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#
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
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
> 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
-------- 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. ?
