test-drb March 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

191 participants
1003 discussions

by museum＠techniche.com

Where?? >A Heathkit -10 oscilloscope, it's one of the old-style ones. It works, I >guess, but I'm not familiar enough w/electronics to make sure of how well. >It's big and heavy, so the shipping will cost a lot, but otherwise free. > >Also, an IBM PC keyboard. Cost of shipping. > >--Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com) > >

25 years, 4 months

Weird PS/2!

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

Another strange find today, a PS-2 with a pull out hard drive. It's a Model 50 and has a steel box about 2.5" x 4" located bewteen the floppy drive and OFF/ON switch. There's a keylock below it and a chrome handle on the box. The box is about 7.5 deep and has a 50 pin SCSI type connector on the rear that mates with socket in the machine. On top of th ebox it's marked "Standard 5.0 software loaded 29 Jan 93". There is also a sticker on the front of the computer that says "IVT PS 50RD". Has anyone ever seen one of these before? Joe

25 years, 4 months

Sun 3/80?

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I picked up a Sun 3/80 with some HP stuff today. Can anyone tell me about the 3/80? Joe

25 years, 4 months

Items available

by max82＠surfree.com

A Heathkit -10 oscilloscope, it's one of the old-style ones. It works, I guess, but I'm not familiar enough w/electronics to make sure of how well. It's big and heavy, so the shipping will cost a lot, but otherwise free. Also, an IBM PC keyboard. Cost of shipping. --Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)

25 years, 4 months

sellers market

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 18, 21:37, Tony Duell wrote: > It has a redefinable character set (the bitmaps are in RAM). Only for the characters 128...255. The lower set is always in ROM. > It has a > real serial port, which is also used for the cassette system Mk.1 versions have a hardware bug which gives the RS232 transmit line incorrect polarity. All standard versions have a bug in the monitor routines, which cause the baud rate and serial/cassette switch to be rset every time the keyboard is scanned. (I have a fix for that). > (most of the > cassette I/O is done in hardware which couples to the UART chip). That was one of the nice things -- quite a good cassette system, with motor control. > It has > a parallel port (centronics printer or user I/O IIRC). The keyboard isn't > too bad. Except it's polled by a very inefficient routine, which makes it a bit slow. But it's good quality otherwise; it uses the same keyswitches as some DEC terminals, and has a full ASCII keyboard, with a numeric pad, and a few extra keys, so it's easy to generate all 256 character codes. It also had pretty comprehensive Technical and Software manuals. I still use mine. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

25 years, 4 months

old versions of Irix

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Mar 18, 16:12, William Donzelli wrote: > Subject: Re: old versions of Irix > > I have a box of QIC tapes that claim to contain old versions of Irix, > > mostly circa version 4.0.x, with a few random Sun and IBM tapes from > > around the same era (late 1980s) thrown in. Does anyone want them? > > YES!!!! > > Irix can be a bear to get, as there seem to be lots of > self-proclaimed "SGI-cops" out there that uphold the rather unfriendly > license agreement. In response to those who try to prevent an SGI owner obtaining media for an OS his machine probably originally had, I'd point out that: all SGI machines that ran IRIX were shipped with the OS; the OS is/was licenced for the CPU, not the original owner; the license doesn't preclude the system owner making a copy for use on the same CPU. There was a discussion about this a few months ago on comp.sys.sgi.admin, in which the concensus from the SGI staff was that there was nothing wrong in obtaining a copy of the OS for a system, providing one wasn't upgrading to a version later than the one the system had been licensed for. You should be able to find the discussion on DejaNews. OK, so that won't help in getting a copy of 6.5. Judging from our experiences, you don't want it just yet, anyway ;-) -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

25 years, 4 months

More finds

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

Picked up a IBM MagCard/A unit at a local thrift for 1.95 plus tax. It's a type 6620 and is in two parts the typewriter and mag unit itself hooked together by a long very thick cable. Have not tried to power it up yet. Today I got C16 in the box for free at an auction from a guy who won it a box of tv's he purchased. Other items I got do not meet the 10 year rule, when they do I will post them here.

25 years, 4 months

GRiDPads

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

I've finally got the GRiDPad's I mentioned a while ago -- e-mail me if you're interested. (Basically, working GRiDPad 1910 with case, pen, PS, untested battery for $15 + shipping.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

25 years, 4 months

Medieval methods... (was Re: Got a question....PDP? VAX?)

by Philip.Belben＠pgen.com

Derek Peschel wrote: > There were some transition problems. The coins said "new" on them for a > while, as in "ONE NEW PENNY". People used old coins and units, whether they > were equivalent (1 shilling = 1/20 pound = 5 (new) pence, so old shilling > coins were useful for a while) or not (some low-value old coins were the > same size as higher-value new ones). [from recent alt.folklore.computers > posts] Basically correct. The old sixpence was used as 2.5 new pence for a few years. Shillings and florins (2 s. - see below) were used as 5p and 10p coins right up until the early 1990s. The 5p and 10p coins introduced in 1968 (yes, three years _before_ decimalisation) were the same weight as the shilling and florin of the time, so this made sense. In the early '90s - I'd have to look up the exact years - smaller 5p and 10p coins were introduced, and the shillings and florins finally withdrawn. Unfortunately the new 10p is only slightly larger than a shilling, which caused some confusion. FWIW the 1p coin is the same size, weight and until recently composition as the farthing, and the 2p coin the same as the (old) halfpenny. The new halfpenny (which endured until the early 1980s) was very small. > But those things aren't relevant to the average tourist or British citizen > of today. It does take a microscopic amount of effort to get used to the > differing terminology and a larger amount of effort to get used to the > actual sizes of the coins. > > On the other hand, the coins are grouped in sets. Each set (of 2-3 coins) > has a metal (i.e., copper, silverish, goldish, bi-metallic) and a shape > (i.e., smooth edges, rough edges, seven-sided, letters on the edge). Within > a set the coins start small and get big. The numerical value is printed on > each coin. So everyone (including blind people) has it easy. > > Don't blame me if some of those qualities (bi-metallic, seven-sided) don't > exist. I haven't been to England in a while. Besides, I get pound coins > and franc coins mixed up. Metals (slightly simplified). All the coins until recently were alloys of copper and nickel. The colour was varied by changing the copper content, from about 98% for "copper" coins to ?90% for "silver". The copper coins - 1/2p, 1p, 2p have smooth edges. Originally made out of an alloy mostly copper, recent ones are steel, copper plated. The old silver coins (shilling, florin) had rough edges. The new 5p and 10p have edges slightly less rough. The 20p and 50p coins have seven sides and slightly more copper than the 5p and 10p (still silvery but the difference is just visible); the sides are smooth and curved so that the coin has a constant diameter. In 1997 the original 50p went the way of the shilling and florin, and a smaller (but otherwise identical) coin replaced it. The L1 and L2 coins are yellow in colour, twice as thick as the others and have rough edges with a motto incised into it. Since 1997, when they were first minted for general circulation, L2 coins have been bimetallic but they are the same size as the comemorative L2 coins from before. Comemorative L5 coins exist, which are confusingly the same size and silver colour as the comemorative 25p coins of the 1970s (imitating the crown = 5 shilling piece). > IIRC the sets don't match the "natural" breakdown of the coins' values > (1p/2p/5p, 10p/20p/50p, L1/L2/L5) but the system is still very elegant. It > should be a lesson to the US Mint on how to avoid making mistakes. The L1 > coin also makes a really nice "plnk" sound on a counter and has a motto on > the edge. True, since there are only 2 coins to each of what you call sets. But yes, it is a lot easier than I found the US coinage, where nickels are bigger than dimes but apparently the same metal. Having 1,2 and 5 in each decade helps, too... > And before anyone argues, I know there's no L5 coin (maybe for special > occasions) but it would fit into the scheme perfectly. I said a few years ago that the L5 note is worth no more now than the 10 shilling note was when that was withdrawn (1969?). But no regular L5 coin is forthcoming. > Now if only British postage stamps were equally exciting. There used to be a system of sorts. But it seems to have been well messed up... Stamps are not my field, I'm afraid, so I sha'n't comment. > ObCC: PL/I had similar facilities to cope with pounds-sterling arithmetic. > Also, the Felt & Tarrant Company (producers of the Comptometer calculator) > made various models with odd "bases" (sterling, hours/minutes/seconds, > feet/inches/8ths, etc.) Too bad they never made all-octal or all-hex > machines. Fun! Also ObCC (almost): as I mentioned the 20p and 50p are curves of constant diameter. Our first multi-sided coin was a 3d piece, which took over slowly >from tiny silver ones in the 1930s and '40s. This had 12 sides, and was therefore not of a constant width. This meant some negotiations with slot machine (both vending and gambling) manufacturers. Some coins were minted a year early for test purposes. Then the King was forced to abdicate (over a sex scandal - plus ca change...) and a new king took the throne in the year before that printed on the coins alongside the old king's name! The coins were withdrawn and melted down, of course. A few 3d pieces bearing the name of Edward VIII still exist, however. The last one to be auctioned fetched L60 000. so I don't think that space in my collection will be filled at all soon. ***** Joe Rigdon wrote: > No wonder Leo wanted to computerize their payroll and accounting! The > math must have been a royal pain! I think it was. I was only 3 when decimalisation happened, so I never had to learn pre-decimal currency at school. I think in mediaeval times, when your total income was a couple of pounds a year, and you did all the calculation in your head, it wasn't too bad. But in the 20th century, with formal methods of decimal calculation on paper widely known, at routine calculations in hundreds of pounds, it was an anachronism. ***** M K Peirce wrote: > Any thoughts on how they handled guineas and florins? The guinea was still used as a unit for some transactions (=21 s.) but it had ceased to exist as a coin 100 years and more earlier. My guess is that for the sort of transactions that Lyons were interested in, the guinea was not used. The florin was introduced in the mid 19th century as Britain's first decimal coin - one tenth of a pound. But by the mid 20th century, florin coins all actually bore the legend "two shillings" (you Americans wouldn't be at all confused if your dimes said "ten cents", would you?), and "florin" was no more than the name of the coin. Philip.

25 years, 4 months

Seen on port-vax...

by kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com

This came in on the NetBSD port-VAX mailing list. Anyone in the MA area want a VAX 8650? -=-=- <break> -=-=- Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 23:02:45 -0500 From: Matthew Hudson <mhudson(a)home.com> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.06 [en] (X11; I; Linux 2.0.35 i586) To: port-vax(a)netbsd.org Subject: free 8650 Vax in MA Sender: port-vax-owner(a)netbsd.org Delivered-To: port-vax(a)netbsd.org Subject: GIVEAWAY: Vax 8650 in Medford, MA Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:23:50 -0500 From: Jason Scott <jason(a)snuh.com> Organization: The Information Access Center Newsgroups: misc.forsale.computers.workstation My company is decommissioning a VAX 8650 with Expansion Unit and while the current plan is to throw the thing into the dump, if there are souls out there who want one of these things for Nostalgia, Spare Parts, or to drop out of a plane, give me a holler at (781)-393-3283 and we'll talk. Or, mail to jason(a)snuh.com works just as well. If you think you can stop by with a Toyota and put this thing in the trunk, you don't want it. Vax 8650's are the size of large meat lockers and you'll need at least a truck to pick it up. The power needs are beyond imagining. The only real use for these things are spare parts or some sick project I can't think of, but I can't bear to not take at least a try at finding them a home. The VAXen are located in Medford, MA, just about 5 miles north of Boston, off Route 93. We're throwing the things out Thursday Night (March 18) so act fast. First call and show, first serve. Thanks! - Jason Scott Thought someone might be interested in this. -Matt -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies http://www.bluefeathertech.com Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905) "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..."

25 years, 4 months

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test-drb March 1999