test-drb August 2007

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UK Classic Computer event (Was VCF UK)

by classiccmp＠memory-alpha.org.uk

Hi, > Can we have a quick poll to see who lives where? I'm located in Birmingham. TTFN - Pete.

17 years, 4 months

UK Classic Computer event (Was VCF UK)

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

UK Pioneers? If it were not for the fact that they are in permanent off line storage. Alan Turing and Tommy Flowers. Or some of the LEO people - (5000 valves and 33kW of heat to get rid of) -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Roger Holmes Sent: 03 August 2007 10:42 To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: UK Classic Computer event (Was VCF UK) > > If Bletchley Park might be able to do a VCF in two or three years >> time, maybe we could do something much simpler in the mean time, >> without using the VCF name. Just a get together of anyone in the UK >> with an interest in old computers and hopefully a few who would want >> to exhibit theirs. Who would be interested and about how much space, >> if any would they want? > > > My thoughts were developing along the same lines, the key question > surely is numbers. 7 replies so far from the UK. > How many do we think would attend, and could some core events be lined > up to to ensure a worthwhile experience? I'm thinking here of the > datacentre visits that (I think) were run from VCF Europe last year I see. Probably the biggest concentration of these in the UK is still central London, though I'm out of touch with that side of things. > and the involvement of industry alumni that the US events have > enjoyed. Many of the real pioneers (who are still alive) are in the Computer Conservation Society. Maybe we could involve them, I am a member but I don't attend meetings (except one as a speaker). > It's not like we don't have a few home-grown pioneers - Clive Sinclair > and various Acorn people spring to mind. Ah, you're talking more modern pioneers, ones of the microprocessor era. Yes indeed. Alan Sugar's probably free now :-) Just kidding. Do we have any contacts or ideas on how to contact them? Isn't it Sir Clive now by the way, we don't want to put anyone's nose out of joint from the first contact. Roger.

17 years, 4 months

UK Classic Computer event (Was VCF UK)

by RodSmallwood＠mail.ediconsulting.co.uk

I'm located about 50 miles west of London (near the (in)famous Greenham Common.) Rod Smallwood -----Original Message----- From: cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctech-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Gordon JC Pearce Sent: 03 August 2007 11:32 To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: UK Classic Computer event (Was VCF UK) On Fri, 2007-08-03 at 10:42 +0100, Roger Holmes wrote: > I see. Probably the biggest concentration of these in the UK is still > central London, though I'm out of touch with that side of things. I got the impression that the bulk of the UK classic computing community was around the Midlands and north, with a few exceptions. Can we have a quick poll to see who lives where? I'm about half-way up Scotland on the left-hand side. Gordon

17 years, 4 months

ST-412 Jumpers

by silvercreekvalley＠yahoo.com

I'm just trying to figure out the jumper settings on a ST-412 drive. I've read the manual and it sort of helps, but its somewhat obtuse in style. I have two drives which are taken from working PDP 11/23's - they both have the same setting on the jumper block. The jumper block is a 16 pin DIL socket, with a 14 pin DIL plug inserted. The plug has 7 metal bars, 3 of which are open circuit, the rest are closed. Working from the connector end of the PCB, the first bar - open second bar - open third bar - closed fourth bar - open fifth bar - closed sixth bar - closed seventh bar - closed Looking in the manual the first bar would persumably be written as 8-9, the second as 7-10 etc? Anyway, I'm trying to use this in a PERQ just to test the EIO is working, and I can boot of floppy. So I need to set this as drive 1. What bars would I need to open and close? Thanks Ian. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! oneSearch: Finally, mobile search that gives answers, not web links. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mobileweb/onesearch?refer=1ONXIC

17 years, 4 months

newbie building a scratch-built computer (River)

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

Chuck Guzis wrote: At one time or another, cross-assemblers in FORTRAN were coded up for most of the early 8-bit chips. I believe that Intel even offered one as a standard product at one time. GI certainly did--I have it mentioned in their product brochure. The real problem would be locating one of these. In all likelihood, one last saw existence as a stretch of 9-track 1/2" tape. Cheers, Chuck --------------------- That was a standard practice back in the 1960's. I still have paper listings of a FORTRAN program to cross assemble CDC 160-A code on a 3300. And I think (been a few years) that I have the same cross assemblers for the 1604 and 924 machines. Later, there were 6600 FORTRAN cross assemblers for all the 3000 machines. My copies of these are on a 7 track tape which now resembles a solid disk of celluloid, sadly. The card decks went into the dumpster on the last move. But you are correct about 8 bit support using FORTRAN. I know I had paper listings for the 6502, 8080 and Z80 processors. And I think I still have the BASIC cross assembler for the 6502. Thinking about it, I also gave Al a paper tape for a 6502 assembler that I used on an Apple II with a teletype. I'll have to ask Al if he has had any luck archiving it. There were definitely FORTRAN cross assemblers for the Motorola chips (6800 &6809) floating around for years. But I don't think I ever saved any. Must look and see. Billy

17 years, 4 months

Linus 1000 Write-Top computer

by tosteve＠yahoo.com

I just received my Linus 1000 computer - it's nice, interesting to use. But it has no stylus (writing pen), just the wire - still useful, just have to be careful to not scratch the screen. Does anyone have any interesting information, manuals, or a stylus? Thanks! Steve. --------------------------------- Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when.

17 years, 4 months

Acquired - IBM portable / IBM Model 5155

by mark.seeberger＠argis.com

Do you still have this machine available? Mark Seeberger ====================================================== Hello, all: A friend of my sister-in-law gave me the original IBM portable (well, lugable) Model 5155 and RGB monitor. It's the dual drive model. There's a 37-pin DB connector on the back. External floppy?? I have to say, this equipment is in the best condition of any classic item I have ever acquired. Not a scratch, dent or cabinet fade. No dust either...anywhere. I know that the owner was anal retentive, but oh boy. I haven't tried yet, but it was just taken out of service after many years of use. Rich [ Rich Cini [ ClubWin!/CW1 [ MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking [ Collector of "classic" computers [ <http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/> <================ reply separator =================>

17 years, 4 months

UK VCF?

by marvin＠rain.org

> > Sellam, if you're so enthusiastic as to set up a "rival" VCF to spite > > someone setting up a VCF-a-like, why not just set up a VCF in the UK? > Now, we could all type about this, discuss the finer points of > international trademark law and call each other names, or we could > push ahead, think of a rough location and discuss some of the > logistics and what would be needed to undertake VCF-UK. > > Simon Great comment!!! And as to what's in a name, try "recognition" since VCF has been going on for some 10 years. I would expect both Sellam and Hans to be *very* interested in getting a VCF UK going. Instead of putting up straw men to argue about, try working together ... it is a lot more effective!

17 years, 4 months

More on CUBIX - Was: newbie building a scratch-built computer

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: More on CUBIX - Was: newbie building a scratch-built computer > From: "Dave Dunfield" <dave06a at dunfield.com> > Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 07:29:17 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >>> If the whole purpose of this exercise is to have an old 8-bit system so you >>> can program in hex and/or assembler, then you can download an emulator and >>> play around with it from there. If you mainly want to run things off the >>> various serial and parallel ports then something like the Micro-KIM would be >>> useful. > >There's an experience gained by building it yourself that simply can't be obtained >by playing with an emulator. Building a real/physical computer is a worthwhile >excercise and beneficial learning experience. Besides, friends and family are much >less impressed by a wave of the hand at a PC running an emulator with the statement >"I downloaded that!" then they are by a rats nest of wires, circuit boards, cables >and such and "I built it myself!" > There is magic in building it yourself however it's constructed be it emulator or hardware. The magic is that you have to understand it to build it. Simply assembling "it" does not provide it beyond the mechanical accomplishment though if you study the result there will be knowledge gained. <<<snippage>>> >Another plug for my CUBIX system: > >The system comes with the following resident (runs on CUBIX itself) development >tools: > > 6809 Assembler > ASP - A simple high-level language/preprocessor for the assembler. > Debugger (breakpoints, single-step, disassembler, all the usual commands etc.) > Basic > Forth > Micro-APL > C compiler > 8080 simulator > Text editors / utilities / etc. > - Source is posted for all of the above except for the C compiler. > >I can also provide PC based cross development tools for the 6809 including: > > Hardware Debug Monitor (RAMless - needs only ROM to run) > Full-up ROMable 6809 monitor (Quite powerful) > 6809 Assembler > 6809 Disassembler (Does symbols, memory block types, comments etc.) > 6809 C compiler > 6809/CUBIX simulator/emulator - Lets you run 6809 code on your PC with ICE > type debugging capabilities - Also boots CUBIX, provides access to all > the resident tools etc. He may appear biased but those are powerful tools and unlike back when I built my Altair or the 8008 before that they are available! >I'm obviously biased, but I think it's a worthwhile system to build. Depending >on your skill/experience/time available, it should take anywhere from a day or >two to a few weeks to build it. What you get from the excercise is a unique >system that can actually do useful things, and the experience and satisfaction >of having created it with your own two hands. Having built it yourself, along >with the fact that I have released the source code means that you have the >opportunity to fully understand EVERYTHING about this system - down to the >tiniest wire, and the last byte of code - this is something that rarely happens >with modern computers. This system is simple enough that you shouldn't have >trouble following the design, yet powerful enough to be considered a "real" >computer. MY $0.02, great teaching tool, good for understanding hardware, excellent for a look at a straightforward OS example that is very usable. For an old hand PDP8/11, NS*DOS and CP/M style OSs CUBIX OS was a real eye opener to different ways files can be orgainized. <<<<snippage>>>> >I should also point out that unlike most home-grown designs, the CUBIX system >is very well documented. Two of the three 360k diskettes that normally accompany >the system are filled with documentation. Over a dozen documents containing >more than 300 pages. Therein lies the greatest value. Even if you didn't build it there is a wealth of information that applies to any CPU/system. >What else can I say - all of the CUBIX material is available free on my site. >If people are interested, I could organize it into a separate "building a >CUBIX system" page with more information, additional PC tools and other related >material. Let me know if there is any interest. Having built one and meaning to spend more time with it it's a good project and in some respects less painful than doing a Z80 CP/M machine from the ground up. The key thing is that when operational like CP/M systems there is enough software to be useful. This is unlike the microKIM, CosmacELF style minimal systems where hand entered programs of a a few hundred bytes are it. The other feature is there is a CUBIX SIM and while building you can become familiar, read docs, look inside the code and develop software or other projects. Allison

17 years, 4 months

Fwd: [sdiy] Wanted: Multibus (late 70s microprocessor bus) extender card

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Does anyone happen to have spare, or can anyone point me in the direction of > an inexpensive source for, an extender card for Multibus Halted Electronics has dozens of them in their 1/2 off bin

17 years, 4 months

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test-drb August 2007