>
>Subject: Re: PDP-11 graphics products
> From: "William Donzelli" <wdonzelli at gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2007 20:23:08 -0400
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
>
>> UNIBUS: VT30, VS100 (wasn't X developed on this?)
>
>I think it was developed on a VAXstation 2000?
I don't think so, as my memory of X predates VAXstation2000.
>A long time ago I had a Unibus color vector graphics board from some
>third party. I remember it had some really weird coax connectors for
>output signals.
I may have a few of the Qbus versions, Need to dig them out.
Allison
>
>No amount of truth serum will be able to dig up any facts from
>my head, however.
>
>--
>Will
At 09:34 PM 10/9/2007, you wrote:
>I know naught of its specs, but what of the Terak system, which I
>believe was 11-based?
The original Terak 8510/a was 320 x 240 mono square pixels
with hardware smooth pan and scroll, and downloadable character sets.
My rarely updated Terak page:
http://www.threedee.com/jcm/terak/index.html
There were subsequent Terak models that I believe doubled the resolution
and added color, but I don't know much about those models.
- John
> With new hardware, it may be impossible to secure proper documentation
> and it may be difficult to impossible to decipher what's happening
> inside of such tiny chips.
Not completely on-topic, but a recent acquisition by the school had a
schematic in the so-called "user's manual" that dutifully showed all
the interconnections to the black-box ASICs and the 2 or 3 transistors
(and handful of passives). All in a 4" square area.
[snip]
>
>Masking out pin 8 (Index) on the 34-pin connector has no effect, I
>still get:
>
>Error reading diskette B: (Cyl 1, Side 1, Sect 1)
>Sector not found
>
>This sector DOES exist, both ImageDisk and TeleDisk can read it fine,
>however no amount of "Retry" will convice 22disk to read it.
Dave,
Have you considered using the Tim Mann software (cw2dmk) and the Catweasel?
That would pull up whatever information is on the disk and you could use it
to diagnose what is wrong with the disk. It won't decode the CDOS file
format
but it will give you the sector headers and the raw sector data.
If you send me a disk, I will return it with a raw disk Catweasel image
>from cw2dmk. Best of luck with your project.
Andrew Lynch
On 10/7/07, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote:
> I have been looking into the parts needed to build one of these. Not
> even including the price of the PCB or MMC/SD card, it isn't exactly
> cheap. It looks like it will cost about $64.00 just for the parts.
See below...
> It is also worth noting that most of these parts are surface mount.
Indeed.
> I've done up a web page showing the price breakdown when ordering the
> parts from Newark, as they are a US arm of Farnell.
> http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/commodore/1541-III.html It also
> includes the Manufacturer and Newark part numbers.
Nice work. I do notice that you've listed two MCUs, a PIC 18F252 and
a PIC 18F2620. Presumably, the design takes one _or_ the other, not
both.
Also, it looks to me like those 0.1" (2.54mm) jumpers is a bit high -
$0.25 each, min q. 10. Other killers are the $15 handling fee
(presumably because the order value isn't up to their minimum value -
$50?), the RL73K2BR33JTD resistor (1 required, min q. 10 @ ~$2), and
various min quantity orders. What might make more fiscal sense, to
me, at least, would be to order enough parts to build two, rather than
one. More of the teeny parts would be used up for zero additional
expense, plus the order might cross the min-order threshold and avoid
the $15 service fee. Of course, if it were _my_ order, I'd find some
MCUs or other parts to round up my own order, just because I'd rather
have $15 worth of additional components than pay a $15 fee that gets
me nothing substantial.
Thanks for laying everything out in a very plain and clear fashion.
It's a great starting point, especially for those who might have to
order every single part to build a kit (I see large numbers of things
I'd pull from my own stores).
-ethan
There's what appears to be a very nice Olivetti Programma 101 up on
eBay, with a little over a day to go and no bids. It's in the Netherlands.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8801280590&sspagename=AD…
The Programma 101 was a very advanced programmable calculator,
introduced in 1965. Discrete transistors, delay-line memory, magnetic
card I/O.
I've exchanged a little bit of email with the seller. He says its been
in storage for a long time, and a couple of rubber belts inside have
turned gooey, but looks to be complete and in otherwise good shape.
If you want a little bit of discrete-transistor goodness, I doubt you
can find it in any smaller package than this (Ok, so a 9100A/B has both
discrete transistors *and* core memory, but the Programma 101 was
earlier.) I don't have any relation to the seller, I just decided that
I wasn't going to bid on this, so I'd make sure the list saw the listing
-- this is a very desirable machine and I figure someone, maybe one of
the UK folks, would go for it.
--Bill
>
>Subject: Re: MFM or ESDI QBUS controller for one PDP-11/23 PLUS
> From: "Glen Slick" <glen.slick at gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:55:21 -0700
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech at classiccmp.org>
>
>On 10/9/07, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote:
>> The only MSCP boards I've used that didn't require breakout were
>> SCSI.
>>
>
>I have at least three Q-bus MSCP ESDI controllers that have standard
>20-pin & 34-pin IDC header ESDI connectors, no breakout required.
>Emulex QD21, Dilog DQ696, Sigma SDC-RQD11. They are hard disk only
>though, so maybe in general controllers with floppy support do require
>breakout adapters.
That may be the difference as all of my MSCP with RQDXn replacements
need a breakout or a funky cable to do it. I do not have anything
for ESDI.
Allison
>I also have an Andromeda ESDC Q-Bus ESDI controller which I haven't
>been able to use yet as I am lacking documentation on how to configure
>it. Anyone have a manual? I don't see any Andromeda manuals at all
>on bitsavers.
>
>-Glen
Does anyone happen to know the exact part number of the flyback
transformer in the DEC VT100 terminal? The VT100 in question has the 'DEC'
type video board, not the 'Ball' type. Is there a matching HR-Diemen or
equivalent part number?
Oh, and questions concerning another VT100: What may cause a bad geometry
of the picture on a VT100 (slight trapezoid and pincushion; Philips CRT)?
The only adjustable magnets are the two sets of rings on the neck, one for
the position and one for the focus (it's a magnetically focused CRT as
most monitors are).
Christian
So, I'm faced with a bunch of 360k floppy drives. One of them I will put
in my main desktop machine for replicating floppies for, say, my C64,
Kaypro, etc. What should I look for when choosing such a drive? The best
specimen I have right now was taken from a Morrow Micro-Decision.
According to the tag, it's a "TEC FB-503". Can someone tell me something
about this?
By the way, I have an IBM-branded full-height Tandon that I will trade for
the "ideal" half-height.
--
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu
>
>Subject: Re: MFM or ESDI QBUS controller for one PDP-11/23 PLUS
> From: "Sergio Pedraja" <spedraja at gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:57:56 +0200
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
>
>Hi, Allison.
>
>I'm perplexed. The RQDXn controllers are MFM and Floppy. Best shot
>> is late firmware RQDX3 as it does RX33 and most all MFM drives. Its
>> also easier to find.
>>
>>
>At least as I can remember, the RQDx3 needs an internal distribution
> panel. I'm searching for ONE single board.
Understood. Most of the nonDEC FM/EDSI boards still require a
distribution pannel as they were targeting DEC systems. At a minimum
you need to make a hybrid cable to use them with one drive. How can you
tell? Simple, if the board is said to do FM/EDSI and has only a 50pin
connector a breakout board (distribution pannel) is required. Most do.
I have several differnt examples of nonDEC MSCP controllers
for floppy and hard disks and they all like the 50pin cable to
breakout. There may be some that do not I don't have one.
Actually there are several possible distribution or breakout
boards. They primarily serve to translate the 50pin RQDX cable
to the more typical cables used for floppy and FN/EDSI disks.
One is the distribution pannel used in the BA23 and its only
connectors and wires so easily duplicated. Its function is to
take the 50pin cable from the RQDXn (or nonDEC MSCP) and route
them to the 34pin connector for floppy and the 26/34 pin cables
used for MFM. It is located in back of the drive bay of the BA23
and can be used outside of BA23.
The second is the M9058 used in the BA123 and that is a dual width
Qbus board that can support 1 floppy and 3 hard disks. It's Qbus but
only takes power for running the local buffers and extended device
select plus providing the interconnect point for the ready/writelock
switch pannel. While it appears complex it's really trivial and is
better described as a breakout board. If You get a M9058 it is not
required to install it on the Qbus, only provide it with needed
power if that is mechanically more suitable. The reason for that
is while it's dual width it's thick due to the presence of many
connectors. The M9058 is typically located outside the BA123
backplane cage nearest the disk bays for easy cable routing.
There is a third board RQDXE that is for use mostly in BA23s for
extending the RQDXn outside the case for additional drives. Its
of limited utility as breakout/distribution.
I know this from fitting two half height HD + RX33 in ba23 and also
putting RQDX3 in BA11S with RX33 and 3 RD52s.
Hope this helps.
The only MSCP boards I've used that didn't require breakout were
SCSI.
Allison
