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101090 discussions

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

there was some previous discussion about nec multisync monitors. believe it or not, i actually found one tossed in the partking lot of an auto parts store. <!> unfortunately, it wont power on. made in 1990 and has XGA plug. anybody want it for free or need parts from it? it has a lot of controls behind a flip down door. no burn-in on the tube amazingly. david

27 years, 10 months

ebay: Antique UNICAC computer memory planes

by cswiger＠wilma.widomaker.com

On Fri, 20 Nov 1998, Bill Yakowenko wrote: > ] The amazing lace and tiny rings are long gone now. But the > ] legacy still lives on in the word "stack" and "core memory". Of course the coolest thing about 'core' is it's the original non-volitile memory; you could carry one around with a diag utility already loaded, just plug it in and run. One of the myth's they always told us was they all had to be made by hand - there wasn't a machine that could thread the row/column and sense wires for mass production. Is there any rumor to this truth? Chuck cswiger(a)widomaker.com

27 years, 10 months

Tek Computer

by jpl15＠netcom.com

I have been offered a Tektronix 3003 box with a 15" Mitsubishi monitor.. it came from a scrap yard via a guy who does movie prop rental, with whom I have a standing order for DEC stuff... wait, what I mean is... oh never mind! :} Is this Tek box of interest to anyone on the List? I have no knowledge of/interest in Tek computers. Cheers John

27 years, 10 months

Anyone need this? Apollo 8" disks

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I picked up two notebooks full of Apollo (not HP) disks and manuals. One is for C language and the other is Ether Controller, Ether Bridge and TCP/IP, etc. Does anyone need this? If so, I'll consider swaps, if not I'll toss the manuals and reformat the disks for use with my Intel. Joe

27 years, 10 months

What is a ZVX4?

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I picked up a couple of old CPM disks that are marked "CPM Startup for ZVX4" and "SCS-D07-1". These were made by Sorrento Vally Associates, Sorrento Vally Rd, San Diego and have 1980 and 1982 dates. Does anyone know what kind of system they're for? Joe

27 years, 10 months

Core planes was: [ebay: Antique]

by hhacker＠gte.net

Fact is, I have seen facilities (by photograph though) in Japan where IBM manufactured core planes, by hand. The pictures probably came from the early '60s but, they clearly show ladies sitting at circuit board mounting tables, large magnifying glasses with integral florescent lamps, and core plane frames mounted in circuit board holders for easy working. I am sure that machines were constructed but, I am also sure that some of the earlier work was done by hand. William R. Buckley -----Original Message----- From: Kip Crosby <kip(a)nanospace.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Friday, November 20, 1998 8:24 AM Subject: Core planes was: [ebay: Antique] >At 09:35 11/20/98 -0500, Chuck wrote: >>One of the myth's they always told us was they all had to be >>made by hand - there wasn't a machine that could thread the >>row/column and sense wires for mass production. Is there any >>rumor to this truth? > >yeahright. In _IBM's Early Computers_ by Bashe et al., you will find >elaborate description of machinery developed to automate the production of >core planes, complete [IIRC] with pictures. >__________________________________________ >Kip Crosby engine(a)chac.org > http://www.chac.org/index.html >Computer History Association of California > >

27 years, 10 months

Core planes

by cswiger＠wilma.widomaker.com

>>made by hand - there wasn't a machine that could thread the >>row/column and sense wires for mass production. Is there any >>rumor to this truth? > >yeahright. In _IBM's Early Computers_ by Bashe et al., you will find >elaborate description of machinery developed to automate the production >of core planes, complete [IIRC] with pictures. Ok - always thought it was a fishy story. Chuck cswiger(a)widomaker.com

27 years, 10 months

IBM 3848 and/or "VTL"

by dwollmann＠ibmhelp.com

I'm looking for info on what looks to be either a very old or obscure IBM type number. All I have is 3848 and "VTL" (card) to work with. None of the search engines, including Deja News, come up with anything other than a "help wanted" listing looking for someone with experience on the 3848. Any idea what this might be? -- David Wollmann DST / DST Data Conversion ICQ: 10742063 http://www.ibmhelp.com/

27 years, 10 months

ebay: Antique UNICAC computer memory planes

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

I have never ordered from the guy, because I smelled a skunk. The only info I have came from his own ads and web pages; I have not actually been "done wrong" by him. The pictures do look great, and if everything looked consistent with that, I'd have probably ordered one or two myself. But here I'll quote from his web page, which lives at http://www.netw.com/~drfcline/univac.htm : ] UNIVAC of the 1950s was an awesome high tech machine of then amazing ] ... ] Each stack had eight memory planes. Each memory plane had a fine mesh ] ... ] In the midst of glistening fine copper wires, the little doughnut could ] ... ] ] The amazing lace and tiny rings are long gone now. But the legacy still ] lives on in the word "stack" and "core memory". The ellipses were just some happy talk about how cool cores and Univacs were. I agree with him there, wholeheartedly. But those last two sentences sounded to me as if there were no cores to be had. If he had them for sale, how could be be calling them "long gone"? Well, okay, we have at least one confirmed order in which cores are really present, and nobody griping about getting ripped off. The only sane conclusion is: you are right, I mis-read it in a big way. Guess I'm so used to scams that I'm seeing them even when they are not there. Thanks for the correction! On top of setting me straight on something that I felt bad about, this means maybe I can talk myself into (out of?) ordering one! :-) Apologies to Dr. Cline, and to the list, for my outburst. Bill. On Thu, 19 Nov 1998, Doug Yowza <yowza(a)yowza.com> wrote: ] On Thu, 19 Nov 1998, Bill Yakowenko wrote: ] ] > Beware; in the past this guy has offerred "core memory planes" for ] > sale several times, even on this list. But if you had read the ] > fine print you would have found that there were no cores - just ] > the rectangular PC-board "frame" in which the cores used to reside. ] > I suppose you could call that a plane, but it isn't what most ] > compu-geeks would think when hearing the word in that context. ] ] Are you sure, Bill? The pics on his website look like real core planes ] to me: ] http://www.netw.com/~drfcline/screen8.jpg ] Also on Thu, 19 Nov 1998, "David C. Jenner" <djenner(a)halcyon.com> wrote: ] Bill, ] ] You are 100% mistaken. You have seriously misread the information. ] ] His commentary and web page are written in the past tense to ] indicate that "core memory" is not used in today's computers, ] not that the boards do not have the cores in them now. ] ] He is selling, in addition to the core memory boards, the controller ] cards that ran a stack of the core memory cards. He is not saying ] that the cards are really controller cards and not core memory cards. ] ] I got a card a while back and the core memory card is exactly as ] stated and shown. There are cores. ] ] My only stupidity was having to pay the $20 or so when I should have ] had a free sample from years ago. ] ] Dave

27 years, 10 months

ebay: Antique UNICAC computer memory planes

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

Marvin <marvin(a)rain.org> wrote: ] More interesting stuff from ebay. ] http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=43065424 Beware; in the past this guy has offerred "core memory planes" for sale several times, even on this list. But if you had read the fine print you would have found that there were no cores - just the rectangular PC-board "frame" in which the cores used to reside. I suppose you could call that a plane, but it isn't what most compu-geeks would think when hearing the word in that context. In this case, he includes some text from an "actual" customer ranting about how cool his core memory board is, describing at length the 1024 core bits and yada yada yada, but if you read the all the way to the end you'll find that what he's actually offerring are the controller cards - not the 1K bit planes that he describes in such detail. Classic bait-and-switch. In fact, even when he was earlier selling the core memory boards, they didn't have the cores, so this rant is obviously marketing delirium. Nothing that is an outright lie, but misleading as Hell, unless somebody actually things a PC board frame with no components is awesomely cool and "looks great under a microscope". Tell me that isn't engineered to fool people into thinking they're getting real core memory. Sheesh! And "whatever was last written (back in the 50s) on the planes I bought is still there" - nope, not "there" as in "on the planes I bought", but "there" as in "wherever those cores happen to be now". As far as I'm concerned, this guy is a rip-off artist. If he was simply selling Univac memory controller boards, I'd be more than half interested. And oddly enough, as near as I can tell, these controller boards actually *do* have some core bits left on them. (Are "windings" the same as cores, or is this another aspect of his marketing ingenuity?) So in that sense they may be more interesting than his former offerings. Anyway, seeing how far he'll go to be misleading, I don't trust him. I get the feeling that if I read enough fine print, I'd find that he's actually just selling pictures of those things, or pictures of something else that had once been in the same room with those things, or... It's really a shame that something like a Univac memory unit would end up in the hands of somebody like this, who would hack it to bits and then try to sell the broken fragments by being so misleading. Sadly, Bill. PS. I suppose it is possible that he once sold an actual core plane with cores in it, and that's what this testimonial is describing. But the first time I saw that ad of his, I rushed over to his web page and found him offerring "coreless" memory planes. And even then he was ranting and raving about how cool cores were, in the same way he does here, only mentioning at the end that these boards don't actually have any core. So again, there might not be any outright lies in any of this, but be sure to read *ALL* of the fine print before you consider dealing with this guy.

27 years, 10 months

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