test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

>Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 23:47:56 -0700 (PDT) >From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> >Subject: C64 thingy >I picked up a Commodore 64 a while ago that had this special board >inside. It was inserted between the keyboard and the motherboard. IE. >it had a connector that plugged into the keyboard rolex connector on the >motherboard and then the keyboard ribbon cable plugged into it. Then it >had a 9-pin male D-type connector than came out the back of the C64. My >guess is that it was for a numeric keypad or something. I forgot what >was stamped on the circuit board. Any ideas? Sounds like a keypad connector to me, I think it may be a Cardco keypad (there I think was an option to plug it into the joystick port and interface it via software. I have some other brand which uses a DIP connector (like old apple paddle/joysticks), unfortunately I do not have the 64 with the interface board though. 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 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

28 years, 5 months

cocos and stuff

by IVIE＠cc.usu.edu

> The smaller is the TRS80 color computer with real keys on the keyboard. > I have two of these one the case was wiped out, board is ok. > >Lacking docs I presume these have rom Basic. What expansion is possible >(there is a port) and how hard. Do they run any real OSs or some TRShack? RS sold OS/9 for the color computer. I don't know what models are required to run it. >What's the odds of finding DOCS especially schematics? RS published a technical manual for the color computer; I have a copy of it somewhere. HOWEVER I found there's an app note from Motorola with schematics that almost exactly match those in the RS technical manual. I don't recall whether it was a 6809 app note or a 6847 app note though. If you can find a set of old Motorola data books you may be able to find it. Roger Ivie ivie(a)cc.usu.edu

28 years, 5 months

4004

by e.tedeschi＠ndirect.co.uk

Please have a look at my collection at: <http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~e.tedeschi/homecomp.htm> I am looking for a 4004 microprocessor. Also for an 8008. Does anybody know of one going for sale? I will pay cash or have many British computers for trade/swap. Thanks enrico -- ================================================================ Enrico Tedeschi, 54, Easthill Drive, BRIGHTON BN41 2FD, U.K. tel/fax +(0)1273 701650 (24 hours) or 0850 104725 mobile website <http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~e.tedeschi> ================================================================ visit Brighton: <http://www.brighton.co.uk/tourist/welcome.htm>

28 years, 5 months

cocos and stuff

by allisonp＠world.std.com

HI, In my non-op list of equipment I have three cocos apparently operational. They are of two different styles. The smaller is the TRS80 color computer with real keys on the keyboard. I have two of these one the case was wiped out, board is ok. The larger is TDP-100 personal color computer with chiclet keys. Lacking docs I presume these have rom Basic. What expansion is possible (there is a port) and how hard. Do they run any real OSs or some TRShack? What's the odds of finding DOCS especially schematics? I have a xt class machine with an Intel Inboard386...(works too!) what's the odds of finding schemtics or expansion ram for it? The 1meg of ram is tight for somne stuff. Currently I use it as a 10x faster xt. Allison

28 years, 5 months

Scanner/Dig Cam/Camcorder?

by idavis＠comland.com

>>DigCam: + Easy to use, convenient >> - Expensive to buy, somewhat limited capacity, >> no hard copy of images (except printer output) > >>Photo/Scanner: + Hard Copy, can be used for other stuff too >> - Film and Developing can be expensive, takes time > >>Camcorder: + Easy to use, Allows for selecting the right image >> from several views >> - Video capture hardware/software isn't cheap > Well, I guess it's time to put my two cents in. I own a Kodak DC20 digital camera, and a handheld color scanner. The digital camera is the basic model, no frills. It holds 8 hi res pics, and 16 low res pics. As far as quality goes, it really depends on the lighting conditions and the distance that you are going to be shooting at. It can get some incredible pictures, but it does have it share of bad ones. As far as taking pictures of our computers, it is great for taking good desriptive pictures (here's my pdp 11...) If you wanted to take a picture of a circuit board and be able to make out the chip numbers and wiring, forget it. It has decent resolution, but nothing like a scanner and a 35mm photo, and the light has to be right with this camera, since there is no flash (yet). I usually save the pictures in jpeg format, and each hi-res picture is about 25-35k. Not too bad on the storage side. My handheld color scanner is absolutely great. Unfortunately, I am always wanting to scan something in 1" wider than the scanner, which makes it a real pain even with great picture editing software. I would really recommend a flatbed scanner, but you might as well grab another hard drive while you are at it. Those color hi-res pictures take up more space than it took to put a man on the moon. Also, as a side note, it takes about 55 seconds to warm up the bulb on the color scanner. It's not a major gripe, just an inconvenience. Bottom line: My suggestion is - If you are looking to take pictures of your collection (for personal or insurance reasons) and store them in a safe, and take a buch of cheap pictures of your kids, go with the digital camera. If you are looking to scan in boards and pieces of equipment, and are looking for extreme detail, I would go with the scanner. I find that having both is really convenient, and I can pretty much get the results that I am looking for and not be dissappointed with either. If I only owned one of them, I could definitely see times when I would not be happy with the results. As for the Camcorder products, those are next on my list. Isaac Davis idavis(a)comland.com indavis(a)juno.com

28 years, 5 months

cocos and stuff

by allisonp＠world.std.com

> Color Computer 2: White, 4K-64K One is definatly a coco2 with 64k. no question. > Color Computer 3: White, 64K-128K I suspect the board I have is one of these with 128k (four 41464s) and a lot of the logic is on an ASIC. > I've never heard of a TDP-100. The Color Computers had ROM BASIC and TDP is TANDY DATA PRODUCTS when tandy was trying to seperate from the Radiocrap idea in the early 80s. TDP-100 It's coco 6809, cart port and configureable for 16 or 64k. This one has 64k I suspect it's the COCO-1 but case color is white and black and keyboard is chicklet style. Has all the joystick connectors and the like. It's design is lots of chips compared to the other two I suspect early design. Also it's serial number 0000038! It also has lots of mods. The inboard386/pc and inboard386/at are similar save for one is designed to replace the 8088 and is 8-bit ISA and the other the 286 with 16bit ISA. The /PC version has 1mb of ram but with more (4mb) I could use it as a slow (it's 16mhz) linux box. A schematic of the connector for the ram expansion would be useful, I can hack my own board. The PC version cannot use the motherboard ram as far as I can see in the book and even if it could I need more. Allison

28 years, 5 months

TI-99/4A Comments

by BNICALEK＠aol.com

To clarify some statements that have already been made on the TI-99/4A, I'd like to comment: << True, that's bizarre... they appear to be especially common in the northwest. But just try to find a PEB! >> There were approximately 1+ million consoles manufactured by Texas Instruments from 1981 through early 1984. There were also approximately 250,000 Peripheral Expansion Systems also manufactured. So, while it's true there were more consoles, PEB's are not hard to find. << What I need is the Speech Editor cartridge! >> To Jeff Hellige - these are little rare to find, but are still available. I got mine for around $20 from someone in California. But, you can call up any vendor and get them from around $25-30, due to their rarity. << Personally, my opinion of the TI-99/4a varies from stupid piece of shit to semi-decent machine. Today I feel like stupid piece of shit. It was almost completely closed, it's BASIC sucked and was slow, it's keyboard sucked, and if it wasn't for the hordes of TI-99 faithfuls it would've been just a footnote. I don't understand what the big attraction was, but then, I came from the world of Apple ][, to which nothing could compare (uh oh, here come the holy wars). >> To Sam -- The TI-99/4A, in my opinion, is at the very least a semi-decent machine. The BASIC interpreter is what slowed things down a bit, but you have to look at it from a different perspective - no PEEKs or POKEs just to program graphics and/or sound, like some other machines (no, I'm good enough not to mention any names). The keyboard did "suck" compared to that of a PC, but it was very simple - especially suited towards children. From my own experience, I found the keyboard easy to use compared to a Commodore 64 - the touch response was better. The big attraction came from the fact that it was 16-bit, had full color, sprites (smoothly-moving objects), excellent speech synthesis, easy to use cartridges, and expandability. Some of the games were amazing (like Parsec and Alpiner) - way ahead of its time. And you can do word processing and spreadsheets with it as well. << Even the original PC was really bad, mostly closed design. They were all noteable as it told marketers what would fly and what had to be there. Amusingly the ti has what every P5 box has today, graphics, sound, games so they weren't that far off <in a perverse sort of way>. >> Allison -- I couldn't agree with you more. The TI-99/4A was an amazing machine when you look back at all the components and features it had. It's still easier than my P120 I'm using to type this message - as there's no icons to click, no finagling around to get where you need to go or to do this. Just press 2 keys and you're in the program with the TI. Now that I call ease-of-use! << EVERYONE knows that MY COMMODORE 64 is WAY better than YOUR APPLE! >> To Les -- Yes, the Commodore 64 IS better than the Apple - I must admit! --------------------- And to Bill and others -- So you can begin to see with all these replies that people at least knew about the TI-99/4A and its positives/negatives. But that's to go with any machine. It's about what you learned on, and what you grew up with. In my case, this is the computer I learned on, and I'll stick with it forever because once you get used to one thing, it's hard to change sometimes. Same goes I'm sure for everyone else on this list server. The TI-99/4A was one of the most popular computers ever made back in the early 80's. Again, 1 million consoles gives you a hint. And, I'll tell you why they're like roaches sitting around -- most people bought them for around $50-100 when TI was going out of business (late 1983 into early 1984), played a few games on them, and then said, "I'm done!". Instead of throwing them in the garbage, they thought they were worth something, and now you see them all around in thrift stores. I even went to a local fair around town last year and picked one up for $5! But remember, for these people, that's all they wanted to do with this computer. But for those that were serious, you could do much, much more with it! Bryan Nicalek bnicalek(a)aol.com

28 years, 5 months

4004

by fmc＠reanimators.org

jpero(a)mail.cgo.wave.ca writes: > Hi, The grey/beige HP terminal with heavy keyboard that have > black and white "squashed" monitor shaped does have this 8008 chip > in one of its "card". Accessible by tripping two catches between the > shells to hinge up the monitor to reveal the cards in bottom case > part. What you're writing about is the HP 264X line of terminals. They don't all use 8008 CPUs. The 2640s do, but I'm sure the 2645s use 8080s (and think the 2641, 2644, 2648A do too), and the 2647F uses some proprietary HP CPU. Not sure about 2642, 2647A, or the 2649s which are customized for specific applications, e.g. there was a flavor of 2649 used as the system console for HP 3000/33 minis. Fun terminals. I could go on for a while about them. The 2640s and 2641/4/5s have a facility allowing the downloading of code from the host. Somewhere around here I have a Space Invaders game and a Pac-Man game that run in the 2645s, and have heard of a driving game. Also have heard that some folks in the Gaithersburg, MD area turned a 2645 into some sort of BBS some years ago. The "two catches" are hidden. Look on the case left and right sides, you will see horizontal slots between the base and the CRT housing. Inside those horizontal slots, a couple of inches back from the front, are vertical slots. The object is to stick a "terminal key" (basically a thin flat piece of metal, but a stiff paperclip can be made to serve) into those slots to push open the catches that are at the top of the slots. While pushing, lift the CRT housing. If like most of us you have no more than two hands (and only one key) you may find it convenient to do one side at a time, which is OK. -Frank McConnell

28 years, 5 months

WANT TO BUY YOUR OLD-ASSED COMPUTERS!

by dastar＠crl.com

I want your old microcomputers from the 70s and 80s. I do NOT want any common PC clone. I am looking mainly for stuff that doesn't exist in any way shape or form today. I am looking for rarer models, as I already own most of the more common micros of the early micro-revolution. Please e-mail me at dastar(a)crl.com with what you got and we can work out a deal. Thanks. ---END USENET MESSAGE--- So this guy, Gary, responds and tells me he has an IMSAI 8080 and a Victor 9000 he wouldn't mind getting rid of. SCORE! So anyway, he used to be an attendee of the Homebrew Computer Club, which if you don't know was a bunch of hackers and geeks (including of course Jobs and Wozniak) who got together every week or month in (I believe) either Mountain View or Sunnyvale, to show off the computers they were building. Read Steven Levy's _Hackers_ for the complete (and very entertaining) story. He was telling me all these cool stories. One was about how a Lawrence Livermore National Lab employee made a bunch of paper-tape copies of Gates' BASIC when it first came out and brought them to a meeting of the HCC, claiming that on his way over, a box of stuff dropped from a bus, and when he went to go check it out he found all these weird paper tapes in it (40 or so) and that everyone was welcome to have them, whereby he began tossing them out into the audience. Gary of course got one of them, and invited me to look at and touch it under the condition that I didn't drool on it and muss it up. It was in perfect condition! The neatest thing about it is that it had "Z80 BASIC COPYRIGHT MICROSOFT" punched into it (that isn't the actual message, I've forgotten what it said already). He said the week after, Bill himself showed up and whined to the crowd, asking "How am I supposed to make any money off this if you guys are pirating my stuff?" I'm sure, in hindsight, Bill certainly doesn't mind the fact that the Microsoft BASIC standard created by the piracy of his original BASIC has made him a $32 billion man today. He went on to tell me the stories about how he built his IMSAI and applied fixes and patches for flaws in the design, and showed me the schematics and took me through some of the documentation. He's a really neat guy. We're going to be staying in touch. He's moving soon and he says when he cleans his garage out and figures what else he has he will probably let me have some of it, including his full run of Byte magazine starting from issue 4. He also has a CompuPro 8/16 that he wanted to hang onto, as well as a Heathkit H19 terminal that he built from the kit, but he says he might not want to take them with him. So anyway, that's what a day of tooling around the bay area got me. I also met Paul Coad at a parking lot sale and we ran into Doug Coward (you may have checked out his Web museum page, I forget the URL). It was a good day. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 5 months

(fwd) Re: CPM-L Digest - 5 Jun 1997 to 6 Jun 1997 (fwd)

by dastar＠crl.com

Another one, hope someone gets lucky. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Z100 free Conditions: YOU PICK UP. YOU TAKE ALL SOFTWARE AND MANUALS I live in Northeastern Maryland. Close to an I95 exit. If interested email me at ltelets(a)tec1.apg.army.mil It has two 5 and a quarter floppies amd a detached monochrome monitor. It runs but could make a fine boat anchor *8^) -- Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 5 months

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