At 00:02 03-08-97 PDT, you wrote:
>Date: Sat, 2 Aug 1997 06:46:19 -0400
>From: Jeff Hellige <jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com>
>To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
>Subject: MicroVax II
>Message-ID: <199708021046.GAA13569(a)unix.aardvarkol.com>
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Well, it looks like I may be rescuing, or at least try to, a
>MicroVax II on monday. There is a local business, about 30 miles from here,
>that wants to dispose of one, and I got contacted to try and rescue it.
>According to the guy I talked to, it has 2-35meg HD's, and 5meg of RAM in
>it, and I'd just be getting the main system unit. Could someone give me
>some general info on this machine, such as a guess as to the weight of it?
Weight: About 40-50 lbs. Not bad at all, really. Some PC full-towers tip
the scales around there.
Sizewise, they're about as tall as a full-tower, but deeper and skinnier.
You can probably lift one in your arms without a huge problem.
With the hardware that's in it, you could easily run OpenVMS, MicroVMS,
regular VMS (I think -- someone check me on that, please?), Ultrix, or NetBSD.
I know the guy I wrote to said there were no docs or diags with it, but...
if by some miracle he was wrong, I'd like to get a copy of any diagnostics
that you might get with it.
Best of luck, and thanks for responding!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272)
(Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)wizards.net)
http://www.wizards.net/technoid
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
I got a nice system for free today from a nice old couple who run a
thrift shop that they are closing down.
Its a Televideo 1603. What's interesting about this system for one thing
is that it was made by Televideo, whom I thought only made terminals. It
has two 5.25" floppies integrated with a green monochrome monitor on a
swivel armature and a detached keyboard. On the back are two DB-25 serial
ports, a D-type connector RS-422 port, a telephone jack for a mouse (which
I didn't get), and two dipswitch blocks. Inside it has an 8088 and a
6502! I was talking to Doug Coward tonight about it and he suggested that
the 6502 was for the terminal operation, and the 8088 was actually the
main processor. This makes sense, but I was wondering if anyone knew more
about it.
When it boots it says on the top line of the screen:
TS-1600/1603/1603H POWER ON DIAGNOSTICS Z2.2
then it says below that:
RAM TEST IN PROGRESS.....
then changes to:
FLOPPY DRIVE TEST IN PROGRESS.....
at which point it turns on the floppy drive for a few seconds, then goes to:
WAITING FOR HARD DISK.....
Inside there is a multi-pin connector which I'd assumed was for a
hard-drive but there was no cable for it. I didn't write down the number
on the WD controller chip. I think perhaps the RS-422 port is where
you'd hook the hard drive to.
Anyway, after it doesn't find a hard drive, it clears the screen and
becomes just a dumb terminal. Doug suggested I try booting an old
version of DOS or CP/M+ on it.
Any information on this would be appreciated.
Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass
Well went out there and picked through stuff again... Lets see
today's tab was $30 for:
2 monitors (1702 & CM-141, both Commodore color composite/split
composite)
early VIC-20 (with the older 9v only adapter)
Jupiter Lander Cart for VIC-20
Commodore 4022 Tractor Printer (IEEE-488)
Commodore 4040 dual disk drive
Commodore PC-40 III enclosure (still has motherboard (drives have been
removed)
Box o' cables & stuff including IEEE-488 cables, video cables, serial
cables, a couple epoxy brick supplies, a pair of atari paddles and a
pair of atari driving controllers.
There is still have at least a dozen PETs there but I havent the space
for more (hopefully I'll make more room before the sale is over...)
Also a bunch of 1702s and CM141s, and lots of 64s, VIC-20s and 1541s...
Other computers of note... No apple ][s Enrico, and I saw someone
pick up the two ][c's for $5 each. There were a couple Compupro
8/somethings.. They looked heavy (given one was opened and I saw one of
the biggest transformers I have ever seen), had a about 8 or ten of
cards in it... the Osbornes are still there... ALOT of stuff, more
then I could report.
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On a side note, recently I have been fortunate in finding alot of low
density disks (5.25 and 3.5") at thrift stores for less then I can get
them bulk (from $1 to $2 a package of 10 or more), many of which haven't
even been used. Those of us with computers requiring such disks sould
make sure to check for them during your thrift shopping. :)
Larry Anderson
--
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Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/
Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363
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<recollection that 422 and 423 are the same, and 423 definitely is
<balanced rs-232, unless I'm completely off).
RS422 is balanced pair, 423 is a subset of 232 usually used with RJ style
connectors.
Allison
At 08:23 PM 7/26/97 -0700, you wrote:
>TRS-80 Model 100 Manuals:
>These are photocopies of the originals but are bound together like real
>manuals. Service Manual, Owner's Manual and 2 little Quick Reference
>manuals.
>Shipping is $2.25 book rate.
If these are still available, I'd love to take them off your hands! (I have
three m100's and only 1 owner's manual; none of the others.) Thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------------------- O-
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
Has anyone ever heard of the Litton Industries's Monrobot XI? It's the
first computer I ever programmed. This was back around 1967. It was a
machine built into a desk with an electric typewriter and a papertape
reader. I'd love to find one or any information about them. I've got an
old programming card for Quickcomp, an assembly level language for it
but that's all. I'd also like to find an IBM 1620 although that machine
is probably too big for the space I have available.
--
David Betz
dbetz(a)xlisper.mv.com
DavidBetz(a)aol.com
(603) 472-2389
At 00:02 02-08-97 PDT, you wrote:
>Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 13:43:28 +0000
>From: jpero(a)mail.cgo.wave.ca
>To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
>Subject: SCSI to SMD convertor board? was: Re: Mainframe FS
>Message-ID: <199708011741.NAA13904(a)mail.cgocable.net>
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>
>Well, I ask:
>
>Does there is a device already invented to use common SCSI to drive
>SMD drives in between?
<snip>
Not foolish at all! ;-) There is indeed at least one SCSI/SMD bridge board
I know of. Adaptec made them, but they're not easy to find. Model number
was ACB-5580.
I have exactly ONE of these that I need to hang onto to test drives.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272)
(Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)wizards.net)
http://www.wizards.net/technoid
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
Well, it looks like I may be rescuing, or at least try to, a
MicroVax II on monday. There is a local business, about 30 miles from here,
that wants to dispose of one, and I got contacted to try and rescue it.
According to the guy I talked to, it has 2-35meg HD's, and 5meg of RAM in
it, and I'd just be getting the main system unit. Could someone give me
some general info on this machine, such as a guess as to the weight of it?
Thanks.
Jeff jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Amiga enthusiast and collector of early, classic microcomputers
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
Someone sent me an E-mail not long ago that, in a very confident tone,
advised me that my quest to find an RRD40 or RRD50 would fail, as the
controllers were 'impossible' to find.
Never say 'Impossible!' to a technoid. ;-)
I just closed a deal for TWO RRD40 CD drives, one controller, cabling, and
technical manual, all for $65 + shipping & COD charge.
As a point of interest, another company out of Chico, CA offered me an
RRD50 for $40, and a controller for $125! (sheesh!)
I've told them (politely) no, thanks, on the controller. However, it
occurs to me that there may not be any difference in the controller for the
RRD40 and RRD50.
Allison or Tim? Is this, in fact, a true statement? Can either drive be
used with the M7552 controller? If so, I'll just order the drive from them
and hunt around for another controller later.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272)
(Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)wizards.net)
http://www.wizards.net/technoid
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
At 07:52 AM 8/1/97 -0600, you wrote:
>That machine is an 80186! (Nope, that's not a typo.) It's really not
>'IBM' compatible, although it runs MS-DOS 2. That machine obviously must
>have the color card, if it comes with the CM-1 (I'd love one of those.)
>The 2k sported several big enhancements over the PC. The faster 186, 720k
>floppies (DSQD), 600x400x16colors, full 16 bit expansion slots. Overall
>it's a really cool machine. That's probably why it didn't survive.
As long as programmers used BIOS calls instead of writing directly
to the video hardware and such, the 2k would run a lot of PC software just
fine. I've got a list around here somewhere of what PC software was known
to work with it. I ran the basic PC versions of Wordstar and Norton
Utilities on mine for a long time, though things such as Framework required
special video drivers. Also, communications programs didn't like the
machine, unless they used a fossil driver to access the serial port, such as
GTPower. I enjoyed making new fonts for the machine to boot into, as it's
system font was loaded into RAM on startup, making it quite customizable.
As for the CM-1, that is one nice monitor. I never could find one though,
so I ended up using an early NEC Multisync on mine for a while.
>Some had a hard drive. If it was factory installed, the nameplate should
>read 'Model 2000HD.' You might also look for any labelling on the back.
>The HD controller might have some sort of stickers on it. (The cards are
>the long, 1/2" high metal strips on the back.)
My 2k started life as a dual-floppy model, and then I added a
Seagate ST-225 internally later. I was kind of a pain finding the piggyback
hard disk power supply and mounting bracket for the drive though! I also
had the color video board, 640k RAM, and a clock/mouse board.
Jeff jeffh(a)unix.aardvarkol.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
Amiga enthusiast and collector of early, classic microcomputers
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
