI that I was sent, though they tend to be GROMs saved to disk. >Timex-Sinclair 1000 with plug-in box on the back (RAM module?) > (I never realized from pictures how small these were!) Normally, the 16k RAM pack says what it is on it, though I guess a RAM module from a third party might not. The T/S-1000 RAM pack was about 3" wide x 3" high x 1-1/2" deep. I've seen third party RAM packs up to 64k, but they tended to be the full width of the computer. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 10 months

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Home Made Computers

by BigLouS＠aol.com

Didn't Steve Ciarcia put out a book in the early eighties on building a Z80 based system? I seem to recall using it as a reference when I was soldering together my Xerox 820 motherboard. Unfortunately I purged my Z80 6502 book collection years ago. :-( Lou P.S. It wasn't the MicroMint machine, that was later on.

28 years, 10 months

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What a weekend...

by COAKLEY＠AC.GRIN.EDU

> The sticker has been ripped off but there is a number imprinted inside > that says 1016. I'm guessing that might be the model number for a 16k > module for the T/S 1000? That, at least, I can confirm. Just got one today. -- Ben Coakley CBEL: Xavier coakley(a)ac.grin.edu It's hard to find the words to say you don't give a damn - Freakwater Classic games and a zine at http://www.math.grin.edu/~coakley

28 years, 10 months

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TO: susan m. johnson

by jott＠maddog.ee.nd.edu

Hello - Thanks for the reply on wordstar. What is your email address? You forgot to include your email address in your message. I don't want to waste everyone time on wordstar. John Ott ott(a)saturn.ee.nd.edu

28 years, 10 months

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more aquisitions

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

Well, seems I've been busy as ever picking stuff up. Not only am I currently awaiting the arrival of an Apple II+, including a number of goodies, but last night I went to my two favorite thrift stores and picked up a couple of things. The first is a beige TI-99/4A. I hadn't originally planned on getting another 4A since I have a silver/black one with PEBox sitting here, but at $3, I couldn't pass it up. It's a nice looking machine, and seems to work fine. The only problem is that it is missing the 'apha lock' keycap. Hopefully I'll be able to locate one eventually. I got this at the same store I picked up the other PEBox at a month or so ago. This means I've bought a complete TI-99/4A with PEBox from them, both functional, for a total of $8! The other major thing I picked up was an AST SixPackPlus RAM and I/O board for a PC-XT. I picked this up, populated with 256k, for $10 hoping to be able to use it with the IBM 5155 to increase it's memory, as well as add the I/O ports to it. The 5155 may have all eight expansion slots, but after the built-in video and disk controller use two, that only leaves one left usable due to the length of the others behind the disk drives. After some moving around, I finally got the full length AST board installed and it worked like a champ. Now I have a full 512k plus serial and parallel I/O on the 5155! Does anyone know where I might find the clock utility for the oboard battery-backed clock on this board? That's my haul for the day...the only other things I picked up were cartridges for the C-64: Hes Mon-64 and PitFall. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 10 months

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Home Made Computers

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 10-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >Just a quickie.... >Have any of you guys ever made your own computers? >This is someting I have been thinking of doing but really don't know where >to start. It doesn't have to be fancy (something with a 8088 or Z80 or >6502 would be fine) So does anyone have any "plans" to make one? There was a book published in the early to mid 80's sometime which went into quite exact detail on designing and building an 8bit microcomputer, using the Z80 I believe. Unfortunately, I don't recall the exact name, and my copy of it was lost years ago. I believe it was something like "Building Your Own Microcomputer" and I thought it was a fascinating book. Anyone else recall this book? Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 10 months

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Preserve the other stuff as well Was: Re: yo

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 09-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >Well, as long as we're bragging about out systems, >on my PC I have the following hardware: Actually Tim, I wasn't bragging at all. I was just outlining the system to help illustrate the point being made. Most of my posts to this list tend to be questions since I don't have anywhere near the knowledge that you or Sam or many others seem to, since most of my 8bit experience was with the Timex-Sinclair 1000 and a cassette-based TRS-80 Model III. In fact, it was a full 5 years after getting the T/S-1000 in 1982 before I was able to afford a better system, and it ended up being a Tandy 1000HX in 1987. My interest in these systems is from the standpoint that I'm finally getting the chance to fool with ones I kept reading about, but was never able to buy or use. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 10 months

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Stuff I found, BYTE, collecting, TRON info, Ohio Scientific, etc.

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Serves me right for not keeping on top of the list now I have to scan back a few issues and reply to stuff.. :/ But first off I'll add to the 'what I got' discussion: 2 more Atari 800s (folks must be really unloading them, these were $6.00, nut it was Sat, so 1/2 price) both seem to work, GTIA and 48k, no carts in the cart slots though, and (sigh) no power suppllies to be found either. Another place, nine Atari cartridges (no computers to be seen at the store though), all 25 cents each except for the Star Trek S.O.S. which was 45 cents (Not really enthused about it even on the Atari.) But I did get Star Raiders, (yea!) I played the game only once or twice umpteen years back, and it still holds the appeal. Others are Computer Chess, Atari Basic (Rev A), Missile Command (was really impressed by the translation to 8-bit on this), Super Breakout (now, where are all my paddle controllers...), Pac Man, Space Invaders, and Centipede. Makes time fly faster when you don't have a disk drive running (or disks). Been passing up an Exidy Sorceror (checking the net it seems information on it is pretty hard to come by.) $5.00, seems to have been modified with a different power supply (that sticks out the back and has a rather agressive looking heat sink (no to mention the 2" stilts added to the bottom of it) Just saw five Channel F Games ($2.00 each), bowling, target shoot, some breakout clone, card game, and something else that escapes memory, all in original boxes. If those of you are TRULY interested in paying cost plus shipping for any of this stuff, I'll get them next go-around if they are still here. -- Now back to previous messages: > From: Doug Spence <ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca> > Subject: Re: PET to S100 bus interface > On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Glenn Roberts wrote: >> fyi, on p. 272 of November '79 Byte: a company called AB Computers offered >> a device called "BETSI", described as a "PET to S-100 Interface & >> Motherboard". cost was $119.... > Thanks for the info! I guess it was a fairly common type of device, then. > I wonder if there are also IBM-PC to S100 interfaces? I think advertising was cheaper then, cause there was alot of goodies that were advertised and I haven't seen all too much of it. ----- From: Captain Napalm <spc(a)armigeron.com> Subject: Re: BYTE Magazines > While I haven't read a Byte magazine in several years, (since the early 90s), > those that I have seen I tend to group into three catagories: > 1. Hobby Era (start of publication to late 83/early 84) These are the best ones, back then BYTE called themselves 'The Small Systems Journal' and everything was worth writing about. > 2. Journal Era (early 84 to late 87/early 88) Trying to be a programmer's/EE resource it seemed to me... Kinda forgot the hobbiests. started to cater to the IBM clone market. > 3. PC Rag Era (early 88 through the 90s) Saw one just the other day, they now have under BYTE: "The Global Authority of Computer Technology" They had their heyday as 'fat IBM magazine,' and are now struggling for an identity again. > My own collection of Byte starts with August of 85 (Amiga 1000 is the >cover story) and ends somewhere in late 89 or early 90. The library at the >university I attended had issues starting from Jan '77 (which I read 8-). >The dates given here are approximate, looking at a Byte from 1980, then 1985 >then 1990 will show almost three different magazines. I have a handfull from the 70s, (maybe back to 75 or 76?) a few from the early 80s and avoided it once they dropped 8-bit information. ---- On starting a newsgroup: Sounds great to me, It would be alot easier to reply to the posts I am replying to, we (Diane and I) get alot of mail as it is and I don't really want to un-digest the list. ---- On Sun, 4 May 1997, Robert Kirk Scott wrote: > I also have begun focusing on the accessories, especially if they are > mint or near it. To me a good user's manual, or a batch of original > software that is still usable is every bit as desirable as a fine old > machine. Mint? I myself collect to use the machines, I try to keep my books in decent shape but they are not even close to mint condition, nor do I consider the condition of something I buy for my collection, as long as it works, it provides information, or is interesting enough to warrant the cost and space it will take up, I'll buy it. Software and Books are a very important part of my collection, they take the computer beyond 'display peice' to actual usability and for me enjoyability. ----- From: Paul E Coad <pcoad(a)crl.com> Subject: Preserve the other stuff as well Was: Re: yo > So what's the point? Preserving the machines is good, but it is only > part of the picture. What is the good of preserving a machine if all > of "culture" that surrounds the machine is lost? So true, my collection is from late 70s through 80s and I try to get a variety of stuff associated with it, fortunately I have disovered old cataloga, price lists and ads beyond the ones in the magazines, and at times I get lucky to find more in the stuff that I get/buy. (a recent quest has been for a good copy of the Pac Man Fever LP, finally got a scratched one...) I would love to get video recordings of the Commodore VIC-20 and 64 commercials (Eveybody now, "I adore my 64, my Commodore 64!") ----- TRON & Last Starfighter... Imaging systems. Being a TRON & Last Starfighter fan, Lemme check my resources... TRON effects were done by different groups, the most notable being MAGI (Mathimatical Applications Group, Inc.) who had just recently created the ray-tracing technique (called SythaVision at the time) for visualizing objects. The other was Triple III. MAGI (ray-tracing) was responsible for the effects up to the Solar sailer, after that it was Triple I (traditional polygon 3-d) who had most of the work for the sailer, MCP, etc. Alot of the work was done on the MAGI computers (in New York) via a Chomatics 9000 terminal. (Well CineFex didn't shed light on the computers themselves...) Ahh my TRON Collector's Edition Book has computers listed! MAGI used a Perkin Elmer System 3420 Computer which features 2 MB RAM and 2 80 MB hard drives and talks to a Celco CFR 4000 computer which is used to generate the pictures onto a monitor (I am quoting here, sounds strange) Triple I uses a Foonley F-I for handling the frame-by frame calculations and the pictures are generated on a PFR recorder... Last Starfighter: Done by Digital Productions which had use of a Cray 1/S and a Cray X-MP Encoding of the gunstars, wire frame previewing and such were on a VAX 11/782. When final animation was generated the Cray X-MP did the job as the VAX could only generate one frame in 16 hours and the Cray could crank one out in 2.5 minutes. The film contained 36,000 frames of imagery. ------- (RE: Patriot Games Effects) > Hardly. I don't know of an operating system that yanks the file contents off > of your screen when someone else on the network deletes them. If I Delete files from someones shared hard drive on a Mac network they'll see the folders and icons dissapear. ------ > Well, something tells me that the cost of the LCD display, however high > it was, would have been peanuts in the prop and special effects budget. Alot of companies deal in product placement (Apple especially) where they are more than happy to loan (or even pay to loan) a movie company some equipment for the background and/or prop in a film. The more their computers are seen being somewhere, or even better, being used the better for sales! Ever see the movie Cloak and Dagger? Atari had quite a product placement hand in that one! If only I had known it was so rare, about a year ago I came across a ][c with the LCD at a thrift store... I can't remember the price though, but usually the stuff they sell is reasonable. ------ From: SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com Subject: Ohio Scientific, anyone? > I thought i'd post about a machine which certainly qualifies to be classic, > an ohio scientific challenger C1P of which i know nothing about. i did get > some extensive documentation with it including a presale brochure, some > photocopied machine language programs, the original reciept dated 20jun1980 > for $425, some info about a d&n micro card which i also got, instructions for > eprom burner software, basic ref manual, and some highly technical info and > board schematics. My brother had an interest in getting a Challenger (no money though), as I remember, there is the Challenger 1P, 2P, 4P, and 8P (8P being big boxes, the rest are within the keyboard enclosure). My brother was interested in the features of the 4P (Of which I can hardly recall, except the graphics set was kinda neat.). ------ Larry Anderson -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

28 years, 10 months

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yo

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 06-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >Jay is certainly important, but I'd hesitate at saying he was as >influential as someone like Gary Kildall, Steve Wozniak, or Chuck Peddle. >As much as I love all of the things Jay Miner gave us, there aren't that >many people who were actually aware of his machines, let alone the man >himself. No, he didn't influence a whole 'generation' of computer hobbyist the way CP/M did and such, but he certainly did some interesting things with the hardware! Unfortunately, another computer great that has since passed away. >> >> Out of curiosity, is anyone willing to nominate Jack Tremiel? <sp?> >Uh... not me! But what about Sir Clive Sinclair, and that Tandy guy. :) Hmmmmmm...I can't quite think of the name of the head of Tandy that killed off so many of thier good ideas. They had some interesting machines...and sometimes even rather innovative. Too bad they tended to ship with a lot of the interesting stuff crippled. Sir Clive Sinclair on the other hand gave us the Sinclair series, so he couldn't be all bad. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 10 months

2
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Replies to stuff...

by zmerch＠northernway.net

Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, Doug Spence said: >> > Um... hold it... how are the 4116's arranged? You probably said, but of >> > course I can't go back into my mailbox to read that while I'm replying to >> > this one (I knew there was a reason I should my system to do this >> > locally!). If they're 16K by 4, then that certainly WOULD be more than >> > 8K. :) >> >> I think those are only 8kx1. I did look at my expandamem board and the >> chips with the plates on them had (c)Mostek written. > >Actually, I believe the quote you had in your other post said the 4116 was >16k bits... which would make my board 64K, which is too big without some >kind of bank switching scheme, isn't it? Ummmm... methinks your math might be a bit off. 16Kbits would be 2K bytes, so you'd have to have 32 chips on the board to get it to 64Kbytes... how many chips are there on the board? Hope this helps, Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed, Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.

28 years, 10 months

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PET to S100 bus interface

by groberts＠mitre.org

fyi, on p. 272 of November '79 Byte: a company called AB Computers offered a device called "BETSI", described as a "PET to S-100 Interface & Motherboard". cost was $119. While i'm on that page, the PET was $795 for the entry level system (8K, small keybd, cassette) and on the high end: $1,295 for 32K system with "business" keyboard. A 2040 dual diskette drive (343,000 bytes total) would set you back another $1,295. At 05:23 AM 4/29/97 -0400, you wrote: > >I'd just like to make an update for all who may be interested in that >potential PET to S100 bus device that I had sitting in storage. > >I pulled it out tonight instead of studying for exams, and it is indeed >what was suspected. > >The "motherboard" (if that is the correct term) is a Vector Graphic Inc. >S100 bus board. The RAM board that was being used for the PET, is a >Vector Graphic Inc. 16K Static RAM board with a date of 1977 on it. The >power supply says "KIMSI-PLUS Power Supply" on the back, 1977 from >Forethought Products. > >This is all very wild, because I had no idea there was S100 stuff in this >house. > >Anyway, the really interesting piece of circuitry is the PET to S100 >interface board. It's the same size as the RAM board, and of course plugs >into the S100 bus. At the top of the board is a 50-pin connector that >plugs into a cable, that in turn plugs into the side memory expansion >connector on the PET 2001. > >In white lettering, it says >.----------. >|_| | | |_|| >| | |_| | || (<-- my cheezy attempt at duplicating the company >.----------' logo with ASCII, it's HUH surrounded by a question >.ELECTRONICS mark.) > > S100 MPA > >and etched into the board it says "COPYRIGHT 1978 BY HUH" and "S100 MPA >REV A". > >The board isn't very heavily populated, compared to the RAM board, and >most of the chips are 74LSxx chips. > >Anyone out there know more than I do about this thing? > > >Doug Spence >ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca > > >

28 years, 10 months

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movie computers (The List! )

by ekman＠lysator.liu.se

Captain Napalm wrote thus: > Now, to turn this back to an on-topic thread, the microcomputer used in > "War Games" was one of the last IMSAI's if I recall correctly. And does > anyone know what computers where used for the graphics in "Tron" and "The > Last Starfighter"? Tron was animated by hand. No computers were used, except where you actually see them on the screen. Since I am writing, I thought I might contribute this little piece to the thread: I watched a German soap opera about ten years ago. It was about some hospital and they had a computer, for storing the patient records, I assume. It was a C64, which would not have been impossible at the time, only someone obviously thought it didn't look cool enough just sitting there by itself, so they built it into a wooden panel and added some flashing lights and buttons. /Fredrik

28 years, 10 months

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Help Identify Machine

by BigLouS＠aol.com

While prowling around a new thrift store today I came across what may be a computer or it may be a word processor. It had a keyboard, monitor and two 5 1/4" floppies housed in one unit with the floppies mounted vertically and to the right of the monitor, which I estimate was about 12"". The front of the unit was marked GBV( hope I remembered that correctly ) System 9. Does anyone know what it is? I checked the copy of THE LIST that I have and didn't find it. Thanks, Lou

28 years, 10 months

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What a weekend...

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 12-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >Was it Memotech? they made all sorts of addons for the ZX81, hi-res >graphics cards, serial and parallel ports and RAM expansion up to, as >far as I can remember, 1Meg!!! BTW, is anyone interested in swapping any >UK Sinclair stuff for a TS1000 or TS2068. I'd love to get either of >these! I have a number of catalogs from Gladstone Electronics which show Memotech products, though none that offer memory expansion that large. They did offer some impressive add-ons for the Timex-Sinclair though! One of the more interesting things they list for Memotech is a real keyboard that plugs into the expansion port, but doesn't inhibit it's use for other addons. Real typewriter keys with atuo-repeat and it was buffered. It lists for $99.95. Your offer for trade for UK stuff makes me wish I had picked up an extra TS1000 a few months ago when I had the chance. I'd love to get my hands on some of the things that are common in the UK but rarely seen over here. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 11 months

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re-found magazines

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 12-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >The other side of the coin, though, is the difficulty of converting >programs >to make them work on your computer. I remember spending a lot of time >in high school, trying to convert TRS-80 and Apple II programs to run on >my TI-99/4A. Fun? Yes. Would I want to do this under deadline pressure? >Probably not. I had a book about 1986 or so that crossreferenced the Basic commands of the popular home computers of the period, such as the Apple II, Commodore's, and the various TRS-80's. It was pretty interesting. I saw mention of a similar book being worked on now that was even greater in scope than this one. It is called something like 'Basref' or some such. I found a web page for it on the Web. That book certainly made the conversion of programs much easier though, even if you did at times need 4-5 statements on one machine to mimic something done on another. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 11 months

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Home Made Computers

by KFergason＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-05-11 00:09:18 EDT, you write: << Yes, I believe it was published by TAD Books although I don't remeber the exact title, either. It was available at my local library. At the time I read it, I think I estimated it would cost about $1,000 altogether to build the computer. It would probably be a lot cheaper today. Seemed like a very good boook. >> Z-80 Microcomputer Design Projects, William Barden, Jr. $14.95, Howard Sams. published in 1980. describes a <10 chip single board computer. how much was a Z80 in 1980? KiloBaud Klassroom. by Peter Stark. describes a 6802 single board computer. seems like mostly reprints from the magazine column of the same name. 1982 The 8085 Cookbook. Build your own working computer. Tab books. uses the SC/MP. Build your own advanced computer. Tab books. uses the 9900, i believe. The Bugbooks. I can probably dig out several more which describe a single board system. None get into things such as disk drives, not that I recall anyway. Kelly

28 years, 11 months

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WTB: Wordstar 3.31

by jott＠maddog.ee.nd.edu

Hello - I am looking for an original set of Wordstar 3.31 (running under DOS) disks with correctstar and mailmerge. I specifically need the printer support for a HP laserjet printer. Please email me with particulars, including price. Thanks. John Ott jott(a)saturn.ee.nd.edu

28 years, 11 months

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Ohio Scientific, anyone?

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

I thought i'd post about a machine which certainly qualifies to be classic, an ohio scientific challenger C1P of which i know nothing about. i did get some extensive documentation with it including a presale brochure, some photocopied machine language programs, the original reciept dated 20jun1980 for $425, some info about a d&n micro card which i also got, instructions for eprom burner software, basic ref manual, and some highly technical info and board schematics. i also have several cassette tapes of software including an original adventure 0 copyright 1979 for a 24k apple and asteroids also. i also got several boards that i dont know about included. one seems to be a floppy controller and ram card from d&n micro products, two of them say osi model 502 and 527 and some others i cannot tell what they are. they all have circuit traces some missing some sockets and all are mising components so it seems like its part of a kit. anyone know about this model? it seems to be apple ][ compatible, but i havent bothered turning it on yet. heh, would be neat to find a floppy drive for it... david

28 years, 11 months

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Osbourne Executive help

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 10-May-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >I had (and still have to some extent) the same problem on my Executive. I >managed >to mitigate the problem somewhat by replacing the 12 volt muffin fan with a >117 volt >fan in order to reduce the load on the power supply. The shimmering was >reduced, but >not eliminated. Gerald, Then would you say the power supply is getting weak? It looks like the fan in the back is a standard enough part...in fact, there's room there for a larger one, as the one installed isn't even as large as the grill opening. I'll try that though and see what happens. Thanks for the tip. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 11 months

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Kaypro Corp. or Non-Linear Systems

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

A week or so ago, I recall seeing a post concerning questions about Kaypro and thier being called by which name. Unfortunately, I didn't respond to it as I wanted at the time, and procrastinated so long that now I can't find the original post! But to put my 2cents worth in, on my Kaypro 2X, it still states it was manufactured by Kaypro Corporation, of Solana Beach, CA. Since the company had yet to change names when the 2X was manufactured, would that indicate that it fell before the Kaypro II in the production cycle? If I recall, the II was labeled as coming from Non-Linear Systems? Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 11 months

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Home Made Computers

by more＠camlaw.rutgers.edu

Just a quickie.... Have any of you guys ever made your own computers? This is someting I have been thinking of doing but really don't know where to start. It doesn't have to be fancy (something with a 8088 or Z80 or 6502 would be fine) So does anyone have any "plans" to make one? Thanks Les

28 years, 11 months

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Osbourne Executive help

by gpine＠popmail.mcs.net

At 11:36 AM 5/9/97 +0500, you wrote: > I have an Osbourne Executive that is in fairly decent shape and for the >most part works fine. There's no burn-in on the CRT and both floppies work >great, but there seems to be a problem with the power supply or the video >system. > > The system boots fine, but once it has booted, the image on the screen >begins to jump or shimmer, and you can hear the fan on the rear of the machine >appear to change speeds, as if there was a power fluctuation. > > I would really like to find out what's wrong with this machine, and repair >it if possible, and am hesitant to run it the way it is. Any help would be >greatly appreciated. Thanks. > Jeff, I had (and still have to some extent) the same problem on my Executive. I managed to mitigate the problem somewhat by replacing the 12 volt muffin fan with a 117 volt fan in order to reduce the load on the power supply. The shimmering was reduced, but not eliminated. Gerald > Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com >-- >--------------------------------------------------------------------- > Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! >--------------------------------------------------------------------- > Collector of classic home computers: > > Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore > C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive > Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, > TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and > 2600VCS game consoles. > > > > >

28 years, 11 months

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gonkulator

by groberts＠mitre.org

those are magnetic strips storing programs. you would read the strip in, then insert it in a special holder below the row of function keys on the calculator. you could label the strip so you remember what each function key is programmed for. HP first introduced this with the HP67 (pocket version) and HP97 (desk version) and TI followed suit with their own equivalent. This was probably vintage late 70's or early 80's? - glenn At 02:00 AM 5/8/97 -0400, you wrote: > >Hi, I saw the post on the old calculator so here's mine: >A buddy of mine used to work at a Salvation Army so I got >a lot of stuff that they threw out. One was an old TI >calculator that had these strips you fed in one side and >a motor pulled them through (almost like a credit card reader) > >What is it? How old is it? > >Les > > > >

28 years, 11 months

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Preserve the other stuff as well Was: Re: yo

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

At 06:57 PM 5/9/97 -0500, you wrote: >Yes, the incredible rate of obsolesence in computers lets us own >stuff that only a major company or a small government would've been >able to buy 10 years ago. For example, list price on the hardware >in my Personal vaxCluster would've been over half a million dollars >when new. But I've picked it all up at auctions for a couple hundred >dollars. I remember going into the local Radio Shack and drooling over the different TRS-80 models nearly constantly in the period between 1982 and 1987, seeing as those were the systems which I had easiest access too. I wanted a Model 4P quite badly at the time, but I didn't make enough with my job for them to even think about financing me on it. I entered the military in 1983 so didn't make too much. Also, the Model III was the first micro of any type I got to use, since it was what our computer lab in high school (circa 1981-2) used. >On microcomputer prices, here's some prices from the back of an >August 1982 BYTE that I just happen to have on my desk here: >Morrow designs 5 Mbyte hard disk S-100 subsystem $1975 If I remember correctly, didn't IBM originally charge close to $5000 for it's hard disk system for the original PC-XT's? >Tandon TM100-2 5.25" FH DSDD 360K floppy drive $ 325 The Indus-GT floppy for my Atari 800 was another 5-1/4" drive that was in the $300-400 price range. Nifty drive though, and I think I have close to a dozen different DOS's to boot it from. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Collector of Classic Computers: Amiga 1000, Amiga 3000, Atari 800, Atari 800XL, Atari MegaST-2, Commodore C-128, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore VIC-20, Kaypro 2X, Mattel Aquarius, Osbourne Executive, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer 3, TRS-80 Model IV Plus Atari SuperPong and Atari 2600VCS game consoles

28 years, 11 months

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Origin of company names Apple & Atari - verify?

by marcw＠lightside.com

Howdy all, In our newspaper they have a little item called NO KIDDING. In it they list little trivia things. A few days ago there was one on "Now You Know" listing things that are different than history says (one was that Linbergh was actually the 67th person to fly solo across the Atlantic). Each daily listing also shows the reference in case no one believes. Anyhind in today's list they had "'Why' behind the names" The reason for certain names of companies/items. Apple - desire to be before "Atari" in the phone book. Atari - to look like a Japanese company Does anyone know if these reasons are true? Sounds funny but then we really don't know how/why certain names are chosen. Marc -- >> ANIME SENSHI << Marc D. Williams marcw(a)lightside.com marc.williams(a)mb.fidonet.org IRC Nick: Senshi Channel: #dos http://www.agate.net/~tvdog/internet.html -- DOS Internet Tools

28 years, 11 months

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Origin of company names Apple & Atari - verify?

by josh＠netins.net

I have an origional Apple IIC owners guide, under the "Ask Apple" Section, there is a question that says: "How did Apple get it's name?" The answer: (Taken from the Apple IIC book, Apple Presents the Apple IIC, An Interactive Owner's Guide.) "The name Apple Computer was chosen late one afternoon as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple's founders faced the deadline for filing a Fictitious Name Statement, part of the business licensing procedures. After volleying names back and forth with Wozniak for hours, Jobs looked at the apple he was eating and decided that, unless he or Woz arrived at something better by five o'clock, they would call the company Apple. Five o'clock came and went; Apple was the new company's name." This could be true, or not. Josh M. Nutzman +----------------------------------------------+ |"Life is like a river, you go with the flow...| | but in the end you usually end up dammed." | | -The Red Green Show | +----------------------------------------------+

28 years, 11 months

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unsubscribe

by mhop＠snip.net

> I don't think anyone can. I think it has to come from your account. Mail to > listserv(a)u.washington.edu Oops. It's listproc(a)u.washington.edu I think that is the first time I ever quoted my own message. :) mhop(a)snip.net

28 years, 11 months

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unsubscribe

by mhop＠snip.net

> can someone please unsubscribe me? I'm on holliday and can't take the daily > load of this list. > > Frank I don't think anyone can. I think it has to come from your account. Mail to listserv(a)u.washington.edu

28 years, 11 months

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Origin of company names Apple & Atari - verify?

by marcw＠lightside.com

> > Anyhind in today's list they had "'Why' behind the names" > > The reason for certain names of companies/items. > > > > Apple - desire to be before "Atari" in the phone book. > <SNIP> > apple and eating it. (all this up until this point is true) Then > what I've heard is that Jobs wanted to name the company in memory of > Turing's apple, which would explain the bite out of the apple. > I like that one. Good explanation for the bite. > > > Atari - to look like a Japanese company > > Atari is in fact a Japanese word. I forget what it means, but it's the > equivalent of "checkmate" in the game of Go. Founder of Atari allegedly > really liked Japanese culture and Go. > Pulled out the Japanese dictionary and the definition is close. "a hit" or "on target". For awhile I guess they were. Marc -- >> ANIME SENSHI << Marc D. Williams marcw(a)lightside.com marc.williams(a)mb.fidonet.org IRC Nick: Senshi Channel: #dos http://www.agate.net/~tvdog/internet.html -- DOS Internet Tools

28 years, 11 months

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TI 99 & a good weekend

by BigLouS＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-04-29 00:50:04 EDT, Charles P. Hobbs writes: << As for the TI without any chrome at all . . .did it look painted, or . . . >> I didn't take a really close look but it didn't appear to be painted. It also seemed to have a circle on the case above the keyboard. Lou

28 years, 11 months

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Osbourne Executive help

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

I have an Osbourne Executive that is in fairly decent shape and for the most part works fine. There's no burn-in on the CRT and both floppies work great, but there seems to be a problem with the power supply or the video system. The system boots fine, but once it has booted, the image on the screen begins to jump or shimmer, and you can hear the fan on the rear of the machine appear to change speeds, as if there was a power fluctuation. I would really like to find out what's wrong with this machine, and repair it if possible, and am hesitant to run it the way it is. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 11 months

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gonkulator

by josh＠netins.net

>Magnetic-card programming of calculators was certainly around before >then. My HP9100, for example, has a card reader/writer (though I've >never used it - anybody have any cards compatible with this nearly >3-decade-old classic?) > >Tim. (shoppa(a)triumf.ca) I recently sold my HP9100b. It had several cards with it, and even a program library book! Hang on to your 9100 what ever you do! I got $750 for mine, I'm sure an origional 9100 would go for a few more! It was the first desktop calculator HP made, way back in 1967-69 (somewhere around there) Josh M. Nutzman +----------------------------------------------+ |"Life is like a river, you go with the flow...| | but in the end you usually end up dammed." | | -The Red Green Show | +----------------------------------------------+

28 years, 11 months

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The List!

by zmerch＠northernway.net

Whilst in a self-induced trance, Steven J. Feinsmith happened to blather: >Susan M Johnson wrote: >> Currently, the H/Z-100 can run 8", 5 1/4" (40 & 96 tpi), and 3 1/2" (96 >> & 135 tpi) floppy disk drives; MFM hard drives (also RLL, although not >> common), tape drives, and SCSI drives. CD-ROM drives are also possible. > >During days of H/Z-110 and 120... there are only two floppy disk drives, >5.25" and 8". The 8" system was short lived. There was never using >3.5" >but some people successful attempted this way when H/Z-100 were no >longer >in market. They have to write a special software included BIOS to work >with 3.5" drive. SCSI system on H/Z-110 or 120 was very rarely. Those >days it was called SASI. There was never using tape drive or CD-ROM >drives >because H/Z-110 or 120 never use with IDE or EIDE. But it can use with >SCSI based interfaced. I have a few comments on what each of you said: Steven: Notice that Susan wrote "Currently," at the beginning of the sentance. That means that altho the 3.5" disk drives weren't available at the time of the machine's introduction, you can easily get any machine that uses the standard 34-pin floppy interface to use a 3.5" disk drive. I currently use 3.5" drives on both my Atari 800 and my Tandy Color Computer 3, neither of which had 3.5" drives available at the time of their introduction. Provided you were replacing an 80TkDSDD 5.25" (or lesser) drive with an 80TkDSDD 3.5" drive, you would not need a new BIOS, as the drives are electrically equivilant. Steven: Also, SASI and SCSI are *different*, SASI being the precursor of SCSI. Altho they are *somewhat* compatible IIRC, SCSI did have extra features that could not be used with a SASI interface. Susan: You're sentance above is slightly misleading, however, as there were no 96tpi 3.5" drives that I've ever heard of (and I own some *weird* ones!) Everything from the 200K SSSD Tandy Portable Disk Drive 2 (used for Tandy's *early* non-MSDOS laptops) right on up to the 2.88Meg ED drives are 135TPI. Hope this helps! Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed, Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should *not* zmerch(a)northernway.net | be your first career choice.

28 years, 11 months

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gonkulator

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

> Hi, I saw the post on the old calculator so here's mine: > A buddy of mine used to work at a Salvation Army so I got > a lot of stuff that they threw out. One was an old TI > calculator that had these strips you fed in one side and > a motor pulled them through (almost like a credit card reader) > > What is it? How old is it? > > Probably a TI-59. I recall owning a TI-58c and TI-59 calculator back > in high school. In fact, I think I still have the TI-59, books and > cards for it buried somewhere. If anyone is interested, I don't have > any desire to collect calculators.

28 years, 11 months

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unsubscribe

by frankhil＠mediaport.org

can someone please unsubscribe me? I'm on holliday and can't take the daily load of this list. Frank

28 years, 11 months

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movie computers (The List! )

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

In the movie _Sneakers_, Ben Kingsley plays an ex-hacker who is now the financial data processing administrator for the Mob. He has a large complex of systems including a very Cray-like central processor and all sorts of fancy accessories. He's extolling the virtues of mob money to Robert Redford's character, and to illustrate his point he turns on the Cray's terminal... lo and behold, the Cray runs Microsoft Excel! Since we were in a theater about 6 blocks from Microsoft corporate campus, that scene was the biggest laugh of the film. Kai > ---------- > From: Brian L. Stuart[SMTP:stuart@colossus.mathcs.rhodes.edu] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 1997 3:32 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: The List! > > Doug Spencer asks: > >Actually, the III was visible for a second or so in Tron, wasn't it? > > I don't remember seeing an Apple III, but there was a glimps of > a Cray 1. It wasn't in focus though )-: > > Brian L. Stuart > Math/CS Dept, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN > stuartb(a)acm.org > http://www.mathcs.rhodes.edu/~stuart/ >

28 years, 11 months

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gonkulator

by zmerch＠northernway.net

Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, Mr. Self Destruct said: >Hi, I saw the post on the old calculator so here's mine: >A buddy of mine used to work at a Salvation Army so I got >a lot of stuff that they threw out. One was an old TI >calculator that had these strips you fed in one side and >a motor pulled them through (almost like a credit card reader) > >What is it? How old is it? > >Les Sounds like you might be talking about the TI-59 (? did the TI-58 have this capability also? I've never seen a 58). I used one in high school... really neato once you got used to TI's programming practices. It also had a 32 or 40 column thermal printer that the calculator mounted to, and then the printer served as the base. The mag strip was mainly for data storage or user-created programs, as it also had the capability to use pre-programmed ROM cartridges. They even had a cartridge of games! ISTR a football game that printed out all the team stats on the printer. A very interesting piece of hardware. Hope this helps, "Merch" -- Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed, Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.

28 years, 11 months

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CLASSICCMP digest

by classicjr＠juno.com

Bill, it looks like I will have to unsubscribe then re-subscribe again. I have not received any digest since May 1st. Can you please reply with instructions? Thanks! Jeff R.

28 years, 11 months

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gonkulator

by HamiJohn＠aol.com

Hi Les, In a message dated 97-05-08 07:54:21 EDT, you write: << Hi, I saw the post on the old calculator so here's mine: A buddy of mine used to work at a Salvation Army so I got a lot of stuff that they threw out. One was an old TI calculator that had these strips you fed in one side and a motor pulled them through (almost like a credit card reader) What is it? How old is it? >> It was either a SR-52 (1975) or TI-59 (1977). The first had a 100 step memory, the latter a 960 step memory. You could store programs and data on those tiny magnetic strips (guess they were like tiny floppies - except you turned the card around to read the second track)! Really great "micro-micro" computers. A terrific way to learn the thought process of efficient programming (once wrote a Social Security retirement program on the TI-59). What one could do when the bytes were few! John Hamilton hamijohn(a)aol.com "Life would be much easier if I had the source code ..."

28 years, 11 months

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gonkulator

by more＠camlaw.rutgers.edu

Hi, I saw the post on the old calculator so here's mine: A buddy of mine used to work at a Salvation Army so I got a lot of stuff that they threw out. One was an old TI calculator that had these strips you fed in one side and a motor pulled them through (almost like a credit card reader) What is it? How old is it? Les

28 years, 11 months

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Help ID this card...

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

Should be a simple one, but lets see... (and 'cause I can't get to that section of my archives!) Card from an Apple II, wondering if it might be the interface for a ProFile HD. Markings on card: Xebec (now you know why I suspect a HD ctrlr) FCC ID CF77KL103916APPLE Assy 103916-04 Rev H-04 S/N 9-0733 What says the council? -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174

28 years, 11 months

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Wanted: magazine?

by mhop＠snip.net

> What about Popular Computing? I have a note that I want to find #38, and I > don't even remember why. You mean vol 3, number 8? June of 84? (I have been cleaning up my apt and am find lots of old stuff) mhop(a)snip.net

28 years, 11 months

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movie computers - Outland

by mhop＠snip.net

> I'm sorry but I can't recall a scene in any movie that resembles a real > use of a computer. Face it computers on film are boring. That's why > every movie computer has animated graphics and makes noises every time > you do something. What about the movie Outland? The Doc used a computer to analyze a dead man's blood for drugs, and the graphics were reasonably occilloscopic-like to seem realistic. Don't forget "Mother" in Alien. No graphics, just reporting the facts. mhop(a)snip.net

28 years, 11 months

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Colmputers in Movies & T.V.

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Since I am a real fan of computers in movies and books let me try to clarify some of this stuff... Doug Spencer: >Actually, the (Apple) III was visible for a second or so in Tron, wasn't it? That's the machine in Flynn's place, he was hacking into the Encomm system with it. Later they show Flynn and Laura Sneaking through a data processing center on their way to to a terminal in Laser Bay 2. I don't know minis from mainframes, so I'll leave it at that. From: "Starling" <starling(a)umr.edu> > I recently found out that _Weird Science_ possibly has an Apple Lisa in > it and that some chick is named Lisa because she was designed on the > computer. Never seen the flick, but I think I might have to now... When the computer created girl asked for a name, Gary suggested Lisa, a girl he met in school who he had a crush on. They show what looks like an IBM clone (modular Franklin unit?) at Wyatt's house, (I like that RETURN key with the flashing lights, probably even if you had it and instructed the user to press it they still would press the wrong one.) Also shows a terminal and bank of large reel-to-reel tape units in the 'military center' they hacked into. From: "Scott Walde" <scott(a)saskatoon.com> > And wasn't there an IMSAI in War Games? (It's been a long time, though.) Yes, pretty blue and red switches, lights, with 8 inch drives. From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> > I thought it was simply amazing how that blind guy could figure out what > an electronic device did by simply rubbing his fingers over the > components. THAT'S INCREDIBLE! But I digress. First he ran his fingers over the box and then had the kid power it up and interface it to his braille reader, then he scanned the output through the reader. I thought that movie had good merit behind it's ideas... > I thought the most realistic computer scenes in terms of relevance to > reality were in War Games. I consider parts of it a documentary. Was a great boon for the BBS community. War dialing was well explained (and also given that name) in the film. From: "Mr. Self Destruct" <more(a)camlaw.rutgers.edu> > MST3k... that had a requisite mad scientist with his super > computer which consisted of a giant steel box with a rectangular hole in > the top of it from which peeked a VIC-20! Well at least someone knows a 'Super' Computer when they see one. *grin* From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> > This is almost the same as asking why the new alien species which they > just came into contact with speaks english. Ship's computer translates alien tongues via crew's communicators, Deep Space Nine and Voyager have been clearing that up in recent episodes. Sighting for you classic fans: Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan: In Kirk's place, in front of the window, an original PET computer (BASIC startup screen showing) From: Tim Shoppa <shoppa(a)alph02.triumf.ca> >> I thought the most realistic computer scenes in terms of relevance to >> reality were in War Games. > A voice-activated IMSAI? The IMSAI wasn't voice activated, it had a voice sythesiser (must be a standard issue, even the 'crystal palace' had them), which at times failed to narrate all the text being displayed on the screen. > The horrible corruption of the term "hacker" > to mean "cracker", all due to the cluelessness of the screenplay > writers? War Games is/was an incredible insult to the true > switch-flipping hacker community. I don't think the term 'hacker' was used.. They just said 'someone' or 'that kid' broke into the WOPR. No, "Hackers" was the bad press film, yuck! From: "Charles P. Hobbs" <transit(a)primenet.com> > Speaking of computers in movies, anyone remember a late-1981(?) flick > called "Evilspeak" where the nerdy kid uses his computer to cast > Satanic spells (the commercial showed an Apple II with a pentagram on > the screen!) That Apple II was in the movie too. Coopersmith used it to translate the evil texts. From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> > Actually, one of the best (in terms of sillyness) was this movie called > DemonSeed where this super-computer becomes sentient, kills its creator, Nope, Proteus kills a technician who came by to see why the creator's soon to be ex-wife's home automation system was malfunctioning. > [Proteus] then creates a metallic penis (I am NOT making this up) that it uses to > impregnant the creator's wife, whom he is holding captive. Sorry, the egg is removed via robot (the hand on the wheelchair), altered and then replaced. > She has a 30 day (or so) gestation period and gives birth to the computer's child who > grows up to around age 8 or so in about 3 days. I forget what happens > after that. Proteus is shut down and the incubator starts to fail, the creator helps the then 'thing' out of it, (at that point the wife freaks, as she thinks she has been majorly used by Proteous and wants to kill the 'thing'), they discover there is a shell covering the child (who has the likeness of their recently deceased daughter) They wash and carress the child as their own. > I think the kid just babbles about some philosophical crap "I live!" she says in Proteus' voice. (philosophical alright) > and the movie ends. I recommend it. So do I. "Demon Seed" along with "Colossus: the Forbin Project" and "Tron", 3 movies about computers that aren't actaully as bad as they were portrayed. All of them had noble goals in mind but the reluctance of 'change for the betterment of all' and fear of their creators lead to their eventual downfall. If any of you are into reading books or watching movies where computers play a key role (or character) check out the list I'm compiling on my web site (address below.) Larry Anderson -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

28 years, 11 months

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realistic movie computers

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

(Patriot Games) | Hardly. I don't know of an operating system that yanks the file contents off | of your screen when someone else on the network deletes them. Windows? (Ferris Bueller) | Hardly. Unless he was using some sort of remote control software (like | PCAnywhere) or the principal was running a BBS, I don't know of a program | that shows someone editing database fields in realtime. Well, the bit about seeing the cursor move was dramatic license, but certainly there are numerous databases that will show dynamic updates in real time. | Actually I still think she's cute. I wish I had a cute chick | interested in me when I was a total teenage computer geek (yeah right). Well... there was the english professor's daughter, Becka... but she wasn't interested in my computer, she liked my... er... poetry. Kai

28 years, 11 months

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Colmputers in Movies & T.V.

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

| From: Larry Anderson & Diane Hare[SMTP:foxnhare@goldrush.com] | If any of you are into reading books or watching movies where | computers play a key role (or character) check out the list I'm | compiling on my web site (address below.) Try this: http://us.imdb.com/M/search_plots?for=computer Kai

28 years, 11 months

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realistic movie computers

by groberts＠mitre.org

At 09:29 AM 5/7/97 -0700, Kai Kaltenbach wrote: >_Ferris Bueller's Day Off_ has Ferris breaking into his school's system >remotely and changing his grades ... while that sounds like something Ferris Bueller would do, i think you're thinking of the early part of War Games (before he started WW III) where he logs into the school computer (password: pencil). - glenn

28 years, 11 months

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realistic movie computers

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

| From: Greg Mast[SMTP:gmast@polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu] | I'm sorry but I can't recall a scene in any movie that resembles a real | use of a computer. There was a pretty good, rather realistic scene in _Patriot Games_ where Harrison Ford has logged his nemesis' account and is grabbing files full of evidence, while the other guy frantically tries to delete them. _Ferris Bueller's Day Off_ has Ferris breaking into his school's system remotely and changing his grades in a fairly realistic manner. In _Under Siege 2: Dark Territory_, the hero wires into a broken pay phone with a Newton and sends an emergency fax. I had a Newton at the time, and loved this bit. And _Wargames_ was actually pretty realistic; he had the IMSAI with voice synth (probably a CompuTalker) and a demon dialer program, all of which were acceptable realism for me. Plus, at the time, we all thought Ally Sheedy was pretty cute. Kai

28 years, 11 months

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movie computers (The List! )

by MPritchard＠ensemble.net

> -spc (And Lazlo's computer in "Real Genius" looked like a Sun) > > if I recall right, in real genuis, they broke into the "military" > computer using a 1200 baud modem and the follwing sequence: > > ATDT 555-1234 > CONNECT > > login: SYSTEM > password: AAAAAA > ** Incorrect Password ** > > login: SYSTEM > password: AAAAAB > ** Incorrect Password ** > > login: SYSTEM > password: AAAAAC > ** Incorrect Password ** > *DISCONNECT* > > ATDT 555-1234 > CONNECT > > login: SYSTEM > password: AAAAAD > ** Incorrect Password ** > > and so on....

28 years, 11 months

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Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.classic

by ekman＠lysator.liu.se

Bill, You should write a message to NEW-LIST(a)LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU announcing the birth of CLASSICCMP. That way, you will reach most of the people who maintain mailing list databases etc. Bill wrote: > I've been reasearching the possibility of putting old magazine articles > up on the ClassicCmp web site. What about Popular Computing? I have a note that I want to find #38, and I don't even remember why. Anyway, the idea is great! /Fredrik

28 years, 11 months

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Victor Computer anyone?

by ekman＠lysator.liu.se

Good choice of subject, Sam! If you had just used "yo" again, I might have missed this one. :-) > One of the things I saw at the last swap meet I was at was a Victor PC. If it said "Victor PC" and nothing else it was almost certainly a PC clone. Victor was originally an American company (later moved to Sweden) and started out making their own PCs (ie not IBM clones). Their most successful early model must have been the Victor 9000, one of the biggest wants for my collection. It was one of the first pure 16-bit PCs and featured very nice monochrome graphics. The keyboard layout is similar to a PC and it has 2 5.25" floppy drives, so this might have been what you saw. It could run both CP/M and a ported version of MS-DOS. The 9000 was marketed in Britain with the name Sirius ACT-1 or Apricot 1 or something like that. If I remember correctly the 9000 had a dark case and black keys. Later, Victor started making IBM clones, which they continued doing until AST bought them one or two years ago. Anyway, even if what you saw was a 9000 it was probably not worth $40. /Fredrik

28 years, 11 months

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Australian computers...

by ekman＠lysator.liu.se

Kevan wrote: > I think the Microbee also originates from Australia. Correct. The Microbee is Australian. I'd love to have one of these. Is there anyone on this list who has one or used to have one? Or who knows if there are still any user groups or similar in Australia? /Fredrik

28 years, 11 months

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Help me identify a component.

by kevan＠motiv.co.uk

Ok, I have an old Anita 1000 calculator which I think dates from around 1967. It is all discrete components mounted on a number of seperate boards. One board has a funny spidery type component on it and I don't know what it is. You can see a picture here: http://staff.motiv.co.uk/~kevan/card.jpg I have a second Anita that has three of these things on it so I really would like to know what they are. Thanks -- Kevan Old Computer Collector: http://staff.motiv.co.uk/~kevan/

28 years, 11 months

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Xerox 860's available

by dcobley＠island.net

Forwarded from comp.os.cpm:- From: schach(a)garnet.berkeley.edu (Linda B) Subject: Xerox 860's -- anyone interested Date: 6 May 1997 17 : 59 : 43 GMT Organization: University of California at Berkeley Have several Xerox 860 8080 CP/M computers as well as Diablo 630 printers modified to work specifically with them. They are located in Berkeley, nyone interested in them? Linda B

28 years, 11 months

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Victor Computer anyone?

by dastar＠crl.com

One of the things I saw at the last swap meet I was at was a Victor PC. I am pretty darn sure this is some PC clone because it had the requisite function keys and 2 5.25" floppy drives. The drives and monitor and CPU were all one unit (the monitor may have been detachable or just sitting on the CPU). It was labelled "Victor" and the "o" was like a multi-band colored sun (or something). Um, don't know what else to say about it. Does anyone know what this is? I was tempted to pick it up but it was priced at (I think) $40 and wasn't even going to bother haggling (this was the same guy trying to sell two VIC-20s at $25 a piece). Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 11 months

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yo

by dastar＠crl.com

Well, here's this weekend's take: Among several computer's, I also brought in quite a few books. Here are the titles in case anyone's counting: PET Personal Computer Guide (1982) TRS-80 Color Computer and MC-10 Programs (1983) CP/M Handbook with MP/M (1980) How to Get Started with CP/M (1981) Mastering CP/M (1983) Using CP/M (1980) Color Computer Basic09 Programming Language Reference (with software) Osborne CP/M User's Guide [not Osbourne computer] (1981) The Elementary Commodore 64 (1983) Programming Techniques for Level II Basic (1980) Color Computer Playground (1983) Sams ToolKit Series VIC20 Edition (1984) Graphics Guide to the Commodore 64 (1984) TRS-80 Color Computer Programs (1982) I also got these manuals/software: TRS-80 Model II Operations Manual TRS-80 Scripsit Manual TRS-80 Videotex Commodore 64 Bonus Cassette Pack (this is 5 cassettes still in the original shrinkwrap of all things) I'm finding that I am more interested now in the accessories, like cables, manuals, modems, datasettes, etc. than in the computers I find now because I pretty much have all the common systems. What I really need to get a lot of my systems running are power supplies or, in most cases, the original video cable. A lot of these lame-o manufacturers of yester year (namely Commodore) used cables with ridiculous pin-outs for the video. Now onto the hardware...first some accessories: TRS-80 Modem I (very cool) (2) C64 1541 drives VIC 1541 drive Commodore 1531 Datasette And these systems: Commodore Plus4 Commodore 64 (for parts to fix my broken one) Atari 5200 (have 5 of these but none with the funky video/power adapter...this one had one so I bought it). Odyssey 3000 [!] (stand-alone unit with 4 built-in games...Pong-type games...by Magnavox) Laser 50 PC [!] (cool little "portable computer"...has a one-line 20 character LCD display with built-in BASIC...it is about half the width and thickness of a typical laptop...it is not a serious computer, more like a toy; manufactured by Vtech, which is the company that makes all those kids computer toys; circa 1985) Between the Odyssey 3000 and the Laser 50, I can't decide what I should choose as my catch of the weekend. Both are systems I had never even heard of or seen, so its always a nice surprise to pick up something like these out of the blue. Last but not least, I got this luggable that I need some help identifying. It is a portable that looks very much like an Osbourne (which is what I thought it was at first but realized it wasn't). It has a built in 7" screen and two 5.25" floppies. It has one knob on the front for contrast, and next to that is an RJ-14 (6-conductor) jack for the keyboard. There is no identifying mark on it anywhere. The front cover pops off revealing the screen/floppies and contains the keyboard. When it boots up, it just shows a flashing "K" with an underscore beneath it located at the upper left-hand corner of the screen. It doesn't do anything beyond that, which is making the identification process all the more difficult. The back has two DB25's, one male labelled SERIAL and the other female labelled PARALLEL. There are also some peripheral card openings. Cracking it opens reveals that it has what looks to be an XT bus with 4 slots. There are 2 cards and a hard drive inside. One card is labelled "Hyper CLOCK" and is obviously a clock card. The other is a Racal-Vadic modem. Then the 3rd & 4th slots are taken up by a hard-card (hard drive on a card) which plugs into one slot. It is manufactured by Tandon. The only chip of significance inside is a Motorola labelled MC6845P. I'm speculating that this is the CPU. There is a label on the motherboard (which is huge, measuring almost 2 feet square) which says "Corona Data Systems" and then "200290-512" which I am guessing means it has 512K. There are 4 rows of 16 each RAM chips...half are soldered in and half are plugged into sockets. Lastly, a label on the back of the outside say "Model M18P-2" and the keyboard is made by Keytronics. I didn't write it down but I believe I saw a date somewhere of 1981. Any help figuring this behemoth out would be appreciated. After figuring it wasn't an osbourne 1, I was going to pass on it but I offered $5 and for the hell of it and got it. Maybe it'll turn out be something cool. Oh yeah, total bill was $44.00. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 11 months

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Victor Computer anyone / Heath

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> Hi All, > > Right on. The Victor 9000 was quite a system. Monochrome hi res > video. Way ahead of its time IMHO. If I remember right, it was an > 8086 based PC that was designed by the same fellow who designed the > 6502 chip. Unfortunatly, his name escapes me. Chuck Peddle.

28 years, 11 months

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movie computers (The List! )

by David_A._Vandenbroucke＠hud.gov

On Tue, 6 May 1997, Roger Merchberger wrote: > > And the 64,000 byte question: If Scotty had *never* seen a QWERTY keyboard > before in his life... how the *he!!* can he type so fast!?! > > Inquiring minds want to know! > Not to mention that he was able to quickly sketch out the formula for "transparent aluminum" using ghod knows what software. --Dav david_a._vandenbroucke(a)hud.gov

28 years, 11 months

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Pournelle (The decline and fall of Byte)

by David_A._Vandenbroucke＠hud.gov

>I have read many letters here and I hope this is NOT what we are going >to continually hear - Microsoft reps patting themselves on the back >because they and the company can NEVER BE WRONG. Let's keep company >reps out if they only want to glorify the company (that basically has >the computer world in turmoil with poor quality non-innovative >software). I don't work for Microsoft, but I have had a similar run-in with Dr. Pournelle. I am a professional economist (a "Dr." too, as it happens), and in some discussion forum or other on GEnie I once quoted Milton Friedman's well-known (among economists) remark that "we're all Keynesians now." If you know the way that macroeconomic theory has converged over the past few decades, the remark makes perfect sense and doesn't detract from Friedman's status as the leader of the believers in the unfettered market. However, Pournelle was on me like a ton of bricks. He clearly _didn't_ understand what Keynesian theory was all about and thought that it just stood for government policies that he didn't like. He didn't care about references, because he "knew" that Friedman just _couldn't_ have said that, sort of like those guys who didn't bother to look into Galileo's telescope because they _knew_ the sun couldn't have spots. Eventually I just gave up on the conversation, and I suppose Pournelle thinks that he won the argument. --Dav david_a._vandenbroucke(a)hud.gov

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Victor Computer anyone?

by tomph＠ix3.ix.netcom.com

Hi Again, <snip> > I remember playing around with some Victors at the neighborhood computer > store in 1981 or so. . .did they run CP/M? The original lot we used ran CPM/86. As the IBM continued to grow in market share a version of MS/DOS modified specifically for the Victor was released. > I also remember reading that they had a wierd disk format, and Victor > wanted to control all of the software available for the machine. The wierd disk format came from the multi speed floppy drive and the zones. 600K on one side of a 5-1/4" disk. Not bad for it's time. > The > article said "You couldn't even get a copy of Dbase II unless you got it > through Victor". Any truth to that? Yep, due mainly to the disk format. Can't remember if there were problems with the video driver portion also. The system had a very high resolution. I once saw video being played on the screen. Looked every bit as good as a black and white TV except it was green and black. In any event, you just couldn't bring programs straight over. As far as applications went, they had Victor versions of Lotus, Supercalc, MultiPlan, Multimate, dBase II, Crosstalk, Wordstar and others. It even had a 3D spreadsheet called Victor Calc. There was talk of Victor releasing a disk drive that would read and write IBM format and an emulation board that would allow it to run IBM software. As I remember it, this board was giving them all kinds of headaches. Never really got it to work bug free or at least free enough so that users wouldn't complain. Shortly after this the company went belly up. Seems that they were will established over seas and had a good share of the market. In an attempt to migrate the system to this side of the pond they overextended themselves in the marketing department and opened up too many sales locations all over the country but the sales didn't materialze. I remember them shutting down location after location. That's about all I can remember. Hope that helps. Tom

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movie computers (The List! )

by gmast＠polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu

I'm sorry but I can't recall a scene in any movie that resembles a real use of a computer. Face it computers on film are boring. That's why every movie computer has animated graphics and makes noises every time you do something. I worked with a guy in 3-D modeling. He learned how to spin a shaded object on the screen. Every time a (computer clueless) manager came by he'd start spinning. They were really impressed! Then after they left, he'd ask me how to make it do something else. What I really enjoy is the blank screen where you type in "find Bob Smith" and it comes back with everything about the guy including pictures, tax returns, blueprints of his house, and always that little piece of information that ties him to the crime. Where can I get one of those? I remember trying out a little accessory for my mac that caused the thing to beep every time you hit a key. just like in the movies! Drove me crazy after about 30 seconds.

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Victor Computer anyone / Heath

by tomph＠ix6.ix.netcom.com

Hi All, I've been lurking for one day but had to reply to this one so I hope I'm not breaking any rules. <snip> > That was an ACT Victor 9000, aka Sirius 9000 in Europe. It's a brilliant > machine (by coincidence I saw a Sirius keyboard for sale last Sunday). > 8088-based, but not PC compatible. Will run the usual OSs and the usual > software. I can't remember specs of the top of my head. After the > Victor/Sirius, ACT went on to design the Apricot series, with which you may > be more familiar. If you need the full specs, I'll be happy to have a look > for you! Right on. The Victor 9000 was quite a system. Monochrome hi res video. Way ahead of its time IMHO. If I remember right, it was an 8086 based PC that was designed by the same fellow who designed the 6502 chip. Unfortunatly, his name escapes me. It was not IBM compatible in any way which is what really killed it. I had a classroom with 12 of those systems in it. Very reliable. Also had a variable speed 5-1/4 drive that stored more data on the outer tracks by slowing the drive down. Had about 5 different speed zones on the disk so it store 600k per disk. Quite a feat when IBM was still at the 360K density. On another note. The reason I'm here is that someone recommended I drop a line to let you all know I have a Heath Z150 PC that I built back in 1984. I also have all the manuals and schematics and two binders of Remark mag. I no longer have room for it and would like to find a good home for it. Aside from shipping charges, it's free for the taking. I'm located on Long Island in New York. Anyone interested. I'd hate to have to deep six it. Let me know Tom

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movie computers (The List! )

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> You can't forget about the PDP-8/E with DECTape drives that > appeared in "Three Days of the Condor". And wasn't there an IMSAI in War Games? (It's been a long time, though.) ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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movie computers (The List! )

by zmerch＠northernway.net

Two of my favorites: ISTR (tho I haven't seen it since it came out) that the original Terminator was programmed in: 1: Basic (Applesoft Basic, wasn't it?) 2: 8-bit Assembly (methinks 6800/6809, but it could have been 6502... memory fuzzy) 3: Get this: COBOL!!!!! ;-O There may have been others... but those are three I distinctly remember >from the movie. The other one (of course): Scotty talking to a mouse on an original Macintosh (which, of course) had the computational capabilities of a Cray it would seem... And the 64,000 byte question: If Scotty had *never* seen a QWERTY keyboard before in his life... how the *he!!* can he type so fast!?! Inquiring minds want to know! Prost, "Merch" -- Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed, Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should *not* zmerch(a)northernway.net | be your first career choice.

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movie computers (The List! )

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> And the 64,000 byte question: If Scotty had *never* seen a QWERTY keyboard > before in his life... how the *he!!* can he type so fast!?! Shouldn't that actually be the 65,536 byte question? ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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movie computers (The List! )

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> Two of my favorites: > > ISTR (tho I haven't seen it since it came out) that the original Terminator > was programmed in: > > 1: Basic (Applesoft Basic, wasn't it?) > 2: 8-bit Assembly (methinks 6800/6809, but it could have been 6502... > memory fuzzy) That reminds me... was it Inner Space where the guys working on the computers were simply going through pages of monitor dumps on Apple ][+ or //es? ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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Pournelle (The decline and fall of Byte)

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

About 9 years ago when I was in our end user support organization, I had occasion to speak to Jerry. He was threatening to give QuickBasic a scathing review because he couldn't get it to compile Mrs. Pournelle's Reading Program (what else?) under Windows 386. He called up our QuickBasic group manager and just about carved him a new orifice. I, as the Windows support lead, was asked to call him on this very urgent, sky-is-falling problem and help him out, since as you may have noticed >from years of columns, he never, ever calls support himself. The conversation went something like this: Me: "Hi Mr. Pournelle, this is Kai with Microsoft Product Support..." Jerry: "What the HELL are you DOING calling during my DINNER TIME?!?" Me: "I'm sorry sir, I understood you had a very urgent issue, and I had no way of knowing..." Jerry: "YOU PEOPLE are MORONS! <blah blah blah blah>" And things went downhill from there. Later on we finally got to the problem, which as I recall was related to a bizarre SCSI adapter in that silly Cheetah 386 he had, the one into which he would put any piece of hardware any manufacturer ever sent to him for free. Not a great experience. I spoke to him again a few months later on a different issue, and he was no more lucid or logical on that occasion. Kai > ---------- > From: Ward Griffiths and/or Lisa Rogers[SMTP:gram@cnct.com] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 1997 2:01 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: The decline and fall of Byte > > On Tue, 6 May 1997, Captain Napalm wrote: > > > My own collection of Byte starts with August of 85 (Amiga 1000 is > the > > cover story) and ends somewhere in late 89 or early 90. The library > at the > > university I attended had issues starting from Jan '77 (which I read > 8-). > > The dates given here are approximate, looking at a Byte from 1980, > then 1985 > > then 1990 will show almost three different magazines. > > > > -spc (It started sliding when Robert Tinney stopped doing magazine > covers, > > (~87) then it nose dived once Steve Ciarcia stopped writing > hardware > > articles, (~88 or 89) although there are some that think it > started > > way back in '77 when Pournelle started his column) > > Well, most of my older Byte magazines were destroyed by water several > moves ago, and I wouldn't mind acquiring most of them again. I had > mostly > given up on Byte in the mid-eighties, but in recent years I've wound > up > with a subscription (recently finally expired) due to McGraw-Hill > ceasing > publication of more useful magazines. Ciarcia's articles were always > excellent (and I know that most of them were released in book form > awhile > back), and his current magazine, "Circuit Cellar Ink" is pretty good, > especially if you're a serious hardware hacker as I no longer am. > Actually, nowadays, Pournelle's column is about the only thing I read > in > the magazine, and now that it's available on the web (with extra > text), I > really don't care to subscribe. Opinions vary concerning Jerry > Pournelle. > I've known him for over twenty years due to our mutual interest in > science > fiction and membership in the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (I'm > still a member despite living in New Jersey -- Death Shall Not Release > You!). Over the years we've had a lot of conversations and arguments, > about politics (he's in favor of having a government, I'm opposed), > about > space development (we're both in favor) and computers (I was a > Shacker, > and while I was living elsewhere on the continent he had bad > experiences > with a very early TRS-80 and the company rather hurt themselves by > being > uncooperative and ignorant of the power of the press -- which is why > after > I showed him one of the first Model 100s, he went out and got a NEC > equivalent). He's a man of strong opinions who's always trying to > learn > something new and so am I. Really, he should be a member of this > mailing > list -- he's experienced directly more of the history of computers > than > most of us who've worked and played with them. That plus having the > clout > to get information from the movers and shakers. > -- > Ward Griffiths > "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within > the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe > >

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The List!

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> > Apple III 6502 128K SOS MICRO 83 > > The Apple III is definitely earlier than 1983. I have a booklet entitled > "Apple In Depth" from 1981 and it has the Apple III in it. Also, I found > a review of the III in the December, 1980 issue of Popular Science > (p.113). Strictly from my memory but, I'm _positive_ the A/// was released in fall of 1980. It actually beat the IBM PC to market, but had 100% hardware malfunction in the first run, and didn't have the bugs fixed until after the PC was out. (No longer strictly from memory. I just checked it out, It _Was_ Sept. 1980, and the ][+ was June 1979.) Apple has a great 'History' at: http://product.info.apple.com/pr/background/pr.background.timeline.html (Of course, it doesn't really mention any of the major failures.) ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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movie computers (The List! )

by ldickey＠west.cscwc.pima.edu

DATE SENT: 6-MAY-1997 16:59:36 > >I recently found out that _Weird Science_ possibly has an Apple Lisa in >it and that some chick is named Lisa because she was designed on the >computer. Never seen the flick, but I think I might have to now... > I think it may have been an Atari (1200xl?). It's been years since I last saw the movie, so I might be wrong. --- ####### "Hey...how'd I get in here?" | o o | Loren Dickey ( ^ ) ldickey(a)west.cscwc.pima.edu \ o / ldickey(a)aztec.asu.edu

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Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.classic

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

I agree completely Bill. Here are some reasons I can think of off the top of my head for starting the newsgroup: - If we look at The List that has been circulating, only about 1% of those manufacturers have a comp.os.* group associated. - Someone who has a classic computer in their closet doesn't want to join a mailing list just to post a targeted for sale ad. - We don't want posts from commercial vendors of classic systems/software/parts filling up our mailboxes, but I'd like to encourage them to post to the newsgroup. - alt.folklore.computers is for discussions about folklore (did Gary Kildall really refuse to sign that IBM nondisclosure, thus dooming CP/M?) not buy/sell/trade activity. - A mailing list is an inappropriate place to hold an auction - Usenet is automatically archived and searchable via DejaNews Kai > ---------- > From: Bill Whitson[SMTP:bill@booster.bothell.washington.edu] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 1997 2:52 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD > rec.collecting.computers.classic > > > Keeping it to ourselves is counter productive. The point is to > share the > > knowledge to get more people interested to preserve more computers. > The > > point is we do this because we have passion for the systems. Every > hobby > > is going to be prostituted some time or another. As long as your > passion > > remains, its all good. > > Let me clarify, just in case. Anyone with interest can join this > list. > If you guys wish to spread the word or post about it in appropriate > places be my guest. > > I don't stand one way or the other on the newsgroup idea but I think > it's agood idea to take a look at groups like comp.sys.ti where the > bulk of the info comes from the mailing list reposts and almost > everything else is spam. That is the reason why I decided to go with > a > mailing list rather than a newsgroup. It seems silly to argue about > the > group if the process has already been started - if it gets created it > will > either get used or not. If it passes I'll be one of the people > reading > it as I'm sure most of you will. > > Bill > > ---------------------------------------------------- > Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp > bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu > http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw > >

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Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.c

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> Well how about a "Computer Journal" all our own? > > Just an idea... and it really wouldn't take that much effort! I like this idea. Maybe it could be a group collaborative effort. (Another mailling list?) Besides articles relating to collecting, I think it would be really cool to try to obtain the rights to reprint some classic magazine articles that some of us never got to see, or were to shortsighted at the time to keep. (Construction type articles. Maybe some reviews.) (Are we talking about 'ink and paper' here or electronic? I was thinking 'ink and paper', but [html,pdf,whatever] wouldn't be bad either.) > Les ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.classic

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Hi all, Due to the shocking absence of a computer collecting newsgroup (alt.folklore.computers is used a bit, but doesn't really apply), I'm submitting an RFD for rec.collecting.computers.classic. If anyone would like to be listed as a co-proponent, let me know. This may entail some work in assisting/monitoring the RFD process. The RFD will be cross-posted to classiccmp when complete. thanks Kai

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Replies to stuff...

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

From: hellige <jeffh(a)eleventh.com> To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Subject: Re: Atari prob, etc. > One thing about Atari 8bit stuff is a lot of it tended to use it's own > power rating on the power supply, and not really interchangeable > between most of it, it seems. I'll check the ratings on the 1200 xl in the FAQ maybe that was the problem... :/ --------- From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> Subject: yo >First Annual Classic Computer Collector Conference >Why? BECAUSE! Does any hacker need a reason (well maybe the tried and true, "Because they say it's impossible.") > Next question... > Where? > Livermore, California (tentative...actual venue TBD) I could handle that. Hey that's were alot of the companies started. > When? > Late Summer 1997 (possibly August) > Who? > Organizer: Sam Ismail > Sponsors: Pending (targeted sponsors will be > Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and > other computer manufacturers in the local area > and Silicon Valley). Apple could use a little more good P.R... (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) > What? > The Classic Computer Collector Convention is > slated to be the premier computer faire to > attend to meet with fellow classic computer > collector geeks, buy/sell/trade classic computer > stuff, exchange classic computer software and > classic computer hints and tips, attend > workshops on classic computer preservation and > restoration, and of course see classic > computers. > Some show features: > Classic Computer Spotlight - every year a > legendary system is chosen to be heralded as the > classic computer of the year (nominees for the > first show are Altair 8800; Apple ][; Commodore > PET; ???). Hey how about a demo contest too? Have you ever seen those european groups' parties, (search the web there are some good pages about them) looks pretty cool to me. Kinda like a hackerfest. > Classic Computer Pioneer - every year an > individual from the annals of computer lore will > be chosen as the Classic Computer Pioneer of the > year. This would be someone who had a lasting > legacy or made a historical impact on the > computer industry, but is not necessarily active > anymore (ie. this precludes Bill Gates from > qualifying). Nominees: Gary Kildall, creator of > CP/M; Steve Wozniak; ??? As I said Apple could use the P.R. (maybe get the Steves...) Unfortunately Gary Kildall (creator of CP/M) died a couple years back (but would be a kick to honor him), Chuck Peddle was the creator of the 6502 microprocessor and Commodore PET among other things. > Classic Computer Museum - A classic museum will > be set-up on-site to allow interested public to > see what classic computers are all about. > Attendees will be encouraged to submit their > favorite classics for display during the show. Better have tight security there if we bring our 'babies' to sow off. > The success of the show will depend on > attendance. Admission will be enough to cover > the costs of running the show (including lease > of the venue, advertising, etc). Although there > won't be much of a vending atmosphere (unless > people want to haul their stuff from all over > the country) space will be sold for such > purposes. That sounds reasonable. > More details as I come up with them. I would > really appreciate feedback from the patrons of > this discussion group. Any ideas, comments, > suggestions are welcome (please suggest a better > name!) The only computer show I attended was the World of Commodore in San Francisco in 1987, since then most of the shows have been feeding frenzies for developers and not at all interested in the computer classics. I would attend and I'm sure I could get others in the area interested. ---------- From: Doug Spence <ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca> Subject: Re: Old Computer Books (was Re: Pets & Silly Game) > ...But the only PET books this library has are things like > collections of type-in programs for the PET, and books on using the PET in > an educational environment. Nothing good and technical. The technical ones are some of the hardest to locate, some of mine came from a Commodore Group weeding out their library, I bought them via mail. The most PET books I've come across are old college and school textbooks (anyone see "Hands-On BASIC with the Commodore PET?" yuk.) --- Subject: BBSes on old hardware and SuperVIC > (re: VIC-20) I'd put at least 32K in it, with a memory > protection toggle on the RAM so that it could run images of cartridges > from disk. There is a file I think on funet.fi's FTP that describes and internal mod that does just that. :) --- Subject: PETs etc. > If only I could find such things. I suspect that if I took a trip to > Toronto I'd have much better luck in all of my searches for old computer > hardware, software, and books, but the chances of finding PET stuff in > particular would go up a hundred fold. (What with TPUG, the Toronto PET > Users Group, etc.) True, that was a very good Commodore region. > I have a feeling that computer ownership wasn't nearly as common in > Montreal in the early days as it was in most other major North American > cities... I would believe that, I think it depnds on what stores, groups were in the area as well as what computers were first brought in. (Keeping up with the Jones') > (re-piggybacking chips) > Uh... was he looking for data redundancy or something? ;) No he had some dead RAMS and got tired of swapping chips, and figured if he piggybacked two he would at least get one good one out of it. :/ > I intend to write the software on my own, but fast serial routines might > come in handy. I want to at least get 2400bps out of the thing. Most of the BASIC boards I have is up to 1200 baud, I know for 2400 you probably have to tweak the timing registers, cause the computer does not provide decent numbers. > I don't think that'll be a problem for the VIC-20, as it's faster at I/O than the > 64. I'll probably have to put in a lot of RAM, though, to act as buffers > for the slow disk drives. :) There have been a bunch of articles for adding 256k to 1 meg internally to the 64 and bank-switching, not sure if that's possible on the VIC though, they may be adaptable. > Do you mean the music teacher's programs, or the Cursor tapes? :) YES! YES! > I think I have copies of tapes #1 to #8, plus a couple of games from later tapes. > I wish I had the originals... but these were copies made from the high > school music teacher's subscription. :) Mine are also from High School and I can say I have programs from 13 to into the 20s I think. No originals here either *sniff* > Ouranos! is an awesome game, BTW. I had the PET print up the listing and I > intended to port it to the Amiga, but I never got around to it. I don't > think it'd be the same, though, on anything but another PET with glaring > white screen. Weather War II for the Commodore-64 is a re-write of Ouranos! nifty little character graphic castles, SID sound, sprites were used to add some foliage (just for looks) > What's the serial number on that machine? Gotta go to storage and read it... Not in the 'original documentation' envelope. > I have a feeling it's a lot older than this PET. Both of my PETs have quite > ordinary-looking ROMs. > (The one with the mini keyboard has the 1.0 BASIC ROMs, with the '*** > COMMODORE BASIC ***' message and the other one has upgrade ROMs.) My 'calculator keyboard' PET has 1.0 too. I have the schematics and diagnostics for it too... Has been modified with a reset switch has ability to use a skyles add-on keyboard (you have to load and run a program first), and of course, expandamem. > Um... hold it... how are the 4116's arranged? You probably said, but of > course I can't go back into my mailbox to read that while I'm replying to > this one (I knew there was a reason I should my system to do this > locally!). If they're 16K by 4, then that certainly WOULD be more than > 8K. :) I think those are only 8kx1. I did look at my expandamem board and the chips with the plates on them had (c)Mostek written. > (RE: Visible Memory Board deveoped for KIM-1 first.) > Wow, that's incredible. Not only did I not think that PETs that old could > do high-res graphics in any way, but to learn that one could do so on the > KIM-1! I'm flabberghasted. ;) > The KIM is something I'd really like to find somewhere. So would I. > I have this terrible fear, though, of coming across one in some electronic surplus > shop and not recognizing it. :) I had nightmares about coming across an incredible Commodore stash in some store and not having any money. *gasp!* > (re: MTU visible memory ad) > BTW, I'd love a copy of that ad. Send it to: > Doug Spence > 85 Devon Road > Baie d'Urfe, Que. > H9X 2X3 > CANADA Heck I'll toss in some disks full of other goodies too. But don't hold your breath I tend to froget doing things (like mailing stuff) for a spell. ---------- From: "Mr. Self Destruct" <more(a)camlaw.rutgers.edu> Subject: Re: weekend additions > The plus/4 could run *some* very simple basic programs from 64/vic-20 land > but even that was a chore if I remember correctly because of the different > ways the computers "tokenized" basic. I think the main difference was between the 128 and the Plus/4s extended BASIC, but was compatible with the 64. > There was also a "parallel" drive for this > computer (well I think there was) called an SFX-1??? something or other. The parallel one was the 1551; the SFX 1001 was a 1 meg floppy drive the the PET using an IEEE-488 interface (esentally an 8250 with only one disk drive.) ---------- From: "Mr. Self Destruct" <more(a)camlaw.rutgers.edu> Subject: Funky looking mouse and other TCF stuff... >1 CBM 8032 $5 > (this things got some kind of memory board that plugs into the CPU > socket and a parallel interface) Wait a minute here, are you sure it's not a RS-232 interface? It could be an 8032 upgraded to a SuperPET. If it is a SuperPET there would be a 6809 processor as well as the 6502 in there and you have 96k of RAM accessible (via bank switching). Keyboard my have some odd characters on it too (to support the languages it could run such as APL, Fortran, COBOL, etc.) Of course to run the languages you would need the disks and a drive. (I don't have them) Otherwise the daughterboard could be memory to bring it up to 96k (via bank switching) or as I mentioned a visible memory board - the indication for it is that the monitor will plug into the daughter board and then the daughterboard plugs into the motherboard's video output connector. - :) BTW REALLY GOOD PRICE! Larry Anderson P.S. I think I'm gonna start writing a FAQ about the Commodore PET. Will let you guys now when I get it on-line. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

28 years, 11 months

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yo

by KFergason＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-04-29 11:22:24 EDT, you write: << Yes, I realized that. The PDP-8 and PDP-11 are definitely worthy of mention, but did they really make the impact and have significance equal to the Altair and the others? I'm sure you could argue to that effect. Care to? >> someone can correct me if necessary, but weren't the first PDP's pretty "important" in that respect? Suddenly, universities could have their own systems. or maybe I am dreaming, mixing stories from various books. Kelly

28 years, 11 months

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yo

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 29-Apr-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >I'll second his nomination, and with great trepidation add Jay Miner to >the list. :) I think Jay Miner is definately worthy of inclusion since he did much of the design of the Atari 8bit machines, such as the 400/800, and he is generally considered the father of the Amiga line. Out of curiosity, is anyone willing to nominate Jack Tremiel? <sp?> Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, and Mega-ST/2, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 11 months

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Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.c

by idavis＠comland.com

>generate printed copies of the mag from it. PLus HTML is "free" wheras >printed copies would need a modest fee, means for collecting this, places >to print, etc. I agree with Les, start with an electronic form, then maybe move to print. I am on a limited computer budget to begin with, I would hate to reduce it any further, I might miss that big find I have been looking for. I would like to see some program listings for various machines and various languages included. I learned more from magazine program listings than I did from anywhere else. I still use program listings to divine tips and tricks. Besides, it is interesting to see program listings for other machines, and see if anything applies to a machine I am using. I am sure all of us have some programs for our machines that we could clean up and submit for inclusion, and no worries about copyright violations if we wrote them, not to mention just having some valuable information available for the taking. Plus as we add to our collections, finding program listings will give us a place to start with a new unknown machine. I actually tell people that we used to get programs in magazines, and typed them in sometimes for days at a time, and they laugh and me and think I am pulling their leg. Just be sure and include program listings. Isaac Davis idavis(a)comland.com indavis(a)juno.com

28 years, 11 months

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CLASSICCMP digest 39

by classicjr＠juno.com

Is this list still active? I haven't received any digests for several days. Please continue my subscription.

28 years, 11 months

1
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Australian computers...

by kevan＠motiv.co.uk

Hi, In mid June I will be travelling to Australia and while I am there it would be nice to pick up some classic computers. So my question is, are there any home computers that were mainly found in Australia? I know of the System-80, which I know as a Video Genie (a TRS-80 clone), and I think the Microbee also originates from Australia. All information will be gratefully recieved. -- Kevan Old Computer Collector: http://staff.motiv.co.uk/~kevan/ PS. I may be able to squeeze in some small UK items to trade so let me know if you are interested and are in Brisbane or Sydney.

28 years, 11 months

1
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Weekend Finds

by idavis＠comland.com

I went on a little shopping spree this weekend, and actually managed to find some stuff this weekend. It seems every garage sale in the north Austin area is nothing but junk, but I finally managed to find a little place with some of everything. I asked the guy if they had any atari stuff, joysticks or games, and he told me to follow him to the back. He had a box full of joysticks, and other assorted junk. I picked up the box and some other carts for my 2600 for $40. When I got home, I dug every thing out, and this is what I found. 1) Odessey2 with joysticks attached. But no power supply. Anyone know the voltage and polarity for this old thing? Of course no cartridges either, but maybe next time. 2) Mattel Aquarius with box, manual, and cassette cables and software. 3) About 20 atari 2600 carts, most of them were ones I had been looking for like air/sea battle. I don't really want to collect rare carts, just the ones I had when I was a kid. 4) Coleco Gemini Video Game System. It plays atari 2600 cartridges, and it turns on, but the screen stays black. No clue, and I don't really have the electronic equipment or knowledge to fix it. I might let my dad check it out. He's a radar technician with a lot of equipment. Maybe I should get him to teach me. 5) An 8-track tape - Spotlight the greatest hits of Gene Pitney, Del Shannon, and Tommy Roe. I'm debating whether or not to dig out the 8-track player. 6) Assorted pile of power supplies. They look like they are for assorted answering machines. 7) An Atari 1010 cassette recorder. 8) A piece of telephone testing equipment I think. Has a switch (tone, off, pulse), a telephone plug, and two wires with alligator clips. I think it's for tracing telephone wires. 9) A pile of Atari joysticks, a coleco joystick, and a couple of various cartridges for assorted systems, none of which I own. Maybe that's the incentive I need. "I've got a cartridge honey, I could really use this old obsolete computer to make sure it works. You don't want to see this cartridge go to waste do you dear??" All in all it was a decent haul for me. This place is only open for 6 hours on the first saturday of the month, so I was lucky to even get in the place. I saw a ti-99/4a, but already spending $40 was pushing it for me. Maybe next month I will get to the back again and dig for more treasure. Isaac Davis idavis(a)comland.com indavis(a)juno.com

28 years, 11 months

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Battery Leakage... Solution?

by starling＠umr.edu

Well... after a bit of searching, I've found a solution on www.flippers.com, a pinball homepage. The guy there says to remove all corrosion and then neutralize the alkali with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and distilled water, scrub with toothbrush, rinse in distilled water, and then dry with a hairbrush. This sound feasible or is it a bad idea? thanks!

28 years, 11 months

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PCB Corrosion?

by starling＠umr.edu

Last weekend I aquired an Apple Lisa 2/5 (finally!!), however the NiCad batteries that backed up the system clock have corroded and leaked all over the IO board and the backplane/motherboard (system uses a nifty CPU-on-card design like the OLD computers). Does anyone have any magic solutions to removing the green gunk from the printed circuit boards and components? I'm wanting to remove the stuff and preserve the system from further corrosion. (and yes, I am taking out those damn things) The green gunk has messed up one of the card slots so the IO card doesn't go. I plan to clean that out using one of those Nintendo cartridge slot cleaners (little card/pad thingy that you put stuff on and insert into slot). That'll get her running again for a while... but I really need all the gunk off and the corrosion STOPPED. any ideas that help save my Lisa would be greatly appreciated! chris starling

28 years, 11 months

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Weekend Finds

by COAKLEY＠AC.GRIN.EDU

> 1) Odessey2 with joysticks attached. But no power supply. Anyone know the > voltage and polarity for this old thing? Of course no cartridges either, > but maybe next time. There's an Odyssey^2 FAQ at http://www.zoomnet.net/~kcassidy/o2faq.html and a old-videogame-power-supply list at http://www.clark.net/pub/vgr/lists/l_power.html One of these ought to have it. HTH, -- Ben Coakley coakley(a)ac.grin.edu http://www.math.grin.edu/~coakley/classic for my classic game page!

28 years, 11 months

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The List! (MORE additions/changes)

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

28 years, 11 months

1
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Apple IIC 3.5 Disk, Modem/printer cable wanted

by josh＠netins.net

I am looking for a 3.5 Disk & the odd DIN-5 modem or printer (Imagewriter I) cable for my newly aquired IIC. Would be willing to set up a trade...have an old tandy Portable Disk Drive 2. If anybody has those, or knows a place on the net' that doesn't charge +$50 for an old drive, please let me know! If there is a better place to post this, please let me know! Josh M. Nutzman +----------------------------------------------+ |"Life is like a river, you go with the flow...| | but in the end you usually end up dammed." | | -The Red Green Show | +----------------------------------------------+

28 years, 11 months

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Apple IIC 3.5 Disk, Modem/printer cable wanted

by josh＠netins.net

>I think the DIN-5 cables for your modem and printer are the same ones still >used for the Mac. As for the floppy drive, I'd try looking at >comp.sys.apple2.marketplace. > >That failing, let me know and I'll dredge up the Altech address (it's not >www.alltech.com) - they sell refurbished a2 equipment Well, I have a mac and it uses a ? Mini-DIN 8? Thanks for the suggestion of Altech. I'll look them up! Josh M. Nutzman +----------------------------------------------+ |"Life is like a river, you go with the flow...| | but in the end you usually end up dammed." | | -The Red Green Show | +----------------------------------------------+

28 years, 11 months

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CGL M5 tape

by nickc＠ladyland.demon.co.uk

Hi all... I picked up a CGL M5 and original rubber-keyed 48K Spectrum (complete with V23 modem!) a couple months back for a fiver. The M5 is in very good condition and complete with three cartridges and numerous original manuals all in perfect condition. It also came with a tape which i had a little play with today but i can't get anything but the first program (a screen colour test) to load :-( Looking at the tape it seems like its been through a dodgy tape deck at some stage as the tape itself has a couple of deep grooves in it. So, has anyone got a good tape they could copy for me? For information it's a grey cassette housing with a purple, green and white striped label marked "GAME" at the top and "Baseball, ZAC BANIC" at the bottom on both sides. I'm located in the UK and would happily send you a cheque to cover the cost of a blank tape and postage. TIA...Nick. -- Nick Challoner nickc(a)ladyland.demon.co.uk Aviation photographs at: http://www.ladyland.demon.co.uk "Bother" said Pooh, as he deleted his root directory.

28 years, 11 months

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Another weekend haul, + collection list & wanted list

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

OK, here's what I came up with this weekend: - Atari 800 in *perfect* condition with AC adapter and RF modulator (the latter two in their original boxes), with a full complement of RAM & ROM cards installed, and the original BASIC cartridge. Got this on my first stop! After that it was all gravy. - Three (3) Mattel Aquarius machines (these are quite rare, at least around here--got 3 in one place!! Weird!) with captive power supplies - Timex-Sinclair ZX1000 with RAM expansion pack - Spectravideo SV-328 in original color display box, with data cassette drive, also in original box (I've never actually seen one of these "in the flesh" before) - TI 99/4A original black/silver version, mint, in original color display box, with PS, RF modulator, manuals, etc. replacing my existing TI 99/4A that was all banged up - TI 99/4A original black/silver version with 2 perfect joysticks, voice synthesizer, PS, RF modulator (didn't need the machine itself, obviously, but the whole box worth was only $6) - TI 99/4A *expansion bay* (another rare piece) with flex cable card, RS232 card, 32K RAM card, and disk controller card, with one 5 1/4" floppy drive. Geez, this sucker weighs as much as an S100 bus machine! - TRS-80 Color Computer 1 in mint condition, replacing my existing CoCo1 that had significant wear - Rare Donkey Kong and Moon Patrol Atarisoft carts for the TI 99/4A - Non computer related: Raiders of the Lost Ark on RCA Selectavision CED Videodisc, mint Nothing like another thrift store weekend in the obscure corners of the Seattle/Tacoma/Everett metroplex! Kai ------- Current collection ------- ("for trade" items are, of course, available for trade!) (Want List follows) Computers Altair 8800 with original Altair boards Altair 8800b with original Altair boards, dual 8" drives Altair 8800b (under restoration) Apple II+ with two floppy drives, monitor arch, MS Softcard Apple Macintosh 128 with manuals, carrying case, System 1 Apple Macintosh 512K in original box (for trade) Apple Macintosh 512K (for trade, needs floppy drive) Apple Macintosh Plus (for trade) Atari 800 Atari 800XL with 1010 tape drive and 1050 floppy drive (for trade) Atari 1200XL (for trade) Coleco ADAM with manuals, printer Coleco ADAM Upgrade for Colecovision ("exp unit 3") Commodore PET 2001, original 'chiclet' keyboard version Commodore PET 2001, full size 'graphics' keyboard (for trade) Commodore VIC-20 (original version) in original box Commodore VIC-20 (later version) in original box (for trade) Commodore 64 in original box with 1541 drive in original box Commodore 64 in original box (for trade) Commodore 64 in original box (for trade) Commodore 128 in original box (for trade) Compaq Compaq Cromemco System 3 (rack mount version) with dual 8" IMSAI 8080 with IMSAI CPU, 64K SRAM, CompuPro dual 8" Ithaca InterSystems DPS-1 Kaypro 10 with internal 10MB HD, CP/M, apps Kaypro II Kaypro II (for trade) Mattel Aquarius Mattel Aquarius (for trade) Mattel Aquarius (for trade) Osborne 1 Spectravideo SV-328 Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 w/floppy drive, printer, manuals, case Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 (for trade) Tandy TRS-80 Model 100 (under restoration, for trade) Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer I with floppy drive Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer I (for trade) Tandy TRS-80 Model I with exp interface, 2 floppy drives Tandy TRS-80 Model III with 2 floppy drives Texas Instruments 99/4A in original box, with expansion bay Texas Instruments 99/4A (for trade) Texas Instruments 99/4A (for trade) Timex Sinclair ZX1000 with 4K RAM Expansion Timex Sinclair ZX1000 (for trade) Game Systems Atari 2600 w/2 joysticks, 2 paddles, original manual Atari 5200 w/2 controllers, PS Atari 5200 w/2 controllers, PS (for trade) Atari 5200 w/2 controllers, PS (for trade) Atari Super Pong Coleco Telstar Classic in original box Coleco Telstar Colortron in original box Colecovision w/2 controllers, PS Colecovision w/2 controllers, PS (for trade) Colecovision w/2 controllers, PS (for trade) Fairchild Channel F in original box GCE/Milton Bradley Vectrex with Multicart GCE/Milton Bradley Vectrex (for trade) Mattel Intellivision with Intellivoice module Mattel Intellivision II with Intellivoice module Mattel Intellivision (for trade) Milton-Bradley Microvision Nintendo NES Magnavox Odyssey2 in original box with Multicart Magnavox Odyssey2 in original box (for trade) Magnavox Odyssey2 in original box (for trade) Radio Shack Color TV Scoreboard in original box ------- Want List ------- Apple I Apple II Apple /// Apple Lisa Commodore Amiga 1000 in original box Compucolor II or 8051 Exidy Sorcerer IBM 5100 Portable KIM-1 Processor Tech SOL RCA COSMAC (ELF/VIP) The following in original boxes only: Atari 7800 Colecovision Emerson Arcadia 2001 Magnavox Odyssey (not Odyssey2) Mattel Intellivision RCA Studio II Sega Master System

28 years, 11 months

1
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yo

by ekman＠lysator.liu.se

Please, Sam. Would you stop using the title "yo" for all your messages? It makes life very difficult for those of us who get the digest version and only read some selected messages. Put something nice and descriptive instead. On a similar note, when someone replies to a digest, don't use the name of the digest as the subject. /Fredrik

28 years, 11 months

2
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Trade Sun for Atari ST?

by FAIAZMC＠hsd.utc.com

I do not have anything to trade, but are you willing to sell? Mike ---------- From: Paul E Coad To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers Subject: Trade Sun for Atari ST? Date: Friday, May 02, 1997 9:25PM Someone in LA "Miscellaneous Lists" <lists(a)phx6.phxmedia.com> wanted to trade a Sun 3 for my Atari ST. I have sent a few emails, but have received no response. If you are still interested, contact me via email. If anyone else (in Northern/Central) California would like to trade old Sun/Unix/interesting machines/equipment/software for an Atari ST, let me know. I would prefer not to ship this stuff since it is pretty heavy and fills several cubic feet. --pec ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Here is the list of stuff: 1 Atari 1040STF 3 SH204 Harddisks 1 SF314 Floppy drive 1 SF854 Floppy drive 1 SC1224 Monitor (color) 2 STM1 Mouse 1 Marconi RB2 Trackball 1 Standard Atari joystick There are also a bunch of cables for connecting everything togther, 10 or so magazines, a BASIC manual, 10 or so floppy disks, and what I believe are schematics for the monitor.

28 years, 11 months

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weekend acquisitions 2

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> Superexpander with 3K Ram cartridge ** > > ** This does not look any different from the 8K cartridge. I'm not > sure what the "Superexpander" part really means. It is not the expander > which allows multiple carts to be plugged in at the same time. This is a 3k ram expansion (obviously) plus a ROM with additional BASIC commands to make graphics and sound a bit easier. It also gives the ability to map commands to the function keys. I probably have the manual in a box downstairs. If you really want a photocopy I could get one to you. ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

28 years, 11 months

1
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The List!

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

>On Thu, 1 May 1997, Bill Whitson wrote: > ================================================================== > MANUFACTURER > MODELCPU RAM OSTYPEYR > ================================================================== > Sinclair Research, Ltd.------------------------------------------- > ZX81 Z80A 1K ?? MICRO 85 Actually, I believe the ZX-81 came out in 1981, as shown below. I bought my Timex-Sinclair in late 1982, if I remember correctly. Also, the documentation that was included with the ZX-81 I have has letters from Sinclair Research dated March 10, 1982, as well as a review of the ZX-81 in Englad dated August 1981. Two interesting things about this: 1) the ZX-81 I have was originally delivered in kit form and still has the assembly diagrams and such; 2) The magazine review, taken from "Personal Computer World" and re-published in "Creative Computing", November 1981, states that at the time, the ZX-81 was available in England but not yet in the U.S. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, Mega-ST/2 and XE System, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 11 months

1
0
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recent finds

by welsh＠sleepy.ponyexpress.net

28 years, 11 months

2
1
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yo

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

At 07:38 PM 5/4/97 -0500, you wrote: >> There is a label on the motherboard (which is huge, >> measuring almost 2 feet square) which says "Corona Data Systems" and then >> "200290-512" which I am guessing means it has 512K. > >Corona Data Systems was an early IBM-PC clone manufacturer from >1983 or so. I thought they went out of business when IBM sued >them big time for infringing IBM's BIOS copyright. Sam, Just in case you're interested, I do have the original Corona-specific versions of MS-DOS for their machines, both 1.25 and 2.11. I would think you'd be able to boot it with just about any 5-1/4" boot disk though, as I know of someone that got a new Pentium to boot with the Corona 2.11 disk, so there doesn't seem to be anything odd in the bios calls at boot up. There do appear to be some Corona-specific utilities on them though. Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Collector of Classic Computers: Amiga 1000, Amiga 3000, Atari 800, Atari 800XL, Atari MegaST-2, Commodore C-128, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore VIC-20, Kaypro 2X, Mattel Aquarius, Osbourne Executive, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer 3, TRS-80 Model IV Plus Atari SuperPong and Atari 2600VCS game consoles

28 years, 11 months

1
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CLASSICCMP digest 40

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Lemme see if I can do some work on the Commodore Portion: (I'll leave the updating to one of you folks -please?-) Commodore--------------------------------------------------------- 128C 8502 w/Z80 128K CBMOS MICRO 85 128D 8502 w/Z80 128K CBMOS MICRO 87 BASIC 2.0 & 7.0 64 6510 64K CBMOS MICRO 82 BASIC 2.0 655 Z80 64K CP/M MICRO 83 Never heard of it. Amiga 1000 68000 256K AMIGAOS MICRO 86 1.1, 1.2 Amiga 500 68000 512K AMIGAOS MICRO 86 1.2, 1.3 CBM 3008 6502 8K ?? MICRO ?? CBM 3016 6502 16K ?? MICRO ?? CBM 3032 6502 32K ?? MICRO ?? BASIC 2.0 CBM 4004 6502 4K ?? MICRO 79 I strongly doubt this one, a 4004??? CBM 4008 * 6502 8K ?? MICRO 79 BASIC 2.0 or 4.0 CBM 4016 * 6502 16K ?? MICRO 79 BASIC 2.0 or 4.0 CBM 4032 * 6502 32K ?? MICRO 79 BASIC 2.0 or 4.0 * Should have designation for small or large screen such as FF for Fat Forty (large screen models were alway BASIC 4.0, small screen could be 2.0 or 4.0) CBM 8008? 6502 8K ?? MICRO ?? 8k? I don't think there ever was one... I could be wrong. :/ CBM 8016 6502 16K ?? MICRO ?? CBM 8032 6502 32K ?? MICRO ?? CBM 8032 6502 32K ?? MICRO 79 CBM 8096 6502 96k ?? MICRO ?? CBM 8296 6502 96k ?? MICRO ?? BASIC 4.0 CBM B256-40 ?? ?? ?? MICRO ?? CBM B500 ?? ?? ?? MICRO ?? CBM B128-40 ?? ?? ?? MICRO ?? CBM P-500 6509/8086 opt. 128k BASIC 4.0 MICRO 82 Should be CBM P-500 Any 'real' ones have been P-500s. I have one. I never read of a B-128 40 or B-256 40. CBM B128-80HP ?? ?? ?? MICRO ?? CBM B128-80LP ?? ?? ?? MICRO ?? CBM B256-80HP ?? ?? ?? MICRO ?? CBM B256-80LP ?? ?? ?? MICRO ?? 6509/8086 opt. 128k BASIC 4.0 There is a 700 But not sure if it is a repeat. Executive 64 6510 64K CBMOS PORT. 83 BASIC 2.0 PET 2001 6502 ?? ?? MICRO 79 4k,8k BASIC1.0 or 2.0 PET 2001B 6502 ?? ?? MICRO 79 PET 2001N 6502 ?? ?? MICRO 79 8,16,32k BASIC 2.0 16 ---- 16K ?? MICRO 84 Plus 4 ---- 64K ?? MICRO 84 8501 BASIC 3.5 CBM SP9000 ?? ?? ?? MICRO ?? SuperPET 6502 & 6809 96K ?? MICRO 81 Same computer^^^^^^^^^^ BASIC 4.0 & MANY Others VIC-20 6502 5K ?? MICRO 81 BASIC 2.0 Additions: Ultimax 6510 4K BASIC 2.0 MICRO 82 Amiga 2000 68000 1,024k ADOS 1.3/2.0 MICRO 86 Amiga 2500 68020 ? ADOS 1.3/2.0 MICRO 8? Amiga 3000 Amiga 600 68000 1,024k ADOS 1.3/2.0 MICRO 8? Amiga 1200 68020 2,048k ADOS 2.0 3.? MICRO Amiga 4000 68030?40? ADOS 2.0 3.? Amiga 4000T 68030?40? ADOS 3.? Commodore PC-10, PC-20, Commodore Colt, etc. IBM clones, (who cares.) Larry Anderson -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

28 years, 11 months

2
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yo

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Sam Ismail wrote: > Altair, Imsai and SWTPC? (Especially the last -- I > prefer Motorola to Intel). OOPS! I have a Motorola-based Altair... (Altair 680) Maybe we can feature it? (Just kidding, but I thought I should point out your slight error.) ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca CANADA email: walde(a)dlcwest.com -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

28 years, 11 months

6
13
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The List! (additions/changes)

by dlormand＠aztec.asu.edu

Some other comments: The Exormacs from Motorola never, as far as I knew, ever ran Unix. It predated the Unix bit. I don't know that the VME/10 ever ran Unix, either. The preferred OS on those machines was VERSAdos. I like VERSAdos, still use it occasionally. Powerful enough to be quite useful, and clunky enough to be interesting! Apparently, there is enough legacy in VERSAdos that a 3rd party has "inherited" the rights and still sells it as a Real-Time Operating System! The CPU in a CC-40 was not a 9900, but rather a TMS7000. Still an interesting processor from my favorite company, Texas Instruments! There were several makes to the 990 mini line, but I'm not familiar with it. Some used discrete logic, some used the 9900 processor chip for the CPU. The OS of choice was DX-10. -- ********************************************** * David Ormand *** Southwest 99ers * * dlormand(a)aztec.asu.edu *** Tucson, Arizona * **************************** TMS9900 Lives! *

28 years, 11 months

1
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The List! (additions/changes)

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

| > - Add: Apple/Tempest TPI 863T milspec Macintosh, 68000, 1986 | Which company actually manufactured it? Apple shipped the internal components to Tempest, who put it in a milspec housing. | > - Add: Apple/Honeywell "Black Apple" custom manufactured Apple II+ | Same as the Bell&Howell black apple or different? Duh! Of course I meant Bell & Howell. | > - Change: Atari Mega machines were the Mega ST (with 1, 2 or 4MB, 1987) | > and the Mega STE (improved, 1991). I've never heard of a "Mega 1" or | > "Mega 2" | This info came from a 1989 Atari price list - as you can imagine I'm | now slightly confused... Did a quick bit of research - the numbers indicate amount of RAM only. The two Megas are the Mega ST and Mega STe (lower case e). | > - Add: Commodore Amiga 2000/3000/4000 (Too new?) | Yeah - I pretty much stick with the 10 years or older guideline. The A2000 was introduced in March 1987 along with the A500, so I guess they're under the wire :) | > - Add: Data General MicroNOVA series, and Data General portable | Probably going to need a little more data... The portable was called the Data General 1. The original MicroNOVA was the MN601 (by PDP-8 designer Edson DeCastro, who came to Data General from DEC). Trivia: Did you know that AViiON is NOVA spelled backwards with an "ii" (signifying 2) in the middle, as in NOVA II ? | > - Add: Intecolor CompuColor II, 8080A, ~1979 | Are you sure that this is not actually one of the listed model | numbers? The CompuColor II was only referred to as such in any ads I ever saw. It was a 13" color display system with a hard-sectored 5 1/4" drive to the right of the monitor, and a keyboard with multicolored keys. Trivia: CompuColor CP/M had no FORMAT, you had to buy formatted diskettes from Intecolor. | > - Change: "Kaypro Corp" should be Non-Linear Systems | I think you're right (as that's what my Kaypros say) but I've seen it also | listed as Kaypro Corp... was there a name change? Kaypro was founded in 1952 as Non-Linear Systems, the first manufacturer of digital voltmeters. Somewhere along the line they changed to Kaypro Corporation, but I don't think they did so until their Chapter 11 in ~1990. Certainly at the time of the Kaypro II, they were still known as Non-Linear Systems. Trivia: Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2010 on a Kaypro II. By the way, now that I think about it, the KIM-1 was by MOS Technologies, which hadn't yet changed their name to Commodore. I don't know how you want to handle that. | > - Add: NorthStar model with built-in monitor (forget the model, Tim | > Shoppa has one) | And I'm sure he'll be popping up sooner or later... North Star Advantage, as Bill kindly pointed out. There was also a similar IMSAI with built-in monitor, I have a catalog at home with the name. Kai

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Osborne 1 prices (was: On Generations of People and Computers )

by ronaldm＠mars.ark.com

> A ][+ running AppleWorks? You're a sadist. Seems to work reasonably well. Think it's probably the RAM card that saves it. > > What kind of voice recog. card do you have? I have one as well but I > can't recall off-hand who the manufacturer is. I'll check it out and get back to you. -Ron Mitchell

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The List! (additions/changes)

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> By the way, now that I think about it, the KIM-1 was by MOS > Technologies, which hadn't yet changed their name to Commodore. I don't > know how you want to handle that. If I'm not mistaken, both names are on the board. I have a close-up picture of that somewhere... I'll try to dig it out tommorrow. ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

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The List! (additions/changes)

by jimw＠agora.rdrop.com

At 03:58 PM 5/1/97 -0700, you wrote: >Great list! Some additions & changes: ...and yet some more... >- Add: MITS Altair 680, 68000, 1976 Ummm... no. 6800 mpu (not 68000) >- Add: NorthStar model with built-in monitor (forget the model, Tim >Shoppa has one) The NorthStar "Advantage" (I have one too) >- Change: NorthStar Horizons primarily ran NSDOS Interesting... Many I worked with ran OASIS. B^} -jim --- jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174

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yo

by dastar＠crl.com

*** Preliminary Announcement *** First Annual Classic Computer Collector Conference Why? Next question... Where? Livermore, California (tentative...actual venue TBD) When? Late Summer 1997 (possibly August) Who? Organizer: Sam Ismail Sponsors: Pending (targeted sponsors will be Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and other computer manufacturers in the local area and Silicon Valley). What? The Classic Computer Collector Convention is slated to be the premier computer faire to attend to meet with fellow classic computer collector geeks, buy/sell/trade classic computer stuff, exchange classic computer software and classic computer hints and tips, attend workshops on classic computer preservation and restoration, and of course see classic computers. Some show features: Classic Computer Spotlight - every year a legendary system is chosen to be heralded as the classic computer of the year (nominees for the first show are Altair 8800; Apple ][; Commodore PET; ???). Classic Computer Pioneer - every year an individual from the annals of computer lore will be chosen as the Classic Computer Pioneer of the year. This would be someone who had a lasting legacy or made a historical impact on the computer industry, but is not necessarily active anymore (ie. this precludes Bill Gates from qualifying). Nominees: Gary Kildall, creator of CP/M; Steve Wozniak; ??? Classic Computer Museum - A classic museum will be set-up on-site to allow interested public to see what classic computers are all about. Attendees will be encouraged to submit their favorite classics for display during the show. The success of the show will depend on attendance. Admission will be enough to cover the costs of running the show (including lease of the venue, advertising, etc). Although there won't be much of a vending atmosphere (unless people want to haul their stuff from all over the country) space will be sold for such purposes. More details as I come up with them. I would really appreciate feedback from the patrons of this discussion group. Any ideas, comments, suggestions are welcome (please suggest a better name!) IMPORTANT: Please keep this information within this discussion group until the details have been finalized and the show is a go. I don't want to announce to the general public until I am sure this event will take place. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

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