test-drb April 2006

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

200 participants
412 discussions

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

I've tied into the CV 3000-20 Model 32. Haven't replaced the cap yet, though. Does anyone know if the Sun machines have the P1&P2 terminator paddleboards with switches at either end of the VME bus (the swithches sound like some sort of bus grant adjustment from the manual). The magtapes have a dull surface to them. Does anyone know if this is normal, or will something need to be done to stabilize them before imaging? I have pictures of the boards, but no place to put them. Several people have expressed interest in seeing them. I can either hitch a ride on someone else's website, or do direct e-mail. At this point, they are big (~3.5 MB each) JPEGs that you can read chip numbers from, but they could be downsampled. Have outside front, connector side of the cardcage, and the 3004 CPU, framebuffer, GPU, GPU interface, tablet interface, and the (SCSI & 2 RS-232) cards.

18 years, 3 months

bitsavers filenames (was Tek 4631 service man now on bitsavers)

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> BTW, who decides the filename? The general format is <partnumber> <description> <date> <partnumber> falls off if there isn't one. I started using this a few years into the project, so the early stuff isn't this way. The <description> has been getting longer since I moved to a server that supports long filenames. And, to answer your earlier question, I don't think I saved any AED terminals. I do have the schematics, users manual, and rom source. The AED 512->1024 are a single large PCB. The 1280 was a total redesign, replacing the 6502 with a 65816, and a 12 bit 2901 for line drawing.

18 years, 3 months

Tek 4631 service man now on bitsavers

by aek＠bitsavers.org

http://bitsavers.org/pdf/tektronix/46xx/ 070-1831-02_4631_Service_Nov79.pdf I'm also going through the graphics terminal manuals that I have, so a few of those will be up in the next few days as well. What I don't have are manuals for the 41x5 (the fancy high-resolution raster displays) or much on the 402x character cell graphics displays. 061-2564-01_4114hostPgmg_feb83 070-1647-00_4014UM 070-1648-00_4015svc_aug74 070-2303-00_4014svc_Mar79 070-2830-00_4025svcVol1 070-3673-00_4114oper_dec81 070-3683-00_tek4112 070-3892-00_4110seriesCmdRef_sep83 070-4164-00_4662apr82 070-4165-00_4662opt31_feb83 070-4526-01_4105_sep83 070-4893-00_tek4107pgm 061-3216-00_4405users_apr86 070-5604-00_4404_dec84 070-5606-00_4404ST80syUser_aug85

18 years, 3 months

Programmer's conundrums

by marvin＠rain.org

My experience indicates that anyone who is very good at what they do, regardless of the field, would qualify in your description. It is the mediocre <insert profession here> who seems to be more interested in talk than doing. Unfortunately, our society is becoming more talk rather than action oriented. Getting the job done seems to be less of a priority with new people to the workplace from everything I've heard. BUT to be able to get the job done quickly under trying circumstances does take experience and the work ethic to gain that experience, and that does leave the future in doubt. > You needed special people for that kind of work. People who might grumble > a bit, but who would go the extra mile. People who could think on their > feet. No internet or email or laptops--just the telephone. Anything--even > gimmick tests--to separate the wheat from the chaff was useful. As I've > stated, the outcome of the gimmick test is unimportant. What is important > is the way it was approached and the emotional reaction of the applicant. <snip> > > Like the Conestoga wagon, those days are gone and won't return. Now, it's > get a bunch of Peecees (or something that looks a lot like them internally) > and modify some off-the-shelf solution. More cost-efficient, I suppose, > but less romantic. > > Sorry for being too old, > Chuck

18 years, 3 months

Tektronix 4632 Video Hard Copy Unit -- Manual? & 4631 parts

by djg＠pdp8.net

>Does anyone have a manual for this? > Yes, I can try to scan it this week. The foldout schematic pages are slow to scan so if you only need the text pages email me and I will make them available first. I bought what should have been a 4631 and is labeled a 4631 but somebody put the 4632 interface board in it. Does anybody have a parts 4631 I could get the interface board in the back from?

18 years, 3 months

OT: video signal question

by bert＠brothom.nl

Hi, Appearently something like video printers exist. They have "normal" video inputs and are somehow able to extract a command to make a hardcopy from the video signal. In my case the command is triggered by a button on an edoscope control panel. Can anyone tell me how the trigger signal is embedded in the video signal? Thanks! Bert

18 years, 3 months

Norsk Data Technostation

by toresbe＠ifi.uio.no

All this talk about CAD workstations here got me thinking about the Technostation. My braindump on this is that it was a ND-5xxx-processor (the 32-bit workhorse) with a ND-1x0-processor (16-bit CPU running the OS and I/O), with two gas-plasma displays emulating the standard Tandberg TDV-2215 ( http://toresbe.at.ifi.uio.no/nd-skjerm.jpeg ) terminals, and a large Sony screen displaying the graphics. Just a relatively standard ND server with the custom logic board(s), I guess. It also had a special desk, and a cursor pad. Also, by coincidence, I came across this in some old newspapers I was going through (Norwegian!) http://toresbe.at.ifi.uio.no/technostation.jpeg about a design award it won in Norway, though I guess that's useless unless you're Scandinavian or know how to translate rot13. ;) Anyone know any more about it? I guess it's a shot in the dark. An ex-ND employee told me about some West-German incentive program for high-tech businesses or something which would sponsor the purchase of a TechnoStation. Field technicians would come home almost crying after having placed the machine in moist basements and barns and places like that. :) -toresbe

18 years, 3 months

Installing 3.5" drive in a TRS-80 Model 4P

by kawninja＠cableone.net

Hi all, I've got an old Teac 3.5" drive (in 5.25" mount) with jumpers set as Drive 1 that I want to install in my TRS-80 Model 4P. Tried to tackle installing it today, but was unsuccessful. Supposedly the TRS-80 Model 1, 3, and 4 machines will read / write to older 3.5" drives with jumpered drive select. The 4P's drive cable is card edge only, so tried using a PC drive cable hooking up the original 5.25 drive and 3.5 drive using both the cable's end and middle jacks. The 4P wouldn't recognize either drive in any position. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Maybe it's due to the wire twist found on PC floppy cables? I'm about at my wits end trying to find a way to transfer TRS-80 DSK files from PC to 4P. Thanks, David

18 years, 3 months

AT&T Pixel Machine Available

by jnugen＠gmail.com

I'm moving and need to get rid of this: AT&T Pixel Machine Model: PXM 964dex Serial No.: PXM-10178-FB Date: OCT/02/89 I have the machine, the interface card to a VME-based Sun workstation, and some manuals. I was unable to locate any software, however. Here is a PDF that describes the machine: http://www.cs.yorku.ca/~amana/research/parallel.pdf Local pickup only! This thing is heavy and I don't want to mess around shipping it. BTW, I offered it to CHM, but they weren't interested. --- James Nugen

18 years, 3 months

Anyone have ideals for this guy?

by bob099＠centurytel.net

http://www.diycalculator.com/sp-hrrgcomp.shtml Our cunning plan is to design ? and hopefully one day build ? what we are calling the Heath Robinson Rube Goldberg (HRRB) computer. This would be a (possibly cut-down) version of our DIY Calculator <http://www.diycalculator.com/aboutdiy.shtml>. However, we don't intend to simply replicate Harry's work ? where would be the fun in that? Instead, we wish to create something even more on the "Cool Beans" side (if that's possible). What we're pondering is a beast that combines multiple technologies (relays, vacuum tubes, transistors, silicon chips, etc.). Imagine a row of glass-fronted wooden cabinets on the wall. Each is implemented in a different technology, and each contains some portion of the computer, such as the system clock, the ROM, the RAM, the ALU, the CPU's status and control logic, the CPU's addressing logic, and so forth. We will elaborate on this core concept in the following topics ? what we're trying to do here is to convey our "vision." The idea is to first come up with a specification for the functionality to be represented by each of the cabinets along with a well-defined interface into ? and out of ? each function/cabinet. This would facilitate different design teams tackling the different cabinets. Furthermore, as opposed to having the cabinets linked by bunches of cables, we were thinking of providing each cabinet with a wireless communications system (or maybe they could communicate via the building's power cables, since each cabinet will require a power supply anyway). This would (a) make things look nice and (b) allow the various cabinets to be located at arbitrary distances from each other. Note that this project could grow to such a size that we'd need a big facility to host the final machine and display it to its fullest effect (possibly a museum or an airport or ... Contact Us <http://www.diycalculator.com/about.shtml> if you have any ideas ... all suggestions will be very gratefully received).

18 years, 3 months

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test-drb April 2006