February 2010 - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

by g-wright＠att.net

I would like to get a Tek 4404 computer going but lack any service manuals. The system turns on but has no curser on the screen. Has good power from the Power supply and heater is on in the CRT. Has a row of LEDs on the mother board. Does anyone know how to read these. - Thanks, Jerry

9 years, 1 month

3
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Any word on the Multics revival front?

by madcrow.maxwell＠gmail.com

When Multics was officially released as free software a couple of years ago, there was a flurry of activity aimed at getting some sort of emulator up and running to run it. Did anything ever come of that or did folks just lose interest (or find out that the needed GE/Honeywell hardware was too poorly-documented to write an emulator of) Mike

9 years, 4 months

8
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Stardent 19" workstation monitor

by vcf＠siconic.com

I have a monitor for a Stardent workstation. It's a re-badge Sony, model number 130-0001-01. Free for pickup, or 1.2 * cost of shipping to recoup time and trouble if you want it shipped. Please respond soon if you are interested as it will be going off for scrap in a week if there are no takers. -- 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 ]

10 years, 11 months

8
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6809 SBC

by lynchaj＠yahoo.com

http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-January/282022.html It always suprised me that hre BBC micro used the 6502 rather than the 6809. By the time the Beeb was designed, Acorn had made a 6809 processor board for their System machines, so they must have had experience with the chip. THe Beeb is nice, but a Beeb with a 6809 processor would have been something else :-) -tony Hi! When I designed the N8VEM 6809 host processor it is loosely based on an article I read for the BBC computer called "Dragon in the tube". I am not very familiar with the UK microcomputers but apparently 6809 "coprocessors" were fairly common peripherals on their Z80 and 6502 designs. I used a similar concept for the N8VEM to allow its Z80 SBC to access the 6809 as a "host processor" peripheral on the ECB. One of the builders was able to get CUBIX running on the N8VEM 6809 host processor using the Z80 as its "IO processor". However, I can see how the implementation can get confusing because it is either a Z80 based system with a 6809 coprocessor or a 6809 based system with a Z80 IO processor. In reality it doesn't really matter but it's a matter of perspective. The N8VEM 6809 CUBIX implementation allows the use of ECB peripherals like IDE, video, floppy, serial, parallel, etc but it requires the Z80 to serve all the IO based on 6809 commands. I added the 6809 IO mezzanine board (power, ACIA, PTM, 2 VIAs, expansion bus) to give builders the option of using the 6809 host processor as a stand alone computer or to add separate IO to the N8VEM system when connected to the bus. The idea being to let the 6809 host processor interact with the outside world using its own IO and only involve the Z80 when absolutely necessary. The hardware seems to work OK but we'll see where the software goes. I think with CUBIX the 6809 N8VEM system becomes a lot more practical. The IO mezzanine fits on top of the 6809 host processor. You can see some photos here. These are out of date but give a good idea. Recently I fitted an improved serial cable and the nylon standoff hardware. Also the PTM seems to be working and that's good. http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/browse/#view=ViewFolder&param=m6809 I have many 6809 host processor and IO mezzanine PCBs so if anyone is interested please let me know. This would be a great opportunity for anyone who would like to do some 6809 hardware and software hacking. I think the N8VEM 6809 host processor is the only system I am aware of other than Dave's homebrew that is running CUBIX. There maybe some other homebrew systems out there too I can't find them after some searching. Thanks and have nice day! Andrew Lynch

11 years, 2 months

9
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VT-180 (Robin) EPROM images?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: VT-180 (Robin) EPROM images? > From: "Robert Armstrong" <bob at jfcl.com> > Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 20:23:04 -0800 > To: <cctech at classiccmp.org> > > Does anybody have images of the v2.1 Z-80 firmware for the VT-180 (aka >Robin) ? At least, I think 2.1 was the last version ever released. They >should be DEC part numbers 23-017E3-00 and 23-021E3-00. > >Thanks, >Bob Armstrong I have enough of them laying around I could supply the actual roms. I've never imaged them as It's easier to replace the code outright. Curious why are you looking for them? Allison

11 years, 6 months

5
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Compaq SLT/286

by aw288＠osfn.org

Like the Sanyo just yesterday, I have a Compaq SLT/286 portable computer taking up space. Very nice condition, with power unit, dock, and bag. Any interest CHEAP? I am located in New York, zip 10512. Unlike the Sanyo, if there is no interest, I suppose I will just chop this up. I am desperately trying to clear out a bedroom to work on it - the bedroom that ends up being the junk overflow containment chamber. It would actually be nice to sleep in it sometime. William Donzelli aw288 at osfn.org

11 years, 10 months

8
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FDOS for Fluke 1720A

by geoffb＠vigilan.com

Does anyone have the O/S, Applications, and Diagnostice disks for this ancient IEEE 488 bus controller (Fluke 1720A)? It used a TI 9900 processor if I remember correctly. The operating system was called FDOS- a custom effort too I think, distributed on three 5 1/4" floppies. This is no longer available from anywhere or anyone, including Fluke. Thanks for any help and/or leads. Geoff

12 years, 1 month

3
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Kaypro System disks?

by brain＠jbrain.com

I have been fortunate to acquire a Kaypro system that appears to be in great condition and looks to work. It looks exactly like this: http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/Kaypro-I-Micro.htm Thus, it says Kaypro 1 on the artwork Still, the sticker on the rear says Kaypro 2, so I'm confused. In any event, I have no system disks for it (There is a slight possibility they are part of the stash with which the Kaypro was bundled, but it's 100 sq ft of stuff). Thus, I'm wondering if there is a kind soul who might be able to ship me a set of disks. (I'll pay shipping, of course). I also am the proud owner of 2 Obsorne machines (one works, the other seems to have drive issues. They are the redesigned units, but (as I suspected) the systems disks won't work on the Kaypro. Jim -- Jim Brain, Brain Innovations (X) brain at jbrain.com Dabbling in WWW, Embedded Systems, Old CBM computers, and Good Times! Home: http://www.jbrain.com

12 years, 2 months

10
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A Complete History Of Mainframe Computing

by lproven＠gmail.com

Tom's Hardware - a popular site for PC hardware tweakers and overclockers - has done an ambitious article on the development of the mainframe: http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/508-mainframe-computer-history.html It's a little American-centric but it's not at all bad. -- 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 AOL/AIM/iChat/Yahoo/Skype: liamproven ? LiveJournal/Twitter: lproven MSN: lproven at hotmail.com ? ICQ: 73187508

12 years, 2 months

7
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PCjr Telnet Server Test

by mbbrutman-cctalk＠brutman.com

It's running! Telnet to 97.86.233.68 to take a look and help me test it. You can use the standard Windows telnet program, Putty, Linux, or whatever you have handy. Around 10 users can be on at the same time. When you sign on (no password required) there will be a little menu to help you waste some time. Some things you can do are see who else is on the server, view the machine type, ROM BIOS date and DOS version, check the TCP/IP statistics to see how much traffic it is handling, etc. There are some upgrades since the last time I ran this test (in Dec 2007): - The TCP/IP stack is much better - I'm doing 'telnet' negotiation to figure out the terminal type, turn echoing on, etc - Crude line editing has been added Right now it is running on my PCjr using a Xircom PE3 10BT. I plan to leave it up as long as it runs, or three days, whichever comes first. It is a PCjr so if there is a momentary delay, don't panic - it's probably just doing disk I/O. Backspace is a little dodgy .. it really wants ASCII 8 and a lot of terminals and emulators do ASCII 127 instead. Try variations with the shift and control keys if it doesn't work. Thanks, Mike

12 years, 3 months

25
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Wait! There's more including MS-DOS 1.25!!!! was Sanyo MBC-550 (Yuck!) software available

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I'm still digging. I found more 550 stuff. I think this is everything that came with the 550. Here's a chance for you 550 owner's to get the whole set at one shot! Original DS-DOS box and invoice. Original Sanyo Easywriter ver 1.3 disk Original Sanyo disk box with 550 dos ver 2.11 and BASIC 1.25, two original Sanyo disk for InfoStar (set B disk 2 and 3 of 4; disks 1 and 4 are below), original Sanyo disk for DOS 1.25 and BASIC ver 1.1 Original Sanyo disk box with all three original disk of set A, WordStar and CalcStar and a backup copy of DS-DOS. Two card board dummy disks used to protect the floppy drives duing shipment. Joe > >A few weeks ago we were talking about the Sanyo 550 series and someone mentioned one of the alternates operating systems that supported 80 track drives in the 550. I said that was DS-DOS by Michtron. > > Today I found an old Sanyo disk package with four disks for the 550. One of them is DS DOS 2.11, one is InfoStar, one is MailMerge/SpellStar and the other is a disk of misc utilities. The first three are original disks. In additon, the InfoStar, MailMerge/SpellStar are Sanyo labeled disks that came with the 550. If anyone wants them, trade me something I can use and they're all your's. > > Joe

12 years, 6 months

3
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IBM 5151 green phosphor monitors for sale

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

I have a limited number of IBM 5151 monitors for sale. This is the classic green screen monitor that shipped with the basic IBM PC 5150. Condition is adequate. They are dirty but I will clean them up before shipping out. Will test for basic functionality. No burn-in or other problems, but no warranty either. The price is $30 each plus shipping. First come, first served. Please contact me directly via e-mail. Thanks! -- 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 ]

12 years, 7 months

2
1
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Gooey TU58 rollers

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Gooey TU58 rollers > From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:39:20 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On 8/27/07, B M <iamvirtual at gmail.com> wrote: >> I am trying to get a Vax-11/750 machine up and running. It looks like the TU58 drive >> is suffering from the 'gooey roller syndrome'. > >Unsurprising. > >> I see that people have successfully used 1/2 inch (ID) Tygon tubing to replace the >> goo. Is there any specific type of Tygon tubing (eg. R3603, R2000, etc.) that is used? > >I don't know the particular variety I used in mine - I just went to >the Lowe's down the street and bought a foot of 1/2" ID tubing - >whatever they had on the shelf. I was unaware of a large amount of >varieties of tubing, so I just used what they had in stock, and it >worked perfectly. > >-ethan I started that many years ago like 1995ish. I spec'd Tygon (brnad name) as that was available to me. Most any generic Vinyl tubing works so long as it fits tight and has enough wall thickness. After about 10 years it tends to get hard, the fix is obvious. Allison

12 years, 7 months

4
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Texas Instruments 960B

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> does anybody have bits for the TI 960B (not 960A) minicomputer, e.g. > software, schematics etc. ? I have some additional material on the 960 that isn't up yet on bitsavers. The 960 and 980 share some peripheral interfaces. Did you end up with the 990 system as well?

12 years, 9 months

7
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NEC Spinwriter 5525 available

by iamvirtual＠gmail.com

[I hope this is on-topic; I believe the machine is at least 20 years old] I have a NEC Spinwriter 5525 printer that is available for the cost of shipping (free if you pick it up). The printer is a wide carriage and appears to have a RS232 serial interface. I do not know if the printer works or not. The machine is located in Langdon Alberta Canada (postal code is T0J 1X1) which is approximately 10 minutes east of Calgary. The machine is rather heavy. I estimate 50 pounds or more. If there is no interest, the machine is headed to the e-waste recycling. I can send pictures upon request. Contact by e mail: i a m v i rt ihatespam u al @ @ @ g ma il . c om <-- remove spaces and ihatespam Thanks! --barry

13 years

3
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Has anyone ever heard of theProtec Microsystems PRO-83?

by rdcoll＠hotmail.com

Hello everyone, I just joined this mailing list today on the advice of more than one vintage computing contact. I was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about the Protec Microsystems PRO-83 Z80 Single-Board Computer. I have conducted an exhaustive search of the Internet and found only two sites (one from a surplus store and a picture of it from a museum). I would appreciate any information available, especially information regarding the power supply and peripheral devices. Thank you very much. Rob _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

13 years, 1 month

2
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HP 3000 micro gx booting MPE/V, Help >>>>

by g-wright＠att.net

Any Hp Mpe folks left out there I have non working 3000/37s with possibly good drives and a 3000 micro GX that works but has a bad drive. I have tried to boot the micro GX from the 3000-37 drives and get this far. ---------------------------------------- Cold Boot > HP 32033G.B2.02 Performing a Coldstart Following Volumes not found MH7957U1 List Volume tables ? ---------------------------- Seems to freeze after that. It does this on 2 different drives. Is this even possible to do ??? Does anyone have a OS tape for one of these ??? and which manuals cover the boot menu and/or startup. I would like to get both going but the 3000-37's have dead mother boards. Stan Sieler, are you still around. Seems like every search I do comes up with your name and advice. Thanks, Jerry Jerry Wright g-wright at att.net

13 years, 1 month

5
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HPIB cables

by donm＠cts.com

I have a couple of HPIB cables available at $15 the pair, shipped. They are: 1 HP10833A ~42" 1 HP92220R ~12" The 92220R has a right-angle connector at one end and the usual straight connector at the other. (I wonder if the 'R' indicates a right hand connector?) First come, first served. - don

13 years, 1 month

4
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Century Data T2000 exerciser

by nasim786＠earthlink.net

Hi, This is a belated response to a post you made here: http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctech/2003-February/010641.html I happened upon it while doing a 'for fun' search on the net for anything doing with good ol' Century Data, my employer when I was young. Couldn't resist responding to the post, even if it was half a year late! The exerciser that you have is/was for the Trident series of hard disk drives (predecessor to the Marksman). I was the main (in fact, pretty much the ONLY) technician at Century Data/Calcomp, for these exercisers back from the late 1970's to the mid 1980's, when they were phased out. I retired in 1985. Have fun! (BTW, where'd you find one of these dinosaurs??) Take care, Nasim

13 years, 1 month

2
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Tiny BASIC Extended available

by eds_2＠yahoo.com

Every so often, a discussion of Tiny BASIC appears around here. I was curious about one of the very first versions of Tiny BASIC, the 8080 implementation done by Whipple and Arnold, as documented in the Vol. 1 No. 1 (Jan 1976) issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal (of Tiny BASIC Calisthenics and Orthodontia) This issue contains an octal listing of a Tiny BASIC interpreter for the 8080, and I couldn't find this version available for download anywhere. So... I typed it in, and it works! I documented my work, which is available at http://oss.readytalk.com/tb/tinybasic.tar.gz (Note - this location is temporary - I need a home for this if anyone is interested) Included are the text file for the octal listing, a binary which can be loaded into memory, an attempt to extract the IL from the binary, and some instructions on bringing up Tiny BASIC. I was able to run some simple programs with a Z80 simulator that I've been running, and it appears to work correctly. I found the PDF of the listing in the ACM digital library: http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/987491.987494 Typing in octal listings is error-prone enough, and typing them in from bad PDF scans of bad photocopies is even trickier. I have corrected many errors, but I'm sure there are more. If any kind soul would be willing to proofread / correct the listing, it would be **GREATLY** appreciated. I hope this is of interest to people. I'm very interested in other versions of Tiny BASIC out there, if someone has ever typed this listing before, etc. I'm familiar with Tom Pittman's work, but other resources would be greatly appreciated. -Eric ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't pick lemons. See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html

13 years, 2 months

8
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Chips that changed the world

by rcini＠optonline.net

All: For those interested, IEEE has an article about the 25 chips that changed the world. The NE555 is #1 and the 6502 is #2. http://spectrum.ieee.org/may09/8747 Rich -- Rich Cini Collector of Classic Computers Build Master and lead engineer, Altair32 Emulator http://www.altair32.com http://www.classiccmp.org/cini

13 years, 4 months

17
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"first" computer on the internet

by dgahling＠hotmail.com

I thought I had posted this, perhaps not. Anyhow, I have what's purported to be the "First" computer on the internet, the one that joined the pieces together and I guess you could say "made" the internet, or conversely, the "last" node, as it were (depending how you count). It's also the system where E-Mail was first created. It's a Sun SLC workstation, owned by Einar Steffard. I have the original box (very slightly torn), and the workstation itself is in very good shape except one cosmetic crack, which I believe can be fixed very easily. I tried the smithsonian, and other computer museums, but basically was told they already had too many of this model, never mind the significance of this particular unit. it still runs, last I checked, and has all the original data still intact on it, such as it is. now, I find myself with a severe lack of space, and need to part with it. I would like a little bit of money for it, it wasn't a donation to me, and shipping maybe expensive. or I would be willing to trade it for a vaxstation 4000, or perhaps a 3100 or two. (I have a need for 2 working vaxen you see) so anyhow, that's how it is, this piece of history sitting in the corner of my office, collecting dust, and not doing much else. I'd like to see it get to a good home, and never scrapped, I think it's too important for that. so anyhow, anyone who wants this piece of history, drop me a note. and yes, I have pics (including the shipping labels from Einar to me) for what it's worth... Dan. _________________________________________________________________ If you like crossword puzzles, then you'll love Flexicon, a game which combines four overlapping crossword puzzles into one! http://g.msn.ca/ca55/208

13 years, 7 months

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VAX/PDP docs. received

by jwillis＠arielusa.com

Received from a former DEC service rep.: If anyone wants scans of a specific piece, I will probably arrange it. This accounts for only the miniscule portion I've managed to sort and catalog in the past 3 hours (about 1/8 of the total number of documentation pieces I received): Communications Options Minireference Manual, vols. 1-7 LSI-11 Systems Service Manual, Vols. 1-3 VAX 8600/8650 System Diagnostics User's Guide Communications Options Minireference Manual VAX/VMS Internals and Data Structures Cartridge Tape Service Documentation TK50 Tape Drive Subsystem Owner's Manual TK50 Tape Drive Subsystem User's Guide TK70 Streaming Tape Drive Owner's Manual TK70 Streaming Tape Drive Subsystem Service Manual (MicroVAX II sys.) ThinWire Ethernet COAXIAL CABLE CONNECTOR INSTALLATION CARD H4000 DIGITAL Ethernet Transceiver Installation Manual Fiber Optic Attenuator Installation/Configuration Reference Card LA120 Series Pocket Service Guide LA10X-EJ/EL Tractor Option Installation Guide DECWRITER III LA120 Operator Reference Card LCG01 Color Printer System Pocket Service Guide MicroVAX 3600/VAXserver 3600/3602 Operation KA650 CPU System Maintenance MicroVAX 3600/VAXserver 3600/3602 Technical Information ULTRIX-32 Guide to the Error Logger System LJ250/LJ252 Companion Color Printer Pocket Service Guide LN03 Pocket Service Guide RF-LN03 Pocket Service Guide VAX 6200 Options and Maintenance VAX 6200/6300, VAXserver 6200/6230 Owner's Manual VAXstation 2000 Workstations and MicroVAX 2000 Network Guide ULTRIX-32 Basic Installation Guide for the VAXserver 2000 DECstation 2100/3100 Maintenance Guide MicroVAX 2000 Installation MicroVAX 2000 Operation Addendum: VAXserver 2000 MicroVAX 2000 Operation MicroVAX 2000 Troubleshooting MicroVAX 2000 Technical Information MicroVAX 2000 Customer Services VAXstation 2000 and MicroVAX 2000 Maintenance Guide VAXstation 3100 Maintenance Information VAXstation 3100 Illustrated Parts Breakdown VAXstation 2000 Hardware Information VAXstation 2000 System Guide VAXstation 2000 Network Guide VAX 6000-400 Options and Maintenance VT100 Series Pocket Service Guide VT180 Series Pocket Service Guide VT320 Pocket Service Guide VT330 Pocket Service Guide VT340 Pocket Service Guide VAXcluster Service Reference Manual VAXcluster Service Reference Set VAX 8530/8550/8700/8800/8820/8830/8840 System Maint. Guide 8800 8700 8550 8500 Console User's Guide B213F Expander Installation R215F Expander Maintenance KA655 CPU System Maintenance VAX Architecture Reference Manual CI750 User's Guide BA11-A Mounting Box and Power System Tech. Manual VAX-11/750 Diag. System Overview Manual VAX-11/750 Level 1 Student Workbook (Digital Internal Use Only) VAX-11/750 UNIBUS Interface Technical Description VAX-11/751 User's Guide DELUA User's Guide MicroVAX 2000 Hardware Information MicroVAX VAX 8200/50, 8500/50 The Digital Dictionary, Second Edition VAX Maintenance Handbook (VAX Systems) VAX Maintenance Handbook (VAX-11/780) VAX Maintenance Handbook (VAX-11/750) VAX-11/750 Mini Diag. Ref. Guide RM05 Disk Subsystem Service Manual RM05 Disk Subsystem Student Guide (Digital Internal Use Only) RM03 Disk Drive Maint. Print Set RP04/05/06 Field Maint. Print Set Symptom Directed Diagnosis Tool Kit Installation Guide VAXsimPLUS Field Service Manual Getting Started with VAXsimPLUS VAXsimPLUS User Guide Model 733 DEC Disk Storage Drive Parts Catalog, Jan. 1976 RP04-TC Part II RP04, RP05, RP06 Field Svc. Handbook HSC50 Service Manual HSC Installation Manual VAX 86XX System Maint. Guide RP05/RP06 Field Handbook -Company Confidential- RP05/06 677-01/51 Disc Drive Illustrated Parts Catalog Model 677-01/51 RP05/06 DEC DISC MAINTENANCE Guide (Educ. Svcs.) Digital Education and Training: UNIX Utils & Cmds. Student Guide

13 years, 8 months

6
5
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Looking for : Sharp PC-1405

by mhstein＠canada.com

--------------Original Message------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 16:27:36 -0500 (EST) From: liste(a)artware.qc.ca Subject: Looking for : Sharp PC-1405 Or equiv (Tandy had them as PC-2 or something, iirc). The goal of my classic collection is to get one of every computer I've programmed over the years. One of the first computers I programmed was a PC-1405 (actually, I can't remember the exact model). I found one of these in a pawn shop. By brother "stole" it. I found another. This was my one classic computer that was helluva useful. So useful I took it with my places. And, well, I've just lost it. I've checked eBay and there are a few Sharp Pocket Computers, but W@W L@@K @ T3H PR1C3Z! Buy it now for "only" 300 USD! http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3000156764&category=15030 So, does anyone here have one they don't need and/or would be willing to let go for a reasonable price? -Philip -------------------------------------- I've got a PC-1421 Financial Computer if you (or anybody) are interested: 76 character keyboard 16 character display 40K ROM Basic 4.2 Kb RAM Interface for optional CE-126 Printer/Cassette (don't have) 6 modes: Normal calculator Financial calculator Statistical calculator Basic program mode Basic run mode Almost new, in box with cover & 280P manual. Make me an offer (less than US$ 300, or even CDN$ 300 :). mike

13 years, 9 months

2
1
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8/L has been sold. Have ADM-3A for sale.

by charlesmorris＠direcway.com

The 8/L, ASR33, DF32 disk emulator project has been sold. Thanks for all your interest (and offers). Anyone who wants the DF32 emulator schematic and artwork, I can email you a copy. I hope someone can take my "first draft" and make a useful unit for those who are interested. I have a working ADM-3A that I may want to sell also. It has a homebrewed lower-case 2716 ROM (thanks Steve Loboyko for the font files). I installed the "optional" parts for current loop on the main PCB, and used it with the 8/L. The only thing that's missing is the little aluminum panel covering the dip switches. Any interest? Same deal as before, please email offers, "sealed bids". thanks Charles

13 years, 10 months

7
9
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Altair 680 power supply...

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

My Altair 680 has achieved the position of primary attention on my workbench. All of the ICs are socketed. Not having seen power in over 20 years, I did not trust the power supply as far as I could throw a bus. I pulled all of the ICs, attached dummy loads (automobile bulbs) and powered up. Sure enough, there was AC all over the place (where there should have been DC). I replaced all of the electrolytic caps and that got rid of the AC but some of the voltage levels are very wrong, at least as compared to what is written on the schematics. The worst offender is just off the "plus" side of the full wave bridge (BR-1). It should be nine volts but is actually at 11.5. This makes what should be the main five volt rail a little more than 9 volts... the far side of VR-1 (a 7805). The wave form coming off the transformer is really ugly not a smooth sine wave. I hate power supplies. I don't really understand, looking at the schematics, what this transformer should be doing. My guess is that it should be making a nice nine volt, 60 cycle AC sine wave with each of the two outputs 90 degrees out of sync? What could be wrong with a transformer that it would produce something like: __ / \ | \ / \_ / \ | / | / \_/ bent and very squared off at spots? My scope shows nice clean 120 coming into the transformer. How do I figure out a part number for a replacement transformer? Thanks!

13 years, 11 months

23
68
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Perkin Elmer 7300 Pro System Museum Quality!

by mail.list＠analog-and-digital-solutions.com

Here's one some of you might like. Perkin Elmer 7300 Pro System Museum Quality! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2738081449 Current bid US $9.99

14 years, 1 month

3
2
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Atari 800xl "translator disk"?

by dbetz＠xlisper.com

I have an Atari 800xl and a couple of 1050 disk drives. I also have two copies of the M.U.L.E. game on disk. Unfortunately, I can't get either to boot on the 800xl. I suspect that these are older games that were written for the 400/800 and may need the "translator disk" that allowed the 800xl to run games written for the older machines. Does anyone know where I could obtain a copy of this translator disk? Thanks! David Betz

14 years, 2 months

9
15
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Stag PPZ EPROM programmer

by coredump＠gifford.co.uk

I have a fine old Stag PPZ modular EPROM programmer: http://www.gifford.co.uk/~coredump/inst.htm#PPZ It takes plug-in EPROM (model Zm2000) and PAL (Zm2200) modules, called Z-modules by Stag. I've recently acquired a new module, Zm3000, which looks like a more recent EPROM module. The chips in the Zm3000 are date coded in 1993, whereas the Zm2000 is nearer 1988. The PPZ main unit contains a 6809 CPU and a small CRT display. Does anyone know anything about this system? What about other Z-module types? In particular, should the Zm3000 work with the PPZ, because I currently get an error message "Incorrect Mainframe"? Thanks in advance for any clues! (Virtually all I get from Google is a link back to my own web page!) -- John Honniball coredump(a)gifford.co.uk

14 years, 3 months

4
3
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IBM PC Convertible Speech Module.

by netsurfer_x1＠fastmailbox.net

Anyone here have the speech module for an IBM PC Convertible they want to get rid of? I just got one of these laptops & was hoping to score one. David M. Vohs Digital Archaeologist & Computer Historian Computer Collection: "Triumph": Commodore 64, 1802, 1541, Indus GT, FDD-1, GeoRAM 512, MPS-801. "Leela": Original Apple Macintosh, Imagewriter II. "Delorean": TI-99/4A, TI Speech Synthesizer. "Spectrum": Tandy Color Computer III. "Monolith": Apple Macintosh Portable. "Boombox": Sharp PC-7000. "Butterfly": Tandy 200, PDD-2. "Shapeshifter": Epson QX-10, Comrex HDD, Titan graphics/MS-DOS board. "Scout": Otrona Attache. (prospective) "Pioneer": Apple LISA II. "TMA-1": Atari Portfolio, Memory Expander + "Centaur": Commodore Amiga 2000. "Neon": Zenith Minisport.

14 years, 4 months

5
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seeking DEC digital mps - microprocessor series monitor/control panel

by nigel.d.williams＠gmail.com

http://www.dvq.com/oldcomp/photos2/1k/dec_micro_panel.JPG I find this device quite fascinating (Intel 8008 plugged into a PDP-8 host), if anyone has one surplus I would be interested in negotiating. thanks. www.retroComputingTasmania.com

14 years, 8 months

7
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GNT 3601 tape punch docs?

by chrise＠pobox.com

Probably a stretch but wondering if anyone has any info (manual, pinouts, service documentation) for a GNT model 3601 8-bit (1") paper tape punch. It was probably better known in the CNC / automated machining world than in computing but my hope is to resurrect it as a backup punch for copying tapes I use with my ASR-33 and thereby save wear on the -33's punch. The unit has serial and parallel interfaces on DB25 connectors but I do not have any pinout information for those. The serial one I can probably figure out. Unfortunately, the unit is a little more sick than "works OK" seemed to imply from the eBay seller. It has what I believe to be a power supply problem because as soon as you try to punch all eight holes with the front panel test button, the power LED dims and the punch jams, apparently from lack of umph to complete the mission. It could also be jamming to start with and that causes the power drop I suppose. In any case, looking for any docs before I open it up and start digging around. I have written to GNT without a reply so far. Chris -- Chris Elmquist mailto:chrise at pobox.com

14 years, 9 months

9
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Apple Lisa 1 for sale

by sellam＠vintagetech.com

I have an Apple Lisa 1 for sale. Yes, it has the Twiggy drives. It includes the Twiggy systems OS disks (2), original Lisa 1 manual, keyboard, original Lisa (rectangular button) mouse. It works. Excellent condition. Normally I would not so brazenly hawk something but I need to raise funds for an imminent move of the VCF archives. I'm entertaining any and all offers. At a minimum, there should be three zeroes before the decimal point. Please contact me directly if you're interested. Photos and more detail will be forwarded upon request. Will ship galaxy-wide. Thanks! -- 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 ]

14 years, 10 months

8
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Reading NorthStar Horizon hard sector disks on PC

by marvin＠west.net

> From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> > Not all Northstar diskettes are HS. One of the models (Advantage?) > isn't--and it's that format that the Microsolutions MatchPoint will > read, not the others. It's been too long since I've seen the darned > things... I think the machine you are thinking of might be the N* Dimension. The Advantage still uses 10-sector floppies. I've never seen the Dimension but vintagemicros on Ebay was selling one a while back and had a picture of it. Apparently it was MS-DOS compatible.

15 years

4
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Looking for CMD CQD-200/TM or CQD-200/M EPROM images

by glen.slick＠gmail.com

Does anyone have a CMD CQD-200/TM or CQD-200/M and an EPROM programmer or other means of reading the EPROM images that could send me a copy? I think I have mostly figured out the CSR decode PAL for a CQD-200/T and programmed a new one and now it responds to both the disk and tape CSRs, but only the tape CSR looks like it has normal values. Maybe I also need to replace the EPROMs with CQD-200/TM or CQD-200/M EPROM images to get it to respond normally to the disk CSR. I have had encouraging results so far doing the same to convert a CQD-220/M into a CQD-220/TM and got it working with both a disk and a tape at the same time. -Glen

15 years, 1 month

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VMware appliances

by jfoust＠threedee.com

I was curious to see if anyone mentioned VMware as an emulation environment on this list. The archives show a brief conversation about it in 2002 regarding whether it could run OS/2. I've been using it for a client's servers for the past few months and it is mind-blowing. Drag-and-drop, super-fast start and stop of entire virtual servers. One of VMware's demo appliances is a DOS environment running old games. Linux large and small is a common OS in appliances, too. With the free VMware Workstation version, you can easily click-click and be running a downloaded appliance. So why aren't we using VMware appliance images to exchange pre-made, pre-set environments for running emulated OSes? - John

15 years, 2 months

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HP-IB, Amigo/cs80, again, connectors

by emu＠e-bbes.com

OK, another question : a cheap source for the hp-ib, gpib connectors ? What I found so far is in the $ 20 range. (through hole, right angle, receptacle, ...) Cheers & Thanks

15 years, 2 months

3
3
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I'm,looking for PDP-11 CPU tests

by brain＠jbrain.com

I sent the DEC ROM info to the VT220 Font author, and he responded with thanks and also wanted to know if anyone had PDP-11 CPU tests. I noted he might want to join here, but I thought I'd start the ball rolling on his request. Jim -- Jim Brain, Brain Innovations (X) brain at jbrain.com Dabbling in WWW, Embedded Systems, Old CBM computers, and Good Times! Home: http://www.jbrain.com

15 years, 3 months

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Old DEC Power Control 861C

by icipasla＠gmail.com

*Many thanks, I found a leaking capacitor just as you have described. I've ordered new ones and will soon be able to replace it. I'll let you know if that fixes the problem (It should!).** Normand *>* Old DEC Power Control 861C Hi, *>* *>* looks like I am not getting the posting in my e-mail but my messages do get *>* posted. * This issue came up a few months back. Apparently gmail filters the replies to your own messages somewhere (and not to somewhere sensible!). Perhaps somebody else can rememebr the details. >* *>* I found this replyto my previous message by Tony Duell *>* <cctalk%40classiccmp.org?Subject=Re%3A%20Old%20DEC%20Power%20Control%20861C&In-Reply-To=%3Cm1NM4jS-000J3uC%40p850ug1%3E>in *>* the archives. *>* *>* To follow-up, the 861C emits a crackling noise for the first few seconds (20 *>* or so) and then I can hear a relay chattering (very noisy!). *>* *>* Also the light on the front panel is flashing continuously (maybe that's *>* normal.) * old DEC neons tend to flicker randomly (and it's truely random). The basic design is for the mains : Mains in--->filter --->Breaker-+--->Unswitched outs | +--->Contactor (big relay)-> Switched outs The contactor is controlled (in the 861) by a reed relay on the little PCB inside. This has a differentially-wound coil to give the 'ground for on' and 'ground for off' functionality on the 3 pin connector. The reed relay coil is powered by a little transformer/rectifier/capacitor circuit, mostly on the PCB. My first suspicioun is that capacitor. Open it up and look for any electrolytics on the PCB inside. -tony

15 years, 3 months

1
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Soldering (Was: Re: HP-IB, Amigo/cs80 ... )

by trag＠io.com

> > Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:07:58 -0700 > From: Ben <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> > Chuck Guzis wrote: > >> Soldering now is far safer than it used to be. I can still recall >> the glorious sensation of picking up an American Beauty 100W >> soldering iron by the wrong end. >> >> I suppose that we should be thankful that we don't use an >> oxyacetylene torch for PCB work... > > I guess that is why BYTE[1] went from a hardware magazine > to software. Some of the best advice I got in college was from an EE professor who told us, "If you drop your soldering iron, don't try to catch it on the way down. Just let it go." Jeff Walther

15 years, 4 months

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OT: Televisions

by brianlanning＠gmail.com

Well, maybe not so off topic... I have two things I'd like to ask about. First, I'll be replacing the display for my main computer shortly. I'd like to get something larger than 20". I'm thinking an LCD wide format thingy. I'm considering getting a "flat" television instead of a monitor. Most of them have DVI or VGA connectors on them. But they also include component inputs, HDMI, and maybe some other things that can ease connection to classic computers. A composite RCA is a must. Can anyone suggest a TV model that that's relatively fast (like < 8ms), and has a high enough resolution that would also be good for the classic stuff? I'm thinking 1080p would be fine for a windows desktop. The next question pertains to console televisions. I'd like to find (much to my wife's dismay) a console television like the one my parents had back in the late 70s. I'd like to use it to play old video game consoles from the 70s and 80s. I believe these were all vacuum tube sets though, is that correct? Is there a good source for these things (the TVs and the tubes) today? I imagine people threw them away mostly. If these are difficult to find and/or maintain, I've considered trying to create a replica console television from a newer set, maybe even something with an LCD in it. I'd probably prefer an original though. Then i could invite my mother over and sit too close to the television for her. brian

15 years, 4 months

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Selling Calcomp 565 plotter

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

I'm working on clearing out my warehouse, and I'm selling one of my Calcomp 565 plotters on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220550441602 It came with a load of DG Nova gear that I rescued, but I've never had the opportunity to test it out. Pat -- Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

15 years, 4 months

22
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Cayman GatorBox CS firmware update issues

by thrashbarg＠kaput.homeunix.org

Hi, A friend of mine gave me a GatorBox CS recently. It works nicely, but the firmware version is 1.6.1. I tried to update it to 3.0.3 with the software at http://alfter.us/files/gatorbox/gatorbox-cs/ but when it goes to reboot into update mode it stops with the Ethernet LED on. The same thing happens when I try to do a software reset. A power cycle gets it unlocked but it's no longer in update mode. Any thoughts? Cheers, Alexis.

15 years, 4 months

3
3
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Collection Reduction

by woodwp_98＠yahoo.com

Hello, We are located in the Raleigh, NC area and have a three car garage with a single room above it. We are planning on converting this to an apt for my son. The problem is it's full of stuff I've collected since the early 80's. The collection is heavily slanted towards early computers and electronics. These pictures are of a single room, just showing different views of the collection when it was spread out prior to storing it into stacks. eCollection ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/60147280 at N00/sets/72157622274120485/ ) My question is, does anyone know of someone local to the Raleigh area that could help us in the sale of this? Regards, WPW

15 years, 4 months

9
14
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Solderless breadboarding (and 68010 vs 68000)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 2/19/10, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote: >> Yes, I have been using breadboards for more than 20 years and never >> had a problem with them. Sure, you must not try to stick thick wires > > I must have been unlucky. I tried several of them in my younger days > (Eurobreadboars, the CSC/GSC Protoboards, etc) and had no end of > problems. In the end I started just soldering upo the circuits on > stripboard, and my desigens started working first time. I've done both. I've personally never had mechanical stability problems with protoboards, but then I don't tend to wedge in 0.1" header pins into my boards. I insert ICs, 1/4W resistors, various capacitors, wires, crystals, LEDs and such, but rarely do I insert header pins. I've always felt that they were "too large", even though I know lots of people stuff them in there all the time. > [1] The local pound shop (a similar concept to dollar stores) was selling > a camping lamp with 24 white LEDs for a pound. I'd buy that for a pound! (and repurpose it, as you have). >> BTW, the article says it is an MC68008, so you did not need to count >> 24 pins (on one side) :-) > > Oh, I didn't . I noticed it was a 0.6" wide package. The 68000 and 68010 > DIL packages are 0.9" wide. Indeed. Quite distinctive. >> The 68010 is pin compatible to the 68000, but if you are in OS stuff, > > Indeed. There is also a PGA version of the 68010, which is used in some > HP machines IIRC there's a 68012 which had more addres mins bought out, > but otherwise had the same PGA pinout I have read about the 68012, but don't think I've seen one in the wild. >> you have to modify some software if you are handling stack frames. >> Those are not identical on the 68000 and 68010. > > IIRC, the 68010 pushes more onto the stack on an interrupt. It does. The difference isn't onerous - at least starting with AmigaDOS 1.2 if not 1.1 (not sure about 1.0), you could upgrade your 68000 to a 68010 for an approximate 5% effective speed "boost" - this was entirely due to the one-instruction DBcc "loop-mode cache" in random places in the OS and in applications. As long as your applications didn't try to execute any "MOVE from SR" instructions (http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/68010/), no changes were required. If you _did_ have some apps that did that, there a trap handler for that on, IIRC, an early Fish disk. It would catch the privilege exception, grab the status/condition code value and return the value to the trapping instruction. One app that was used to tell if you had the patch applied was the AmigaDOS 1.1 calculator. With AmigaDOS 1.2, the app made an OS call to get the required value. The older app used a "forbidden instruction" so it made a good test. If you are rolling your own OS or writing embedded code, it's not really that hard to determine what size of stack frame you'll have and handle both. I was responsible for replacing 68000s with 68010s in the final COMBOARD product (partially to take advantage of "loop mode" when dumping buffers across the DMA interface, increasing the block speed of the board with a $50 chip). I don't think the code changes relating to the 68010 took me more than part of an afternoon to implement. It's good to remember that it's so, but rather easy to accomplish once you are that deep in the code. -ethan

15 years, 4 months

24
81
0 0

flowcharts and teaching programming

by bqt＠softjar.se

uss Bartlett <arcbe2001 at yahoo.com> wrote: > Don't forget that the DO loop in Fortan has not the same effect as an iteration as the Do condition is performed at the end.? The DO component is therefore performed at least once.? An iteration must be able to be performed zero times.?? This was why in JSP it wasn't used. It differs. What you describe is how it is in FORTRAN IV and older. It was changed in FORTRAN 77, so that a DO loop can run zero number of times as well. Johnny -- Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

15 years, 4 months

2
1
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Commodore 1520 Plotter

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

I'm going through some stuff my Aunt brought me last month, she's apparently helping someone that was seriously into Commodore computers clean out. In the pile is a Commodore 1520 Plotter. I had one of these back in the 80's. Am I correct that there isn't any source of pens any more? Of course I haven't even had time to see if it works. The real treasure is all the books. There are dozen's of books on the VIC-20, C-64, and electronics (lots of Radio Shack books from the 70's and 80's, and other books). There are at least the first two Compute Guide to the VIC-20 and the first 3 for the C-64! :-) Zane -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast | | MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | PDP-10 Emulation and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ |

15 years, 4 months

11
18
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Museums

by js＠cimmeri.com

Rob Jarrat wrote: > If there were no interest in things that pre-dated our own lifetimes then > there would not be any museums. Of course, but that wasn't my point. My point is that I observe there to be, in general, LESS interest in collecting items that predate our own existence. For example, I know many more people who own classic cars like Mustangs simply because they always wanted one while growing up, or maybe had one... than those collectors who own Ford Model Ts. You could make the argument that Mustangs are more readily available, but that wouldn't be true. It's just that few if any those Mustang owners have any interest in Model T's for any number of valid reasons. So, I'm drawing a distinction between personal nostalgia and emotional response, vs. collecting purely for historical enjoyment or purposes. Rob Jarrat wrote: > The peculiar problem faced by computer > history is perhaps the frenetic pace of computer development, which has > meant that historically interesting computers are not generally recognised > as such because they are still relatively recent and become obsolete so > quickly that they are discarded far too readily. Excellent point. Which leads to wonder if only the early computers -- when development moved slower and there were far fewer models in existence -- will remain the collectible ones. I don't see any computers in most of the 90's, and none at all from 2000 onwards that I'd ever want to collect. Wonder how others feel? Will a Dell PC ever be collectible? Are Apples the only ones that might stand a chance? Are all computers now merely appliances with zero personality? John Singleton

15 years, 4 months

30
83
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VAX graphics

by bqt＠softjar.se

Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> wrote: > On 2/25/10 12:56 PM, Richard wrote: > >> > Bottom line for me is that this looks like a 3rd party memory-mapped >> > framebuffer > > I'm not convinced. There was no sign of it in the machine room. There is nothing visible in the machine room for a graphic subsystem. It's all in the Unibus box, with just a couple of cables coming out. > I still think it is a raster terminal. The repaint speed is consistent > with that. I'd definitely say no to that. I was working at DEC in 1986. At that time, the VT241 was the hottest thing DEC had, and it could do bitmapped graphics. But let me tell you how long it took to just get a picture uploaded on that terminal, and then we are talking much lower resolution, and fewer bitplanes. Admittedly, the DEC sixel graphics format wasn't the most efficient, but you at least transferred 6 bits of graphic data for each byte, giving it a 75% efficiency. You would have had to wait almost forever to get a picture like in the video over a serial line at 9600 bps, or even 19200. And once again, no faster serial interfaces were available on a Unibus machine. (Nor did any terminals appear to go that much faster either.) Just make a small calculation. Let's assume a resolution of 640x480, with just 8 bits per pixel. That would mean approximately 300Kbyte of data to transfer. At 19200 bps, that would take 160 seconds to draw one picture. (Assuming all bits were actual data, and no overhead.) Almost 3 minutes... This is easy math, if people just try it. :-) And I dare say, that picture have higher resolution, and more depth than my simple calculation above used. Johnny -- Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: bqt at softjar.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

15 years, 4 months

5
5
0 0

Bootable Model III disks...

by alhartman＠yahoo.com

I checked with a friend whose memory is better than mine. A TRS-80 Model I can duplicate bootable Model III diskettes. The Model III disk controller cannot produce all the address marks the WDC 1771 can, so a Model III cannot duplicate a Model I diskette if the OS or bootcode is dependent on having those address marks present. So, anyone with a Model I who has good copies of Model III OS disks should be able to help the poster. I'd make several copies of each just to control for the age of the media and different drive alignment. Do one drive 0 to 1 and the other drive 1 to 0. My system isn't setup yet, else I'd volunteer. Hopefully, I'll have it setup in a couple of weeks. Al

15 years, 4 months

3
2
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test-drb February 2010