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cc: (bcc: Clark Geisler/NORTEL-NSM)
Subject: Re: Victor 9000
Sam wrote:
>1979? The Victor 9000 came out in 1985/86 according to previous
>discussions. Indeed it would have been the "technological cutting edge"
>in 1979, and for quite some time as it would have pre-dated the computer
>it was supposed to be semi-compatible with.
I recall seeing Victor 9000's newly installed in a computer lab at the
University of British Columbia in 1983.
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Please respond to classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
To: classiccmp @ u.washington.edu
cc: (bcc: Clark Geisler/NORTEL-NSM)
Subject: Re: Terak 8510a
>Talking of obscure PDP11-related machines, has anyone else ever come
>across the Tektronix 8530 etc systems. These machines were sold as micro
>development systems and lived in 2 racks - one contained an LSI11 (or
>PDP11/23) CPU card + RAM + disk controller + I/O + drives (either a couple
>of 8" floppies or one floppy and a Micropolis 1200 hard disk), while the
>other contained the development options -- in-circuit emulators, logic
>analyser, EPROM programmer, etc. They ran either a much-hacked RT11 or a
>much-hacked Unix.
This sounds a lot like a system I saw installed new at my alma mater
(University of British Columbia) my graduation year (1983). It was a
Tektronix
development system with LSI11 CPU running UNIX. There were a number
of terminals attached, and it was used to teach computer process control
concepts to non-computer eng. types. I remember seeing various pumps and
tanks connected to it.
I never used it seriously myself, but just logged on to play with it: this
was the
first Unix system I had seen. I wasn't very impressed with it at the time:
whenever I used the 'man' program, the pages would just scroll up the
screen
(no pause), then it cleared the screen, leaving the prompt.
Clark Geisler
'just have an Amiga 1000 and a VAX 11/730'
I'm so excited...this is my first post to this great group.
In 1981 I left NCR to work for Victor (Canada) Limited to organize a tech
support team and assist a calculator saleforce become successful sellers of
microcomputers - namely the Victor 9000 or Vickie as it came to be called.
The Victor 9000 came out in 1982. It was produced by a company called Sirius
Computer Corp. Mr. Chuck Peddle designed the 9000 and ran Sirius. Peddle had
preivously worked for Commodre and designed the PET. By golly, before that
he worked on the 6502 chip (the CPU in early Apples).
Now here's more corporate geneology stuff. Victor used to be called Victor
Comptometer. It was owned by the Victor family of Chicago and was bought-out
by the Kidde Corp a conglomerate. Kidde also invested in Sirius.
The 9000 was a machine designed for people. It came with a non-glare
monochrome monitor on a tilt and swivel-base - hey we're talking 1981 here!
It had an ergonomically-considerate keyboard, small footprint, and oh yah,
it had a voice chip on the motherboard. The last step of POST (power-on,
self-test) was the 9000 telling you "Hello, I am a Victor 9000." I get a
kick out of listening to the Comdex 1990 keynote speech by Bill Gates (the
one when he announced the Information at Your Fingertips campaign), because
he declared that someday computers will have voice-digitization on the
motherboard. Did you hear that Chuck?
Unforunately the 9000 didn't last long. Sirius had grand plans to become the
next IBM, they absorbed Victor, sold lots of machines (a single order of
4000 to Ford Motors), then promptly went bankrupt. Victor Canada was closed
down in the mid-1980s.
The 9000 came in two cases. Early (first) models housed the processor in a
rectangular case. Later models used a niffty angular case. I don't know if
voice digitization made it into the angular case.
My 9000 occupies a place in my subcollection of Unique Systems - systems
that were, well let's say they were ahead of their times. Other machines
here include the Lisa, Workslate, Hyperion, Star, Apple III, DG/One, etc.
Hope this helps you, I know it sure was fun for me.
Yours in good faith.
>Hello!
>
>I have a Victor 9000, cheap to good home. The technological cutting edge in
>1979, it has a keyboard that includes a 1/2 and 1/4 key, a wonderfully
>massive dot matrix printer, and a version of Wordstar that is truly hideous.
> Plus other software. The thing seems to run on DOS 1.25. It has been in my
>garage for years, and I hate to see such a monstrosity go without victims.
> Is there someone out there who would like to have it? Please respond to
>MoeHoward1(a)aol.com or David.Stevens(a)pgw.com.
>
>
At 06:21 AM 6/16/97 +0000, you wrote:
>Aaaah! That's more like it! What I meant was the home video game
>console. Now back to the original question: does anybody know where I
>can get a photo of it or at least a description). Thank you
>
>enrico
Enrico,
Try this site. It has a picture of an atari pong machine:
http://members.aol.com/cvendel/vaporware.html
Hope this helps.
Isaac Davis | Don't throw out that old computer,
idavis(a)comland.com | check out the Classic Computer Rescue List -
indavis(a)juno.com | http://www.comland.com/~idavis/classic/classic.html
>
> I don't know if I have any of the Pong advertisements or not, but I most
> likely have something close. It is pretty easy to recognize as the
> cabinet was about 27" or so wide, about 30" deep, and stood somewhere
> around 6 feet high.
Pong had a monitor?!? I didn't know that.
I have Atari's Pong here which is just the console.
First video game we ever got. I plan to pull it out of retirement for
a 1970's party being planned.
Hmm, I'd like to find a pic of that 6ft beast myself.
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
Doeas anybody have a photograph of "PONG" the first video game ever? Or
where I can find one? I have never seen it and I don't know how it looks
like so I will not be able to recognize it if I ever bump into one.
Thanks
enrico
--
================================================================
Enrico Tedeschi, 54, Easthill Drive, BRIGHTON BN41 2FD, U.K.
tel/fax +(0)1273 701650 (24 hours) or 0850 104725 mobile
website <http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~e.tedeschi>
================================================================
visit Brighton: <http://www.brighton.co.uk/tourist/welcome.htm>
In a message dated 97-06-12 22:38:21 EDT, marvin(a)rain.org (Marvin) wrote:
> Back when the Atari 400 was introduced, I got hooked on Space Invaders.
> I found the Atari and other Joysticks to be a complete waste when it
> came to playing Space Invaders .....
Why didn't you use the Atari paddles?
Well I'm back from the flea...
I did sell two of the COCOs and a few other odds and ends. The bulk of the
pile remains as "it wasn't VGA or PC".
Of the more interesting things I'd like to sell for nominal fee or trade:
TRS80 docs and tapes...
moto6800D1 pristine with docs
MDS800 mostly complete
The s100 memory cards, s100 crate,
Anadex DP-8000 printer working and docs.
In the process I aquired a real fine PDP11/23+ with RX02. It's excess and
has V4 and v5 DOCs and install kits along with apparently two sets of X11
diags. Also there is a MiniMINC LSI11 kit with mincBaisc. There is an
unopened (shrink intact) box of 8" media. The 11/23 is has 512k of ram 4
serial ports and a RX02 disk system that looks operational.
This is also excess... don't ask, call it a rescue.
Anyone interested let me know as I'm trying to make room for a PDP-8/e/m/f!
Allison
Oh yes! I finally own a little bit of a PDP. The Department of AI at the
university here just disposed of some of its old hardware and I ended up
with a Terak 8510a with extra floppy (8512) and monitor, keyboard (8532).
Lovely!!!
It's a really neat and fast machine. FYI, it has a four-slot backplane
with an LSI-11 board (with FPU), 28kw of MOS RAM, a brilliant framebuffer
card (640x240 text and 320x240 graphics at the same time -- the card mixes
both modes on the same screen and allows hardware panning, smooth scrolling
and other effects), Shugart floppy interface, RS-232/current loop and some
other strange card (probably for controlling some robotic device of sorts --
useful).
It came with all of its documentation (disgustingly complete, including
business reply card with `READ THIS NOW' written at the back, brochures,
reference cards, RT-11 manuals, Shugart tech ref (so you want to take apart
your Shugart 8" drive's head assembly?), etc). Also a set of original
red-and-purple(?) PDP-11 manuals for RT-11. And to top it off, there were a
few 1978-1979 DEC PDP manuals for various architectures. They're in almost
mint condition, but the paper is really showing its age. GOOD documentation,
though.
Software-wise, there are both of the common OSs for the Terak: RT-11 and
UCSD P-System/Pascal (haven't worked with this in ten years, but my fingers
still remember how to press 'F','L',':' really fast). Lots of languages,
including Logo, BASIC and Prolog (it *was* a DAI machine, you see).
The 12" monitor is rock steady and displays a clear image in P3 phosphor
(sort-of paper white) and the keyboard is refreshingly 70s with nice clunky
keys that, however, are really comfortable for touch typing once you get
used to them.
Oh yes, I also got a boxed TI-99/4A with all its manuals and a memory
expansion box, but that is probably too common for you folks in the States
and certainly too mundane in comparison to the Terak.
I'm a happy man. :-)
PS: Oh, the department has quite a nice collection of old stuff, including a
PERQ that just seemed to attract a lot of drool. They're keeping it,
though -- it's going to a real museum (not computer related, though).
All in all, I think I must have looked too much like a kiddie in a sweet
shop.
--------------------------- ,o88,o888o,,o888o. -------------------------------
Alexios Chouchoulas '88 ,88' ,88' alexios(a)vennea.demon.co.uk
The Unpronounceable One ,o88oooo88ooooo88oo, axc(a)dcs.ed.ac.uk
