test-drb August 2018

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

112 participants
131 discussions

by cclist＠sydex.com

An interesting take on the removable media of the time, circa 188: https://ia601603.us.archive.org/30/items/PC-Mag-1988-09-13/PC-Mag-1988-09-1… Starts on PDF page 213. I don't think that DTC ever made a hard drive, but they did package external drives under the TeamMate product line. --Chuck

5 years, 8 months

DTC TakeTen media?

by cclist＠sydex.com

On the subject of oddball PC media, does anyone out there have media for the DTC "Take Ten" cartridge drive? I've got the drive here, still in original shrink-wrap and packaging, but no media, so I don't have the faintest idea if it still works. As the 5.25" cartridges only held 10MB, I suspect this was a flash-in-the-pan venture. I'd never heard of one back in the day when everyone was using Bernoulli drives. --Chuck

5 years, 8 months

Using M122 keyboards on a PC

by sales＠elecplus.com

Orihalcon sells nifty Soarers converter cables that let you use most terminal keyboards on a PC. But please be aware that ONLY the keys found on a normal PC keyboard will work! You can do some remapping, but F13-F24 will not be available, and some keys will not operate the same as they did on the original keyboard. I have used these to test Wyse (with removable cables), IBM, and a bunch of AT and XT keyboards. They do not work for ADDS keyboards. Cindy Croxton Electronics Plus 1613 Water Street Kerrville, TX 78028 830-370-3239 cell sales at elecplus.com --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

5 years, 8 months

Scans of VT05, RK05 and PC04 IPB, TC11 Formatter doc and DC013 chip doc

by mattislind＠gmail.com

I scanned some more documents: The version of the TC11 formatter manual online is not matching the binary that is available. This one is a later version which is a better match. http://storage.datormuseum.se/u/96935524/Datormusuem/DEC/DEC-11-YPTC-D_TC11… I found three IPBs. I couldn't find them directly on bisavers: http://storage.datormuseum.se/u/96935524/Datormusuem/DEC/DEC-PC04-IPB-1.pdf http://storage.datormuseum.se/u/96935524/Datormusuem/DEC/DEC-VT05-IPB-1.pdf http://storage.datormuseum.se/u/96935524/Datormusuem/DEC/DEC-RK05-IPB-1.pdf Finally I found a copy from a book that is about the DC013 chip - not the best copy unfortunately. But I haven't found anything like this online. http://storage.datormuseum.se/u/96935524/Datormusuem/DEC/DC013.pdf /Mattis

5 years, 8 months

Prototype IBM DemiDiskette drive

by schlae＠gmail.com

Yesterday I dug out my prototype IBM DemiDiskette drive and took some photos: https://twitter.com/TubeTimeUS/status/1032066215647166464. It caused a bit of interest on Twitter so I figured some of you here may also like seeing it. I don't really know a whole lot about it other than what my grandfather told me (he worked on the team that developed it). Dates on the remaining paperwork go from December 1979 through August 1980. It was supposed to be a very low cost drive for the microcomputer market (target price IIRC was <$100). Although it was originally developed by a team working at IBM Austin, it was handed off to a different team apparently working out of Rochester. The disk capacity was not very large--I don't remember the exact number but it was probably around 100K or less. A few interesting observations: * The stepper motor uses a spiral cam to convert rotation into linear motion to drive the head. * It is a single-sided drive. * A microswitch senses the presence of the disk instead of an optical pair. * There is no write protect notch or sensor. * There is no index sensor. * The spindle drive motor is a DC brushed motor with an encoder wheel for speed control. * Not shown in the pics, but the plastic "spot welds" holding the vinyl jackets on the disks are intentionally widely spaced making the cookie easier to remove for analysis. It's not really something you get to see every day, that's for sure... --Eric

5 years, 8 months

RK05 spindle pulleys - trade 50Hz vs 60Hz?

by gerardcjat＠free.fr

Why don't you simply power it through an inverter that will output 60 Hz, eventually even "down to" 120 V , true sine wave, of course ??? They are not that expensive by now. And be carefull : motor designed for 60 Hz, running "under" 50 Hz, OR THE OPPOSITE, I do not recall !!!, display a significant reduced life time. I have to check which is which, but I know this is a question of saturated magnetic field. Better check first.

5 years, 8 months

DEC compatible Unibus MOS

by useddec＠gmail.com

More sorting, more boards..... 3) DATARAM 40818 (ONE IS ? POPULATED) 2) EMC CORP 240-010-900 512KB EMC CORP 240-012-900 4MB MOSTEK MK8044 ASM 6805 MOTOROLA MM19 ? POPULATED 1 BROKEN CHIP NATIONAL SEMI 551109202 PLESSEY 701295 128KB HAS BROKEN CHIPS STANDARD MEM MM-144 TRENDATA STANDARD MEM MM-135 2) TRENDATA STANDARD MEM MM-140

5 years, 8 months

IBM Model M keyboard for 3192

by chd＠chdickman.com

I got a box of miscellaneous model M keyboards last week. One of them has 122 keys and the connector is the size of a PC/AT type circular DIN connector, but the 5 pins are spread over 240deg instead of the AT's 180deg. The part no. is 1390702 and a little research found it is >from an IBM 3192 terminal. Is it electrically/protocol compatible with the PC/AT and PS/2 keyboard or a different animal completely? -chuck

5 years, 8 months

BBS for RSTS

by john＠yoyodyne-propulsion.net

I'm sure it's been years since I've darkened anyone's door around here. I still have this idea that someone should write a proper BBS system (and run it) for RSTS... ...the age old problem is getting data in and out of it to connect it to the world... or one of the problems anyhow. Maybe using a telnet connection to a terminal device and some sort of homebrew message queueing system to an outside helper. Hmmm.

5 years, 8 months

Tape end retainers--followup

by cclist＠sydex.com

I finally got my package of cling vinyl today and discovered that it is indeed the stuff the vinyl open-reel tape retention strips were made of in the days of yore. The stuff is Grafix-brand "Cling Vinyl", KFC9-ASST. 9 9"x12" paper-backed sheets. Easy enough to cut with scissors or standard paper cutter. 6" long x 3/8" wide seems to be about right. No more foam blocks! --Chuck

5 years, 8 months

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test-drb August 2018