>...and stuff that I couldn't even give away and had to pack back up at the
>end of the half day:
>
> Robbie Robot
Which Robbie the Robot would this be? I am thinking of that thing used by
grade school kids to learn about programming (forget the language name...
Topal?). The idea was to write simple programs that got the robot to move
around. Is it THAT Robbie?
> Oscilliscope
A working Oscilliscope? I have been wanting to lay my hands on one for
some time... just for play/learning, so I haven't wanted to spend any
real money on one (but have been hoping to find one at a garage sale or
similar). What would you want for it? (And depending on the Robbie, what
about it?)
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
> It was small. Myself and 4 other people came with loads of classic
computers
> and I had a fun morning with the similarly afflicted. Nice seeing y'all!
>
> I scored a tonne of stuff including:
[snip]
> While there, I was able to dump^h^h^h^htrade^h^h^h^h^hfind new homes for:
[snip]
> ...and stuff that I couldn't even give away and had to pack back up at
the
> end of the half day:
>
> a few Olympia ETX-II computers
> Amiga 2000
> Robbie Robot
> Burroghs Calculator
[snip]
&(&%$@#$#^%$!!! You had a Burroughs calculator and you didn't tell me
about it?
> There were several Grid, Apple, IBM, HP computers, a few AT&T 3B2s, and
> others, books, software, and test gear as well that I wasn't able to
bring
> home.
>
> I took a few digital pics and will post them shortly.
Cool! Keep us posted!
> Thanks for hosting it Glen and let's do this again. Got new toys to play
> with. Later!
Thanks for being there!
Glen
0/0
The Alpha was started by DEC in 1988 as a replacement for the VAX, it
extends the address space to 64 bits and switches from a CISC architecture
to a RISC architecture.
I've got a copy the Alpha Architecture Reference Manual (AARM) and the
Alpha Architecture Handbook (AAH) which combined give you everything you
need to know about the Alpha.
They're extras.
I'd like to offer them in trade to anyone who has EITHER:
KA640 Technical Manual
KA680 Technical Manual
Also published by Digital.
--Chuck
I have recently acquired a Canon BX-1 Desktop Computer.
It's a self-contained unit incorporating an alpha
keyboard, a single-line alpha display, thermal printer
and 5.25" disk drive. From the markings on the keyboard
it seems to be programmed in some dialect of Basic.
Does anyone know where I can find any information
about this machine? A web search turned up exactly
one page mentioning it, which didn't tell me much.
It didn't work at all when I first switched it on.
I found and repaired a fault in the power supply, but
that doesn't seem to be the end of its problems.
At switch-on, it beeps, and then starts flashing a
row of up-arrows in the display. There is *almost*
no response from the keyboard, except that after
about 20 or so keystrokes it flashes something like
KEYBOARD OV'FLO very briefly and then goes back to
the up-arrows.
Is there anyone out there with any experience with one
of these things who can tell me whether it's trying
to signal some sort of error condition with the up-
arrows, or is it just totally insane?
Thanks for any help,
Greg Ewing, Computer Science Dept, +--------------------------------------+
University of Canterbury, | A citizen of NewZealandCorp, a |
Christchurch, New Zealand | wholly-owned subsidiary of USA Inc. |
greg(a)cosc.canterbury.ac.nz +--------------------------------------+
Hi,
Please understand I dont collect for economic gain. I'd have to
hit the big one to pay back for some of the machines I built
new back when. I collect to have the machine I could not afford
back when but wanted to experiment with. So happens along
the way some of them became interesting as so called rare
items. To me my Altair was a relly poor machine and the NorthStar
I replaced it with was far superior, yet the first is collectable even
though it was truly a peice of junk compared to even the IMSAI.
Anywho I'll look when time permits.
Allison
-----Original Message-----
From: John Galt <gmphillips(a)earthlink.net>
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Date: Monday, October 01, 2001 9:15 PM
Subject: Re: Altair 8800a on EBAY
>I see where you are coming from, but given the recent return of some of
my
>"real" investments, it's hard to imagine
>this computer being any worse;)
>
>Thanks,
>
>George Phillips
>
>
>
>Well, my "real" investments have not been doing
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Louis Schulman" <louiss(a)gate.net>
>To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
>Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 7:34 PM
>Subject: Re: Altair 8800a on EBAY
>
>
>> On Mon, 1 Oct 2001 18:40:02 -0400, John Galt wrote:
>>
>> #I have been considering buying one of these machines as an
investment.
>> #While I am a computer programmer by trade, I have no clue how to
operate
>> #or program one of these things which really does not matter since I
would
>> #be buying it as an investment.
>>
>> Well, if you are considering this as an investment, I would also
consider
>rubies, pork belly futures, penny
>> stocks, and going to Las Vegas. You could call this an investment,
but it
>would really be nothing but a crap
>> shoot. If we are seriously talking investments, this isn't it.
>>
>> There is no basis to assume anything about future value. Other forms
of
>antique electronics have not
>> become that valuable. You can still buy a working Atwater-Kent radio
for
>a reasonable price.
>>
>> Anyone who follows eBay can tell you that prices go up and down. Most
>have gone down in the last year.
>> You can barely give away a Kaypro.
>>
>> So, buy it to enjoy it. Otherwise, I'd look to real investments to
make
>money.
>>
>> JMO
>>
>> Louis
>>
>
On Oct 1, 2:01, Tony Duell wrote:
> > Sure you're not thinking of a Z80? The standard speed for the original
Z80
> > parts was 2.5MHz (4MHz for Z80A and 6MHz for Z80H).
>
> Just a minor correction. I believe the Z80B is 6MHz and the Z80H 8MHz.
SGS-Thomson list them as 6MHz and 8MHz now, but IIRC the Z80H was
originally 6MHz. I could be mistaken, of course.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
On Oct 1, 21:31, Tony Duell wrote:
> > I've been thinking about SZ Spectrums all the time.
> > Oh well, I might just ask anyway, since I've opened it up...
> > What is that chip next to the Z80? It's labelled PCF1306P.
>
> If it's another 40 pin chip, then that's the custom ULA chip that
> includes most of the glue logic.
If it's a 28-pin chip it's the ROM, a 23128, IC5. The ULA is the other
40-pin chip, IC1, near the modulator. It may have different numbers
depending on the revision. There's more than one ROM version as well.
> > And why is there a switch glued on top of the Z80 with wires going to
the
> > character ROM? Since it's a localised character ROM piggybacked on top
of=
> > the
> > one soldered to the motherboard, could it be for switching charsets?
>
> Does the Spectrum really have a separate character generator ROM. Doesn't
> sound right to me...
It's not a character generator, it's just code. The screen memory is part
of the main DRAM and accessed directly by the ULA to drive the video. I
imagine the switch is to select different code versions.
The thing I like most about the Spectrum service manual (apart from the
inclusion of a proper schematic and other diagrams) is the fault-finding
list. Most such lists begin with mundane things like checking the fuse.
The Spectrum begins with:
"TV appears dead. Smoke appears" and describes additional symptoms as
"TR4 shorted. TR4 blows again".
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hi all
If anyone is interested I have some rolls of paper tape available for
shipping cost, if anyone has a good use for them (i.e. anyone has a punch
in need of paper)
Must be rather standard, where used in a Telex, but due to my ignorance in
tape I will try to describe as precisely as possible.
characteristics:
Tape width 11/16" (ca 17.9 mm)
tape length: unknown (should I unroll one of them ?)
color (white-ish)
Rolls diameter abt 7"" (18 cm)
The "hole" of the rolls (about 2" or 5 cm in diameter) has a "square wave"
profile to be better mounted.
Anyone interested?
Only drawback: I am in Italy, shipping will not be cheap...
ciao
Francesco
From: Carlos Murillo <cmurillo(a)emtelsa.multi.net.co>
>At 11:07 PM 9/30/01 -0600, you wrote:
>The
>>8085, at least, doesn't require three supplies. I don't know why they
wasted
>>all those pins on things like the pseudo-serial I/O and all those
interrupts.
>>Hardly anyone ever figured out how to use them well. It would have
been more
>>sensible to put the 8 address lines there and save the external latch
and the
>>strobe for it.
>
>Those irq's are exactly why I liked the 8085. Extremely simple
>to use. Appropriate for early embedded stuff.
that is the exact reason why the 8085 was successful. As to the comment
about the SIO/SID pins they were used by the TU58 for serial data and
were
very hand for when a few bits of IO were needed for simple things.
Allison
Tony Duell wrote:
> My guess is that clones used the same method. They tried to boot from the
> hard disk and floppy disk and then call INT 18h. Since there is no ROM
> basic, INT 18h points to a little bit of code that displays the No ROM
> BASIC message (as far as I can see this message is not in the IBM ROMs)
> and then halts the CPU.
This was the point to my original question: why would clone makers go to
the trouble of displaying the message and then halting the system, instead
of just *halting the system*? (Unless they were using stolen code.) Just
doesn't quite make sense . . .
Glen
0/0
