Hey folks,
Recent activity on the list, especially the "Ka... ching!" thread, has
had me reevaluating a lot of what I get out of this hobby. I think there
are two things going on that make it less fun for me now: The money,
and the age of the stuff. I'll try to explain.
I've never been a real "collector", I suppose. I don't feel a burning
need to fill every hole in a product line, or to put things on display.
I've also never been in this for the money, far from it. No, the only
reason I've ever collected classic computers is because I've loved
playing with them. That's really all there is to it. I enjoy the sights,
sounds, and smells of firing up vintage computers and seeing them work.
On the money front, as I said I've never been in this for the money.
There was a time when most of this stuff could just be had for free, and
that was fun! Going on rescue trips was a blast. I'll never regret
driving down to LA from the Bay Area to rescue a PDP-11/34, or the time
that a bunch of us got togethr and picked up an 11/45 and an Imlac PDS-1
>from Bill Gosper's house. What a time that was -- I didn't even keep any
of it, I was just there for the rescue and the camaraderie.
But nowadays, there's so much less of that. 99% of what trades hands
seems to go back and forth on eBay for real big bucks. And that's
probably just the sign of a maturing hobby, but it's not really what I
enjoy.
And secondly, lately there's been a lot less of "firing up vintage
computers and seeing them work", and a whole lot more "carefully
replacing capacitors and praying that the vintage computer will still
fire up". We've reached the point where the hardware I love is dying.
It's been dying for years, I suppose, but now it's in hospice care. And,
frankly, that part of it is so much less fun for me than actually using
the systems. Am I just lazy? Maybe. And don't get me wrong, I've learned
SO MUCH about electronics from taking care of these systems, so I don't
consider it a loss at all. It's just not what I want to spend my time
on.
I've been ruminating on all of this pretty hard for the last couple of
months, and I've concluded that my enjoyment just isn't there any more.
Now that I'm surrounded by a bunch of stuff that I'm not getting
much out of, I feel like I'm being weighed down by the hobby. I think
it's time for me to move on and concentrate on other things.
I'm not sure yet what that means for my current collection. It's already
much smaller than it once was, as I've found homes for a lot of things
over the years. I've moved a lot, and every time I've moved I've found
homes for things I didn't want to take with me. It's probably time to do
that again, only without the moving part.
I think probably I'll have one last big "sale" of stuff, which I'll post
about here. At this point most of what I have is vintage home computers,
terminals, and QBUS PDP-11 stuff, so not everyone will be interested in
it -- but maybe some people will.
-Seth
--
Seth Morabito
web at loomcom.com
the perennial '937' problem
just installed 6085 XDE 5.0 from floppies but there is no option in the
installer to load and setup to boot settimedove.boot from the copilot volume
someone must have figured this out
on the other hand, since none of the compilers or actual useful stuff is installed,
since you're SUPPOSED to fetch this off the XNS network, maybe not.
I should post this on comp.sys.xerox :-)
> From: Jim Stephens
> The two bay 11/45 went for twice the bid, since it was listed as 2 pcs
> @ 1500 each
Yeah, I couldn't quite work that out - did it mean there were two mostly
identical ones, and they only had pictures of one, or did it mean 'two racks'?
Noel
Hi Guys
Having established a good stock of panels. I now have got
a little time to move my PDP-8/i project along a bit.
The front I already had . A kind list member let me have a lights board.
I built and and tested it
It is compatible with the original /i in form, fit and function.
This means you could attach wires and paddle (Filip Chip Type ) boards
to it and plug it into a real /i and it should run.
As I have said before the /i is a wire wrap back plane and loads of flip
chip boards. It would not be possible to duplicate it.
So modern technology front and center please! The Raspberry Pi is
cheap, available and I have one.
I also found a 32 port Pi I/O expansion board that you can have up four
of on one Pi.
SimH runs on a Pi and it does do 8/i emulation. It looks like SimH is
written in C. Not a language
I have used but I'm sure the hundreds of different versions are all very
good !
Hopefully you can declare and call SimH functions under Python.
The four 32 port Pi I/O expansion boards I ordered should be here
to-day or Monday.
They are accessed using the I2C bus from the Raspberry Pi
The switch panel is a bit more of a problem. I'm sure copies of the DEC
butterfly rocker switch will become available.
in the meantime commonly available rocker switches will suffice for
development purposes.
Although Oscar multiplexed his lamps I may be able to find out how the
system signaled it needed to update the lamp display.
Rod Panelman Smallwood
--
PDP-8/e PDP-8/f PDP-8/m PDP-8/i
Front Panels ex Stock - Order Now
ok ! there are a set on ebay also but not cheap if you can live
with the electronic stuff and occasionally print a page you will do fine with
the links...
I like to have hard copies of manuals here in the museum's library and
while I like searching things electronically I really appreciate
something that is bound paper to sit and an arm chair and read....
now If I am gonna take the paper to the greasy machine to work, I make a
copy of page needed or print from the online one! Ed#
_www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)
In a message dated 10/13/2016 10:58:28 P.M. US Mountain Standard Tim,
vintagecomputer at bettercomputing.net writes:
I missed those somehow.. thank you. Got a lot to learn with this beast!
Sent from my Samsung device
-------- Original message --------
From: COURYHOUSE at aol.com
Date: 2016-10-13 10:30 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org, vintagecomputer at bettercomputing.net
Subject: Re: ASR 33 buzzing
did you get the links we sent you over on the greenkeys list for
sources on 33 manuals and paperwork we sent you? We did not get an
acknowledgment. thanks Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org/)
In a message dated 10/13/2016 4:37:20 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
vintagecomputer at bettercomputing.net writes:
The buzzing definitely seems to be coming from the motor. I put a plastic
tool to the casing and could feel it vibrating. However, I can turn it by
hand (clockwise) and see all the gears and striker mechanisms working.
It did manage to work briefly yesterday.. it did kind of a 'reset'. But
yeah.. not today.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul
Koning
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2016 4:28 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: Re: ASR 33 buzzing
> On Oct 13, 2016, at 7:14 PM, Brad H
<vintagecomputer at bettercomputing.net>
wrote:
>
> Posting around hoping somebody might be able to point me in the right
> direction. I tried greenkeys but no response.
>
>
>
> I have an ASR 33 I got. When I plug it in on Line mode there is a
> clicking in the power supply area and nothing else. If I put it to
> Off or Local, there is a loud buzzing sound and eventually a 2A fuse
> on the back left side of the machine blows. It's like something's
> stuck but the noise is kind of hard to pin down. Wondering if there's
> any Model 33 experienced guys out there. :)
>
Given the blown fuse I'd suspect a stuck mechanism, so the motor is stalled
and you're getting overcurrent. Try turning the motor by hand to confirm.
paul
Yeah I'm sure we must have bad cap(s) here. ?I think pretty much everything is original on this thing. ?I've no idea how old it is.
I'll have to read through the manuals and figure out where the cap is. ?I'm assuming it must be round.. although directly under the fuse is a little black box connected to it. ?
I note when I plug it in on Line sometimes there's a single metallic clack from the PSU area and sometimes it's multiple..lioe someone's operating a telegraph.
I was rotating the motor and seeing how things work (hard to believe it doesn't just fly apart given how intricate it is). ?I was able to push keys.. however now I have the top row locked down and the keyboard cover won't fit back on.. heh. ?Hoping I'm not breaking things as I go.
Sent from my Samsung device
-------- Original message --------
From: "drlegendre ." <drlegendre at gmail.com>
Date: 2016-10-13 10:17 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: Re: ASR 33 buzzing
Tony's suggestion is the best at this point - look for issues with the
motor start and/or run caps. A shorted (or open..) cap can certainly cause
this issue. Shorted and it draws excess current in the cap, open and it may
prevent motor starting / running which likewise draws excess (stall)
current, but in the motor windings.
Also, it shouldn't be too hard to isolate the motor assy. itself from the
rest of the circuit - lift the correct lead(s) from the AC power
distribution system. It may be much easier if you can deal with the motor /
cap assy. as a single entity, rather than within the rest of the complexity.
This is just generic advice from a guy who's never fixed a 33. But assuming
yours has the standard AC synchronous motor, it should all apply. Motors
only draw excess current for a very few reasons - overload / stall, shorted
windings, bad start / run caps and possibly associated start / run relays.
On Thu, Oct 13, 2016 at 11:34 PM, tony duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
wrote:
>
> > The buzzing definitely seems to be coming from the motor.? I put a
> plastic
> > tool to the casing and could feel it vibrating. However, I can turn it by
> > hand (clockwise) and see all the gears and striker mechanisms working.
>
> Should the motor be running in the 'Off' positon of the switch, though?
>
> If the motor is buzzing and taking a high current (which blows the fuse),
> what about the motor run capacitor (the one on the mechanism chassis
> itself, wired to the motor)? Maybe it has failed.
>
> -tony
>
did you get the links we sent you over on the greenkeys list for
sources on 33 manuals and paperwork we sent you? We did not get an
acknowledgment. thanks Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org)
In a message dated 10/13/2016 4:37:20 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
vintagecomputer at bettercomputing.net writes:
The buzzing definitely seems to be coming from the motor. I put a plastic
tool to the casing and could feel it vibrating. However, I can turn it by
hand (clockwise) and see all the gears and striker mechanisms working.
It did manage to work briefly yesterday.. it did kind of a 'reset'. But
yeah.. not today.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Paul
Koning
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2016 4:28 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Subject: Re: ASR 33 buzzing
> On Oct 13, 2016, at 7:14 PM, Brad H
<vintagecomputer at bettercomputing.net>
wrote:
>
> Posting around hoping somebody might be able to point me in the right
> direction. I tried greenkeys but no response.
>
>
>
> I have an ASR 33 I got. When I plug it in on Line mode there is a
> clicking in the power supply area and nothing else. If I put it to
> Off or Local, there is a loud buzzing sound and eventually a 2A fuse
> on the back left side of the machine blows. It's like something's
> stuck but the noise is kind of hard to pin down. Wondering if there's
> any Model 33 experienced guys out there. :)
>
Given the blown fuse I'd suspect a stuck mechanism, so the motor is stalled
and you're getting overcurrent. Try turning the motor by hand to confirm.
paul
Posting around hoping somebody might be able to point me in the right
direction. I tried greenkeys but no response.
I have an ASR 33 I got. When I plug it in on Line mode there is a clicking
in the power supply area and nothing else. If I put it to Off or Local,
there is a loud buzzing sound and eventually a 2A fuse on the back left side
of the machine blows. It's like something's stuck but the noise is kind of
hard to pin down. Wondering if there's any Model 33 experienced guys out
there. :)
Good find on archive.org even in .gz format still. I'm fairly positive the incident was discussed on the mailing list and vcfed. Issues happen and it was a perfect storm.
I like to chock it up to new technology failing us. ;-)
Kudos to Jay for keeping this alive as well as he does. Lots of great history and stories are definitely discovered and archived here.
