test-drb July 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
662 discussions

by sms＠antinode.org

From: allisonp(a)world.std.com (Allison J Parent) > Ah, I believe TK50 and TK70 tape is different media (magnetics). That > is why the TK70 can only read TK50 formats. The number of tracks is different, with more on the TK70 than on the TK50 (not surprisingly). When a TK70 drive tries to read a TK50 tape, it's easy enough to center a smaller (TK70) read head on a larger (TK50) track. It is far more difficult (that is, practically impossible) for the smaller write head to write a track which covers the larger track well enough to satisfy the larger read head. _This_ is why a TK70 drive can not write a tape which can be read by a TK50 drive. The magnetic properties of the tapes may or may not be different. My experience suggests that they're close enough. (Of course, also I've used HD floppies as DD by taping over the hole, again, with no problems. Please, let's not start that discussion here.) Regardless, it's the difference in track configuration which is the fundamental source of the problem. The same argument applies similarly to QIC tape drives of various densities. If anyone actually _knows_ about the magnetic properties of the two types of tapes, I'd be pleased to learn of the differences, if any. I could live happliy without additional uninformed speculation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steven M. Schweda (+1) 651-645-9249 (voice, home) 1630 Marshall Avenue #8 (+1) 612-754-2636 (voice, work) Saint Paul MN 55104-6225 (+1) 612-754-6302 (facsimile, work) sms(a)antinode.org sms(a)provis.com (work)

25 years, 5 months

Computers using a TV as the display

by edick＠idcomm.com

Your assessment that the display is more or less TERRIBLE when using a TV with WINDOWS is correct. My WinBook provides NTSC video output on demand, ostensibly for when you're away from home and your docking station/port expander, and want to use a BIG display. It's pretty sorry looking! 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: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 4:26 PM Subject: Computers using a TV as the display >I happened to notice an advert in a UK newspaper today. > >Apparently some company (related to Tiny Computers I believe) is offering >a free PC if you use them as your telephone company and make a certain >value of calls in each of the first 12 months (the details are not >important). > >However, in the small print it says something like (from memory) > >'The PC is not supplied with a monitor. However the necessary >cables/connections to use your TV as a display are included' > >So it appears that using a TV as a computer display is alive and well in >the UK. Mind you, IMHO trying to view Windows (and I am sure that's the >OS that came with this machine) on the average TV screen would make it >even more unpleasant than usual. > >-tony >

25 years, 5 months

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

-----Original Message----- From: Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 4:24 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >> >> OK . . . I admit it . . . I'm off topic getting into attitudes, etc. I >> agree that there are times when it's certainly better to fix something than > >You're righht. This thread has drifted too far... > <snip> > >Oh well. I guess some of us do think there were better machines than the >PC :-) > The question is really not one of better, just of convenience. > >-tony >

25 years, 5 months

digital cameras

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

I agree, the sony mavica is a great camera for $500! the built-in floppy drive makes it so convenient to save files and the picture quality is really good. my brother had one and used it to take pictures for my computer collection site. In a message dated 7/13/99 9:51:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, rigdonj(a)intellistar.net writes: > Lawrence, > > I've been using a Sony Mavica 81 and I LOVE it! I has 1024 x 768 > resolution and a 3X **** Optical***** zoom. Many of the cameras out there > use a digital zoom That just blows up a portion of your image and you get > a bigger picture but lower resolution. A digital zoom is worthless IMHO. > I've been able to focus in on lots of circuit boards and the like with the > Sony without having a Macro capability. Take a look at > "http://www.intellistar.net/~rigdonj/don-ad.htm". There are links there to > several pictures that I took with the Sony. This were just a quick and > dirty web page for a friend of mine to advertise his stuff and I didn't > take much care to get the best possible picture. Also you should be aware > that ALL the current cameras except the Sonys require Windozes 95 or 98 > just to download your pictures to a PC. The Sonys use 3.5" floppy disk in > the camera and save the pictures as standard JPEG files. > > Joe

25 years, 5 months

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

OK . . . I admit it . . . I'm off topic getting into attitudes, etc. I agree that there are times when it's certainly better to fix something than to buy a new one. With the classic computers, that's not an option, and for TONY, the hobbyist, it's not an option either because it's what he loves to do. The question originated about how a guy who has an ostensibly functional fixed-frequency monitor too heavy to ship without going into debt, could possibly squeeze a bit of usefulness out of it, and I felt that since this isn't a fix but rather a hack that's called for, the simplest and lowest cost hack would probably serve the purpose the best. I know how long it takes to work through someone else's object code trying to figure out how an undocumented LSI works. It just seemed to me that rather than spending kilobucks' worth of time, since that's not what the originator of the question defined as "fun," primarily, it would be easier to buy a second hand board, already capable of doing what he needs done, use it with the A/B switch he indicated he wanted to use in order to put a normal vga monitor in use when the scan rate was wrong. What I proposed was simply what I perceived to be the shortest path to the solution sought after in this particular case. The last time I mentioned something like this, i.e. application of a SUN monitor to a PC, someone jumped me for suggesting a way to do that, insisting that the only REAL way to do justice to the monitor was to get some SUN equipment to use with it. I thought that was a bit off the mark too. It confuses me when people complain on one hand about the COST of a given solution, yet are perfectly willing to spend hundreds of hours which, if spent shining shoes, would solve the problem a dozen times over. I understand that there are people who are happy when something breaks, so they can fix it. I am not one of them, however. Please accept my apologies for presenting my position in a narrow way, but, in the spirit of looking at the "big picture" it's wise to keep in mind that some people want to tinker while others merely want to play. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Bill Yakowenko <yakowenk(a)cs.unc.edu> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 12:36 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >From: yakowenk(a)csx.unxc.edu (remove x's) > >On Tue, 20 Jul 1999, "Richard Erlacher" wrote: >] Well, if it's an industry, it's not a hoby to everyone, and the state it's >] gotten into is PROFITABLE, which means it will be around a while longer. >] ... >] I guess if you only want to do what people did 20 years >] ago, then fixing stuff isn't a priority, since it will be much more of an >] antique once you get it fixed. I always figured it's good to know what is >] happening out there now. That's particularly true since that's how I intend >] to continue making my living. >] >] What the computer industry is about is MAKING MONEY. It's good that there >] are some people working in the industry who realize that it's about GETTING >] PAID, and not so much about having fun. > >I think maybe you have a little case of tunnel-vision here. The goal >is not just "get a working monitor". And "$MAKE MONEY FAST$" is not >even vaguely a part of the equation. The bottom line is that he wants >to fix it, and there definitely are benefits to doing that. The financial >bottom line may not show them, but they are there. Those dollar signs >on the bottom line don't show the whole quality-of-life picture, just >one aspect of it. > >Zoom out and look at the whole picture. Having dollars in your pocket >are certainly a good thing. But having toxic waste buried everywhere >is not. Having megacorporations trampling civil rights is not. Having >bored geeks is not. Having people who don't understand the world they >live in, but vote about it anyway, is not. These things may not all >be connected to Tony's monitor, but they are all results of seeing only >the financial bottom line. Somebody makes a big profit in causing each >of those things. Money in their pocket; crap for the rest of the world. >Keep that in mind, and think about everything that is affected by the >decision of repair vs. buy new: where the physical material goes, where >the money goes, whose mental states are changed and in what ways, etc.. >Then, repairing an old monitor instead of buying a new cheap one makes >a lot more sense. You don't enjoy it yourself, fine, for you the >holistic bottom line is still a no-go. For others it can go positive. > >So lets not have any more "your hobby is a waste of time" talk, OK? >Especially when that hobby is the raison-d'etre for this list. > >Okay, end of rant. > > Bill. >

25 years, 5 months

digital cameras

by peter.pachla＠vectrex.freeserve.co.uk

Hi, >The software is called gPhoto.... Thanks, I'll go take a look at their web site. TTFN - Pete. -- Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer. Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC) peter.pachla(a)virgin.net | peter.pachla(a)vectrex.freeserve.co.uk | peter.pachla(a)wintermute.free-online.co.uk | www.wintermute.free-online.co.uk --

25 years, 5 months

Sun Monitor (UK)

by peter.pachla＠vectrex.freeserve.co.uk

Hi Richard, >if the monitor is one of the SONY GDM1950 types, you can adapt >a1280x1024-capable display.... I think I'd have to dismantle the thing to figure out the type since the sticky labels identifying it have long since shrivelled and disappeared. I did consider modifying it for use on my PC but, to be honest, the thing is way too big for my uses so I just want rid of it. TTFN - Pete. -- Hardware & Software Engineer. Sound Engineer. Collector of Arcade Machines, Games Consoles & Obsolete Computers (esp DEC) peter.pachla(a)virgin.net | peter.pachla(a)vectrex.freeserve.co.uk | peter.pachla(a)wintermute.free-online.co.uk | www.wintermute.free-online.co.uk --

25 years, 5 months

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by edick＠idcomm.com

Have a look below, plz. 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, July 20, 1999 1:05 PM Subject: Re: Sun Monitor (UK) (2) >> The Sony GDM1950 designation is strange. Yours was a Sun, mine is a SuperMac >> and in searching the net I also found references to a Radius version, whom I > >That monitor was used/badged by a lot of companies. There have been other >common workstation monitors as well - Hitachi made one (HM4119), KME made >a number of monochrome ones that turn up on all sorts of UK machines, >etc. Very few companies designed and built their own monitors. > >> had thought manufactured their own monitors. There seem to be 19-21" versions >> and now I find also 3 and 5 BNC editions. Makes finding specs difficult. I >> found this reference in the Sync on green FAQ : >> >> "For example, a STORM 1280/256 will drive a Sony GDM-1950 at 640x480, 800x600, >> 1024x768, 1280x1024 and DOS modes (this monitor is rated at 63.34Khz Horizontal >> sync. and the card runs at 64Khz Horizontal sync.). This card uses an S3 >> graphics accelerator. See also PC Magazine/April/13/1993." >> The easiest way to stay within the range of the fixed frequency while switching video modes as this one does is to play with the fonts. If you use a large font (lotsa pixels) you generate fewer lines of text and fewer characters, yet don't change the actual sweep rate at which the monitor operates. Unfortunately, most cards don't allow enough character generator flexibility. That might mean drawing the fonts manually, or at least in segments potentially supportable by the features of the graphics chip. >> >> Now what kind of bloody "fixed frequency" is this. On another site ISTR they >> even had a different scan rate. > >Fixed frequency != known scan rate :-(. > >Fixed frequency means that the scan frequencies are set when the monitor >is built and can't (easily!) be altered afterwards. But different >monitors may have been built for different frequencies. I've got monitor >manuals that cover (say) 50kHz and 64kHz versions of the chassis. They >all go under much the same model number though. > >-tony >

25 years, 5 months

Sun Monitor (UK) (2)

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

From: yakowenk(a)csx.unxc.edu (remove x's) On Tue, 20 Jul 1999, "Richard Erlacher" wrote: ] Well, if it's an industry, it's not a hoby to everyone, and the state it's ] gotten into is PROFITABLE, which means it will be around a while longer. ] ... ] I guess if you only want to do what people did 20 years ] ago, then fixing stuff isn't a priority, since it will be much more of an ] antique once you get it fixed. I always figured it's good to know what is ] happening out there now. That's particularly true since that's how I intend ] to continue making my living. ] ] What the computer industry is about is MAKING MONEY. It's good that there ] are some people working in the industry who realize that it's about GETTING ] PAID, and not so much about having fun. I think maybe you have a little case of tunnel-vision here. The goal is not just "get a working monitor". And "$MAKE MONEY FAST$" is not even vaguely a part of the equation. The bottom line is that he wants to fix it, and there definitely are benefits to doing that. The financial bottom line may not show them, but they are there. Those dollar signs on the bottom line don't show the whole quality-of-life picture, just one aspect of it. Zoom out and look at the whole picture. Having dollars in your pocket are certainly a good thing. But having toxic waste buried everywhere is not. Having megacorporations trampling civil rights is not. Having bored geeks is not. Having people who don't understand the world they live in, but vote about it anyway, is not. These things may not all be connected to Tony's monitor, but they are all results of seeing only the financial bottom line. Somebody makes a big profit in causing each of those things. Money in their pocket; crap for the rest of the world. Keep that in mind, and think about everything that is affected by the decision of repair vs. buy new: where the physical material goes, where the money goes, whose mental states are changed and in what ways, etc.. Then, repairing an old monitor instead of buying a new cheap one makes a lot more sense. You don't enjoy it yourself, fine, for you the holistic bottom line is still a no-go. For others it can go positive. So lets not have any more "your hobby is a waste of time" talk, OK? Especially when that hobby is the raison-d'etre for this list. Okay, end of rant. Bill.

25 years, 5 months

OT: Free Scanning Electron Microscope in Santa Barbara, CA

by jfoust＠threedee.com

From: "Edward Hennessey" <edwjhnhnnssy(a)earthlink.net> To: "Paleonet" <paleonet(a)ucmp1.berkeley.edu> Subject: paleonet Free Scanning Electron Microscope in Santa Barbara,Ca.,USA Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 12:51:56 -0700 Sender: paleonet-owner(a)ucmp1.berkeley.edu Reply-To: paleonet(a)ucmp1.berkeley.edu This is an abstract of an offer just posted on another listserv. Free Hitachi mode S-500 SEM, manufactured in 1977,disassembled for transport and complete with all manuals and some spare parts. Contact: Dave Pierce--Geology Department,University of California at Santa Barbara pierce(a)magic.geol.ucsb.edu voice and message phone: 805-893-2466 fax:805-893-2314 They need this out by the first week in August. There are machinery movers and crating firms out here that can handle the shipment if a more detailed report on the condition and function of the machine makes the prospect attractive.I can get recommendations if needed. Regards, Edward Hennessey

25 years, 5 months

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test-drb July 1999