I don't know about designators, but the first mini-floppy drives I got all
had lead screws like the 8" drives. Later on, the SA400-<something> became
available, and I don't remember what the <something> was, but they had the
helical cam with a 2-phase stepper.
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) <cisin(a)xenosoft.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Wednesday, April 07, 1999 5:41 PM
Subject: SA-400's (was: Heatkit 5 1/4 floppies
>On Wed, 7 Apr 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
>> I don't believe those were the earliest of the 5-1/4" types. The early
>> SA-400's I remember used a lead screw just like the 8" drives, but that
was
>> too costly for the competition that followed. When Apple started buying
>> "partial" drive mechanisms in order to implement their more
software-driven
>> approach, with the idea of saving a few bucks . . . multiplied by a
milion
>> or two drives . . . other manufacturers including SIEMENS and BASF, among
>> others, tried a two-phase stepper on a helically-tracked drive wheel as
>> opposed to the stepper driving a lead screw. Most makers later went to a
>> band-actuator system using a small stepper.
>
>Interesting. All of the SA400s that I've seen used the spiral groove on a
>rotating disc. The only 5.25" drives of that vintage that I have with a
>helical lead screw were the Micropolis 35 track 48TPI and 77 track 100TPI
>(NOT 96TPI!!). Was there any sub model designation for the Shugarts to
>differentiate different positioners?
>
>--
>Fred Cisin cisin(a)xenosoft.com
>XenoSoft http://www.xenosoft.com
>2210 Sixth St. (510) 644-9366
>Berkeley, CA 94710-2219
>
Interesting. The Siemens drives were the only ones I've
ever seen that use this scheme. But then again, I didn't
look closely at the Shugarts in the Burroughs word processors
when I took my first real job ("you're not qualified").
These were the only ones I've ever seen.
Jeff
On Wed, 7 Apr 1999 12:22:56 -0700 (PDT) James Willing
<jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com> writes:
>On Wed, 7 Apr 1999, Jeffrey l Kaneko wrote:
>
>> These were in common use on Z89's and Z-90's. Heathkit used drives
>made
>> by
>> Tandon and Siemens. The Siemens drives were kinda unique: It used a
>
>> disk with a spiral groove for the head positioner.
>
>Hmmm... hardly that unique it would seem... The Shugart SA-400
>series
>drives used that same positioning systems (first?).
>
>-jim
>---
>jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
>The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
>Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
>
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At 22:33 31/03/99 +1, Hans wrote:
>For a usefull system a Country identyfier and the ZIP code
>should be used, like US-90210 or DE-81541 or CA-M2R3G3
>(ISO 2 Char Country identifyer plus up to 9 char for ZIP -
>there is _no_ ZIP code in the world with more than 9 digits).
>And for the state/province thing - that's not used outside
>US/CA and defacto redundant information, since the ZIP code
>already includes this - everybody knows the location of
>(at least) the first two or 3 digits within his country.
>
>Servus
>Hans
I fully agree with this kind of format
[CC-XXXXXXXXX]
C=International country identifier
X=National ZIP code
that I think it is also a recomandation from the international postal
organization.
Riccardo Romagnoli
<chemif(a)mbox.queen.it>
I-47100 Forl?
I don't think I have cp/m. I've got a bunch of software mothballed for just
this occasion but havent got to it yet. Ahhh... software.... good. good.
Does the 6 weeks start today?
:)
- Mike: dogas(a)leading.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail <dastar(a)ncal.verio.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, April 06, 1999 7:29 PM
Subject: RE: Chicago trs-80s
>On Tue, 6 Apr 1999, Steve Robertson wrote:
>
>> After careful disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly, the Model 2 returned
>> to life. Another list member has located a keyboard for me (thanks) so,
>> that one is complete. I haven't found a boot disk for it yet but, I'm
sure
>> it'll work just fine.
>
>I recently made a CP/M and TRSDOS-II boot disk for another list member and
>I'd be happy to do the same for both you and Mike. Of course, you'll
>probably have to wait as long as Aaron did (about 6 weeks).
>
>Sellam Alternate e-mail:
dastar(a)siconic.com
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
>
> Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0
> See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
> [Last web site update: 04/03/99]
>
>
As promised last month... this month, April, on Saturday the
24th, I will offer hospitality and welcome to anyone wishing to
view/play with/make bad jokes about my DEC collection. As many
systems as I can get running will be 'on the air' (tho not all at
once... zzzzzmp!) for your perusal and happiness. You can paw thru
the junk and maybe find something you've wanted for months... we can
trade... you can help me clean out the garage... (please....!)
I will attend the TRW Swap Meet the morning of the 24th, and all
are invited there, and immediately afterwards to the usual post-swap
brunch-n-brag (around noon). Then I will travel to My Place, and any
folk wishing to join in at any point in the day's activities are most
welcome.
We can party until Sunday night, if that's what you want. I have
to be at work Monday morning, and so do you. Otherwise, it's
unstructured.
I would prefer to give directions privately, since where you are
coming from will modify them. Please e-mail me if you think you
might like to participate. It's completely informal, all are
welcome, and if no one shows up, I'm gonna play with the machines
all by myself. Directions will also be available from me at TRW.
I know that several NorCal (Bay Area) listmembers [Sam?] told me
they were going to try and make it down... let me know and we'll
leave alll the lights on. :)
Just a heads-up for all, and I encourage others in other locales to
consider hosting a Compu-crawl for your area... it's a lot more
interesting to me than Tupperware...
Cheerz
John
There exists a well known file, the Field Guide, which lists all
PDP and VAX DEC boards by number and description. I have created a
web page on VAXarchive, my site with information on old DEC VAX
hardware and its operating systems, which is to be the visual version
of this list. It shows pictures of boards, and their number
and function. This makes it easy to identify boards with unreadable
or missing module numbers. There are now 24 pictures on this page,
which is of course just a tiny part of all boards that exist.
I am hoping that the readers of this list are able to help me get
more pictures.
If you own boards that are not on this page, I would appreciate
it very much if you could send me an image of them. If it is a dual
or quad width board, you do not need a digital camera to make this
picture, you can just lay it face down on a flat bed scanner.
(This is how all the pictures on the page were made.) Please mail
any pictures to pb0aia at iae.nl, or let me know on which ftp or www
site they are. Thanks in advance!
The URL of the page is:
<http://www.vaxarchive.org/hw/vfg/>
The boards already on the page are:
Dual width: M7270, M7504, M7546, M7555, M7607, M7954, M8043, M8044,
M8047, M8659, M9047.
Quad width: M3104, M7164, M7165, M7168, M7169, M7196, M7454, M7602,
M7606, M7608, M7609, M7624, M8639.
Non-DEC: QD21.
Regards,
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)
"D. Peschel" <dpeschel(a)u.washington.edu> wrote:
> I guess posting something on-topic is the best solutioon. Does anyone have
> a Corvus Concept? I bet Blockout (3D Tetris) would look pretty cool on it.
What do you think a Corvus Concept would bring to Blockout? I don't know,
and it's been years since I played Tetris.
Yep, I've got one, the fancy landscape/portrait display boils down to
a VERT/HORIZ switch on the back of the CPU that the software reads to
figure out how to draw the display. (It's up to the user to make sure
the switch and the monitor are set the same way, and the switch doesn't
change anything about the beam deflection.)
-Frank McConnell
>On Mon, 5 Apr 1999, Tony Duell wrote:
>
>> > computers, the service representative came to the site, opened a panel
>> > on the operator console, and changed the 5 1/4" floppy disk. By doing
>>
>> I think I read somewhere that the 8" floppy was originally designed for
>> this purpose.
>
>IBM invented the floppy disk to distribute microcode updates.
>
>Sellam
I believe that I saw the first floppy disk drive invented at IBM San Jose
in late 1969. It was designed to load microcode into the new selector
channels being designed for the IBM S-370. Unlike the CPU's and selector
channels of the S-360 that had a variety of ROM designs, the System 370 and
the stand alone selector channels had writable control stores for microcode.
The device was very primitive since it was essentially a read only device
when installed in the channel. It was designed by Al Shugart or a team
under his direction. I know he was credited with it within IBM. I have
always hoped somebody would do an oral history with him of his IBM days and
the reasons that he left to start his own company.
Dean
