test-drb November 2015

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

169 participants
223 discussions

by michael.99.thompson＠gmail.com

> > Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2015 13:11:29 -0700 > From: Charles Anthony <charles.unix.pro at gmail.com> > Subject: Front panels > > The front panel I want to build is for my DPS8-M (aka Honeywell 6180) > emulator. > > > http://8bitaficionado.com/2010/09/22/multics-honeywell-6180-mainframe-panel… > > > TIA, > > -- Charles > That is only one of two panels on the Honeywell processors. There was another one on the other CPU door. There is are three rollers with an encoding switchs to change what the lights were displaying. Moving the roller changed the text that was visible in the window below the light bulbs and told you what each light meant. -- Michael Thompson

8 years, 5 months

youtube video of a runnning XDS Sigma mainframe with lots of nice periphe...

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Be good to see this all live again! \ Kudos to Allen and LCM! Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 11/2/2015 5:48:04 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, p.gebhardt at ymail.com writes: All the HW and SW that >> was in running condition was rescued by the LCM in Seattle. I know LCM has >> had someone with Sigma experience working on and off on the Sigma to get it >> running again. Not sure of the current status. But, that would be an >> awesome time-sharing system alongside the DEC-20 they have.

8 years, 5 months

SCA drives - any interest?

by jzatar2＠illinois.edu

>Just asking: Any interest in 80-pin SCA drives, >Ultra 3 and Ultra320 in various capacities, both >IBM and HP/Compaq 'caddies' ? > >m I think you mentioned you had ~150GB drives, but I was wondering if you had some in larger size? I'd take a couple 300GB if the price was right. I bought an LTO-3 drive, but if I want to do any CPU based compression, I'm going to need at least a (400GB) tape's worth of 'tape spooling' buffer space. 3 ~150GB drives would work, but I'd like to cut down on power and noise, and go with a couple 300GB drives if you have them, and the price is right. I'd be willing to do about $40 for the two or three drives, if that's not worth your time, then just let me know and I'll start looking for some drives elsewhere. Thanks, Joseph Zatarski

8 years, 5 months

Front panels

by charles.unix.pro＠gmail.com

The front panel I want to build is for my DPS8-M (aka Honeywell 6180) emulator. http://8bitaficionado.com/2010/09/22/multics-honeywell-6180-mainframe-panel… (Now it's a pretty big panel, so I'm thinking 1/4 scale.) I'm mostly interested in the lights; having functional switches would be nice, but not critical. (My background: good grasp of basic digital electronics; did some wirewrap boards back in the early eighties. Poor soldering skills, no workshop. Mad software skillz.) I would like to build it reasonably cheaply. So I would start with a simple SBC; Beaglebone or the like, that can function as a USB device. I can write the S/W to push a bunch of bits down to it. What I don't know how to do is drive 500 or so LEDs. I am guessing a bunch of shift registers, but I've pretty much reached my design limits. I need some guidance on locating and understanding the technology to run that many LEDs. TIA, -- Charles

8 years, 5 months

Emulex QD32

by cc＠informatik.uni-stuttgart.de

Hi all, I'm trying to set up a MicroVAX II that has an SMD disk attached to an Emulex QD32 controller. I need to test and/or format the disk and so I'm looking for images of the Emulex diagnostic floppies (should be RX50 AFAIK). Those found at http://www.headcrashers.org/comp/rx50/ boot, but I have not the faintest idea of how to start anything in there; even a "DIR" gives only an error, so I assume they are faulty/incomplete. That's what I get: >>> b dua0 2..1..0.. Emulex VAX Monitor V1.2 MicroVAX I 16-SEP-1985 09:00:00 uEVM>DIR ---> ERROR: PHYSICAL READ ERROR Is there by any chance also a diagnostic manual for this stuff? Christian

8 years, 5 months

Seeking equipment storage help in Phoenix

by drb＠msu.edu

Jay West and I are working on rescuing a minicomputer system in the Phoenix area. The equipment will eventually be shipped to one of us, but for right now we need to get it out of the building where it currently resides, and into temporary storage. If we have to, we'll use a u-store facility, but we're hoping a collector near Phoenix might be willing to store the system for a few months until we can arrange onward movement, to reduce the wallet pain. We think we have transport lined up to move it to your location, though if you happen to have a liftgate truck and be a nice guy or gal, ... ;) Size: the system is basically two racks, plus boxes for cables, manuals, etc. The whole pile should be less than three racks worth of floor space. Total weight is about 1400 pounds. Time frame: the equipment needs to be out of its current location before the end of November. We'll commit to moving the equipment onward within six months. If you think you might be able to help, drop Jay (jwest at classiccmp.org) or me a line. Thanks! De

8 years, 5 months

dec cabinet part available

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I've been away from DEC stuff far too long, so I don't remember what this is called - but I'll describe it. The beige dec cabinets (corp cab?) that are wider than about 19 inches... the ones where there is the "normal" 19" rack and then to the left or the right there is a top to bottom, front to back, "plenum" about maybe 8 inches wide. What I have is the brown cover for that plenum. 52.5 tall, 7.5 wide, hex key quick-release at the top, two ears at the bottom. Come to think of it, I'm not 100% sure it is from a DEC cabinet but I am thinking it came off one of a few five foot tall beige dec racks all stuffed top to bottom with RA81's. Anywho, whatever it is from, I am sure I do not have the rack (nor the RA81's that came with) that it goes with any longer. I'm in a rather non-trivial project to clean out and organize the basement and I'd like to get rid of this. I'd hate to put it in the skip if someone looks at it as "the last unobtainium piece to finish off their restoration". If no one wants it, I'm going to snag the hex key quick-release mech for myself and pitch the rest. J

8 years, 5 months

RF08/RS08 photos and panel measurements (Re: RK11-C Panel)

by cube1＠charter.net

Looking at the document at: http://dustyoldcomputers.com/pdp-common/reference/drawings/peripherals/docs… The picture, though extremely fuzzy, matches my panel in the organization of legends and breaks in line. Since I have what I think is a complete RF08, and pieces of the drive (RS08), I think it is safe to conclude that I have the panel from an RF08. However, the panel is designed to actually hold up to 8 lights of 36 bits each. I have to believe that DEC used this setup for any number of light panels. For photos of the drive electronics, controller electronics, power supply, platter and display and display measurements, see: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2v4WRwISEQRTkVRX2NPMThILWM I posted detail display panel photos and measurements in subfolder Display of this Google Drive folder (RF08-RS08) The main folder has photos of the drive (RS08) electronics and the controller (RF08) electronics, etc. (The very first photo shows some mouse droppings / seeds, which I cleaned up (though I did not entirely disassemble the thing), and are less apparent in subsequent photos (I recall there being even more extensive cleaning after the simple vacuuming I did before taking most of the photos). There is also a photo of the power supply and the (now separated from the container) platter and a head or two as well as a photo of the display panel. In the Display sub-folder are photos of the panel and its components, and a text file with measurements. Apologies in advance for the photo quality of the display. I didn't want to use a flash, and so there was some camera shake, even with IS. JRJ On 10/26/2015 7:25 PM, Noel Chiappa wrote: > > I have just worked out the pattern on the cables to the indicator panel, > > which allows me, from the device schematics, to tell which signals are > > shown on which lights on the indicator panel - I can even tell where the > > spaces are between light groups (since those lights are not > > connected). So I know now exactly what the panel shows, and almost > > certainly in which lights (although there might be a left/right swap, > > there are no fields which span the boundary). > > So here's the writeup on the RK11-C insert: > > http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/pdp11/RK11-C_insert.txt > > The unusual light pattern should allow us to know, instantly, if we see one. > > Noel > >

8 years, 5 months

KIM Uno /PiDP-11 plans...

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> I've ordered 10 7101J50-CQE2's from Online ... _Iff_ they fit into the > old front panels, I'll let the list know. > ... > let's see if the 7101J50-C's fit, then we can discuss how to proceed. So the switches got here Friday, and alas, they are _not quite_ the right thing. They are very close, however - they have the bent face-plate, with the latch, and the triangular side plates with the holes at the tips for the pivots of the toggle (actuator, is I guess the formal name). They are also the same size (facing them - i.e. side-side, both directions). The only thing that's wrong is that the distance between the switch body, and the top of the bent face-plate, is too far. This, alas, means not only that it won't fit into existing holder frames on front consoles, but they also interfere with the installation of the DEC custom toggles (actuators). However, they are _so close_ that it's possible that C+K can produce some semi-custom ones with the right distance. (I've had a good look through the C+K 7000 series catalog, and all of the current snap-in panel ones have the taller offset.) Maybe they even still have the tooling, and it's only a special order. Anyway, I will call C+K on Monday, and see what I can find out. Noel

8 years, 5 months

Front Panels - Thoughts

by rodsmallwood52＠btinternet.com

Hi Guys Sitting here doing the overlays for the 8/e silk screen run. I had a thought. Including all makes of computer old and new. What about a front panel with lights and switches for systems that never had one and could have done with one? Which computer would you nominate? I'm not about to do anything about it. But the answers should be interesting Rod Smallwood

8 years, 5 months

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test-drb November 2015