On Tue, 1 Nov 2011 09:06:45 -0400, David Riley <fraveydank at gmail.com> wrote:
> For example, most cheap clock radios have one 4-pin DIP running the whole show (and it's pretty much been the same chip since the '80s). It uses the 60/50 Hz zero crossing on the AC line to keep time, which gives it very precise time (Laurent Hammond, inventor of the AC synchronized motor which ran both home clocks and the Hammond organ, took advantage of this and now the power companies must make sure that the power cycles average 60/50 Hz over the day to a few ppm, if anecdotes inform correctly) and also gives it a handy time base for multiplexing half the LED segments. Normally, as mentioned earlier, a 60 Hz refresh frequency might cause a headache, but I imagine there are holdup caps on the LEDs so they're not quite so obnoxious.
>
> - Dave
The ability to depend on time error correction on the US power grid might be going away. There was supposed to be a test starting this last summer whereby the grid was not going to be corrected. However, at the moment, it's back in committee.
See: <http://radiomagonline.com/infrastructure/power/60hz-stability-going-away-06…> for a story written prior to the scheduled test and
<http://www.nerc.com/page.php?cid=6|386> the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (the folks who set the standards) blurb on the proposed test.
Perhaps it time to start looking for some of the early GPS network time servers that started showing up in the '80s (i.e. classic) to attach to those PDP's to ensure that one is not late for lunch...
-> CRC
Does anyone here know anything helpful regarding opening an hp32sii
calculator to fix mushyness?
--
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu
A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?
Has anyone ever heard of or even seen a Zenith CruisePad?
I never even heard of it until an attorney contacted me looking for one.
If anyone has one, or just the manual would be good, please contact me.
Thanks!
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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All,
I very much need to sell off my workstation collection. There has been
essentially zero interest in my posting from last week on the subject.
I'm trying to figure out why. Is it:
- My geographical location (Burlington, VT)?
- No interest in these specific items?
- Something else?
It cannot be price, since I didn't post any and am quite flexible in terms
of negotation. Would even consider trades if the incoming item(s) take
up considerable less cubic volume :-).
If it's the location, I'm starting to explore what would be required to
properly pack and ship, e.g. a 45 lb. Sun Ultra 60 with some assurance it
will arrive in one piece. It doesn't look like anyone in the area is
setup for injected foam packing anymore, and I just don't trust the usual
foam + peanuts anymore - too many broken units over the past few years. I
think UPS and FedEx hired the chimps from the old luggage commercials to
throw packages around during loading.
If I go to the trouble and expense of buying proper boxes and InstaPak
cushioning, it's going to average about $35-40 per unit for packing -
never mind freight costs.
But, would appreciate hearing from the community with alternate ideas.
It is going to kill me if I have to drag this stuff to electronic
recycling.
Steve
--
One of the coolest computer pictures ever is from the October 1982 National Geographic.
They have a picture of the proprietor of Boston's American Used Computer (one of the first well known used DEC dealers) in between parallel lineup of H960's filled with good DEC stuff.
I got to visit that place and ELI back in the 80's on a few occasions. It is a true joy to see the picture.
http://www.nixiebunny.com/sonny.jpg
Also they had a stunning picture of the Apple II assembly line circa must have been 1981 or 1982. Various brands of TV's at each workstation, floppy drives, HP frequency counters on most benches.
I think this is the whole article on the web: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/04/02/the-chip/?Qwd=./NationalGeographi…
I received an email from a National Geographic documentary series and they're looking for people who have large, amazing collections.
If you or someone you know has an impressive collection of old computers, or
anything else, please contact contact:
"Julie Haire" <julie_haire at beyond.com.au>
