Subject: Re: Classsic Computing Newsgroup revisited
Message-ID: <199706222028.4491(a)tw500.eng.cam.ac.uk>
>> I'm against new newsgroups being created, especially when the topics
>> are quite technical and already well-handled by existing newsgroups.
>> For example, people wanting Apple II help can go to comp.sys.apple2,
>> users of various CP/M systems hang around comp.os.cpm, PDP-11
>> users have vmsnet.pdp-11, etc.
>Agreed. Off-hand I can't think of a single classic computer which is not
>covered by at least one existing newsgroup. If you don't know which group
>to post to, you'll find that most of them are quite friendly to
>just-off-topic questions. If you find an obscure Z80 machine that didn't
>ever run CP/M, I'm quite sure that a post to comp.os.cpm would get either
>some help or a pointer to the appropriate newsgroup. I'd be _very_
>supprised if it got a flame.
Let's get this straight:
A) alt.technology.obsolete does not need to be created, it has been on
the net
for at least as long as I have (6+ months)
B) The newsgroup is currently dead (except for the occasional spamming
post.)
C) having specific newsgroups is ok, but what if you want the open
discussion
of computers like we have here? I kinda get irked seeing Spectrum
posts in comp.sys.cbm. But wouldn't mind on a mixed group, because I
am
in that mode when I am reading it. (sound logical?)
So, again, the newsgroup (alt.technology.obsolete) exists now and has
been in existence for quite a while and I suggest we put this good
opportunity (and name) to use.
Larry Anderson
--
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare
Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
>From: "e.tedeschi" <e.tedeschi(a)ndirect.co.uk>
>Subject: bibliography
>What do you think of this bibliography? Have I missed any important book
>on the subject? Please help me in making this a useful refence for
>everybody to use, if you care. Thank you
There was also one by COMPUTE! Books, the (Small?) Computer Wars I
think the author's name is Michael Tomzyk. I have yet to find it (or
many that you mentioned) Though I found Steven Levy's Hackers very
entertaining!
One interesting book my wife came across in a thrift store is: "The
Compleat Computer" a compilation edited by Dennie Van Tassel. It was
printed in 1976 and has alot of press clippings, cartoons, articles and
anecdotes of the then blossoming microcomputer age. One nice bit is the
transcript of the session between Eliza (the psychiatrist program) and
Parry (the paranoid program).
Larry Anderson
--
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/
Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Does any one here collect old microprocessors like 4004, 4040, 8008,
8080 etc?
The oldest CPU type I have is an NEC 8080A. Still trying to figure out
how to make use of it. The legs are pretty corroded (used to live in
humid climates).
I've a Z8001 too, paid more than $100 for it but never used. Maybe
I'll find an Olivetti M20 one of these days...
There's a UK company that used to advertise in the UK version of the
Elektor 4-5 years ago. They advertised the TI9900, NS32032 and other
odd CPUs.
Ben
> -spc (Although with proper programming, the CGA could support 160x100
> 16 colors (or was it 160x200?))
160x100. You program the 6845 to display two scanlines per character then
use the half-on/half-off blocks to control the pixels.
Roger Ivie
ivie(a)cc.usu.edu
> The reason I liked the 7000 so much was the display. It used a - I want
> to say NEC 7202 display chip - might be wrong tho. It allowed vector
> graphics and text to share the same screen. You could tell it how much
> text and then anything above that was graphics. It took basically plotting
> commands to do the graphics. Never did understand why that didn't catch
> on!
That would be the NEC 7220. It was also used in the DEC Rainbow graphics
option; I've not seen a DECmate II graphices option, but I suspect it was
used there as well.
A friend of mine built a video card for an Apple ][ using the 7220. We could
do 1024 x 780, IIRC. He was experimenting with it and a touch screen device
(a flat glas plate to go over the monitor with transducers along two edges;
it put a high-frequency vibration on the glass then listened for echoes) as
a programmable user interface. We were using Microsoft F80 on the Softcard
connected to 8" DSDD diskettes. When does it start being an Apple ][ and start
being a CP/M machine?
Oh yeah; we used a plotting library from a company called Tesseract. Anyone
else used it?
Roger Ivie
ivie(a)cc.usu.edu
> >What is a Heath H8 worth?
I generally see H89's go for $25 US at hamfests. *I* wouldn't tie up $100
unless it was lovely and I really wanted one.
Of course...it's worth what you want to pay for it, as Jim says
I'd like to suggest that we all keep in mind the following tenets to
help reduce the amount of superfluous traffic on this discussion list:
- If your reply is to one individual, please send directly to them
(you'll have to override your email program's default Reply address).
- Please direct responses to solicitations such as group purchases, etc.
directly to the solicitor only.
thanks!
Kai
It's been years since I fiddled with a PCjr. It has a self test, to
activate press Control-Alternate-Insert. Can't remember the specifics of
the self test though.
I don't know if Lotus for the jr required a disk, but I have been told it
came on two separate cartridges.
At 02:35 PM 6/23/97 +0000, you wrote:
>As such, right now I have 1 complete Jr with floppy drive, sidecar, and
>128K mem expansion (I believe... hafta look at the chips & calculate the
>storage) with an extra internal floppy drive, an extra motherboard, an
>extra keyboard (neither are chicklet, and one has a few stuck keys) I think
>there was a Lotus 123 cartridge with it (but I heard rumors that it needed
>a disk as well?) and a basic cartridge. There may be more stuff, but I
>haven't looked at it since the move...
>
>Are you interested in it?
>
>HTH,
>Roger "Merch" Merchberger
James
jscarter(a)worldnet.att.net
In the process of getting ready to upgrade my RQD11 QBus/SCSI adapter to
near-current level, I discovered that I need a source for a hard-to-get
PROM. Specifically, one of two parts should do it.
Signetics 82HS189
AMD AM27S281A
I've already checked with the manufacturers and a couple of local
distributors. Yes, I'll be looking for these on my upcoming scrounging
trip, but it would be a Really Cool Thing if someone could point me at a
source for them.
Thanks in advance.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272)
(Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)wizards.net)
http://www.wizards.net/technoid
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."