First, a big thank you to Gregory Watson, gjw(a)access.digex.net for the
history lesson on Kaypro. I look forward to the PC side.
A couple of years ago I did a little contract work for the school system
in the next county. It was then that I visited one of the no longer used
school buildings. It had been turned into a storage shed for anything
the school did not know what else to do with, including the Commodores,
a couple of Kaypros, a few Lasers, & a mess IBM brand PC's, just to name
a few.
I had all but forgotten about it, figuring no way to pry those machines
loose from the school system. It turns out that they sold the building
to a someone about a year ago and he is now looking for a buyer himself.
I called him and he invited me over for a look around at what computers
were still left. He said that if this perspective buyer wanted the
entire contents that would be the end of it. If the buyer does not
want the computers then I can have what I want. I think he expects
me to take it all.
Most of what is there is IBM brand PC's. I did not write down model
numbers and all that, just looked around as he gave me the tour of
the building. These IBM's are what I would call educational machines.
I know the school system is big on IBM and gets the usual educational
discount. Many of the machines are just dual 3 1/2" floppy machines,
with some having around 60mb hard drives in place of one floppy.
I did notice that the floppy drives had a 40 pin edge connector instead
of the expected 34 pin. IIRC, the hard drives had the same edge connector
as the floppies. Anybody out there got any insights on these?
Apparently, he had a schoolyard sale and most of the Commodores are long
gone, but did see some stuff. Since I am not up on that, what should
I be on the lookout for in the way of goodies?
On the way out, I stopped to admire one machine. He said that I could
have it if I wanted it. A token I guess. We had to go to the next
floor and the other end of the building to find its keyboard. Just as
we got back to the machine, he commented that he never could find the
cover for it. This just as I was snapping the keyboard back in place.
So I now have a working Kaypro 16, complete with OS, namely DOS 2.1.
I had the cover off briefly, enough to realize that it appears you
have to dismantle the thing to put a board in an expansion slot.
In the expansion slots are a a modem & what I assume is a secondary
video board with 9 pin D female connector and RCA jack. Another card with
a 25 pin D and a 9 pin D, both female, parallel and serial I assume.
The fourth card has no I/O connectors, so not sure until I can get at it.
One thing I would like to do to this is to put in a battery and clock
chip. I have long since forgotten what was available then. Any
suggestions?
I won't know until mid-October if the buyer wants the computers or not.
The way I figure it, they probably won't want them. Face it, if they
are not a subscriber to this list, then they are not nuts enough to
consider what I am consdiering, right? ;-)) Then there is the issue
of where do I store 100 or so machines, at least long enough to sort
it all out.
Mike Thompson
Hi Gang,
This is OT but too good to miss.
Joe
>Subject: COMPUTER BILLIES
>
>THE ENGINEER SONG >>>(SUNG TO THE TUNE OF
>THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES)
>A little local color....
>
>Come and listen to a story 'bout a man
>named Jed,
>A poor college kid, barely kept his
>family fed,
>But then one day he was talking to a
>recruiter,
>He said "They'll pay ya big bucks if ya
>work a computer",
>
>CAD that is ... CRT's ...
>Micro-stations;
>
>Well the first thing ya know ol' Jed's
>an Engineer,
>The kinfolk said "Jed move away from
>here",
>"Redstone Ars'nal is the place ya
>oughta be",
>So he drove until he felt the heat and
>humidity,
>
>Summer that is ... no shade ... even
>your toenails sweat;
>
>On his first day at work they stuck him
>in a cube,
>Fed him a donut and sat him at a tube,
>They said "Your project's late but we
>know just what to do,
>Instead of 40 hours, we'll work you
>fifty-two!"
>
>Overtime that is ... Unpaid ...
>Man-datory
>
>The weeks rolled by and things were
>looking bad,
>Some schedules got slipped and the boss
>was gettin' mad,
>They called another meeting and decided
>on a fix,
>The answer was simple, "We'll work him
>sixty-six"
>
>Tired that is ... Stressed out ... No
>so-cial life
>
>Months turned into years and his hair
>was turning gray,
>Jed worked hard while his life slipped
>away,
>Waiting to retire when he turned
>sixty-four,
>Instead he got called in and escorted
>out the door,
>
>Laid-off, that is ... Downsized ...
>Un-em-ployed.
>
>Y'all come back as a contractor now, Ya
>heah?
>
>
>--
>
>[ ]-------------------------------------------------
>
>My personal Web Page can be found at:
>
> http://www.iag.net/~flpyro
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>To goto my page type in or copy the above text EXACTLY
>as shown in your browsers navigation window.
>
>[ ]-------------------------------------------------
>
About ten or more years ago, I saw a photo of the calculator/abacus in a
magazine. I called the company in Japan in hopes of buying one for
myself. I was told at that time that they were not intended for sale.
They were promotional items only; sometimes given as gifts to very good
customers. Does anyone out there know where I might obtain one?
Gene
Does anyone here have a KayPro MC-10, but doesn't have a Users Manual?
I received a Users Manual in the mail today, along with some other
stuff. It looks a little rough, with some mildew damage on the front
bottom and edges, but is still quite readible. The style of writing
itself is a little humorous. Definitely unlike any Users Manual that
I have ever read. It contains quite a bit of technical info, as well.
Despite it not being a very large manual.
Jim Webster
Just a heads-up for our German listmembers....
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 14:58:55 +0200
From: Horst Ulrich <hulrich(a)hrz.uni-kassel.de>
To: Info-PDP11(a)transarc.com
Subject: vax hardware
we give away for very cheap price
microvax II
pdp11
pdp11 23+
additional hardware (floppy, disks etc )
for more info contact
hulrich(a)hrz.uni-kassel.de (at university of kassel, germany)
(Contact David, not me!)
Debus-David(a)AER.ARAMARK.COM writes:
Attention Listeners, Lurkers, and esteemed Contributors;
I have a 980/100 w/256mb ram , 5 SCSI cards, a SCSI bootable CA,
3 FL cards for HP 6000 1.34 fl drives (9) looking for a good home.
It is currently running MPE/iX 6.0 with 160 user license.
Any offer including cost of shipping will be accepted.
Please respond to debus-david(a)aer.aramark.com
[The machine is currently in Golden, CO]
[An HP 3000/980 is about 4 feet tall, 2 feet deep, and 6 feet long
(rough estimate)]
There was an article in the August 20, 1999 LA Weekly regarding vintage computers that mentioned VCF 3.0 with a quote from Sam. Don't recall this being referenced before on this list. Go to:
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/99/39/cyber-vankin.shtml
Sorry if it's been mentioned before.
Wayne
In a message dated 09/27/1999 7:58:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
DD950(a)prodigy.net writes:
> Welcome to the list. I and the other three people here besides myself that
> are interested in KayPro welcome you.
Make that four! I bought a Kaypro 10 recently (after seeking advice from
people on this list) and I like it!
> I threw my 2X-84 away in 1995. Wish
> I would have kept it. They are selling on eBay now for $35-40. :-)
Shame, shame!
> I have thought of trying to collect some information on KayPro and make a
> dedicated Web page. Problem is I do not have any material or knowledge of
> the company and can't find any here in the boonies.
Don't feel bad -- I'm in the giant megalopolis of Orlando Florida and there's
no abundance of information here, either.
> A short time ago I remarked how the Coleco Adam still had venders, User
> Groups, and many Web pages while the KayPro has almost disappeared.
Likewise with the Sinclair and Timex/Sinclair machines I collect -- there are
many active user groups around the world who share software, as well as
hardware groups who have made available devices such as disk drive
interfaces, data transfer to/from IBM-type pcs, etc. But nothing for the
Kaypro.
Perhaps this is because the Kaypro computers weren't "hobbyist" computers --
they were designed and marketed as "business" machines. As far as I can tell
there was very little third-party hardware sold for the Kaypro, and they were
not exactly designed to be modified (people on the list, please correct me if
I'm wrong ;>)
Glen Goodwin
0/0
Richard Erlacher wrote:
> The 1770 and 1772, which were 28-pin IC's intended for use only with 5-1/4"
> drives, the primary difference between them being the step rates they
> support, were not widely used.
Tony Duell added:
> Dunno if it's any help, but a 1772 is an almost-identical IC, just with
> faster (much faster!) step rates. If you're using it with modern floppy
> drives then you might well be able to drop a 1772 in place of the 1770.
Thank, guys! This information is a big help.
The 1700 is the heart of a disk controller I use with my Timex Sinclair 2068.
The system is still available from the manufacturer, but in the event of
failure it is of course cheaper to replace the IC than the entire controller.
Tony: Please define "modern floppy drives." Thanks ;>)
Glen Goodwin
0/0
