Anyone happen to have a pinout for this beastie?
Nothing too exciting - but getting bounced around parts suppliers when
Googling for a pinout is starting to drive me insane :-]
ta
J.
Hi guys...
I have a truly huge number of old 3.5" HD floppy disks which no longer work.
Attempting to format them in DOS returns the largely unhelpful "Invalid
media or Track 0 bad - disk unusable" error message.
I'm guessing it's because these disks are old (pushing on for 20 years in
some cases, and I'm fairly sure they're *all* over 10 years), and they've
degraded over time, or the magnetic signals have become disorientated, or
some such technical explanation.... However, the result is, they're so much
plastic scrap at the moment.
Is there any device/program/machine I can use to restore these floppys back
to working order? I'm not overly bothered about keeping the data that's on
many of them (although if there IS a way to preserve it, that'd be great),
but they do still sometimes come in useful, and it'd be a shame to bin so
many of them.
Cheers!
Ade.
PS: Most of my old 5.25" disks, despite being up to 30 years old, are all
working fine. Similarly, most of my old Sinclair microdrive cassettes, which
are >20 years old, are also fine - at least, the ones where the little foam
pad hasn't perished are. Similarly, many of the compact cassettes I have for
various old 20+ year old home computers still work.... are 3.5" 1.44MB
floppies just inherently useless?
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.0/960 - Release Date: 18/08/2007
15:48
Arno Kletzander wrote:
Hello Listers,
last week I acquired what seems to be a Tektronix 4002 terminal - at least
that's what a sticker on the rear of the base says. The front bezel with the
type designation was nowhere to be found - apart from that, the unit looks
just like the one at
http://www.science.uva.nl/museum/tek4002a.html
Thanks in advance, yours sincerely
--
Arno Kletzander
----------------------------------------
Hey - Great site. Thanks for the reference. I especially like the scans of
old instruction cards, one of my favorite pieces of collectable history.
Billy
http://www.science.uva.nl/museum/instr_ref_cards.html
Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Obviously there's a geek on that production staff somewhere. I wonder
if it would be possible to find out who.
Peace... Sridhar
--------------
Well... maybe. Far more likely that it is part of the warehouse stock that
most studios keep. For longer than I can remember, they have set people who
go around to the auctions and buy up anything that looks like it might fit
in a movie. I've run into them at flea markets and some of the scrap yards.
I've been told by one of them, that there are literally warehouses full of
stuff that looks "sci-fi-ish" - ie, blinking lights. I know of at least two
large CDC sites that were bought at auction just for the tapes and consoles.
Of course, they then add a lot of lights and install the flash and smoke
bombs for the inevitable "computer goes insane and explodes" clich?. One of
their current sources of baubles is: http://www.apexelectronic.com/
Billy
Jules Richardson wrote:
Nothing too exciting - but getting bounced around parts suppliers when
Googling for a pinout is starting to drive me insane :-]
ta
J.
------------------------------
It IS extremely annoying and frustrating! I really don't give a damn what
they have stock. Wish there was a way to disable them and get to the one or
two sites with the pinouts. And who don't want to sell you a $100/year
membership.
Billy
At 10:02 -0500 8/22/07, Mr Ian Primus wrote:
>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.
...via a high-voltage, mega-ohm resistor. Part of the reason for
discharging the thing is to prevent lots of electrons moving anywhere
too fast. Better they should go to ground too fast than through you
too fast, but you'll bounce ground all over the machine that way,
which could be tough on other parts of the electronics. The resistor
makes it all happen slower. You probably miss out on hearing the
"crack" that way, but it still is better.
Love the subject line - another shakespeare fan surfaces...
--
- Mark, 210-379-4635
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Large Asteroids headed toward planets
inhabited by beings that don't have
technology adequate to stop them:
Think of it as Evolution in Fast-Forward.
I have uploaded a pdf of the article The Electronic Brain by W.R. Ashby,
M.A., M.D. from the March 1949 issue of Radio Electronics to my web site,
along with other updates. Ashby describes the Homeostat and it's
potential for building an artificial intelligence computer.
vintagecomputer.net/electronic_brain.cfm
Bill D
Hello Listers,
last week I acquired what seems to be a Tektronix 4002 terminal - at least that's what a sticker on the rear of the base says. The front bezel with the type designation was nowhere to be found - apart from that, the unit looks just like the one at
http://www.science.uva.nl/museum/tek4002a.html
The "screen" part was missing, but we located a display unit (obviously self-contained - this matches the description above) nearby which has aluminum mounting rails to fit the screw holes in the base of the terminal. It has a power inlet and a DB-25 connector carrying what I suppose to be "raw" deflection/control signals - this would match the connectors available at the back of the terminal base, apart from the fact that the power connector coming from the base is an IEC coupler and the inlet on the back of the display isn't (has a round PE pin - the P and N blades fit the IEC coupler).
So far I have a few questions about this thing:
-Is the display we found really the one that goes with the base?
-What kind of cable do I need to connect the two? (http://www.science.uva.nl/museum/rampspoed.html shows how it looks, but what are the actual connections - 1:1 or something different? Perhaps even some coax or twisted pairs?)
-Some of the slots in the backplane of the base unit are unpopulated. Is this normal?
-and last but not least, are there any special pitfalls I should be on the lookout for when I finally go about powering the thing on? Will it probably need capacitor reforming beforehand?
Thanks in advance, yours sincerely
--
Arno Kletzander
Hilfskraft Informatik Sammlung Erlangen
www.iser.uni-erlangen.de
Psssst! Schon vom neuen GMX MultiMessenger geh?rt?
Der kanns mit allen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/multimessenger
Thanks Ian
All points noted.
As somebody who worked for four years in a high voltage
test lab I agree re precautions.
Rod
-----Original Message-----
From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Mr Ian Primus
Sent: 22 August 2007 11:40
To: General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only
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 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.
> 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 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.
Obviously, you'll want to disconnect the other wires leading to the tube
- the base socket, and the yoke connector. Disconnect the yoke at the
board, and leave it on the tube as you remove it. Unbolt the tube from
the frame, and pull it out, careful not to break the neck. Also watch
out for ground leads.
The new tube needs to physically fit and mount in the terminal. There
are two basic types of picture tube - the tubes with ears that bolt to
something, and the tubes without ears, that use a metal ring to hold
them to whatever. (VT100's have ears, VT220's don't). Your replacement
tube must be of the same type in order to fit.
The yoke needs to stay with the terminal. This is the copper coil thing
on the back of the tube. Loosen the screws that clamp it to the neck of
the tube and carefully remove it. Remember what way is up. You'll need
to move this to your new tube. Try to get it on straight - it controls
deflection, and if it's on crooked, the picture will be crooked. It's
easy to adjust later though.
Reassemble terminal with new tube. Cross your fingers and hit the
switch. If it works, adjust your yoke for a level picture (carefully,
you don't want to zap yourself). Once the yoke is level, shut the
terminal off and tighten the yoke so it won't move.
> If anybody has tried it I would be pleased to hear how they got on.
I have replaced the tubes in a couple things, and had pretty good luck.
I replaced the tube in a VT100 with one from a PC monochrome monitor,
and it works well.
One time, I even swapped a worn out IBM monitor tube back into a
television. It was the only TV ever with WordPerfect screen burn. And
those long persistance phosphors make TV look really weird. I kept it
around as a joke for a while - I said that it was a black and white TV I
converted to color. (Green is a color).
-Ian
* Be careful messing with high voltage stuff! Keep one hand behind your
back when discharging tubes, and be sure your discharge tool is properly
grounded to the metal chassis of the device. There's several kV
potentially stored in there. I don't believe there's enough in a
terminal to kill you, but it'll hurt like hell. Best to be as careful as
you can.
