There is copyright info available at:
www.computerhistory.org/copyright
It *seems* to me, reading this, that non-commercial dissemination
of thier own website images is okay as long as the requirements are
met to identify each picture according to their (the Museum's)
instructions. I am not quite clear on their wishes re: pictures
taken in the Museum and then exhibited non-commercially. As before,
I am expecting clarification on this point.
Cheers
John
> I took many pictures at VCF, and many pictures while at the
> Computer Museum. I will be happy to scan them into jpegs, if
> someone has a good place to store the resulting files. My own
> website is a little iffy right now as regards anonymous FTP.
>
> I imagine there will be around 20-25 pix worth looking at.... I
> will see how the Computer Museum shots turned out today... I took
> them in available light.
Please make sure NOT to post any pictures taken on the Computer Museum
tour. That was one of the conditions for allowing us to take any photos
there at all. The museum retains the rights to all posted photos of
their facilities. If those get posted they may not let us take pictures
there again. I'm not talking about the computers on display at the VCF,
just the ones at Moffet Field.
The ones with *** by them I have schematics and board layouts in hand for. IIRC
you are in the Twin Cities area - if this is correct contact me off list as
there were a couple of these installed there and I will give you contact names
and phone #. They may still have some of the old docs around along with the
Digital scanner that went with it.
Dan
>
>101 (i think the last digit is a 1) ***Time, Crystal modulo-n Variable
frequency
>102 **** Counter - comparator
>202
>504 (2 of these) ***** ADC control and conditioning
>505 **** Digital I/O for starting scan and MS status
>603
>644
>
>plus a blue circuit board with blank white handles, from Computer
>Operations Inc, C 10450-01 it has 3 connectors labeled CDJ2, CCJ1,
>CDJ1
>
>-Lawrence LeMay
I used to work for VG and I think I have some of the Docs on the PDP8 series of
boards. I still support the PDP11 series VG systems and last week upgraded 2
sites to RSX11M+ 4.6 for Y2K issues. I think I still have a complete "digital
scanner" that provided the A/D and scan start from that system.
Let me know what the 3 digit VG # is and I will see what I can dig up. They
were the acq and control for their magnet sector Mass Spectrometers
Dan.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence LeMay <lemay(a)cs.umn.edu>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 5:13 PM
Subject: pdp8/a boards
>Ok, is there some trick to identifing pdp8/a quad height boards? Or maybe
>most of these boards are not standard DEC issue... I have a lot of boards
>that have wierd markings on the green or grey handles, all have VG DS on
>two sets of handles, but one of those is covered with a round sticker with
>a 3 digit number on it... very strange...
>
>-Lawrence LeMay
Hi, folks,
First, the important stuff. I was over at HSC Electronics (one of the Bay
Area's surplus places) last Friday (just before VCF), and I found that they
had carted out a whole bin full of Vector extender cards and prototype
boards, all marked at 75% off original price.
More specifically, their assortment of extenders included ones for
S-100, Apple II, MicroChannel (PS/2), and other vintage gear. I was quoted
$40 for a MicroChannel extender in decent shape, and I really doubt the
others would be any more expensive.
The store's web site, containing their address, hours, and contact info,
is at http://www.halted.com/
-=-=-=- <break> -=-=-
Now, with that out of the way... VCF was fun this year! There are only
three things that I thought could have been done better.
1). If a person had pre-registered for both days, mark as much on the
badge/tag/whatever. Don't require that they stand in line to re-register
the following day.
2). Real badge holders/badges for all concerned would have been nice.
Perhaps make those of the exhibitors and attendees different colors so the
ushers can tell at a glance who's going to be going where.
3). POST THE OPERATING HOURS on the signs next to the registration table.
I had completely forgotten what time the whole thing was supposed to start
and end, and I had practically no access to the 'net during my trip to
check the VCF web site.
Other than that, I enjoyed it, though I had other business to tend to, and
as a result was only there for a chunk of Saturday. I'd like to hear how
the tour of the computer museum went.
I'll see the lot of you next year, hopefully.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com // E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio: WD6EOS since Dec. '77
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our
own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
Boards from a pair of pdp8/a
Hex Height
======================================================
M8433 RL01 disk controller
M8417 PDP8 Mos memory
M8316 Option Board 1
M8317 Internal Option 2
Quad Height
======================================================
M8320 Bus loads
M8330 Timing generator x2
M8300 Major register control x2
M8310 Major registers x2
8/e wire wrap board
computer operations inc C 10450-01
Its rather annoying that I cant identify 9 of the quad height
boards, so they're probably unusable. This list does not
include whatever is in the PDP8/e chassis, which I will pick
up tomorrow.
Of the 4 hard drives, the middle 2 said rl02 i think. The top and
bottom units didnt say what they were, and the hard drive I grabbed
was one of the unlabeled ones. Choosen because it didnt have
broken off connectors on the back, ie, it was intact. Others either
had broken connectors or power cord cut off, or both. Butchers!!!
-Lawrence LeMay
I found this and thought it might be of some help to Classiccmpers
to aid in their searching/identifying classic systems:
----------------------------------------------------------------
If you could kill someone by tipping it over on them, it might be a
mainframe.
If the only "mouse" it has is the one living inside it, it might be a
mainframe.
If you need earth-moving equipment to relocate it, it might be a mainframe.
If you've ever lost an oscilloscope inside of it, it might be a mainframe.
If it's big enough to be used as an apartment, it might be a mainframe.
If it has ever had a card-punch designed for it, it might be a mainframe.
If it weighs more than an RV, it might be a mainframe.
If lights in the neighborhood dim when it's powered up, it might be a
mainframe.
If it arrived in its own moving van, it might be a mainframe.
If its disk platters are big enough to cook pizzas on, it might be a
mainframe.
If Michael Jordan would need his entire annual salary to buy one, it might
be a mainframe.
If keeping all of the manuals together creates a fire hazard, it might be a
mainframe.
If it's so large that a dropped pen will slowly orbit it, it might be a
mainframe.
If it's ever been mistaken for a refrigerator, (or if the disk drive has
ever been mistaken for a washing machine), it might be a mainframe.
If anyone has ever frozen to death in the room where it's kept, it might be
a mainframe.
If it has a power supply that's bigger than your car, it might be a
mainframe.
If it has its own postal code, it might be a mainframe.
If the operators considered the addition of COBOL to be an upgrade, it
might be a mainframe.
If it was designed before you were born, it might be a mainframe.
If its main power cable is thicker than your neck, it might be a mainframe.
If the designers have since died from old age, it might be a mainframe.
-- end of forwarded message --
This particular case might be just a bit more involved, since pin numbers
are more difficult for the unititiated to track between the 44-pin PLCC and
the 40-pin DIP. However, it really doesn't require one be a rocket
scientist to figure it out. Like many other tasks it requires attention to
detail. The original inquiry came from someone wishing, probably more than
anything else, to read the contents of his EPROMs without risking damaging
them. It's really not likely that will happen so long as power and ground
are connected to the right pins. An additional risk might be that data
outputs might be shorted to one or another of the rails. If one is careful
enough to avoid those bugaboos, reading the things will be no problem.
In fact, I'd recommend one attempt to do this via the EPP port.
BTW . . . If your printer port is situated at the usual 0x378, then an
outputb to 0x37B will generate a write to the data port (same pins as at
0x378) acocmpanied by an "address strobe" as part of the EPP standard
interlocked hardware-handshake. An outportB to 0x37C will generate a "data
strobe" in the same manner, requiring of course, that one interpret these
correctly and respond with the appropriate "wait" pulse on what would
otherwise be the "busy" pin. I'm not "up" on the Pentium instruciton set to
such extent that I can guarantee that if one writes a WORD to the
odd-addressed 0x37B location it will write the bytes to the two sequentially
adjacent locations, but I would anticipate that if one writes a long word
(32-bits) to 0x37C, most EPP hardware will transfer the bytes low==>high in
order, via the data pins, and acocmpany each byte with a data handshake.
That would certainly make it easy to read from a PLCC socket.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 12:34 PM
Subject: Re: Help wanted in dumping EPROMs
>>
>> An adapter would not be very challenging to hand-wire, sir. You'll never
>> know when you may need it again.
>
>Agreed. For _reading_ EPROMS, all you need to do is match up the pins
>with the same name (I am told that there are rather more problems in
>making _programming_ adapters for PLDs, but that's another story). You
>can make a 'plug' to fit the EPROM programmer ZIF socket using a
>wire-wrap DIL socket (or some pins), and wire it to a PLCC socket. Should
>take well under 1 hour....
>
>-tony
>
I just got a PDP 8/s and would like to know if anyone here has a running
8/s. Please e-mail privately @ johnb(a)internet.look.ca
I have the dual bay system with
PDP 8/s serial # 260
PC0 read/punch - serial # 50
PC01 controller
139E multiplexer/AD - serial # 126
AA03A - serial # 50 ??????????????????
AA01A - serial #26 A/D
AA04 - serial #30 ???????????????
