test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by davidfreibrun＠home.com

in other words the 4004 is not a particularly collectible item huh? that is if everyone can get one at frys. -----Original Message----- From: Hans Franke <Hans.Franke(a)mch20.sbs.de> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Friday, February 12, 1999 5:41 PM Subject: Re: Intel 4004 >> > You have an Intel 4004? Where did you obtain this? > >> Everybody in the Valley has a bunch of them, David. We get them at Fry's. > >Why do I have a strong negative feeling against you at some moments ? > >H. > >-- >Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut >HRK

27 years, 7 months

ALTAIR stuff (was Re: E-Over Pay strikes again! original Altairdisk sells for... )

by edick＠idcomm.com

I'm not sure you're right about the assertion that 37 is enough. Maybe, but the old drives used more signals than the later ones. The shielded cables using the DC37 connectors certainly were more durable than the IDC50 types one often sees, but the cable hardware in the ALTAIR box certainly was the cheapest available. I doubt it was any more solid than the IDC types. Dick ---------- > From: Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: ALTAIR stuff (was Re: E-Over Pay strikes again! original Altairdisk sells for... ) > Date: Saturday, February 13, 1999 12:38 PM > > > <What I find odd about the MITS FDD is that they used a 37-pin "D" connecto > <and cable as opposed to the 50-pin more commonly seen on the 8" types. I > <found one among a set of enclosures I bought about 20 years ago. While > > Standards and common connectors. My Vt180 (uses minifloppies) also uses > D37 on the cpu end rather than 34 or 50 pin. Reason, higher reliability > connector (more costly too). Lots of system used that as the connector > instead of the now common IDCs. > > FYI even for 8" disks of the 50, 25 lines are ground there are a few unused > and others that were not often used so 37 pins are plenty. > > Allison >

27 years, 7 months

ALTAIR stuff (was Re: E-Over Pay strikes again! original Altairdisk sells for... )

by edick＠idcomm.com

There's good reason for that, namely, that the 8" FDD, for which a standard then existed, used a 50-pin cable, while there seemed to be several variations early in the mini-floppy game. The 37-pin cable you see on the IBM-PC FDC is certainly not the same, nor was it ever very important. The cable between the FDC in an S-100 box and the drives, normally 8" drives, normally packaged externally to the cardcage, was most often a 50-pin flat cable, though a 37 could have handled the task if you didn't mind that there was not a ground for every signal. The early FDD's were typically hard sectored and used more signals than were required by the later models. The insides of the ALTAIR FDD box were not simple and clean like their successors. Dick ---------- > From: Don Maslin <donm(a)cts.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: ALTAIR stuff (was Re: E-Over Pay strikes again! original Altairdisk sells for... ) > Date: Saturday, February 13, 1999 12:49 PM > > > Well, I would not venture to suggest just where it originated, but the > 37-pin D-sub connector has pretty much (there have been exceptions) been > the standard for connecting external floppy drives of all sizes. Almost > all PC (ISA) FDCs that support external drives use it, and the Xerox 820 > (CP/M) series used it. Most S-100 crates did not, as they typically ran > the ribbon cable direct from the card to the drive. > > - don > > > On Sat, 13 Feb 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote: > > > What I find odd about the MITS FDD is that they used a 37-pin "D" connector > > and cable as opposed to the 50-pin more commonly seen on the 8" types. I > > found one among a set of enclosures I bought about 20 years ago. While > > this is already promised out (once I find the top of the box), I do know > > that there's an ALTAIR hard disk controller box, apparently with a drive > > inside, judging from the weight, at Gateway Electronics in Denver, (303) > > 458-5444, if anyone's interested. It's the same size as the ALTAIR FDD > > box. > > > > Dick > > > > ---------- > > > From: Allison J Parent <allisonp(a)world.std.com> > > > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > > <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > > > Subject: RE: E-Over Pay strikes again! original Altair disk sells for > > > Date: Friday, February 12, 1999 6:34 PM > > > > > > > > > <True enough I'm sure. MITS also produced a "mini"-floppy controller > > that > > > <was also a two board TTL set. The first board (computer interface) was > > th > > > <same board as in the 8" set (except for different RC values), the second > > > > > > Well heres where I stand on it. Never seen one, I was there, and never > > > seen an advert for one, I have back issues. Was it possible, sure. The > > 8" > > > design with some tweeks would certainly do minifloppy. > > > > > > Allison > > >

27 years, 7 months

Sun 1/100U

by lemay＠cs.umn.edu

Well, I'm taking a few polaroid's of a Sun 1/100U, and noticed a few strange things. First, Sun liked to place round colored stickers on the boards, and they placed the date and a persons initials on the sticker. The strange thing is, on the cpu board, the sticker is dated 3-22-81, which is 2 years before this board was created! Sun 'upgraded' these units to use sun 2 cpu's, and the company only started shipping the first Sun 1 units in May of 82, and the 3Com board has a date of 9-21-83 which makes more reasonable sense to me (I had heard that we purchased the last of the Sun 1 units and a bunch of sun 2's, as part of a package discount deal). Anyways, it seems strange. Another strange thing about that cpu card, is that sun apparently didnt have any 24 pin DIP sockets, because they placed 16 and 8 pin DIP sockets next to each other on two occasions to form a larger socket! Oh, and I've always wondered about the 3 MBIT connector on the back of the unit, which is in addition to the 10 MBIT connector. -Lawrence LeMay

27 years, 7 months

RCS/RI

by max82＠surfree.com

Does anyone know if RCS/RI is doing anything this sunday, and if so: what time does it start, what time does it end, and where are they located? Thanks very much --Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)

27 years, 7 months

PDP-8/E available...

by mbg＠world.std.com

Please contact the person in the message, not me... I'm just forwarding it from the newsgroup it was posted in... - - - - - Hi Folks. I am a software engineer and a "computer history enthusiast." I am looking for another such enthusiast to take over a project which I never got started... I am looking for a good home for my Digital = PDP-8e. The setup is fairly complete. The main enclosure itself appears to be fully populated with core, and I was told when I rescued it from going to the junkyard (9 years ago) that it was still working when they took it out of commission. (I have still not yet attempted to run the machine.) I have the original DEC "instrument rack" housing, a BIG whomping power supply, a 20 MB hard disk (six or eight full-sized 12 inch platters!), dual floppy drives (those are REAL 8 inch floppies), dual "minifloppy" drives (yup, the "little" 5.25 inch ones), and probably some other hardware lurking in that corner of my garage. I also have paper tapes (but no reader) for the following: * Monitor (they now call this a BIOS) * Utilities * Fortran compiler * Assembler ( I think I've got 5 different assemblers: - plain vanilla - relocating - macro - symbolic - macro symbolic - relocating macro symbolic ) * Other assorted goodies Here's what I am offering: [0] I am willing to part with all this FREE OF CHARGE! Provided... [1] You must be serious about RESTORING and PRESERVING this important piece of computer history! [2] Computer museums get first priority; then other museums, then private individuals. Ranking within these groups will be "first come, first served." Above all, I will attempt to be fair. [3] I would prefer the whole works go as a single batch to a single person/organization. If the end result is *more than one* working PDP-8 on display in more than one place, however, then I will be more inclined to split things up. [4] You are responsible for picking up the items or arranging their shipping. I've "paid" for the storage of this for 9 years, all I ask is that you pay for the shipping or pick it up yourself. [5 I would like to come see the machine in working condition (actually doing something) when you are finished with the project. I'll arrange my own transportation -- all you have to do is supply the invitation! :-) * * * Please let me know that there is someone out there with the interest in computing history to want to restore this cool machine, and with the skills to be able to do it!! Thanks in advance, -- john baldwin --=20 John Baldwin | jt.nojunk.baldwin#radio(a)link.net To decode address when replying by email: [1]remove 'at', [2] # becomes @, [3] remove spamblocker plus both = delimiters. - - - - -

27 years, 7 months

E-Over Pay strikes again! original Altair disk sells for

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I own a copy of Minidisk BASIC and it is on a 16 sector hard sectored <diskette. I also own an Altair Minidisk drive unit that has the Altair <Quality Control tags still attached with dates ranging from 4-14-77 thru <6-31-77. < <Hope this makes sense, That is truly unique as I still have some old catalogs and newsletters >from MITS and also Byte, Interface Age, Kilobaud and there is no hint of that beast.

27 years, 7 months

ALTAIR stuff (was Re: E-Over Pay strikes again! original Altair disk sells for... )

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<What I find odd about the MITS FDD is that they used a 37-pin "D" connecto <and cable as opposed to the 50-pin more commonly seen on the 8" types. I <found one among a set of enclosures I bought about 20 years ago. While Standards and common connectors. My Vt180 (uses minifloppies) also uses D37 on the cpu end rather than 34 or 50 pin. Reason, higher reliability connector (more costly too). Lots of system used that as the connector instead of the now common IDCs. FYI even for 8" disks of the 50, 25 lines are ground there are a few unused and others that were not often used so 37 pins are plenty. Allison

27 years, 7 months

front panels (again)

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<> Here's the list I've got so far: <> <> Intel Intellec-4 <> Intel Intellec-8 <> Scelbi 8H <> Mark-8 <> Datanumerics DL8A <> Altair 8800 <> BYTE, Inc. BYT-8 (and Olson 8080) <> IMSAI 8080 (and OEM versions) <> Altair 680 <> Ithaca Intersystems DPS-1 NEC PDA-80, an 8080 development system(8080 powered). <> mini's, and I'd especially like to know which computer first used this <> human interface. All of the first machines. As to being an interface it was more of a necessity as most did not have the ROM/PROM needed to boot without manual intervention or as a diagnostic tool. Allison

27 years, 7 months

Attn PC-jr Fiends!

by jeff.kaneko＠juno.com

Guys: I have a NOS PC-jr joystick. The box is kinda messed up, but otherwise, the stick is brand new. Anybody want it? Make me an offer, private e-mail. Thanks. Jeff Jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

27 years, 7 months

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