Found this on alt.folklore.computers
We have a working (or at least it was) Nicolet 290 computer. that
need to vacate the room its been taking up for the last 20+ years.
This system is rigged up as a test bench for an MRI system (that's
all still there too) and we have all the manuals, disk packs, paper
tape programs, banks of core memory etc etc.. I plan to do a small
inventory of the parts and pieces but if I don't find it a home soon
it'll get smashed up.
Does anyone know anything about these computers? I have no idea what
else they may have been used for or how rare this thing is. Anything
anyone knows about it could be helpful towards finding it a proper
home. BTW.. Size wise you're looking at a large console with a plotter
built in and a short 19 inch rack plus many boxes of disk packs
(Diablo) and manuals.
Ken Montgomery
CSU Sacramento
kenm(a)csus.edu (Ken Montgomery)
I've never heard of a Nicolet 290... What is it?
Ken Harbit
krh03(a)cvip.fresno.com
Hi there,
I will be in Bellevue WA for a week, arriving Saturday 4th Oct, leaving
Fri 10 Oct. Anything going on that I would kick myself for missing?
Regards,
Hans B Pufal
concerning this powerstation, i doubt its a risc machine; i have an IBM PC RT
which i will post about later, and that is entirely different from this box.
i cannot see the main board because of the two floppy drives which are tilted
up. there is 4 card slots, but they're not ISA. they look like long
continuous ISA slots, about 6-7 inches long with a disk controller installed.
the machine "posts" but i've no floppy and no video (yet) this machine also
didnt have a key. just some latches which were pulled and the top came off.
In a message dated 97-09-30 21:16:02 EDT, you write:
<< It is probably an older RS/6000 - however, I have never heard of a 550e
(then again, IBM makes a lot of weird stuff). The 500 series RS/6000s are
largish deskside towers. The desktop machines are the 200 and 300 series.
Open the thing up! If it is an old RS/6000, it will have a processor board
with eight or so big nasty looking chips - the Power RISC processor. The
only thing that may give you trouble is that the key (if it has one) must
be in the service position to get the cover off. >>
Sure. How much do you want? (uh...is it over 10 yrs old? This is *classic*
computers, remember!)
Is it an SX or DX? What MHz? Any RAM?
manney(a)nwohio.com
>Someplace around here, I've got a 386 motherboard and processor, that
>replaced an
>old DEC 33 mhz unit.. No clue (off the top of my head) who made it..
>Anybody want
>the thing?
I've started collecting old IBM machines, (brand loyalty) and today came
across a machine called an IBM powerstation 550e. it looks very much like an
apple /// except it has two floppy drives, a db9, rj11,.and 3 db25 ports on
the back. i havent powered it up yet as i'm still trying to figure out how to
open it. I'm off work this week, so I cant ask any of the old IBMers what
this is. anyone know?
david
Well, the physical description sounds a bit odd, but from the model
number I believe you've got one of the early, pre-PowerPC RS/6000 RISC
boxes.
Hope it came with a keyboard... although they have standard-looking
PS/2-style keyboard connectors, the RS/6000 boxes require a specific
keyboard that looks kind of like a PC/3270 keyboard, with a built-in
speaker. I've been looking for a keyboard for a friend of mine's
machine for quite a while.
Kai
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com [SMTP:SUPRDAVE@aol.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 1997 4:46 PM
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> Subject: what is this? IBM powerstation
>
> I've started collecting old IBM machines, (brand loyalty) and today
> came
> across a machine called an IBM powerstation 550e. it looks very much
> like an
> apple /// except it has two floppy drives, a db9, rj11,.and 3 db25
> ports on
> the back. i havent powered it up yet as i'm still trying to figure out
> how to
> open it. I'm off work this week, so I cant ask any of the old IBMers
> what
> this is. anyone know?
>
> david
I've seen two interesting AT&T terminals lately. Both of them are the
same. The screen is rather larger and squarish (about 10" both
dimensions). The most interesting thing is it has what seems to be a
carthridge slot on the side. There is a long white flap on the base unit
that pushes in to reveal an card socket. Anyone have any ideas what the
slot is for?
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!
Several days ago, William Donzelli wrote:
> Was any machine (most likely mainframe class) ever built using F100K ECL
> (the super fast stuff - even today)? The family is small but well thought
> out, and includes some rather bizarre functions.
When I went to Munich to visit my German pen friend 4+/-1 years ago, the
Technical University of Munich had just thrown one out. It was made by
Control Data Corp., and had a model number like 220 or something.
Bernhard was then a student there, and got some bits as souvenirs. I
did some swapping and ended up with 4M 18-bit words of 40 and 45 ns
static RAM for possible use in one of my systems (I haven't yet!) and,
as a museum piece, a card from the CPU.
This CPU card was covered on one side in surface mounted 100000 series
ECL, which I believe is the same as F100K. The other side of the card
had a thin layer of insulator and a thick layer of steel - presumably to
interface thermally to a cooling system.
Philip.
A possible opportunity for someone... See attached message
-jim
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
[ Part 2: "Included Message" ]
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 18:09:09 GMT
From: Mike Stute <lilthug(a)metronet.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.northstar, dfw.forsale
Subject: North Star Horizons For Sale
I have 2 North Star Horizons and an Imsai 8080 that need a new home.
I'm in the Dallas area.
Make Offer.
Mike
(972) 242-1271
