test-drb April 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

170 participants
1190 discussions

Kits vs ready-made (was RE: Rebirth of IMSAI)

by edick＠idcomm.com

This strategy is pretty popular with analog work being tried for the first time. I prefer to wire-wrap my digital stuff, and I've shown that wire-wrap between digital and analog circuitry can be mde to work as well. I prefer my prototypes to be really rugged unless there's a specific reason why one can't be, and I'm always afraid to play with those "spiderweb-technology" circuits, so once built, they never get any improvement from me. Now, I've learned a few tricks from those analog weenies who use this kind of stuff all the time. I'll certainly never forget watching one guy track down a 4MHz clock from a processor getting into the analog section of his circuit by using a divider with points sharp enough to penetrate the solder mask and a spectrum analyzer. He found the section of ground plane which needed bypass, then fixed it with a couple of capacitors bypassing the unwanted signal to just the right place. No mean trick if you ask me. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Thursday, April 01, 1999 7:24 PM Subject: Re: Kits vs ready-made (was RE: Rebirth of IMSAI) ><What I do if I can stand the stray capacitance (and I often can) is take ><a piece of copperclad for the groundplane. I then stick (double-sided ><tape is strong enough) little 'islands' of stripboard, track side up onto ><the groundplane. Solder the ICs to the stripboard. Then solder the ground ><wires from the strips to the groundplane (as short as possible). That ><will anchor the stripboard in place. Decoupling caps go from the power ><strip straight to the groundplane, etc. > >That happens to be an effective way to do it. Works well for RF too. > >As to proto, I have a few peices of equipment that were deliberately built >that way with over 15 years on them. With a little care it can be very >rugged. > >Allison >

25 years, 8 months

Vector Graphic range...

by fauradon＠pclink.com

Is the Vector3 also an S100 machine? If so: WOW I have an S100 machine and didn't know about it! There is a small picture of it at the Sanctuary site in the Miscelaneous part of the museum. Francois --------------------------------- Visit the oh so neglected sanctuary at: www.pclink.com/fauradon >Vector Graphic made a range of machines starting with the Vector I. I am not >familiar with all of them, but I believe they were all S-100 machines. The >machines I have are the Vector 1, 3, 4, and MZ. I am not familiar at all >with the Vector Graphic B; I would pick it up just out of curiousity. All of >the machines I have run CP/M. Are you talking about the UCSD P-System? If >so, I didn't think that was an operating system, but rather something more >like an interpreter. >

25 years, 8 months

Sickening Documentation

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>I got the Base Set of OpenVMS 7.2 doc's that I ordered today. How >disgusting! On the spine, it says "Compaq OpenVMS", and the spines are ALL >white, so they aren't colour coded by type. The "traditional" DEC way of dealing with this is to have pockets on all the spines and put cardboard identifiers in each one indicating which volume it is. If you go to a well-stocked office supply store, you'll find similar sized pockets that are self adhesive and which you can stick to the spines of your new manuals, and them label everything appropriately. All the way back to white, eh? My old TOPS-20 manual set (from mid-to- late-70's) is in white binders... >I don't mind the "Compaq" where the "digital" used to be, it's the "Compaq >OpenVMS" I find sick! How egotistical! Within a day or two of the announced merger, all the faxes I got from DEC began reading "Compaq" at the top! >Oh, well, I've got doc's that match the version I'm running now at least >(though the V5 "System Managers Manual" will continue to be the most used >manual). Now if the two Cluster manuals that I ordered at the same time >would ship, I'd be almost happy. Still need up-to-date DECnet manuals >though. Incidentally, there are several places on the net where the OpenVMS documentation is browsable. For starters, you can go to http://www.openvms.digital.com/ and click on "Documentation". It looks like the Cluster manuals and DECnet manuals are there. Of course, electronic docs are not nearly as satisfying as a "grey wall" (or, as it seems to be now, white), but it can come in handy in a pinch. -- 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, 8 months

Collectors list

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

I guess I'm not advertising enough! Would anybody object if I posted this announcement periodically, like maybe once every two weeks, or once per month? The "Classic Computer Rescue Squad" web page lists people's location, classic computer interests, and contact info. If you aren't on it, you are missing out. And if you want to find nearby classic computer geeks, this is the obvious spot for one-stop-shopping. E-mail addresses on it are mangled to make it more difficult for spammers (though I have an idea for a better anti-spam measure), and pretty much all the decisions about what info to list are made by the Rescue Squad volunteers themselves. I've even been pretty good about maintaining it. Requests usually get handled in less than 24 hours. Here's the URL: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/classiccmp/ccrs_list.html Be there, or be a rectangle in which each side is one fourth of the total perimiter. Bill. On Wed, 31 Mar 1999, Sellam Ismail <dastar(a)ncal.verio.com> wrote: ] ] On Wed, 31 Mar 1999, Jerome Fine wrote: ] > So, if you are willing to give your zip/postal code, in effect that is ... deletia ... ] ] I think the rescue list on Bill Yakowenko's site (don't have the URL ] handy) can serve the purpose of knowing where generally other fellow ] collectors are located. Aside from privacy concerns, its a swell idea. ] But I guess it would be on a voluntary basis. ] ... more ...

25 years, 8 months

Osborne PSU

by a2k＠one.net

Hello, I recently aquired an Osbourne Model I luggable.. I have system disks for it and I can't wait to fire it up.. unfortunately it has a bad power switch (a little flaky; works occasionally, usually not), which is not big deal as I can change that out.. the problem is when I was working on the panel that has the wires attached (wrapped around those posts) I accidentally ripped them all off (grr).. does anyone have a pinout of which colored wires go to which pin? thanks, Kevin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After sifting through the overwritten remaining blocks of Luke's home directory, Luke and PDP-1 sped away from /u/lars, across the surface of the Winchester riding Luke's flying read/write head. PDP-1 had Luke stop at the edge of the cylinder overlooking /usr/spool/uucp. "Unix-to-Unix Copy Program;" said PDP-1. "You will never find a more wretched hive of bugs and flamers. We must be cautious." -- DECWARS ____________________________________________________________________ | Kevin Stewart | "I am a secret | | KC8BLL ----------| Wrapped in a mystery -Milford High School | | a2k(a)one.net | Wrapped in an enigma Drama Tech Dept. | |jlennon(a)nether.net| And drizzled in some tasty chocolate stuff.| --------------------------------------------------------------------

25 years, 8 months

DEC cables

by kees.stravers＠iae.nl

>I have some DEC cables that I peicked up. Does anyone know what they're for? >Marked "BC-022D-10" also "82351-000" DB-25F on both ends estimate 10 >foot long >Marked "BC22D-50" also "71065" DB-25F on both ends, estimate 50 foot long >Marked "BC22D-25" also "71065" DB-25F on both ends, estimate 25 foot >long,NIB >Thanks, > Joe BC22D is a RS-232 null-modem cable, used to connect terminals to RS232 terminal ports on a VAX or PDP. See the DEC cables page at: <http://www.digital.co.uk/info_uk/Tech/cables.htm> <http://www.vaxarchive.org/hw/cables.html> Kees -- Kees Stravers - Geldrop, The Netherlands - kees.stravers(a)iae.nl http://www.iae.nl/users/pb0aia/ I'm Sysadmin and DEC PDP/VAX preservationist - Visit VAXarchive! http://www.vaxarchive.org/ (primary) http://www.sevensages.org/vax/ (mirror) http://www.coyote.org/mirrors/vaxarchive/ (mirror)

25 years, 8 months

Terak software

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 12:40 AM 4/2/99 -0800, Sell 'em @ eBay wrote: >On Thu, 1 Apr 1999, John Foust wrote: > >> port, where I capture it using the venerable Pro-YAM telecom package. >> (Now there's a guy who belongs on this list <http://www.omen.com/>.) > >Ah, Chuck Forsberg, a.k.a. TeleGodzilla? Yup. He's the one. Quite the god of telecom, judging by the level of detail in his manuals, and the power and reliability of Pro-YAM. My POTS dial-up has diminished ever since I got a T-1, but Pro-YAM's certainly one of the oldest yet original programs I've got on my PC. The other is Brief. Well, actually, BEEP.COM, SQ.COM, USQ.COM, BOLD.COM and SWEEP.EXE are still on my path, and they date to first-quarter '84. - John

25 years, 8 months

Rescuer's list vs Collector's list was Re: Collectors

by lwalker＠mail.interlog.com

On 2 Apr 99 at 10:27, Joe wrote: > At 02:17 AM 4/2/99 -0500, you wrote: > >I guess I'm not advertising enough! Would anybody object if I > >posted this announcement periodically, like maybe once every two > >weeks, or once per month? > > Hi Bill, > > Do it! But I don't think the collector's list is intended to be a > rescuer's list, just a list of people with old computer interests so that we > can locate others with similar interest that are nearby. > > Joe > > Exactly. Those on the collectors list would not necessarily be willing to go to extent of arranging transport etc. For example, altho I have done rescues of old equipment, I don't even have a vehicle to do so and as with most of us very limited and rapidly dwindling storage space. It just makes it easier to find collectors in your locale who might have similiar interests. It's a good start but please keep the names coming. Only those collectors who wish to be included on the list and who send the data will be listed. ciao larry lwalker(a)interlog.com Collectors info http://members.xoom.com/T3C

25 years, 8 months

PAGING: Joe Rigdon, Mike McManus

by kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com

(Posted to the list, CC: to both recipient's E-addys) Will Joe Rigdon and Mike McManus please get in contact with me regarding their participation in the Teledisk group buy? Joe, I've seen your posts to the list so I know you're still around. However, you've not responded as yet to ANY of the E-mails I've sent you. Mike, I've just not gotten any responses from you at all. Please contact me ASAP. Thanks to you both. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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, 8 months

off-the-wall question (possibly OT)

by edick＠idcomm.com

Not quite . . . those stepping relays had quite a bit more energy as they had to move something more massive than the little relay contacts. It's more like what the room full of stepping relays sounded like from down the hall. You were only barely aware of it, but you were immediately aware of a change in the pattern. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Friday, April 02, 1999 7:32 AM Subject: Re: off-the-wall question (possibly OT) >Bill, > > I've never heard a relay machine in operation but I've heard lots of >telephone co switch rooms with the old stepping relays in opertation. I >imagine the sound must be similar. > > Joe > >At 02:27 AM 4/2/99 -0500, you wrote: >>Has anybody here ever heard a relay machine running, like one >>of the early Zuse machines or the Harvard Mark-1? It occurred >>to me (please don't ridicule me too much for this*) that the >>sound of the robot in the old "Lost in Space" TV series may >>have been intended to sound like a relay machine. I've heard >>descriptions of them sounding like a thousand women knitting, >>which could sort-of describe that robot sound-effect as well... >> >> Cheers, >> Bill. >> >>* I guess you should ridicule me just the right amount. :-) >> >> >

25 years, 8 months

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test-drb April 1999