> From: Al Kossow
> The quality of modern keycaps is poor.
> These guys are after mechanical boards with double-shot keytops.
There's something I'm still not quite grasping.
I can see two reasons for people liking the old keyboards:
- i) Higher quality construction
- ii) Connection, through a historial artifact, to an earlier age
Am I missing any?
I can definitely see the first (I myself find many modern keyboards to be
complete crap), but if that's _all_ it is, I'd think there'd be a market for
modern production of quality keyboards - not a large market, true, but I'd
think it would be large enough to be worth servicing? (Unless the cost to
produce such would be so high that there wouldn't be any buyers - but that
seems at odd with some of the prices being mentioned.)
So maybe people _only_ want keyboards that have both i) and ii)?
Noel
> From: Doc Shipley
> You guys want people to stop scavenging those irreplaceable treasures?
> Ante up, pure and simple.
That works for keeping stuff out of the hands of scrappers (who are, after
all, business-people) - but not for fetishists who will pay totally
mind-blowing sums for them.
Sorry, I'm not paying $5K for _any_ keyboard. You can buy (for example) a
complete PDP-11/70 for that much money.
> In the end, that system is worth twice as much as desoldered parts as
> the best offer I got.
But will _all_ of the constituent parts sell, or just some of them - the rest
being destined to sit on a shelf, un-sold, until they are pitched?
There's a similar debate in other areas of collection - e.g. antique Japanese
woodblock-printed books. One can usually make more money by taking them
apart, and selling them a page at a time, as opposed to selling them as
complete books. (At least all the pages do tend to sell.) Some people
consider this vandalism - destroying a 200-year old artifact to maximize $$.
I can't say they're wrong...
Noel
> From: Lars Brinkhoff
> I have Alan Snyder's C compiler running
Way cool! Congrats!
Where did you find it? Do you have source too?
> there may also be machine descriptions for Honeywell 6000 series and
> PDP-11
There _was_ one for the H6000, not sure about the -11.
> At some point it seems like this compiler was tangled with Stephen
> Johnson's PCC.
It would be good to find out what, if any, the connection is.
Noel
FYI:
From: Lars Brinkhoff
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2018 11:08:29 +0000
I have Alan Snyder's C compiler running in case anyone would like to
play with it. It's from around 1975, so the syntax is yummily archaic.
The primary host is a PDP-10 running ITS, but there may also be machine
descriptions for Honeywell 6000 series and PDP-11.
At some point it seems like this compiler was tangled with Stephen
Johnson's PCC.
Probably preaching to the choir, but if you are going to be mounting an
old tape, there are some issues to be aware of.
Tape is really stable over time and your data is likely still there.
As tapes age, the surface of the gluey oxide coating degrades. The
symptoms will be very discernable with a nine-track drive as you can
see the head/tape interface easily. The surface of the tape in contact
with the drive's head will ablate, leaving gunk on the head. The tape
will make a squeaking noise while running and may eventually stop
moving due to sticktion at the head.
Cleaning the head from time to time may get you through a read of a
tape for backup purposes, but there is a machine called a 'tape
cleaner' which is a drive which leads the tape through a path seeded
with knife-edges. As the tape travels through the machine, the knife
edges scrape a layer of oxide coating from the tape and smooths and
polishes the surface exposed. This will restore a tape to full
usability and should not affect data stored on the tape.
Pinch rollers can also collect oxide and need cleaning. Pinch rollers
on old drives may be so degraded as to make the drive unusable. I had
a Data General cart drive using Qic 300? tapes. The drive roller was
wrecked. I found in my junkpile a roller from an Epson Actionprinter
3250, removed it from the printer's output roller and after cleaning
the drive axle in the qic drive, used some windex to lubricate a
ballpoint pen barrel, stretched the roller onto the pen body, held the
body to the face of the drive axel and pushed the roller on. It worked
beautifully from then on. Stone knives and bearskins.
You can carefully make a set of knife edges on a board, thread the tape
through the edges, and use the drive you have to move the tape through
your homemade cleaner.
Best,
Jeff
Here's a list of? my next batch of stuff that can be
mailed.? Make an offer. Plan on USPS "if it fits it
ships" postage.
Data Translation DT2769/EP057???????????????????????????????? QTY 2
Data Translation DT15150/EP075 Dual D/A Converter Module
ADAC 1616/32HCO
ADAC 1632TTL????????????????????????????????????????????????? QTY 3
ADAC 1412DA? CONVERTER ANALOG TO DIGITAL 4CHANNEL
ADAC 1012??? DATA AQUISITION
Plessey Peripherals? 703185-100C & 701877-100? with Cable
BC13B-25? monitor cable
bill
Hey all --
Got an HP 2382A terminal I'm attempting to resurrect. I get no video, no
heater, no high voltage. What I believe to be the horizontal output
transistor appears to be bad, but I'm not sure if this thing contains
internal diodes that might be throwing off my testing attempts. It's
labeled "1854-0900." Anyone know what this actually is? (Anyone have a
service manual for this terminal?)
Thanks,
Josh
Free for cost of postage
- Digital microcomputer interfaces handbook (dated 1980)
"Hamilton Avnet" sticker on cover
- Intel iAPX 286 Programmer's Refernce Manual
- Motorola RF Data Manual (1980)
- Atmel Data Manual (1989)
- Intel ISIS-II USER'S GUIDE Copyright 1976, 1977, 1978
As you can imagine I doubt there is interest in all of the above,
but still I had to ask.
Diane
--
- db at FreeBSD.org db at db.nethttp://artemis.db.net/~db
> the unavilable on-line -11/44 Tech Manual, EK-KD11Z-TM-001
Ooops:
https://vt100.net/manx/details/1,3126
Not sure how that one didn't make it into my PDF collection....
Noel
So, I recently acquired a copy of the unavilable on-line -11/44 Tech Manual,
EK-KD11Z-TM-001; alas, it's bound, and I don't wish to debind it to scan it.
If anyone has one of those gizmos that can scan bound books, and wants to scan
this, please let me know, and I can lend it to you.
Noel
