> "Broderick visits fellow computer geeks at The Academic Computing
> Center in Seattle."
>
> What does anyone know about the ACC?
It's probably the Academic Computing Center, at UW Seattle. I can't
seem to find a photo to compare with my memory of the movie scene.
De
I brought home my PDP-8 yesterday. Besides the goodies that I got from
Thom for it I also dug around in the stuff that he sold to the surplus
store and found MORE goodies. Like a pile of H851 jumpers, a >>16k<< core
memory board (and driver/sense board) for the PDP-8, a set of Plessey RK-05
disk drive controller cards for the PDP-8, some DEC PDP-11/34 Programmer's
Panels. I also visited Thom and dug through some old GR manuals that he was
throwing out and found an Engineering package for the MM8 core memory
cards, some docs for the Centronics 300 printer, docs for a Dilog card and
more. I also dumped all the GR docs from the LONG three ring binders and
I'll keep them and put the long DEC docs in them. Thanks Thom!
I'll post a list of the docs as I go through them and see if anyone
wants to scan them and post them (Al?). Or I can post them if someone will
scan them. (I just do NOT have the time to scan stuff!)
Anyway I've been reading the PDP-8a User's Manual and trying to figure
out what all I have here and I have a question about the PDP-8 CPUs. DEC
offered two different CPUs for the PDP-8, one is the KK8-A which is a
single M8315 card. The other is the KK8-E which consist of an M8300 and
M8310 cards which are the CPU and an M8320 Bus Loads card and a M8330
Timing Generator card. Can someone explain the differences between the two
and why DEC offered two very different CPUs for the 8? Can I replace
simply the M8300/8310/8320/8330 cards with the M8315?
I also have a question about the diagnostic paper tapes. Does anyone have
a ROM emulator or other way to load the diagnostics without using a PT
reader? Yes, I know there are some SIMPLE diagnostics that can be loaded
>from the Programmer's Panal but I concerned about the more extensive
diagnostics. In fact, I'm wondering if anyone has tried burning the
diagnostics into PROMs and installing them in place of the Boot Roms on the
M8317 card.
Can anyone explain the purpose of the small card that plugs into the back
of the chassis near the power regulators? It's not mentioned in the User's
Manual and I don't even know it's name. Thom says that it controls the
power and the machine will be completely dead if it fails but that's all
that I know about it.
Joe
Joe
OK, too much time on my hands...from http://www.fast-rewind.com/
"Broderick visits fellow computer geeks at The Academic Computing Center in
Seattle."
The high school was Snohomish High School in Everett.
What does anyone know about the ACC?
Rich
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard A. Cini [mailto:rcini at optonline.net]
> Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2005 10:01 PM
> To: CCTalk (cctalk at classiccmp.org)
> Subject: War Games movie
>
> All:
>
> As I'm watching War Games, there is a scene about 1/2 hour in, just
> after Lightman finds the phone number for the WOPR. He goes to see his
> friends at the computer company to decipher the list of games.
>
> Lightman walks through a datacenter and then to the back room. Do we
> know what company's datacenter that was?
>
> Rich
>
> Rich Cini
> Collector of classic computers
> Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project
> Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/
> /************************************************************/
>
>
The general consensus is that the Bernoulli boxes are pretty rugged, so
I'll take a chance and save this one. The price is right. I will be
looking for the 20MB carts to feed it ..
If I can attach it to my PCjr it will make my month ... (Yes, my Jr
does SCSI.)
Mike
All:
As I'm watching War Games, there is a scene about 1/2 hour in, just
after Lightman finds the phone number for the WOPR. He goes to see his
friends at the computer company to decipher the list of games.
Lightman walks through a datacenter and then to the back room. Do we
know what company's datacenter that was?
Rich
Rich Cini
Collector of classic computers
Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project
Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/
/************************************************************/
Got the following manuals today:
IBM Functional Wiring Principles April 1960
IBM RPG Debugging Template
IBM Reference model 24 Card Punch and model 26 Printing Card Punch
IBM 77 Collator Manual of Operation 1955
IBM 46 and 47 Tape-to-Card Punch reference manual
digital pdp11 Systems and Options Summary July 1977 with Price insert sheet
UNIVAC 1004 card Processor 80 Column reference
IBM System/3 model 10 Disk System
IBM System/370 model 125 sales pamphlet and price sheets
Here's a short list of other items in the haul today:
5-reels of 6250 BPI tapes
IBM removal disk pack from a 360 disk unit
5- boxes of 80 column card stock
27- 8" diskettes, some new and some used with programs and data on them
Metal IBM gauge card
Metal UNIVAC gauge card
Over 50 plug wires for wiring boards plus an IBM branded tool for installing
the wires
2- IBM hand punches for cards (two different models)
There are many other items that I have not sorted yet and will list later.
>
>Subject: PDP-8 CPU question
> From: "Joe R." <rigdonj at cfl.rr.com>
> Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 11:10:18 -0400
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
>>>>>>>>>>Some snippage done...<<<<<<<<<<
Hi Joe,
Welcome to the dark side. ;) The pdp-8 family is the most widely copied
archetecture, home brewed and sought after. Its a simple machine that
really does put an underscore on less is more. It's a great programming
experience and it's IO while very strange by microprocessor standards
is one of the simplest yet powerful. If you can find a bare proto board
building IO for the -8 omnibus machines is straightforward (as easy as S100,
maybe easier!) with DEC docs to lead the way.
RE: docs, there are some on line already as well as PDP-8 software
including the various "tapes".
> Anyway I've been reading the PDP-8a User's Manual and trying to figure
>out what all I have here and I have a question about the PDP-8 CPUs. DEC
>offered two different CPUs for the PDP-8, one is the KK8-A which is a
>single M8315 card. The other is the KK8-E which consist of an M8300 and
>M8310 cards which are the CPU and an M8320 Bus Loads card and a M8330
>Timing Generator card. Can someone explain the differences between the two
>and why DEC offered two very different CPUs for the 8? Can I replace
>simply the M8300/8310/8320/8330 cards with the M8315?
4 quad wide boards with over the top connectors vs one or two hex width.
Functionally they are about the same. the 4 board set however is a tiny
bit faster. The 4board set is the older PDP-8e/f/m quad style omnibus
while the hex are the newer 8A style.
> I also have a question about the diagnostic paper tapes. Does anyone have
>a ROM emulator or other way to load the diagnostics without using a PT
>reader? Yes, I know there are some SIMPLE diagnostics that can be loaded
>from the Programmer's Panal but I concerned about the more extensive
>diagnostics. In fact, I'm wondering if anyone has tried burning the
>diagnostics into PROMs and installing them in place of the Boot Roms on the
>M8317 card.
You could but only to the extent that you'd then have to copy to core
for execution. ROM on PDP-8 is a tricky thing as subroutine calls
(JSR instruction) puts the return address at the first word of the
subroutine. Hard to do that in ROM {yes DEC did have a rom/ram
board to fake that.}
The upside is with 16k or more of core (which on power down never forgets.)
you can load core and copy it around.
> Can anyone explain the purpose of the small card that plugs into the back
>of the chassis near the power regulators? It's not mentioned in the User's
>Manual and I don't even know it's name. Thom says that it controls the
>power and the machine will be completely dead if it fails but that's all
>that I know about it.
Ok that must be a PDP-8a box (hex wide). Its still omnibus
(as is the 8e/f/m) but allows for the 8a cpu and other wide cards.
That card if memory serves is the sense amp and for the power supply.
There are a number of sites for the PDP-8 family on the net.
Huge resource.
Start with http://www.pdp8.net and from there you find links to
a bunch of other sites that are also noteworthy.
Good luck, enjoy.
Allison
Do you depend upon modern computers, or are you a creative spirit who
can push the limits of your old hardware in order to fulfill your
everyday needs? The Retrochallenge is where you find out.
What are these challenges? If you enjoy creating original artwork,
music, or programs on your legacy computer, then the creative
challenges are for you. The second challenge is simply using a
qualifying computer through the month of July, in a competition to see
can survive a month without the latest in gadgetry. The third
challenges judges how well you could communicate with the outside
world on a retrocomputer.
If you would like more information, please visit
http://desnoyers.org/retrochallenge
I also found a similar competition for people who like writing tiny
(!) programs for 8, 16, and 32 bit micros: http://ffd2.com/minigame/
>
>Subject: Timex/Sinclair 1000 Tape Loading
> From: Gary Sparkes <mokuba at gmail.com>
> Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 15:00:40 -0400
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
>
>I'm having a hell of a time getting any program to load, so far I've been
>Totally unsuccessful.
>
>Anyone have any tips or advice they can throw at me?
>Would love to hear anything at all :)
>
First make sure the tape player is on speed. You'd be surprized how
many are off by 2-5%. Next volume level may be critical, note that
some tape players do not work well if the headphone connection does
not load the amplifier adaquately. The tone control if present should
be such that there is no high cut (high frequencies are important!).
Lastly the head should be cleaned and properly aligned or the high
frequency responce will suffer.
What I've seen in previous forays into this stuff since 1975.
Tape player ills:
Weak batteries (slow play speed and distortion).
Extremely poor quality machine (just plain bad).
Worn heads (no highs at all).
Amplifier that was oscillating at ~25+khz due to lack of
speaker load and bad design.
Tape that was bad, stretched or binding affecting speed.
Bad tape, flaking oxide.
Bad tape, actually it was blank.
Pinch rollers with flatspots.
Bad motor, ran slow. Also one that ran fast.
Motor noise in audio ouput, bad motor.
Motorboating due to bad cap in power supply (on a battery unit!).
Unit that had been dropped had bad azmuth alignment on head
resulting in no highs and lack of level in general. This can
also happen if the tape is not in place and the play button
is forced. I've seen heads broken off mounts due to that.
Bad earphone jack (no output).
One found to have a playback amp so noisy that you could barely
hear loud passeages on a music tape at all.
Stuck in record! That one runied a few of the owners tapes!
One that didn't like a common ground between the mic, motor
or speaker(earphone jacks). It would motorboat if that was
done.
System ills:
Input circuit literally blown up. (user plugged in a 12Vac
adaptor that had the right connector).
Input jack broken free of the board.
Input opamp dead (age or random failure).
System broke and needed mod (TRS80 LII hangup).
Just a few hints there. Likely I forgot a few.
Allison
