October 2005 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

by drb＠msu.edu

Anyone have a pair of Telebit Trailblazer modems they'd be willing to part with? Looking to re-create the old PEP over old tin-cans and string demo for a presentation. T2SAA (TB+) units seem to be fairly common, but I can't find anyone advertising the original model. De

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1"

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1" > From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> > Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 10:20:31 -0700 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >On 10/17/2005 at 1:06 PM Roger Merchberger wrote: > >>OMFG! Freezing CD's makes 'em sound better?!?!? And what the heck is >>Cream-Electret -- nevermind - I don't wanna know after all. <:-O > >Roger, brass musicians of the same mindset have been paying big money for >years to have someone dunk their instrument in a dewar of liquid nitrogen, >waxing euphoric about the way the instrument response changes. Of course, >there's no real basis in science and most of the victims overlook the >"prep" work that's part of the package and really makes the big difference. Actually hardening and annealing with extreme cold or heat has a measurable effect on metals. There is _some_ rational basis there. However.. local temerature changes (environment) affect the metals used to a greater extent through expansion and contraction. FYI: it was tested by dupont years ago that nylon (as in pantyhose) treated with a LN2 dunk had a better wear characteristic. No memory of why that was found to work. >Mark my words--the audiophile fringe will be dunking CD's in liquid N2 any >day now... Did it, they smash far better, louder too! (Those pesky AOL CDs). Can't say that they play better though. Allison

20 years, 8 months

5
4
0 0

PDP-11 Message Board

by ISC277＠CLCILLINOIS.EDU

Hey everyone, I thought I'd spam the lists again with a link to my PDP-11 board which hasn't had much traffic as of late, in case any of you DECies didn't know about it. http://pdpusers.dyndns.org <http://pdpusers.dyndns.org/> Always, if you have any suggestions, feel free to email me or drop me a personal message on the board. Thanks! Julian

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

PDP-11 Message Board

by ISC277＠CLCILLINOIS.EDU

Hey everyone, I thought I'd spam the lists again with a link to my PDP-11 board which hasn't had much traffic as of late, in case any of you DECies didn't know about it. http://pdpusers.dyndns.org <http://pdpusers.dyndns.org/> Always, if you have any suggestions, feel free to email me or drop me a personal message on the board. Thanks! Julian

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Public Service Announcement

by brother_cadfael＠sbcglobal.net

Thank you William, Sorry Jay! Brian Hanson <snip> Sorry about the plug, Jay, but he asked! William Donzelli <snip> "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)

20 years, 8 months

4
3
0 0

cctalk Digest, Vol 26, Issue 51

by ken＠seefried.com

From: Roger Merchberger <zmerch at 30below.com> > Allowing the object to return to room temperature very, very > slowly is important. You should perceive an improvement in the sound when > you listen to the object which has been through the freezing process.... Ah...note the crux of the delusion. Anyone who "doesn't perceive an improvement" just didn't let it warm up slowly enough. Thusly, the scam is impervious to outside criticism. Ken

20 years, 8 months

2
1
0 0

STDBUS Manuals - 7303 kb/display

by fjahlin＠en.com

Sorry to bother you Everett. I saw you message on-line re: the manual for the Pro Log 7303 Keyboard/Display card. I too have been looking for this document. If you would, please let me know if I can still get a copy from you. Thanks, Frank Ahlin

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Logic Analyzer Recommendations

by Pat_Fitzpatrick＠pmc-sierra.com

Hi All, My current logic analyzers (an HP 64000 system and a Dolch LAM4850) have been forced into early retirement and I'm looking for a replacement. I need around 100 channels, not terribly fast (100-250 MHz -- faster is ok too, obviously) and it might be handy to have the ability to plug in a scope card and/or a pattern generator. I've used the HP 16500 quite a bit (in a past life) but I have not had much experience with other machines (Tektronix TLA7xx, HP 167x etc). There seems to be a lot of 16500 mainframes and cards available -- but they are getting old and they are pretty BIG. OK, so an HP 64000 ain't exactly petite either so maybe size doesn't matter THAT much... Anyhow, I'm looking for recommendations. Something that will give a few years of service, and cost less than $4000 (or thereabouts). I have to keep these poor old computers running somehow -- plus a few new developments from time to time. Advice would be appreciated, Pat

20 years, 8 months

6
5
0 0

Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1"

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1" > From: Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> > Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 13:01:24 -0700 (PDT) > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On Mon, 17 Oct 2005, Allison wrote: >> FYI: it was tested by dupont years ago that nylon (as in pantyhose) treated >> with a LN2 dunk had a better wear characteristic. No memory of why that was >> found to work. > >YIKES! >Did they consider the issue of how uncomfortable it must be to wear them >that cold?? They get warmed of course.. Then again I would how those guys understood all this. Hummmm. ;) >> Did it, they smash far better, louder too! (Those pesky AOL CDs). >> Can't say that they play better though. > >I made a handle, and tried using them as pizza cutters. No good. >There is NO known use for them! Actually I found Four uses for them. One of the older versions had some bits of software that was useful outside the AOL framwork. Handy to keep around for regressive uses. Makes a nice disk for an aneometer (wind speed) when combined with those plastic eggs. Made a useful stator and rotor for experiments in power generation using wind. Inexpensive substitute for clay targets in skeet shooting. Love the sound of a 12ga. ;) Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Cromemco C-10 Manuals

by dm561＠torfree.net

Cleaning out the library; before they go into the dumpster, anybody need/want some manuals for the Cromemco C-10 desktop computer? C-10 Personal Computer User's Manual Structured Basic Language Reference Manual WriteMaster Word processing Systems PlanMaster Financial Planning Package Reply off-list pls, mike (Toronto)

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Need a driver: Intel PCMCIA Flash card

by kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com

Fellow classic'ers, I've been all over Intel's site and Google, and have come up empty. I have here a 4MB PCMCIA 'FLASH' card with Intel's name and colors on it. I know it has a standard MS-DOS filesystem on it, and I'm trying to find a driver to read the thing under Windows 2000 Pro. I'll resort to FreeBSD if I have to, but I would prefer otherwise. I've tried the current version of SystemSoft's CardWizard Pro with no luck. Ideas? Declarations? Speeches about how looney the whole idea is? Thanks much. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy, Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech do/t c=o=m "If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped with surreal ports?"

20 years, 8 months

8
9
0 0

Looking for a IBM 5110 EMI filter.

by h.j.stegeman＠hccnet.nl

Hi William, >> Who can help me with an EMI filter from an IBM 5110 ? >> Mine has an internal non-repairable short circuit. > Is it the same as the one on the 5100? Yes, see: http://home.hccnet.nl/h.j.stegeman/EMIfilter.jpg > Sadly, I finally junked my stock of EMI filters, simply because in six > years, I did not sell a SINGLE ONE! Normally these robust discrete filters give never a problem, except mine :-( Regards Henk

20 years, 8 months

2
1
0 0

Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1"

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1" > From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> > Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 10:08:59 -0700 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > > >4 feet of 10 AWG oxygen free copper wire connecting to 14 AWG house wiring >back to the distrubution panel. Why not some 1/2" gold-plated copper >tubing in a fused quartz box filled with argon for the absolutely best AC >sound? Wonder if folks know how noisy the average AC mains supply is? Anyone care to hazard what Oxygen Free Copper Wire is? "It's copper free of the cupric oxide dipole pairs that can cause unwanted rectification and attended mixing of signals resulting in added intermodulation distortion." B#))$^!t (a form of bovine excrement). We did this as a result of the above quote from "The Audio Expert". I did not doubt that said expert was just repeating what he's heard with zero understanding. I actually managed to get a piece of the stuff from the resident audiophile. My boss heard that and as a result of his engineering expertize in materials and my major eye roll and grimace we sent it off with some similar copper wire of the same guage from a local source to a materials lab for analysis. Since the company was in the business or using wire of all types as part of the product there was significant expertize available to analyse the result. Findings were the generic #6 and the OFCW got mixed up that the assay of both looked the same. Not similar, the same as nothing to distinguaish any difference. One came from local hardware store. Owing to the price difference we laughed very hard at the so called audiophilic inane beliefs. Quality copper wire is nominally oxygen free or it would show a distinct resistance variation from standard. Another easy test is to take a known length, measure the resistance at a easily calibrated standard temperature (ice water). Then raise the temperature (boiling water) to a new known point and remeasure with accurate milliohmmeter. Calculate the alpha (rate of change in resistance over temperature) pure copper has a known alpha and they will be the same to meaurement limits. If they differ it's due to impurity in the copper, plating if any (silver is commonly used for TFE coated wires, Nickel is common too) or it's not plain copper (copper clad steel). It's not rocket science. Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Orbis

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

ROBO5.8 wrote: Hi Thom, I don't know where you can find Orbis drives. But if they are the original style single sided drives then you can also look for Remex 8" drives. Remex manufactured paper tape readers and punches and then branched out into Floppy drives. They purchased units from Orbis and relabled them at the time. ROBO Remex also made a series of drives using a plastic base casting. It was a legendary cost reduction and ensured that nobody else would make that same mistake again. The casting would shift enough in normal use to give constant read and write errors. It was a loser then and I doubt it has improved. In my opinion, using Remex with valuble data is where you want to stop being "original or authentic" in your restoration. Install another vendor or don't use Remex for real data. You can use it to make the disk go around, but even just spinning the disk made wierd schreeching noises. In all my testing, I never found one that could read its own written disks more than a few days. It was one of the worst drives ever made and deservedly died an early death. Billy

20 years, 8 months

21
48
0 0

DEC RX180 dual floppy?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: DEC RX180 dual floppy? > From: Wai-Sun Chia <waisun.chia at gmail.com> > Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 23:58:16 +0800 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 10/17/05, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: >> RX180 is for the DEC Robin AKA Vt180 CP/M system (looks like a VT100). >> >> The drives however are generic SA400L or TM100 40 track single sided. >> There is no internal controller, has a nice power supply however. > >Could I connect it to other systems than the Robin? >If so which controller? There is nothing special about the RX180. It's only a DEC styled box with a power supply and two drives. Yes, any system. Any controller. The drives are generic 40tr 5.25" single sided and work ad single, double density as well as hard sector. I've used them with Robin, NorthStar*, TRS80, AmproLB, homebrew (765based) and PCs. Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

DEC RX180 dual floppy?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: DEC RX180 dual floppy? > From: Wai-Sun Chia <waisun.chia at gmail.com> > Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:00:07 +0800 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Hello, >Was wondering which systems can you hook up a RX180 dual floppy unit with? >Which controllers can you match it up with? RX180 is for the DEC Robin AKA Vt180 CP/M system (looks like a VT100). The drives however are generic SA400L or TM100 40 track single sided. There is no internal controller, has a nice power supply however. Allison

20 years, 8 months

2
1
0 0

DEC RX180 dual floppy?

by waisun.chia＠gmail.com

Hello, Was wondering which systems can you hook up a RX180 dual floppy unit with? Which controllers can you match it up with?

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Need Silent 700 schematic

by CPUMECH＠aol.com

What specific model do you have? TI has many models of silent 700 series. The silent series is because it uses a thermal printhead.

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Utterly OT: mobile FTP to Yahoo web hosting

by news＠computercollector.com

Since this is so off-topic, please send replies to me only, NOT to the whole list. The problem: I've got a program called VFS-FTP on my Treo 650 (PalmOS 5.x) smartphone. I know it works because I connected to various FTP servers and successfully download and uploaded files. When I try connecting to my web hoster (Yahoo Small Business), I get an error message saying "server did not respond in time" -- this is before the login stage, I think. As you can guess, Yahoo's tech support was a waste of my time. All they said is "our server works" and that they have no higher-tier support for FTP. Bastards. I made sure the FTP client is in "passive" mode and I set the time-out for a very high amount, 120 seconds, although I don't think that is part of the problem. Any suggestions please? Or can anyone suggest a more powerful FTP client for PalmOS? (There aren't any additional config options to pick in this one.) I really need to get mobile FTP working; this isn't just an experiment. Thanks in advance, Evan ----------------------------------------- Evan Koblentz's personal homepage: http://www.snarc.net Computer Collector Newsletter: http://news.computercollector.com Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists & Museum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/midatlanticretro/

20 years, 8 months

2
1
0 0

FW: LARGEST COMPUTER COLLECTION IN THE WORLD (?) FOR SALE

by Rinaldo.Eversdijk＠stork.com

Hoi Nico, Ik zit nu al een poosje via het forum aangesloten op alle gerelateerde mail, maar weet niet meer hoe en waar ik mezelf kan uitloggen om van deze mail replies af te komen! Weet jij misschien hoe dit moet, ik krijg nu elke dag meer dan 100 mails waar ik niks meer mee doe! M.vr.gr. Rinaldo -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Nico de Jong Sent: zaterdag 15 oktober 2005 10:18 To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: FW: LARGEST COMPUTER COLLECTION IN THE WORLD (?) FOR SALE Fra: "Nico de Jong" <nico at farumdata.dk> > > Hallo Jos > > Wat is de volle naam van die newsgroup? Ik kan 'm bij mijn provider niet > onmiddellijk vinden > > Nico > Begging your pardon. This should have been off-list -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This e-mail and any attachment(s) sent with it are intended exclusively for the addressee(s), and may not be used by, opened by, passed on to, or made available for use to, any person other than the addressee(s). Stork rules out any and all liabilities resulting from any electronic transmission.

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Unisys, shame on you

by aw288＠osfn.org

While surfing the Unisys websight, I found nearly NO mention of either Burroughs or Univac. One more reason to like IBM. William Donzelli aw288 at osfn.org

20 years, 8 months

5
6
0 0

Looking for ancient FreeBSD

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Hello fellow ClassicCmp'ers, This is almost Classic - I'm looking for a place to download an old version of FreeBSD, specifically the last release of the 2.2.x branch, which I think was 2.2.8. However, it seems to have totally vanished off the net, including of course ftp.FreeBSD.ORG, apparently removed by the dark forces of the evil reptilian conspiracy who want to force everyone to run the modern crap. Has anyone saved a copy of the FreeBSD 2.2.8 distribution or some nearby version? TIA, MS

20 years, 8 months

9
12
0 0

OT: Language for the ages

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: OT: Language for the ages > From: Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk> > Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 02:19:29 +0100 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >>>>Ruled out. >>>> >>>>Gil >>> >>>I missed the OP doing that - what was the reason? >> >> >> Proprietary to a single vendor. I'd agree. I off in its place MACROASSEMBLER, which is fairly old, very flexible and portable. That and a good macro library you too can have something looking almost like C or pseudocode if thats your wish. The only problem is I doubt there many that still know it or use it. I think them small chips that run chevy fuel injection are programmed in C++ crosscompiled, or so they would have us believe. ;) Allison

20 years, 8 months

2
1
0 0

Need Silent 700 schematic

by charlesmorris＠direcway.com

My Silent 700 has decided to stop working. Some of the time. It won't print anything although it will move the printhead for CR, LF (but not space or any other printing character) and will sound the beeper from Ctrl-G (BEL). The keyboard is outputting all characters properly. I took it apart (easy since almost everything snaps in place), checked the power supply voltages which all seem reasonable, noticed it was working, put the case back on, now it's broke again. Aargh. Must be a cold solder joint somewhere but there's LOTS of parts inside that small case including an 8080 CPU. I removed the three socketed chips and reinserted. Then I incautiously got a finger on either 120VAC or rectified 150 VDC, in an area I was not expecting "hot" voltages. =8^0 At that point I decided not to play with it any more, at least without a schematic. Anyone got one, or a service manual? I can't locate anything online from Googling. thanks Charles

20 years, 8 months

3
2
0 0

Looking for RL02 cable and terminator

by charlesmorris＠direcway.com

... like the subject line says. Now that my 8/A is up and running it's time to hook up the RL02. I do have the interface board plugged into the Omnibus, the correct boot ROMs on the option board, and the RL02 has the Unit "0" plug but no cable or terminator. I could make my own if someone can tell me where to get the connectors that fit the drive end. Also, I think someone cannibalized the disk brush out of mine :( There is a big open area towards the right rear of the disk compartment and a pin with a snapring groove protruding downwards, but nothing in the empty hole there except two silver-colored tubes down below (air ducts?)... seemed pretty clean inside, as it should. So I left the heads parked (blocked by the transport plate), inserted the disk pack and ran the blower for a while anyway. Fault light was on, load light was not. I didn't hook it up to the interface board (obviously :) but not being well-acquainted with these drives I don't know if it *has* to be connected before the fault light goes off, or the heads free to load, or both... I do have a copy of the "RL01/02 Disk Subsystem User's Manual" but the service manual and parts list looks essential at this point. Hope it's on bitsavers ;) Thanks for any help. -Charles

20 years, 8 months

5
4
0 0

battery education sought

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: battery education sought > From: "Jay West" <jwest at classiccmp.org> > Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 13:30:35 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >I noticed my HP 262X terminals have a "Duracell TR133" battery in the back >to maintain settings when powered off. The battery indicates "Mercury" on >the side. Extinct due to envromental concerns. Common use these days are the 3V lithium coin cells for the same uses. >Are mercury batteries rechargable? I would have thought they'd use a nicad >or something to charge up while the unit was on. Do not attempt to charge. Bad things can happen. Mercury batteries were used for many reasons, high energy density, extremely long shelf life at near zero power consumption and very stable voltage over life. Lithium cells have replaced them in most apps where battey drain is low and extremely long stable life is desired. >The TR133 battery also indicates "4.2V". It seems the Duracell replacement >for this battery is Alkaline, and 4.5V. Should I use it? > >Jay I'd expect that would work just fine. If your really uncertain add a shotkey rectifer in series (Vf about .3V). My bet is the logic they keep alive is a CMOS RAM and in operation that device Vcc is 5V. Allison

20 years, 8 months

3
2
0 0

Looking for RL02 cable and terminator

by tradde＠excite.com

I think I have a few of the RL02 cables that have the funny ends. But I only have one of the ribbon cable that goes from the inerface card with a berg connector to the bulk head. I am sure I could scrounge one of those spares if you don't get one elsewhere. I only have one good working RL02 drive, but many parts drives. --- On Sun 10/16, Curt @ Atari Museum < curt at atarimuseum.com > wrote: From: Curt @ Atari Museum [mailto: curt at atarimuseum.com] To: General at smtp3.suscom.net, Discussion at smtp3.suscom.net(a)excite.com, UNEXPECTED_DATA_AFTER_ADDRESS at .SYNTAX-ERROR. Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 16:17:37 -0400 Subject: Re: Looking for RL02 cable and terminator I have a half dozen terminators if you need one, I don't have any spare cables though. Curt Charles wrote: >... like the subject line says. > >Now that my 8/A is up and running it's time to hook up the RL02. I >do have the interface board plugged into the Omnibus, the correct >boot ROMs on the option board, and the RL02 has the Unit "0" plug >but no cable or terminator. I could make my own if someone can >tell me where to get the connectors that fit the drive end. > >Also, I think someone cannibalized the disk brush out of mine :( >There is a big open area towards the right rear of the disk >compartment and a pin with a snapring groove protruding downwards, >but nothing in the empty hole there except two silver-colored >tubes down below (air ducts?)... seemed pretty clean inside, as it >should. > >So I left the heads parked (blocked by the transport plate), >inserted the disk pack and ran the blower for a while anyway. >Fault light was on, load light was not. I didn't hook it up to the >interface board (obviously :) but not being well-acquainted with >these drives I don't know if it *has* to be connected before the >fault light goes off, or the heads free to load, or both... > >I do have a copy of the "RL01/02 Disk Subsystem User's Manual" but >the service manual and parts list looks essential at this point. >Hope it's on bitsavers ;) > >Thanks for any help. >-Charles > > > > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.12.1/136 - Release Date: 10/15/2005 _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

HP 9133XV jumper query

by vp＠cs.drexel.edu

"John S" <john_a_s2004 at hotmail.com> wrote: > J?rgen Keller recently cracked how to access his 9133XV combined hard drive > and floppy drive unit from his HP-85 - see full article here: > http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/articles.cgi?read=562 > > I would like to check with other 9133XV owners if their drives also had the > same A/B/C jumper, I suspect this was only present on certain revisions of > the drive. Actually all 9133V and 9133XV should have the same controller (09133-69508) at least that's what the book says: http://bitsavers.org/pdf/hp/disc/09134-90032-Aug-1983.pdf page III-1-2 (9133V/XV & 9134XV Theory of Operation). Regarding the jumper settings for selecting between 4 volume (HP-85 compatible) vs 1 volume configurations, Section II of the manual which refers to the 9133A/B, 9134A/B and the 9135 drives, shows the J6 jumper settings on page II-1-9 [1], while Section III has a table on page III-1-1. BTW this manual provides a wealth of information about all the Amigo compatible members of the 913X family. It is beautifully scanned in B&W (pictures in greyscale) and produces high-quality printed output. If you have an early version 913X, this manual is a must-have. **vp [1] early versions of the 9133A, 9134A and 9135A drives used a different controller which does not appear to be configurable (see page II-1-2).

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Looking for RL02 cable and terminator

by pete＠dunnington.plus.com

On Oct 15 2005, 22:47, Charles wrote: > but no cable or terminator. I could make my own if someone can > tell me where to get the connectors that fit the drive end. RL01 and RL02 cables have those funny connectors at both ends. It sounds like you haven't got the ribbon cable for the interface end either; that would be a short 40-way ribbon with a Berg connector on each end with one of the opposite-gender funny RL0x connectors plugged into one of the Bergs. I've never seen those connectors elsewhere, but on the inside of the drive, they're 40-pin headers like a Berg connector, so you could, as a last resort, use something else to get you going. > Also, I think someone cannibalized the disk brush out of mine :( No, only early RL01s had brushes. There's a field change order to remove them, and AFAIR RL02s never had brushes at all. > Fault light was on, load light was not. I didn't hook it up to the > interface board (obviously :) but not being well-acquainted with > these drives I don't know if it *has* to be connected before the > fault light goes off, or the heads free to load, or both... It has to be connected and terminated before the fault light will go off. > I do have a copy of the "RL01/02 Disk Subsystem User's Manual" but > the service manual and parts list looks essential at this point. > Hope it's on bitsavers ;) Look for the Pocket Service Guide -- that will give you what you need. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 8 months

5
5
0 0

IRIS failure point-beware paper caps!

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

I took the IRIS over to Ray's to see if we could get it working and pull anything of interest off the drives, and the power supply died. If you have one of the Motorola IRISes be sure that you check out two paper caps (C7 is one of them) on the 5v rail board (on the fan side of the P/S). Had a failure in one or both that caused a (hypothesized) spike to the rectifier bridge and smoked a MOV/resistor link to ground. Fortunately there doesn't seem to be any logic damage, but watch out if you've got one of these! Later research with an electronics book revealed that paper & electrolytic are the most failure-prone of the capacitors. I'm going to replace with mylar (I know they're not original, Tony, but it's a terrible job to get that P/S out, and I don't want anything to die the next time). Scott Quinn

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Cromemco SCC Eproms/images needed

by RCamarda＠aol.com

Hi Joe, I was wondering if you ever found the MCB-216 roms, or source code for the Cromemco SCC board. I am also looking for them. Let me know if you can help. Thanks! Rich

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

HP 7970 power supplies available

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Not sure if I posted these before or not, sorry if it's a repeat. I have a fair number of HP 7970E and 7970B power supplies available (about 10 or 15). I keep meaning to take them to the dump but just haven't made it yet. If anyone wants one (or two or three) let me know ASAP. Jay West

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Looking for RL02 cable and terminator

by pete＠dunnington.plus.com

On Oct 17 2005, 0:39, Ethan Dicks wrote: > On 10/16/05, Pete Turnbull <pete at dunnington.plus.com> wrote: > > RL01 and RL02 cables have those funny connectors at both ends. > > Drive-to-drive cables certainly all do, and _most_ interface-to-drive > cables do, but some do not. > > In particular, I have seen a 40-pin-Berg-to-RL-drive cable (no ribbon > cable whatsoever) > in two situations; with an RLV12 in a MicroVAX-II, and my own RL8A. The RLV12 comes with a cabinet kit as I described. Sounds like yours is unusual. I suppose it's possible, even likely, that DEC didn't do that for the RL8A, but they certainly made cabinet kits consisting of a short ribbon cable with a Berg connector and transition connector on a plate for RL11, RLV11, and RLV12. > > It sounds like you haven't got the ribbon cable for the interface end > > either; that would be a short 40-way ribbon with a Berg connector on > > each end with one of the opposite-gender funny RL0x connectors plugged > > into one of the Bergs. > > The rig I think you are describing was typical of the RL11, for example, with > a 40-pin ribbon cable to a black connector mounted in a mountable metal frame > that accepted a drive-to-drive cable. Yes, but also for RLV11 and RLV12. I've never seen one without that. > That black transition connector, BTW, is > identical to the transition connectors on the back of the disk drive > units. Worst > case, you can steal/borrow one from a scrap drive. Indeed. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 8 months

2
1
0 0

Friden EC-130 calculator schematics?

by brian＠quarterbyte.com

Hi This is a bit off-topic, since the device isn't programmable, but... does anyone have a set of schematics and/or a service manual for the Friden EC-130 electronic calulator? Google isn't coming up with anything but others' requests for the same. Thanks Brian

20 years, 8 months

6
7
0 0

Compute magazine

by holger.veit＠ais.fraunhofer.de

Hi, for quite some time I have some magazines of COMPUTE ("Club Of Microprocessor Programmers, Users and Technical Experts"), a gazette sponsored by National Semiconductor, lying around which I consider worthwhile to be conserved for the past. The date I am talking about is around 1975..1977. Some questions: 1. I have only some issues, namely V2N7...V2N12, V3N4...V3N7. Does anyone have other issues (and is willing to scan or copy those)? I'd be very interested in this epoch. 2. Scanning: You find a sample issue at http://www.ais.fraunhofer.de/~veit/v2n7.pdf (2MB). This was scanned B&W 400dpi, stored as TIF and converted with Acrobat. My problem is that even with this some listing pages are barely readable, see page 3 for example. This is probably because of lack of contrast; the magazine is printed on light brown paper with dark brown text. If one scans in color with 600dpi (as in sample http://www.ais.fraunhofer.de/~veit/3x.pdf, 2MB) this will result in much larger files - the raw TIF is 95MB on my disk, which is not a diskspace issue for me, but for downloaders; expect a single issue to be 40MB and more in size. Do the "professional scanners" here, like Al, have a recommendation for resolving this? Regards Holger

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1"

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1" > From: Gordon JC Pearce <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> > Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 14:36:25 +0100 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >woodelf wrote: > >> But I think the reason the cable makes a difference is you got all the feed >> back in a transistor amp ( less in a valve ) and any noise on the speaker >> cables like ac hum? and other noise will get fed back to the amp > >What *exactly* do you live near that couples that much mains hum into >speaker leads? Consider that the leads have very little inductance, and >are shunted with a very low impedance load... > >Gordon. It's that oxygen free copper its so pure it hears galactic noise. Gag! Magnetic hum is square law, unless one of the speaker wires are wrapped around the power line I'm sorry it ain't there. Besides paired wires are naturally resistant. Every time I hears this stuff I do an eye roll. Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

OS/2 vs Win3.1

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: OS/2 vs Win3.1 > From: Bert Thomas <bert at brothom.nl> > Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 09:15:19 +0100 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Allison wrote: >> How does OS/2 warp V3 compare to other PC OSs like CDR Concurrnet386 or >> win3.1? > >I don't know anything about Concurrent386, but comparing OS/2 Warp with >win 3.1 is like comparing pigs with streetlights. > >Win3.1 is a graphical shell around DOS. To overcome DOS' memory >limitations is uses some more advanced techniques of the processor, such >as protected mode. However, win3.1 programs are 16-bit. Win3.1 itself is >16 bit. Win 3.1 only allows cooperative multitasking. That means that a >another program can only get control if the running program gives it up. >This is a very short summery of Win3.1 > >OS/2 2.0 and higher are 32-bit operating systems. However, compatibility >with older OS/2 applications was considered very important and therefore >parts of the kernel and all device drivers are mainly 16 bit. Only >recently some 32-bit device drivers were written. > >OS/2 has its own graphical subsystem - a very advanced one. It can run >DOS programs in 'virtual dos machines' or VDM. A special mode of the 386 >processor allows a task to act as if it where a real mode task. Anything >that task does can trap the processor and thus can be handled by >exception handlers. OS/2 is very strong is this area. > >OS/2 has its own file system with some special features like "extended >attributes". > >OS/2 has dynamic priorities for tasks, that makes it more responsive. >For example, a task that has focus in the GUI is slightly raised in >priority. Or when a background task was blocking for something it might >receive a slight priority boost when that something becomes available. > >OS/2's time critical priority is handled "soft realtime". I've used OS/2 >in the past for process control, dosing in particular. For such >applications realtime behaviour is very important as a lattency of 1 sec >or more is disasterous for the product being manufactered. > >I can go on and on, but if you want to know more let me know and I write >it down later on. > >Regards, >Bert Thankyou for the informative comparison. I know 3.1 was 16 bit, I really didn't bother bringing W9x up and Concurrent386 was the other. Concurrent is interesting as the copy I have is a 10 user license. I fully read everything but it appears to support multiple users on one system as a time sharing and task sharing alternative to DOS. I susuect it's also 32bit or has some core task controls as 32bit code. Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Looking for RL02 cable and terminator

by James＠jdfogg.com

> Now that my 8/A is up and running it's time to hook up the > RL02. I do have the interface board plugged into the Omnibus, > the correct boot ROMs on the option board, and the RL02 has > the Unit "0" plug but no cable or terminator. I could make my > own if someone can tell me where to get the connectors that > fit the drive end. Are you anywhere near Northern New England?

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Releasing OS/2

by vp＠cs.drexel.edu

ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) wrote: > There were certauinly : > > Transputer (both all-on-one cards (host adapater + transputer + RAM) and > TRAM motherboards) > [...] IBM had even produced a 370 as a set of adapter cards for the original PC. The package was called PC/370. The processor(s?) were 68000s with IBM microcode. AFAIK they used more than one, but I am not sure how many. **vp

20 years, 8 months

4
4
0 0

Radio Shack TRS-80 Models I and III available near NE Ohio

by vcf＠siconic.com

See below. Contact original sender directly. Reply-to: Kirk Worcester <kirk at neo.rr.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:35:32 -0400 From: Kirk Worcester <kirk at neo.rr.com> To: vcf at vintage.org Subject: Radio Shack I have a RS Model I and Model III and I'm looking for a good home. Any suggestions? Ideally I'd like to find a local collector (NE Ohio) that could come and pick these up. Thank you, Kirk Worcester -- 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, 8 months

4
5
0 0

HP 262X terminal bits available (junk)

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I got around to taking a mess of 262X terminals in poor condition and mixing/matching parts to get two clean good working units. This means I have a lot of bits & pieces of junk left over. I already kept some bits for spare parts, so the rest of this is going to hit the trashcan. Note - amongst all these pieces, you could not make a good terminal just with these items - there's little incompatabilities and/or missing parts. I figured I'd offer the pieces in case someone had one of these with a broken bezel, missing set screw, etc. 2628A terminal parts: brown bezel/faceplate, main logic board w/2 94020A ports, very white top & bottom cover (no pedestal), power supply. 2821P terminal parts: printer unit, yellowed top & bottom cover, pedestal, brown bezel/faceplate, power supply. In addition to the above - two crt tubes that fit either unit, both have a fair amount of spottage under the glass The above is all going in to the trash today, which will be picked up thursday afternoon. So... let me know if you need any cosmetic bits asap! Next on the list... 264X parts may be made available... Jay West

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1"

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Public Service Announcement: AVOID "bobsbid1" > From: woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> > Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 11:33:54 -0600 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Gordon JC Pearce wrote: > >> William Donzelli wrote: >> >>>> Why would you buy audio tubes, or valves as we call them over here, >>>> from eBay, when they're cheap enough in Maplins? >>> >>> >>> >>> Because a 12AX7 (ECC83) made by ICC and an identical 12AXY (ECC83) >>> made by >>> Telefunken makes ALL the difference. >> >> >> Mmm. To the gold-plated speaker cable brigade, perhaps. > >But I think the reason the cable makes a difference is you got all the feed >back in a transistor amp ( less in a valve ) and any noise on the speaker >cables like ac hum? and other noise will get fed back to the amp >.. > >> >> Gordon. Ugh, never mind. Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

HP 9133XV jumper query

by john_a_s2004＠hotmail.com

Hi, J?rgen Keller recently cracked how to access his 9133XV combined hard drive and floppy drive unit from his HP-85 - see full article here: http://www.hpmuseum.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hpmuseum/articles.cgi?read=562 I would like to check with other 9133XV owners if their drives also had the same A/B/C jumper, I suspect this was only present on certain revisions of the drive. If it seems to be on all revisions this is excellent news as these drives often crop up on the second hand market. Regards, John >From: J?rgen Keller To: John S <john_a_s2004 at hotmail.com> >Subject: Re: Extended Mass Storage ROM >Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 20:16:55 +0200 > >Hi John, >I'm very happy that I have a working connection to my PC. It makes much >more fun if you can feed your HP-85 with some nice programs... > >If have no explanation why I could not initialize the drive with my >HP-85. Perhaps, the 86 Mass Storage ROM is more advanced. Anyway, the >main point for me is that it works now. Hopefully it helps others to get >their drives working. John wrote: >>I suspect that not all 9133XVs have this jumper. Did you want to post a >>message on classiccmp cctalk, I know several people there have this drive. > >I'm currently not subscribed to cctalk. May I ask you to post the >information? Perhaps it sheds some light on the jumper question. > >Have a nice weekend, >Juergen _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN Search Toolbar now includes Desktop search! http://toolbar.msn.co.uk/

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

OT: Language for the ages

by carlos＠jimulco.autonoma.edu.co

Gordon JC Pearce wrote: > Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez wrote: > >> by the numerical scientific computing community. I even know >> why, but I don't want to star a language war. > > Aw go on, tell us... I for one would love to know why, if only to see > if it's worth brushing up my rather rusty FORTRAN "skills". Ok, you asked for it... 1) There is an inertia factor, of course, with all those superb routine libraries in FORTRAN (LAPACK, SCALAPACK and all that stuff at the legendary netlib) 2) FORTRAN has been optimized for many decades to do just one kind of task: computations involving arrays of floats, with a very specific fetch/multiply/add to accumulator/increment pointers sequence. This is a very regular task and the optimizations in FORTRAN are directed to do this very efficiently. C compiler optimizers must address many other possibilities (C is a much more "general purpose" language). Thus, like it or not, for numeric computations involving matrix/vector float operations, FORTRAN is usually slightly faster than C. Of course, if you program a fast Fourier transform in FORTRAN, it might actually be slower because some of the operations don't fit the structure described above: you have to negate bits in pointers to form the "butterflies" (the basic FFT block). Why, even the storage scheme in FORTRAN reflects numerics-specific thinking: 2D matrices are stored column-wise, an appropriate choice if you know that en numerics, matrix/vector multiplication is best thought of as a weighted sum of the columns of the matrix, with the weights being the elements of the vector. C, being designed by non-numerics people, stores numbers row-wise. If you program numerics in C, you must always store matrices transposed to get around this fact. So, short explanation: FORTRAN is faster for array numerics, which forms the core of scientific numeric computing, simply because that's what the optimizer expects to find. C, having a more general purpose, considers many other possibilities and is less "tuned" to the needs of numerics. Carlos. Carlos E. Murillo-Sanchez email: carlos_murillo at ieee.org Dean of Engineering, Universidad Autonoma de Manizales, Manizales, Colombia ---- "Western civilization... thought like the greek, organized itself like the romans and believed in itself like the hebrew." -- Ortega y Gasset.

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

OS/2 vs Win3.1

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: OS/2 vs Win3.1 > From: Bert Thomas <bert at brothom.nl> > Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 09:15:19 +0100 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Allison wrote: >> How does OS/2 warp V3 compare to other PC OSs like CDR Concurrnet386 or >> win3.1? > >I don't know anything about Concurrent386, but comparing OS/2 Warp with >win 3.1 is like comparing pigs with streetlights. > >Win3.1 is a graphical shell around DOS. To overcome DOS' memory >limitations is uses some more advanced techniques of the processor, such >as protected mode. However, win3.1 programs are 16-bit. Win3.1 itself is >16 bit. Win 3.1 only allows cooperative multitasking. That means that a >another program can only get control if the running program gives it up. >This is a very short summery of Win3.1 > >OS/2 2.0 and higher are 32-bit operating systems. However, compatibility >with older OS/2 applications was considered very important and therefore >parts of the kernel and all device drivers are mainly 16 bit. Only >recently some 32-bit device drivers were written. > >OS/2 has its own graphical subsystem - a very advanced one. It can run >DOS programs in 'virtual dos machines' or VDM. A special mode of the 386 >processor allows a task to act as if it where a real mode task. Anything >that task does can trap the processor and thus can be handled by >exception handlers. OS/2 is very strong is this area. > >OS/2 has its own file system with some special features like "extended >attributes". > >OS/2 has dynamic priorities for tasks, that makes it more responsive. >For example, a task that has focus in the GUI is slightly raised in >priority. Or when a background task was blocking for something it might >receive a slight priority boost when that something becomes available. > >OS/2's time critical priority is handled "soft realtime". I've used OS/2 >in the past for process control, dosing in particular. For such >applications realtime behaviour is very important as a lattency of 1 sec >or more is disasterous for the product being manufactered. > >I can go on and on, but if you want to know more let me know and I write >it down later on. > >Regards, >Bert Thank you. I'd been wondering why OS/2 had a following and that was it about OS/2 that made it worth following. It would seem that it's 32bit core and task management do make it distinct. Since I have the complete Warp V3 kits with bonus packs 1/2/3 I'll have to put it on one of the 486s and see. Any good sites for apps, tools and drivers? Allison

20 years, 8 months

3
2
0 0

OT: Language for the ages

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: OT: Language for the ages > From: Paul Koning <pkoning at equallogic.com> > Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 12:33:58 -0400 > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >>>>>> "William" == William Donzelli <aw288 at osfn.org> writes: > > >> Is it? Given that we don't have 20-20 prescience, how about 20-20 > >> hindsight? Could you implement C on any computer with sufficient > >> memory? > > William> In 30 years, our processor-memory model might be a thing of > William> the past. > >Why? It's 60-70 years old already and shows no signs at all of going >away. > > paul I've exprimented with a rather simple microprogam state machine where there is no ALU or other logic. Just one huge eprom with all the possible results of two factors. The machine reduced to a fetch instruction, lookup results (the factors are addresses to the eprom), return result. At a 50,000ft view its a standard Von looking thing, close in there is none of the usual hardware. So I would be suggesting that which externally conventional in programming the implmentation could really be off the current map. Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

OT: Language for the ages

by pete＠dunnington.plus.com

On Oct 15 2005, 11:03, Gordon JC Pearce wrote: > Tony Duell wrote: > > > outputs of the 11/44 PSU,. There's a 5V rail (120A or so) for the logic > > That's not a power supply, that's a MIG welder. Possibly. The PSU in my Origin 2000 is for spot welding, I think: 5V @ 85A, 12V @ 22A, and 3.45V @ 375A. There's one in each module. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

OT: Language for the ages

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: OT: Language for the ages > From: Gordon JC Pearce <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> > Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 10:02:32 +0100 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Carlos E Murillo-Sanchez wrote: > >> by the numerical scientific computing community. I even know >> why, but I don't want to star a language war. >> >> Carlos. > >Aw go on, tell us... I for one would love to know why, if only to see >if it's worth brushing up my rather rusty FORTRAN "skills". > >Gordon. This is opinion and observation over 36years of computing I've been hands on with. The term "large frame" is any computer that is not a micro but includes examples like the LSI-11 which was the cusp of mini to micro. Micro is specifically anything that exists as a chip fromthe basic 8bitter 8008, through the non racked Pentium. Fortran is definately one of the languages. There are many languages based on or spawned from it. FOCAL comes to mind as a varient. Just about any multipurpose cpu has Fortran for it. Considered a large frame language by many but the major micros have compilers too. The legacy of Fortran is is number crunching in all its forms which covers a lot of ground. The most strongly held ground I've seen is numerical modeling. BASIC is another widespread language. Likely the second most(runs neck and neck with fortran) widely ported to micro and large frame processors. The legacy of BASIC is one language, billions of dialects. BASIC runs from interger minimum subsets to full bore structured languages with data typing to the fully visual forms that do not look like BASIC at all. Those two alone run close to assembly in frequency of occurance for any cpu. For "systems work" it would appear C is it. Though C is a common cross compiled language for wide variety of embedded cpus. The biggest assumption I've seen with C is that it's likely in or around a unix (or unix like) environment for use or development. Since the mid 80s that is less so. Once you get past those the what language for what work tends to stratify based on application and preference. Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

Public Service Announcement

by brother_cadfael＠sbcglobal.net

William <snip> There are plenty of extremely valid 2nd chance offers. In the surplus business, it is extremely common to buy a lot of one item, and if one of the auctions does extremely well, only a foolish seller would not try to take advantage of the deal. I use them all the time, and yes, they do work enough times that I keep using them. <snip> I've been the buyer in two such transactions myself, I was glad to have the chance. <snip> I have said it before - I will say it again - pissing off a dealer is one of the dumbest things a collector can do. <snip> I couldn't agree more, it's right up there with pissing off food servers, doctors & auto mechanics! BTW what is the name of your eBay business? Brian Hanson

20 years, 8 months

4
4
0 0

Releasing OS/2

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Releasing OS/2 > From: Scott Stevens <chenmel at earthlink.net> > Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 22:21:53 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 17:11:19 -0400 >Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote: > >> My original intent was limited to OSs that were operable on PCs. > >Well, then. Definitely FOCAL running on a PDP-8 emulator. On a PeeCee. Nah, taks all the fun out of it. Focal running on the 8f, blinkin lights! Allison

20 years, 8 months

1
0
0 0

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb October 2005