"Richard A. Cini" <rcini(a)email.msn.com> wrote:
> I don't have a Sun keyboard or mouse, so what are the
> terminal-equivalent keys for L1?
Oh. Never mind L1-A (or stop-A on newer keyboards), just press the
break key.
> I've tried the "b sd(0,0,0)" command from the montior in DIAG mode, but
> it complains that the device is not present. I don't have a SCSI terminator
> on the end of the chain, so that may be an issue (the shoebox did not come
> with one; I ordered one :-)).
Yep, it does want to see one. Something that you may want to look out
for: some Suns (including the 3/50 and 3/60 I think) do not supply
termination power on the bus. And some of these short the termination
power line on the bus to ground, which can lead to fireworks of one
sort or another if another device on the bus is trying to supply
termination power over the bus to an external terminator.
So you may want to do something like open that disk/tape box up,
declare one device to be "on the end" of the SCSI bus, install the
appropriate termination resistors on that device, and get that device
to provide termination power to its resistors but not to the bus.
Confused yet? Good.
-Frank McConnell
From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)wco.com>
Subject: More books for the library
>I added another 37 volumes to my vintage computer library yesterday.
>By far the most valuable from a historical standpoint is the book
>_Computer Power for the Small Business_ from 1979....[snip]
Some of those books are pretty good, years ago I passed by many of them
but nowadays they deserve a second look.
>It contains information on systems we know much of, such as the Atari's,
>Apple, PETs, Radio Shack, etc. But it also has blurbs on systems that
>I've not seen mentioned anywhere else (at least not in a way that is
>looking back on these systems with a historical perspective) like the RCA
>Cosmac VIP, the Sol-20, Exidy Sorcerer, Heathkit H-8 and H-11, Intecolor
>8031.
>The best part is the descriptions of systems I've never knew about before.
>Has anyone ever heard of an Outpost computer? Its a fully integrated
>package with keyboard, display and 5.25" drive, but its almost three feet
>wide, with the two 5.25" drive bays to the side of the display! How about
>the PeCos One from APF Electronics.
Is that the "imagination machine?" Never saw one, the production run
must have been short-lived.
> I have a pong machine made by APF but
>who would've thought they once made computers? How about The Renaissance
>Machine (aka Compucolor II)?
I saw it in a computer store in 1980, I recall it was pricy, nice
display, real crisp for the time, no hint of any decent games
whatsoever...
[snip]
>Here's an interesting tidbit. Apparently Data General made a line of
>computers dubbed "The Digital Group". According to this entry in the
>table, they were systems based on the Z-80, 8080A, 9080A, 6800 and 6502
>processors; they had 2K of main memory; they used cassettes for storage.
>Can anyone verify this?
Really cool cases, seen lots of pictures, no actual unit though...
001010111010100100100101001001011011001001011001101011010100101110100100100011
Speaking of old publications, does anyone remember the the album (12"
record) titled something like the "First Philidelphia Computer Music
Festival" it was distributed by Creative Computing, had music for a
variety of sources including some astounding stuff from Bell Labs and
the like (a computer sythesized Daisy tune, cathedral organ sethesis of
Fuge in D minor, etc.) as well as more contemporary for the time
computer stuff (Cosmac ELF three-voice tunes, etc.) All of it was
pretty extraordinary given the time it was recorded, to some it may seem
old compared to today's 'sythesisers on a card'...
001010111010100100100101001001011011001001011001101011010100101110100100100011
From: "Max Eskin" <maxeskin(a)hotmail.com>
Subject: Nostalgia
>I have to comment on a few things that have recently been posted here.
>One is the addition of 37 books to a vintage library. How many books
>do you people have? One would need a bill gates-type house to store all
>of these old computers and books! I live in an apartment, and envy
>people who can- I am trying to sort out a few tens of manuals!
It is not always the quantity but the quality too... I also live in an
apartment and have to be somewhat selective of what I get... Many of my
books are in storage... Maybe when I lin the Lottery I can buy a museum
for it all...
>What was the first publishing program anyway?
For micros, I would have to say the original Print Shop by Broderbund
Software,
it was a landmark achievement in my books... Wow graphics, text with
free-form design! I didn't say it was the best but one of the first
most popular publishing program for home use...
>Also, how many different home/small office computers have
>been made, do you suppose? Now, it's just Intel and Mac :(
Untrue Amiga is still in production (Gateway 2000 now owns em). I am
sure there are others, you limit yourself by saying that... There are
hundreds of brands/models...
>Lastly, I wanted to know if there was any place where I could actually
>sit down at an old machine and play with it for half an hour, just to
>get the feel for it. P.S. How big was the IBM 370?
Well where do you live? Maybe someone on this list lives nearby...
Heck I'd be tickled to have someone come over and look at my machines
while I fill their ear for an hour or so... Other than that there is
shows like the Vintage Computer Festival.
--
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/
Call our Commodore 64 BBS (Silicon Realms 300-2400 baud) at: (209)
754-1363
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Does any one know what type of printer ribbon can fit onto an original adam
(Colecovision)printer (ginerec one I thought Was a deablo hytype but it wont
fit.
And where to get one from I live in Castlegar, British Columbia Canada.
Thanx for your help
Chris
On : Fri, 6 Feb 1998 18:10:59 -0800 , Kai Kaltenbach <kaikal(a)MICROSOFT.com>
wrote:
>>Well, you need a ProFile interface card :)
>>That's going to be hard to come by. If you are an extremely persuasive
>>person, you may be able to get one from Sun Remarketing (www.sunrem.com),
>>but you'll have to talk 'em into it.
Hmmm. I've heard of these guys before, but never contacted them. Thanks
for the lead.
Rich Cini/WUGNET
<nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> (remove nospam_ to use)
ClubWin! Charter Member (6)
MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
============================================
Gemmary tell me they're out of ES500 rules :(
Pity, they were a bargain at that price.
So, your next stop could be The Slide Rule Universe.
The site is a bit hard to navigate through, but in the forsale section
you'll find new Picketts and other rules - prices a bit higher... but if you
need one you need one
http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/swap.html
Cheers
Andrew Davie
-----Original Message-----
From: Kip Crosby <engine(a)chac.org>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, February 07, 1998 3:50 AM
Subject: Re: Re[2]: slipping sticks
>At 16:04 2/6/98 GMT, you wrote:
>>> PS: Brand new Pickett ES500 rules (quite nice model) can be had for
US$25
>>[snip]
>>....I've never heard of the Gemmary - can you give
>>a bit more info?
>
>How about:
>
>The Gemmary
>Box 2560
>Fallbrook CA 92088 USA
>+1 760 728-3321 voice
>+1 760 728-3322 fax
>rcb(a)gemmary.com mail
>www.gemmary.com/rcb/ website
>
>They sometimes have Curtas too but not for $25!
>__________________________________________
>Kip Crosby engine(a)chac.org
> http://www.chac.org/index.html
>Computer History Association of California
>
>
>
I added another 37 volumes to my vintage computer library yesterday.
By far the most valuable from a historical standpoint is the book
_Computer Power for the Small Business_ from 1979. It is a buyer's guide
for microcomputers of the mid- to late -0's era. Talk about a treasure.
This book has pictures and decriptions of many computers I've never even
heard of.
It contains information on systems we know much of, such as the Atari's,
Apple, PETs, Radio Shack, etc. But it also has blurbs on systems that
I've not seen mentioned anywhere else (at least not in a way that is
looking back on these systems with a historical perspective) like the RCA
Cosmac VIP, the Sol-20, Exidy Sorcerer, Heathkit H-8 and H-11, Intecolor
8031.
The best part is the descriptions of systems I've never knew about before.
Has anyone ever heard of an Outpost computer? Its a fully integrated
package with keyboard, display and 5.25" drive, but its almost three feet
wide, with the two 5.25" drive bays to the side of the display! How about
the PeCos One from APF Electronics. I have a pong machine made by APF but
who would've thought they once made computers? How about The Renaissance
Machine (aka Compucolor II)? There's also mention of the Teal SHC-8000,
which is sort of like a pet with display, keyboard and cassette player in
one unit.
It then has a listing with about 40 different system descriptions,
including CPU, memory, external storage, input (ie. keyboard, lightpen),
output (ie. display, printer) and basic cost. There's also the company
address which is extremely valuable for research.
Here's an interesting tidbit. Apparently Data General made a line of
computers dubbed "The Digital Group". According to this entry in the
table, they were systems based on the Z-80, 8080A, 9080A, 6800 and 6502
processors; they had 2K of main memory; they used cassettes for storage.
Can anyone verify this?
I also got another similar book entitled _The Peter McWilliams Personal
Computer Buying Guide_ circa 1985. I haven't had a chance to go through
it in much detail but it is basically more nice descriptions of early- to
mid-80's computers, again some of which I've never heard of. I'll do a
review later.
In my travels I also picked up a Victor 800 electric adding machine. I
don't collect adding machines and only rare grab them for specific
reasons. In this case, this is the same Victor as the Victor 9000
computer. I knew right away because the 'o' in the "Victor" emblem was
that striped-circle that is telling of a Victor product (plus it had a
Scott's Valley, CA address on the back).
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Coming Soon...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
> How much is there on the 3270pc? I have absolutely NO documentation and
> I'd like to have some refs.
I have half a dozen to a dozen pages, I think. Email me privately at
Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk with your snail-mail address and I'll post
you a photocopy - I don't think there can be any objection to this (can
there?)
It is only marketing stuff, but it is not completely clueless (unlike
modern equivalents!)
Philip.
At 05:43 PM 2/6/98 PST, you wrote:
>been made, do you suppose? Now, it's just Intel and Mac :(
And AMD, Cyrix, Centaur, Alpha...
-John Higginbotham-
-limbo.netpath.net-
Hi,
Just a thought, but, this group has a handle on the "heritage
systems" that are still
in use..... Lott'a COBOL etc floating around... Could we, as
individuals, or as a group,
help work this situation? Could be a lot of employment out there, not to
mention a
"save the world" type thing... I apologize if this is off-topic, or out
of line....
Will
