On 23/08/07, Zane H. Healy <healyzh at aracnet.com> wrote:
> At 2:50 PM +0100 8/23/07, Liam Proven wrote:
> > > If you're not too fussed about England specifically, I have a MicroVAX
> >> 3300 and a couple of VAXStation 3100s going spare. I also know where
> >> you could lay hands on a MicroVAX II.
> >
> >How do you mean?
> >
> >I have to collect it somehow and I don't have a car - I'm a biker. I
> >do have a trike, so wide loads and balance aren't a problem, but we'd
> >have to wrap it weatherproof and strap it on my back seat or luggage
> >rack!
>
> Unless you can pull some sort of trailer, or have a sidecar (not sure
> what you mean by trike), I'd really recommend staying away from
> systems like the MicroVAX 3300, and MicroVAX II. I'd prefer not to
> hear about you being crushed by a VAX. Hint, they make nice
> end-tables.
I moved my old MicroVAX home from Horsham in my sidecar. It sat on my
then-G/F's lap. Poor girl could hardly walk for the rest of the day.
Small, like a pizza-box workstation, but *heavy*.
> VAXstation 3100's could prove interesting, but should be totally
> doable, plus they'll be easier to get up and running.
I can hope...
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven at gmail.com
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 ? Fax: + 44 870-9151419
AOL/AIM/iChat: liamproven at aol.com ? MSN/Messenger: lproven at hotmail.com
Yahoo: liamproven at yahoo.co.uk ? Skype: liamproven ? ICQ: 73187508
I can't believe I've opened such a heated debate!
How about another suggestion - a UK cctalk members get together. It looks like
the complexity of organising a general event, and previously documented
failures, are likely to put people off.
I'm thinking 'start small' here. Maybe an event with 30 or so participants?
Primarily to 'chew-the-cud'?
It's more likely to get off the ground I would have thought.
Mark.
Bob Rosenbloom <bobalan at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> (...)
> After you check out the power supply and reform/replace any bad caps,
> and power it on, the screen should slowly turn fully green. Leave it
> this way for 5 min. or so before you issue any erase commands (keyboard
> or program). This procedure reduces the ion content in the CRT and
> maximizes the CRT life. I got this from a Tektronix service manual
> for the 611 storage display. It says to do this anytime it's been off
> for two weeks or more. I have been following this for 15 years now on my
> 611 (built in 1971) and it's still working great.
>
> Bob
Hey, thank you for that useful hint! That's just the kind of stuff I wanted to know. (This one's particularly nasty because I wouldn't even have noticed an ill effect in the beginning, nevertheless harming the equipment...)
"John A. Dundas III" <dundas at caltech.edu> wrote:
> I used one of those both at JPL and Caltech in the '70s. Worked quite
> well.
>
> I don't have any service information but I did scan the user manual
> that I have. Al or others may have other scans or additional
> information. For my scan, see:
> <http://dundas-mac.caltech.edu/~dundas/retro/DEC%20Docs/Tektronix/070-
> 1404-00.pdf>
>
> John
Which seems to be down currently (produces a "Server not found" error) and can't even be found archived anywhere due to site policies (robots.txt). Thank you for scanning anyway, I'm looking forward to when it becomes available again - most probably a good resource for starters.
Jos Dreesen / Marian Capel <jos.mar at bluewin.ch> wrote:
> When you come over to fetch that uVAX II you can have a go at my Tek
> 4014.....
>
> Jos Dreesen
No, I haven't forgotten it...it looks as if we could manage it 22./23.09, but that's not fixed yet (haven't reached our relatives where we'd be staying overnight).
So long,
--
Arno Kletzander
Hilfskraft Informatik Sammlung Erlangen
www.iser.uni-erlangen.de
Der GMX SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen!
Ideal f?r Modem und ISDN: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/smartsurfer
> If there's anything that's not on bitsavers, I'll get it to Al.
I have a big backlog of 250 docs that are scanned but not post processed.
May be different manual revs, though.
Did you get any distribution floppies?
> You do kind of have to wonder how much it costs HP to keep running this
> licensing scheme...
Well, AFAIK the only O/Ses still working on a per-user fee scale are
the DEC derived systems (OpenVMS and Tru64), SCO, and Microsoft.
Everyone else (including HP for HP-UX) went over to unlimited user
licensing in the late '90s.
Being a hobbyist, I've never had occasion to poke around in commercial
VMS licensing. Do they still enforce the machine restrictions (i.e.
machine X is a "workstation" so it can only host up to 2 users, period,
another machine with the exact same VUPS rating is a "departmental
timeshare" that can host up to N users (with the proper licenses) . .
.)
All:
I have a bunch of spare stuff laying around looking for a good home:
* Compaq DLT-III 5/10gb drive in external case. Working.
* Compaq DLT-IV 35/70gb drive in external case. Working.
* Philips Velo 1 WinCE PC. Worked when last used several years ago. B&W.
* Tandy 2000 case parts (top, bottom, front plastic case pieces). No
drive or switch filler plates included. Kind of yellowed.
* Tandy 2000 VM-1 monochrome monitor (works, spare). Kind of yellowed.
* Tandy 2000 MS-DOS and BASIC document binders with manuals. Condition
fair (intact but dirty).
* Atari ST-1224 monitor. Bought to hack to use with the T2K until I
found a real CM-1.
I hope to get around $10 for each item except the Atari monitor which I
hope to get $25 (same price I paid), plus shipping from 11791. Other
reasonable offers/combinations considered. For those preferring to trade,
I?m looking for early Compute! Magazines (issues prior to #22 but not 3, 8,
or 9), a plastic case for my KIM-1, the software support disk for the Ampro
LittleBoard/186, the Windows 1.03 driver disk for the Tandy 2000, or a
working 5.25? floppy system with disk for my IMSAI.
Please contact off-list if interested. Thanks.
Rich
--
Rich Cini
Collector of Classic Computers
Build Master and lead engineer, Altair32 Emulator
http://www.altair32.comhttp://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp
Hi
Strangly enough I do have an EHT meter. It's a legacy of building my own
colour TV when colour came to the UK in the 1970's.
Rod
-----Original Message-----
From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Tony Duell
Sent: 22 August 2007 22:38
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Tube or not Tube
>
>
> > Before doing anything drastic it crossed my mind that somebody at
> > some may have changed the tube in a DEC terminal.
> > There are two issues with this one.
> >
> > a) Where do you get the replacement tube from.
>
> Typically, from something else. Like other terminals, 12" monochrome
> PC monitors, and portable black and white television sets. A lot of
> these tubes are
Yes. It's almost impossible to get a 'bare' CRT, since often replacing a
CRT is regarded as uneconomic, so nobody stocks the spares. I know that
when I needed a CRT from a Volker-Craig terminal, I bought a cheap
monochrome TV and raided it for the CRT.
> interchangeable. I've run across some that aren't, but for the most
> part, with black and white tubes, if the base fits, the neck and
> deflection angle is the same, and the heater is the same voltage, it's
> a good chance it will work.
There are baspically 2 types of mono CRT. Thick necks with a B8H base
and a 6.3V heater and thin neckes with a modifed B7G base and an 11.5V
heater. Almost all mono monitor and termial CRTs have a 90 degree
deflection angle.
> > b) How do you fit it.
>
> #include <std_disclaimer.h>
>
> Carefully. :) You want to be sure to discharge the high voltage first
> (in both the terminal, and whatever you're stealing a tube from!). To
> do this, attach a length of wire to the metal shaft of a flat blade
> screwdriver, and ground the wire to the chassis of the
> terminal/whatever. Hold the insulated plastic handle
I would recoemnd against this method. When the contact is made, the peak
current can be quite high. High enough to damage the connation between
the anode cap and the anode coating inside the CRT. And since that
current will flwo where it feels like, it can, if you're not careful,
damage semiconductors all aover the chassis.
What I do is use my EHT meter. It has a resistance of 800MOhms, and is
desigend to handle up to 50kV. Connect the ground lead of the meter to
the CRT earth (the metal contacts that touch the outer aquadag coating),
and put the probe under the anode cap. Hold it there for a minute or so
and the CRT will be discharged
> of the screwdriver and slide it under the rubber suction cup of the
> picture tube, until you feel the metal clip inside. Typically, this
> will be accompanied by a *CRACK* as the high voltage discharges.
> (Although, it is possible that the HV dissapated earlier, depends on
> the terminal) Do this twice just to be sure.
>
> To remove the clip, peel up the rubber suction cup, and you'll see
> it's a hooked clip that fits into a hole in the tube. Squeeze the clip
> together and gently remove it.
Normally, once you've freed the edgesof the cape from the CRT glass, you
can move the whole thing over to compress one side of the contact and
release the other. This avoids having to touch the high voltage terminal
(even though it should be discharged.)
[...]
> yourself). Once the yoke is level, shut the terminal off and tighten
> the yoke so it won't move.
But not too tight. You don't want to crack the new CRT...
The old rule (not to be taken seriously, of course) was to tighten the
clamp until the CRT implodes, then back off a quarter of a turn ;-)
-tony
Hi
Most of your deductions are correct. In 1983, the VT220 replaced the
VT100 in text applications, with the VT240/VT241 used where remote
graphics (ReGIS and Sixel) were required. So add a keyboard and monitor
as per your deductions and an application generating ReGIS or Sixel
output and there you have it.
Rod Smallwood
The DecCollector.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Tony Duell
Sent: 22 August 2007 23:01
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Subject: DEC VT240 terminal
I've just bought the base unit (VS240) for a VT240 terminal on E-bay and
know little about it (OK, I know it's a DEC graphics terminal). Perhaps
somebody can enlightent me
1) One site i looked at said a VT240 is a monochrome unit, a VT241 is
the colour version. Is the only difference the monitor? Can I use a
colour monitor with my base unit?
2) On the back are obvious connectors for an RS232 port (DB25), current
loop (8 pin mate-n-lock). There's a DE9 labelled 'PR', presumably a
printer port, also RS232. A RJ11 keyboard socket, I assume an LK201 will
work here (yes?). A BNC which seems ot be composite mono video. And a
DA15 plug, also for a monitor. I assume a VR201 links here, or a V241
with the right cable. Also, can I connect the keybaord to, say, the back
of the VR201, or do I have to use the RJ11 on the terminal itself?
3) How much is known about the insides? Of course I've taken it apart.
It's really easy to get inside, just undo 2 screws on the bottom at the
very front and remove the top cabinet shell (lift it up from the front).
Then release 2 nylatch fasteners and lift up the metal screening cover.
The PSU (a switch-mode unit) is inside the cover. Reach inside and unlug
the PSU ribbon cable from the mainboard and remove the cover/PSU. The
mainboard comes out by releasing 3 more nyl atch fasteners.
On this board, there's an 8085, 2681 (dual serial chip), 8251 (USART,
maybe used for the keybaord interface), 7220 (graphics chip) -- along
with what seemms to be much the same circuitry as a Rainbow colour card,
there are a couple of PALs, I've not checked to see if they're the same
as the ones in the 'bow. Pletny of RAM and ROM, and some glue logic. And
another 40 pin chip, DC310. For some reason this is saying 'processor'
to me. Is it?
-tony
