test-drb October 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

216 participants
748 discussions

by allisonp＠world.std.com

WHat people pay for something important is their business and generally good as anything with cash value is less likely to fill dumpsters (trashbins). Yes, for the guy looking for the $10 item it may be more expensive but then again it may be for sale instead of long gone. To me a 8e case/fp for more than a few hundred is out of my "range", but if it were exceptional in condition of one of the oddball customer special color schemes there may be something to warrent it. They were not that cheap when new! It all according to what you want/need. Also consider the buyer may have a complete 8E and no box. There are people out there still using them for CNC and other uses where $1000 is cheap for spares when compared to trying to upgrade to a PC! <I am not sure that it is off-topic. After all, this list is supposed to <be about collecting classic computers. And as well as discussions on <repairing them, using them, etc, discussions on why we bother in the <first place should be OK here. there in lies the point. Most of are enthusiasts AND collectors. The distinction is the true collector who is speculating on the potential value and has little to no interest in how it works if it does. Not saying thats wrong but it's a more distinct line of demarcation. Me I accumulate. ;) Ebay, thats someone elses problem, I don't look or buy there. It's not on my horizon. I rather look elsewhere for more interesting and possibly complete systems that say ran a machine or plant. Allison

25 years, 2 months

Old 8086 Amstrad

by musicman38＠mindspring.com

Finally found the Amstrad PPC640, here it is.. http://www.sinasohn.com/cgi-bin/clascomp/bldhtm.pl?computer=ppc640 Phil..

25 years, 2 months

Amstrad PPC640

by musicman38＠mindspring.com

I have not found it on any of the internet museums. I wonder how common this machine was, and if it was marketed in the United States.. >A PPC640 ? At least that's what it was called in the UK. Yes this was a typo on my part, it is a PPC640.. >> I just purchased one at the local Thrift store yesterday for $4.04 >> and when I got to the checkout line the lady told me it was half price >> day so for only $2.02 I got this really cool Portable XT dual >> 720KB floppies, and a nice LCD screen.. > >It's a reasonable machine. I've been known to use mine as a terminal, or >to run a drive exerciser program (with the parallel port connected to >some signals of the drive-under-test), etc. I am very impressed with its design, for a machine made in 1987.. The keyboard is very nice Full size with numeric keypad and also 12 function keys, not very common in an XT class machine.. Very unsual how the keyboard folds up on it.. >I have the manuals for it (somewhere), including the software tech manual >and the service manual. It's pretty close to one of the Amstrad desktop >XT clones -- it's even got the same ASICs in it IIRC. I looked on the internet for some information on it, but there is nothing on it, with the exception of the dip switch for the video.. >> Very impressive machine for 1987.. >> And it appears to run on standard D batteries for portable use.. > >I thought it was C cells, but I might be wrong. Do you have the 2 plastic >tubes that hold the cells together? I've never tried running it on >batteries, since it takes 10 cells (!) and they don't last long. Yes you are right it uses 10 C cells for portable power, doubt if I will ever use it in portable mode, the external power supply is just fine.. >On the back are 2 power input connectors. The coaxial one is for a >12V-ish input, centre +ve, which is what I normally use (from my bench PSU). >The 14 pin DIN is a power input (all sorts of _regulated_ voltages) from >an Amstrad PC monitor. It's probably best to ignore this. >Oh yes, the power switch on the top is really a changeover from batteries >to external PSU. It seems a little odd at first. I believe this is why is was marked "AS-IS" and priced at $2.02 at the thrift store. They plugged it in and looked for a power switch and could not find one, and decided it was bad as it did not power up.. Not usually interested in any machine that is DOS based, but this one has my interest, atleast for the moment.. Amazing how much fun two bucks can bring... Phil..

25 years, 2 months

HP3000

by AGoodwinDa＠aol.com

What exactly is this? It's a dinosaur? I have an interview in a few days and this is the system they're running. Any help with what questions they might ask me about it? ther are also running IBM 4690 maybe for point-of-sale. Any help with questions and answers for this interview would be a blessing.

25 years, 2 months

collectors vs. enthusiasts

by kstumpf＠unusual.on.ca

Great discussion, perhaps off-topic, but important. You, who are contributing, to this thread have endorsed an important part of my book since I deal with these and other, similar issues in The Guide to Collecting... Yours in good faith. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Kevin Stumpf * Unusual systems * www.unusual.on.ca +1.519.744.2900 * EST/EDT GMT - 5 Collector - Commercial Mainframes & Minicomputers from the 50s, 60s, & 70s and control panels and consoles. Author & Publisher - A Guide to Collecting Computers & Computer Collectibles * ISBN 0-9684244-0-6 .

25 years, 2 months

Tape drive help and/or part needed (Attention DEC-heads!)

by mbg＠world.std.com

>I think our KS10 has separate ports for the massbuss marked disk and >tape, but I'd have to double check to be sure I'm not thinking of >something else. Right... yours has the two ports... mine is the one which only has the Disk Massbus port. Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

25 years, 2 months

Stuff thats available

by lemay＠cs.umn.edu

I just saw a IBM data display terminal, model 4978 if I recall correctly (not 100% sure about that 9 anymore). Is this something I should grab? The keyboard is, well, I would describe it as 'similar' to a original Sun 1 keyboard, but no-one else knows what that looks like. the keyboard is in a thick iron case, somewhat triangular, if that description jogs anyones mind. On another note, does anyone want to trade something for a Hayes Smartmodem external, with an original box? If I didnt have an original box, and I wasnt already posting to the list, I wouldnt bother mentioning this, but I know some people go crazy for original boxes. Frankly I think thats crazy, but a person who is restoring a PDP8/e is probably the last person to throw stones... And, last but surely not least... I found a company that has a PDP8/f for sale. They want $600 for it. -Lawrence LeMay

25 years, 2 months

Running a 220v computer in a 110v environment

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>Find out what the danger areas are. There's little hazard in working on a >CPU board, for example (but then we all know that :-)). Actually, there *is* a substantial hazard around CPU boards, especially on classic machines where the power supply is capable of putting out 5V at a 60 or 100 or (in a recent machine that I've been tinkering with) 350 Amps. If something metal shorts out the power supply, and that something metal is near your fingers, you can get a very nasty burn, and also send sparks and bits of molten metal into your eyes and face. (Note that I've completely passed over the rather substantial harm often done to the supply components and PC board etches by a dead short. If you're lucky, you'll simply melt the PC board traces rather than burn yourself or send sparks flying.) The solution, of course, is simple: don't wear anything conductive while poking around high-current supplies. -- 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, 2 months

CDC 9766 aka RM05

by Jgzabol＠aol.com

Hello there, does someone have any documentation on the CDC 9766 SMD drive, aka DEC RM05 (with different interface, as it appears) ? Schematics, handbooks, service manuals, etc., would be greatly appreciated; all eventual costs covered, of course. Thanks and regards John G. Zabolitzky

25 years, 2 months

Floppy disks again

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<Allison wrote: <> There are two media for 96tpi, one for DD and lower and is the SAME <> magnetic material as 48tpi. THere is also the 1.2mb media and this is <> VERY DIFFERENT and incompatable with any other drive or density. < <Not quite. The "1.2mb" media is compatible with Apple Twiggy diskette <drives, though the jacket cutouts are different. I consider Apple disks and disk systems to be generally unique to themselves. I was trying to stay within softsector standard dives and media and not looking at the specifically unique like the Apple or Commodore or just about every other hard sector formatter (though the drives may be run of the mill for these). Since the jacket is different, the media is again only somewhat compatable. there were plenty of "odd" disk drives and media out there like the Amstrand 3" and the really old sony 3.5". Allison

25 years, 2 months

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test-drb October 1999