< sent us a cardboard baffle to try to get it to work but the only real
< solution for us was to use a different brand of 8" drive. Did anyone
< ever have a good experience with Calcomp floppy drives?
DEC used the mechanics and heads for the RX01 and RX02 disks with good
results. The electronics however were DEC built.
< This was pre-CP/M days, we used the floppy as a sort of fast paper tape
< replacement, keeping a manual directory of tracks which held code. I
< patched in a crude driver to the ALS-8 assembler development ROM system
< from Processor Tech to read/write memory blocks onto the floppy.
It's needs for a seperate CPU and a NEC D372 controller is familiar.
The grandfather to the design was used as a proto for a NEC TECH note
which I have. I used a version that for a NEC (NOT S100) PDA80
development system and it worked ok with good drives.
Allison
RE: the discussion on converting the Sun Remarketing Mac XL back to a Lisa
2 - I called Sun Remarketing and spoke with their most knowledgable Lisa
person (thanks Marion!) who was less than encouraging about the project.
According to him, it is not just replacing a few ROMs and PALs, and removing
a transformer from the CRT yoke - it requires replacing the main logic board
>from an original Lisa, and unless you have a wrecked Lisa, that item may be
a little hard to find. On the other hand, this group always seems to have
someone who, not knowing a task was impossible, did it anyway! I you're out
there and have "done it" - please make yourself known!
Bob Stek
bobstek(a)ix.netcom.com
Saver of lost SOLs
>Two, not one, two Imsai's with Imsai disk units up for auction on ebay.
Imsai disk unit as in the original 8" Calcomp floppy? Hmm, from '76?
Be careful if it is, those drives had an extremely short lifespan (we
experienced a 300% failure rate, every drive ordered failed, and
replacements failed too). Cooling on the first Imsai floppy cabinet was
completely inadequate for 8" drives, IMSAI later redesigned it. They
sent us a cardboard baffle to try to get it to work but the only real
solution for us was to use a different brand of 8" drive. Did anyone
ever have a good experience with Calcomp floppy drives?
The controller was pretty sophisticated for it's day, used a channel
type design, you sent it basic info and it read the data into memory.
This was pre-CP/M days, we used the floppy as a sort of fast paper tape
replacement, keeping a manual directory of tracks which held code. I
patched in a crude driver to the ALS-8 assembler development ROM system
>from Processor Tech to read/write memory blocks onto the floppy.
Jack Peacock
The 800XL (circa 1983) is a streamlined version of the Atari 800 (circa
1979). Although the 800XL has 64K RAM standard, while the 800 could only
support 48K, the 800 had an expansion bus that the 800XL lacks. The 800XL
is a 1.79 MHz 6502 machine with 24K ROM including BASIC. It accepts most of
the same peripherals as the 800, including software (mostly game)
cartridges. It has 2 joystick ports that accept 2600-style joysticks.
Floppy drives are available, which run Atari DOS. See
http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/atari800XL.htm.
The Atari 520ST (circa 1985) is a 16 MHz Motorola 68000-based machine that
was created to compete against the Commodore Amiga (Atari almost acquired
Amiga Technologies before Commodore did, and was always jealous of that
fact). It indeed runs a GEM-based GUI and the TOS operating system. The
STf version has an internal floppy drive, and the STfm version has a floppy
drive and RF modulator. See
http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/atari520stfm.htm.
Kai
-----Original Message-----
From: Max Eskin [mailto:maxeskin@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, August 24, 1998 11:46 AM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: Ataris
Today I saw an Atari 5?0ST and an 800XL. As I understand, the ST ran
GEM. Is this an interesting computer at all? What about the XL? Was
this one of the BASIC computers?
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
< SMS300-1
< 0002624
< 001 A 7620 on it
An early bipolar processor (very strange) that was often used for signal
processing or stuff like hard disk controllers.
Allison
In a message dated 98-08-24 14:50:19 EDT, you write:
<<
Today I saw an Atari 5?0ST and an 800XL. As I understand, the ST ran
GEM. Is this an interesting computer at all? What about the XL? Was
this one of the BASIC computers? >>
800xl is just a 8bit atari machine. nothing really special about it although
it did have some pretty good sound and graphics similar to the 2600. the 520st
would be worth getting. supposedly ran a pretty good gui and is still used
elsewhere.
--- SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com wrote:
<< Anyone who wants a copy by email, let me know. If you have a PC or are
using
UNIX (anything other than a Mac), tell me what kind of compression to use (I
can create a pkzip archive, if needed). >>
how about putting it somewhere like on a web page or something?
--- end of quote ---
I did, but you'll starve to death waiting for it to load. ;) That's if you use the Netscape/Acrobat PDF-viewer plugin. If you just want to download it (it's not compressed), that might be better.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~marionba/deserial.pdf
-- MB
Two, not one, two Imsai's with Imsai disk units up for auction on ebay.
Our very own Bob Wood is high bidder on one. Been willin' to sacrifice
alot to get one of them Imsai disk units but when one comes up on Ebay,
I already spent all my budget on other crap :)
Tony
The 520 is a 68000 based GEM machine. From what I understand, it's an OK games machine and really really cool if you're heavy into MIDI.
The 800XL is one of the nicer machines in the expansive Atari 8 bit line.
Tony
--
On Mon, 24 Aug 1998 11:45:31 Max Eskin wrote:
>
>Today I saw an Atari 5?0ST and an 800XL. As I understand, the ST ran
>GEM. Is this an interesting computer at all? What about the XL? Was
>this one of the BASIC computers?
>
>______________________________________________________
>Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
-----== Sent via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Easy access to 50,000+ discussion forums
>This is an old auction on eBay I happened to run across. Perhaps this
item is still available:
>MOOG Walter Carlos- Switched on Bach Mint Item #23979261
Was there a reserve? I have one too, from high school days but hardly
in mint condition, it's been played many times. For the last 15 years
I've used a copy on cassette I still play every few months, the 3rd
Brandenburg was a favorite. I also have Switched On Bach II and Sonic
Seasonings. And just to keep it on topic (a stretch), all these were
popular with the late nite programming crowd before the days of
timeshare, when you went down to the university computer lab room where
the keypunches and chess boards were located.
Jack Peacock
