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101090 discussions

ICE/ISEE-3 to return to an Earth no longer capable of speaking to it

by lproven＠gmail.com

1978 satellite returns to Earth orbit, still live - but NASA no longer has transmitting/receiving equipment old enough to communicate with it. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/02070836-isee-3.html There might be potential for a CCmper to save the day on this one! :?) -- Liam Proven * Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile Email: lproven at cix.co.uk * GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven MSN: lproven at hotmail.com * Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 * Cell: +44 7939-087884

11 years, 5 months

VAX 8000 Console?

by bqt＠update.uu.se

On 2014-02-08 10:00, allison<ajp166 at verizon.net> wrote: > > On 02/08/2014 03:06 AM, Zane Healy wrote: >> >On Feb 7, 2014, at 11:46 PM, Pontus Pihlgren<pontus at Update.UU.SE> wrote: >> > >>> >>On Fri, Feb 07, 2014 at 02:55:41PM -0800, Zane Healy wrote: >>>> >>>What kind of PDP-11's did VAX 8000's use as Consoles, and what >>>> >>>did their console software consist of. >>>> >>> >>> >>That depends, models 8600 and 8650 used an 11/03 with RX >>> >>floppies (ours has an RL drive too). I'm not sure about the OS, >>> >>I bet it is RT11. >>> >> >>> >>The other models didn't have a front end AFAIK. Pontus misremembers. Our 8650s (two of them), just like all 86x0 machines have an RL02 drive for the FE. > I don't think that was right. By time the 8600 arrived the 11/03 was > in retirement. IF memory serves it had a dedicated T-11 for console. > > The T-11 was a single chip version of the PDP-11 and the board > used would likely have been Falcon (T-11 Qbus SBC). Correct in that it is a T-11. Wrong in that it don't use a Falcon. The FE in the 86x0 is a dedicated board inside the 86x0 cabinet. And then two cables goes out to a Qbus backplane from there. The FE on the 86x0 machines are indeed running just a plain RT-11. And the Qbus only have an RLV12 controller and nothing else. As others have noted, other machines in the 8000-family used other consoles. There was PRO-380 based ones, and uVAX II based ones. But even newer have no FE at all. The VAX-11/780 was the machine with an 11/03 and RX02 floppies (or was it RX01?) for the FE. It ran a more dedicated system on the FE, but it might have been based on some RT-11 was well, not sure. Johnny

11 years, 5 months

Re-done HD video on the Osborne 1

by terry＠webweavers.co.nz

Wikipedia cites someone as saying..."Looks like a cross between a World War II field radio and a shrunken instrument panel of a DC-3"? Yes, but who says you need to be pretty to be a classic computer. For those who might be interested. Contains a shot of it running an external monitor at the end. http://youtu.be/m_FufKMd-lU

11 years, 5 months

IBM 5120. Who would be interested?

by dani＠tiensepoort.be

Hi all, I have a working IBM 5120 (BASIC version / type-model 5110-3) along with its 5103 printer. I want to part with it and am wondering where would be the best place to put it up for sale, auction, ... or just find someone who would take care of it. What is it still worth? I once saw someone trying to sell one on Ebay for $3000 but that was way too high... but I read somewhere else that someone was willing to pay $800 for it... As it is a heavy machine ("desktop" but about 50kg) it is not easily shipped and I am living in Belgium...So the main issue would be how to find someone local (even in the neighbouring European countries) who would be willing to pick it up. Or could it be shipped internationally? I thought it was a quite rare but is this correct? Any ideas? Thank you, Dani

11 years, 5 months

VAX 8000 Console?

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

What kind of PDP-11's did VAX 8000's use as Consoles, and what did their console software consist of. Zane -- healyzh at aracnet.com http://blog.zanesphotography.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/zanes-photography/

11 years, 5 months

Booting OS/8 on a PDP-8/E from a PC

by rick＠rickmurphy.net

At 05:16 AM 2/7/2014, Bob Vines wrote: >Can OS/8 run on pre-OMNIBUS machines, i.e., anything other than the >PDP-8/E, /M, /F, or /A? The DECmates use OS/278 (and WPS 8/278 & >COS-310) instead, but what about the pre-8/E machines? OS/8 will run on any 8 family machine with at least 8K of memory. You'll need 12K for some devices (those with 2 page system handlers). Some device handler writers didn't think about pre-8/E machines, and use instructions like BSW that aren't in pre-omnibus 8s. Those devices won't work. The VT-278 uses serial port hardware that doesn't behave like a real KL8E so needs OS/278 to work properly. Other than that, there's really not a huge difference between OS/8 and OS/278. -Rick

11 years, 5 months

MFM emulator update

by djg＠pdp8online.com

Slower than planned but I have now released the MFM emulator code and updated the MFM reading code. Needs more testing but it seems to work. http://www.pdp8online.com/mfm/mfm.shtml Next to test with will be my VAXStation II assuming I can figure out how to run it. I'm also staring on the PCB design to replace my wirewrap board. A couple of questions for people interested. Two people have said they are building wirewrap/protoboards themselves. 1) Gold edge fingers increase the board cost. Would people prefer a cheaper board with .1 headers like my wirewrap board that will need non standard cables or proper edge connectors for the drive emulation? 2) It might be possible to make the board emulate two drives. The system would have to be setup to use daisy-chained control cable since the board will only have one control connector and two data connectors. The second data cable would have to be .1 header. Is this enough interest to people to be worth trying to do?

11 years, 5 months

Booting OS/8 on a PDP-8/E from a PC

by bobvines00＠gmail.com

> Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2014 11:32:13 -0600 > From: Kyle Owen <kylevowen at gmail.com> > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > Subject: Re: Booting OS/8 on a PDP-8/E from a PC [snip] > I've got a few spare locations in the handler. I'll look into the DP278 and > see what I can do. I hope one of my DECmates has the DP278! [snip] > Also, I had considered a handler version that operates on address 03/04 by > using some clever escape sequences, much like AT modem commands. You'd need > to use it with a special terminal program, or modify the server to output > non-handler messages to a pseudo-TTY that another terminal emulator is > connected to. This way, *anyone* with a PDP-8 that has just one > asynchronous serial card can boot OS/8! Can OS/8 run on pre-OMNIBUS machines, i.e., anything other than the PDP-8/E, /M, /F, or /A? The DECmates use OS/278 (and WPS 8/278 & COS-310) instead, but what about the pre-8/E machines? I'm looking forward to trying your sofware with my -8/E or /A! Bob

11 years, 5 months

MFM emulator update

by dm561＠torfree.net

On Fri, 7 Feb 2014, David Gesswein wrote: > I did a little searching and some IMI units use a non ST506 interface so > without changes my unit can't deal with them. The IMI 77xx are neat > looking drives. Indeed; 8" platters, a 'real' voice coil and a transparent cover to let you watch the action. As a matter of fact this weekend I'm planning to see if I can revive a 7710. --- On Fri, 7 Feb 2014, Steven Hirsh wrote: > Corvus used the IMI 5006, 5012 and 5021H depending on the storage > capacity. From everything I can see, these are (or should be) plain > vanilla MFM drives. That's interesting; are you sure that 5021Hs are ST-412 drives? The 5021H drives that I have all have the IMI interface and almost definitely came >from the factory that way. Some of the 5 1/4" IMI drives were available in both versions for a while, with the IMI interface or the ST412 version (as well as a custom 'raw' version) and conversion kits were even available, but I always assumed that the original model numbers would be different. FWIW AFAIK their first 5 1/4" drive was the 5007, unusual in that it was in a plastic chassis and used an external optical index sensor; many fond memories of having to clean out dust and realign without losing client data... I also have an IMI interface 5018H but don't recall what its specs are. > The more I think about this, the more I think they've taken some pains to > ensure it will only work with IMI drives - maybe some sort of special > operational mode? I'd be surprised but it's certainly possible; Corvus and IMI were closely connected ever since Corvus began with an 8" 77xx-based hard drive cabinet for the Apple ][, and in fact they ultimately merged.

11 years, 5 months

WTD: ITW "Magnetic Valve" keyswitches, low profile variant

by classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk

Hi, I've just got (another!) AT&T UNIX PC keyboard to replace the one with missing keycaps and -- woe and behold -- this one has a few dead keys! For bonus points, it doesn't use the same switches as the other keyboards: it uses ITW "Magnetic Valve" keyswitches instead -- Details here: http://deskthority.net/wiki/ITW_magnetic_valve Photos here: http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/reverse-rubber-dome-switch-t449.html http://park8.wakwak.com/~kaineko2/keyboard/album20110107.html These switches were apparently used in Decision Data, Aydin and Devlin keyboards, and consist of two metal pins and a tiny ferrite in the top of the black keyswitch base, and a pink plastic key which houses a large chunk of ferrite. A small chunk of rubber inside the keycap forms the spring which returns the key to the "not activated" position. The problem I have is that the ferrites on several of the keys have broken in transit... with these being delightfully obscure and apparently obsolete, my chances of repairing this thing (without parts at least) are slim. Does anyone have any of these keyswitches kicking around in a spares box, or a scrap keyboard which uses these keyswitches? Thanks, -- Phil. classiccmp at philpem.me.uk http://www.philpem.me.uk/

11 years, 5 months

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