test-drb May 2012

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

189 participants
220 discussions

by lists＠loomcom.com

Ugh. It was a fairly disappointing day on the PDP-11/35 restoration front. I've updated my restoration journal ( http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/index.html ), but in summary, my H750 power supply is one big gross mess. Take a look at the condition it was in: http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/bc05t_rust.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/h750_out.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/h744_messy.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/h744_corrosion.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/xformer_mice.jpg http://www.loomcom.com/projects/pdp11-35/rusted_parts.jpg All that pink stuff is fiberglass insulation. Mice got into the power supply, and made it a nest and toilet. Everything is soiled, and lots of exposed metal is corroded. I'm feeling kind of low about this. I do believe this is restorable, but the amount of time it's going to take is bumming me out. I'll have to disassemble everything, right down to the last screw, and clean anything that's cleanable, strip rust off of anything strippable, and test all the parts individually. The fan will probably need to be replaced. Plus, it's just yucky, y'know? At least I've cleaned out the mouse nests. That's a start, I guess. -Seth

11 years, 12 months

How to contribute to bitsavers?

by snhirsch＠gmail.com

I used the only address I'm aware of, but the mail and attachment bounced: ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- <contrib at bitsavers.org> 553 5.3.0 <contrib at bitsavers.org>... You are blacklisted by the receiving mailserver. Is there a secret handshake required? Steve --

11 years, 12 months

Commodore Pet 2001-8 w/flaky brightness adjustment

by jim_mccusker＠hotmail.com

I have a working Pet 2001-8 that has one annoying issue. When I power up the unit I typically don't see any characters displayed unless I apply a slight amount of pressure on the back of the brightness control in the back of the monitor. I suspected bad solder joints but couldn't see anything wrong. Turning the control brightens the screen but somehow this control is causing the character display to turn on/off. Any ideas what might be going on here? Thanks, --Jim

11 years, 12 months

OT; International shipping into the US - preferably from NZ - questions

by jplist2008＠kiwigeek.com

Greetings; I've got a bunch of stuff - not even computers - in New Zealand (my original home) that I'd like to ship back to the US and every time I try and get it straightened out I get lost between local freighting and international customs brokers and all sorts of nonsense like that. I was hoping there might be someone out there who has done this and has a pretty good idea of what I should be expecting. Replies off-list, I would think. Thank you! - JP

11 years, 12 months

BA23 PDP11/23 Power Supply that couldn't; Trying to locate a replacement cap

by jplist2008＠kiwigeek.com

Greetings; I received a new (to me) MicroPDP11/23 that I was fiddling about with over the weekend. After testing out the supply voltages, and then putting the system together enough to get serial out of it, there was a pop, a whoosh and a rather exciting ejected plume of smoke from one of the upper fans. http://www.kiwigeek.com/misc/PDP1123_Cap1.jpg http://www.kiwigeek.com/misc/PDP1123_Cap2.jpg The capacitor is mounted on the sub-board in the PSU that the IEC receptacle is on. The markings on the back show this is a PME271M622, but I'm having trouble sourcing a replacement. Most of the places I usually look about are showing no stock or ridiculous minimum orders. On eBay (shudder) there's a similar model, but it's marked as an "X2", and I'm not sure if that's an acceptable replacement. Could someone who is more famaliar with these things give me a suggestion as to where I should be looking? (Full markings: 0,22uF at X 250V ~ MP fo=3,0MHz RIFA GPC 40/085/56 PME271M622) Thanks to all; - JP

11 years, 12 months

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

11 years, 12 months

AVL ROAD RUNNER...My father built it

by bucketnbrush＠gmail.com

My father built these things in the 70's in NJ..I this is for slide projectors and big presentation's..I think his e-mail is Merrittavs at comcast.net. Haha blast from the past for me I remember running through the huge building when they closed.. Take care Jay from Jersey

11 years, 12 months

MicroVAX I (One) disk controller problem

by hoelscher-kirchbrak＠freenet.de

Some weeks ago my MicroVAX I disk controller died together with the disk. I guess they got used to each other so much that they passed away collectively ... I used a Webster SRQD11-B/02 MFM controller and an ST-251 formatted as an RD52 (the SRQD-11 allows to mimic almost arbitrary disk types). I have no replacement SRQD11, but an RDQX2 and an RQDX3. The RQDX2 works well with my RX50 floppy drive, but I have no compatible RD51/RD52 disk. The RQDX3 refuses to cooperate with the MicroVAX I (don't know who's fault it is). Trying to boot the MicroVAX I diagnostics or VMS Standalone Backup from RX50s fails / hangs. DEC said in Micronote #43: "There are no diagnostics that are available for the RQDX3 on a MicroVAX I that is the only reason that the RQDX3 is not supportted on a MicroVAX I." Maybe that is not true for a MicroVAX I with an older Microcode revision? My MicroVAX I has Microcode Rev. 5 / Hardware Rev. 1 Anyone out there still running a MicroVAX I for fun or remembering troubles of that kind? Any hints / help welcome! (Especially donations of RD51 or RD52 disks ;-)) I'd really like to have my MicroVAX I running (rather: slow pacing) again! Regards Ulli

11 years, 12 months

VT220 focus

by cctech＠beyondthepale.ie

>Back in the old days when I still used an actual email client >application, IIRC, many had options for hard-wrapping outgoing text. >Gmail doesn't, AFAIK, but sticks 'em in on its own at somewhere under >80col, AFAICS. The convenience of Gmail is worth putting up with its >lack of customisability, but then, this is not something that I >personally particularly care about. If it were an option, I'd turn it >off, but AFAIK, it isn't, and I don't hugely care. > >But Richard was asking people to do it /by hand/ which indicates to me >that he is using some very badly broken reader, which is a problem for >him but not for anyone else and it is, I would say, unacceptable for >him to ask others to take special measures to accommodate his broken >software. Secondly, I feel that this is not something that people >should be doing in text files, unless it is needed for some special >purpose, such as ASCII art or the like. > Is the web interface for reading postings to this list a very badly broken reader? It seems to me to be something which copes very nicely with mails which are formated according to email standards, like the vast majority of mails sent to the list, including I think, all of those in this thread. It copes with the few format=flowed mails by presenting each paragraph all on one line, which makes them difficult to read unless you have a left and right scrolling wheel on your mouse and like using it a lot. Anyway, why wouldn't many people who enjoy discussing classic computers prefer to be able to read mails from the list using classic equipment and software without having it described as badly broken? Perhaps many of us come here because we don't want to be on the bleeding edge of constantly evolving standards? To get back to the subject in hand, does anyone have a spare flyback transformer for a VT220 so that I can get mine working again to check it's focus and read my mail? The one I want is pcb mounted (16-26299-01) but there is a another type connected to the pcb by flying leads (16-21181-01) and I suspect (hope) they are electrically the same so with any luck, either would do. Even format=flowed replies would be welcome and only slightly frowned on. Good luck to the original poster getting his focus problem sorted and I apologise for my part in hijacking his thread even if I did attempt to drag it back in the direction of the VT220 and components responsible for focus. Regards, Peter Coghlan.

11 years, 12 months

kryoflux or discferret enclosures

by dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu

Does anyone here have anything to show off or point to regarding enclosures for the two prominent viable disk imaging boards (kryoflux and discferret). -- 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?

11 years, 12 months

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test-drb May 2012