The Great Galesburg, Illinois Rescue
Saturday August 2, 1997 - 07:00
The alarm went off and I lept up from bed. Today was The Day. The Illinois
arm of the Classic Computer Rescue Squad was to make it's first Rescue!
First to the net to see if plans had changed. Nope - looking good! I make my
first pot of coffee (don't you love those Bunn's?) and start by cleaning out
the van.
Saturday August 2, 1997 - 08:45
Well, that was something I hadn't seen in almost two years - the floor of my
van I mean. Well, what's left of it.
A little history. The van cost me $1 about four years ago. When I bought it
>from my buddy's brother, he turned around and paid my buddy the dollar he
owed him for the van from two years before that 8-) The main problem is that
this thing just keeps running.
Anyway, after examining the two foot square hole in the floor, I decided a
piece of plywood would do nicely.
Into the house to make a pot of coffee for the road. And my buddy calls. We
have this understanding when either of us is about to do something stupid,
we just know about it. No we don't try to talk each other out of it, we just
like to know what is going on 8-)
Saturday August 2, 1997 - 09:09
Finally ready to hit the road. Gas up the van, check the front right tire.
Already thru the fourth ply of a four ply - eight ply rating! Ah well that's
why you have a spare. I believe E-250's where made to run with a load! Man
is this thing noisy and jumpy with with NO load!
Saturday August 2, 1997 - 10:00
Well, that klacking sound is back! Time to throw in another guart of oil!
Nope - better make it two! Quick check - nope the radiator ain't leaking any
more.
Saturday August 2, 1997 - 11:00
We both have to go REAL bad! Oh look - a rest stop. Both the van and I
relieve ourselves. The van didn't leak all THAT bad! Back to the road.
Saturday August 2, 1997 - 11:30
Heading south into Galesburg, IL on I-74. Why don't they TELL people they are
ripping up the road?
Saturday August 2, 1997 - about 12:00 somthing.
Well, it looks like I am the last here. The directions were impecable!
The roads where impassable 8-)
Partial list (to be modified)
2 - 11/44
1 - VT-52
3 - RA81
1 - TE16
1 - RSTS Manual set
1 - VAX Ver. 4.0 Manual set
1 - Set of Field Service docs - Mixed
1 - Set of upgrade tapes - DEC Tape II and - what do you call those reels?
1 - 1/4 ton of spares, failures, cables, and Etc.
We did however lose the 11/750 8-( Apparently a professor had wanted a
19" rack and his students chose the 11/750 as the doner! The guts were
exposed to a fate that I abhore - The Trashman!
I think a good time was had by all. At least while we were at Galesburg.
We had no time to do lunch 8-( And we tried to split the equipment up as
I was planning to run over to Peoria and drop off anything those guys
couldn't fit. I still don't believe thay ACTUALLY fit 2 11/44s and a RA81
into a minivan!
Saturday August 2, 1997 - about 16:00
As the Campus Police drive by we all say our farewells. Everybody is running
late so we can't continue our discussions of computers, education, and life
in general 8-(
I fill up the van with water - don't even look at the tire (too afraid) and
I set off to drive the impassable I-74 once again.
Saturday August 2, 1997 - about 18:00
Well, I got a table from my buddy - but not the hardware (that way I have an
excuse to run over to his place 8-) so I pull off I-55 to run over. Sure
enough - Il 59 is all ripped up! As I stop for the traffic light - PANG!
I thought I lost the rear spring - but no. After 360 miles that poor little
tire had let go at the light. God takes care of Fools and Idiots - I am
so glad I belong to both sets! So I pull off and put on my spare - in record
time I might add!
You guys ever hear of Dry Rot? That tire got me home but only after throwing
off about a third of its tread! So after picking up the hardware for the table,
watching "Kingpins" at my buddies, and cruising at about 30 for the last 16
miles - I got home - tired, worn out, but safe.
Now this weekend I have to go to....
BC
Perhaps someone would be interested in the Lisa gear?
Path: cs.utexas.edu!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!slip-90-7.ots.utexas.edu!user
From: epotter(a)mail.utexas.edu (EPotter)
Newsgroups: austin.forsale
Subject: Free TVs,etc
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 1997 11:31:47 +0100
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin
Lines: 3
Distribution: austin
Message-ID: <epotter-0408971131470001(a)slip-90-7.ots.utexas.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: slip-90-7.ots.utexas.edu
Xref: cs.utexas.edu austin.forsale:104815
Two 25" heathkit TVs, working, with one extra chassis for parts. Large
and heavy, wood cabinets, not fibreboard, need grill cloth. Also several
Lisa keyboards, Lisa manuals, misc. all free, you haul it off.
> Hi!
>
> I recently picked up one of these beasts at a second-hand store, and
> managed to assemble her and get her running. However, I have been unable
> to find out anything about them other than they run the 8086 processor. Can
> anyone tell me something more? Like what the OS is, when they were made,
> and what tehir arcitecture was? Honeywell, unsuprisingly, couldn't help,
> and I found nothing on the web.
Um. I don't recognise the name, but there were some early Honeywell PC
type things called "Microsystem Executive". This was a design bought by
Honeywell after the British company responsible, Future Technology
Systems, went bust.
The FTS series 86 was sold as the "Non-compatible compatible". OS was a
version of CPM-86 with MS-DOS compatibility, multitasking, and one or
two other fun features, called Concurrent DOS, and sold by a software
house whose name I can't remember (Pegasus? Something beginning with P,
I think).
Despite its PC-incompatibility - architecture quite different at the
hardware level - Lotus 123 version 1 ran without modification, and even
drew graphs on the monchrome monitor...
I have an FTS 86 somewhere. It was far too expensive, even tho' my
father got a huge discount for not suing FTS for breach of contract when
they failed to maintain our Series 88 machines. After FTS folded,
Honeywell-Bull maintained it for a while; they gave that up at about the
time Honeywell sold the rest of their computer arm to Bull group.
More than that I can't remember, offhand. If you want more info, I'll
see what I can find, but it won't be much...
Philip.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Philip Belben <><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Das Feuer brennt, das Feuer nennt die Luft sein Schwesterelement -
und frisst sie doch (samt dem Ozon)! Das ist die Liebe, lieber Sohn.
Poem by Christian Morgenstern - Message by Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk
> Thanks for the information. I'll try to get a copy of the cylindrical
> key made using the key code. The end of the key is broken off inside
> the keylock on the 11/10, so my best course of action here might be to
> extract the part that is inside the lock and have a duplicate made from that.
Might work. Alternatively, does the lock with the broken bit of key
turn with a screwdriver?
When I tried to get my 11/10 console key duplicated, the locksmith
didn't even know of a source of blanks. This is the same locksmith who
copied keys on restricted blanks (which he had in stock) that operated
bits of power station equipment from the 1950s.
I have yet to find anyone who will duplicate my 11/10 key...
Philip.
On Sun, 3 Aug 1997 09:44:26 -0800 (PDT), Mr. Shoppa mentions:
> 1. The metal cylinder-lock keys. These are found on -8's, most
> older (pre 11/24, 11/44, 11/84, 11/94) Unibux -11's, and some other
> boxes. These are standard ACE cylinder keys, with pattern # XX2247.
Other boxes: VAX-11/780, VAX-11/750, PDP-12, LINC-8 for starters.
I'm positive there are others. Like the pdp11/40 KL-10 front-end...
> you may need to be friendly with the locksmith - almost all ACE keys
> are stamped "DO NOT DUPLICATE"
If you produce the lock that the key is for, I believe the smith's
objection may be moot. I've got several copies floating around that
fit every DEC machine in my collection. They're not hard to come by.
I believe the "DO NOT DUPLICATE" is valid only if you can't prove
you own the matching lock.
> The non-cylinder keys, found on only a few CPU boxes (like the 11/10).
> I don't know where to find these...
Again, take the lock mechanism to a good locksmith; he'll be able
to make a new key for it by examining the tumblers. Of course, as in
your case the key is broken off in the cylinder, the smith's job will
be _much_ easier.
______________________________________________________________________
| | |
| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin) | West Boylston |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast | Massachusetts, USA |
| mailto:carl.friend@stoneweb.com | |
| http://www.ultranet.com/~engelbrt/carl/museum/ | ICBM: N42:21 W71:46 |
|________________________________________________|_____________________|
>There are three sorts of commonly-found DEC keys:
>
>1. The metal cylinder-lock keys. These are found on -8's, most older (pre
Didn't the 8/a have a PDP11/34-style knob for the power switch and no key at
all?
>11/24, 11/44, 11/84, 11/94) Unibux -11's, and some other boxes. These
>are standard ACE cylinder keys, with pattern # XX2247. Any competent
>locksmith ought to be able to make one of these for you (though you
>may need to be friendly with the locksmith - almost all ACE keys are
>stamped "DO NOT DUPLICATE").
>
>2. The plastic cylinder keys. As of a few months ago, you could still
>order these from DECDirect (1-800-DIGITAL) - the part number is 1217119-01.
In my experience, key [1] will fit locks designed for key [2], but not vice
versa. I use the XX2247 that came with my 11/45 for the 11/45, the 8/e, the
DECSA, the 11/24, the 11/44, the 11/730, etc.
Since lock [2] has no pins, probably just about any Ace tubular key will fit
it. Lock [1] is a 'real' lock, however.
>> Also, I'm looking for information on connecting a console to the 11/10.
>> The only place on this machine that looks like a likely candidate for
>> console connection is a double height module (an M9970 Berg backplane
>> connector) that is essentially unpopulated except for traces connecting
>> the backplane to a single Berg connector. Is this the serial interface?
>> If so, are there any configuration options (on another board), or am I
>> stuck using what I assume is a fixed 110 baud 20 mA current loop interface
>> (or digging up something else, such as a DL11-W)?
>
>I'm not sure what the answer to this is. I thought the standard
>console interface on a 11/10 was a DL11-W. Have you tried asking
>on "vmsnet.pdp-11" on Usenet?
Not at all : Both the 11/10 and 11/10S have a console port on the CPU board. On
the 11/10S it's possible to disable this (fit/remove a link on one of the
boards), and use a DL11 of some flavour instead.
On the 5.25" box, the console port is the 40-pin BERG on the back of the CPU
under the power cable. It's cabled to the backplane, where it is connected to
the appropriate pins on the CPU board.
I don't own a 10.5" 11/10, but I have worked on one. From memort, there is,
indeed a dual-height card which contains the console connector (40 pin BERG)
and no logic. Can't remember the M-number, and my prints are at home.
It's the standard DEC serial connector. Current loop is certainly there, and I
think at least one of the TTL and/or EIA connections are there as well. This
may depend on which CPU board set you have, however. I seem to recall
pinouts/cable lists are on one of the PDP_8_ web sites.
11/10's use an RC clock for the baud rate generator. It's tweakable by a preset
on one of the boards - check it at pin 40 of the UART (the only 40 pin chip in
the CPU), and set to 16 times the baud rate. I think the 11/10S uses an Xtal
clock, and there's a switch to set standard rates.
The RC clock does 110 baud as standard, but can be tweaked at least to 300
baud. You can change (reduce) the timing capacitor to get higher rates, of
course.
>
>Tim.
-tony
I don't know how old this is, or if it qualifies as classic, but I saw this
on the local austin.forsale newsgroup.
==============================================
Subject: Mainfame for trade STILL!!!
From: Scratch <scratch(a)tab.com>
Date: 1997/07/28
Message-Id: <33DCB872.6B74(a)tab.com>
Newsgroups: austin.forsale
[More Headers]
I have a UNYSIS 2200/400 mainframe with 1210lpm impact printer and 6'
hard disk tower with 10- 8" 1 gig Fujitsu drives.
I can't seem to sell it so I will offer to trade it for anything MAC.
QuadraAV or better. Or Sony 17" + monitor.
--
Ron E. Marks
scratch(a)tab.com
http://www.tab.com/~scratch/home.html
Austin, Texas
============================================
Hope this helps someone.
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
At 00:02 03-08-97 PDT, you wrote:
>Date: Sat, 2 Aug 1997 06:46:19 -0400
>From: Jeff Hellige <jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com>
>To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
>Subject: MicroVax II
>Message-ID: <199708021046.GAA13569(a)unix.aardvarkol.com>
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Well, it looks like I may be rescuing, or at least try to, a
>MicroVax II on monday. There is a local business, about 30 miles from here,
>that wants to dispose of one, and I got contacted to try and rescue it.
>According to the guy I talked to, it has 2-35meg HD's, and 5meg of RAM in
>it, and I'd just be getting the main system unit. Could someone give me
>some general info on this machine, such as a guess as to the weight of it?
Weight: About 40-50 lbs. Not bad at all, really. Some PC full-towers tip
the scales around there.
Sizewise, they're about as tall as a full-tower, but deeper and skinnier.
You can probably lift one in your arms without a huge problem.
With the hardware that's in it, you could easily run OpenVMS, MicroVMS,
regular VMS (I think -- someone check me on that, please?), Ultrix, or NetBSD.
I know the guy I wrote to said there were no docs or diags with it, but...
if by some miracle he was wrong, I'd like to get a copy of any diagnostics
that you might get with it.
Best of luck, and thanks for responding!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272)
(Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)wizards.net)
http://www.wizards.net/technoid
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
I got a nice system for free today from a nice old couple who run a
thrift shop that they are closing down.
Its a Televideo 1603. What's interesting about this system for one thing
is that it was made by Televideo, whom I thought only made terminals. It
has two 5.25" floppies integrated with a green monochrome monitor on a
swivel armature and a detached keyboard. On the back are two DB-25 serial
ports, a D-type connector RS-422 port, a telephone jack for a mouse (which
I didn't get), and two dipswitch blocks. Inside it has an 8088 and a
6502! I was talking to Doug Coward tonight about it and he suggested that
the 6502 was for the terminal operation, and the 8088 was actually the
main processor. This makes sense, but I was wondering if anyone knew more
about it.
When it boots it says on the top line of the screen:
TS-1600/1603/1603H POWER ON DIAGNOSTICS Z2.2
then it says below that:
RAM TEST IN PROGRESS.....
then changes to:
FLOPPY DRIVE TEST IN PROGRESS.....
at which point it turns on the floppy drive for a few seconds, then goes to:
WAITING FOR HARD DISK.....
Inside there is a multi-pin connector which I'd assumed was for a
hard-drive but there was no cable for it. I didn't write down the number
on the WD controller chip. I think perhaps the RS-422 port is where
you'd hook the hard drive to.
Anyway, after it doesn't find a hard drive, it clears the screen and
becomes just a dumb terminal. Doug suggested I try booting an old
version of DOS or CP/M+ on it.
Any information on this would be appreciated.
Sam
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Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
