test-drb February 2017

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

153 participants
189 discussions

by derschjo＠gmail.com

Hi all - Anyone have any technical information (manuals, schematics, etc.) for the DEC DW11 UNIBUS->QBus interface? I'm curious to know what it's capable of and what the requirements are, especially on the QBus side of things. What kind of backplane is required? I assume it doesn't support 22-bit QBus devices given the age of the interface (and the complexity required to do so), but does it handle 18-bit devices, or only 16? I haven't found much technical information on it at all. Anyone have any details to share? Thanks, Josh

7 years, 1 month

MIPS I-IV instruction set standards

by aap＠papnet.eu

I'm wondering where the MIPS I-IV standards that are referenced everywhere are defined. I was able to actually find what seems to be the IV standard [1] but found no such thing for I-III. I didn't even find any bibliographic references to them. Did they only exist as printed books and nobody bothered to scan them? Or are they under copyright? Would be nice to have them accessible somewhere. [1] http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/academic/class/15740-f97/public/doc/mips-isa.p…

7 years, 1 month

Still Looking For AT&T 3B2 Internals Docs

by lists＠loomcom.com

Hello everyone, It's been about a year since I last asked around, so I figure it's time for me to put out another call for help. My AT&T 3B2 emulator sits unfinished due to lack of internals documentation. If you or anyone you know might have access to internals documents -- schematics, timing diagrams, etc. -- please let me know. These docs are very hard to find, and may never have been released by AT&T. Maybe you know a former AT&T engineer who managed to squirrel some away? I have many resources already, so I'm NOT looking for user manuals, SVR3 source code, or the IO Bus specification. These are pretty easily available online, and they've given me their all. Many thanks in advance, -Seth -- Seth Morabito web at loomcom.com

7 years, 1 month

Test

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Ezwind? -- Adrian/Witchy Binary Dinosaurs creator/curator Www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the UK's biggest private home computer collection?

7 years, 1 month

Data General MTB Reference Sought

by steve＠stephenmerrony.co.uk

Does anyone have (a scan of) a manual that covers programming the MV-era MTB tape controller? I have a 1980 "Peripherals" manual (014-000632-01) from the "Programmer's Reference Series" which covers the MTA type, but it seems that the MTB behaves a bit differently and I am missing some information for my current project. Thanks, Steve -- /Stephen Merrony Email: steve at stephenmerrony.co.uk http://www.stephenmerrony.co.uk/dg/

7 years, 1 month

Rack-mounting a TU56

by ard.p850ug1＠gmail.com

I have been given an H960 rack :-). I intend to use it for my PDP8/e system (currently piled up, not connected), which consists of the : PDP8/e processor, Full of cards, memory extension, EAE, 32KW core, boot diode matrix ROM, RK8e, RD8e, RX8e, PC8e, etc. PC04 paper tape punch/reader (acutally, I converted a PC05, but that doesn't matter here) RK05 (well, there's an RK8e in the backplane and I have a spare RK05 so I might as well use it) RX01 TU56 (single drive version, ths is not a TU55 as some have suggested!). Various PSUs and step-down transformer for the TU56 and PC04 I think I have the right slide rails for the first 4 units too... Anyway, does anyone have experience of rack-mounting a TU56? It clearly doesn't go on slide rails, it bolts directly to the rack (hinge down the front panel for access). I have the manuals from Bitsavers, they imply there is some kind of spacer block that goes under the TU56. Does anyone know what that is exactly so I can attempt to make one if it is needed. -tony

7 years, 1 month

What's the rarest or most unusual computer-related item do you own?

by rickb＠bensene.com

A selection of some of my more unusual computer-related stuff: - A Tektronix 4132 Unix workstation using a National 32016 CPU and a 4.2bsd port called UTek - A Digital Equipment PDP 8/e system with 2 RK05 drives, high speed paper tape reader/punch, RX01 Dual 8" floppy drives, 16K of DEC core memory(commonly runs with a 32K NVRAM board), 2 serial ports, EAE, RTC, Memory Extension/Timeshare board, Diode boot board (RK05 boot) - Wang 300-series calculator field service parts kit (two wooden briefcases) - Friden 6010 Computyper Diagnostic Console - Friden Electronics Training Course manuals (1960s) - Wyle Laboratories WS-02 punched card programmable electronic calculator (1964) - Busicom 207 punched card programmable electronic calculator - Altair 8800 with Altair dual 8" disk drives - IMSAI 8080 kit built in high school as a school project in 1976/1977 - Televideo Personal Terminal - GE transistorised current loop acoustic coupler modem (110 baud) - Hewlett Packard 9100A and 9100B programmable electronic calculators - Tektronix mini-Board Bucket computer and many boards for it (EPROM Blaster, TI TMS9918-Based Video Board w/RTC, SASI Interface, 6809 CPU, 6809 ICE CPU. 32K Static and 64K Dynamic RAM Boards, 300-Baud Modem Board, 5 1/4" Floppy Controller - SWTPC TV Typewriter - A large format (4'x5') Summagraphics digitizing tablet with GPIB interface - A Tektronix 4052 desktop computer (bit-slice implementation of Motorola 6800 CPU) with very rare RAM Disk module installed under keyboard - Wang Laboratories dual-cassette drive for 700 series calculator - An old fluorescent-lighted, two sided sign advertising Denon electronic calculators - Some original Digital Equipment System Modules (Used by DEC for making some of their early computers) --- Rick Bensene The Old Calculator Museum http://oldcalculatormuseum.com

7 years, 1 month

IBM S/32, PDP-11/60+RL01, PDP-11/34, East Lansing MI

by ljw-cctech＠ljw.me.uk

Via Mike Ross, but contact Greg with any questions! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Greg Bebermeyer" <bebergee at gmail.com> Date: Feb 27, 2017 4:44 AM Subject: IBM System/32 - web response To: <mike at corestore.org> Cc: Hi Mike, Maybe this is no longer relevant since I can't tell from the web page how recent the post is... I am selling my house and in the back of the garage is a complete System/32 that was working when I stuck it there and covered it. Much other stuff is in front of it so I haven't seen it in a while. It's free for the taking to anyone willing to come to East Lansing, Michigan and pick it up. If you aren't interested then it'll just go to the scrappers because I need to get the place ready for inspection. The junk haulers should uncover it in a day or two at which point I could take pictures. I also have a PDP-11/60, if you know of anyone interested. Same deal - free, come pick it up. The 11/60 main box has been stored in a dry basement along with two RL01 disk drives (in free standing cabinets, not rack mounted) along with a box of flat interconnect cables. It was used in a cardiac unit to run heart monitors and has an extra card cage full of interface cards. Also there's 3 PDP-11/34s in a rack in the garage as well. All this stuff has to go in about a week to 10 days, unless arrangements/promises are made and kept. If you're interested in any of this stuff, or could refer me to someone who might be, I would love for this stuff to go to a good home. Yup, I started with FORTRAN and 80-column punch cards. Thanks. My best, -Greg Bebermeyer bebergee at gmail.com greg.bebermeyer at gmail.com -- Lawrence Wilkinson lawrence at ljw.me.uk The IBM 360/30 page http://www.ljw.me.uk/ibm360

7 years, 1 month

Cassette Interface Assistance

by brain＠jbrain.com

Analog, which is my nemesis, curses me again. I have a cute idea for a cassette port project for the Tandy line of computers (the ones with the cassette port). I have a Coco 3 on the bench, so I scoped the output line while doing 'csave "jim"'. The signal looks to be just under 1V PtP (0-1V on the scope), and rests at about .3V when not sending data. I have tried 6 different ways to boost the signal to 5V digital, to no avail, and so I ask humbly if someone with analog knowledge might be able to assist. I first tried to boost the signal with a transistor (with variations using a N channel FET as well). Arguably, that was foolhardy, and it did not work. My second attempt was based on this link that was shared with me: http://labs.rakettitiede.com/12kbps-simple-audio-data-transfer-for-avr/ The output from the Coco3 does not appear to be "loud" enough to work with this circuit. So, I finally decided a comparator solution would be required. First, I tried a design using a 741 op-amp, which failed miserably, but probably would have worked, but I tried to merge the design from the Coco1, and replace the LM339 in the Coco 1 design with the 741, and I feel I did not merge the designs well :-) I then tried using the comparator in an Atmel AVR, and had minimal success. By biasing one input via a variable resistor to around .8V, I was able to get a digital stream, but it did not look like the data stream of the cassette format. I then pried an LM339 out of my Coco1 and replicated the circuit int the Coco 1, as noted in the tech manual: Color Computer Technical Reference Manual (Tandy).pdf <http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/Documents/Manuals/Hardware/Color%2…> I was shocked that I had no success with that design at all. I assumed (wrongly, it appears) that the Coco cassette input circuit would read the output of it's output circuit. Beyond the possibility that my components are defective or I wired it up wrongly, I can only theorize that Tandy assumed that all tape recorders would AGC the output and then feed a 2V PtP signal back to the Coco (the Coco 1 circuit looks to bias the comparator at 1.05V (not sure about the feedback resistor's impact)) I can fiddle around with the AVR solution, which might work if I can smooth out the spikes and bias the comparator right, but it just bothers me that the Coco 1 circuit does not work, as I assumed I would at least have success by copying a working design. Jim -- Jim Brain brain at jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

7 years, 1 month

Paper tape carriers and paper tape

by jwsmail＠jwsss.com

I don't know if anyone here has the interest or capability to do it, but creating a replica of the blue tape trays with the clear overlay that one could sell for a few bucks with some random fanfold copies of DEC or other diagnostics would be nice. Perhaps if there were a ready source of replicas with a perpetual listing or 10 to overwhelm the auctions with 100 and 300 dollar auctions for the genuine originals the originals would be listed and sold for a reasonable amount. I'm sure there there are things going to people with no idea what they have which would have been nice to image and save. I would think someone with vacuum molding and some skill with plastics could do the trays. not sure about the source of tapes to sell with them, maybe that does justify some extra expense. People with working readers and libraries of tapes might like them as well. thanks Jim

7 years, 1 month

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test-drb February 2017