> Can you toggle any line on any port (say one of the handshake lines on
> the serial port (RTS, DTR) or one of the lines on a parallel port)? If
> so, you could use it to drive a transistor and then a relay..
This is pretty much the kind of think that I had in mind, I'm sure I could
build it, I'm just not sure how. At least the Sparc 5 I'm using has two
serial ports (one is the system console).
I've got to admit, I *REALLY* like Jay's idea of the APC Masterswitch,
unfortunatly they look to be a lot more than I'm wanting to spend :^(
Still, they would be *perfect*.
OTOH, your idea, coupled with the 16-port Serial box I've got for the
firewall could make an interesting setup. Eight ports for switches, eight
ports for console cables :^) Assuming of course my OS supports the box.
Zane
> This unit sounds /very/ like a Torch 68000 Hard Disc machine I have, so
> definitely production quality. Same ridiculous separate power supply..
ahh - so there's one other out there at least then! :) Looks identical, but
mine doesn't have the 68000 stencilling on the front of the case. The brackets
securing the BBC board to the drive cage and the mounting for the UHF connector
(where it plugs into the BBC board) look very improvised on my machine, but
maybe that's the way they all were in production.
> Mine appears to be complete - it has the modem (connects somewhere to the
> torch boards, rather than the RS423 on the BBC, so makes 100% of all BBC
> native communications software useless).
yes, I just worked that out too; I'd found schematics for the SASI board which
wasn't nearly as complex as what I have, then schematics for a mysterious comms
board. Turns out that although it's labelled as a "Torch SASI board", the board
also carries the control logic for the modem. Why the modem went walkabout from
my machine I don't know.
> 68000 board is positioned where the Z80 board is on yours, is just bigger.
I don't think mine has the mountings in the right place to take either of the
two flavours of 68k boards I have.
> The barrel jack plug connector on your modems was indeed the standard "plug
> and socket" telephone connector in the GPO days (before they became British
> Telecom) and was not a mass-market commodity - you had to pay quite a lot
> to have sockets installed; most phones were hard-wired.
Hmm, I do remember phones being wired into the little box (typically) just
inside the front door on houses before sockets became common. Seem to remember
phones could only be bought from the phone company too.
> My machine /seems/ to run a 68000 version of CPN - there is supposed to be
> a unix for it, but I never found a way to boot it into that, or software to
> reload it.
I had a quick flick through some of the docs I have. They seem to suggest that
you need the later Atlas 68k board to run Unix and CPN from a hard drive, and
that the earlier 68k 'Neptune' cards wouldn't allow this. See what card you
have (it'll say Atlas if it's the later card) - I've probably got everything
needed to do a Unix install against one of those assuming any of the discs I
have are still intact.
> I got rid of most of my other torch stuff; the communicator tried to sell
> for quite a high price on eBay.. makes me cringe to think of so many going
> to landfill.
I heard they weren't that common and a little sought after. Maybe some more
will crop up at this guy's house...
Is your machine somewhere where it's accessible? I'm curious as to what disk
setup you have in your machine; whether it's a 1MHz - SASI - Xebec - drive
configuration, a 1MHz - SCSI - Xebec - drive config, or something else
entirely.
Knowing what ROMs you had might be useful too in trying to work out how to get
my machine to boot as at least I can try to duplicate a known-working
configuration. And if you feel like getting your hands really dirty, pull the
MCP ROM temporarily so that the machine boots to Basic and see if your keyboard
produces sensible characters or not :-) (the keyboard mapping is all over the
place on mine, but I don't know if it's supposed to be like that or not!)
cheers
Jules
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When the Model III first came out, it was Cassette
only. and 16k and 32k Models (I have a load of the
badges I ordered from National Parts that say
16k/32k/48k, because the Coco used the same ones).
That is probably the catalog number for one of those.
I can't put my hands on a vintage RS Catalog from
those days, but I probably have one somewhere...
When the Disk Controllers and drives came out, I had a
friend that wanted one badly...
I worked in a Radio Shack store at the time. We would
get the National Parts Catalog every month, which
would often list repair parts and kits in advance of
the retail release.
We ordered the Disk Controller and Drive system before
it became available at retail and put it in ourselves.
There was no manual, but it was pretty easy. We
figured it out in an hour or two. He had one of the
first 48k, 2 Disk Drive Model III's in Brooklyn.
I had a fun similar story with my Model I Expansion
Interface...
I had bought it on layaway from my store and I was
paying it off each paycheck. Radio Shack wanted an
ungodly amount of money for the Ram upgrade to take
the E/I from 0k to 32k. Something like $100 a set,
plus installation.
I found a company selling the RAM chips for $35 a set
(I think), and ordered two sets (the amount of $75.00
sticks in my head. That's either the price of both
sets together, or I paid $75.00 each for them...)
Anyway... I took the E/I home as soon as the RAM came
in. Upgraded it to 32k, tested it... And then brought
it BACK to the store and put it back on the shelf.
I paid it off a couple days later, and then took it
home.
I'm the only person I know who voided the warranty on
a piece of hardware BEFORE I officially bought it...
LOL!!
Regards,
Al
> Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 14:25:37 -0400
> From: "Vin Furfaro" <vfurfaro(a)kva.com>
> To: <cctech(a)classiccmp.org>
> Reply-To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
>
> Would be nice to go back to those days!!
Sure would! But I'd love to do it better...
> How are you Al? What are you up to these days? Still
> in computers in NY?
No. I'm in Philadelphia now. I work for Mac Technology
Groupe doing Macs and PCs. On a long term contract
with the Philadelphia Board of Education.
> I stumbled across the message you posted (below)
> while doing some research on Michael Daddio
> (remember the idiot that ran Corvus), and
> figured I'd drop you a line to say hi.
GREAT!!!
I've been thinking of you lately. Charlie Hedbring has
been asking about you... (
http://www.programsteppe.com )
I drove from Philly to Saratoga, NY two weeks ago to
setup 5 Apple II's and assorted other classic systems
for him. He's going to bring his Corvus from NYC to
Saratoga and next month I'm going to drive up and set
it up for him.
I still have a load of Corvus stuff in my closet I got
>from Stewart Newfeld to sell for him...
I have to inventory it one day and get it into good
hands...
> Hope all's well with you.
Things are great! Hope things are going well with
you...
Contact me off this list. Let's stay in touch!
It's WONDERFUL to hear from you.
>
> Vinny
Regards,
Al Hartman
>
>
> ************************
> Vincent Furfaro
> President
> KVA Communications
> www.kva.com <http://www.kva.com/>
> 888-KVA-3366
> vfurfaro(a)kva.com <mailto:vfurfaro@kva.com>
>
> ************************
>
>
> > From: "Steven N. Hirsch" <shirsch(a)adelphia.net>
> > Subject: Any Corvus collectors out there?
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm new to this list and wondering how many Corvus
> > collectors are out there.
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm not exactly a Corvus collector, but I used to
> work
> for Lawrence S. Epstein Associates, LTD., and we
> were
> the East Coast Distributor for Corvus Equipment for
> quite awhile...
>
> And I have a couple of drives and various odds and
> ends taking up space in a closet...
>
> I have some IBM XT Omninet Adapters, I think a
> couple
> of older Apple II adapters, Some Mirror Boards, an
> "H"
> series drive, and an old Apple II only OmniDrive.
>
> I also have manuals and software, maybe even a
> constellation adapter too..
>
> Those were the days... When a 70mb HDD sold for
> $8000.00... :)
>
> Al
I saw your entry that seems to be about a year old about Jeff Worley. I thought it was odd that you refered to him with the handle Technoid. The Jeffrey Worley I knew from High school ('86-'87) in Miami went by "technoid mutant". I'm wondering if this is the same person I know. if so, I might have some disturbing news about Jeffrey. Please let me know if some of the information I have presented here seems to Jibe with who you knew.
Ted Hubbart
I've acquired a whole collection of assorted LC-series machines from my town
disposal area - and they almost invariably work as-found, needing a little
physical cleanout and maybe a new motherboard battery. I had a Performa 475
running as a web server for awhile, figuring it didn't consume much juice
and was relatively quiet but it's been replaced with a Performa 6300CD, a
dog of a machine design-wise but adequate to serve up a single page of
family photos. I've got a tub of LCs now, plus some parts and whatnot from
a few I cannibalized; if anyone needs any perhaps I can help out. One of
these days I'll network them all and run NetBunny just for a lark - let the
bunny march from one screen to the next. (It's been rainy here lately - I
need to get out more.......)
Seth Lewin
>> They're nice machines, though. Probably the smallest mac out there, usually
>> very reliable and rarely having issues. I used them for years back when
> they
>> were The Shit(tm).
>
> If it's the small case you like go for the LC475, just stick a full 040 and
> a 32MB SIMM in there and you're good to go for pretty much anything that'll
> run on a 68K machine. I ran one for quite a while until I killed it trying
> to overclock it.
> It was even quite usable on the web as long as you stuck with something
> like Netscape 3 and turned javascript off.
>
> I've accumulated quick a stack of LCs since then including a few LC475s. I
> haven't really done anything with them other than check if there was
> anything interesting on the HDDs.
>
> Most of my Mac needs are met by the Quadra 950 and an slightly upgraded
> PM7500. I do have an LC ][e card that I paid too much for, I'll get around
> to installing it one day.
On Jun 27, 17:52, Zane H. Healy wrote:
> > Can you toggle any line on any port (say one of the handshake lines
on
> > the serial port (RTS, DTR) or one of the lines on a parallel port)?
If
> > so, you could use it to drive a transistor and then a relay..
>
> This is pretty much the kind of think that I had in mind, I'm sure I
could
> build it, I'm just not sure how. At least the Sparc 5 I'm using has
two
> serial ports (one is the system console).
>
> I've got to admit, I *REALLY* like Jay's idea of the APC
Masterswitch,
> unfortunatly they look to be a lot more than I'm wanting to spend :^(
> Still, they would be *perfect*.
>
> OTOH, your idea, coupled with the 16-port Serial box I've got for the
> firewall could make an interesting setup. Eight ports for switches,
eight
> ports for console cables :^) Assuming of course my OS supports the
box.
That's pretty much how I've done it in the past. You could also use a
parallel port to drive several relays.
One slightly simpler method I've used is to employ a
photvoltaic/solidstate relay. Something like the Omron GVM series will
switch 350VAC and currents of about 0.1A (which should be fine for your
modem), or the International Rectifier PVA2352N will switch 200VAC at
around 0.14A. The Omron ones need about 10mA drive at 12V, the IR
types typically 5mA, so you can normally drive them directly from a
serial handshake line, and they come in a DIL package the size of an
8-pin device. Cost about UKP6, so I guess about US$10 or so. They're
MOSFET devices so they can be used to switch DC as well as AC.
There are some other devices that will switch a couple of amps, or even
more, and still only need 10mA drive, but they tend to be encapsulated
hybrids and take up more room. They also tend to be thyristor or triac
units, so best restricted to AC. I've never used them, but Crydom do
some devices at about the same price as the small Omron SSRs, except
they switch up to 5A with a control current that could be as low as
3mA; however they're bigger and use a triac.
One thing to think about is whether you want NO (normally open) or NC
(normally closed) operation. Do you want the power turned off
(disabled) if the controller is powered down or removed?
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York