I found out that the prez of my ex-company uses a concrete filled "dec
pdp 8" (his words) as a permanent sailboat anchor at his summer house.
what a great way to recycle computer parts.... sheesh.
-Eric
Quick question: what's a DEC DS200? (I'm assuming it means DECstation
200, but I'm also guessing it's x86-based and has no relation to the
larger MIPS-based systems).
Another question: what would be a reasonable offer for a stripped
DECsystem 5500? The guy seems to want a (IMHO) ridiculous price for it
(somewhere around US$900 as far as I can tell). He seems to think he can
sell it to someone that will use it to it's full potential, pitting it
against modern high-end machines. My offer, needless to say, was no where
near what he wanted! From what I can tell the DS5500 would be not much
more than a rare novelty (it IS a Qbus-based MIPS, after all), let alone a
competitor to modern servers. (I don't think it was even that much faster
than it's TC relatives.)
Also, is there a FAQ or something somewhere explaining common hardware?
I'd like explanation on the DECmate as well, but that seems like it would
be a FAQ by now.
af
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adam Fritzler |
afritz(a)delphid.ml.org | Animals who are not penguins can
afritz(a)iname.com | can only wish they were.
http://delphid.ml.org/~afritz/ | -- Chicago Reader
http://www.pst.com/ | 15 Oct 1982
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Zane H. Healy <healyzh(a)ix.netcom.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, 8 August 1998 12:17
Subject: Re: LISA: Ah nuts...
>>I opened up my Lisa with the bad video (weird horizontal sync problem)
>>and discovered that the batteries in the back have corroded and dripped
>>down the I/O board. Some of the contacts that go into the motherboard
>>have corroded and, without seeing a schematic, I'm wondering if this is
>
>
>Oh, bleep. Let me guess you've got a Lisa 2/5. They're infamous for this
>problem. I was able to get to mine just prior to the batteries really
>messing stuff up. This is most likely the cause of your problems, any
>chance of reparing the damage?
>
>>At any rate, I removed the offending batteries and will clean up the
>>board. Are the batteries necessary? If so, what for? If so, what is a
>>viable replacement for them?
>
>No, you can boot without them. IIRC it's a _slight_ annoyance not having
>them, but it does work. Besides the clock won't go past 1995 so who cares
>if that is wrong :^)
>
>>Also, I have a Profile harddisk that alledgedly goes with the unit.
>>Without documentation, I see no place that indicates a hard disk should
>>be connected there on the Lisa. But the Lisa has one parallel port and
>>an expansion board with two more parallel ports. Does it connect to one
>>of these? If so, what cable is appropriate? (No cable) And to what
>>should it be connected?
>
>I hope someone remembers this, it's goes in one of the parallel ports on
>the expansion card, it will ask you which one when you boot. The problem
>is, there is some sort of trick about the cable IIRC, the thing is, I don't
>remember what it is :^(
>
> Zane
>
>| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
>| healyzh(a)ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
>| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
>+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
>| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
>| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
>| http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |
>
Just a standard PC parallel cable should do the job..
*Desie*
>Hmm, well I don't know about Prodos or the 'catalyst' proggy that people are
>mentioning, I know I managed to get directory listings from my drives without
>either, although it *may* have been using a diagnostics disk that came with
>the drive.
>PG Manney wrote:
>
>> Will trade for ??? Have lots of Commodore and PC stuff, some Apple.
>>
>> manney(a)lrbcg.com
Hmmm... If you're near Denver, there was a Plus/4 in the box at (iirc) the
ARC thrift shop on Florida and S. Broadway. Or perhaps someone who is
still in that area could pick it up for you?
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
For all you Amiga fanatics, I ran across an Amiga store in Dnever (well,
Aurora, actually). It's called The Computer Room, and they can be found at
<http://www.computerroom.com/> or at 2760 S. Havana St., Aurora, CO,
1-303-696-8973.
They also had a machine in there in a very purple case. (Not disgusting
Barney purple, but really cool fast purple.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
At 08:27 PM 8/6/98 -0700, you wrote:
>That's Magnavox Odyssey. Is it just the Odyssey, or Odyssey2? If you got
>a plain Odyssey (circa 1972) then you've got yourself quite a find.
Yep, Magnavox. Left the brain home this trip. 8^) (Or fried it driving
24 hours straight.) And it was an Odyssey 2. Actually ended up with 2 of
them, one with permanently connected joysticks and one with a Dx-9
connected joysticks. And no, I don't collect video games. (In spite of
having the Atari Pong, Atari Pinball (on loan), 2 Odysseys, 2 TV Fun's,
Atari 2600, Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar...)
>> "TV (that is, two (2)) game consoles, and an Atari Pong game in the box.
>
>Atari Pong is cool.
I thought so. 8^) The first part of that should have been 'two [APF] "TV
Fun" game consoles', btw.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
At 10:45 AM 8/3/98 -0500, you wrote:
>(I was once appalled by the brisk cash gathered by a "reviewer"
>of books for a newsletter for librarians, who'd turn a bagful
>of new books into cash each week at the nearest used book store,
>after dismissing each with barely a paragraph "review".)
Heck, I've got a brother (not my fault) who gets stuff for free just by
passing out a business card for a fake magazine along with a heaping
helping of BS. Unfortunately, I once made the mistake of saying he could
use my fax to receive something, now I get all kinds of junk fax addressed
to him or various pseudonyms he's made up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
At 07:49 PM 7/31/98 +1700, you wrote:
>A few years ago, I heard a rumor bandied about somewhere on Usenet that
>BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit, a rail system running around some of the
>San Francisco Bay) was, even to this day, controlled by pdp8/e systems.
Well, it is computer controlled, and being 25 years old or so... That
would be around the right era, I think?
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
Well, all I can say is if you're going to Denver from San Francisco, (or
vice-versa,) fly. We spent 24 hours getting there, with only food/bathroom
stops, and a 1/2hr nap somewhere in Nevada. 8^)
Anyway, We went to the Mile High Flea Market which turned up a Magnavox
Odyssey 2 (+ 7 games) and 2 APF TV Fun machines. (And some Fisher-Price
cars/people.)
Then we hit a number of thrift shops where we found 2 different versions of
a VTL/VTech learning computer, ca. 1980+ (I already had one, the oldest of
the three.) We also came up with another Odyssey 2, an Alphie II (learning
toy in the shape of a robot), and an Atari Pong game in the box.
We passed up an NEC APC (vt-100 like machine, with 2 8" floppies,) a
Commodore PC-20 III, Franklin Ace 1000, and a few others at the ARC about
10000 E. Colfax, and an Amstrad PCW 8256 at the ARC on Florida and S.
Broadway. The keyboard and main unit were there, but separated, I reunited
them and told the guy to keep them together.
The last one we stopped at, on the way out of town was on W. 74th(?) near
Wadsworth. There we left behind an apollo monitor (labelled "Domain") and
a PCjr Monitor. What we did get was an IBM 5155(? The suitcase one) and a
TI ProLite laptop, with powersupply and "drive box" (additional disk drive
that attaches to the back.)
The former was marked at $12.99 and the latter was $24.99. I took them up
to pay and asked the gal if she could reduce the price on the TI (it never
hurts to ask!). She called the guy from the furniture department
(computers are furniture, btw) and asked him. He looked at what I had,
crossed out the price on the TI and wrote "2pc" on both computers. I got
'em both for $12.99.
We also got, over the course of the week, about a dozen pairs of tap shoes,
but not much Donald Duck stuff.
Anyway, if you're in the area, you should keep any eye on the ARC stores.
They seem to get a lot of stuff, and regularly have 1/2 price or even $.99
sales.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/
