> From: Nigel Williams
>> it's the same as all the other PDP-11 etc logo panels,...
> when you say "same", as in the same text as well?
Sorry, I should have been more explicit. 'Same physical shape' is what I meant;
just different stuff painted on the insert.
> thanks for the confirmation.
Sure, glad to help.
Noel
> From: Nigel Williams
> I'm wondering if on a real 11/70 there is a 5mm gap between the
> masthead and the rack blanking panel below it?
If by "masthead" you mean the thing DEC calls a "Logo Panel" (see 11/70
Engineering Drawings, 'Unit Assembly', pg 1 of 5), it's the same as all the
other PDP-11 etc logo panels, the -11/70 just has an inlay (thin metal sheet)
which is painted differently.
And yes, there's a 5mm gap between the top of the top 10-1/2" blank panel, and
the bottom edge of the logo panel.
Noel
Subject: Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list..
Telex 20 Meg 10 platter ?very heavy monster drive needed drop line off list thanks Ed# ---hope this works and see ds from phone ok... thx-------
I am fashioning an RGB cable from parts. The computer (LNW80) does not
send an "intensity" signal, it is only a 6pin rgb. The magnavox rgb 80
display that I wish to use to receive has a pin for an intensity signal.
Other than "intensity" the rgb signals can be matched up.
Question...what happens when a computer does not send an intensity signal
to a display that has this input? I will find out soon enough but I am
curious to ask before I begin should anyone have a suggestion. Do I need
to add a resistor off of ground or something to fix it to something?
Bill
I'm hoping to (partially) recreate an 11/70 setup, at least as close
as I can get with what I have on hand (see the first pic in this
gallery that shows the 11/70 advert):
https://imgur.com/a/pvgUVmg
I don't have the right masthead but I'm wondering if on a real 11/70
there is a 5mm gap between the masthead and the rack blanking panel
below it? I can't see with these pieces a way to close the gap, but
I'm curious as to whether the real thing also has the gap?
thanks.
> From: Curious Marc
> I believe 3 wire memory was first introduced by IBM in their 360
> systems ... They would almost certainly have patented their way to do it
Correct (and your knowledge and memory is good)! Motivated by this clue, I
looked in:
Emerson W. Pugh, "Memories That Shaped an Industry"
MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984
where the description of the invention of 3-wire core can be found on pg.
231; it was invented by a group of engineers, based on a similar idea used in
Stretch. There is indeed a patent, No. 3,381,282, with six names on it. IBM
must have licensed it, but there is nothing on that.
I can highly recommend that book; it's in the same league as the later two
books on early IBM computers from MIT Press on which he was a co-author.
Noel
PS: There was recent discussion here of the 8000 series; there are some
details on that on pp. 189-191.
Yesterday I rescued a Sun 3/260 that had been sitting in an open barn
for years. It had been "running when parked" a dozen years ago.? It
seems to have been covered by a tarp, but otherwise unprotected. All
things considered, it doesn't look that bad but it is pretty rough.
Any pointers on things that I should and shouldn't do as I start trying
to bring it back to life?
alan
I'm working on implementing an MSCP controller on top of Joerg Hoppe's
Unibone and I'm making pretty good progress -- RT-11 works and I'm working
on getting 2.11bsd to boot from it in an 11/84 (it works well enough to
load "boot" which then loads the kernel, then things fall over).
However, given the complexity of the protocol I'd like to be able to test
it against something official rather than going from OS to OS and hammering
out issues as I find them. DEC's UDA50 diagnostics assume an actual UDA50
(and expect specific behaviors like onboard diagnostics, etc.) and I don't
really want to emulate a UDA50 -- I just want to implement a generic MSCP
controller properly.
I'm assuming the answer is "no" but did DEC ever provide actual MSCP
conformance tests (for PDP-11 or VAX) to allow third parties to test their
implementations?
Thanks as always,
Josh
Hello all,
I have been wanting to acquire a plane of magnetic core memory as a
piece of computing history. My partner actually thinks they look very
beautiful and says we should frame it, if we ever find a plane.
At the time I was thinking about memory from the S/360. But in
retrospect, this is not necessary. It would, however, be nice to know
what computer a prospective purchase likely came from. It adds to the
meaning.
One of my online friends just pointed this to me, which I am considering
purchasing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/264262833353
There is no indication of what sort of computer it came from. However I
have been told to check the bus connector.
Does anybody here have any ideas? For example, what is it? Or, if you
don't know, could you point me in the right direction so I can do the
research myself? Thanks!!
Kind regards,
Andrew
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OpenPGP key: EB28 0338 28B7 19DA DAB0 B193 D21D 996E 883B E5B9
The PDP-10 Control Console sold for $3,650.00. Amazing!
Now consider a DSKY. Currently at $27,500.00. Auction estimate: $60,000+
Great provenance! ?The DSKY that saved Apollo 14.?
https://www.rrauction.com/bidtracker_detail.cfm?IN=5222
?Apollo 14 LM Simulator Computer Display and Keyboard (DSKY) from MIT
Instrumentation Laboratory?
Historically significant Apollo Guidance Computer Display and Keyboard
(DSKY) unit from the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, used by Don Eyles and
Sam Drake to verify the software patch needed to avoid an abort during the
Apollo 14 lunar landing sequence. The data entry and display device measures
8? x 8? x 6.5?, and has 19 keys and an electroluminescent digital
display. The back of the unit retains its metal NASA parts tag which reads,
?Apollo G & N System, AGC DSKY Assy, Part No. 2003985-041, Serial No. RAY
26, NAS 9-497, Designed by M.I.T. Instrumentation Lab, Mfg. by Raytheon Co.,
" with yellow inspection stamps above. In fine condition.
Accompanied by a detailed letter of provenance from the present owner, who
was employed at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory to design, build, and
maintain the CM and LM cockpit simulators. He retained the DSKY in 1978 when
the LM cockpit simulator was dismantled and discarded.
The DSKY was the astronaut's interface to the Apollo Guidance Computer
developed by MIT, and was critical to every aspect of the mission. Each
program had a two-digit code and commands were entered as two-digit numbers
in a verb-noun sequence. The device permitted the astronauts to collect and
provide flight information necessary for the precise landings on the moon.
It was the DSKY that provided the astronauts with critical burn times for
engine firings, course corrections, trajectories, and other key calculations
vital in getting a crew to and from the moon. The DSKY also reported the
program alarm moments before the LM touched down on the lunar surface to
land.
During Apollo 14, a loose ball of solder floating inside the abort switch of
the LM Antares caused an intermittent short circuit, threatening to
accidentally activate the switch and rocket the module back into orbit
during its landing sequence. In order to prevent that scenario, MIT computer
programmer Don Eyles, a developer of the AGC's source code, was asked to
hack his own software to find a workaround. This represented the most
dramatic moment for MIT's programmers throughout the entire Apollo program,
as they had just three to four hours to work out a fix, test it, and relay
it to the astronauts in time for Powered Descent Initiation (PDI). Eyles
accomplished his task in just two hours, developing a 26-command sequence to
be entered into the DSKY that reprogrammed the AGC to ignore the abort
button. The codes were relayed to Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell with ten
minutes to spare, and the LM Antares successfully touched down on the lunar
surface at 09:18:11 UTC on February 5, 1971. As the MIT DSKY used to verify
the code that saved the Apollo 14 mission, this is an exceptionally
important piece of space history.
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