>> Ok, so I picked up an Apricot today for one whole dollar. I can't make
>> out any model number anywhere on the unit. All I got was the main unit.
>> It has a male DB-9 video connector and a female DB-9 keyboard connector.
>> It also has a DB-25 serial and an Amphenol parallel connector. It has a
>> handle that you can pull out of the case from the front, so I guess it's
>> somewhat portable. It has two 3.5" drives in the front. It simply says
>> "Apricot" between them. No keyboard or display so I can't boot it
>> unfortunately.
> IIRC the 'Apricot' is a domestic (USA) Apple clone/look alike/work
> alike.
> If you don't find any better info, hollar, and I'll go through some of
> my Byte/Kilobaud/InformationAge etc.
I think it sounds a lot more like this fine early MS-DOS / CP/M-86
Computers from Apricot. Non-IBM-HW-compatible systems with a very
nice and smooth design (compared to them, still (almost) any new
computer looks like 1950's techniks). 3.5" FD way before IBM, and
cute keyboards, mice, and even track balls.
Gruss
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
I have a memory board for a planar type ZDS machine, came out of a Z248.
This one is the newer type that has four SIMM sockets on it, uses 30 pin
SIMMS. There is no memory installed, just the card itself, works great.
Goes into the special 32 bit type slots like the CPU, IO and other type
memory cards do on planar units.
Not sure how many types of ZDS units this will work in.
Need $15 for it which includes shipping in the 48 conus states.
Will consider trades of equal value cards for ISA, VLB, PCI or even MCA
slots, but please no network cards. Will also trade for one or two
Microsoft InPort mice, without the cards since I have them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Russ Blakeman
RB Custom Services / Rt. 1 Box 62E / Harned, KY USA 40144
Phone: (502) 756-1749 Data/Fax:(502) 756-6991
Email: rhblake(a)bbtel.com or rhblake(a)bigfoot.com
Website: http://members.tripod.com/~RHBLAKE/
ICQ UIN #1714857
AOL Instant Messenger "RHBLAKEMAN"
* Parts/Service/Upgrades and more for MOST Computers*
--------------------------------------------------------------------
> Well, today I got around to testing MS-DOS disk images from the PDP-8
> archive on the DECMAte III. It read the disk, said "Starting MS-DOS...",
> but then said, "XPU Board Error". It then entered a configuration menu
> for the DECMate (cursor, baud, etc.). What is an XPU board?
The XPU board is an add-in board which contains an 8088. The 8088 is used
to run MS-DOS. Without the XPU board, you can't run MS-DOS.
The APU board is an add-in board which contains a Z80. It's used for
running CP/M. I'm a bit lucky in that I have an APU board for all of my
DECmates (although OS/8 is a fine operating system, CP/M is home sweet home).
Roger Ivie
ivie(a)cc.usu.edu
Hi!
I chanced upon a strange thing in a thrift shop today. A hand-held
terminal of some sort called Infos Draco. It was rather expensive (SEK
250) so I never considered buying it, but I wonder what it is.
The case is mainly blue with some yellow and red details. Keyboard is in
ABCDE (rather than QWERTY) fashion. The longest side is approximately 10"
and it is shaped like an L turned up-side-down with a 40x8 character LCD
screen on top. There are no manuals but the box seems to indicate Italian
origin. It seems to run on batteries but can be plugged into the wall as
well (standard Swedish 220V plug). There is also a phone connection and
what appears to be a parallel port.
I tried to start the thing, but only succeeded in a red light coming on
and a happy beep when I pushed the ON button.
What is it? What can it be used for? Does anyone want me to buy it for
you?
/F
Hello, all:
I'd like to do some assembly language programming on my Apple //+. What
program was generally used to do AL programming? Did you typically use the
built-in Monitor, or was there an "Apple Assembler" program?
Also, can someone point me in the direction of a listing/description of
the Apple //gs Toolbox commands.
I'm picking up an original Mac Portable this week on my way to get more
PDP11 stuff at Temple University (in Philly). The Portable is missing a hard
drive. Which drive goes into this unit? I seem to remember a 40mb unit.
Second, has anyone heard of a Commodore C64k?? I found a news post where
a guy had two of these available, but I don't recognize the "k" suffix.
Thanks!
Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com>
- ClubWin! Charter Member
- MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
- Preserver of "classic" computers
<<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>
At 08:07 AM 7/3/98 -0400, Doug Spence wrote:
>
>I asked the employees what had happened to all that 'old computer junk',
>and was told that it had all been THROWN OUT LAST WEEK.
>I'm feeling really depressed about this.
>Well DAMN THEM TO HELL, and damn ME for not being more vigilant.
>Dammit, I wish I had dragged ALL the stuff I wanted to the desk and paid
>for it, and had them sit it in a back room until I could come back for it.
>Dammit, I wish there had been some sort of warning.
All I can say is that it doesn't hurt to tell everyone you
meet that you're interested in old, junky computers, the
kind that you're about to throw out, the ones that can't
run Windows. :-) Tell everyone in the store. Tell them
three times, three different ways. Leave your card. Leave
an extra six cards. Write "Likes Old Computer Junk" on
the front of each. This will at least improve your odds
of avoiding this depression in the future.
In their defense, they exist to attempt to sell the stuff
they get. If it's not selling, what else are they supposed
to do? If you want to be sad, ask to see what they cull
at the start of the pipeline, when they perform triage
as items are donated.
I get similarly upset at the triage performed at the
my favorite local junk spot, the University of Wisconsin --
Madison Surplus sale, as judged by what I find in the
dumpster, and the condition and organization of what
I see in the sale area. The almighty PC reigns, but
are stripped and separated into bins: keyboards here,
monitors there, cases here, spare cards here, manuals
over there. I've found two of my Teraks in this shape:
main unit separated from extra disk drive separated from
monitor and keyboard, and any ancillary docs are long-gone.
In the dumpster goes anything not easily identifiable
as PC or office equipment, but they're quite lax about
that, too - I've seen laser printers and faxes only a
few years old tossed, along with desks and chairs that
aren't stylish enough to sell quickly. If I ran the zoo!
- John
Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>
I am interested in old (1980-1987) computer catalogs. I'm especially
interested in BlackBox catalogs.
I also am interested in acquiring old (1980-1987) computer connectors.
Specifically, connectors that have their own housing and are used to connect
two external devices. These connectors have circuity that converts the data,
e.g. serial to parallel conversion or changing signal voltage. The VicModem
is an early example of such a device.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Glenn
Ferock(a)aol.com
Tom Owad said:
>What ever happened to The Source? When did they shut down and why?
I don't really know.
>Video game crash of '83? Would you please explain?
I sure you can find a better explaination in any of a half dozen
books that are out about the video game business but here is my
condensed version for what it's worth:
Prior to 1983 Atari was making ALOT OF MONEY selling 2600 units
and cartridges (remember PAC-MAN fever). It was the Microsoft of
the 70s and early 80s. Many other companies, not wanting to miss
the boat, saw this happening and jumped in with their their own
systems. Some of these companies were betting the farm on this
craze.
And it seem like everyone and their kid sister was coming out
with cartridges for these systems. (At one point you could send
in to the makers of Gravy Train (or was it Chuck Wagon) dog food
to get a cartridge called "Chase the Chuck Wagon") I have heard
that black market copies of the programming manual for the 2600
cost $10,000, which is a small price to pay if you could possibly
make millions making and selling cartridges. Some programmers made
1 million dollar bonuses on a single game and that was back when one
programmer by himself would write a game in 6 months. It was a time
of madness.
BUT, 1982 was one of those years when computers just exploded.
Machines like the C64. Easy to set up, cheap, better graphics and
sound. People started putting their Atari 2600s in the closet and
going out and buying computers. Parents were complaining that kids
were playing video games too much. The fad was over.
Almost overnight 2600 cartridges when from $20-$30 to $3-$5 each.
Atari was the head domino and when they fell, they all started to fall.
Some very large companies almost went lights out when the prices fell.
Atari was split up into Atari Games(coin-op) and Atari Corp.(home
computers) Other companies just faded away.
Home video game systems did not come back into fashion until 1986
with Nintendo.
For more details see
http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/atari/Atari-Timeline.html
=========================================
Doug Coward dcoward(a)pressstart.com
Senior Software Engineer
Press Start Inc.
Sunnyvale,CA
Curator
Museum of Personal Computing Machinery
http://www.best.com/~dcoward/museum
=========================================
>>> I counted with a stopwatch. It beat very fast, so it might be even
>>> higher than 120Hz, but it certainly is much higher than 60. I don't know
>>> if they'll actually let me do this repair anyway.
>> You counted 120 cycles per second with a _stopwatch_?
> Yes, I wondered about that. 120 per minute is understandable, but 120Hz?
> No way.
Shure - take a 60 (or 50) Hz clock feed the signal and
stop the time neded to show a minute (or 10 minutes to
get fractions) - or take any other steping device and
look at the stepping speed - This way you could even use
an old Apple DISK ][ as a counting device - put it on track
30, hook up the signal and wait until it reaches track zero
- you'll get an acustic feedback - now its just finger
calculations.
Servus
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
The Mac Portable uses a special kind of hard drive. A normal SCSI won't
work, and I don't think a powerbook hard drive will either. There is a
company that sells Mac Portable upgrades, but their prices are
ridiculous. Everything is in the triple digits. I'm not sure if they had
any original parts. Their hard drive solution was an adapter board for
more common drives. You should be able to find it via newsgroups or
something.
As for the C64, they may have confused it with a 'c', which is the later
beige model.
> I'm picking up an original Mac Portable this week on my way to get
more
>PDP11 stuff at Temple University (in Philly). The Portable is missing a
hard
>drive. Which drive goes into this unit? I seem to remember a 40mb unit.
>
> Second, has anyone heard of a Commodore C64k?? I found a news post
where
>a guy had two of these available, but I don't recognize the "k" suffix.
>
> Thanks!
>
>Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com>
> - ClubWin! Charter Member
> - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
> - Preserver of "classic" computers
><<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
