test-drb October 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
1141 discussions

by hhacker＠gte.net

Jamie: Would you please enlighten me as to how you came into possesion of the Xerox. Also, I wonder if this computer has any relationship with the Xerox Sigma series of processors. Can you obtain serial numbers, etc? William R. Buckley -----Original Message----- From: Jamie Bixby <jbixby(a)labwest.northatlantic.nf.ca> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Thursday, October 01, 1998 4:45 PM Subject: Xerox 16/8 >I have recently came into position of an old Xerox computer that I >really do not know much about and was wondering if anyone out there >would be able to send me via e-mail any info that they may have on it. >The computer works and all but all that comes up is something about >tables and something about invalid drives. If anyone out there has any >info on this computer I would greatly appreciate it. >

25 years, 9 months

IBM 1130 Was: Re: Linux on S/370? Was: Re: printer socket (Off topic)

by hhacker＠gte.net

Joe: I learned APL as my first language, at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa California (Orange county, in So Cal) in 1972. We had an IBM 370/155H at the time, 1MB of RAM (as I understood it, the RAM was semiconductor), and the version of APL was from STSC, called APL PLUS. What a step down to then learn Cobol, Fortran, and RPG, though Assembly (ALC) was a lot of fun. We have come a long way since then. William R. Buckley -----Original Message----- From: Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, September 22, 1998 8:48 AM Subject: Re: IBM 1130 Was: Re: Linux on S/370? Was: Re: printer socket (Off topic) >Chris, > > I learned to program in APL on one in 1968 or 1969. We didn't have to use >punch cards, we were THE PROGRAMMERS, the machine was turned over to us >when we walked in the door. At that time it was the only computer in >central Florida. Not bad for a kid that was still in high school! > > Around 1979 I worked for a third party company in Virginia that >maintained 1130s and also upgraded them with third party hardware. I well >remember adding boxs with core memory made by someone else (not IBM and not >us). I think it upgraded them to a whapping 32K! One of the 1130s that I >upgraded was owned by Gallop in Princeton, NJ. They're the people that do >the Gallop polls. Another one was owned by Virginia Military Institute in >Lexington, Va. > > Those machines seem to last forever, I'll bet there's still some of them >in use! > > Joe > >At 09:55 AM 9/22/98 -0400, you wrote: >>At 22:33 21-09-98 +0000, Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote: >>>At 09:35 PM 9/21/98 -0400, Christian Fandt wrote: >>>> >>>>Ever hear much of an IBM 1130? Any info on the web, etc. on that machine? >>>> >>> >>> Yeah, I learned to program on one. Many years later I worked on them. >> >>That's where my interest lies as this was my first exposure to computing. >>In college I learned Fortran IV/66 in 1972/73. I've always been curious >>about those machines since then. Never heard of them anymore over the past >>25 (!!) years. >> >>At least I can tell stories to the youngsters, like other "old time" >>computer folks here, about spending hours in the noisy keypunch room on an >>IBM 026 (I think) keypunch machine punching out my programs onto the >>Hollerith cards, hauling the stack of cards (without dropping the danged >>things!) over to the Computer Operator Guru to be run together in a batch >>with all the other students' Fortran and Cobol programs overnite and coming >>back the next morning to be greeted with several pages of compiler errors >>typically generated by a very simple syntax error in the early part of my >>program. No fancy-a** GUI there!! :-) >> >>That machine was "huge" by some standards then: it had 32K of core memory! >>The technical faculty at this rather small junior college was quite >>impressed. >> >>Ahhh, those were the days.... >> >>Of course, I would LOVE to have one! Anybody got one laying around they >>want to get shed of?? <g!> >> >>Have any technical/interesting facts or anecdotes about the 1130 to share >>with us big iron folk Joe? >> >>Thanks, Chris >>-- -- >> >> >> >>Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian >>Jamestown, NY USA >>Member of Antique Wireless Association >> URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/ >> >

25 years, 9 months

IBM 1130 Was: Re: Linux on S/370? Was: Re: printer socket (Off topic)

by hhacker＠gte.net

Christian: I have been monitoring this group for some time now, and though I find the microcomputer material not particularly interesting, there is much here to be enjoyed. Thank you for pointing the way. I remain interested in the PDP-11 you have. William R. Buckley -----Original Message----- From: Christian Fandt <cfandt(a)servtech.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Tuesday, September 22, 1998 6:55 AM Subject: IBM 1130 Was: Re: Linux on S/370? Was: Re: printer socket (Off topic) >At 22:33 21-09-98 +0000, Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> wrote: >>At 09:35 PM 9/21/98 -0400, Christian Fandt wrote: >>> >>>Ever hear much of an IBM 1130? Any info on the web, etc. on that machine? >>> >> >> Yeah, I learned to program on one. Many years later I worked on them. > >That's where my interest lies as this was my first exposure to computing. >In college I learned Fortran IV/66 in 1972/73. I've always been curious >about those machines since then. Never heard of them anymore over the past >25 (!!) years. > >At least I can tell stories to the youngsters, like other "old time" >computer folks here, about spending hours in the noisy keypunch room on an >IBM 026 (I think) keypunch machine punching out my programs onto the >Hollerith cards, hauling the stack of cards (without dropping the danged >things!) over to the Computer Operator Guru to be run together in a batch >with all the other students' Fortran and Cobol programs overnite and coming >back the next morning to be greeted with several pages of compiler errors >typically generated by a very simple syntax error in the early part of my >program. No fancy-a** GUI there!! :-) > >That machine was "huge" by some standards then: it had 32K of core memory! >The technical faculty at this rather small junior college was quite >impressed. > >Ahhh, those were the days.... > >Of course, I would LOVE to have one! Anybody got one laying around they >want to get shed of?? <g!> > >Have any technical/interesting facts or anecdotes about the 1130 to share >with us big iron folk Joe? > >Thanks, Chris >-- -- > > > >Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian >Jamestown, NY USA >Member of Antique Wireless Association > URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/

25 years, 9 months

BA123 Power Supplies

by healyzh＠ix.netcom.com

If it isn't one problem it's another. Last night I left the PDP-11/23+ (still haven't gotten it to work with a /73 CPU board) running for about 4 hours to see how it handled being left on. The only thing running was "show mem" on the console since I was working on some other stuff. Much to my terror/irritation, about 10pm I noticed a buzzing or sparking sound. I quickly moved it away from the sofa, and started investigating. It sounds as if something in the area where you've got the breaker and the powercord plugs in is 'arcing and sparking'. I've got to take off in a little while, but I plan on looking into this later this afternoon or tonite. Unfortunatly I don't have any docs on the BA123 (just the BA23), so will be having a fun time figuring out how to get it apart. Does this problem sound familiar to anyone, and does anyone have any suggestions? Zane | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | | healyzh(a)ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |

25 years, 9 months

Available: WICO Trackball (read on...)

by djenner＠halcyon.com

WICO Command Control (circa 1982) WICO Trackball 72-4545 For use with: Atari Home Video Game Sears Arcade Game Atari 400 and 800 Home Computers Commodore VIC-20 Home Computer. I have several of these available, and they're unused. They're built like a tank. I was going to adapt them to other uses many moons ago, but never got around to it. $10/each, $25/3. Plus shipping. Or trade for DEC Rainbow, Pro-3xx, or PDP-11 stuff. Dave Jenner djenner(a)halcyon.com

25 years, 9 months

Available: PDP-11 Refs

by djenner＠halcyon.com

I have some PDP-11 references up for grabs. These are all either small paperback books from DEC, small pamphlets, or foldout reference "cards." If you need any more specific information about any of these, let me know. - Microcomputer Interfaces Handbook, 1980 (quantity 1) - Microcomputers and Memories, 1981 (1) - RSX-11 Handbook, 1984-85 (1) - RT-11 Pocket Guide, V04.00, 1980 (1) - TECO Pocket Guide, 1978 (1) - PDP-11 Programming Card, 1975 (3) I'll give priority to anyone who has something to trade, but even if you don't have anything, let me know what you'd like. I'd like to find a "Mini-Reference to RT-11, V5.3" (or a complete set of docs, of course!) Dave Jenner djenner(a)halcyon.com

25 years, 9 months

VCF Nerd Trivia Challenge Questions & Answers

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

>The "TRS" in TRS-80 stands for this. > >Tandy-Radio Shack What does the "80" in TRS-80 stand for? Tom -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

25 years, 9 months

Homebrew projects wanted for exhibit at VCF 3.0

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< In the process of doing so, of course, you'd end up building an S-100 < to {ISA|PCI} converter :-). These "modern" interface chips tend to < assume that they're going straight into a PC-clone. Been there done that and also wrote and article about subsetting ISA to get a bus more usable on non isa machines. A typical homebrew app would be grafting a WD1002WX to a z80 homebrew to provide a MFM hardisk. The example is the core of home brewing as it takes common cheap components to make a usable or improved system but is not a plug in mod. < And I think an S-100 Ethernet interface is substantially less weird < than an S-100 ARCnet board, and I've had several of those! Eithernet was done for S100 commercially. S100 took longer to die than most people thought. Allison

25 years, 9 months

Any *really* homebrewing going on?

by allisonp＠world.std.com

entertainment. But there is no real point in getting a high score, right < Building a CPU should be like that. It's entertaining. It's a hobby. And < for me, the feeling I get when it runs its first instruction almost < certainly exceeds any feeling I would get from a video game (OK, so I < don't like games much, but you get the point). Not so fast... There are good reasons to design your own cpu. Assuming your doing an existing cpu, speed and added features are some. For example doing a FPGA version of z80 that runs at 30mhz and also uses not more than 2-6 clocks per instruction. Tough you bet but, it would be faster than any z80! Practical maybe not. but that was a trivial example. Another could be a simple PDP-8 using modern parts and no core that can easily run at several MIPs (8Es were several hundred thousand instructions per second). Just some exercises. ;) Allison

25 years, 9 months

Any *really* homebrewing going on?

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< Most Xilinx FPGAs can be configured by a serial bitstream from a < microcontroller or a PC printer port. Not too hard to do, and a lot < easier to modify than an EPROM. I use EEproms... easier still. They can also take a serial bit stream but in some apps the controller isn't operable until the FPGA is up. < The problem with most of these devices is that the format of the < bitstream is not documented (in fact some companies actively prevent it < being documented) and that you have to use their expensive software < (which often runs under an OS that I don't have...). However, take a loo < at the Xilinx 6000 chips - they are 100% documented. It's possible to < write your own compiler and downloader for these. They also look < interesting devices... Most the serial format is easy and a loader is not much but the compiler is not trivial as you have to do route maps and that's not trivial. < Take a look at the PICs as well. The programmer for those is very simple < and Microchip do document the programming algorithms. A 16C84 programmer < is 2 cheap TTL chips, a few discretes and a PC printer port. I've looked at them and like most single chips MCUs they are bizzare. They also offer a windows emulator that pretty neat. Allison

25 years, 9 months

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test-drb October 1998