> I'm calling the D825 as being earlier as it was a vacuum-tube box,
> while the B5500 was solid-state. ?In any case, the design was
> probably much earlier than the B5500.
Maybe - hard to say, being a government-to-civilian
(apples-to-oranges) comparison.
> That could imply that although SAGE used them as backup, ?they
> weren't necessarily limited in that way.
I think that actual usage would count in my argument. Otherwise, you
could start including lots of machines earlier to either of the two
Burroughs boxes we are talking about - SMP 709s?
> Anyone know for certain? ?Could both CPUs be running at once?
I would actually like to see some more detailed docs on BUIC - there
seems to be very little available. Hell, I do not even know what BUIC
modules and equipment looks like, and have probably passed some of it
up, or worse, scrapped it.
--
Will
Chuck Guzis wrote:
On the other hand, I suppose one could print English and Arabic in an
interlinear fashion, but changing typewheels would drive you nuts. :)
--Chuck
Surely you remember the CDC 512? It had English-Hebrew and English-Arabic print trains. There was a small hardware option to print right to left. If I remember right, It just decremented the buffer memory. I know it only took a couple of hours to install and test.
On the other hand, the few times I worked on them, I had a nightmare understanding if it was printing correctly or not since I couldn't read either language.
I used to have a couple of slugs from the trains - wonder if they are still in the garage?
As far as printing right to left, a lot of the dot matrix printers did this as standard features. At Fujitsu, we did an analysis and found it did not save any time. In fact it was slower! This was because the print head return was a fast function, and because most printing doesn't use a full line (136 characters).
The printers had to have this ability for the Japanese and Chinese marketplace where a lot of word processing programs still did right to left. So the feature was always there but we insisted it be disabled for US sales. There was a disable switch on all the Fujitsu printers I worked on in the 1980-90's.
Billy
After negotiations with the finance committee (aka wife),
I bid on and to my surprise won this lot: 390053617609.
It's a Fluke 9010A for those that don't want to bother
to surf it and I got it for $66.56. That's right, 66
bucks and change. Pictures show it boots. So, now I
have to get pods of interest (anybody have a spare 6502,
8080 or Z80?) and read the manuals. Is there anything
interesting you can do with one without pods?
Thanks,
Bill Sudbrink
On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 9:53 PM, bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca
<bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:
> Now back to putting together my SPARE TIME GIZMOS dumb terminal once I print
> out the online PDF manual.
I just got my VT-6 partial kit today - time for me to start assembling it!
-ethan
Hello everyone,
I figured this list is big enough to ask and get your opinions.
My big question is, would you buy remanufactured vintage computers ? I have
[snip]
Sound nice to you ? Oh, and if you can see cracks in the idea, please share
them but remember, I'm stress-testing the idea, I don't want to start flame
wars.
Thank you very much
--
Alex Lovin - www.erasereality.3x.ro
-----REPLY-----
Hi Alex! Your plans seem extremely ambitious. I have been designing my own
home brew computer for the N8VEM home brew computing project and I know it
is a lot of work. There are many details to consider when producing your
own computer -- too many to even begin to list here. Have you considered
just making a "simple" vintage computer like a plain Z80 S-100 board? Maybe
a S-100 SRAM board or IO board?
There are many of possibilities. Maybe a "big board" work alike or an ISA
backplane based system using an i8086? A small SBC based on the 68008?
I know there was some recent interest in an S-100 68K processor on CCTALK.
Maybe that would be a fun project and work your way up to something as
sophisticated as a multiprocessor design. Building a system from theory to
reality is a complex undertaking so I recommend a gradual approach. Start
small, make something real, and build from there to what you are describing.
I don't think you'll make it in a single leap.
Whatever you decide, I recommend building a working prototype *before*
proceding into any sort of manufacturing. Believe me, getting a working
prototype will give you large insight into how complex this really is. I
build working prototypes of all my N8VEM designs and find it has a great
effect of separating the fantasy from the practical reality. Its why I tend
to favor simple working designs over high risk complicated systems.
Thanks and have a nice day!
Andrew Lynch
It's only part of what happened. The name was sold --non exclusively-- to a
firm in the US for the production of certain household security products.
It creates an odd situation, because at this point there are totally
unrelated entities using (or at least able to use) various forms of the
names "Heath", "Heath Company", "Heathkit", "Heath/Zenith", etc. ... for
different, unrelated product lines.
-Barry Watzman
From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell)
Subject: Doorbell switch with an interesting brand name...
The reason I mention it is that the brand name on said [doorbell] switch is
'Heath/Zenith', and the way they're written is very similar (I'd say
identical) to the old Heath/Zenith brand used on classic computers
On the pack (amongst other things) are the statements 'Should you require
it, Heath Zenith offer a range of other accessories and bell wire' (in that
one , the 'Heath Zenith' is in a normal font. And 'DESA UK LTD
www.desaeurope.com ... A division of Desa International Inc. The world's
largest doorchime company'
So is that what happened to the Heath and Zenith brand names :-(
-tony
listen to me. Build one as a hobby, a labor of love. Then float it around the net. Don't ask for investors. The 386 is still available and is somewhat of an "advanced" processor. Incidentally the '186 is still available, if that floats your boat. Build your "dream". Then worry about financing the thousands you're unlikely to sell. Be realistic.
--- On Wed, 5/27/09, Alexandru Lovin <thypope at gmail.com> wrote:
> From: Alexandru Lovin <thypope at gmail.com>
> Subject: Making vintage computers
> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
> Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 5:24 PM
> Hello everyone,
>
> I figured this list is big enough to ask and get your
> opinions.
>
> My big question is, would you buy remanufactured vintage
> computers ? I have
> all sorts of details regarding the line of systems I'd
> manufacture (most of
> them from the x86 world). I spent time on the internet
> looking at what is
> the best video card for ISA, for PCI, for AGP 2x, for AGP
> 4x or 8x (you
> know, for the different voltages), what would be the best
> processor for what
> system, who would buy it aside from some vintage
> enthusiasts, etc.
> There is a follow up question, of course. If you agree with
> remanufacturing
> the Harris 286 at 25 MHz in a system with 16 CPUs and 16 MB
> of RAM per CPU,
> all connected in a cluster acting as a multi-CPU computer,
> would you be able
> to find some kind of investor who's willing to finance this
> ?
>
> I'm not a spammer, just asking. I don't know the "other"
> architectures so
> well (except the famous 68000 CPUs that powered Amigas and
> maybe PowerPC
> powering Macs until recently) so I would only make
> computers with old x86
> and pre-x86 processors. Ok, I forgot one: the Zilog Z80. 32
> of those in an
> 8-bit system with the S-100 bus. The "new" Altair 8800, if
> you will. Maybe a
> new Commodore PET 2001 as well (still with a gazillion CPUs
> and other such
> stuff).
>
> The other computers would be (warning, boring list ahead):
>
> one with 16 386 CPUs, a lot of RAM (as far as I know, the
> 386 DX
> actually CAN address 4 GB of RAM)
> one with 16 of the best Socket 3 486 CPUs...which are the
> Pentium Overdrive
> 83 MHz :)
> one with 16 of the best Socket 8 CPUs (Pentium II Overdrive
> 333 MHz, 66 MHz
> FSB, etc.)
> one with 8 Super Socket 7 K6-III+ CPUs at 600 MHz or more
> (depends on the
> overclocking abilities)
> one with 8 FC-PGA2 Pentium III-S at 1400 MHz and 4 GB
> RDRAM
> one with 6 Pentium IV for Socket 478, at 3400 MHz
> one with 6 Pentium IV for LGA775, at 3730 MHz
> I'm not over deciding on dual cores and quad cores and tri
> cores yet. Have
> to wait and see if Intel comes up with an even better Core
> 2 Duo Extreme
> Edition, or AMD with a better Athlon 64 X2 Black Edition.
> The dual cores
> would have a maximum of 4 CPUs, tri-cores and quad cores
> would get two.
>
> The computers would be completely "integrated." Onboard
> everything, except
> the optical drive, hard drive, ram modules, power supply
> and mouse. Some
> modules would be optional, like the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or
> infrared module.
>
> All of them would get optional 3dfx hardware (up to the
> K6-III+, the
> computers would only get Voodoo II accelerators, after that
> it's Voodoo 5
> 6000 and then Rampage). The idea is to buy the rights to
> remanufacture all
> the needed chips (and ask for modifications before that, in
> most cases) from
> the original copyright owners.
>
> Sound nice to you ? Oh, and if you can see cracks in the
> idea, please share
> them but remember, I'm stress-testing the idea, I don't
> want to start flame
> wars.
>
> Thank you very much
> --
> Alex Lovin - www.erasereality.3x.ro
>
--- On Thu, 5/28/09, Tim Shoppa <shoppa at trailing-edge.com> wrote:
> I've collected a couple WTCPT's over the years with a
> broken plastic
> plug or jack, and fixed them by simply soldering the wiring
> straight
> through without a jack.
So, how exactly did you solder that connection to repair the faulty soldering station again?
*ducks*
-Ian
Speaking of terminal kits, by any chance does anyone out there have a
Linger 6502 terminal kit? I'm looking for an image of the the AT keyboard
version of the EPROM...
mike
****************************
---------------Original Message(s)
Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 22:00:57 -0400
From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com>
Subject: VT-6 kit (was Re: Making vintage computers)
On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 9:53 PM, bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca
<bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:
> Now back to putting together my SPARE TIME GIZMOS dumb terminal once I print
> out the online PDF manual.
I just got my VT-6 partial kit today - time for me to start assembling it!
-ethan
Lovely late-1980s vintage CP/M machine. A neighbour of mine has just
found a forgotten PCW 8256 and she wants rid of it.
It's in south London.
--
Liam Proven ? Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lproven at gmail.com
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 ? Cell: +44 7939-087884 ? Fax: + 44 870-9151419
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MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? ICQ: 73187508
