Yesterday, I got an ASR33 teletype machine. So far, I have cleaned it a
little, checked that everything seems to be oiled well, and fired it
up. It seems to work well. All the characters print, and the type seems
clear, although I need to clean the type assembly. The rubber hammer is
still intact, but it is very soft, almost like a blob of silly putty.
It held up well enough for testing, but I will soon replace that with a
rubber foot as someone else on the list suggested. The tape punch seems
to work fine too, I don't have any paper tape, so I trimmed some
computer paper into strips for testing. I am having a couple of
problems with it though:
The paper tape reader doesn't seem to work. There is also a good chance
that I don't know how to operate the paper tape reader... I punched a
strip of paper with a string of text, then put it into the reader, and
threw the switch next to the reader into the "Start" position. The
teletype makes a lot of rattleing, but the tape doesn't run through the
reader, and nothing prints.
Some of the keys are cracked. A couple of the keytops have cracked out
>from the lettering, most notably the "Break" key, which gets stuck down
because it is now slightly wider.
The space bar sticks a little, and occasionally gets stuck down. Not
far enough to jam, but far enough that hitting it again won't make a
space, but typing other keys seems to jiggle it loose. It's like the
spring or whatever recoil mechanism is loose or broken.
The paper advance knob is cracked. I think I can glue it, but otherwise
I will need to track down another.
The cover is cracked, but that isn't really a big deal. I should be
able to glue it back together. What type of glue is recommended for
teletype plastic? Just regular wacky glue, or some sort of epoxy?
The paper tape punch has quite a buildup of chad above the punch. It
doesn't seem to be going down into the black tube at all. Is this
normal? Also, what can I do about the chad, since I don't have the
stand. I have the chad box, but I can't really attach it without the
stand. I'll probably end up building something for it, or maybe
propping it up with some blocks of wood so I can fit something under
there, but weren't there desk models of the ASR33? What did they do
with the chad?
I also have some general teletype questions:
What can I use for tape? I have access to a very powerful paper cutter,
the kind that can cut a ream of paper cleanly in half. Can I just take
some junk fanfold computer paper and cut it into strips? I know that
some paper tape was fanfold like that, but I don't know if the
perforations would tear apart too easily or not
Likewise, what can I use for paper? Right now, I have just been loading
single sheets of computer paper in, but I should just be able to remove
the tractor holes from fanfold computer paper and run that through,
right?
Is the teletype capable of moving back a space? "Rubout" doesn't move
the print head back, but I don't know if it should. I know the teletype
can't erase, but I don't know if it can move backward.
Where should I oil the mechanism? Right now, everything looks OK, but I
should probably lubricate it someplace periodically, right? Similarly,
what sort of oil should I use? Just regular household oil, or something
lighter/heavier? Obviously not WD-40, however...
What's the best way to clean the type cylinder? It is pretty dirty, but
I am almost afraid to take it off to clean it, lest I get it on crooked
or backward. I know I have cleaned the type bars on typewriters by just
using an old toothbrush and some toothpicks to get the gunk out of the
"O", etc. I would assume the same principle applies here, too.
The platten is pretty hard. It works, but is there a way of replacing
it, or maybe a way of reviving the rubber? I have heard of people
reviving the plattens on old typewriters with some method. It's
probably more trouble that it's worth, but I would like to hear what
people have to say.
And, of course, the inevitable question, how do I connect it to
something? It has a cable fitted to it which I understand should be a
current loop interface. It is a funny little six pin rectangular
connector. I have found information on how to connect current loop to
RS-232, but what pin does what? Was there a standard? I would very much
like to be able to plug the teletype into a UNIX box or something, or
maybe the Prime, but for any of those, I would need RS-232. Also, since
the teletype can only print upper case, how does it render incoming
text? Does it just ignore all lowercase characters, or does it print
them uppercase? Does it send all uppercase or all lowercase? I have a
Teleray terminal that renders all lowercase characters as uppercase,
and uppercase as weird symbols, so I'm not sure what the teletype does.
Thanks in advance!
Ian Primus
ian_primus(a)yahoo.com
In a message dated 9/22/2003 6:37:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
musicman38(a)comcast.net writes:
I bet if I dug through all my old Atari 2600 stuff, I could easly come up
with 100 different cartridges.
I used to buy these at yard sales everytime I saw then cheep.
My last find at a yard sale was a mint 2600 still in the original box, and
about 25 Carts all for $5.. He He !!
speaking of such, anyone got an extra 2600 console? Mine died, and I want to
play river raid pretty badly!
I wish the classiccmp archives were back online for in 1997
Daniel A. Seagraves has similar issues.
My VAX 11/780 still hasn't booted, I just can't seem to be
able to close the loop to proper UDA50 use.
Today I checked the UNIBUS backplane NPG wiring and I found
that the CA1-CA2 jumper was under slot 2,3,4,6 and 8 while
there was no such jumper under slot 5.
Since the first 4 slots were all full with those standard
printer and serial interface I left those alone and placed
M7485 in slot 5 and M7486 in slot 6. Before I had it reversed.
My UDA50 user guide seems to imply that the usual arrangement
is first M7486 and the M7485, however, this is not stated
in writing (only in pictures.) What is stated in writing is
that the M7485 absolutely must have that NPG jumper removed
whereas for M7486 it didn't matter. They go on saying that
if NPG jumper is removed for both slots, then the two cards
can be swapped into either order. I concluded that I could
swap them as long as M7485 has the NPG jumper removed, hence
I could make that arrangement without having to actually
cut a wire on the backplane.
Both cards now show the idle cycling-pattern, no errors,
but also no reaction to the host computer when I try to
make it boot.
I guess now the question is: is any of my assumptions wrong
about the ordering of the two UDA50 modules? And: did I set
the right UNIBUS address and does my DUABOO.CMD file
actually use that same address.
Is there any simple way of manually testing the UNIBUS
address by DEPOSITing some machine program to read out
some UNIBUS register so that I can scan the bus to check
the right address rather than having to rely on me making
no mistakes?
thanks,
-Gunther
For those interested...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 21:30:10 -0700
From: Ludwell Sibley <t*belore(a)internetcds.com>
To: tubecollectorsassociation(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [TCA] 4AP1 specs?
William Donzelli wrote:
>I have a request for specs for the 4AP1 CRT. Certainly an oddball.
>
>Help?
>
>William Donzelli
>aw288(a)osfn.org
>
>
>Visit the TCA web page at: http://www.tubecollectors.org
>Visit the TCA YahooGroups page at:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tubecollectorsassociation/
>
>To Post a message: tubecollectorsassociation(a)yahoogroups.com
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>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>
>
Yo -
I have a data sheet, apparently a typed copy of an RCA
8-1/2" x 11" data sheet, on the 4AP10 Skiatron (dark-trace)
radar version. The dirt is as follows:
Heater 6.3 V @ 0.6 A
Mag focus and 40-degree mag deflection
Length 14-1/4" overall
Anode voltage 9900 max., 8000 min., 9000 typical
G2 voltage 500 max, 250 min., 300 typical
G1 0 V to -125 V; cutoff to 2 microamps occurs at -45 V
Heater-cathode voltage 125 V max
Pinout per EIA is 5AN:
H - 2 & 8
K - 7
G1 - 5
G2 - 3
Anode - Cap
The electron gun is reportedly capable of an unusually fine spot.
Lud
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I've got a few CGA monitors here that are available if anyone wants to
come pick them up. Northern NJ, (Ridgewood, 07450).
Last I knew, they worked (there are at least 4, maybe more).
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
Does anyone here have any advice on how to go about disposing of a computer collection? The time is well past for me to get serious about it. I want to keep a lot of my DEC gear, but even some of the VMS and PDP-11 related stuff will be going. I don't have time to do anything with most of the stuff I've got, and it's become an anchor around my neck.
Ideally I'd like to recover some of the money I've got into the collection, as I've sunk a LOT of money over the past few years into it.
One obvious solution is selling the stuff on eBay, but that would take a lot more time than I have. Another would be to call a scrapper that I know, but that doesn't get recover any of the money that I've got into stuff. Ideally I'd like to find someone that would be interested in buying the collection off of me.
Zane
--
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |
Hi,
I came across your questions on the web!
I am looking for a manual, or at least the Operators section - anychance you
have scanned copy? The model is AA-1.
Regards,
Ray
> I would say yes, but since that's probably only a Pentium 100, my
>Prioris 5100 HX MP/4 beats that. Double the (possible) CPU, and twice as
>wide. :)
Yes, it may be a P100. IIRC, when I was given it, I was told it was a
dual 100 MHz Pentium Pro. However, when I checked just before there is
only one chip in it, and although I myself have not checked, Sridhar
looked at it when taking other stuff over the weekend and said it was not
a Pentium Pro chip (maybe he remembers what the speed was).
BTW: Dave, I have your tape decks, plus the 2nd matching Sony (so 3 decks
total), plus I'm going to test one of the 13" TV/VCR's for you and bring
you one with a working TV (none have working VCRs). Looks like I'll be
bringing the stuff up some time in Oct... the wife wants to hit Mystic
Seaport, and when I was talking about it in front of my brother, he wants
to take his kids as well... so it will be a day trip and I'll just swing
by to hand you the stuff.
(and yes, the 2nd paragraph should be off-list, but I'm too damn lazy to
start a different email)
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
>> For ABS plastics, a Methylene Chloride based solvent works very very
well.
>> (It does not work very well for ABS+PC blends, however. I seriously
doubt
>> you have any ABS+PC in the ARS33 though, since it is a pretty modern
>> plastic.)
>I repaired mine with MEK. I believe Tenax 7R (which Robert Feldman
>mentioned) is based on acetone, so it should be fairly similar.
>--
>Pete Peter Turnbull
> Network Manager
> University of York
I checked the MSDS online, and it's Methylene Chloride.
Bob
