>From the most recent 'Computer Collector' newsletter
(http://news.computercollector.com):
> Early Nov., 2004: At the recent VCF 7.0 event, Tim Robinson displayed
> Meccano versions of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine and Vannevar
> Bush's Differential Analyzer (http://www.meccano.us).
It's nice to see Evan has mentioned this lovely Differential Analyser,
and I am sorry I missed seeing it (thanks especially to Erik Klein for
his nice photos of it, http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcf7.shtml, which
first alerted me to its having been there).
Many years ago (1980) I made myself a simple two-integrator Differential
Analyser, which worked on exactly the same principle. I was inspired by
the Meccano machine which was on display at the Museum of Transport and
Technology in Auckland - this was one of a number of similar machines
made in the '30s - and found a construction article in the Amateur
Scientist column of Scientific American.
I was wondering whether anyone here with '70s issues of SciAm might be
able to make a copy, or at least give a definite date for it. It would
have been in the early-to-mid '70s, certainly before '78.
Thanks, and if anyone still hasn't seen Tim's machine, go to
www.meccano.us and prepare to be amazed.
(Sellam, give up on that TI thingy and go buy a Meccano set)
--
Lawrence Wilkinson lawrence(a)ljw.me.uk
Ph +44(0)1869-811059 http://www.ljw.me.uk
>
>Message: 9
>Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 20:40:23 +0000
>From: cvendel(a)att.net
>Subject: Vintage Edison Recorder...
>To: cctech(a)classiccmp.org
>
>
>This is OT, however,
>
> If anyone is into historical items, this is something you should have a
gander at:
>
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38029&item=229457049
0&rd=1
>
>
>True piece of early Edison history there!
>
>
>Curt
>
Wow! OT or not, this is great!
Thank you,
Robert Greenstreet
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Hi,
Dear people, I do apologise if my attitude came across that "I'm gonna rip this apart for spares if I can't fix it", or if I came across aggressive. It was not my intent to antagonise, nor was it my desire to induce sympathy. Unfortunately the written word often lacks the character and nuances of speech.
So, let me rephrase....
I purchased an old Intel MDS Series-4, specificaly for spare parts for my operating MDS Series4. The advertised unit has a memory error, but the rest of it checks out fine. My preference is to try and fix the broken unit. However, should my main unit have a problem I can always use the busted one to be a donor. If anyone knows exactly what chip 0000:8001 refers to (when doing a RAM test), then I will replace the offending component and have this unit fully operational. Which will make me a happy chappy.
When I went to collect the unit the seller also said I could have the 225 unit. I spent a lot of time cleaning dirt and mud out of the 225 and then searched the internet for information. My intent was, and still is, to get this old beast running as good as they day it was made. If it wasn't, then I would of not bothered to take the unit or search for info on it, or come to this forum for advice.
My comment, regarding "using it for spares" merely means it will be put away, somewhere safe and sound with all my other old stuff - some of which I have had to use for donor chips to get some SBC and other boards operational. It would indeed be a sad, sad day that I would need to pull it apart for bits. Once again, I apologise if my comments caused you angst.
Now, back to the 225 issue. Yes, the disk drive array is a blue-box, twin-floppy unit that sits atop the main unit. The main unit has the two-board set that is required to run this double-density drive array. I have contacted the seller to ensure there isn't a cable left behind. Hopefully he has it still and that will be great. If not, I am more than happy to wait for pin-outs and, once supplied, I will make the cable. The other blue-box is the expansion chasis that sits under the main unit to give it a few more slots. I haven't powered up or even cleaned the disk-drive or expansion unit yet. They'll be done during the week. In the interim, I'm reading through the pdf files that you have kindly pointed me to. As per your advice, I won't be pulling apart the unit or do anything untoward until I get more information regarding boot disks and cable pinouts.
The iPDS was a freebie given to me when I purchased my initial MDS Series4 some years ago. I have found very little information on this unit and therefore it has been set aside and I thought, "why not ask about the iPDS while I'm here" and it's good to see that there are some people out there that can help me get this unit operational. Other than that, I have no idea about this box - though I'd dearly love to get it going.
I do have an old 486 DOS machine with 3 and 5 inch diskette drives, so I can get the iPDS disks done on that machine.
My aim, with all this old stuff is to fix it as my main task. I don't collect things (like chip collectors) for looks. I like and want (almost have an inbuilt urge) to make it work and I love to have them all operational. I have fixed and have operational my old SC/MP, 6800 Micro Module, Central Data 2650, AIM65, STD bus and various Intel SBC systems - however, the old TI99/189 system (and a few others) have eluded me for quite some time, but I won't give up on them. Furthermore, I have an inventory of old processors, memory and peripheral chips and, using the Series4 with ICE85B, I build 8085 systems. I am hoping the 225 gets operational so I can do some stuff with the 8080 chip - like do some old S100 work and repairs on an SBC80/24. I'd love to build an 8080 system also.
So please, don't think of me as a destroyer of old systems. I'm a preserver, who should of used a better phrase than "used for spare parts". :)
I do hope you accept my apology, and I am extremely grateful for your assistance and advice.
seeyuzz
river
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I went and loaded all those docos regarding the Series 2XX. Great stuff.
I cleaned up the connectors to the IO board and now the floppy drive engages upon reset. I ran the diags and all system work and even the floppy drive passed its tests with a scratch disk. However, I get a disk error when I boot the ISIS-II system disk. I tried a few other disks and the ones that are double-density all give a "disk error", yet the single-density ones just say "not bootable".
So, I guess I need to find a single density 8-inch ISIS-II boot disk. I can't use the one from my Series-4 'cos it uses 5-1/4 disks. THe unit also came with a dual disk drive array - yet another amazingly heavy blue box, and an expansion chasis. It appears that there are no cables to attach the disk array. The 225 has the two disk controller cards in the chasis and the cables are routed to the J8/J9 connectors, but I beleive there is a cable that I require to attach from these connectors to the disk array. I'd love to get the 225 fully operational 'cos it came with the ICE-80 (which I cannot use on the Series-4, which has an ICE-85B), ICE-51 and ICE-49. I especially want to use the ICE-80 so I can do some 8080 development (may as well use the stock of chips I got).
I'm gonna see if I can pull out the single-density drive in the 225 and put in one of the double density drives from the array. However, before I do that, does anyone know the cable pinouts - 'cos I might try and make a cable first. Or does anyone know where I can get a cable?
In the final run, if I can't do anything much with it, I can always use the parts for spares and other stuff.
Oh, final question... I also have an iPDS that's been waiting for a boot disk. Can I use my Series-4 ISIS-II disks in this unit? Will it boot, or is this unit doomed to be pulled apart for spares also?
seeyuzz
river
>Are you sure it's a LED display? That sounds more like behavior I would
>expect of a vacuum fluorescent display. If an LED really is doing that,
>the problem is with the electronics, not the diplay.
I can't be sure. I didn't think it was an LED (the unit is from around
1970 or so), but when I looked at it a little while ago, it looked kind
of like LED segments behind the plastic lens.
They glow a bluish green if that is any help. They don't look like any
LED out today, that's for sure. I've never knowingly seen a vacuum
fluorescent display, so I can't compare.
If this is one, is it a problem that is fixable?
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
I recently obtained a Votrax PSS which did not include the power supply
or the manual. Thanks to Robert Stek's informative post
(http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctech/2003-February/010608.html)
on this list in feb '03, I am in the process of constructing a power
supply for it. However, I still need a copy of the manual, so I can
figure out how to set the various modes of the device, and control the
AY-3-8910 audio generator chip.
If anyone has the manual for the Votrax Personal Sound System and has
some means to scan or digitize it (a digital camera will work) can they
send me a copy of the images? It would be much appreciated.
Jonathan Gevaryahu
lord_nightmare_(a)t_users.sf.net
(remove the _@t_ and replace with @ to demangle the address)
My father has a very much loved Panasonic 805 calculator.
However, in recent months, one of the LED segments has begun to
misbehave. It is getting steadily worse. What happens is, in general the
segment is dim, and once a segment lights, it doesn't seem to turn back
off until you clear the calculation. As a result, very quickly, the one
segment just stays on 8.
Since this is the ones column, it effects all calculation displays (the
calculation itself works fine, it always knows what the number should be,
it is just the display of that number that doesn't work).
Does anyone have any repair info on this calculator? Schematics or
otherwise? I'd love to be able to open it and replace the segment, or
whatever may be misfiring to cause it to display wrong. He hates to give
it up, but he is finding it increasingly hard to use.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
I received the following email:
I have two DEC 72 inch high racks.
They contain some custom electronics (useless to anyone else) and power
supplies. The racks are in good condition.
These racks are available for pickup only in eastern PA.
If anyone is interested contact me off-list.
Jay
Ashley Carder <wacarder(a)usit.net> wrote:
> Does anyone know what the oldest documented functional computer is that is
> connected to the internet?
> ..... and is accessible by others via telnet, etc?
Hmm, would probably have to be a FOONLY running TENEX or something of that
era, I don't think VAXen running 4BSD quite cut it. For the record I run
MicroVAX III's with 4.3BSD-Quasijarus, but I really hope that I'm not the
oldest and that there are some people running plain 4.3 or even 4.2 on an
11/7xx connected to the net. Hell, since mine are all MicroVAX III's,
even someone with a MicroVAX II will beat me. But then I will probably be
putting together a new router soon and that one will have a MicroVAX II
CPU, so at least I'll have that.
MS
Dave,
I've got boot disks for TRSDOS 2a and P&T CP/M 2.2m if you're interested. Reply to me off list and we get something going.
Gary Fisher
C/O
Tristone Capital Inc.
Suite 1800, 335 - 8th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2P 1C9
B: 403.303.8657
F: 403.294.9543
E:gfisher@tristonecapital.com
This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, delete this e-mail and destroy any copies. Any dissemination or use of this information by a person other than the intended recipient is unauthorized and may be illegal. Unless otherwise stated, opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the author and are not endorsed by the author's employer.
Your original message:
Message: 28
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 07:20:11 -0500
From: Dave Dunfield <dave04a(a)dunfield.com>
Subject: LF: TRS-80 Model II boot disk
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Message-ID: <20041217122010.XCTJ5758.orval.sprint.ca(a)smtp.sprint.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi Guys,
Have a TRS-80 Model II which I am planning to restore (probably
get started over the holidays) - but one thing I am going to
need is a boot disk. Anyone out there got a working Model II
system? (This is the big "business" version with the single-
sided 8" drive).
Regards,
Dave
PS: Also still looking for a Cromemco System-3 boot disk.
--
dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield
dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com
com Vintage computing equipment collector.
http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html
