test-drb November 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

185 participants
940 discussions

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

Got a new Q-bus toy - It's a MUX. I need to know what it is, and what it's compatible with. The label on the A-S baggie says "AVIV 8-port MUX, Q-BUS". It appears to have the model # "SDZV11/03", this is written on the PCB. The distribution panel has "Webster Electronics" written on it. Any ideas? -------

25 years, 7 months

In search of: CCI Power 6/32 Tahoe

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

A subject of much discussion on the PUPS (see http://minnie.cs.adfa.edu.au/PUPS/ - the home page of the PDP-11 Unix Preservation Society ) mailing list has been the CCI Power 6/32, aka the "Tahoe", which lent its name to a 4.3BSD release in the late 80's. Does anyone know if any such systems are still in existence? On the net? -- Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/ 7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917 Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927

25 years, 7 months

T1K's & TRS80 Model 1's in need of rescue

by gary.katz＠csun.edu

You know you've reached adulthood when your parents decide they're going to move and they no longer want to be the free long-term storage area for their children. Since the move is happening in NJ and I'm in CA in a small CA-style house with no basement, the TRS80's have to go. If there is someone in the NJ area interested in the following, let me know via EMAIL & we'll arrange for a pickup date/time. To a good home: 3 TRS80 Model 1 CPU's one has a RS lower case mod, Level II ROM, numeric keypad one has an "other" lower case mod. Level II ROM, no keypad one has no lower case mod but has keypad 2 or 3 E/I with 32K, one has RS doubler, another has percom (I think) 4 R/S 5.25" drives R/S Vox Box (pretty sure it still works) R/S Voice Synthesizer (pretty sure it doesn't work well) TRS80 Line Printer 7 Tons of software Tandy 1000 (TL, I think -- 80286 in an 8bit M/Board; 768K RAM; 40MB IDE) Tandy CGA Monitor Needs to be gone ASAP! ---------------------------------------------------------------- Gary S. Katz, Ph.D. 326 Sierra Tower Assistant Professor (818) 677-2964 office Dept. of Psychology (818) 677-2827 dept California State University - Northridge (818) 677-2829 fax 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330 http://www.csun.edu/~gk45683 ----------------------------------------------------------------

25 years, 7 months

Friden Flexowriter

by cfandt＠netsync.net

At 22:53 11/23/98 -0600, Doug Yowza wrote: >And you thought your VT100 was cool? Through an elaborate move involving >a network of collectors across the country, I finally ended up with a >Flexowriter in my office! > > http://www.yowza.com/classiccmp/friden/ > >What's a Flexowriter, you ask? Before the KSR33 TTY was invented around >1962, this was the way you got data into and out of your PDP-1, PB-250, >etc. > >I really don't know much about it (it's just PDP-1 bait), but I'm >interested in any docs, software (see below), or emotional outbursts >from veteran users. > >My vague understanding of how this was used comes from a few scraps of web >info. I believe it was used as a letter quality printer and paper tape >punch with computers. It also has a paper tape reader. I think the >reader could be interfaced to a computer, but I think it could also be >used standalone! (Some?) flexowriters could accept programs to generate >form letters and the like -- the first word processor! I have a Flexowriter setting in the basement of our old house. Let me tell you a bit about another common use for Flexowriters. At my past place of employment, the one I have once was used as a numerical control programming terminal. It stood alone, no electrical communications connection to the machine tool for which a program was being written. An ASCII paper tape was punched containing the programmed moves and machining functions (standard "M" and "G" functions plus others) which was carried over to the numerically controlled machine tool, loaded and started. A couple of the NC controllers we had were the old General Electric Century Mark II models which controlled large Burgmaster NC drilling machines. They were a mid-50's design using stepper switches and bunches of hermetically-sealed relays and a two-axis thyratron servo table positioning system. A Fiden tape reader was used to read the tape several characters at a time according to the next move or function the machine was required to make while the program was run. AGHHH! Those Mark II's were ornery and hard to troubleshoot with all their relay logic and the tight timings thereof. A rather small two pound PLC would handle the programming and controlling on those Burgmasters today in conjunction with a new, solid state servo drive system. I still have the Mark II printsets which are by now, I would guess, *really* rare. Back in the 50's, 60's and to the mid-70's paper tape was a very typical way a machine tool program would be generated and run. A 'real' computer was far too expensive especially for small shops back in the old days to run a typical machine tool. Huge companies may have had some sort of single computer to act as a program generating and storage device which was somehow linked to a large group of NC machines but I personally know of no real examples. But I would wager IBM, DEC, General Electric and others had some involvement with this either in their own large factories or as a contractor to others. Microprocessor-based CNC (CNC = Computer Numerical Control) controls began to replace the old NC controls around the mid-70's. Removeable media, semiconductor memory and especially the revolutionary microprocessor helped drive this change from paper tape NC systems. The Fridens and Teletype ASR33s (which were another popular paper tape generating device) slowly began to be scrapped. Back in the early 80's, ACU-RITE Inc. took the NC machines and this Flexowriter out of service. Most of the machines were sold to others and the Flexowriter tossed into warehouse storage. For a couple of machines we kept I designed the mechanical and electrical interfaces for installation of a couple of those new-fangled CNC boxes which one could buy separately (Bendix Dynapaths were used) and built a couple of simple CNC Bridgeport mills for the company's machine shop. During that time, I rescued the Flexowriter out of a dumpster after I discovered that warehouse storage area was being cleaned out. I also grabbed my DG Nova 1200 and other DG items before it was supposed hit the dumpster later that week! :-) > >Corrections and pointers to Friden stuff welcomed. Well, this Flexowriter is not something that was in my collecting interest but I kept it all these years. Therefore, I never actively kept an eye open for Friden docs, parts or such stuff. It is on topic for our group so I will pay better attention for Flexowriter items, docs and pointers. Now I must get rid of the Flexowriter as I do not have enough room to keep it (just ask Hans F. and his wife who have seen only a small part of my collection :-)). FREE to a good home. It's heavy! It should be restorable or at least good for parts. Otherwise, and I'm not joking, it will have to end up at the scrap yard to continue its original destination from 15 years ago :( Regards, Chris -- -- Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net Member of Antique Wireless Association URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/

25 years, 7 months

Audio CD Software/data was: Re: Recent Finds & Thoughts

by cswiger＠wilma.widomaker.com

Marvin wrote: >Having *finally* gotten a CD-R unit hooked up, it occurred to >me that perhaps recording all the cassette data tapes to CD >would be a worthwhile thing to do. Has anyone else tried this? >I would think it would be trivial to hook up a stereo to >computers, and thus load both data and programs. Yes - been there. It is highly recommended, especially if you can read the program/data from a cassette, and then make a fresh new 'write' from the computer, as if you were going to make another cassette, but to the CD-R audio input - as opposed to simply copying the audio from the cassette directy to CD with all the tape hiss, drop outs & speed fluctuations. I've found fresh new 'tapeless' audio recordings to be very useable and reliable. Chuck cswiger(a)widomaker.com

25 years, 7 months

Tek 4051 was Re: Weekend finds!

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

> OK Thanks. Are the BASIC commands on the 4052 the same as the 4051? > FWIW the 4052s use similar plug in ROMs. One of the manuals that I have > shows the same function ROM for the 4052. It uses the same case but a > different board with more ROM ICs on it. Yes. My BASIC manuals cover 4051, 4052 and 4054. Some commands have a note in the manual that they're not available on the 4051 without an appropriate ROM cartridge. >>The 4097 is very rare AFAIK. I've never before heard of one surviving. >>All I have for it is some Tek marketing bumf printed out from microfilm.. > > I'm like to see the marketing info. Where did you find it? > > I've been cleaning the 4051 up today. Man, is it filthy! There are dirt > dobber nests all through it. I cleaned up one of the 4097s and checked the > power supply. It spun up but one voltage is slightly high. I have to fix > that. When I was researching the talk I gave at the VCF (in fact the previous version that I gave to the Cambridge University Computer Preservation Society) I wrote to Tek UK asking for information. They sent me an envelope full of microfiches: marketing stuff tracking practically the whole history of the 4050 series, an almost complete set of "Tekniques", the 4050 series newsletter, and a couple of technical things. Give me a snail mail address (privately) and I'll post you a copy (technically I have permission to copy if "promoting Tektronix") > Here's a rough list of what I have: Tek 4051 mod 1,22 (what is a mod No idea, I'm afraid. > 1,22?). A 4097 8" disk drive with a single drive. It has option 031. I > don't know what that is unless it's the connector for the second drive. It > has an HP-IB port for the controller and a 40 conductor ribbon cable that > connects to the other 4097. The second 4097 has two 8" disk drives and no > controller port just a connector for the 40 conductor cable. There is a The 4097 could control up to 3 drives. You seem to have the full configuration, controller + 1 drive in one box, 2 drives in a second box. Disks are SSDD I think (must look that up). Links to 4051 by GPIB of course. My 4052 now loads and saves on my Commie 8050 disk drive... > Data Communications Interface on the back of the 4051, it has two ROM > sockets in it and a RS-232 port on the bottom. There is also a ROM > Expansion box (4051E01). It has 8 ROM sockets and a cable with a dummy ROM > that plugs into one of the ROM sockets on the 4051. I have five ROMs in > it; File Manager, Editor, Signal Processing, Service Pack and Binary > Program Loader. I'm supposed to get some manuals from the seller. I took a I think file manager may be needed for the 4097. (Are you sure it's a 4097? I have a vague memory of it having been 4907). Binary program loader is one of the things that's included on the 4052 motherboard ROMs. I don't understand the editor but I may have a manual if I dig. Screen editing of BASIC (on a storage display) is better than many non-storage user interfaces of the day even without the Editor ROM. > quick look at them and there was a 4097 manual. I didn't look at the > others. I did pick up manuals from someone else for the Signal Processing > ROM and FFT ROM (I don't have that one). There are two connectors on the I have the FFT ROM for the 4052 but it doesn't work (bit rot?) :-( > top back of the 4051. I don't know what they're for except that one has a > note not to connect the joy stick unless the machine is off, so I assume > that's what it's for. I think the other is for a printer. Tony beat me to it again. See his post and my reply thereto. Philip.

25 years, 7 months

Lisa 2/10

by rvclark＠pacbell.net

Just ran accross this address in some notes about the Lisa. I have a Lisa 2/10 which I bought new in about 1983. The board inside says 1983 also. I have the original disks and manuals also. I used it up until about six months ago. At that time it developed a Vertical hold problem. It has a narrow light line accross the tube. Their is no control for vertical hold externaly on the computer. Other than that, which is probably fixable by a pro, it has always worked fine. It has Mac Works XL Emulation Software and Write and Draw software. I was very happy with it all these years. I now use a Mac IIsi with all the modern stuff added to it. Anyone interested in it for a price?

25 years, 7 months

unsubscribe

by bgreen＠northwoodgeo.com

UNSUBSCRIBE CLASSICCMP Barry Green Web Manager Northwood Geoscience www.northwoodgeo.com

25 years, 7 months

No subject

by dogas＠leading.net

SUBSCRIBE CLASSICCMP

25 years, 7 months

Blue Thunder CP/M card for PC

by bobstek＠ix.netcom.com

Does anyone have any info on a Z-80 card for the PC called Blue Thunder? In particular docs and software would be most appreciated, but at this pont ANY info would be great! Bob Stek bobstek(a)ix.netcom.com Saver of Lost SOLs

25 years, 7 months

← Newer
1
...
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
...
94
Older →

Jump to page:

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb November 1998