I have had too many 3.5" disks go bad, some my own, some not, not
to ask why. I mean, is it just a property of 3.5" disks to be
unreliable, or is something else? Are there any "industrial quality"
drives/disks that are reasonably reliable?
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On Apr 13, 23:19, Tony Duell wrote:
> Seriously, I think you can justtify owning several of the same machine if
> the machines have expansion slots (like the Apple ][ or the PDP11) and
> you've got a lot of cards you want to play with. I'm pretty sure I've got
> far too many unibus cards (even with DB11 bus repeaters) for a single
> machine. And I wonder how useful 2 DX11's (I do mean DX11, not RX11) are
> on the same machine.
Isn't a DX11 an IBM channel interface? Originally a big cabinet with a lot of
flip chips and lamps? I've seen two, working.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
> Wasn't there a Dennis Kitz speedup mod published in an old
> 80 Micro article? He wrote a _bunch_ of articles containing
> useful mods to the model 1... really an amazing guy. I wonder
> what happened to him.
Dennis is alive and well and may be contacted at bathory(a)maltedmedia.com.
Hello everyone,
Just a quick "Rescue Needed" announcement.
There is a VAX 11/750 available at WeirdStuff Warehouse in Sunnyvale,
CA. Most of you Bay Area classic computer enthusiasts probably know
where this place is. If not, visit http://www.weirdstuff.com/.
The 11/750 doesn't have any paripherals, nor any disk, but it does
appear to be fully populated with cards. Be the first one on your
block to own a classic, proper VAX!
Anyway, it's up for auction there. If I had infinite space and lots
of time, I'd go get it myself, but I don't :)
-Seth
Even if I had the room and time to pick up every machine that was
headed for the dump, what can I do with several dozen PC clones?
Same goes for other systems. It's interesting to have maybe a
couple, but not the "8 PDP 11/34, 22 Atari ST, 15 Apple ][" I hear.
>Well, not all of us have the time to work on every single system we get
>our hands on. There are only so many hours in the day left over after
>life stuff (ie. job, pets, family...) and this is just a side hobby for
>me. My concern first is to at least get the computers to prevent them
>from being disposed of and worry about getting them running later.
>
>> I collect for many reasons, amongst them :
>> 1) The fun and mental challenge of restoring/repairing them. Fault
>> finding can be interesting, you know
>
>I do it for the joy of being surrounded by such an ecclectic and
expansive
>collection of computers that span the innovation of two decades. When
I
>make enough money to relax for a couple months, I'll have fun restoring
>and repairing them.
>
>> 2) Finding out what the machines I grew up dreaming of were really
like.
>> And the machines that came before them. I could never afford them
when
>> new, now I can play with them
>
>Same here.
>
>> 4) Tracing the history of certain features. To take a trivial
example,
>> IOBYTE at location 3 on CP/M can be traced back to the Intellec
MCS8i. It
>> was at location 3 on that machine (with the same format of 4 2-bit
>> fields) as locations 0-2 were reserved for the reset jump
instruction, so
>> this was the first free RAM location.
>
>This is not only fun, but in my view, relevant. These are the sorts of
>tidbits that, in my nerdy opion, would make a fascinating book: where
all
>the standards came from.
>
>> I won't claim I run all my 150+ machines all the time. I have a few
that
>> I run quite often (the PDP11/45, the PDP8/e, the PERQ 2, a TRS-80 M4,
>> this PC/AT, etc). Others I only run from time to time when I need
them.
>> But I do try to have all my machines operational if at all possible.
>
>That's commendable, but there's not a lot of need on my end to have
>everything running. There's a desire, but not a need. When my
collection
>goes on display, it will be desirable to have at least one of
everything
>in the collection working with usable software so that people studying
the
>artifact can get a better understanding of it.
>
>Sam Alternate e-mail:
dastar(a)siconic.com
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Don't blame me...I voted for Satan.
>
> Coming in September...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0
> See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
> [Last web page update: 04/08/98]
>
>
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<backplane. It's missing box/PSU and floppy, though, so it's not terribl
<functional ATM. I'm sure someone has built something even smaller with
<Falcon or similar.
I've seen a 11/23, RQDX3, 512k ram, dlv11j(4 serial) and a mrv11 in a
custom box using a RX50 and a 3.5"MFM 40meg disk that was quite small!
The backplane was 6 dual slots. Smaller than than a PC minitower.
Qbus PDP-11 systems can be quite small if non dec boxes are used.
Allison
<Actually, the PDT 11/150 ran quite well once they came out. I ran one fo
<three years under RT11 with FB and multiterminal support. It's biggest
<problem was comm overruns/underruns because the I/O was all handled by a
<8080 (or was it an 8085). The 11/130 used DECtapes and the 11/110 was
<downloaded.
It used an 8085, and the manual stated the limits of the serial ports.
However if the correct handshake was used it could run pretty fast.
<The biggest problem with the PDT was the price, the fact it was not
<easily expandable by third parties (no Qbus) and slow.
Such was the ways of DEC at the time. Then again what would be added?
<DEC repeated some of the same mistakes in the PC line in the 80's. (no
<QBUS on the Pro, special i/o drivers, non-standard OS version).
The pro used a better form factor than Qbus, otherwise it would have been
huge. If you needed Q there was always the ba11 series boxen. POS on the
other hand was strange.
Allison
<There was a small PDP-11 about the size of a MicroVax 2000. It was
<called the PDT. It had an 11/03 CPU, 64KB, 8" floppy (RX01), and some
It was about twice the size of the VS2000. I have one.
As to static sensitivity mine is quite good and most I know of didn't
have a heat problem. What I have encounterd was system with the fans
replaced with quieter low volume fans that didn't do the job.
Allison
Does anyone know William Donzelli's e-mail address?
Donzelli, are you out there?
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>I am much more bothered by conmans (read my other reply here). I collect
for
>the historical inportance and for the history of design of old electronics
and
>for what they meant in the lives of millions of persons. I don't even care
if
>something is working or not. It is going to end up behing glass anyway. I
I find you sick. Very sick. Keep computers functional, working, cosmetics
should come second. I'm sure that we could find a TRS-80 model 1 CASE
somewhere for you.
>can't possibly USE the more than 140 historical computer I have in my
YES YOU COULD.
>collection and don't even switch them on. I don't collect them for making
them
>work but to display them and help to teach children and people about their
>importance in the hsitory of humanity. The appearance is (nearly)
everything
>to me and so a mumeric keypad where it should not be is a GREAT bother to
me.
So what the hell are you bitching about? You got what you asked for, and
now, it's not a great bother to you. So what the %$&( if it's got a
numeric keypad? It's not a GREAT bother to you, but you've been a GREAT
bother to Cord and everyone else on the list.
Tim D. Hotze
