test-drb June 2001

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

273 participants
682 discussions

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On June 27, Tony Duell wrote: > [1] Wintel, only, alas. Totally useless to me. There are "generic serial" interfaces now...PIC12C508-based, of course, and very tiny, with documented control protocols. The X10 people have bought VERY LARGE CLUES, and I'm very happy about it. > > They're all PIC-based, by the way...the modern dimmer modules contain > > 12c508 chips. > > I am not suprised. I think they used to be based on some kind of ASIC, > but it would make sense for them to use PICs now. I use a very nice commercial C compiler/dev environment for my PIC hacking, the PCW system from CCS. (see http://www.ccsinfo.com/picc.html) This system contains dozens of code snippets that implement practical examples of how to do things with PICs and their compiler. One of the examples is the X10 protocol. Very handy. (I don't work for CCS, I'm just a very happy customer!) -Dave McGuire

25 years, 1 month

Punched card readers

by jhellige＠earthlink.net

>>>Does anyone know where to find a punched card reader >>>these days? I'm looking for a small desktop unit that >>>I could interface to a PC. >> >> I know that Harris sold a very small table top unit that was >>used by the US Navy with the Harris SNAP-II mini. You might be able >>to find one someplace that deals with government surplus. > >Yes, but wasn't that a single card at a time, and hand fed? Or was there >another model? Yes, it was only single-feed, through a slot in the front of the box. I mentioned it though because he didn't specify a specific type and figured he might be able to find one with a little checking. Afterall, there are still ships using the Harris mini's as far as I know. I've not heard that Snap-II had been totally phased out of use yet. Jeff

25 years, 1 month

Whats a reasonable collection?

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 6/27/01 4:42:35 AM Central Daylight Time, mikeford(a)socal.rr.com writes: << >BTW, I'm also very fond of MCA. Just glad I haven't got on my own desktop. =) A model 9595 was the first computer I was really impressed with mechanically when I opened it up. Its built like a Porsche, and actually LOOKS good internally. I have a couple dozen of various models, with about a dozen 9595 servers. One of my big scores in the auction last month was a box of 3Com MCA 10bt cards I had been trying to buy for a year or two. >> I've enough MCA goodies to fill an entire room. My favourites are the 95xx series, since they are a bit more modern with the IML partition and all that. One of my neatest machines is the "E" machine and an ultimedia model with the MO disk drive and the video capture card, all running perfectly under OS/2.

25 years, 1 month

And The Award for Best ClassicCmp Troll...

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

...has to go to Will Jennings, who most certainly must have realized the traffic it would generate. Tee hee. =dq

25 years, 1 month

On Topic: power control

by fmc＠reanimators.org

"Steve Robertson" <steven_j_robertson(a)hotmail.com> wrote (after me): > >The sticky bit would be that the 3000's terminal I/O is essentially > >one-way-at-a-time: if the terminal device doesn't have a read request > >posted, then most data sent from the attached device will be discarded > With the exception of a few watchdog functions (which I wouldn't be using > anyway), all OPTO22 communications are done through polling. So, that > shouldn't be too big a hurdle. Maybe, maybe not. Remember that the terminal I/O device can only do one thing at a time. If you've done a write to send the poll request, you don't have a read pending and it will take you a little while to start the read. If your OPTO22 widget starts sending its response before you get that read up then you will lose some or all of the response. It is possible to get the 3000 to indicate when it's got the read up by sending a read trigger character. The typical read trigger character is DC1 (control-Q) on terminal types 9 and 10 (among others), but this is changeable somewhat if you fuss around with the workstation configurator (TTUTIL.PUB.SYS?) and make up a new terminal type definition file which you then associate with a terminal device through SYSDUMP. The intended use of the read trigger character is telling the HP terminals when they can start a block-mode transfer, but there's no reason you can't abuse it for your own purposes. -Frank McConnell

25 years, 1 month

X-10 (was Re: controlling power)

by AlistairMacDonald＠economist.com

=== ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk 27/06/2001 00:25:35 > >> On June 26, Richard Erlacher wrote: >> > communication via the power mains, isn't it? My notion to date has been that >> > the X-10 stuff is a mite costly, considering that one could hook up a triac, an >> > MOC30-something isolated triac driver, and a PIC, e.g. one of the 14-pin or >> > even 8-pin parts, and put the thing in the box with the switch. >> >> Costly? A 300W dimmer module costs like nine bucks. When I add up the > >This probably explains why X10 is not at all popular in the UK (and yes, >a 230V version does exist). I seem to remember that last time I looked at >the price of the modules they were all about \pounds 40.00 each. And the >computer [1] interface was about \pounds 90.00. I decided it was going to >be far too expensive for me to use. I checked with them, and they sent me a list of their European suppliers once. (They also put me on one of their spam lists - not just their spam, but their 3rd party European suppliers one too ....) When I queried the large jump in costs they tried to blame the need for 230V PSUs instead of 110V. Something else to consider is that a lot of the items are not approved for use in the EU. (One of their UK suppliers happens to list the approval status - don't ask me which) Alistair

25 years, 1 month

X-10 (was Re: controlling power)

by steven_j_robertson＠hotmail.com

>RS not only house brands theirs but they also get them from China and they >don't last long. None of the ones that I've gotten from RS have lasted >more than a couple of months and at least half of them die within a week. >Lesson: Don't buy anything from RS! X-10 has licensed it's technology to >Levitron, RS and a number of other companies so they're all interchangeable >but there's a big differrence in the quality of the parts. > Joe You live in the lightning capitol of the world. That could be a factor! Just wondering, how many modems you've had to replace? SteveRob _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

25 years, 1 month

Request for those skilling in locating odd bits-

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> I am looking for a real x-ray generator- Modifying kitchen > appliances or using thyratrons coated with magnesium won't due. I have > x-ray tubes and all the rest, but the power supply is the toasted bit. I recall an article in a late-50s/early-60s issue of Scientific American that detailed the construction of an X-Ray machine. hth, -doug q

25 years, 1 month

6502 software update?

by paul＠orchard.wccnet.org

Has there been any progress on the 6502 Tiny Basic and Focal software? Paul R. Santa-Maria

25 years, 1 month

cw2dmk 1.6: now does RX02 also

by tim.mann＠compaq.com

I've updated the cw2dmk program to version 1.6. This is a program that uses the Catweasel ISA disk controller to read disk formats that are hard or impossible to read with an ordinary PC floppy disk controller. The new version adds a few features, among them the ability to read the DEC RX02 double density format. See http://www.tim-mann.org/trs80resources.html Source code is included under the GPL, so those who prefer to build their own hardware instead of buying a Catweasel (let's not start *that* debate again) may find it of some use too. Tim Mann tim.mann(a)compaq.com http://www.tim-mann.org Compaq Computer Corporation, Systems Research Center, Palo Alto, CA

25 years, 1 month

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test-drb June 2001