test-drb February 2008

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

236 participants
373 discussions

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Bubble memory devices > From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) > Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:52:51 +0000 (GMT) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >> Anyway, on page 46 I stumbled across an interesting article (called "A >> Slow Road To Bubble Memories") about bubble memory. The main bubble >> memory manufacturers of the time were Intel Corp., Texas Instruments >> and Rockwell Int. The article also mentions that Rockwell had a bubble >> system, a 256K bit board, available for $1,800. Meanwhile Intel had a >> bubble system in kit form - 7110-1 Magnetic Memory board came with all >> control and support circuitry - and sold for $2,000. >> >> What happened to bubble memory? Did it die out due to the costs, or >> did people prefer to use cassettes, disks etc. instead? > >I think it pretty much died out due to cost and limited capacity. IIRC, >that Intel chipset was 1Mbit, or 128K bytes. And it was hardly cheap. >Bubble memory did get used in some portables, for example, since with no >moving parts it's pretty rugged. So the claimed. It was small, 128kb and largest was 512kb. It wasn't energy frugal the 128k board was something like 12W! It had a fussy startup and shutdown. and a 3.5" floppy at that time was new, expensive but bigger(360k) and lower power. Never really made prime time. I have two of them in a system that work well but speed is lower than 5.25 40track SD floppy and power is the same. Allison

16 years, 7 months

cctalk Digest, Vol 54, Issue 37 FS: Bytes and Interface Age mags

by trebor72＠execpc.com

cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > Today's Topics: > > 1. FS: Bytes and Interface Age mags (Jason T) > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:53:28 -0600 > From: "Jason T" <silent700 at gmail.com> > Subject: FS: Bytes and Interface Age mags > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > > Time to unload the last of my duplicates. Hello All; My collection of Byte Magazines begins with May 77 and runs thru Oct 84 with maybe a couple of Issues missing. 90 Magazines in all\Anyone Interested. Let me Know Bob in Wisconsin USE trebor72 at execpc.com

16 years, 7 months

Bubble memory devices

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: RE: Bubble memory devices > From: "Gavin Melville" <gavin.melville at acclipse.co.nz> > Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:11:19 +1300 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Hi, > >Bubble was very, very expensive, and about that time SRAM was becoming >available. I don't have any complete 7110's left -- Intel took them >all back, but I do have the internals. Inside the various coils was a >garnet "chip" and under a good microscope you can see the Chevrons that >steered the magnetic bubbles. Really? I have two complete BKK72s operational. >The problem for the company I worked for at the time was temperature -- >at about 0 deg C all the bubbles wandered off. I still clearly remember >the Intel FAE telling me, with great conviction "you still have every >bubble -- none have been lost". My explanantion that that was of little >use -- I don't know which byte or address they belong to was lost on >him. Never tried them over temp. >Steering the little bubbles around was fun -- you could rotate the >majority loop, rotate the all minority loops, and replicate from one >loop to the other. Random access it wasn't... It never tried to be. Howver it was trying to fit in the floppy slot and at 128k for the smaller it was a tad small. >Because of supposed military uses Intel were REAL serious about security >-- they had to know where they all were, who the customers were etc. ??? Really. Never been so much as contacted. Allison >> -----Original Message----- >> From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org >> [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Burton >> Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 1:42 PM >> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org >> Subject: Bubble memory devices >> >> >> Hi, >> >> Whilst waiting for a video to download (I'm still on dial-up) >> I decided to have a flick through an issue of 80 >> Microcomputing. It's issue 10 (October 1980) and inlcudes an >> article about the row about whether the US government and/or >> patent office should honour copyrights for computer software. >> >> Anyway, on page 46 I stumbled across an interesting article >> (called "A Slow Road To Bubble Memories") about bubble >> memory. The main bubble memory manufacturers of the time were >> Intel Corp., Texas Instruments and Rockwell Int. The article >> also mentions that Rockwell had a bubble system, a 256K bit >> board, available for $1,800. Meanwhile Intel had a bubble >> system in kit form - 7110-1 Magnetic Memory board came with >> all control and support circuitry - and sold for $2,000. >> >> What happened to bubble memory? Did it die out due to the >> costs, or did people prefer to use cassettes, disks etc. instead? >> >> >> Regards, >> Andrew B >> aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk >> >> >>

16 years, 7 months

Apple // europlus

by pdp11_70＠retrobbs.org

Hey guys, Someone gave me an Apple // europlus. I don't have any system disks for it at all. If I send someone a 5 1/4 inch disk or disks, would this kind soul send me a DOS 3.3 system master disk? Now if I could get that together, and find a super serial card, I could transfer software of disk images to it. Take Care, Mark

16 years, 7 months

TU10 tape drive restoration

by djg＠pdp8.net

I am working on restoring a DEC TU10 tape drive for my PDP-8/E and want to see if anybody has experience repairing them before I do too much to it. It was made in 1973 and probably last powered up in 1988. I have the maintenance manuals and prints for it. Though for some reason they don't have the 20 year idle maintenance procedure. Does anybody have a TU10 with a good capstan who can accurately measure the diameter or the coating thickness? Also does anybody have a 9 track 800 BPI alignment/skew tape? A bunch of the maintenance procedures use it. So far I have cleaned it and taken stock of its condition. The vacuum switches are bad but it looks like they are still made by World Magnetics so I should be able to get new. The markings on them don't exactly match the new parts so hopefully the manual 10" H2O is correct. If anybody knows more it would be appreciated. The capstan is past dead and seriously into decomposing. The price for a NOS one is scary. It is about 1.8" in diameter and directly moves the tape. Since this is a critical component to the tape path I suspect my skills with the do it yourself repairs will leave it too lopsided. Has anybody tried www.terrysrubberrollers.com. I saw a couple references on the list but didn't see any reports of results. It looks like he uses some black rubber which I don't know if it will have similar friction to the original. >From whats left it looks like the original capstan was translucent amber. The blower sound noisy when turned by hand. Plan to see if I can open and inspect. One of the reels doesn't turn easily. The manual has a section on cleaning the brakes so plan to do that. Plan to do the standard power supply checkout. A lot of the old equipment like this tape drive has parts with permanently lubricated ball bearings. So far I have decides that if the device sounds fine to leave them alone since it won't get that much use and taking it apart enough to get the bearings out has some risk. They also are sometimes pretty well sealed making cleaning and relubricated difficult. I have wondered how good 20-30 year old grease can be. What do other people do? Has anybody found a good way to relubricate these type of bearings to prolong the life? Or wait until they fail and hope the bearing assembly matches something you can buy? Thanks, David Gesswein http://www.pdp8online.com/ -- Run an old computer with blinkenlights

16 years, 7 months

SC/MP CPU (INS8060)

by doug＠stillhq.com

Hi, I am on the scrounge for a SC/MP CPU for a project I am working on. A search of ePay has failed to turn up any options. Does anybody here know of a supplier? Doug -- Doug Jackson, I-RAP, MAIPM, MIEEE Principal Information Security Consultant EWA-AUSTRALIA PO Box 6308 O'Connor ACT 2602 Level 1, 214 Northbourne Ave, Braddon ACT 2612 Tel: +61 (0)2 6230 6833 Fax: +61 (0)2 6230 5833 Mob: +61 (0)414 986 878 http://www.ewa-australia.com ============================================ IMPORTANT: This email remains the property of Electronic Warfare Associates - Australia. If you have received this email in error, you are requested to contact doug.jackson at ewa-australia.com or Ph +61 2 62306833 and delete the email. This message is not to be copied or distributed to other parties without the express permission of the author. Any personal information in this email must be handled in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). ============================================

16 years, 7 months

Anyone in Toronto Canada area with a Vax Magtape (reel) drive?

by dgahling＠hotmail.com

I should have posted this years ago. But does anyone on the list have or know someone (company or individual) that has a Magtape (reel) drive that can read an old Vax Magtape? I have about a half dozen tapes I'd like to get the data off, and it seems like a lost art. I'm not about to try and restore my uncles Wabash PDP hard disk though (external disk pack) I'd be willing to pay a small fee for time/trouble, though I'm not made of money. I'd rather trade equipment if there's something you need (sparc?) :) Dan. _________________________________________________________________

16 years, 7 months

VCF/Midwest 4 - Purdue - April 26-27

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

I just wanted to get the notice out there.. A date has been chosen for the 4th VCF/Midwest, and it's going to be on Saturday and Sunday, April 26th and 27th, and will be held again at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana. Sellam is working on getting the website set up, and hopefully it will be up soon. If anyone here is interested in doing a talk for this year's VCF/MW, please let me know. I'm working on a few leads for speakers right now. I also hope to have a piece of Big Iron from my own collection up and running at the show this year. Pat -- Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

16 years, 7 months

Oldest operational computer

by compoobah＠valleyimplants.com

On Feb 17, 2008, at 10:00 AM, Vince wrote: > But won't Tony refuse to *use* the TARDIS until it is documented > well enough for him to *repair* it :-)? That would be a good idea, don't you think, considering the chances of finding a factory authorized service center and spare parts in 1900?

16 years, 7 months

cctalk Digest, Vol 54, Issue 23

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

On 13 Feb, 2008, at 02:53, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > > Have a HP N3390 laptop, 8 years old. An antique... > Are you kidding? My machine is 46 years old and that is a SECOND generation computer.

16 years, 7 months

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test-drb February 2008