test-drb December 2016

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

156 participants
199 discussions

by aek＠bitsavers.org

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?55474-Found-an-Entrex-setup-I-hav… I hope to God someone can save the whole system. People who gut systems for the core memory boards REALLY piss me off.

7 years, 4 months

The Dick Smith System 80, as sold to New Zealanders

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

In a message dated 12/26/2016 3:14:49 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, terry at webweavers.co.nz writes: Over this Xmas break I've grabbed some time to add a few bits and pieces to my Dick Smith System 80 website. Some on the list might find this stuff interesting, hence the post. For those who might not know, Dick Smith was a colourful Australian entrepreneur (and helicopter pilot), who pioneered a chain of electronic shops. These shops were like the Radio Shack of Australia. The first of these shops opened in New Zealand in 1981 (or 1982?). Here are selected pages from the first Dick Smith catalog advertising the System 80 and accessories to us New Zealanders. The prices are eyewatering. Sales tax on overseas goods was very high. I think one NZ dollar was worth about 50 US cents at that time, maybe even lower. Nevertheless I bought a System 80 as advertised! My wife nearly killed me, as we were saving up to buy a house (opps!). Anyway, the PDF is here: http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/promotion-selected-pages-1st-d ick-smith-nz-catalogue.pdf If you want to see everything I've added, check out the top three entries in this list: http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/whats_new.htm Tez Tez - The thing that catches my eye is the S-100 expander so you can use s-100 i/o devices! Ed#

7 years, 4 months

The Dick Smith System 80, as sold to New Zealanders

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Over this Xmas break I've grabbed some time to add a few bits and pieces to my Dick Smith System 80 website. Some on the list might find this stuff interesting, hence the post. For those who might not know, Dick Smith was a colourful Australian entrepreneur (and helicopter pilot), who pioneered a chain of electronic shops. These shops were like the Radio Shack of Australia. The first of these shops opened in New Zealand in 1981 (or 1982?). Here are selected pages from the first Dick Smith catalog advertising the System 80 and accessories to us New Zealanders. The prices are eyewatering. Sales tax on overseas goods was very high. I think one NZ dollar was worth about 50 US cents at that time, maybe even lower. Nevertheless I bought a System 80 as advertised! My wife nearly killed me, as we were saving up to buy a house (opps!). Anyway, the PDF is here: http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/promotion-selected-pages-1st-… If you want to see everything I've added, check out the top three entries in this list: http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/system-80/whats_new.htm Tez

7 years, 4 months

The CHALLENGER 1P Technical Report

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Hi, Please forgive me if this OSI document is already on the web somewhere. I looked but couldn't find it. I have a copy so I scanned it. It can be downloaded at: http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2016-12-25-OSI-CP1-technical-repor… Feel free to link to it, or place it in other OSI repositories. Merry Xmas Tez

7 years, 4 months

OT: Please help - Neighbors home burned this Christmas eve

by drlegendre＠gmail.com

Please forgive this, list-members, I know it's way OT: https://www.gofundme.com/jeff-kris-kidder-xmas-eve-fire My super great neighbors across the street lost their home to fire this evening. =( These folks are the best of the best.. as the saying goes "Couldn't have happened a nicer guy!". Please spread it around as you feel is appropriate. Like most of us, we're still kind of in shock over it. I can only imagine how Jeff & Kris are.. thanks for your forbearance.

7 years, 4 months

Other SMS300/8X300/8X305 uses?

by spacewar＠gmail.com

Now that I have an 8X300 (etc.) disassembler, which I've used to disassemble the Western Digital WD1000 and WD1001 firmware, and the Zendex ZX-203 firmware, I've become curious as to what other products used the SMS300/8X300/8X305. Does anyone know of any? In the early to mid-1980s, the 8X300 was a good choice for hard disk controllers, because all instructions took 250ns, and a single instruction could read an I/O port or RAM location, shift and mask, and write another I/O port or RAM location. At the time, no MOS microprocessor was even close to that.

7 years, 4 months

ICL7611 op-amp (was: Motorola MC14081B)

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Hi folks, Thanks for all the help so far, I've moved on quite a way but I still haven't managed to get my head around op-amps other than the basics. If I may trouble your experienced heads with a small circuit diagram: http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/STCExecutelStartupCircuit.jpg This is the full circuit of all the things I've been posting recently, traced and drawn out as completely as I can manage. All the resistors and diodes have been tested out of circuit and are OK and I've just realised 3 of the resistors are labelled wrongly. R409 is 47k, R415 and R391 are 100k. IN- at the op-amp is 1.2V from the LM385ZB-1.2 which has pins 2/3 tied together. IN+ is 1.3V. V+ is 5.3V. The purple trace is RESET for the 8085, or should be. Initially the LM385Z had rotted away because of battery leakage so I was experimenting with diodes in series to try and get the IN- voltage down to 1.2V, and with two IN4148s (0.9V) the whole circuit sprang into life and I got RESET at the 8085. For two seconds, then it would cycle for two seconds. This maybe expected behaviour, I don't know. 3 diodes gave me 1.3V which produced nothing at the op-amp output, probably because there was no difference between IN+ and IN-? On a whim I managed to solder new legs onto the old LM385Z and it works, giving 1.2V at IN-, but the output is still only 0.2V. I don't mind admitting I'm stumped :) -- Adrian/Witchy Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer collection?

7 years, 4 months

Altair 8800 name Was: Re: Altair 680 Expansion Boards?

by barythrin＠gmail.com

On Wed, Dec 21, 2016 at 5:54 PM, js at cimmeri.com <js at cimmeri.com> wrote: > > > On 12/17/2016 1:23 PM, Stephen Pereira wrote: > >> I was (finally) lucky enough to acquire an Altair 680 back in November... >> > > Is there any logic to the naming of these Altairs? Wonder why it wasn't > "Altair 8080" and "Altair 6800". 8800 and 680 don't follow the same > pattern. > > ------ > > Had MITS made other Altairs... > > Altair 8800 = 8080 > 8850 = 8085 > 8860 = 8086 > 8880 = 8088 > 8286 = 80286 > 8386 = 80386 > 680 = 6800 > 680 = 6809 > 680 = 68000 > > ;-), > > - JS > ---------------------------- > lol, I would love to hear that too if anyone knows any stories behind the naming. Used to hurt my head to remember that it was an 8800 not an 8080. I know the fairly well published story about the name Altair but companies and their model numbers are always odd.

7 years, 4 months

PDP-6s at MIT

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Lars Brinkhoff > I have this on AI: >> the semi-original AI (that is, the KA-10 rather than the PDP-6) was >> .. was given to a bunch of hackers from Concourse Oh, right, now that you mention it, I very vaguely recall this. I'm not sure why I thought they had taken a KA too - I think I may have been confused by this email: Date: Fri, 16 Sep 88 00:16:04 EDT From: Peter Lothberg <ROLL at AI.AI.MIT.EDU> Subject: The "crack team", is dissasembling MX, for it's trip to Sweden To: INFO-ITS at AI.AI.MIT.EDU The crack team has begun to work; ... (As the system will not fill the container more than 40% or so, we vold like donations of other stuff, like Lisp-machines, AAA terminals, a IMP, Conection machines, retired 2060's etc, (I'm not joking...)) which does talk about taking other stuff. But I have this persistent memory that they took a KA - maybe I should try and get ahold of Peter and see? There is a later email: Date: 11-Nov-88 0:39:51 +0100 From: Peter_Lothberg <ROLL%SESTAK.BITNET at MITVMA.MIT.EDU> To: bug-its at ai.ai.mit.edu Subject: The container and MX Arrived to Stockholm and we unpacked the container on wendsday. The container has, sure shaked, the cardboard paper that we put between the cabinets, has bloue spots..... But, everything was in the same position that we left it, so, hopfully it is not hurt by the transport, or the cold here. We have put the machine on several places, while we are waiting for our new machine room to be completed. which makes it sound like they only got the KL? It's also possibly I am mixing two memories, and remembering this: Date: Sat, 3 Oct 87 23:02:14 EDT From: Alan Bawden <ALAN at AI.AI.MIT.EDU> Subject: The operating system that wouldn't die! AAAAIIIIEEEEEE!!!!! To: INFO-ITS at AI.AI.MIT.EDU I thought I would take this opportunity to spread the word about something that I don't think has been very widely publicized. Some of you may recall that a while ago some fellows in Sweden contacted us about running ITS on various PDP-10's that they owned? Well, we mailed them a set of tapes for bringing up ITS on their 2020, which they were able to do without too much trouble .. That all happened over a year ago. Recently we learned that these guys have successfully -built- ITS paging hardware for their KA-10, and have ITS up and running there as well! Totally Amazing. Pretty astonishing accomplishment, that. Noel

7 years, 4 months

Transporting an LGP-30

by vintagecomputer＠bettercomputing.net

-------- Original message -------- From: william degnan <billdegnan at gmail.com> Date: 2016-12-24 3:35 AM (GMT-08:00) To: cctech <cctech at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Transporting an LGP-30 > Well, I think you guys have convinced me that a trip is in order. Better safe than sorry with a piece of equipment like this. > > Yep Chuck, this is the CA machine. I was surprised it never reared its head on classiccmp the past few days. -C Believe me, I for one was interested, and I was in contact with the seller.?? The expense and effort, as much as >I'd love to work on restoring >this, was too great to pull the trigger. I thought about it also. ?I would have liked to have brought it back to BC and kept it here in Canada. ?But I began to wonder how it had ended up with these guys and talking to them I had my doubts about the amount of care taken in moving it around. ?And I assumed freight would be insane anyway. ?

7 years, 4 months

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test-drb December 2016