From: Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com>
>
>I've long thought that the strangling of the bus done on the TI 99/4
>home PC was quite possibly motivated by TI's not wanting to compete with
>its own 990 series of computers. The cost of a TI 990/4 was
>considerably higher than a 99/4, even though both use the same MPU.
>
I have heard & read this enough times to think there's something to it.
Wouldn't be the first time this sort of thing has been done.
>I find the I2L versions of the 9900 far more interesting as far as chips
>go. They were used quite often in military gear, not as devices offered
>to the general unwashed. In a similar way, one did not see the
>Fairchild 9940 in much general audience gear.
Yes. You can debate how good a general purpose processor the 9900 is, but
it was proven to be a very good embedded controller. The memory mapped
registers and workspace swapping made real time context switching a breeze
compared to more conventional designs.
From: John Many Jars <john at yoyodyne-propulsion.net>
>Basically, my dad bought the wrong thing. It cost about 1/2 what an
>Apple //+ would have cost, and was about 1/8 as useful.
Ha! That is *exactly* how I ended up with my own 99/4.
KJ
Dear sirs,
I'm looking for the schematics of the F-051MD chinon drive. This is the
auto-eject "Super 5" slim drive for apple computers. Any helpers?
Thanks
Alexandre
Many of us know about the classic prank Signetic played back in the
1970s, with the WOM (write only memory) - but today I found out that
the chips actually exist. The son of an acquaintance uploaded some
pictures (on a different list) of the original sales kit Signetics
mailed out, and included is an actual IC, I think a 24 pin DIP, marked
S7324 2512D NFG.
Interesting other stuff, too - including a fortune cookie (I think),
bumper sticker, and funny nose & glasses.
--
Will
----- Original Message -----
Message: 6
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 14:05:46 +1300
From: Terry Stewart <terry at webweavers.co.nz>
Subject: Re: TI-99/4A acquisition
> ...I definitely need some more carts though.
...and a wider desk...
Any suggestions on repairing a dead spacebar key? All the online
discussion I find pertains to an earlier model with individual keyswitches
soldered into a PCB backplane. This keyboard is held together with melted
over plastic posts and is obviously using a printed membrane.
Before I launch in blindly I'd love to hear from anyone who's been through
the process.
Steve
--
Does anyone have the binary for the LAB-8/E version of 8K BASIC? Of
course, the original source code would be better if that's available
too.
Thanks,
Bob
Cctalkers,
March 1 is the deadline to register VCF East exhibits.
Anyone attempting to register after that will have to grovel to me and explain why "But I was busy!" applies to them and not to the 32 other people who found time...
Full details about the show, agenda, schedule, etc. are at http://www.vintage.org/2014/east and you'll also find updates at http://www.facebook.com/vcfeast.
Remember -- this is the first THREE-DAY show and anyone who goes Friday can win an oscilloscope.
Another mystery board in my junk box... this one should definitely be
for a PDP-8 because it has no signals on the F connector fingers.
I've googled all the numbers on it and can't figure out what it's for.
It has a Z80 CPU, some RAM and ROM, and a lot of bus drivers. There's
an empty 40-pin socket at U1, don't know if it had another Z80 or
what.
http://s1181.photobucket.com/user/DrCharlesMorris/media/PDP-8/P02-21-14_205…
The output(?) connectors are unique at least to me:
http://s1181.photobucket.com/user/DrCharlesMorris/media/PDP-8/P02-21-14_205…
Looks like four pin plugs would seat in those sockets (they aren't
coaxial).
Any clues?
thanks
Charles
