Tony Duell wrote
> Sorry, I wasn't clear. I would enjoy assembling the ZX81 kit
They are fun and easy ;>)
> (using it is
> another matter -- home micros running BASIC are not the most interesting
> machines for me)
So don't run BASIC. There are some fair assemblers out there for this box
and a FORTH, too. Hook up a decent keyboard, fix the display, and have
fun. Since you are a hacker I'd think this would be a good toy for you ;>)
Not to brag, but my souped-up ZX81 outperforms my Kaypro 10. (Why *is*
Kaypro hard- and floppy- disk i/o so slow?)
> but I doubt it would take me a couple of days to do so.
> More like a couple of hours.
Takes me about 3 ;>) One convenient thing about building a kit as opposed
to buying an already-built computer is that you can modify it as you build
it. For example, when I build a ZX81 I know I won't be using the RF
modulator or the keyboard connectors so I can leave them out. If I start
with a pre-built unit I have to work around the existing parts.
> I suspect that if I ever got an unassembled kit of _anything_ my first
> reaction would be to assemble it, no matter how much 'value' it lost by
> so doing.
I'm with you -- I want to make the kit work!
Glen
0/0
On September 27, Eric Chomko wrote:
> > On September 27, Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
> > > Onboard are several (6) 24 pin RCA packages marked CDM6116, which I
> > > believe are ROMs. The rest is TTL.
> >
> > Hmm...the 6116 is a 2Kx8 static RAM.
>
> Additionally, aren't they pin-compatible with 2716s?
Yup.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Laurel, MD
Someone just queried me with the following equipment available.....
Model 2 teletype with pasting tray
Model 15 teletype with manual
"Digital Group" Z-80 microcomputer system w/keyboard, monitor, and cassette
tape driver storage system
Could be a "good find" day today :)
Jay West
I'd be interested in both source and machine readable. It would be fun
to run FOCAL
again.
Allison
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Erlacher <edick(a)idcomm.com>
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 5:59 PM
Subject: Ancient 6502 FOCAL source code
>I've got the machine readable FOCAL source file available now. It's in
6502
>Assembly Language, PAL65 syntax, which will make DEC-users comfortable
and the
>rest of us cringe, but that's what available. I've been unable to find
the
>FOCAL manual, which I incorporated into my last assembly of the code,
hence
>believe it's on a different diskette from which I last assembled the
thing in
>'81-'82 or so, as a printer exercise, actually.
>
>Let me know if you want the FOCAL interpreter source, and I'll email it
to you.
>
>Dick
>
>
Hi,
On Mon, 24 Sep 2001 Jeff Hellige wrote:
> An idea I've had that I may try is using my GVP PC286 board
> for my Amiga 500. Oddly, it's the only machine I have capable of
> running MS-DOS that also has both 3.5 and 5.25" floppy drives as well
> as a hard disk. As I've found in the past, the hard disk is
> essential when trying to make disk images. I've never actually tried
> using the A1020 5.25" drive as a PC floppy from the PC286 though, but
> the manual suggests it should work fine. With the 16mhz '286
> onboard, the PC286 is also faster than the odd XT class machines I
> have as well. For those not familiar with it, the GVP PC286 is an
> 80286 cpu with 512k RAM that plugs into the internal expansion slot
> of the GVP Series II hard disk controllers for the Amiga 500.
You don't need the PC286 board or any kind of PC emulator to make disk images
of PC floppies using an Amiga. The exact usage will depend on your setup, but
you could use commands like
Copy DEV:PC0 RAM:diskimage.bin
with the free Dev-Handler package installed.
Plus, you can make images of protected PC floppies using a program such as
MFMWarp (not high density ones until someone updates the program). Source for
MFMWarp is available, albeit in 68000 assembly language, so the file format
is known/documented to that extent. 5.25" 360K disks are also no problem.
By the way, you can image Apple II floppies with an Amiga and A1020 drive. C64
disks too, if you adjust the speed of your A1020; I recommend using a second
A1020 for that purpose. Much faster than using a real 1541 drive connected
via the serial or parallel port.
It should be possible to archive C64 and Apple II disks at the GCR level using
an A1020 drive, but as far as I no nobody has written software to do that.
There is a program which can read whole (raw) tracks however, which might be
useful for analysing copy-protection.
Using an 80-track 5.25" drive, it might even be possible to archive C64 etc.
disks which use "half-track" protection, but I don't know the details of
those schemes so can't say for sure.
(The A1020 is a 40-track drive. It should be easy to attach an 80-track 5.25"
drive; just use the interface PCB from a spare external Amiga 3.5" drive.)
-- Mark
I wrote:
>I've got a lead on a full and working electron microscope.
If anyone else is looking, watch :
http://www.msa.microscopy.com/SurplusEquipment/SurplusListings.html
For example, there's an Amray 1000A SEM and a PGT EDS (digitizing
system) with Sun workstation free for pickup, probably in
Marlborough, MA. (That's not the system I'm grabbing.)
Also, I saw someone mention a pair of (circa 1973)
Interdata Model 7/16 minicomputers for sale on eBay,
as part of a lot they were dumping from their SEM facility.
- John
> Why do people insist on calling them 720 K disks? There is no such stupid
> invention. They're 1 MB disks, not 720 K, not 800 K, not 880 K.
> Oh, and there are no 1.44 MB disks either.
True, they're not 1.44, they're 2MB... you can actually get 1.8MB on
on if you plow out the wind breaks... I've had some luck with 1.68
and 1.72 formatting, but the 1.8 is pretty chancy...
-dq
Unfortunately I missed VCF East, but does anyone who attended have
a lead on where I could purchase a signed copy of Eldon Hall's book
"Journey to the Moon"? An autographed copy would be great, but even
unsigned would be fine.
Thanks!
Dan
www.decodesystems.com/wanted.html
