test-drb May 1997

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

79 participants
197 discussions

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

27 years, 1 month

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.

27 years, 1 month

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

27 years, 1 month

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

27 years, 1 month

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

27 years, 1 month

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.

27 years, 1 month

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.

27 years, 1 month

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

27 years, 1 month

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

27 years, 1 month

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.

27 years, 1 month

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test-drb May 1997