test-drb May 2001

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

273 participants
642 discussions

Museum Computers (was Re: Washington D.C. Trip

by Robert_Feldman＠jdedwards.com

The Exploratorium devotes a fairly large amount of resources to exhibit maintenance, so they have more operational exhibits than most museums of their type. As to making stronger I/O devices, the first thing you need to do is observe a bunch of grade school/middle school kids when they come to a computer in a museum exhibit: they don't look at what they are supposed to do, they just start _pounding_ on the keyboard/input. What we did at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago (where I designed and programmed 10+ computer "interactives" for exhibits in the early 90's) was to use arcade-game trackballs and switches made by Happ Controls. At the time we started, these trackballs were not PC compatible. They did use standard slotted wheel sensors, though, so I just desoldered the sensors from the circuit board of an inexpensive Microsoft compatible mouse and ran wires to the sensors on the trackball instead. The mouse switches were also removed and wired to separate game-unit buttons. I made the first interface about 10 years ago, and I am still using it (at this very moment, in fact, hooked to an IBM laptop.) It's in a big foam-core box (10x9x4 inches), so it is not the sharpest looking thing, but it has never given me any trouble in 10 years of use. (Try that with a mouse!) Some museums use touch screens, but at that time, we could not find any that were reliable enough and precise enough. I later did a game fro the Brookfield Zoo that used a touch screen, but needed to use large on-screen "buttons" with good separation to get reliable picking. Using a trackball for input means that any character/numeric input must be done through on-screen selection, which is a bit klunky, but better than having a non-working exhibit. The one program that used (and still uses) keyboard input is the "Voyaging Game" located in the back of the Pacific exhibit (a dark and quiet area). It has benches in front of the screens for the users to sit at. Here, in a more tranquil setting, the visitors do not pound on the keyboards, so they have survived fairly well. (They even survived having holes drilled through them, when some exhibit installers mounted a label on the case surface above the keyboard, and drilled too far!) The biggest problem is someone will occassionally pop off a keycap, even though they are recessed in the case. -----Original Message----- From: Mike Cheponis [mailto:mac@Wireless.Com] Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 12:05 PM To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Museum Computers (was Re: Washington D.C. Trip Perhaps these so-called "museums" need to visit SF's Exploratorium? There, everything is meant to be "hands-on". This doesn't mean that things don't break from time to time, but the percentage of operational exhibits there is greater than any other public museum I've seen. Mind you, I'm not saying people should put an Eniac cabinet out where people can slobber over it, but I think it would be cool to be able to remote-control these older machines (I dunno, like a 360/50 or something) via modern interfaces - safely away from the original equipment, but yet behind glass - so you can see the original machine running. So yeah, Chuck, I agree! -Mike On Thu, 31 May 2001, Chuck McManis wrote: > Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:04:39 -0700 > From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)mcmanis.com> > Reply-To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: Museum Computers (was Re: Washington D.C. Trip > > > >The problem with working machines with millions of people tocuhing them over > >the years > >is that the machines tend to break. Even the modern display terminals > >used for > >presentation are > >in constant need of repair due to fingers smashing and otherwise folks that > >don't respect the equipment out of common courtesy. Computers don't hold up > >well to abuse. Its a shame but the way that it is. > >Eric > > > This is one of the problems I think would be fun to attack if I had a > suitable patron. Building I/O devices that could stand up to the kind of > abuse that museums get. > >

22 years, 11 months

Heathkit H89 - no vertical

by claudew＠videotron.ca

Hi I got a H89 with was seems like intermittent vertical problem. The usual jiggling, tapping and connector checking does not seem to get the vertical going or not. It was there at a few power ons. Yoke ok, 330uf on board just before yoke connector was replaced because suspect. Id like the schematics (scanned/emailed would be fine) for the board in the bottom of the H89 (video circuit). Thanks Claude http://computer_collector.tripod.com

22 years, 11 months

booting from RQDX3

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 31, 8:41, Jonathan Engdahl wrote: > > [ Attachment (multipart/alternative): 2810 bytes ] > A couple of these machines are missing the disk controller. RQDX3's seem > to be readily available, and there is adequate documentation of the card > on the web (jumpers, cable pinouts, etc). Will the KDF11-AA be able to > boot from an RQDX3? Not in the sense of running boot code from an RQDX3 as it has no boot ROM. It's possible to use a KDF11-A or KDJ11-A with an MXV11-B -- those were common combinations -- with the MXV providing RAM, SLUs, and boot ROM in a single slot. An alternative is an MRV11-D which supports the same boot ROMs. Or you could use microPDP-11 boot ROMs in a modified BDV11, but that would take up two slots. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 11 months

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 31, 8:14, Sellam Ismail wrote: > Speaking of IBM timeclocks, look at this baby in the IBM museum in > Singelfinded, Germany: > http://www.siconic.com/crap/IBM%20Time%20Clock%20(IBM%20Museum,%20Singelfin… Er, don't you mean Sindelfingen, Sellam? :-) -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 11 months

TRS-80 Clones

by jhellige＠earthlink.net

>From: Eric Dittman <dittman(a)dittman.net> >> What I meant was Dennis's personal LNW-80. As a fan of his articles >> and book, being able to buy his personal LNW-80 was neat. >I agree... I also bought a Model 1 monitor off him long time ago. ;) And >speaking of LNW... Anyone have docs (service or any) for the LNW (bare >board) EI for the Model 1? That's like a couple of years ago I had the opportunity to buy Roy Soltoff's TRS-80 Model 2000 he had bought for development purposes. He even had the original receipt with it. It's nice knowing the history of a given machine. Jeff

22 years, 11 months

TRS-80 Clones

by dittman＠dittman.net

Along with VAX, Alpha, and PDP-11, I collect TRS-80s. I've got three different clone TRS-80s. One is the Cyzern 7000, which I built myself from a kit. I've had this one for a long time. The other is Dennis Bathory-Kitsz's LNW-80, which I bought from him. The other one I have is one I've never heard of before. I got the unit in a bunch of other TRS-80 equipment. The case is a hacked TRS-80 Model I keyboard, with a standard TRS-80 Model I keyboard with built-in keypad (very late Model I keyboard). The power, video, and cassette connectors are a match for the Model I. The CPU board has a built-in floppy disk controller, and is a Model III clone. The manufacturer appears to have been Norcom. -- Eric Dittman dittman(a)dittman.net

22 years, 11 months

What is this Apple printer?

by xds_sigma7＠hotmail.com

Hi all, I need to know what the name of an Apple A90303 printer is, hard to test the sucker when you don't know the name (e.g., ImageWriter II, etc.) Thanks, Will J _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

22 years, 11 months

Call for Resources for CDC 6000/Cyber 70 Series Emulator

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> Does this mean I might eventually run PLATO on a > simh-emulated CYBER system? Not an impossibility, but we gotta have an OS before we can even think about running PLATO... > Now, if I could just remember how to play 'Airfight'... :-) Hmmm.. Don't remember that, but I do remember Empire, and some other Star Trek game... as well as the coolest LISP and Pascal interpreter environments I ever used. -dq

22 years, 11 months

Washington D.C. Trip

by Demon02554＠aol.com

DC always has some nice stuff and the best part is that the Smithsonian is free I'm out there most weekends, and have seen the "Computers and Flight" exhibit several times... although i haven't been into the American History Museum in a long time...I'm gonna need to check that out...as soon as i can...maybe this weekend later, Robert Cobbins

22 years, 11 months

no HD Disks in 1541/71 and hub rings

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On May 30, 20:47, Larry Anderson wrote: > As for hub rings I heard they were required (for gripping purposes) for > the older Apple drives (the metal boxy ones), maybe even for the 4040s, > but I know without them on those old lever drives, you could sure mangle > a non-protected center hole clamping down on one. Yes, the main reason for hub rings was to minimise the damage when you did that :-) Our Apple Disk ][s and Commodore 4040/8050 drives never needed disks with hub rings when they were new, and the ones I have now still don't. > Anyone have a hub-ring kit still? (reminds me of today's CD stompers) Alas, no. I remember them, though. > > As others have said, you need disks intended for single-density or double > > density, not HD. I've also met one 1541 owner who swears that disks > > without hub rings won't work in his drive (and never did) because the > > mechanism doesn't grip them tightly enough (though I'm fairly sure that's > > just due to a soft spring or a missing screw on the frame somewhere). -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 11 months

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test-drb May 2001