test-drb February 2010

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

175 participants
221 discussions

FC5025 USB 5.25 floppy controller - first report

by jack.rubin＠ameritech.net

I ordered my board as soon as I got the announcement on Thursday. I received the board today (Saturday) and took it for a spin - imaged an Apple 16-sector disk and an MSDOS 1.2M disk using a YD-380 as the source drive. Both worked great - the Apple disk produced a .dsk file that opened and read in CiderPress and the DOS disk produced a .img file that looked good in WinImage. I was tempted to hook it up to an 8" drive using my DBIT adapter but hesitated based on the discussions here. Would the DBIT adapter provide the necessary buffering to drive a Shugart 801? I really like the idea of an 8" drive connected to a netbook. Jack

14 years, 2 months

BNC to VGA Cable

by emu＠e-bbes.com

Hi all, a source for a BNC to VGA cable ? (Yes, I have a soldering iron, but like to buy some ;-)) The other way around (VGA->BNC) is easy to get, but don't find any BNC->VGA(15 pin) Cheers & thanks

14 years, 2 months

forget it - DEC H777 PSU

by binarydinosaurs＠gmail.com

Forget the 230V bang issue, it IS a 115v PSU from an industrial site! Now we just have to find out what's gone pop... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Adrian Graham <binarydinosaurs at gmail.com> Date: 24 February 2010 15:39 Subject: DEC H777 PSU To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" < cctalk at classiccmp.org> Folks, Got a PDP 11/04 on the bench here at work with an H777 (54-11599) PSU in with a sticker on it that says 'pop, bang & smoke'. I've downloaded the maintenance printset from Manx (yay Manx) but before I even begin I've noticed a terminal block on the transformer that indicates a jumper between terminals 1&2 and 3&4 for 115V and an additional jumper between 2&3 for 230V. This third jumper is missing so have the owners of this PDP just put 230V across a PSU jumpered for 115V? Thanks! -- Adrian www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk -- -- adrian/witchy Owner of Binary Dinosaurs, the UK's biggest home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk

14 years, 2 months

DWQVA?

by mark.kahrs＠gmail.com

Curiosity demands that I ask about the DWQVA. The module catalog(ue) lists it as "2 channel fiber optic interface (IFQ), Qbus to Stealth bus". What IS the stealth bus? No, I am not going to buy any of the ones on epay.

14 years, 2 months

IBM 3633 Optical Disk Drive

by starbase89＠gmail.com

I'm trying to find some info on the IBM 3633 Optical Disk Drive. I am selling things for infoage, and this is among the stuff. I have the drive, cable, MCA controller card, "IBM Binder Manual," and several blank disks. I haven't seen any sold on ebay. Joe

14 years, 2 months

WAY OT RE: Asbestos: (was: RE: Tubes & Computers of Olden Days)

by IanK＠vulcan.com

Trial lawyers are part of making case law. Legislators make statutory law. Case law is *usually* very narrowly targeted. Statutory law tends to be where you find the overbroad, overreaching and uninformed regulation of how we live our lives and do our business. Stakeholders are... us. I'm part of an advocacy group for a particular area of interest that has been very effective in our efforts to educate our legislators regarding our issues. We've been able to get good legislation introduced, heard and passed, and bad legislation killed. Next week, I am meeting (by invitation) with the head of one of the state regulatory agencies that impacts my interest area. She wants to know what I think. I know because she's asked before, and evidently included my input (on behalf of the stakeholder community) in her decision process. If you include in the concept of 'lobbyists' citizens who show up, unpaid, and speak to the issues with data, not just impassioned rhetoric (although we have some of that, too), then you are not incorrect. But I suspect you are repeating the oft-stated belief that only paid, high-powered lobbyists are really making a difference. My small, not-for-profit advocacy group has beat those people at their own game on more than one occasion. I don't get paid for the time I spend in the state capital, and I pay my own way when I visit D.C. I'm paid back when stupid things don't happen, and even more richly when good things DO happen. In my experience, at least at the state level, they're listening to the people who are talking: the decisions are made by the people who show up. Yes, sometimes the dragon wins, but in my experience the dragon loses often enough to well-informed and passionate citizen stakeholders that I keep going back. -- Ian ________________________________________ From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ken Seefried [ken at seefried.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 9:18 PM To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: Asbestos: (was: RE: Tubes & Computers of Olden Days) Dad was an executive and principle engineer at a hazardous waste abatement firm. Lots of asbestos and superfund site cleanups. I got a lot of collateral knowledge. From: Ian King <IanK at vulcan.com>>The primary metric is the 'friability' of the asbestosPrecisely. Not all asbestos is created equal; much is completely harmless, some is frighteningly damaging. Friability is a fancy way of saying how finely do the asbestos fiber shatter under stress. The finer the particles, the more dangerous. >I agree that a simple knee-jerk reaction to asbestos is >silly - but that's how legislators most often write laws. Well...not exactly (IMO). The legislation followed the trial lawyers making "asbestos" the equivalent of "plutonium" or "cyanide" in the minds of the public and therefore the jury pool. It's really tough to convince a jury that this asbestos is potentially lethal, but that form is harmless, especially when platiff is coughing his lungs up in the corner. P.S. - I am *not* saying there wasn't a cavalier attitude toward the stuff, and a lot of people were hurt without cause. >(Unless stakeholders are there to help them understand >the facts.)If you're refering to the legislators, the the stockholders are lobbyists, and you don't always get the desired outcome. KJ

14 years, 2 months

Anyone in Houston, TX?

by julian＠twinax.org

Hi all, Just moved to the Houston area, wondering if there are any classiccmp'ers down here. I'm up in Spring.

14 years, 2 months

Asbestos: (was: RE: Tubes & Computers of Olden Days)

by ken＠seefried.com

Dad was an executive and principle engineer at a hazardous waste abatement firm. Lots of asbestos and superfund site cleanups. I got a lot of collateral knowledge. From: Ian King <IanK at vulcan.com>>The primary metric is the 'friability' of the asbestosPrecisely. Not all asbestos is created equal; much is completely harmless, some is frighteningly damaging. Friability is a fancy way of saying how finely do the asbestos fiber shatter under stress. The finer the particles, the more dangerous. >I agree that a simple knee-jerk reaction to asbestos is >silly - but that's how legislators most often write laws. Well...not exactly (IMO). The legislation followed the trial lawyers making "asbestos" the equivalent of "plutonium" or "cyanide" in the minds of the public and therefore the jury pool. It's really tough to convince a jury that this asbestos is potentially lethal, but that form is harmless, especially when platiff is coughing his lungs up in the corner. P.S. - I am *not* saying there wasn't a cavalier attitude toward the stuff, and a lot of people were hurt without cause. >(Unless stakeholders are there to help them understand >the facts.)If you're refering to the legislators, the the stockholders are lobbyists, and you don't always get the desired outcome. KJ

14 years, 2 months

OT: white LEDs

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 12:00 -0600 2/23/10, Randy wrote: >If you look at one in the microscope, it looks like an LED with some >sort of phosphor painted over the semiconductor. Is that how these >things work, its really a high efficency IR LED, with a phosphor >doubler to bring the wavelength into visible? Just speculating... There are a few crystals that can double frequency (halve wavelength, thereby *increasing* the energy per photon). I think these are used in laser ranging, to bring a powerful IR laser beam up into the visible so it'll transmit better through the atmosphere. I think no phosphors can do that. They can bring frequency *down* (ie absorb an ultraviolet photon, emit 2 visible or one visible and one IR or some combination). In fact, I don't recall ever hearing of a device that can do that with non-coherent light (well, as direct conversion). The problem is trying to gather 2 low-energy photons into a single high-energy photon. That turns out to be tough to do in general. There are phosphors that can be "pumped" by blue or UV light, then stimulated to re-emit visible light when IR photons hit them. (I think the Germans made IR goggles this way in WWII.) -- - Mark 210-379-4635 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Large Asteroids headed toward planets inhabited by beings that don't have technology adequate to stop them: Think of it as Evolution in Fast-Forward.

14 years, 2 months

Tubes & Computers of Olden Days

by roger.holmes＠microspot.co.uk

On 22 Feb 2010, at 18:00, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > > Message: 19 > Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:45:19 +0000 > From: Colin Eby <ceby2 at csc.com> > Subject: Re: Tubes & Computers of Olden Days > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > Message-ID: > <OF71E503B7.7C3067C5-ON802576D2.003F9F40-802576D2.00409310 at csc.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII > > > I'm rather surprised this thread hasn't brought up what has to be the most > complete, working order, and fully programmable of the remaining tube > machines. There are a couple of interesting systems in the process of > restoration, but for my money, the best of the running examples is the > Science Museum's (London's) Ferranti Pegasus. Unlike the Collosus replica, > this is an actual relic, and recognizably a programmable computer in the > modern sense. The Colossus and most of the later small systems are > pegboard programmed and therefore cannot alter their instructions in > flight. That Ferranti is demo'd regularly (though I never seem to be around > on the right day). I'm sure everyone can do their own Googling, but it a > pretty complete setup. I keep a loving photo of it in my office cubicle. > > Thanks, > Colin Eby > Technical Architect > NR Performance Engineering > CSC > I think you were right, and I hope you will be again, but last thing I heard was there had been an incident and it was shut down awaiting a health and safety review. If my memory serves me right some twit reported the blown fuse had asbestos in it. I expect most of the steam boilers in the building do too. We've gone health and safety mad, but when I reported someone had fly tipped a load of asbestos on a country verge the council collected 75% of it and left the rest behind and now some of it has got driven over and is being pulverised into the mud. Roger Holmes, Computer Conservation Society and 1301 working party member

14 years, 2 months

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test-drb February 2010