test-drb December 2006

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

225 participants
420 discussions

by alhartman＠yahoo.com

I'd like to pursue this. My partner is checking into a company he found as well. We have plenty of old keyboards which have breaks in the tracks due to age, which can be used as models. He is tearing one apart to scan in for artwork. We'll have to differentiate the reproductions from originals in some way, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. As for ZX-81 Kits, Stewart is still selling them at www.zebrasystems.com Al Phila, PA > This is very true of course...but (apparently I missed Al > Hartman's earlier message about this) I know of a company that can > make these keyboards. A few years ago, I designed a commercial > product which had a membrane keyboard. A few photos of it in > development (with those membrane keyboards) can be seen at: > > http://www.neurotica.com/albums/qyx/ > > I don't recall the name of the company that did the keyboards, but > I can dig it up from my notes if desired. They are here in Florida, > and I recall them having been highly capable and easy to work with. > We can probably make exact ZX81/TS1000 keyboard replicas through that > company. > > I sure wouldn't mind getting ahold of one or two of those ZX81 > kits. Will someone be making them available at some point? > > -Dave > > -- Dave McGuire Cape Coral, FL

17 years, 5 months

Paper tape supply, was Re: paper tape for GNT 4601

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I think that if this ever happened, an alternative might very well be > to just pool together as a bunch of hobbyists and order paper tapes > custom-made? I think paper mills have catered to smaller markets in > the past... Someone from the CHM PDP-1 restoration team contacted Western Numerical Control about having at batch of fanfold made. It was going to be on the order of several thousand dollars to have the paper maker WNC knows fire up the machine to do it. At $20/box on eBay, it may be worth doing..

17 years, 5 months

Source for Ethernet AUI/TP tranceivers?

by mbbrutman-cctalk＠brutman.com

I managed to hack a Western Digital Ethernet card onto my PCjr and I'm pretty happy about it. Using a packet driver and my own UDP implementation I can get 24KB/sec off of the machine with UDP checksums, and about 39KB/sec with UDP checksums turned off. The bad news is that I have a few more of these cards but the twisted pair connector is designed for LattisNet. LattisNet is a precursor to the standard Ethernet over twisted pair and it is supposed to be close, but my hubs aren't buying it. The cards have AUI adapters and I was lucky enough to have exactly 1 CentreCom 210 which works fine. I need more though - like about 10. They're on eBay, but buying them onesy-twosy will bankrupt me on shipping. Does anybody have a few they want to unload, or know of a good seller? Also, are all AUI/TP tranceivers equal or should I be looking for something better? Thanks, Mike

17 years, 5 months

Help installing SunOS?

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

So, I'm back to trying to get my 3/180 running again. I'm trying to boot a SunOS 4.1.1 "for Sun3" install tape that I produced from images and directions that on the sun3zoo site. When I try to boot, it seems to read from the tape OK, but then it bus errors: >b xt() Boot: xt(0,0,0) Size: 507912+123920+79144 bytes Invalid Page Bus Error: Vaddr: 0E0894E4, Paddr: 000014E4, Type 0, Read, FC 5, Size 4 at 0x0000400A. The CPU is a 3/180 with 16MB of ram, an Xylogics pertec tape controller w/ Sun badged Fujitsu M24444 tape attached, and Xylogics SMD disk controller with a Fujitsu Eagle I think (aka Sun 595-1309). Anyone have any ideas what I might be doing wrong, or perhaps a working installer on 9-track tape they could copy for me? Thanks, Pat -- Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

17 years, 5 months

Never assume anything on ePay

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

FYI: (Scuzz got a reply from the seller saying that he'd be willing to give a refund after Scuzz had returned the item) Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk Scuzz wrote: Hi Back to square one on the Acorn...Just had the Acorn arrive and the #*$! head used the original box to ship it to me... Read my email to him: The Acorn arrived today. I feel you should send me my money back. I purchased from you a computer in a box... IN A BOX. It was the box I purchased along with the computer. I was also buying the box. I wanted the BOX. You have destroyed the most important item of the purchase. If you were not prepared to ship the box as advertised then you should not have offered the BOX for sale. As a collector the BOX is the most important part. You left it exposed to be damaged, stuck labels all over it, and destroyed it with selotape. I wasn`t interested in a busted computer I wanted the box. In over 1800 purchases on Ebay I have never actually had the item being sold destroyed by the seller before. Do you understand what you did. It was like selling a rare stamp then sticking it to the envelope. I am so angry you cannot believe. Your Auction reads..` in its original box complete with mouse ` Why do you think people buy old computers... Goodness me. I`m very very unhappy. Breaks my heart. [ end post ] And so another valuable retro item is destroyed. The search goes on... ar hum. scuzz

17 years, 5 months

Paper tape supply, was Re: paper tape for GNT 4601

by kossow＠computerhistory.org

> I think that if this ever happened, an alternative might very well be to > just pool together as a bunch of hobbyists and order paper tapes > custom-made? I think paper mills have catered to smaller markets in the > past... Someone from the CHM PDP-1 restoration team contacted Western Numerical Control about having at batch of fanfold made. It was going to be on the order of several thousand dollars to have the paper maker WNC knows fire up the machine to do it. At $20/box on eBay, it may be worth doing..

17 years, 5 months

OT: Dwarf Engineer

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 12:00 -0600 12/2/06, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Okay... It's good to know you are back -- some of the most recent >deliveries of dwarfs had some samples that were out-of-tolerance. ><Grin> :-) actually, the .sig is a slam at the International Astronomical Union for demoting Pluto from "planet" to "Dwarf planet" because it "hasn't cleared its neighborhood". I'm working on a spacecraft headed for Pluto (New Horizons), so I'm peeved. ObCC: since the hardware will take more than 10 years between construction and flyby at Pluto, it'll be classic before it's ever used for its designed purpose. (Well, there is a Jupiter flyby...) This is a great opportunity to thank everyone on the classic-computer list for the accumulated wisdom I've gleaned over the years about what works and what doesn't in keeping old systems running. A lot of what I learned here went into the Longevity Plan for New Horizons. Many and diverse thanks to all! -- Mark Tapley, Dwarf Engineer (I haven't cleared my neighborhood) 210-379-4635 Dwarf Phone, 210-522-6025 Office Phone

17 years, 5 months

Is there a Prime Computer Emulator?

by Kevin＠RawFedDogs.net

Fellow Classic Computer Enthusiasts, I was rewatching "30 Years in the Tardis" last night and came across an item on the tape I had forgotten about. It's been years since I watched it, and the last time was long before I started tinkering with classic computer emulators. Anyway, while rewatching it I was thrilled to come across a commercial with the Doctor and Romana advertising a Prime computer. I found some info on the net on the Prime computer line, such as: http://www.malch.com/prime/ on the net but no mention of an emulator. I also found some manuals on BitSavers.org. Having been a Doctor Who fan for years, and with Tom Baker being my favorite Doctor, I'd love to have the opportunity to experience a computer system he endorsed. Kevin http://www.RawFedDogs.net http://www.WacoAgilityGroup.org Bruceville, TX

17 years, 5 months

In response to overwhelming demand...

by evan＠snarc.net

Regarding my switch from an email newsletter to a weblog, there's been a tremendous about of feedback in support of the old format. Unfortunately the old format was just too much work for me to keep up with. I would keep doing it if I had unlimited time and money, but obviously no one does (except maybe Bill Gates on the money side.) The good news: I finally got an Atom feed working. The address is http://www.technologyrewind.com/atom.xml. Would those of you who prefer email updates be willing to pay a modest fee? I haven't worked out what technology I will need, but as I said before, I'd be happy to keep doing an email feed if it were easy and not terribly time-consuming. This isn't for profit, it's too avoid losing money when I'm formatting newsletter emails instead of doing real work. (This also is not any plan to contradict earlier statements about keeping the main product free -- you have my promise on that.) Of course, if someone points me to an automated blog-to-email conversion technology that is SO simple and takes no time at all, then I'll just do it without any premiums. Or maybe someone can write a cross-platform feed reader for vintage computers. :) - Evan

17 years, 5 months

New bounty on manuals ($$$)

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

I'm offering a bounty on the following manuals: Convex Architecture Reference Manual Fujitsu VP200 (any) If you have any of these manuals please contact me directly with specifics. Thanks! -- 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 ]

17 years, 5 months

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test-drb December 2006