Tony Duell <ard(a)odin.phy.bris.ac.uk> wrote:
> > Sounds like HP-IB all right. Note that not all 7970s are.
>
> It's a fairly safe bet IMHO that anything HP after about 1975 with that
> connector is HPIB. There are probably exceptions, but I've not come across
> many (any?)
Any time I've seen that connector on HP gear it was for HP-IB. And
the 7970s that aren't HP-IB don't have that connector. Instead I
think they have a card-edge connector or something to mate with a
card-edge connector (on the end of a long cable that you're supposed
to drag back to the interface in the CPU cabinet).
The 7970 is not a new drive; HP made and sold them for a number of
years. The first HP 3000 I ever saw (a series II) had one, and that
was in 1977. I'm pretty sure there was some way to hook it up to a
2100 (stand-alone, or in an instrument controller or 1000/2000
configuration) as well.
The HP 3000 series II and series III did not use HP-IB. The first
HP-IB 3000s were the series 30 and 33. When HP started shipping new
HP-IB peripherals that were bigger/better/faster[1] they also had the
"Starfish" for the series III. That was a small card cage mounted in
its own 19" cabinet, reportedly due to UL certification requirements,
which provided a GIC (General I/O Channel aka HP-IB interface) and
somehow interfaced it to the series III.
At a previous place of employment, we had a series III when I started.
It eventually (1984) got upgraded to (box swapped for) a series 64,
which supported HP-IB somewhat more directly. We had had a Starfish
on the III, but had only used it for a 7933 disc -- the 7970E tape
drives were hooked up to a MAGNETIC TAPE INTERFACE card in the III.
Part of the upgrade was the removal of some interface electronics from
the bottom of the "master" 7970E and its replacement with some new
interface electronics that spoke HP-IB. There was a similar
replacement for the 7925 disc drive too.
> BTW, what's the correct name for that series of connectors? We tend to
> call them 'Amphenol Connectors' in the UK (while realising that Amphenol
> make a wide range of different connectors). I've also seen them called
> 'Centronics Connectors' (after the common use for the 36 pin one I guess),
> IEEE (or IEEE-488) connectors (after the common use for the 24 pin one)
> and 'Telco Connectors'. I think the last is what HP call them.
Doggone if I know. We always called them HP-IB connectors. So did
the HP CEs. We were pretty much a 3000 shop with not much non-HP
equipment outside of the modems and furniture, certainly nothing else
that tried to use that connector. Well, we did for a while have a
Univac 1004 RJE station, but we never tried to plug it into the 3000
and I can't remember ever trying to do much with it other than feed it
paper when it ran out.
-Frank McConnell
[1] the ones I am thinking of are the 7933 disc drive (404MB washing
machine), 7976A tape drive (6250BPI 9-track, streaming and
start-stop, OEM'd from someone else (STC I think)), and 2680A laser
printer; I think these were the only peripherals supported for
connection via Starfish
<Yes, I'd realised that. I was planning on making a circuit that triggered
<off the index pulse and recorded 'bursts' of (say) 250kHz pulses on the
<disk. A bit of logic would let me record a track offset towards the edge
<of the disk, twiddle the micrometer to move the head to the same offset
<towards the spindle and then record bursts between the ones I'd just put
<down. Now align the target drive so that both types of burst are replayed
<at the same amplitude.
doesn't work, you need the narrower write head. What you will see is
the additive components of the signals where the head overlaps the tracks.
The can be the sum or the signals, if not in sync there will also be
differences due the phases at a given instant. Also do not discount the
effects of the tunnel erase portion of the head slicing off the adjacent
offset tracks.
<The older SA800's used entirely standard logic, so it's not worth taking
<parts from an old one. SA850's used custom chips in the read/write
<circuit, and later SA800's (according to my service manual) used one big
<custom chip :-(. I guess then you have to get spares from old drives.
Sometimes it's easier to swap a known board that troubleshoot.
<Getting _new_ 8" drives is next-to-impossible, and if you use a
True but, there are used and then there are USED. The later being one thats
seen umpty years of 24x7.
<The less said about that SA400 the better....
Yep!
Allison
Doug Spence, please e-mail me so I have your current e-mail address. I
tried e-mailing you the images of the Apple3 system disks and it bounced.
If anyone else wants ShrinkIt archives of the Apple /// system disks let
me know and I'll e-mail them off to you. You'll need an Apple that can
run ShrinkIt (//e, //c, //gs, ???) and a copy of ShrinkIt (can be found
on the net, public domain AFAIK) to transfer them to 5.25" floppies.
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
<> I knew about that too, Those disks is too far expensive for few fixes
<> run to pay off in due time. :)
<
<It's not that bad. You only need 4 disks total - one of each size. They're
<no more expensive than the other test gear you really should have.
<
<If somebody could find a UK source of 8" alignment disks then I'd buy one
<_now!_
Dec diagnostic disks that havent been rewritten are generally very close to
nominal alignment.
<I was planning on removing the pin altogether and letting the head
<carriage move freely over the leadscrew. Then fit a micrometer head and a
<spring to pull the head assy agains the end of the micrometer. I should be
<able to get about 1" of calibrated head movement.
While you can do this there is one problem. Alignment disks are recorded
with a narrower than normal trackwdith and also stagger tracks (recorded
with offset either side of true) for alignment use.
Another tool you need is a source of 125/250/500khz pulses that conform to
FM timing (single density) for writing patterns. This is something you can
build out a handful of counters and a 4mhz clock osc.
Over the years I've found that if the drive needs alignment it's wise to
look for other problems like spindle and motor bearings that are tired
or head to actuator wear that will make for sloppy operation. Head
alignment can signal other problems. I retired a SA800 for spindle
bearings because the thing would not reliably read (had a new in the box
spare). Generally I've found that it's best to put aside those drives in
favor of a better one stealing the logic from it as needed. The only time I
would fix it is when there is really no other choice. Unless doing a museum
style restore I've found some drives are better dumped (sa400s in general)
in favor of other better drives of the era.
Allison
> I can get lots of TI 99 items, tell what you are looking for ??
Thanks, John. I am looking for:
Cartridges (I have none), preferably not of arcade-style games unless
particularly significant
Manuals, in particular pinout and levels of video port so that I can
connect a monitor of some description...
Also, details of what sort of joystick I need to connect...
Philip.
Message text written by INTERNET:classiccmp@u.washington.edu
>A TI-99/4A (works) with RF Modulator, Joysticks, and 20 cartridges... $5.<
Were you soliciting information on the TI?
The joysticks aren't Atari-standard, so you're lucky those were in the
package. Cartridge-wise, look through your haul particularly for Extended
BASIC, Disk Manager II and Terminal Emulator II. The first is critical if
you even get an Peripheral Expansion Box ("PEB"); the second is helpful if
you get a PEB. The third is useful if you ever get the voice synthesizer
(or of course, if you want to try a modem). If you have an Adventure
cartridge, it won't do you much good unless you also got the accompanying
tape.
>Tho this isn't perfectly legit, I also picked up a Sony AC/DC (with 3
types
of DC!) 5" color TV, which I plan to use as a monitor / portable monitor
for one (or more) of my CoCo's. (The TI didn't like it... :-( <
No clue on why . . . .
>Question: One of the cartridges has a triangular picture-hanger rivited to
the case... would this be some sort of store demo or something?<
No way of telling, short of inserting it and seeing what pops up.
Gil Parrish
107765.1161(a)compuserve.com
Isaac Davis <indavis(a)juno.com> wrote:
> On the discussion of classic computers, does anyone have some Analog
> magazines from the 86-87 time frame. I am trying to follow some of the
> 'Boot Camp' articles (machine language tutorial). The problem that I
> have is, they all build off of a beginning article, and you'll never
> guess what I am missing. They are articles on player missile graphics in
> machine language. If anyone has them, I would really appreciate getting
> in contact with them. I believe what I am looking for is in the
> July-October issues. I have November 86 - January 87, which are the last
> 3 in the series.
Time for a show of hands: how many of us are going to LoneStarCon in
San Antonio over Labor Day weekend?
Isaac, if you haven't found these by say 27 August, please let us know
so we know to be looking for them in the huckster room....
-Frank McConnell
If you e-mail me a fax number I can fax you the pages, there are 44 pages in
the manual showing the many different settings.
At 05:54 PM 8/18/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Can anyone help this guy out?
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Sun, 27 Jul 1997 20:28:19 -0500
>From: Jim Duchek <jimduchek(a)primary.net>
>To: bill(a)booster.bothell.washington.edu
>Subject: Computers
>
>Hi there. I noticed in your collection that you had an IBM PC; I'm
>assuming it's a 5150. Do you have a manual for it that might list the
>jumper and dip switch settings on the motherboard, and if so, could you
>tell me what they are? Thanks.
>
>
>Jim Duchek
>jimduchek(a)primary.net
>
>
>
Can anyone help this guy out?
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 1997 20:28:19 -0500
From: Jim Duchek <jimduchek(a)primary.net>
To: bill(a)booster.bothell.washington.edu
Subject: Computers
Hi there. I noticed in your collection that you had an IBM PC; I'm
assuming it's a 5150. Do you have a manual for it that might list the
jumper and dip switch settings on the motherboard, and if so, could you
tell me what they are? Thanks.
Jim Duchek
jimduchek(a)primary.net
