test-drb August 1999

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

161 participants
565 discussions

Williams Tube memory, Selectron question, and Charactron

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<The lights ("blinkenlights") on some early machines (and even a few not <so early machines) were tiny tubes, as well. A bit more simple than a CRT.. there was one variation that use a dual tube (triodes) in a FF config so that you could store a bit with an indicator. They coated one plate with phosphor so it was visible and tada, inherent display. A few years back (1972) I used a few VF 7segment tubes (one 7segment per tube) all anodes connecteed together made them a low mu triode and I built a FF using them as a gag. Plate voltage was 36-45V. Allison

24 years, 11 months

Drivers needed

by fauradon＠mn.mediaone.net

Hi, I just acquired a NIC for MAC, it's an "Assante MacCom+ II E" etheernet card. What do I need to connect the mac to the ethernet network. I got the card without doc or installation program. Any help would be great. The MAC is a IIvx running 7.1 I'd like to have TCP/IP or any other way to talk to the *indows network. Thanks Francois

24 years, 11 months

Beagle Bag (was Re: check it out)

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>>You old pros probably have been here but word of this site just reached >>Grapeland via Hong Kong. > > Though I really do have to wonder how many people would actually fall for >the idea that their monitor can go both ways... On the old "Beagle Bag" collection for the Apple ][, there were some impressively done programs in "Magic Pack". In one of them, you are directed to hold a playing card up to the screen, type "RUN", and the computer scanned the card and told you what type it was. In another, called "Plenty Questions" (like 20 Questions), the computer asks a bunch of Yes/No questions which you answer and are typed in. And the computer could guess it right 100% of the time. All **assuming** that a sufficiently trained person was sitting at the computer keyboard. For the card scanner, you would type "3CN" (as the letters "RUN" appeared on the screen) to indicate that, say, a 3 of Clubs was being held up to the screen. For "Plenty Questions", you get to type one letter of the object in response to each Y/N question. Of course, "Magic Pack" depended on a good amount of showmanship on the part of the computer's owner as he dupes his friends into believing the mystical powers that his lowly Apple ][ has acquired. And not doing the tricks so often that the audience figures out what's going on! -- 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

24 years, 11 months

check it out

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<Since the screen is in fact being scanned by the electron beam in the <monitor, the light that passes through the transparency and to the <photodetector depends on the darkness of a spot on said transparency <corresponding to where the electron beam is. As does the output of the <photodetector. Digitize that, synchronised to the scanning, and you have <a way to scan images. Flying spot scanner. Go back about 25-30 years and you could get one for test patterns for TV service, B&K was one vendor here in the us. The patterns were 35MM slides if memory serves. The box was a small CRT that was scanned at fixed bright intensity, a slide holder, lens and a phototube to translate the light to analog image stream. The same scheme would work >from a reflected image. Using modern technology if you scanned the field to be viewed with a laser while viewing that with a photodiode with a lens focused to the resulting output could then be synched and broadcast or digitized. FYI this is the basic barcode scanner. The site is still a gag! Allison

24 years, 11 months

Pet 8096 for trade in UK

by mark_k＠iname.com

Hi, Moving to a smaller house forces me to get rid of my Pet 8096. This computer could do with a clean but worked fine the last time I tested it. Contact me if you may be interested in this. It needs to be picked up from Wiltshire, England. Regards, -- Mark

24 years, 11 months

Old (relatively) Tandy 1000 w/bits & pieces (fwd)

by siconic＠jasmine.psyber.com

Here's someone with a Tandy 1000 they want to get rid of, located in the upper west side of Manhattan (New York)(. Please respoond to the original sender. Reply-to: Ollco(a)aol.com ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 12:07:00 EDT From: Ollco(a)aol.com To: vcf(a)vintage.org Subject: Old (relatively) Tandy 1000 w/bits & pieces We have an old computer that may have value other than holding down the end of the table. It's a Tandy 1000 w/cma monitor, manuals, etc. Lots of software Still working w/all of 256 K ram and 2 Epson printers, one a wide carriage for spread sheets. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, Steve & Marci Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)verio.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Puttin' the smack down on the man! Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0! See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details [Last web site update: 05/25/99]

24 years, 11 months

(I'm ba-ack...) Problems with DW11-B...

by DSEAGRAV＠toad.xkl.com

Okay, situation as follows. I finally cleared some time to play with my toys again... The idea is, I have an 11/83, an RL02, and plenty of RAM. It runs 2.9BSD at the moment. I also have a DZ11 clone by Aziv (or something like that) in there, it works too. I got my hands on a RSTS 8 RL02 SAVRES tape (Found it in my scratch magtape pile! Can't believe I didn't see this before!) and wanna play with RSTS instead of 2.9BSD. So, the idea was, I have a tape drive and UNIBUS TS-type controller that both work, and a BA11-K. (It was the one on the 11/44, which, sadly, has died of mysterious marginality. It catches random bus errors and starts only about 1/4 of the time. Don't worry, I didn't pitch it - I plan on debugging it later.) Anyway, I wanted to hang the DW11-B between the 2 boxes (The 83 and the BA11), then use the TS tape and drive to back up BSD to a tape, and then try restoring this RSTS tape. If the RSTS tape dies then, all I have to do is get a minimal UNIX back on the RL02 and restore my tape. Too bad UNIX doesn't make self-booting backup tapes like VMS does... (Speaking of which, did any other OS do this?) Anyway, the problem is, when the DW11-B is installed in the 83,. the memory check diagnostic fails at address 0, and the MAP option on the crash screen only sees the addresses on the CPU card (So the DW11 is clobbering the bus.) Questions are: 1. Has anyone done this before? 2. Are DW11-Bs incompatible with Q22 backplanes? 3. Is there some obvious screw I'm missing? I'm using the quad-height end in the Qbus end, and the dual-height end in the UNIBUS end. I assume if I had them backwards, I'd get smoke... Also, the fuse in the dual-height end is good, I checked it. Help would be much appreciated! -------

24 years, 11 months

check it out

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< How did the old light-pens or the light-gun with Atari 8-bits work ? <Weren't they related to this sensitivity of the CRT ? Light pens were fast photo diode that did coincidence detection with a scan line that was bright. The logic in the video board(or chip) would map the "hit" to a scan line address... the rest was programming in the form of what was at that spot and was it a "button". Very simple device save for there were timing delays to be compensated for. Allison

24 years, 11 months

Williams Tube memory, Selectron question, and Charactron

by sms＠antinode.org

From: CLASSICCMP(a)trailing-edge.com (Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com) > Question for the UKer's: is a tube rectifier (no control grid, just an > anode and a cathode) called a "valve"? Have you heard of a check valve? > Is a voltage regulator tube (like the venerable OA2) called a "valve"? No doubt it's _called_ one (where electron tubes are called valves). I can cite several worse misnomers in popular use. On the subject of unusual display devices, as I recall, the Univac 422, a training computer (transistors, 512 15-bit words of core memory, with paper tape and (modified) Remington Rand typewriter for I/O) from the 1960's, used blue-green vacuum fluorescent indicators on its front panel, to display register contents. Not digital displays in the modern sense, they were just blue-green lamps. I assume that they were chosen for their ability to be controlled by transistors which were unable to cope with the voltages of neon glow lamps or the current of incandescent lamps. I never saw them on anything else. I don't doubt that they had better long-term reliability than the SCR-driven incandescent lamps in the console display of the IBM 1130 CPU. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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)

24 years, 11 months

check it out

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I doubt very much if most CRTs are at all light-sensitive. You kidding? Those phosphors are quite sensitive to light at the right wavelength. Everyone forgets a plumbicon (and predecessors) used a phosphor coated target that the image impinged on and then was scanned with a electron beam with the incident current sensed using an internal collector grid. Maybe you had to work with the old mono camaras with a tube in it rather than a CCD. Allison

24 years, 11 months

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test-drb August 1999