My museum ethos is to save at least one of each model of machine I can
reasonably afford, so with the really common stuff like C64s, Spectrums,
Amstrads, Ataris etc if I get a broken one and obvious chip swaps/dry
joints/general muck etc doesn't fix it I get another one. Most spares can
generally be passed onto other collectors, but that hasn't stopped me ending
up with a pile of broken Spectrum Pluses :)
a
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Gregory [mailto:mgregory@vantageresearch.com]
> Sent: 17 July 2000 22:32
> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
> Subject: Repair or Replace? [Was: Repairing Timex]
>
>
> I'm curious to know how list members feel about the question
> of repairing
> versus replacing common computers.
>
>
> Err, how can 120V at 5A be anything other than 600VA? Or is it 450VA
> continuously rated, 5A peak current or something?
Yep - it's definitely a 450VA transformer because I coulnd't afford the
600VA one! I wanted to get a fairly large one in case the ProFile turned out
to be a non-switcher, which is academic now because I've got a UK one.
> equipment doesn't like that sort of supply. Even
> autoswitching PSUs tend
> to blow up when connected to one of these units.
I know - that's why I'm worried about the Lisa PSU. At first I DID try a US
travel adapter which ran my TRS80s and small NTSC TV quite happily - feed
Lisa from it and the fuse blew so I scattered off to Maplins and got a
*real* transformer with UK plug on one side and US socket on the other. It
had better be OK - it was bloody ukp70 :)
> I've seen the result of connecting a mac+ to this sort of
> unit, and it wasn't pretty!
Indeed.
One question I don't think I've asked yet is does anyone know where I can
get a 1.8A Lisa PSU, which is 120/240 switchable, for less than SunRem's
$129 plus shipping? Anyone got a dead 2/10 or MacXL they don't mind losing
the PSU from?
Hi Carlos,
Surface shipping would be around $25 depending on weight. I was thinking
last night about how I'd had the monitor positioned on the front seat - it
was screen backwards so the airbag will have caught the upper rear of the
casing with all its force since it was only an inch or so away from the
monitor. The metal cover may also have whipped past the top of the case on
its way to smashing the windscreen - have a look at this picture to see what
it did to laminated glass:
http://www.fop.i12.com/Museum/car-3-low.jpg
I don't think the monitor will have jumped up high enough to cause that
amount of damage, so I'll blame the airbag if anything's smashed internally.
I'll check it tonight and let you know.
cheers!
a
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Carlos Murillo-Sanchez [mailto:cem14@cornell.edu]
> Sent: 17 July 2000 20:22
> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: ...and here's another - HP9000 question
>
>
> Adrian:
>
> While our systems staff were moving a big bunch of HP stuff that just
> got decomissioned, they dropped and smashed an A1097C (ouch!).
> I have the electronic guts should you want them. Of course,
> shipping might be an issue. Let me know if you are interested
> at all.
>
> carlos
>
>
> Adrian Graham wrote:
> >
> > Hi Carlos,
> >
> > It's the A1097 I think.....it definitely begins with 'A'
> though and I'm
> > fairly sure its not the 2094. And it wasn't that heavy :)
> >
> > thanks!
>
> --
> Carlos Murillo-Sanchez email: cem14(a)cornell.edu
> 428 Phillips Hall, Electrical Engineering Department
> Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
>
<jealous> :)
I plan to have a proper museum too since the room originally destined for it
is waaay to small now, but despite having a bit of land it's all largely in
one 6 foot wide strip (but 60 feet long!). I'll probably end up renting an
old warehouse or something - according to Those In The Know I could get a
grant for setting a museum up.
a
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ethan Dicks [mailto:ethan_dicks@yahoo.com]
> Sent: 17 July 2000 18:03
> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
> Subject: RE: VAX-11/730 (was RE: Unresistable pond comment)
>
>
>
> --- Adrian Graham <agraham(a)ccat.co.uk> wrote:
> > > As I continue to improve and upgrade my classic space at
> my Farm, this
> > > box is one of the ones that I intend to set up early.
>
> > I just wish I had space in the museum for machines of that
> size, but apart
> > from anything else getting them up 2 flights of stairs
> would be a bit
> > prohibitive :) Got the aforementioned MVII though, along
> with a 3400, 4200,
> > PDP 11/73 and a spare RL02 drive.
>
> One of the things that attracted me to the Farm was this
> quonset hut with
> No STAIRS! Eventually, as I've said before, I plan to build a museum
> building in the space next to the hut. I think Hans Franke
> can attest I
> now have the room for as much building as the money permits.
>
> -ethan
>
>
>
> =====
> Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to
> vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com
>
> The original webpage address is still going away. The
> permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/
>
> See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details.
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
> http://mail.yahoo.com/
>
I mentioned this in another thread so I thought I'd ask the question
properly; I've got a Classic that will fry the glass fuse (and do the sound
and lights bit too) when one is inserted. Is it a common fault? I should've
guessed something was wrong when I bought it - there wasn't a fuse in the
plug and it had no case screws, but then I didn't spot that till I got it
home.
cheers
a
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Ford <mikeford(a)socal.rr.com>
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Date: Monday, July 17, 2000 4:27 PM
Subject: Re: Repair or Replace?
>
>I sure wish I had sane reasons for a lot of what I do. Repairs are things
I
>just find myself doing without a lot of conscious thought. I do from time
>to time have enough presence of mind to stop when it leaks into some
>functioning portion of my brain that the object at hand is a worthless
>piece of junk even if working, ie seriously yellow keyboard with missing
>keycaps and broken screw mounting posts.
>
Often, I find that I've developed an emotional attachment to stuff that is
otherwise worthless junk. For example, I once agonized over throwing out
the shell of a Coleco ADAM keyboard with a cracked circuit board, because I
remebered the thrill of finding the system it belonged to tucked into a
dusty corner in a thrift store a few years ago.
>Having a couple boxes for different grades of "junk" helps a lot due to
>magnet force all empty boxes exude. When you have a box for breakage, or
>scrap circuit boards, they tend to get filled up. Without said boxes I
tend
>to put things down on any convient surface to "look at" later.
>
Sounds like my "study" (where little studying ever gets done) which has
computers in various stages of disassembly on every flat surface (and a few
piles rising up from the floor). I generally keep the door closed to
prevent gasps of "what the heck happened in here!" from any uninitiated
passersby.
Cheers,
Mark
On July 17, Douglas Quebbeman wrote:
> > One would hope that on this list at least people would know
> > the difference between a "Cracker" and a "Hacker"! In the
> > above paragraph you're obviously talking about "Cracker"!
>
> One would hope that on this list that those of us who are
> true cognoscenti would recognize another member of the true
> cognoscenti and understand by usage the correct meaning.
Gezundheit.
-Dave McGuire
> doug quebbeman wrote:
> >N*Star used password-based security, and was apparantly easy
> >to hack. One of the digital electronics instructors at the school
> >who generally played dumb when it came to newer technology still
> >remains the primary candidate for the hacker who made my life
> >miserable. I got some quid pro quo later, but that's another
> >story.
>
> One would hope that on this list at least people would know
> the difference between a "Cracker" and a "Hacker"! In the
> above paragraph you're obviously talking about "Cracker"!
One would hope that on this list that those of us who are
true cognoscenti would recognize another member of the true
cognoscenti and understand by usage the correct meaning.
Sheesh!
-dq
> As I continue to improve and upgrade my classic space at my Farm, this
> box is one of the ones that I intend to set up early. I cut
> my teeth on
> a lot of stuff on this guy. I was very happy to take it with
> me when I moved on.
I can't remember what happened to ours when we upgraded to a MicroVAX II
BA213 in around 86 :( With the cost of the machines in those days it'll have
gone for part-ex I reckon. Its LA100 is somewhere though, still going
strong.
I just wish I had space in the museum for machines of that size, but apart
>from anything else getting them up 2 flights of stairs would be a bit
prohibitive :) Got the aforementioned MVII though, along with a 3400, 4200,
PDP 11/73 and a spare RL02 drive.
a
One of the more interesting microcomputers I used during my
career was a Molecular SuperMicro 70-32. This machine had a
unique architecture in that it was a file server and client
machines and LAN all wrapped in one box.
The file server was a 6 mHz Z80 board, and it had an onboard
SASI interface (or was this late enough to be SCSI) as well
as a floppy interface. Our unit had a QIC-24 tape drive and
a 60MB hard drive... the HD was fast for its time. Molecular
referred to the file server as the file processor.
The client computers were boards that plugged into the bus,
and were each 4 mHz Z-80 units. All I/O was through the bus.
These client nodes were referred to as the Application Pro-
cessors.
The Supermicro's main operating system was called N*Star,
and provided most of the MP/M-II API/OS calls, but not all
of them, and IIRC, it provided some of its own and seemed
to have some from another CP/M clone whose name escapes me.
You could boot the file processor from the floppy drive into
CP/M.
The "bus" was actually configured as a network, using CSMA/CA
to handle the traffic.
It seemed to run just about every CP/M package we could throw
at it. However, while I recall spending lots of time customizing
a copy of ZCPR/2 for the Televideo TS-803, I don't recall doing
this for N*Star, so there may have been some compatiability
problems.
I think it *did* run Microshell, though (which was my first
"brush" with Un*x).
N*Star used password-based security, and was apparantly easy
to hack. One of the digital electronics instructors at the school
who generally played dumb when it came to newer technology still
remains the primary candidate for the hacker who made my life
miserable. I got some quid pro quo later, but that's another
story.
Irv Hoff had one or worked on one, as I found a patch for the
OS he'd authored whilst playing data recovery mule this weekend.
I also recall that someone had a software package running on
one that acted just like Compuserve; everything was GO commands
and it had forums that worked identically.
Has this machine been a subject of discussion on the list before
now? Anyone else used one/have one?
regards,
-doug quebbeman
