You know, I used to be guilty of this same thing, and feel like a total
putz for having to say this, but John, it is not necessary to report to us
every single item you pick up. We all get stuff and, quite frankly, if
everyone here simply posted what they found and didn't actually talk about
it, you'd have one HELL of a boring discussion. So, thanks but no
thanks for the updates.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Attend the First Annual Vintage Computer Festival
See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details!
On Wed, 31 Dec 1969, John R. Keys Jr. wrote:
> Well today made up for a slow week, got the following items:
> Tandy 1400 LT
> 2-IBM 8573 386 portables one works the other is for parts
> NCR model 1002-6000 computer
> HP 83 and a 85
> Corona luggable model PPC-21
> Informer model 207 with carrying case
> Fluke 8088 interface POD model 900A-8088
> Logical QUV-T8 UV EPROM ERASER
> Black Bell & Howell apple
> Sun 4/110
> Atari XE system
> SuperBrain II QD
> CPT notebook model OC 1000 008 anyone have info on this one ????
> IBM 5322 with two 8" floppies built-in
> IBM 3274-31C with 8" diskettes sofeware
> Paper tape for PDP8 box says MAG TAPE ROUTINES (Diagnostic) and other paper
> tape for the PDP8 and about 10 manuals.
> GTEK model 7128 EPROM Programmer.
>
> It was a good rescue day. Keep computing !!
>
>
<I am not saying that the Sphere papers are of real historical significance
<- the company simply did not last very long, and in my opinion, was a
<producer of junk - but anything Sphere is very rare.
Sphere was an example of some of the shadier companies, all flash and very
little fire. At the time I'd wondered if they had shipped anything at all.
In all I think they represented less than a 8month piece of the industry
that had some con artists as well as serious vendors.
<> I guess it's time for one of those questions I still don't have a good
<> answer for. Where the foo has all the SS-50 stuff gone? Or is it still
<> hiding? Or is it just not here in Sillycon Valley?
SS50 was fairly popular and tended to build up into solid systems. The
people that used them were not hardware hacks and tended more towards
software and applications for their box. I have no idea where they went
save for if I tripped over one I'd keep it as they were good machines.
<I have seen very little as well. That says something, as the boards tend
<to really stick out in the crowd. They never reached the popularity of the
<S-100 stuff, and was probably made in quantities much smaller than just
<about every other bus.
I don't know. S100 was bigger, no question. SS50 was actually better early
on. The problem with SS50 generally was it was 6800 cpu and that was not
fast nor was it easy to plug non motorola cpus in to the bus. SS50 went
>from 6800 to 6809 and prety much died there. the 6502 and the 68k were
two others that would interface to that bus(more or less) but any of the
8080/8085/z80/8088 types had bus timing and signals that were radically
different. S100 was less tied to the CPU despite it originating with 8080.
Early on 6800 cpu was easy to get into as Moto had the big book for $25 and
it had every bit of hardware and software info you could want. It's
limitation was the fastest 6800 was 2mhz and you either liked it or didn't.
Also I feel motos lack of timly follow on in the form of faster 6800s and
far later 6809 and later still 68000 didn't help. Some of the AMI SBCs
were pretty nice and the 6800 market had a greater selection of SBCs at
attractive prices including the moto 6800d1/d2 kits.
The other s100 cpus of the time were 9900, T-11(marinechip systems s100
pdp-11), 1802, sc/mp(1&II), Alpha micro(wd13 chipset), 6809, 68008/68000,
8088/6, 80188/6, 80286, z8000, NS16016(32032). I've also seen 8049, 8051
and 2900 bit slice used for s100 cpus. This diversity kept s100 going
longer and offered choices that could please those that asprired to one cpu
over another.
Also other popular machines had companies offering s100 adators, KIM,
TRS80 being two I remember. It backed up the idea that no one manufacturer
could supply the diverse demand for interfaces to their systems that having
a common bus(s100) could supply. I may add that S100 went beyond cpu,
memory, serial, parallel and disks. The availability of prom/eprom/pal
programmers, A/D, D/A, opto and relay I/Os, Voice, display, networks was
extensive. This al la carte offering made pure one manufacturer s100
systems rare as multiple vendor systems integration was common.
I may add you also had the <at least> three commercial busses STD(z80),
multibus intel processors(and z80) and VME bus which was motorola cpus. It
highlights the fundemental differences between the motorola and intel
designs. The 6502 is fundamentally motorola interface and bus FYI. The
Apple by default also created an aftermarket bus standard for the slots it
had.
Other busses that lasted a moment: Altair 680 (6800 based), digital group,
ti99/4a expansion. There were others I'm sure.
Allison
Thanks to all who provided info on the Sun 3/50. I can't wait to get it
working.
I have another question. I finally got a working replacement RD52 drive for
my uVAX. The drive passes all tests that I run on it, and was in service
previously. Now, what steps do I need to take to get it to be seen by Unix? I
tried to "mount" it, but I keep getting some bizarre error that I can't
remember at this time.
TIA!
Rich Cini/WUGNET rcini(a)msn.com
ClubWin! charter member (6)
MCP Windows 95 and Windows Networking
I have an old NCR machine that I would like to get up and running.
While I have everything intact what I really need is some way of
interfacing it. There are numerous amounts of low density DB15 ports
that I think have nothing to do with Ethernet since the spot that is
labeled Ethernet is covered up with nothing behind the cover. What can
I use to find out what is on this thing. The numbers on the data
sticker are:
class 3470-MSTD
model 0202
serial 36-18259367
tracer 36-002591
Any ideas?
I would also like to know where I can find a power supply for an Amiga
A500.
Charles Oblender
I'm overwhelmed at how many want this computer. I just wanted to let you all
know that I am still trying to decide who gets it, and I'm slow at making
decisions like that, so hang on guys.
mhop(a)snip.net
Well, I made another trip to Temple Univ. this weekend to pick-up more
equipment. Alas, I did not get to the "records room" again because my contact
was gone for the weekend and none of his co-workers knew where the file
cabinets were. Oh well, I'll go back in December.
Here's what I did get, though:
2-RD52 drives for the uVAX
A copy of VisiCalc for the PC, version 1.2
A Sun 3/50 workstation (I need help with this one).
I also saw a Chinese knock-off of an Apple II. Nothing on it said Apple, but
the board was identical. It had a cheap plastic case and a metal base plate. I
stashed it, so maybe I'll get it when I go down next.
Regarding the Sun machine, it's a workstation-style case with a 17" (or
19"??) monitor attached to a base. It has an Ethernet port, 2 serial ports,
and a SCSI port. The monitor has a DB9 connection, and the keyboard is a DB15.
Unfortunately, there was no keyboard/mouse and no monitor cable. Can anyone
help me out with these parts?
More to come...
Rich Cini/WUGNET rcini(a)msn.com
ClubWin! charter member (6)
MCP Windows 95 and Windows Networking
Those two M6800 Programmers Reference Cards from Sphere that I posted here
a week or so back are now spoken for.
Apparently there is not much call for ancient M6800 micro stuff, as I only
got one response. I suppose if they were from the 8080 side of the fence,
things would be different.
William Donzelli
william(a)ans.net
In a message dated 97-10-04 01:07:53 EDT, you write:
<< On Fri, 3 Oct 1997, Glenn Roberts wrote:
> curious if you noticed any difference between "brand name thrift" (e.g.
> Salvation Army & Goodwill) vs. small time shops? others here have
> suggested that the latter is where all the "good stuff" is to be found.
>>
the small time shops here in nc don't have much, although i did find an apple
rgb monitor for a gs there. there's one goodwill close to me that used to get
plenty of old computers there, and even recent items, like an ncr ps/2 clone
and vga monitor for$30! they usually priced computers and monitors there for
$10 each, but they've raised the prices, probably because i'd go in there
every week and buy what i found interesting. they had a ps2 8580 in there a
while back for $75! i think some idiot actually bought it...
david
I'll take it
----------
> From: mhop <mhop(a)mail.snip.net>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: finally found: Your Computer
> Date: Friday, October 03, 1997 8:30 PM
>
> A long time ago I told everyone here that I had a computer in my closet
> somewhere, and someone asked me to let them know when I found it.
>
> "Your Computer"
> with sound and music
> for family, business, educational and entertainment use
>
> It's rubber keybad seems identical to the Timex Sinclair, well, not that
black
> Sinclair with the membrane keyboard, but the other one. It's housed in
white
> plastic, green rubber keys and...
>
> Japaneese intructions - except for the BASic listed programs inside.
>
> Z80A CPU
> Expandable to 16k ram or 32 k ram
> 42 Keys Keyboard
> programmable speaker output
> Direct drive a thermal printer
> 24 rows by 32 characters video display using either home tv or monitor
> 22 graphic symbol available
> Reverse video characters available
> Built in cassette interface (I don't know *what this might be..)
> High resolution graphics capability
> Automatic repeat on space bar insert, delete and cursor control keys
> Programmable slow mode and fast mode
>
> .. and least that is what is says on the box. It's in its original box
and
> styrophome.
>
> Who wants it? It'll cost you the postage to send it. I live in
Somerdale,
> NJ.
>
> mhop(a)snip.net
