At 12:06 PM 7/2/97 -0500, you wrote:
>On Wed, 2 Jul 1997, Ken Marshall wrote:
>
>> I was just given a Sony SMC-70 last weekend by a friend of my son's that is
>> moving. The machine has 3.5" single-sided floppy disks, both black & white
>> and RGB video outputs, an RS-232 interface, parallel interface, and a DB-25
>> connector labeled "external drives". It also has a "supercharger" unit
>
>I have an SMC-70 as well; unfortunately, I have neither an OS nor the
>floppy drives for mine. The few pieces of information that I have found
>about this machine are that it was (supposedly) the first mass-produced
>computer to use 3.5 inch floppy disks and that it was used as a part of a
>video editing controller that Sony produced in the early '80s. The
>floppy disk claim does make some sense, since the 3.5 inch format was
>developed by Sony.
>
>A few more interesting things about this machine:
>
>- The power supply is located in the rear portion of the case, which is
>mounted on tracks and movable. Moving the power supply away from the main
>portion of the case reveals a ribbon cable with several 50-pin socket
>connectors. This ribbon cable terminates at the 50-pin Centronics
>connector on the back of the unit. Does anyone have a description of this
>bus? I'm assuming that there were options available that fit into this
>area and extend the length of the unit, somewhat like the options that can
>be connected to the IBM PC Convertible.
>
>- There is a switch on the side of the unit that selects the startup
>device, which can be either ROM or disk. I'm assuming that the boot ROM
>was an optional product. In any case, mine doesn't have a boot ROM.
>
>Does anyone know if the SMC-70 floppy drives are the same as (or
>compatible with) any of the other drives that are made by Sony, such as
>the 400k SSDD drives used in the Macintosh 128k/512k?
>
>If anyone is interested, I can snap a few pictures of the SMC-70 tonight,
>put them on the Web, and post the URL.
>
>--
>Scott Ware s-ware(a)nwu.edu
>
The Sony part numbers listed for the manuals are as follows:
SML7000Z Operating instruction binder.
SML7001Z Sony basic introductory manual& basic user guide.
SML7002Z Basic reference manual
SML7003Z System monitor manual SMC70.
SML7004Z Hardware manual, technical description, SMC70.
I suggest not ordering them retail from Sony as they are listing at
about $ 50.00 ea.in 1986
Cheers
Charlie Fox
At 12:34 AM 7/2/97 -0700, you wrote:
>
>I mentioned previously a discussion I had over dinner of some classic
>systems. One of the systems mentioned was a Sony CP/M machine from the
>very early 80s. Anyone know anything about this system?
>
>
>Sam
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
>
>
Hi, Sam:
In 1983 Sony Video Products Catalog listed a SMC70 microcomputer, and
again in 1986 Japan Video Centre (Toronto) listed a SMC70G "Genlocker"
which was supposed to make a good character generator for video production.
I remember going to see one, but didn't bite because they wanted about six
grand for it, and that is a bit much, even in Canada.
Regards
Charlie Fox
Does anyone know the RX01 floppy sector interleave algorithms for RT-11
and OS/8?
Thanks in advance,
David Betz
--
David Betz
dbetz(a)xlisper.mv.com
DavidBetz(a)aol.com
(603) 472-2389
I had a business meal tonight and after some discussion I found out that
one of our guests is sort of into collecting old computers (basically he
never got rid of any of the systems he's bought over time). One of the
systems he mentioned he had was a Video Brain. Apparently this is a
video game system. I *think* I vaguely remember hearing about this
system. At any rate I'm curious about it and was wondering if anybody
knew what it was as we both had too much tequila for him to describe and
for me to comprehend it.
I told him of my plans for the First Annual Vintage Computer Festival
(which, by the way, is still on...I'm still in the planning phases) and
he mentioned that he had close contacts with a show called The Computer
Guys on the Discovery Channel and would arrange for me to meet with them
to discuss possible coverage of the show. Very nice!
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
In message <3.0.1.32.19970701060900.00f809f0(a)mail.wizards.net> classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu writes:
> >> I've seen a couple of posts in here that declare, in very firm terms
> >> indeed, that machines like the MicroVAX and PDP's are not "home" computers.
> >
> > My PDP is a home computer. All it takes up is a table (I don't have a
> > rack yet. It's coming...) Besides, my XT is bigger than the PDP at the
> > moment (condidering keyboard, monitor, printer, and disks)
At one time I had a PDP8/e and a PDP11/44 _on my desk_. They were thus desktop
computers :-). The 11/44 is now elsewhere, since I now have the 8/e's
peripherals on my desk....
Hi all,
I just acquired a Lisa 2/10 and I'm trying to figure things out.
The system starts to boot from the hard drive and comes up with a
MacWorks/Sun Remarketing logo, then asks for a diskette. Looks like
it's running MacWorks XL, is that correct? The system still has regular
Lisa H/88 ROMs so it's not messed with hardware-wise.
How come it wants a diskette and won't boot from the HD? I tried
putting in a System 1 diskette from my Mac 128 and it gave me the
"Welcome to Macintosh" splash and then died with a Sad Mac FE0002.
Do I need a special Mac System version diskette to boot this sucker?
Any info appreciated!!
(anyone have a spare keyboard? I need a few keys)
thanks
Kai
Does anyone know if one can still get Flex for the 6809 or 6800?
There're people archiving and using CP/M stuff but it seems a waste to
let a very simple and neat OS like Flex go the way of the dinosaur.
Ben
I am still sorting through my stuff and have a few odd items up on the
eBay auction. These type of things go pretty cheap (a buck for 3 power
supplies and 4 RF adapters? Cheaper than the Goodwill!) but are
sometimes hard to find (especially when you need one...power supplies?).
Anyway, all you have to do is go to the link listed and check the price.
Remember to figure shipping into what you want to pay. I'm in CA.
Lot of Power supplies & RF Adapters (TI99/4A)
Current bid: $1.00
Auction ends on: 07/03/97, 13:38:45 PDT
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=fpl6975
Indus GT Black Drive for Commodore 64 (photo)
Current bid: $14.50
Auction ends on: 07/03/97, 13:50:38 PDT
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=mtr1454
Lot of 3 Joysticks (photo)
Bidding starts at: $1.00
Auction ends on: 07/03/97, 13:57:24 PDT
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=hpq2180
Atari 800XL and Power Supply (No Workee?)
Current bid: $1.00
Auction ends on: 07/05/97, 13:10:40 PDT
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/itemfast.cgi?item=ntp8872
Thanks for reading, Greg
Are old (classic) computer magazines worth more now than the issues price?
Example: original first issue of BYTE magazine? Or can I tell my husband
to throw them out and give away the tin shed?
Lynn
Lynn Perez-Hewitt
lynn(a)ferberts.com
P.O. Box 1630
Oracle, AZ 85623
520.896.9316