test-drb October 2017

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

91 participants
94 discussions

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

ok .. does this mean I can put lots of ti 99/4 software on the sd card for people to play with in the museum? Ed# In a message dated 10/30/2017 7:06:33 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On Sun, 29 Oct 2017 12:14:41 -0500 Jim Brain via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > In case anyone has a fondness for niche tech... > > At VCF-SE this year, the TI folks had a great exhibit, and perusing > it I saw an unfamiliar machine, the TI CC-40 (Compact Computer-40). > While I was investigating, the exhibitor (MillipedeMan aka Mark), > told me the machines were frustrating to use, as TI only supported > one communications method on the unit, a proprietary protocol called > HexBus, and produced very low quantities of very few peripherals that > work on the bus. Most frustratingly, they never producing a mass > storage device in any appreciable quantity, and there was no other > way to save programs written on the unit. > > Mark did note there was an eBay seller liquidating units, so I bought > a 2 unit combo from eBay before I left the show. > > Sadly, Summer happened, but I was finally able to get to the unit, > and started working on an SD-based mass storage device for the unit. > It was an interesting journey to learn a new protocol. > > The (development in progress) result is HEX-TI-r, the HexBus SD drive: > > GitHub source code is here: https://github.com/go4retro/HEXTIr > > Video of unit operating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX5ahVCRdvM > > I don't have a project page up yet, but will work on that. > > Jim > Nice work, Jim. Thanks for the effort you've put into this. jbdigriz

7 years, 1 month

HEXTIr - TI HexBus SD Drive

by brain＠jbrain.com

In case anyone has a fondness for niche tech... At VCF-SE this year, the TI folks had a great exhibit, and perusing it I saw an unfamiliar machine, the TI CC-40 (Compact Computer-40).? While I was investigating, the exhibitor (MillipedeMan aka Mark), told me the machines were frustrating to use, as TI only supported one communications method on the unit, a proprietary protocol called HexBus, and produced very low quantities of very few peripherals that work on the bus. Most frustratingly, they never producing a mass storage device in any appreciable quantity, and there was no other way to save programs written on the unit. Mark did note there was an eBay seller liquidating units, so I bought a 2 unit combo from eBay before I left the show. Sadly, Summer happened, but I was finally able to get to the unit, and started working on an SD-based mass storage device for the unit.? It was an interesting journey to learn a new protocol. The (development in progress) result is HEX-TI-r, the HexBus SD drive: GitHub source code is here: https://github.com/go4retro/HEXTIr Video of unit operating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX5ahVCRdvM I don't have a project page up yet, but will work on that. Jim -- Jim Brain brain at jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

7 years, 1 month

CDC 6000 series transistors [was RE: Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?]

by RichA＠livingcomputers.org

From: Paul Koning Sent: Friday, October 27, 2017 12:07 PM > True if you have a TTL machine. 6600 is discrete transistor, and the actual > transistor specs are nowhere to be found as far as I have been able to tell. > But that doesn't directly relate to gate level emulation. If you have gate > level documentation you can of course build a copy of the machine out of > actual gate-type parts, like 7400 chips. Or you can write a gate level model > in VHDL, which is not the most popular form but certainly perfectly > straightforward. Either way, though, you have to start with a document that > shows what the gates are in the original and how they connect. And to get it > to work, you need to deal with timing issues and logic abuse, if present. In > the 6600, both are very present and very critical. For example, I've been > debugging a section (the central processor branch logic) where the behavior > changes quite substantially depending on whether you favor S or R in an R/S > flop, i.e., if both are asserted at the same time, who wins? And the circuit > and wire delays matter, down to the few-nanosecond level. Paul, I asked the Principal Engineer here, who has spent the last 3 years making our 6500 run, about transistors in the 6000 series. He replied: Near as I can tell, the 6500 uses 2n2369 transistors in a slightly shorter version of the to-18 package. I have had good success with both the 2n2369 for replacements, and mmbt2369 for the modules I have re-manufactured. Since the flip-flops are merely cross coupled transistors, if they are both set at once, both outputs will be true. In my experience, the set and reset run on different phases of the clock, so that doesn't happen. What you see on the logic diagrams can be interpreted this way: Each arrow is a transistor, with the emitter tied to ground. The base usually has about a 150 ohm resistor. The circle or square is the collector pull-up resistor, so in the example of the PC module in 1n15 of the 6500, there are two gates that can set flip-flop 0, and they come in on transistor 15, and 17, and the other side of the flip-flop comes in on transistor 19. All three transistor collectors are connected together to 1 pull-up. If the output pin does not go anywhere internal to the card, there will be a 120 ohm resistor in series with a diode to ground on it. If it does go somewhere internal to the card, they will leave off the resistor/diode, as the load will provide it. Hope that helps. Rich Rich Alderson Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer Living Computers: Museum + Labs 2245 1st Avenue S Seattle, WA 98134 mailto:RichA at LivingComputers.org http://www.LivingComputers.org/

7 years, 1 month

Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

by spacewar＠gmail.com

On Oct 29, 2017 09:54, "Dave Wade via cctalk" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: I am not sure they invented computer emulation. I think that the concept Emulation/Simulation is as old as, or perhaps even older than computing. Whilst it was a pure concept Alan Turing's "Universal Turing Machine" was a Turing machine that could emulate or simulate the behaviour of any arbitrary Turing machine... 1. Did Turing use the word "emulate"? I honestly have no idea. My (possibly wrong) impression was that no published literature used the word emulate with that meaning (one computer emulating another) before the IBM papers. 2. What a UTM does is simulate another machine using only a general-purpose machine. In fact, the UTM is arguably the most general-purpose machine ever described. What IBM defined as emulation was use of extremely specialized hardware and/or microcode (specifically, not the machine's general-purpose microcode used for natively programming the host machine). If anyone else did _that_ in a product before IBM, I'm very interested.

7 years, 1 month

Look to get a copy of a Multi-Tech FM300 Modem manual

by pete＠petelancashire.com

I've acquired a Multi-Tech FM300 acoustic modem and even though I could figure out the pin-outs and switch settings, it would be great if I could get a copy of the original manual. Goal is to add it to a Teletype 33 or 35 and a Bell System 500 desk set. -pete

7 years, 1 month

Cleaning and Restoring a Badly Corroded PSU

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I am now looking at the H7826 PSU that came with a TURBOchannel Extender. It looks like there may have been capacitor leakage and some heatsinks will need to be replaced. I have posted pictures here: https://robs-old-computers.com/2017/10/23/corroded-h7826-power-supply/ So two questions: 1. Any suggestion on how to clean the board? Some of the corners are a bit inaccessible to reach with just a cotton bud and isopropyl. 2. Do those heat sinks have a particular name/spec that I can search for? Thanks Rob

7 years, 1 month

Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

by bygg＠cafax.se

Lars Brinkhoff wrote: > Jon Elson wrote: > > I'm not sure the original DEC PDP-10 (KA-10) used microcode, but the > > KI-10 did. > > As far as I understand, the PDP-6 (type 166), KA10, and KI10 were > hardwired. KL10 and KS10 were microcoded. The Foonly F1 preceeded and > influenced the KL10 design. This is exactly correct. BTW: they still are... --Johnny

7 years, 1 month

Picked up job at electronic recycling center

by lyokoboy0＠gmail.com

I recently picked up a job at an electronic recycling center. Harris is right around the corner from us, as well as a bunch of technical schools and aerospace related businesses. All of thier old stuff ends up at the shop to be resold as surplus or broken down and scrapped. There tends to be to much to process, and inside space is limited. Excess equipment is stored outside in tents, and it goes to crap quite quickly unfortunately. The humidity and rain destroys stuff outside quickly. I am uncertain of how many requests I will get, but if anyone is looking for something in particular, please send me an email and I will keep an eye out for you. The place is a goldmine, and a lot of nice older gear is going to waste because the store owners do not know what it is. Examples of stuff that comes in are old microcomputers like the c64, nice 486 like machines with good isa cards in them, TONS of HP and tectronics test equipment, ham radio gear, you name it. There is a ton of good stuff here, i am trying to find some a good home before it gets stripped out. Some of this stuff works fine, the tandy 1000 computer I picked up this weekend works flawlessly for example. Other things are in a broken or parts state, but within reach of repair. There is a lot of new gear there as well, not many machines come in with nice graphics cards in them, but tons of workstations with lots of ram and hard drives are common. We get so many servers they are broken down almost immediately unless they are particularly new or unique in some way. Lets see how busy my inbox gets, if you are in need of something, please send me an email, i can keep an eye out for it and hopefully be of service.I work on Saturdays, that is the day i will be on site to look for things. Stuff will be priced as surplus/used. Hopefully i can be of use and keep some of this stuff out of the scrap pile. --Devin

7 years, 1 month

HPGL plotter art files

by curiousmarc3＠gmail.com

And I found the Columbia.plt HPGL I believe I generated using the method below. Sending directly to Mike. Marc -----Original Message----- From: CuriousMarc [mailto:curiousmarc3 at gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2017 6:16 PM To: 'Mike Stein'; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' Subject: RE: HPGL plotter art files The space shuttle comes from a .dwg that was included in an version of AutoCAD, the file is named Columbia.dwg if you want to search it on Google. I can send you the original .dwg file if you want. Then you need to use AutoCAD to print out an HPGL file. I used Autodesk DWG TrueView which is free. You'll need to spin it around in 3D until you get a top view, then zoom to it. Then I printed it from TrueView using Roland DXY 880 output with the following options: A4 paper, landscape orientation, print to file, center, print extent. Out will come an HPGL file that you might want to further massage depending how early or late your plotter is, as was said by Brent. Marc -----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of tom sparks via cctalk Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2017 11:36 PM To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: HPGL plotter art files On 16/10/17 15:07, David Collins via cctalk wrote: > Brent could you send it to curator at hpmuseum.net as well? > > Thanks! > > David Collins > >> On 16 Oct 2017, at 2:32 pm, Brent Hilpert via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: >> >>> On 2017-Oct-15, at 4:20 PM, Mike Stein via cctalk wrote: >>> Can anybody direct me to some interesting HPGL plotter files for a display at the upcoming World of Commodore show? >> >> I'm sending (in a separate, direct message with attachment) the semi-famous / once ubiquitous Space Shuttle plot from the 1980s. >> >> I received it from someone after making a similar request to the list 10 years ago. >> >> Some things to note though: this plot uses multiple colored pens and was scaled to some (largish, IIRC) size of paper. >> I was targetting a HP 9872 plotter which was too early to understand some of the more complex HPGL directives present in the SS plot, such as drawing arcs. >> I wrote a language filter/converter that will optionally scale the image, offset it relative to the plotter bed, converts certain directives e.g. arcs to a series of line-segment directives, reduces the number of pens, etc. >> >> I'll send the original SS plot, if you figure you could use the filter program, I can send it along, or a modified plot, upon request. >> inkscape has hpgl export support [Chiplotle](http://cmc.music.columbia.edu/chiplotle/) gives you a python API these is also [tsp art](http://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/TSP_art) witch can drawn on plotter tom

7 years, 1 month

looking at buying a pocket PC / PDA

by barythrin＠gmail.com

I'll add a few more problem specs than answers but the down side of a lot of devices is lack of backlit screen so working in a dark space can be a problem, and I'd be quite interested to see real battery life reviews.? ?So many devices that can work only last a few hours on battery. Could be age issues but that's what I've accepted as a reason not to collect too many handheld devices. Proprietary batteries and most are dead. Do you want keyboard or is palm like writing acceptable? On the bright side, despite battery age palms are easy to find and relatively cheap. Most are at goodwill because of obsolescence not because theyre broken.? I find them all the time for $10. null

7 years, 1 month

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test-drb October 2017