test-drb March 2008

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

209 participants
369 discussions

Pantone or RAL reference for the blue color of the IMSAI 8080 cover

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

Wasn't the IMSAI case (and many others of the same era) powder-coated? -- 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, 4 months

End of restoration of the early French computer SEREL ODP-505 (germanium CPU)

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

On 16 Mar, 2008, at 17:52, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > It is difficult for me to give a precise date. I don't have any > manufacturing notes/schematics about this machine. Published > computer lists > indicate 1965. But they don't know my work. It seems that the > machine began > a military career, before a commercial one. (My machine has a military > color, and a customs seal)And I think that the 1965 date is only for > commercial use (not reserved to military).Date codes on PCBs range > from 1962 > to 1964. It's why I think 1964. But the machine was used for > manufacturing > problems debugging / ECN. 1964 may be the date of the last ECN... > So the > date is between 1962 and 1965. Thank. I presume ECN means PCB = Printed Circuit Board. > |It is tiny compared with my Germanium machine > (ICT 1301) which weighs > |five tons. It has the same clock speed but is quite a bit slower, so > |I guess it is earlier than mine. But maybe the emphasis of the design > |was miniaturisation and the designers traded speed for size. > | I should have made it clear that it is the 1301 which is the faster of the two. For example a 48 bit decimal (i.e. 12 digits) add to / subtract from a register takes 21 microseconds. > > What is the manufacturing date of your ICT 1301? Actually I have two. Serial number 6 was the first one to be sold and was installed in 1962 and it is this one which is assembled and works, though not all the peripherals are functional. Serial number 75 I would guess was made in 1963. I have a few parts of serial number 155, which I would think would be from 1965 when the machines were largely replaced by the ICT 1900 series. Designing of the machines was started in the late 1950s, and many of the engineering drawings have initial revisions from that period. The architecture of your machine reminds me of the first machine I was allowed to operate. It was an 18 bit binary machine, it had 8k of memory built in, expandable with external modules and was made by the Airborne Computing Division (ACD) of Elliotts, it was an Elliott 920B and was a compact, flyable version of the commercial Elliott 903. There had been an earlier model 920A which I think would have been Germanium and was roughly the size and shape of a carpenters work bench. This may have been contemporary with your earlier machine I think. Unfortunately I never saw one in the flesh, but there was a bench in the computer room which I found out later, was the empty chassis of a 920A. Behind the bench was a large panel full of electrical 'chocolate strip' connectors where the analogue and digital input and output signals of the 920A could be connected up. Apparently some of the analogue outputs had been connected up to an oscilloscope to provide a visual display unit, though it used a fair bit of processor time to keep it refreshed, even with the long persistence phosphor of an oscilloscope. The panel had been covered with board with pegs to hold mylar paper tapes and until the day it was scrapped I had not seen what was behind it. > I have a > earlier machine from the same company SEREL, named OA-1001. Built in > 1959/1960.I need to restore it. It lays on the floor (horizontal > position)... The blue one > here:http://pichotjm.free.fr/Serel/Photos/Photos.htmlI will start > restoring > next month (with the Sun!) What is involved in the restoration? Do you intend to make it work, this would be very hard without the schematics. Roger.

16 years, 4 months

Pantone or RAL reference for the blue color of the IMSAI 8080 cover

by c_habib＠bluewin.ch

Hello does someone of us know the pantone or RAL reference of the blue paint on the IMSAI 8080 cover? I want to repaint mine but i don't find the exact reference of this blue. Many thanks in advance Charles

16 years, 4 months

PDP 11/93 + RSX 11M

by gomesh＠uol.com.br

Dear Sir, I?m in trouble with the system as the boot stops at : RSX-11M - Plus V4.3 BL66 2044.KW System "Pt/Ps" > RED DU:=SY: when loading from RD53 (RZ 28M-E) and stops at: RSX-11M/RSX-11M Plus Standalone Copy System V03 when loading from RX33 (Brusys floppy) Do you have an idea why the boot does not go on? Thanks in advance, Henrique Gomes.

16 years, 4 months

UARTs (was: Switch settings: Facit 4070 tape punch)

by dm561＠torfree.net

Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:06:36 -0700 From: dwight elvey <dkelvey at hotmail.com> Subject: RE: UARTs (was: Switch settings: Facit 4070 tape punch) >> According to the Marketing Memo from GI announcing the discontinuation >> of the AY-5-1013, the -A replacement is identical except for the higher max >> baud rate (in fact, it is a 5-1013 that has been tested to 40kb instead of 30). >Hi > For AY-5-1013 to AY-5-1013A, I reference the table on page ten of the document. > I don't disagree with the maximum rates but the table does show different stop bits. > For most users, of old systems, 1200 or 9600 was maximum so the top rate of > the part is of no special value. > Dwight Not to belabour the issue, but since cross-references are notorious for their inaccuracies I think I'll go by GI's AY-5-1013/A datasheet, especially since they made a point of issuing a bulletin to their customers assuring them that the 5-1013A was in fact a 5-1013 selected for the higher baud rate. Also notice that this part was marked on your cross-reference with a note to consult the factory for detailed interchangeability information. Other cross-references list these SMC equivalents: AY-5-1013 COM2502 AY-5-1013A COM2502H (not 2017) And it makes more sense that the same number with a different suffix would indeed be the identical part with a different speed. (e.g. http://tvservice.org/components/CROSSREF.PDF) Finally, GI part numbers are easily confused. As an example, if you want to look at the AY-5-1013A data sheet to convince yourself that it is indeed a 1 & 2 stop bit UART, you will find it at datasheetarchive.com and alldatasheet.com, but listed as an AY-3-1013 at the former, and AY-3-1013A at the latter (neither of which, AFAIK, was ever a valid GI part number). I just wanted to set the record straight in case someone for whom it's actually relevant reads this thread some day. m

16 years, 4 months

S100 archive?

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> Does anyone recognize this archive as a mirror of other spots? most of bitsavers is in there.

16 years, 4 months

strange xtal frequencies

by Watzman＠neo.rr.com

> dwight elvey <dkelvey at hotmail.com> writes: > > >> 3.595295 MHz > > TV color crystal frequncy. > > No, that's 3.579545 MHz (or 4.43361875 MHz for PAL) -- this one's a > bit faster than the NTSC colourburst, which presumably is what makes > it unusual... 3.595295 MHz is the color burst frequency (3,579,545) plus, EXACTLY, 15,750 (the horizontal scan rate). This crystal is used to produce a "rainbow" (normally a "gated rainbow") color test display. Going from left to right it continuously changes color through all 360 degrees of the color burst. [I'm kind of surprised that it's CB+15,760 instead of CB+15,764 ... the horizontal scan frequency for COLOR is bumped up slightly from 15,750 to 15,764].

16 years, 4 months

Tandy TRS-80 Model 4

by kelly＠catcorner.org

> Any words of advise before I crack the case open and void the warranty? > Be careful of the tube neck when taking off or putting back the top of the shell. I've broken one myself. I think I have ONE more spare, but I'm hanging on to it. The CRT is fastened to the top shell, and it is precariously close to the main board and mountings in the back. Kelly No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.21.7/1329 - Release Date: 3/14/2008 12:33 PM

16 years, 4 months

Manuals and other data

by rtellason＠verizon.net

I have put together a web page listing some service manuals and other literature that I'm looking to part with, here: http://mysite.verizon.net/rtellason/manuals.html More will be added as I get the chance, but that's a large part of it. Feel free to contact me via email if you have any questions. -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

16 years, 4 months

IBM 5140 is it considered a Classic

by evan＠snarc.net

>>> Is a IBM 5140 considered a Classic. Assuming that you mean "is it considered on-topic," then, yes. The 5140 "Convertible" (1984) was IBM's first laptop and is a nice example of creative engineering from the early days of laptops overall. I met the person who designed it. One if these days I'll get around to interviewing him...

16 years, 4 months

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test-drb March 2008