References: <199706200702.AAA08312(a)lists.u.washington.edu>
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Sorry to burst your bubbles, but the Commodore drives ARE 300 RPM like
most of the others, many 1541 flywheels have the speed-calibaration
diagram on them (use fluorecent light to determine correct RPM).
154s and the lot have software&hardware to adjust the density on
tracks so more data can be stuffed in inner tracks and allow the outer
ones to spread out. No special speed involved here.
It is because of this that many computers with dumb drives can't read
the 1541 format (including Amiga!) the controller cards seem to be
limited in this fasion. Thus there is quite a demand for 1541 drivess
and (pre-converted) .d64 files in the 64 emulator community. ;)
I think all the 5.25" Commodore drives were based on the variable
density initiated in the 2040 DOS. My Complete Commodore Inner Space
Anthology has differing sector counts on tracks on all the models (4040,
2031, 1541, 8050, 8250/SFD-1001) The hard drives (9060 & 9090) seem to
be uniform thoough.
Things changed with the 1581 disk (3.5") which uses a variation of the
MFM format, and can be readable with PC/Amiga computers (with the proper
software, of course.)
--
Taking quotes from that LA article on collecting:
> Most of these early machines and programs, which didn't work very
>well when they were new [IBM PC,MS/DOS], are even more troublesome to maintain now
>[Windows 95]--and have been rendered obsolete by wave after wave of new equipment.
>[Macintosh, Amiga, NeXT, etc., etc.]
Yep, translates to modern-day very well.
> Greelish, a computer repairman, has spent about $2,600 in recent
>years building a collection of 35 computers, mostly by trolling for
>bargains on the Internet.
$2,600 for only 35 machines???? Anyone have his address, I have some
64s for him!
--
"Altairless" Larry Anderson
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Here's some TI/99 stuff that might interest some people.
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Hole In The Wall now offers a small (but growing) selection of TI99/4A
parts and equipment as a service to the TI community. Our Web site
should be up within 10 days.
TI Peripheral Expansion Boxes - $40
TI99/4A consoles (black and silver) - $27.50 (orig. box, manuals, RF)
TI RS232 Cards - $40
TI Disk Controller Cards (SSSD) - $20
TI 32x8 Memory Expansion - $25
TI Writer (orig. cart, disk and manual in binder) - $10
Much more to come! Email for more info.
--
<= KEITH BERGMAN =>
The Glass Eye / Hole In the Wall Enterprises
PIT Magazine / Chicken Dog
kbergman(a)toltbbs.com
"just want a way not to be what gets sold to me" - Jawbox
--
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
In a message dated 97-06-20 18:10:08 EDT
> Kai Kaltenbach wrote:
> > > > I'm kind of curious how many Altairs we have on this list. I've got
> > > > 3...
I suggest that a Classic Computer Rescue team head out to Kai's house and
rescue two of those Altairs. They could them be put up for adoption and
ultimately be given a loving home where they will be receive the INDIVIDUAL
care and nurturing that they deserve. :-)
Lou
In a message dated 97-06-20 03:16:54 EDT, Tim Shoppa wrote:
> Hmm. One of my friends got a LOT of apple II stuff from a business that
> > went under. One of the things he got was an 8" CP/M disk. I'm gonna go
> > try to get my hands on it. (It said CP/M on it). It may be
> > destroyed/gone by now. This was a year or two ago, before I got
> > interested in old stuff... Any way to tell what system it's for without
> > being able to read it?
The disk could be for an Apple system. 8" drive controllers where offered for
the Apple II line back in 1980 because of the huge (for the time) capacity of
DSDD 8" disks. I had a Lobo controller hooked up to a Franklin 1000 and two 8
inchers and it was pretty impressive. I eventually replaced the drives with a
10 meg Corvus hard drive (cost $5000). I've been trying to locate an 8"
controller for my Franklin 1000 for quite a while but haven't had any luck.
Lou
At 12:36 AM 6/20/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Gee, then I have an Apple bonanza worth $2000 in my garage. Whatever.
>This is what I am dreading of this hobby, that assholes like this Haddock
>guy start trying to price things out.
I think it's as someone said; at the time the book was written, Apple II's
were still in strong demand, esp. from the school market. My girlfriend's
school still uses and maintains a fleet of II's. (Schools simply cannot
afford to buy lots of new computers.) (Ask me, if you're interested, about
how macs ended up in her classroom.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
In a message dated 97-06-18 02:16:46 EDT, you write:
<< His e-mail address is Mikeooo1(a)aol.com and he left his phone number for
me:
(201) 331-1313.
Please reply if you are interested in going in together on this.
Sam
>>
I would be interested in this.
Kelly Fergason
KFergason(a)aol.com
I'd like to buy. Can I reserve it? Please e-mail me with your address and
I'll send you a check. (woukd you prefer money order? some sort of trade? I
have scads of old computer stuff.)
Manney
----------
> From: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
> To: Manney
> Subject: FS: BOOK The History of Computers
> Date: Friday, June 20, 1997 1:52 PM
>
> For Sale:
>
> The History of Computers -A Family Alubum of Computer Genealogy-
> by Les Freed
> ZD press
> ISBN 1-56276-275-3
> all color and lots of pictures and illustrations
>
> $12 (shipping included within the United States, original price is
$24.95)
>
Sam,
I don't own any computers that use EBCDIC, but I use them every day at
work. EBCDIC - extended binary coded decimal interchange code is the
character set used on most (if not all) IBM mainframes and midrange
systems. (IBM S/390, S/36, S/38, AS/400 etc.) This set has its roots
in punched cards (and prior) and really makes more sense when viewed
>from that perspective vs. that of the way things are today. ASCII -
American National Standard Code for Information Interchange.
Back when I was in college, an instructor stated it this way:
(Speaking about the need for a uniform way to share info across
machines.)
"There are two ways to obtain a standard in the industry. The first
is to get a big committee together and have all parties involved agree
on what it should be (ASCII). Or, be the largest company in the
industry, do it your own way and force everyone else to adopt your way
of thinking.
Dan
---Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> wrote:
>
>
> DOes anyone have a computer which uses the EBCDIC character set,
rather
> than ASCII (did I get the acronym right? what does it stand for
anyway)?
>
> Just curious.
>
>
> Sam
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete,
Writer, Jackass
>
>
>
>
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> Today it would look a LOT different. Let's see, what WOULD it look like?
> Start with a PAL to generate the oddball clocks, and some misc decoding, f
> it, then throw a 32k skinnydip SRAM at it (OK, you can tie one address li
> to ground to limit it to 16K), an 8K EPROM (since that's what I've got in
> stock), say, an 8251 for serial I/O, and you've got a basic machine.
Actually a 8ksram and a 8kprom would do it. Or better yet a 2 or 8k EEprom.
That this is slow enough you could use the EEprom for sram! (the slow parts
was 20us and the real fast one was 10us (single byte instruction).
The real annoying part is capturing all the muxed status and syncing it.
Making the front pannel logic is the real work, it wouldn't be right without
the FP!
> What do ya think?
Tim, your a sick puppy. It's got style!
Allison
