I pulled out my Model 100 the other day and discovered that the foam in the
hard case has begun to disintegrate. The hard case is the Radio Shack
original-issue hard case, so the foam is a pretty big size.
I'm sure that others have experienced this already and I was searching for
replacement options that didn't involve gluing together small pieces of foam
to fit the case.
Any thoughts? Has anyone found a foam supplier that can do small quantities?
Rich
Rich Cini
Collector of classic computers
Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project
Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/
/************************************************************/
Ok, we took the HDA out of one of the RA81 drives yesterday. The
bearings seem good - no excessive play - and we think the motor
capacitor is fine. Some wear on the motor + HDA spindle pulleys, but the
drive belt has a huge amount of grip so I don't think there's any belt
slip problems.
The front panel lights just indicate a "spin error", whilst the logic
board status LEDs indicate a code of 01 - pointing at the spindle
sensor.
I made sure this was dust-free, but still no joy, so either it has gone
bad or there's a fault with the logic board bolted to the top of the HDA
itself (sensor seems more likely as we have two drives giving the same
symptoms)
The sensor appears to be optical in nature - with four wires (red,
black, yellow and white).
So:
1) Anyone know the connections to the device? If so we'll stick the
output side on a 'scope next weekend and see if it outputs anything (of
course we have no working unit to see what the waveform *should* look
like, grr)
2) There are a couple of unknown-status RL01 and RL02 drives in store.
Long shot, but anyone know if they use the same sensor in any part of
their mechanism so we can do a temporary part swap with a (hopefully
good) unit?
3) Anyone have a RA81 HDA in the UK that's suffered a head crash or
other destruction and may yield a working sensor for us? :-)
cheers
Jules
On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh(a)aracnet.com> wrote:
> > I just decided to test a TLZ06 on my system, and it don't want to
> > work. I normally play with an Exabyte 8200, and that works just fine.
> > (This on a 11/84 with a CMD controller)
>
> I managed to dig up a TZ30 and a couple TK50's last night, though I didn't
> get a chance to try it. If an Exabyte 8200 works just fine, I think I might
> try the Exabyte 8500, as I can hook it up to my PDP-11/23+ fairly easy
> (hooking an external drive up to my /73 as I mentioned would require
> rewiring the SCSI Bus). I just wish I'd thought to dig out a couple 8mm
> tapes while I was digging.
The 8500 should work fine as well, according to documentation I have.
> BTW, what do you mean by "didn't want to work". Do you mean that it wouldn't
> work at all with your PDP-11/84 and CMD controller? The TLZ06 works just
> fine on my PDP-11/73 with Viking controller. It's just with RSTS/E ANSI
> tapes that I seem to be having a problem.
I just tried with RSX, using BRU, DMP and INI. With DMP I tried a tape I
wrote on another machine with tar.
I got some funny error. I can send you the RSX error log of the occasion,
if that makes you happy. Both BRU and INI will create small blocks.
Btw, I also created small blocks on the NetBSD machine I have a DDS drive
on, and it went just fine there.
But I did notice that someone else said that the TLZ06 will not like DDS2
tapes, which is what I had. The NetBSD box appearantly have a DDS2
drive... (since it works fine)
Johnny
Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus
|| on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt(a)update.uu.se || Reading murder books
pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
Hi folks,
Just thought I'd report in after an excellent couple of days on the vintage
trail! Yesterday gave me a genuine MicroVAX I with a fully stuffed backplane
I haven't investigated yet, though there's definitely the 2-card CPU,
memory, RQDX disk controller (for the RD52) installed and a 4-line serial
option which will probably be a DHV11. I'll find out tomorrow. The system
came with a Tektronix 4019 colour display which is the biggest monitor
(physically) I've ever laid eyes on I think, complete with keyboard and
drawing tablet. Not sure what I'm going to do with it as yet - it's got to
be a 19" screen! Apparently the RD52 has some sort of CAD package installed
so I'll find out hopefully once the machine's stabilised itself to the house
temperature.
Also in the bundle was a boxful of Tangerine Microtan 65 bits including the
machine itself (with TANEX expansion) in a lovely home-made wooden box, what
looks suspiciously like an Apple ][ keyboard, full documentation and the
first 30 or so issues of the Tangerine User Group magazine. More on that
later. There's a handful of DEC cards too:
M7944 x2 - 4K RAM
M7680/M7681 - RK05 control cards
M7258 - LP11 driver
M7860 - DR11 driver
as well as a 4-slot self-contained backplane containing:
M7270 - KD11-HA LSI 11/2 CPU
M7944 x2 - 4K RAM
M8027 - LPV11 driver.
Also several copies of the MicroVAX II diagnostic kit on RX50 and RX33
floppies as well as (I think) most of VMS V5 on RX50. I don't think there's
enough disks for it to be a complete set :-/
Today brought a couple of visits, one to see Nick Toop who some of you may
know was involved with many early UK home computing projects including the
Science of Cambridge MK14 (supporting hardware), Acorn Atom (designer) and
the should-have-been-venerable Enterprise 64 (graphics chip and supporting
hardware). Lovely bloke - he sorted out my 'suspect' Atom and brought it
back to life! Excellent.
Second visit was to help Kevan Heydon of this 'ere list empty some of his
garage with Jules Richardson, so new museum additions are a cased Ohio
Superboard II (with docs), Memotech RS128 with FDX floppy subsystem (yay!),
boxed NeXT Station (double yay!), 2nd Microtan 65 with extended backplane
and more cards, and a CST Thor - Sinclair QL that's been massively expanded
and recased. Thanks Kevan :)
Faaaaaaantastic! Now where is it all going to go....
--
Adrian/Witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - possibly the UK's biggest online computer museum
www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(
Anyone know if this story is true?
http://www.phonehelp.com/p-1-50.htm
(story about bell labs experiment where handset cords are made shorter
and shorter and help desk calls are monitored to find 'knee' in help
call curve to use as optimal length of handset cords)
certainly a little off topic - if there is a better place/list someone can
suggest I'm all ears. (alt.bell-labs.stories? :-)
I'm pretty gullible, so I believed it the first time I read it. I ran
into it again recently at this URL...
-brad
All this talk about emulators has got my juices flowing again.
I use emulators alot, and have always been fascinated with machine
emulation.
It's always been a desire of mine to code up an emulator of my own for some
box but I've never been confident enough in either my coding chops or
understanding of really low-level machine details to think I could pull it
off (I am an application programmer by day and have done little serious
system-level and below coding).
Recently I've been toying with maybe trying to do something, but where to
start? I picked a candidate like the Visual 1050 because my first thought
was "there's alot of free existing, debugged code that can be utilized" i.e.
no need to write a Z80 or 6502 core as there are quality ones available.
Being a cpm machine would appear to be another plus in this area. And, I
like this machine and I don't believe there is an existing emulator for it.
Now the part that I'm hoping someone who has written an emulator can shed
some light on: how much machine docs/specs does one need to hope to have a
fair shot at pulling this off successfully? For example, I'm pretty sure
that there must be some 6502 ROM code somewhere in that box that provide
graphic routines services. If you had a listing of this I'm sure that you'd
be that further ahead towards your goal. Or even if you knew where it was
mapping into memory you could at least dump it and disassemble it. Thing
is, all the docs I have are user guide/usage type things which obviously do
not go into these sort of technical details. I'm sure there are those that
could reverse engineer the entire machine soup-to-nuts but it certainly
seems like that is trying to find the needle in the haystack (which is maybe
some of the fun?).
Comments?
Hello all,
I have the following items available. If you want one, send me an email
OFF-LIST, and include your ZIP code (for shipping quotes). I'll take emails
until Wednesday morning to be fair to all. I will use my patented
name-in-a-hat method to resolve multiple people wanting the same items. I
will contact all winners on Wednesday afternoon. Thanks!
- (*FREE* + shipping) Wilson SX-503 Disk Exerciser. Good photo at
http://www.wilsonlabs.com/testers/sx530p.htm. According to the website this
item tests SMD Interface Disk Drives. It's about the width of an IBM PC
case, but a little shorter, and a little thicker. I guesstimate somewhere
around 25lbs or so in weight. Lights up when plugged in, but I have no
manual, so I cannot test. Comes with all cables seen in the photo. As a
bonus, it has a "Property of U.S Gov't DOT/FAA" sticker on it :-)
- (*FREE* + shipping) - Paper trays for an HP LaserJet III (no idea if
they'll fit other LaserJets)... 3 Letter, 1 Envelope, 1 Legal. All are
working, but very worn and used.
- (*FREE* + shipping) - Tecmar expansion chassis for IBM PC. Adds 7 8-bit
slots. Comes with card and cables that go in the PC. Case has some
scratches and light surface rust. About the size and shape of a PC case,
and weighs a ton!! Never powered it up, so it's untested and as-is. No
manuals...
- (*FREE* + shipping) - Two font cartridges for HP LaserJet III (no idea if
they'll work in other LaserJets) "Persuasive Presentations" and "Polished
Worksheets"
- ($5.00 + shipping) - Pacific Page PE Postscript Emulation Cartridge for HP
LaserJet. Working condition. Label on back says "010570 REV G. VERSION
4.1" and "IIP Single Slot; IID/III/IIID Left Slot"
- ($20.00 + shipping) - Intel series 310 Multibus I chassis. Picture at
http://www.northwesttechnical.com/multibus/chassis/syp310.jpg No drives, no
cards. Just chassis, power supply, backplane. Powered up at last use,
about a year ago. About the size of an IBM PC case, and quite heavy.
That's it for now ... If nobody wants them, they get trashed...
Rich B.
On Jan 18, 10:01, Richard A. Cini wrote:
> I pulled out my Model 100 the other day and discovered that the foam
in the
> hard case has begun to disintegrate. The hard case is the Radio Shack
> original-issue hard case, so the foam is a pretty big size.
>
> I'm sure that others have experienced this already and I was
searching for
> replacement options that didn't involve gluing together small pieces
of foam
> to fit the case.
Is this foam for dust filtering? Or thin foam for holding boards in
place? Or thick foam for cushioning against shock?
For the first, I use the filter material sold for cooker
hoods/extractors. It's cheap, available in many hardware stores and
kitchen suppliers, and doesn't impede the air flow too much. It can
also be pulled apart to get a half-thickness.
For the other two, I go to the nearest upholstery shop, or any place
that repairs furniture or car seats. They sell various densities and
thicknesses, often cut to size, or in standard small quantities (like
15" or 18" square).
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hi,
There's a PDP11/34, three RK07s and 20+ platters on uk ebay right now.
I don't have the space or any way of transporting it so I won't be
bidding, but hopefully there's someone who'll appreciate it.
Starting bid is 500 gbp. 14 hrs left...no bids so far.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3070793388&category=14…
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr stanb(a)dial.pipex.com
The future was never like this!
