test-drb September 2007

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

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406 discussions

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movie.byu

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> What kind of tape? 9-track? correct. 9trk 800bpi 2400' blocked 80chars/record.

16 years, 9 months

9-track tape seals

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> I take it that the only remedy for the stuff is landfill? In my opinion, yes. > it makes a mess when it sticks black sticky tar. > Can it be baked to restore usability? meaning 'read once to recover what you can from it'? yes, to a point. 24 hours at 55degC (and lots of forced air) will take care of most brands, with the exception of 2400' MRX V. The DEC LCG archive was mostly silver-label MRX V, but 3600', and the formulation was different enough that I had OK luck with that. The thicker tape/binder on the 2400' MRX V is the pits.

16 years, 9 months

PC-DOS 1.1 docs

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

Does anyone here have PC-DOS 1.1 docs scanned in and in PDF format? I have the hardcopy and I'd like to make sure I don't need to scan it myself. -- David Griffith dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

16 years, 9 months

Looking for "Programming CalComp Electromechanical Plotters" book

by erik＠baigar.de

Hi Dave, thanks for your email. Given this information, I think my stuff is not of use for your project... > We have an IBM 1627 plotter which is really just a private-labelled CalComp > 565 plotter. It has a 220mm width plot area and uses presurized ball point > pens. Yes, this is an early ancestor of the 1038/1039 I have got up and running. > We have the schematics for the IBM controller, but don't have one. We'll > need to build our own to connect between the IBM 1620 computer and the > plotter. I do not know the details on this, but maybe it is easier to rip an other plotter using stepper motors and connect the clock and direction signals to the 565 directly. There should be quite a lot plotter out there suitable for this. What kind of processor does the IBM controller use? In somewhat later Calcomp plotters (as mine from 1972) a OPC (online plotter controller) was included. The original Calcomp PCB contains a 6800 processor which interprets signals from a RS232C interface. This PCB generates the signals needed to drive the plotter (i.e. step and direction pulses). Since this OPC was optional it might be easier to obtain than the IBM part? Maybe they are identical? For the Calcomp OPC I have got schematics and ROM dumps. It has the same name as the language it understands "PCI906" and of course includes a character generator... > The information we are looking for is: 1) detailed descriptions of the > CalComp HCBS [basic plot] library; 2) the algorithms used by CalComp to > implement the plotting functions; and 3) the vector character font data > that CalComp used. Sorry, I do not have anything of the mentioned... > We have no application programs for the IBM 1620 that do plotting [although > we have 200,000 punched cards of programs and data]. We'll be writing the > demo application in addtion to the basic plot library. That sounds great - I wish you the very best for this project, best regards, Erik. > -----Original Message----- > From: Erik Baigar [mailto:erik at baigar.de] > Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 10:33 PM > To: Sellam Ismail > Cc: Classic Computers Mailing List; dave at kaleidosoft.com; Erik Baigar > Subject: Re: Looking for "Programming CalComp Electromechanical Plotters" > book > > > Dear Sellam Ismail, > > I have got a 1039 plotter which I got from a engineering company years ago. > They used it in the 90ies with DOS based software and they had certain > libraries (I think it was fortran) from Calcomp to use the plotter. These > libraries contained commands for e.g. drawing mathematial diagrams, > characters and so on. > > Maybe I somewhere have got the documentation (a few > pages) listing the commands which are implemented in the library. > > Is this the kind of stuff you are looking for? What type of plotter do you > have got? Has this one got a digital interface (like e.g. PCI907 or PCI906)? > > Do you have got any application software on your 1620? > > Best regards, > > Erik. > > > > The IBM 1620 Restoration Team at the Computer History Museum needs a > > copy for a project they are working on to interface a CalComp plotter > > to the 1620. > > > > If you've got a copy you can provide (all they need is a photocopy or > > scan) please contact Dave Babcock <dave at kaleidosoft.com>. > > > > -- > > > > Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer > Festival > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > > International Man of Intrigue and Danger > http://www.vintage.org > > > > [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers > ] > > [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at > > http://marketplace.vintage.org ] > > >

16 years, 9 months

Catweasel NorthStar / Catweasel Heath?

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

Hi, I am still working on Catweasel NorthStar project and making good progress. The program can now make images of SSSD, SSDD, DSDD, and those troublesome "mixed density" disks. There are still a few minor bugs to resolve and another round of testing to go through. However, I am planning on soon releasing the code for an initial round of testing. Since the CWNS program is only going to appeal to a very limited audience, the first rounds of code release and testing will be done on the NorthStar_Computers Yahoo Group. If you would like to participate, please join us at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/NorthStar_Computers/ I believe the CWNS program is finally coming together and I am considering the next project. The Heath H89 computer using H-17 disk controller uses the same media as the NorthStar (10 sector 5.25" hard sector floppy disks) and in some superficial ways are similar to the NorthStar SSSD disk so this seems like a logical next choice. I would like to extend the concept of CWNS to include Heath hard sector disks (i.e. Catweasel Heath, CWH) My theory is the main difference between CWNS and CWH will be the bit stream decoding logic. The H-17 disk format is entirely different than the NorthStar MDS-A series disks. However, the disk format is documented here: http://davidwallace2000.home.comcast.net/h8/project8080_archive/design_h17.h tml#format A major problem with this plan is I do not have an H89 or any Heath formatted disks. I am seeking a partner to collaborate on this project. If someone would send me some Heath formatted hard sector disks, I will start the investigating whether a Catweasel Heath program is feasible. Please do not send irreplaceable originals or critical data disks. I need working disks you can afford to either lose or be damaged as a result of testing the software. Please contact me offline or reply to this message if you are willing to help out. Thanks! Andrew Lynch

16 years, 9 months

9-track tape seals

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Were these the tapes that were in Ohio? I have a need > for a bunch of tapes, but they're bloody heavy Bulk freight on a pallet would be the cheapest transport. About the only used tape I would trust is Scotch 7xx, though. Absolutely, positively avoid BASF and Memorex. I'm cursing at a huge pile of MRX V (silver label) I'm trying to process. Total crap. 24+ hours bake time and it still sticks.

16 years, 9 months

movie.byu

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Randy, I would love to see both Versaplot and MOVIE.BYU! I have an original movie.byu distrib tape as well as mini-movie. Fighting with bit rot on it, though. I may have to wait for the analog tape reader.

16 years, 9 months

ebay: IBM 3279 terminal (Oman)

by legalize＠xmission.com

ebay item # 142391 Unfortunately the seller is in Oman with 0 feedback rating. Good luck on that one! -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

16 years, 9 months

Anyone collect Dec/Compaq Alphaservers or VAXen?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Anyone collect Dec/Compaq Alphaservers or VAXen? > From: "Dan Snyder" <ddsnyder at zoominternet.net> > Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:32:23 -0400 > To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >To all, > >I have monitored the postings and know of a few collectors of VAXen, all types it seems. The >PDP family is popular too. What about Alphaservers? some are by classic definition at least >10 years old such as the 1000/1000A and 1200 series. Alphastations definitely qualify like the >200/250/255/500 series. I collect most of the Alpha family as I use them frequently. OpenVMS >and Digital Unix is the OS of choice. I collect Qbus PDP-11s and MicroVAX and also have a selection of 3100 series machines (VAXserver and microVAX). OS for the Vaxen are OVMS5.4, V7.3 and also Ultrix4.2. OS for the PDP-11s is RT11, RSTS and unixV6. Never considered Alpha as they are too recent for me. If I had one it would be in daily service. Allison

16 years, 9 months

Easily Amused...

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

16 years, 9 months

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test-drb September 2007