test-drb September 2004

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

268 participants
648 discussions

by CordaAJ＠NSWC.NAVY.MIL

Hey guys... I have a line on a Convex machine. The current owner is a guy who attends Govt. auctions and buys bulk, then scraps out stuff for gold/parts/etc... He calls me when he finds anything interesting, so... He says this is a Convex SPP3. (it's _heavy_... around 400 Lbs.) I haven't seen it yet, so I don't know anything more right now. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of Convex stuff, and a web search turned up some Convex SPP stuff, but not much, and _nothing_ on an "SPP3". Can anyone enlighten me further? (Yep, I know it's an SMP architecture of some sort, but little more than that). A couple of questions... Is this machine historically significant? (I.e. worth saving?) Does anyone know of a source for documentation? (I've done a prelim. web/newsgroup search, but haven't turned anything up) Does anyone have (or know where I can find) a copy of an OS for it (apparently it's a unix variant. He told me that the disks were missing... not unusual for an auction item) 400 lbs is a bit large for me, but if there is a remote chance I can bring this critter back to life (and it's worth saving) it's probably worth the effort. I'll going to try to take a look at it and try to get some sort of model#/ident. Anything I should be looking out for or wary of? -al- -acorda(a)1bigred.com

19 years, 11 months

Survived another one!

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

Well Hurricane Jeanne has come and gone. This is the fourth hurricane in 6 weeks and the third that's gone through my area. The DEC and intel stuff sitting outside STILL hasn't blown away! Not too much damage this time, for the most part everything that could be torn up was destroyed in the previous storms. However my roof shingles are finally starting to go. The power companies are getting GOOD at this. This time they had the power back on the same day! I think there's going to be lots of houses (or vacant lots!) for sale in Florida real soon. I went to Home Depot this morning and it was packed with people buying roofing materials and other repair items. A lot of them also had "Home for Sale" signs in their carts! I haven't heard from Glen. I know he was without power for five then seven days from the two previous storms and I think he's about ready to leave the state. Joe

19 years, 12 months

Update on Don Maslin

by vcf＠siconic.com

I just made contact with Don's wife, Bristol. They're not sure what Don died of, but he'd had cancer for 18 years and he died a couple days after entering the hospital after falling ill. Understandably, she has no idea what Don has in his garage. I offered to help her sort things out and to get money for whatever computers are in his collection that are worth anything, and of course I informed her of the importance of Don's disk archive. She's very nice and willing to pass the collection along but she first wants to run everything by her nephew who knows about computers before anything happens, which is understandable. This process will take some time. Bristol has many other things to deal with of course, but she informed me that she will make sure none of the computers or software will be discarded until they can get a full idea of what they have. She said they already took 5 computers to recycling but she didn't think they were anything of concern as her computer savvy nephew was the one who chose them and felt they weren't old or valuable or anything. At any rate, she assured me that nothing will be taken for recycling until we figure out what's all there. I'd like to enlist the help of some local San Diegans to assist with the inventory of Don's collection. I will probably end up making a trip down there in the future to either help with the dispersal of his collection and/or retrieve the disk archive. It would be a great help to Bristol if someone with knowledge of vintage computers can help her nephew identify the valuable machines so she can decide what she wants to do with them. And of course, to help identify the disk archive. I would imagine (or hope at least) Don had it pretty well organized and labelled, but we need someone to identify and separate it from the rest of his collection. Also, I want to give Don a tribute at the upcoming VCF 7.0. I'd like to talk a bit about Don's life and what he did for a career and all that. His wife didn't know much about Don's computing career and so I'm hoping that some people on the list who got to know Don and his history can share it with me. I'll keep the list updated as the process moves along. -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

20 years, 1 month

Blowing Up Old Computers

by celt＠chisp.net

I wonder how long it will be before some fool donates a PDP or some other piece of kit we hold near and dear to our hearts, to these miscreants. Sure, it's amusing when it's a 286 being pipe-bombed, but probably not so much fun (for me, anyway) when they get their hands on an Amiga or a Sol. It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye... http://www.letsblowitup.com/default.shtml

20 years, 2 months

WANTED ($$$): DEC MXV11-BF (M7195)

by waltje＠pdp11.nl

Hi all, For a project I need one of the above beasties. If you have one (or several ;-) and could be coerced into parting with them, contact me off-list and we'll agree on terms .. Thankee, Fred -- Fred N. van Kempen, DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) Collector/Archivist Visit the VAXlab Project at http://VAXlab.pdp11.nl/ Visit the Archives at http://www.pdp11.nl/ Email: waltje(a)pdp11.nl BUSSUM, THE NETHERLANDS / Mountain View, CA, USA

20 years, 2 months

HP Laserjet ..again....

by millenniumfalcon＠cableone.net

As I stated earlier, I have cannibalized three HP laserjet series II printers. In looking over the parts recovered I find that I have three (3) totally different memory boards. The first is populated with small chips on BOTH sides of the board with a total of 128 soldered in chips that appear from their part numbers to be 256K memory chips, That is the number 256 appears within the part number. Now I don't know how wide the buss is but I am assuming 8 bits because of its age. If so this board is a 4 Megabyte memory board. The second is only half populated with 16 soldered in chips on one side that have the number 1000 in their part number so I am assuming they are 1meg chips and using the afore mentioned logic I come up with a 2Megabyte memory board. The third is fully populated with 32 socketed chips with the number 1000 in their part number and that works out to a 4 Megabyte memory board. Is my logic sound? Do I have two 4 meg boards and a 2 meg board? What is the largest memory board the Series 2 could hold? I am assuming that the socketed memory is best because it is easily repaired, but are there any problems with the socketed memory having bad contacts after time?

20 years, 2 months

HP-3000 "Guide for new System Operators" 1986 manual - free

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

I have a thick manual entitled - "HP-3000 Guide for new System Operators" dated 1986. I don't want it, do you? Free for shipping from So Cal 92656. First come first served? No, I hate that. Everyone who responds in the next 7 days will have a fair chance, unless you want to start throwing money at me. I'm making a big assumption that someone may actually want it... Steve. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail is new and improved - Check it out! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

20 years, 2 months

Snopes on Ken Olsen

by jfoust＠threedee.com

"In 1977, Ken Olsen, the founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation, said, "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." http://www.snopes.com/quotes/kenolsen.asp - John

20 years, 2 months

Ohio Scientific Challenger 4P/MF

by JMeyer101＠aol.com

Hello all, Does anyone have any information or instructions on how to connect the 4P to a display? I have the computer but I'm not able to connect it to anything. There are 6 what appears to be RCA type plugs on the back, 2 wide by 3 tall, with + over one column and - over the other. What do I need to do to get this thing working? I also have an Intellec 4 that I am trying to find accessories and information for. Thanks, Jeff

20 years, 2 months

Bah! I've got too many HP-110 Plus portable computers!

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

Yes, I have too many HP-110 Plus portable computers - this is the one with the large screen - 80 X 25 text. Works great, no power adapter, but the soft carrying case is included. I'd love to trade one for an Otrona Attache, Atari Stacy, ZX-Spectrum, cold hard cash, ???? __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

20 years, 2 months

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test-drb September 2004