Hi;
I have just listed on ebay a group of Sams Computerfacts that I have had some
interest in from people on the classic computer list.
They are for:
Computers - Osborne OCC1 & OCC1A, TRS-80 Models 3 and 4, Epson QX-10, Franklin
Ace 1000, Atari 800XL, IBM PC & AT, AT&T 6300, Leading Edge D
Monitors - IBM 5151 and 5153, Amdek Color-I and the Video-300
Printers - Okidata Microlines 82A and 92, Apple A90303, NEC PC-8023A-N, NEC
PC-8025A, IBM 5152-002, Epsons MX-80 IIIF/T, FX-80, FX-100, MX-100, RX-80,
FX-286e, Star Geminis 10X and 15X
These can be searched for by the keyword "Computerfact" (Singular context
please).
I also listed a factory Toshiba T 1100 plus laptop maintenance Manual.
All of these are under Computer/hardware/books.
Paxton
p.S. Please direct questions toi Whoagiii(a)aol.com.
Damn, you're right, that was the same as the early SA400's. This one isn't
built nearly as solid, though, and the clamp mechanism is driven by
strings(!) that run over pulleys just like an old radio tuner mechanism.
Kai
-----Original Message-----
From: James Willing [mailto:jimw@agora.rdrop.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 11, 1998 9:10 PM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: Re: Microsci HAVAC
On Sun, 11 Oct 1998, Kai Kaltenbach wrote:
> This weekend I picked up this wacky little 6502 computer called the
Microsci
> HAVAC. Has anyone else ever seen one of these, or better yet, does anyone
> have a boot disk for it?
>
> The HAVAC has the weirdest floppy drive I've ever seen. It has a
> center-mounted clamp lever, and the head positioning is done via a
> spiral-grooved disc!
Well... while I am not familiar with the 'HAVAC', to find a more common
use of the "spiral grooved disc" for head positioning, just look in any
Apple II disk drive! (the early ones, not the 'DuoDiscs')
That was the standard early Shugart 5.25 inch disk positioner mechanism.
-jim
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
The IBM 4224 is a 200 to 400 CPS dot matrix printer (usually 18 pin) for use
on IBM networks. It sounds like you have the Twinax interface, about 1" in
diameter, screw connector, with two pin holes. It is not usable on anything
but a twinax network. I bellieve that IBM made 3 versions of varieing speeds
in two interfaces. The second interface is a BNC Coax for the 3270 systems.
While the networks are over 10 yrs old I doubt the printer is.
Paxton
This weekend I picked up this wacky little 6502 computer called the Microsci
HAVAC. Has anyone else ever seen one of these, or better yet, does anyone
have a boot disk for it?
The HAVAC has the weirdest floppy drive I've ever seen. It has a
center-mounted clamp lever, and the head positioning is done via a
spiral-grooved disc!
The machine is about 16" deep, 10" wide, 8" tall, with the floppy drive in
the center front (there is no door on the drive, just a slot and the funny
lever -- no eject mechanism either, just pull the disc out manually). There
is a small external keyboard about 10" by 13", no numeric pad, connects via
a D-sub connector. On the back of the system unit, there are serial,
"printer" (parallel?), 2nd floppy, and RCA video output connectors.
I fired it up, and it displayed a HAVAC logo, ROM version 1.3, then the
expected "no disk" error. I examined the system board, which is dated 1983,
and has a 6502 CPU. There is no info anywhere on the net about this
machine, that I can find.
Any info appreciated,
thanks
Kai
< The HAVAC has the weirdest floppy drive I've ever seen. It has a
< center-mounted clamp lever, and the head positioning is done via a
< spiral-grooved disc!
Sounds like the shugart sa400 series.
Allison
< Unless I have my capacitors crossed, some dishwashing agents are
< chlorine-based, and H20 <=> OH- + H+; mix a free Cl- ion in and you hav
< hydrochloric acid.
Which is why most are not CL- based. I thin their majik is a sodium ion.
Allison
>First, I didn't pick the example of Microsoft. Microsoft and IBM were
>held up as examples of success through marketing when this thread
>started, remember? Are you using a Microsoft product? I thought so.
>Now, think real hard: was Microsoft lucky to get you to use their
>software? No? Did you use their software because they were determined?
>No? Did they convince you to use their software by playing "Start me
>up!" real loud? No?
No, those running MS software are doing so mostly because MS was
the only game in town way back when... not hard to be 'best' when
you're the only one... also not hard to be 'worst'...
Personally, I avoid MS-anything like the plague... I have a linux
system which has been up for more than a week straight... running
W95, I'm lucking if I *don't* have to reboot several times a day
either because the system has simply crashed, or wedged itself...
Megan
OK, I snapped a quick shot of the HAVAC, it's not the greatest picture but
it'll do :)
http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/MicrosciHavac.htm
Kai
-----Original Message-----
From: Sam Ismail [mailto:dastar@ncal.verio.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 11, 1998 6:42 PM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: Re: Microsci HAVAC
On Sun, 11 Oct 1998, Kai Kaltenbach wrote:
> This weekend I picked up this wacky little 6502 computer called the
Microsci
> HAVAC. Has anyone else ever seen one of these, or better yet, does anyone
> have a boot disk for it?
Sounds neat. Can you supply us with a GIF?
> The HAVAC has the weirdest floppy drive I've ever seen. It has a
> center-mounted clamp lever, and the head positioning is done via a
> spiral-grooved disc!
The Apple Disk ][ used the same mechanism.
Sellam Alternate e-mail:
dastar(a)siconic.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Ever onward.
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 09/21/98]
>> The HAVAC has the weirdest floppy drive I've ever seen. It has a
>> center-mounted clamp lever, and the head positioning is done via a
>> spiral-grooved disc!
>The Apple Disk ][ used the same mechanism.
And they're both derivatives of the Shugart SA390.
Tim.
At 09:51 PM 10/7/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Intel came out the winners; they wanted it the most. But it would have
>happened with or without them. You had the 6800, the 6502 and a whole
>slew of others. The computers built around those processors were just as
>relevant and would have happened anyway.
I will admit up front that I don't know everything, and I am not an EE
(dropped out of community college) but it seems to me that Intel hadn't won
anything until ~81 when IBM came out with their PC. Until then, the Z80
and 6502 were as dominant (if not more so) than the 8080/8085?
In fact, I'll go so far as to suggest that perhaps if IBM had gone with,
say, the z8000, Intel would not be anywhere near as big as it is?
It seems to me that what really got the "cheap computer revolution" going
was the Z80 (CP/M, TRS-80, etc.) and the 6502 (Atari, Commodore, Apple II).
Because no matter what the tech-heads are doing in their garages, nothing
is a revolution until you can buy it at Sears.
There is a similar situation with digital recording -- it's been around and
available for eons, but mostly was only available to those with lots of $$$
(big studios/record companies) or tech-heads. Now, with the
soundblaster/CD-R combo and some software (which, if it isn't available as
shareware, I would be extremely surprised!) anyone can cut a full-digital
(DDD) CD at home.
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