- test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org - classiccmp.org

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

I went with a buddy of mine to pick up some DEC equipment today. I got to talking to the equipment owner and asked if he had a PDP-8. He did! But it's already on E-bay :-( I took a look at it anyway and it's NICE! If anyone is interested in buying a PDP-8, be sure and check it out. Unlike most "systems" this one is a complete and working system and not just a collection of cards, boxs and bits and pieces. This one has a PT reader, PT punch, CPU, THREE RK-05 drives and an interface (it was once a controller for a GenRad test system.) It's in a rack and everything is mounted the way it should be and everything is cabled up and ready to operate. Since it was a test system controller, it probably has a butt-load of IO cards too. Everything works and it boots and runs OS-8. The three drives are all aligned and you can swap the disks into any drive and read them. The system is clean and in VERY nice condition. It's wrapped in shrink wrap so the picture on E-bay doesn't do it justice. <http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1247&item=5207512513 &rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW>. Me? I got a CAR FULL of DEC software and documentation! Joe

21 years, 2 months

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More Pictures. Re: Found a PDP-8 today!

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

I just finished uploading pictures of SOME of the stuff that Astro-II picked up. Here they are <http://www.classiccmp.org/hp/astro-ii/>. Joe A surplus dealer in Melbourne Fla has bought most of the stuff that Tom had. I've been helping move DEC stuff for the last TWO days! It looks like it will take at least two MORE days to get the rest of it. And that's with THREE large trucks and a trailor and a gang of men. Today I took some pictures of just some of the stuff. This stuff is all at a surplus company now and will be sold (cheap) or it will be scrapped. If you look through the pictures you'll spot some real treasures. If any of you are intersted in DEC stuff you NEED to come down to Melbourne and dig through the piles and rescue the good stuff. Here is a link to the stores website, it has a map shgowing the location. <http://www.astrotoo.com/Contact_Information.html>. Ask for Roger (he's the owner) and tell him that Joe sent ya. There are a LOT of working hard drives for DECs, COUNTLESS DEC chassis and boards, Lear Sigler terminals, TEC 400 Series terminals, PILES of DEC terminals and PILES more. Today I found a Cromemco system, a COMPLETE DEC 11/44 with dual FDs and a hard drive and MORE docs and software. Oh and some good HP stuff. Joe At 11:13 PM 6/13/05 -0400, you wrote: > I went with a buddy of mine to pick up some DEC equipment today. I got >to talking to the equipment owner and asked if he had a PDP-8. He did! But >it's already on E-bay :-( I took a look at it anyway and it's NICE! If >anyone is interested in buying a PDP-8, be sure and check it out. Unlike >most "systems" this one is a complete and working system and not just a >collection of cards, boxs and bits and pieces. This one has a PT reader, PT >punch, CPU, THREE RK-05 drives and an interface (it was once a controller >for a GenRad test system.) It's in a rack and everything is mounted the way >it should be and everything is cabled up and ready to operate. Since it was >a test system controller, it probably has a butt-load of IO cards too. >Everything works and it boots and runs OS-8. The three drives are all >aligned and you can swap the disks into any drive and read them. The >system is clean and in VERY nice condition. It's wrapped in shrink wrap so >the picture on E-bay doesn't do it justice. > ><http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1247&item=5207512513 >&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW>. > > Me? I got a CAR FULL of DEC software and documentation! > > Joe > >

21 years, 2 months

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What is a DEC VT-61/T ?

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

I found several of these. They have a CRT on the left side and a fixed keyboard. They're wrapped up so I didn't get a better look. Joe

21 years, 2 months

1
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Proper name for Tandy Color Computer?

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

At 19:03 06/06/2005 -0700, you wrote: >John wrote: >> All of the Coco 1s (including some white ones) were marketed as TRS-80. > >Are you sure there were any while Coco 1s? I thought the color change >arrived with the Coco 2. Yes. I recently acquired one. It is called "Radio Shack TRS-80 64k Color Computer" It is the same size and shape as the silver CoCo1, and shipped in the same box, however it is white in color and has the larger/square/flat keys the same as the easly (TRS-80) CoCo2's. I'll get a picture up on my site for my next update. Btw, I found a page which has a good list of a number of different variations of the CoCo2. He also mentions the white CoCo1. http://users.digitalindigo.net/~techno/coco.html Regards, -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Collector of vintage computing equipment: http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

21 years, 2 months

5
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Procedure For Connecting To The 'net Circa 1978

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

That last exchange of messages has me reminiscing so (with a little tongue in cheek)... Procedure For Connecting To The 'net Circa 1978 (That's the ARPANET for all you young whipper-snappers. What we called the internet before they let all of the riff-raff in.) Initial notes: Do not begin this procedure before 11PM. This avoids conflicts over telephone usage with your parents. Net resources are generally not available to "tourists" before this time anyway. Resource availability is generally best on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and holidays. Keep an ear open for police sirens. Rumor has it that the FCC will come and arrest you (and/or your parents) if it detects illegal equipment attached to the telephone system. Another reason to operate late at night, they probably aren't watching. 1) Move your computer from your bedroom to the kitchen table (that's where the phone is!). Don't connect power to the modem yet, it produces a carrier whenever it is powered and you need to be able to hear the far end of the telephone connection when you first dial. Also, you want it to be cool when you initiate the connection. 2) Take the handset off of the hook and replace it with the piece of broomstick that you fashioned for that purpose. 3) Get a big towel from the linen closet. Fold it into quarters and put the handset on it. Attach the speaker and microphone to the handset with wide rubber bands. Fold the towel over the handset. This will prevent various ambient sounds (like the sound of typing) from introducing noise on the line. 4) Being sure that the cassette/modem switch (a DPDT switch that connects the transmit and receive pins of the USART to either the cassette interface or the modem) is in the cassette position, load the terminal program. Run the program. You are greeted with a blank screen (this is normal but you can't be 100% sure that it loaded correctly until you have connected). Switch the cassette/modem switch to modem. You may see a few garbage characters on the screen (that's a good sign). 5) Get an ice cube from the freezer, put it in a sandwich bag and put it on the towel next to the modem. 6) Remove the broom stick from the telephone hook and dial the NBS (National Bureau of Standards) TIP (Terminal Interface Processor). Listen for the call to be answered and for the carrier on the far end. Sometimes the TIP is down and won't answer, sometimes it is down and will answer but won't give a carrier. If it's down, wait an hour and try again. 7) If you get a carrier, apply power to the modem. Start pressing the @ (at) key once a second until it is echoed on your screen. Listen for the chirp when you press the key. If you don't hear it, the terminal program isn't running correctly, hang up, unpower the modem, reset the computer and go back to step 4. 8) Once the @ character is echoed, press enter. You should get an error message (I no longer remember the text). Now type "@O 77<return>". This instructs the TIP to connect you to the MIT-DM (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dynamic Modeling) computer. 9) Start pressing the return key once a second until you get a logon prompt (I no longer remember the prompt text). The user name and password are GUEST. 10) Once logged on, wait for a minute or two, pressing enter every ten seconds or so. This gives the operator a chance to notice you and kick you off if the system is busy. If he's in a chatty mood, you'll get a message like "The system's busy, get lost!". If not, your connection will just die. If the system is busy, try again in an hour or so. 11) I no longer remember how to start up Zork or some of the other programs... anyone feel free to provide details I'm missing. Keep an ear on the connection. If the carrier starts to change pitch, wipe any condensation off the ice cube bag on the towel and then apply to the smaller chip on the right on the modem board.

21 years, 2 months

2
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Replacing drives on classic systems was Wild-hair floppy drive question

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Randy McLaughlin" <cctalk at randy482.com> > >When replacing drives in classic systems there are some things to keep in >mind: > >Newer drives are mainly compatible but not 100%. > Hi Termination is another thing that many miss. Too much is often just as bad as too little. Many newer drives are not clear how to disable the termination or enable it. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

3
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Creating text PDFs from scans

by mokuba＠gmail.com

For a minor fee (perhaps around $2), I'd be willing to take scans of manuals and documents and hand retype them into searchable PDF files for distribution, retaining original images and formatting, just acting as a human OCR of sorts ;)

21 years, 2 months

6
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Rescued: HP85, HP86B, 912x drives - score!

by listmailgoeshere＠gmail.com

Hi list, I pulled the following from a skip (or dumpster as you North Americans would have it!): http://img163.echo.cx/my.php?image=hp854qg.jpg (5 x HP85 computers) http://img263.echo.cx/my.php?image=hp86b4wy.jpg (3 x HP86B computers) http://img263.echo.cx/my.php?image=hpdrives8zh.jpg (5 x HP9121 dual drives, 1 x HP9122 dual drive) Is there anything specific to these machines I should check (aside >from the obligatory stuff-from-a-dumpster drying-out period) before trying to power them on? I haven't got a monitor that will do the NTSC composite from the HP86Bs at the moment so I can't really try those, but I can try the HP85s and the drives if it's OK to. Thanks, Ed.

21 years, 2 months

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Check out artical on Data Format Storage

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

In the July 2005 issue of Technology Review there's an article about the over 16,000 formats of data that the NARA has store and make available forever. They have two companies working on away to store all this data in their correct data format but be able to review it at anytime in the future.

21 years, 2 months

3
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New Bounties: TI Personal Consultant Plus and M1 Expert Shell ($$$)

by vcf＠siconic.com

I am currently seeking the following software for a client: Texas Instruments Personal Consultant Plus (tm) expert shell (circa 1987). M1 Expert Shell (circa late 1980s). Both of these expert systems are PC-based. If you have either of these, please contact me privately. This is a bounty so there's a cash reward! Thanks! -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

21 years, 2 months

1
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MITS 8800B CPU Board

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>X-Server-Uuid: 89466532-923C-4A88-82C1-66ACAA0041DF >X-URL: http://www.ultrafunk.com/products/popcorn/ >Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 20:44:14 -0400 >From: "Allison" <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> >To: cctalk at classiccmp.org >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-Priority: 3 >Subject: Re: MITS 8800B CPU Board >X-BeenThere: cctalk at classiccmp.org >X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 >List-Id: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk.classiccmp.org> >List-Unsubscribe: <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk>, <mailto:cctalk-request at classiccmp.org?subject=unsubscribe> >List-Archive: <http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk> >List-Post: <mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org> >List-Help: <mailto:cctalk-request at classiccmp.org?subject=help> >List-Subscribe: <http://www.classiccmp.org/mailman/listinfo/cctalk>, <mailto:cctalk-request at classiccmp.org?subject=subscribe> >X-MMS-Spam-Confidence: moderate >X-MMS-Content-Rating: broadcast >X-MMS-Spam-Filter-ID: A2005061307_IBF_2.0.0 >X-WSS-ID: 6EB0F72E1CW1619994-01-01 >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > >> >>Subject: Re: MITS 8800B CPU Board >> From: "Dwight K. Elvey" <dwight.elvey at amd.com> >> Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 17:12:04 -0700 (PDT) >> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org >> >>>From: "river" <river at zip.com.au> >>> >>>Hi, >>> >>>Thanks for your replies. I found the relevant information. >>> >>>I have an extensive inventory and can source the parts and get this poor, >>battered board back to its old self again. However, looking through the doco I >>noticed that the 8800B requires a display/control and interface boards. A >>question for those of you that own a MITS8800 - does it need those boards for a >>turnkey system? Can I plug the CPU board into the backplane and run it without >>the d/c and i/f cards, assuming I set up the ROM and RAM cards for the system? >>If not, (since I do not have the d/c and i/f cards) I'll have to try and build >>them from the cct diagrams I have obtained. This is do-able (but a lot of work) >>if I can get my hands on some blank S100 w/wrap boards, but I noticed there's a >>1702 EPROM chip and I'd need to get the memory map for this chip to burn my own. >>> >>>Failing that, and it's all too hard and bothersome for me, is there anyone that >>would need a repaired 8800 CPU card for trade or anything similar? >>> >>>rgds >>>river >>> >> >>Hi >> It should work on a turnkey. Almost everything goes >>through the S100 bus. Only the direct connect of the >>data bus goes directly between the panel and the CPU board. >>I don't think that is needed. You will have to have code >>residing at address 0000. This is not common. Most >>expected a working front panel that could load a boot >>address. >> Some ROM boards have a way to be at 0000 after reset >>and then switch to someplace else once things are booted. >> Don't give up on it. When there is a will, there will >>be a way. >>Dwight > > >Yes, you will have to have rom at 0000h though and Mwrite >was derived and delivered from the front pannel if memory >serves. So that means ram will have to be set up to not >require Mwrite. Either that or you will have to through >something small together to create Mwrite. > >As to mapping rom out once operational, thats a later problem. >It's fairly easy to do. > >Allison Hi I've done this on my NC4000 based computer. It is nice to have it all in clean RAM. One can do things like hot patching code( not recommended for the faint of heart ). Dwight

21 years, 2 months

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CP/M serial disk image transfer.

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Dave Dunfield" <dave04a at dunfield.com> > >Hi Guys, > >Having a large quantity of 8" disks that I need to archive/send to >someone, and neither of us having teledisk working on an compatible >8" drive, and not having nearly enough 8" media to spare to send >physical copies... > >I have created another serial link disk imaging program. > Hi Dave I've not had the need for this so far but expect to sometime in the future. Most of the CP/M machines that I have either are common and have disk with them or are so uncommon that I've needed to hand build the disk from scratch. I have used the serial port to transfer information but once I have the basic core working, I just transfer files. If it is a binary file, I've used Intel Hex format and DDT to save to a binary. It would be interesting to compile a web page with all the different tricks used to handle the various image and file transfer problems of these older systems. Things like how to connect a 8 inch disk or a little source code that shows how to do console to disk transfers using the CP/M bios. One could include things like my H8/H89 image transfer program and my Olivetti M20 disk image building code. I have code from another fellow to move Polymorphic disk images from a Poly 881x to a PC with xmodem( windows supports ). There are so many ways to skin a cat. Each has a slightly different advantage under some conditions. Just a thought Dwight

21 years, 2 months

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Retrochallenge, 2005

by aek＠bitsavers.org

looking at the points/multipier a Sun 3/60 running <mumble>BSD will be the knee of the effort/points curve.

21 years, 2 months

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Paging Jules Richardson

by jim.beacon＠ntlworld.com

Apologies to everyone else........ Jules, I've sent you a couple of messages of list, but received no replies - are you getting them, or does your ISP bounce my emails? Jim. Please see our website the " Vintage Communication Pages" at WWW.G1JBG.CO.UK

21 years, 2 months

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CP/M serial disk image transfer.

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

Hi Guys, Having a large quantity of 8" disks that I need to archive/send to someone, and neither of us having teledisk working on an compatible 8" drive, and not having nearly enough 8" media to spare to send physical copies... I have created another serial link disk imaging program. This one reads and writes CP/M images to and from physical diskettes of a connected CP/M system. Due to the fact that CP/M does not provide a general means of reading and writing the system tracks, system tracks can only be backed up on diskettes which have them recorded in a format compatible with the BIOS driver. The user accessable portion of the disk can always be backed up and restored. This is a command line program that runs on a PC, and communicates with the target system via a small resident "client". The program can transfer the client to the CP/M system by "typing it in" through DDT. Still in the testing stages, I have it to the point where I can quite reliably backup and restore diskette images. So far I've tested it using a NorthStar Horizon (actually my simulator running on another PC), and the Orion-V (an STD bus system with 8" disks). If anyone wants to play with it, please drop me a line, and I can send a preliminary version - once I am happy that everything is working correctly, I will get it posted to my site. Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Collector of vintage computing equipment: http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

21 years, 2 months

2
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MITS8800 CPU Board

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: MITS8800 CPU Board > From: "river" <river at zip.com.au> > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 16:23:21 +1000 > To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Hi, > >Great, thanks for the info. > >I'm sourcing a few S100 protoboards, so I'll be able to wirewrap a board with all the relevant RAM, ROM and I/O. I'll probably use later generation chips such as 62256 for RAM and 6264 for ROM. I can then put in the 8251 and 8255 for serial and parallel ports, respectively. Is that heresy in regards to these old boards? > >It's not an issue to me starting ROM at 0000h. I've written a few 8080 > >I've only got a 6-slot motherboard and a Northstar ZCB processor board, S100 ROM board and some Dynabyte RAM boards and I was going to use the motherboard and original S100 boards with this system. This means the 8800CPU board will be in a small 2-slot system - the CPU board and the RAM/ROM/IO board I'm going to make. The NS* ZCB has a power on jump (POJ) and reset logic so you dont need rom at Zero plus it also generates Mwrite. Besides being Z80 it's a better CPU to use. >Just one more thing.... I suppose it's possible to use the 8800CPU bd >without the power regulation components if I ensure the correct voltages go through the correct pins on the bus. I can then use an old spare PC power supply, instead of creating a new supply. Naturally, this would entail that no other S100 board can be used due to their on-board regulators. This isn't an issue if I build my own S100 boards, without regulation, for this system. You can add regulation a trivial thing. However using a PC supply is fine (you'll need -5 -12 +5 +12). Regular S100 cards can be used if you bypass the regulators. > >Again, thanks for your help. This is my first foray into S100 stuff, and makes a nice change from Multibus. Nice change?!? You will be messing with hardware much more. S100 you'll find there are a few quirks like noisy backplanes and cards that are S100 but not always compatable with the CPU in use. Allison

21 years, 2 months

2
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Retrochallenge, 2005

by cb＠mythtech.net

>I've used my Mac SE (1988) online, but not in 1988! I could put it >back online now if I dug the modem out of the bits box. I used my Mac SE online in 1991 (or was it 1990... one of those two). I used it to connect to CompuServe back then. Not too long after I was using it to connect to Prodigy, although I gave up on that VERY quickly, it performed like crap on the SE. I don't think I even made it past Prodigy's trial period (I used it for maybe an hour over the course of a week) Then there was a break until maybe 93/94 when I used AOL, also originally on the SE, but shortly there after on a Quadra 610. Of course, prior to the SE and CompuServe in 1991, I was using a Mac Plus on BBS systems (and before that an Apple II+ on BBS as well as the A2 on CompuServe for a period of time... and on some Dow Jones thing I obtained >from school). And of course, I'm sure all my stuff is WAY more modern then many others on this list were doing. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

21 years, 2 months

1
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Tom Jennings on History channel

by jwstephens＠msm.umr.edu

Gremlin collector on Heavy Metal show about building up an AMC Pacer nd AMC Gremlin. The show missed it though, since the MC Pacer was originally a possible candidate for a rotary engine that was replaced by a 6 cylinder for road. If they had refitted the Pacer with a triced out 13B they would hav ehad a better show if they had\ been racing Pacer vs something with 300 hp. sorry for off topic, reply to me Jim

21 years, 2 months

5
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MITS 8800B CPU Board

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Dave Dunfield" <dave04a at dunfield.com> > ---snip--- > > If you do need RAM at 0000, then you will need to add a bit of circutry to > allow your rom to "MOVE". One simple way, assuming you want to put your ROM > at an address >= 8000 is to upon RESET, double-map your ROM to it's correct > address (>= 8000) AND at 0000. While doing this, you need to pull the > phantom signal to disable any RAM at 0000 - Begin your bootstrap code with > a JMP to it's correct address (+3) ... As soon as you see an instruction > fetch with the high bit set, release the double-map at 0000 and phantom, > and your system will be operating normally from the ROM at the higher > address. Hi An alternate method, since this it to be your tinker system, would be to put a switch so that the EPROM board always is seen at 0000 when the switch is held. When released, it takes on the address that is out of the RAM's way. If you make it so that it is double mapped while the switch is pushed, making the transition to the normal address is trivial. One could even include a one-shot to trigger the reset. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

2
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question about AT&T 7300 disk format

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

are disks for this puter (68010 based Unix) readable in a PC? Otherwise how can I go about archiving them? Thanks. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

21 years, 2 months

2
1
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PDF Creation on Mac OS X

by mokuba＠gmail.com

What different freeware and OSS pieces are there for The creation of PDFs on Mac OS X? I'm looking to create PDFs of some of my own documents, and don't have any Software for mac for this job, I do however have acrobat For the PC

21 years, 2 months

5
5
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WTB: DL11

by wacarder＠earthlink.net

Patrick, I have several spares. Send me an email and we can talk. Ashley -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Finnegan <pat at computer-refuge.org> Sent: Jun 12, 2005 1:04 PM To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: WTB: DL11 So, one more part I need to get my DIY 11/34 functional, I need a DL11 for its console port. Since I aparenly was outbid on the one I was bidding on on ebay, I thought I might see if anyone on here has one available for a reasonable price. Thanks, Pat -- Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

21 years, 2 months

1
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PDP 11/23 PLUS system for sale

by fireflyst＠earthlink.net

Hi everyone! I???ve decided to part with my assortment of QBUS equipment and peripherals, in order to gain space and raise some money for a SCSI card for my 11/34A. Here???s what I have: PDP 11/23 PLUS CPU (in advertised style BA11-S series system unit, with 3 switch front panel and large PDP 11/23 PLUS logo) Cards are: KDF11-BA Dilog DQ130 magtape controller. One 256KW MOS memory board (DEC, forgot the card name) One 128KW MOS memory board (same ??? I forgot!) Two DEQNA Ethernet controllers RLV11 22-Bit RL-series disk controller board RL02 cable to ONE RL02 (I never used more than 1 at a time, and I kept putting off getting a cable) BA11-SE Expansion box - two DZ11 serial multiplexors (probably worthless, LOL) And, two RL02 disk drives, and two RL02K-DC disk packs. Overland Data OD3201 nine track tape drive and ribbon cables. QBUS-specific manuals: Microcomputers and Memories 1982 PDP11-23 PLUS System Manual I???ll sell the whole lot for $500, and if you come pick it up you can have the cabinet it???s in (H9644, missing a few pieces) If you want parts and pieces: RL02 disk drives are $175 each plus shipping, include 1 pack. PDP11/23 PLUS CPU box with CPU card, memory, Ethernet controllers, multiplexors, and both manuals: $250 plus shipping 9 track tape drive with cables and DQ132 controller: $75 + S&H RL02 controller: $50(with purchase of drive(s)) otherwise, I will not sell it until both RL02s are sold. BA11-SE QBUS Expansion unit: $100 plus shipping The machine is located 40 miles north of Chicago, IL at my apartment. All this stuff is tested working. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Julian

21 years, 2 months

2
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need a source of 7501 micros

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: need a source of 7501 micros > From: Chris M <chrism3667 at yahoo.com> > Date: Tue, 31 May 2005 19:16:31 -0700 (PDT) > To: cctech at classiccmp.org > >....as used in the Commodore Plus 4. Preferably new >*lol*. Hey...you never know... > You'd be mighty lucky to get what you want. The 7501 is a mask programmed 4bit micro with LCD driver containing a 1024byte program rom and 96 nibbles of ram. Where used it's a custom part due to the rom. Know the part well as I used to be the product engineer. Allison

21 years, 2 months

4
3
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Stardent 19" workstation monitor

by djg＠drs-c4i.com

>Silly question, but what does a Stardent workstation consist of? > We had one at work a while ago. It was a 4 foot rack with the computer made up of large cards with lots of custom IC's with heatsinks. Also had standard disk drives and the 1/4? inch cartridge tapedrives. >From what I understood it had good graphics capability for its time and was reasonably fast. I never used it.

21 years, 2 months

6
5
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Seeking BBC Domesday system

by vcf＠siconic.com

I'm currently seeking to purchase a complete BBC Domesday system with the LVROM player, trackball, discs, manuals, and of course the BBC Master system with the appropriate hardware. I'd also consider pieces of one (especially the manuals) but the entire setup is my main preference. This is for a research project I'm currently undertaking and I am willing to compensate handsomely. I'd also consider a short- to medium-term loan. This is basically directed at the blokes in the UK as that is obviously the most likely place for one to show up. If someone has one or perhaps a lead on a system, please contact me directly. Thanks! -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

21 years, 2 months

9
14
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Paging Roger Merchberger

by dbetz＠xlisper.mv.com

Sorry to send this to the entire list but I have been unable to contact Roger by private email. Apparently, my messages get put in his junk mail file. Roger: Please call me at 603-472-2389 to discuss the HHC Basic ROMs.

21 years, 2 months

1
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Asunto: Found a PDP-8 today!

by spedraja＠ono.com

> Me? I got a CAR FULL of DEC software and documentation! Send an advice the day that you want get rid of all the stuff, please. Get DEC items like PDP8's in Europe is more difficult day by day. Regards Sergio

21 years, 2 months

1
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MITS 8800B CPU Board

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

>I have an extensive inventory and can source the parts and get this poor, battered >board back to its old self again. However, looking through the doco I noticed that >the 8800B requires a display/control and interface boards. A question for those of >you that own a MITS8800 - does it need those boards for a turnkey system? Can I >plug the CPU board into the backplane and run it without the d/c and i/f cards, >assuming I set up the ROM and RAM cards for the system? If not, (since I do not >have the d/c and i/f cards) I'll have to try and build them from the cct diagrams >I have obtained. This is do-able (but a lot of work) if I can get my hands on some >blank S100 w/wrap boards, but I noticed there's a 1702 EPROM chip and I'd need to >get the memory map for this chip to burn my own. The two main things the front panel provides to the running systems (not counting debug functions) are: - The front panel generates the MEMORY WRITE signal to the bus. If you do not have a front panel, then you will need to generate this signal with a little "glue logic". - The front panel also generates a POWER ON JUMP, allowing the processor to launch at an address other than 0000 - this is necessary if you want to run an operating system such as CP/M which requires RAM at 0000. If you don't need RAM at 0000, then just put your bootstrap ROM at 0000 and you should be good to go. If you do need RAM at 0000, then you will need to add a bit of circutry to allow your rom to "MOVE". One simple way, assuming you want to put your ROM at an address >= 8000 is to upon RESET, double-map your ROM to it's correct address (>= 8000) AND at 0000. While doing this, you need to pull the phantom signal to disable any RAM at 0000 - Begin your bootstrap code with a JMP to it's correct address (+3) ... As soon as you see an instruction fetch with the high bit set, release the double-map at 0000 and phantom, and your system will be operating normally from the ROM at the higher address. Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Collector of vintage computing equipment: http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

MITS8800 CPU Board

by river＠zip.com.au

Hi, Great, thanks for the info. I'm sourcing a few S100 protoboards, so I'll be able to wirewrap a board with all the relevant RAM, ROM and I/O. I'll probably use later generation chips such as 62256 for RAM and 6264 for ROM. I can then put in the 8251 and 8255 for serial and parallel ports, respectively. Is that heresy in regards to these old boards? It's not an issue to me starting ROM at 0000h. I've written a few 8080 debug/monitors for my old Multibus stuff so I can always use one of these - or mod it accordingly. I've only got a 6-slot motherboard and a Northstar ZCB processor board, S100 ROM board and some Dynabyte RAM boards and I was going to use the motherboard and original S100 boards with this system. This means the 8800CPU board will be in a small 2-slot system - the CPU board and the RAM/ROM/IO board I'm going to make. I'll check the MWRITE signals and see what I can do, or if you have the info then that's even better. Just one more thing.... I suppose it's possible to use the 8800CPU bd without the power regulation components if I ensure the correct voltages go through the correct pins on the bus. I can then use an old spare PC power supply, instead of creating a new supply. Naturally, this would entail that no other S100 board can be used due to their on-board regulators. This isn't an issue if I build my own S100 boards, without regulation, for this system. Again, thanks for your help. This is my first foray into S100 stuff, and makes a nice change from Multibus. rgds river

21 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

PDP 11/23+ progress

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: PDP 11/23+ progress > From: "Jim Beacon" <jim at g1jbg.co.uk> > Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 19:33:14 +0100 > To: "Classic computer list" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >I finally managed to get my OEM 11/23+ to boot from the RL02 today, the >solution to the OEM boot ROM problem was to set the RLV12 addressing mode to >18 bit, rather than 22bit. I assume that this is a feature of the OEM boot >program :-) > >I'm now getting garbage on the terminal, but have yet to figure out which >setting I've got wrong! > >Jim. > >Please see our website the " Vintage Communication Pages" at WWW.G1JBG.CO.UK Likely baud rate. Try 4800n1. Allison

21 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

MITS 8800B CPU Board

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "river" <river at zip.com.au> > >Hi, > >Thanks for your replies. I found the relevant information. > >I have an extensive inventory and can source the parts and get this poor, battered board back to its old self again. However, looking through the doco I noticed that the 8800B requires a display/control and interface boards. A question for those of you that own a MITS8800 - does it need those boards for a turnkey system? Can I plug the CPU board into the backplane and run it without the d/c and i/f cards, assuming I set up the ROM and RAM cards for the system? If not, (since I do not have the d/c and i/f cards) I'll have to try and build them from the cct diagrams I have obtained. This is do-able (but a lot of work) if I can get my hands on some blank S100 w/wrap boards, but I noticed there's a 1702 EPROM chip and I'd need to get the memory map for this chip to burn my own. > >Failing that, and it's all too hard and bothersome for me, is there anyone that would need a repaired 8800 CPU card for trade or anything similar? > >rgds >river > Hi It should work on a turnkey. Almost everything goes through the S100 bus. Only the direct connect of the data bus goes directly between the panel and the CPU board. I don't think that is needed. You will have to have code residing at address 0000. This is not common. Most expected a working front panel that could load a boot address. Some ROM boards have a way to be at 0000 after reset and then switch to someplace else once things are booted. Don't give up on it. When there is a will, there will be a way. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

Wild-hair floppy drive question

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Wild-hair floppy drive question > From: "Randy McLaughlin" <cctalk at randy482.com> > Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 18:39:14 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >From: "Doc Shipley" <doc at mdrconsult.com> >Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 6:33 PM > > >> Randy McLaughlin wrote: ><snip> >>> To make the Teac 1.2mb drive act like a QD drive there are two options: >>> >>> Jumper I on, LG off, low on pin 2 of the 34 pin connector or Jumper I on, >>> LG on, high on pin 2 of the 34 pin connector. >> >> Thanks. I think it was the flip-flop on pin 2 that was hammering me. >> >> I'm suddenly in the middle of a Tivoli TSM migration, but when things >> cool off abit I'll try this. >> >> >> Doc > >You would think they would have included a jumper to select the speed and >ignore pin 2. > >The best thing would be to cut the trace and ground it so the signal doesn't >go back to the controller. As a matter of fact cutting pin 34 often helps. > Actually on some varients the jumper does exactly that, with a pair to select if the "input" are high or low another only has a single jumper to select low with a pull up. I have five different FD55GFx flavors with boards that are markedly differnt. Most annoying. But they have proven to be reliable. Allison

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

MITS 8800B CPU Board

by river＠zip.com.au

Hi, Thanks for your replies. I found the relevant information. I have an extensive inventory and can source the parts and get this poor, battered board back to its old self again. However, looking through the doco I noticed that the 8800B requires a display/control and interface boards. A question for those of you that own a MITS8800 - does it need those boards for a turnkey system? Can I plug the CPU board into the backplane and run it without the d/c and i/f cards, assuming I set up the ROM and RAM cards for the system? If not, (since I do not have the d/c and i/f cards) I'll have to try and build them from the cct diagrams I have obtained. This is do-able (but a lot of work) if I can get my hands on some blank S100 w/wrap boards, but I noticed there's a 1702 EPROM chip and I'd need to get the memory map for this chip to burn my own. Failing that, and it's all too hard and bothersome for me, is there anyone that would need a repaired 8800 CPU card for trade or anything similar? rgds river

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Wild-hair floppy drive question

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Wild-hair floppy drive question > From: Doc Shipley <doc at mdrconsult.com> > Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 20:01:12 -0500 > To: General at mdrconsult.com, "Discussion at mdrconsult.com":On-Topic and Off-Topic > Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Eric Smith wrote: > >> Doc asks: >> >>> Would a DSHD floppy drive with a DSHD disk in it >> >> >> You mean a 96 TPI high-density 5.25" disk and drive (e.g., IBM 1.2M format >> that was introduced with the PC/AT)? > > Sorry, no, I meant a 3.5" floppy drive. As soon as Allison replied I >realized the question was ambiguous. > > I've found something intersting about the Compaq m/b that hosts my >1.2MB 5.25" disk drive, though. > > That board auto-detects all its hardware on every boot. If I boot >with a DSQD disk in that drive, the BIOS auto-updates the settings to >'3.5" 1.44MB Drive". > > Which is what prompted my question in the first place. Ah, so you wish to use a 3.5" floppy for an Altos that has a 5.25 DSQD? If that is the question the answer is yes. (use one hole media aka 720k). If not a TEAC FD55GFV will work as a DSQD 5.25". Allison

21 years, 2 months

6
14
0 0

6 wide Qbus question

by innfoclassics＠gmail.com

It was with interest that I saw a posting that said no 6 wide Qbus cards existed. I have a couple I think. I have two of PCB 136 Qbus sys boards. http://members.aol.com/innfosale/ebay/136qbus1.jpg I think they are like a console card as they have eproms, LEDs, switches to set, Tst/Nor, Hit/Run and restart switches. Maybe came out of a qbus card tester? I have a SDLC card, PCB127 that I will get pics up shortly that is 6 wide but not marked qbus but is a similar board number sequence. This board has a 2652 CPU. http://members.aol.com/innfosale/ebay/127qbus1.jpg So are they qbus cards? -- Paxton Hoag Astoria, OR USA

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Antikythera device on History Channel Ancient Discoveries program

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jun 12 2005, 14:03, Vintage Computer Festival wrote: > > Just saw a wonderful program on the Antikythera device on The History > Channel. The program is called "Ancient Discoveries". > > The UK listings indicate the program will be aired there on June 17 and > 18: Aha, I missed that last time around. Thanks for the heads-up! -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

PDP 11/23+ progress

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: PDP 11/23+ progress > From: "Jim Beacon" <jim at g1jbg.co.uk> > Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 20:38:43 +0100 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > > >> > >> >I'm now getting garbage on the terminal, but have yet to figure out which >> >setting I've got wrong! >> > >> >Jim. >> > >> >Please see our website the " Vintage Communication Pages" at >WWW.G1JBG.CO.UK >> >> Likely baud rate. Try 4800n1. >> >> Allison > >I have the terminal set 4800n1, and the CPU switch and jumper settings seem >to agree (what I can see), though there must be something that is not >agreeing. > > The confusing bit (for me ), is that there are two RX wires, RCV+ and RCV-, >what is the convention for using these, with say a VT320? is one of them >normally connected to earth? At th moment, I have the RCV+ connected to the >terminals TXD, and RCV- is earthed (how I found the system) - is this >correct? RS422/RS423 I'd have to look now. I bet someone answers before I find may notes. Obviously you don't have the DEC connector pannel or cables or this would be sorted out for you. Suffice to say if the COMMON (RS232 pin 1 and 7 are not corosponding with The right inputs the result is either inverted data or RX hears TX. Allison

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Tom Jennings on History channel

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "James Fogg" <James at jdfogg.com> > >> The show missed it though, since the MC Pacer was originally >> a possible candidate for a rotary engine that was replaced by >> a 6 cylinder for road. If they had refitted the Pacer with a >> triced out 13B they would hav ehad a better show if they had\ >> been racing Pacer vs something with 300 hp. > >The original Ford Mustang (1964 1/2) was slated to have a rotary too. >Some early marketing material and a coffee-table book or two mention the >existance of a rotary model, but none are known to have been registered >as far as I can tell. > > Hi Rotry engines always had issues with smog. In order to get them to work, they were not vary fuel efficient. Still, a lot of Hp in a small package. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

PDP 11/23+ progress

by jim＠g1jbg.co.uk

I finally managed to get my OEM 11/23+ to boot from the RL02 today, the solution to the OEM boot ROM problem was to set the RLV12 addressing mode to 18 bit, rather than 22bit. I assume that this is a feature of the OEM boot program :-) I'm now getting garbage on the terminal, but have yet to figure out which setting I've got wrong! Jim. Please see our website the " Vintage Communication Pages" at WWW.G1JBG.CO.UK

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Rescue of data from Pioneer 10 & 11 tapes FINAL WORD

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "William Donzelli" <aw288 at osfn.org> > >I was at RCS this afternoon, and after talking to Mike about the whole >Pioneer 10 and 11 tape nonsense, we did a little digging: > >http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1972-012A&ds=* >http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1973-019A&ds=* > >Well, well, well...it looks like every bit of Pioneer 10 and 11 has been >saved already, and can be accessed thru the proper channels (on >tape, but apparently they will burn a CDROM on request). > >Every other spacecraft, as well. > >It is time to lay this urban legend about rotting NASA tapes to rest. > >William Donzelli >aw288 at osfn.org > Hi Like I said, it was just a "STORY". Not a true story, just something to make the editors happy and get the next pay check. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Registry for terminal DA responses?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Registry for terminal DA responses? > From: msokolov at ivan.Harhan.ORG (Michael Sokolov) > Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 05:32:27 +0000 (GMT) > To: cctalk at classiccmp.org > >Private parameters (what DEC used) do not guarantee interoperability: >vendor A can define ?1 to identify one of its products, but another vendor B >would have every right to define ?1 to identify one of *its* products. DEC published what they did. Private in this sense was defiened in ISO/ANSI as undefined by them and available for implmentation if the VENDOR elects to have said functionality. The ANSI defines were quite limited and far for complete. Then there were those vendors that use something else before ANSI and wished to continue with them for customer loyalty. That fragmented the market, ANSI/DEC compatable and NON ANSI/DEC compatable. >DA (CSI c) is not a DECism, it's a feature of the International Standard >ISO 6429. Yes, of course there are terminals that don't care about ISO 6429 >and implement their own completely different escape/control/whatever >sequences, but they are not relevant to this discussion. I'm talking about >the standard mechanism for identifying a particular implementation of ISO >6429 among all others in the Universe. Who do you think was part of ANSI and supplied delagates and corperate support? >The product I'm designing follows ISO 6429, which is the successor to >ANSI X3.64 that you are referring to. VT100 is one implementation of >the standard, mine will be another. DEC is one manufacturer, HEC is >another. Actually VT100 predated that standard! ANSI didnt get it out the door before VT100 was delieverd. >My implementation of the standard will be very close to DEC's, but not >identical. I'm deliberately not writing an exact VTxxx emulator since >I want to do a few things differently. The main area of difference is >character set handling. I have made a proper implementation of ISO 2022, >whereas DEC has made some horrible kludges apparently to make it "user- >friendly" in their perverted sense. I'm talking about the horrible mess >with multinational vs. national modes, keyboard variants and typewriter >vs. data processing keys, kludges that have no place in an ISO 2022 >terminal. The DEC was was to keep their terminals compatable with prior version that had existed since the mid 70s. Or differently put, new terminals should not break the customer (they did sometimes anyway!)! That was part one. Part two of that is multinationalization was a POST VT100 event. By Time DEC started with Multinational products VT220 and some of the VT1xx vairents were out the door or about to. The whole process of multinational products would over the next 10 years undergo several variations to meet the market as it changed. One thing to remember. ANSI was always after the first product and rarely covered all the varitions in the field. And like it's IEEE and ISO cousins was subject to interpretation until the market forced everyone onto the same sheet of paper. Allison

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Registry for terminal DA responses?

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Registry for terminal DA responses? > From: Patrick Finnegan <pat at computer-refuge.org> > Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 23:22:52 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Michael Sokolov declared on Sunday 12 June 2005 10:48 pm: >> My question is: does anyone know if such a registry exists and where >> can one apply for a DA code assignment? TIA, > >Uhh, registry? Yeah, right. > >You can start your own registry, I guess. If there was one, it was at >DEC and only held the codes used by terminals that DEC produced. >Boundless now sells VT5xx terminals; they at some point purchased DEC's >old terminal line/division/etc. DEC wrote an internal standard for terminals and it was quite thick to specify the behavour of escapes and the like. If you have the VT52, VT100, VT102, VT220, VT240 and VT320/330/340, VT420 manuals you have a resonable subset of that description. > >You do realize, there were terminals that weren't VT100 compatible (at >least in their native mode), like Wyse 50/60 terminals, ADM 3/5s, IBM >3151s, Televideo 925s, ... They didn't do the "CSI c" command; they >might have had a "DA" method, but I'm doubtful it was the same as what >DEC did. > >You might try looking at the BSD termcap/terminfo database for a listing >of what kind of responses there are. > >I'd assume that (non-DEC) terminals that were put in a VTxxx emulation >mode responded to that with the same response that a real VTxxx would >give. Believe it or not NONE of the competing terminals tested inside DEC met more than 90% of the VT100 sequences (as of 1989ish). They always broke in some way usually benign but a few would require reset (power off/on) to correct. The testing was condusted by the same group that validated VT100 through VT420 (maybe further) and all VT emulations that were non terminal (decwindows,VT1200, and the like). >Any reason you don't want to use the (so-called) "ANSI" vt-100 type >sequences or those from, say, a vt525, for your 'termainal application'? I can think of one. The average VT100 emulation is poor at best and fully broken most times. Vt100 was a family of terminals, also the capability varied so the escape sequences were extended using ANSI private. The only stuff I've seen that behaves accurately is VT52 emulation, mostly because VT52 was so limited compated to VT100. Allison

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Wild-hair floppy drive question

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Wild-hair floppy drive question > From: Doc Shipley <doc at mdrconsult.com> > Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 21:08:43 -0500 > To: General at mdrconsult.com, "Discussion at mdrconsult.com":On-Topic and Off-Topic > Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >Allison wrote: > >>>Subject: Re: Wild-hair floppy drive question >>> From: Doc Shipley <doc at mdrconsult.com> >>> Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 20:01:12 -0500 >>> To: General at mdrconsult.com, "Discussion at mdrconsult.com":On-Topic and Off-Topic >>>Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> >>> >>>Eric Smith wrote: >>> >>> >>>>Doc asks: >>>> >>>> >>>>> Would a DSHD floppy drive with a DSHD disk in it >>>> >>>> >>>>You mean a 96 TPI high-density 5.25" disk and drive (e.g., IBM 1.2M format >>>>that was introduced with the PC/AT)? >>> >>> Sorry, no, I meant a 3.5" floppy drive. As soon as Allison replied I >>>realized the question was ambiguous. >>> >>> I've found something intersting about the Compaq m/b that hosts my >>>1.2MB 5.25" disk drive, though. >>> >>> That board auto-detects all its hardware on every boot. If I boot >>>with a DSQD disk in that drive, the BIOS auto-updates the settings to >>>'3.5" 1.44MB Drive". >>> >>> Which is what prompted my question in the first place. >> >> >> Ah, so you wish to use a 3.5" floppy for an Altos that has a 5.25 DSQD? >> >> >> If that is the question the answer is yes. (use one hole media aka 720k). > > Well, I found a couple of 3.5" drives that can be jumpered, and the >Altos doesn't recognize 'em at all. I suspect it wants a drive that >does DD only. It has nothing to do with the drive density. It's looking for ready or some other signal. OR a correctly formatted disk (NOT PC DOS formatted) >> If not a TEAC FD55GFV will work as a DSQD 5.25". > > Do you have the jumper settings for that? TEAC's documentation >drives me up the wall. I have an FD55GFR that I can make boot and read, >but not write or format. I suppose if I absolutely have to, I'll rob an >FD55GFV from the 11/53 - the -GFR should work fine on the RQDX3. No, I have to look it up every time and I have at least 5 versions that have different jumpers. Likely specific to Altos (I dont have one of those). I do know my DEC systems require different setups from other machines I have. FYI: any drive that is equivilent to a Either: TEAC FD55Fxx (two sides 96TPI DSQD only) TEAC FD55Gxx (Two sides 96TPI DSQD and HD1.2m) Will work. That includs a few Toshiba, Mistubishi and odd brand named drives from the late AT286 into the early 486 eara. Allison

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

HP64000

by Ernst.Iberg＠schlatter.ch

Do You still want support ? We do still operate these machines... Ernst Iberg H.A. Schlatter AG Brandstrasse 24 CH-8952 Schlieren Tel. +41 44 732 7111 direkt +41 44 732 7567 Fax +41 44 732 4510 mobil +41 79 291 7377 E-Mail ernst.iberg at schlatter.ch Internet http://www.schlatter.ch

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Apple Goes Intel...

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Eric Smith <eric at brouhaha.com> wrote: > Extrapolating the trend further, we can expect to see software vendors > push for restrictions and licensing on software development tools, > debuggers, etc. See Richard Stallman's essay "The Right to Read". > When I first read that essay, I thought he was overreacting, but the > trends of the last few years (e.g., the DMCA, other countries enacting > similar laws, the EU trying to adopt software patents despite the > member states' parliaments voting against them, and the media companies > pushing for even stronger laws) have convinced me that he is absolutely > right to be worried. And why are you not doing anything about it? Why have you not yet enlisted in the revolutionary army? Face it, people - the various nation-states that have mutilated the face of Mother Earth by graffitiing it with national borders that serve only to divide people and to pit them against each other are our enemy, the enemy of humanity and the enemy of all life. Their sole function is to impose tyranny on humankind, both direct and indirect. The former is manifest in their "governments" and "laws", or more concretely, in the apparatus of repression, persecution, battery and murder which they call police and military in their "politically correct" speech. The latter is manifest in these "governments" and "laws" granting a license to the other group of criminals against humanity - corporations - to exercise tyranny of their own, and using the Orwellian police/military apparatus to shield those corporate criminals from people's rightful justice (such as a lynching). This tyranny is fundamentally at odds with the inherent rights of every human being on Earth, which are life, liberty, integrity of body and spirit, and realisation of happiness, and it is the duty of every one of us living on the bosom of Mother Gaia to stand up for our mother planet in Her time of need, when all Her sweet soil is trampled on by black souls who have no right to live, much less to rule - it is our duty as members of the human race, which has been entrusted with dominion and care of the above-terranean world, to rise up against the tyranny that is being imposed upon us and upon our planet, and to free the Republic of Terra of these criminals so that the bosom of Mother Gaia, Her sweet soil, can be free once again! This is a call to arms. The tyranny has reached the critical point at which no citizen of Earth has any moral right to sit idle and watch the boot stomp on the human face. Every one of you has a duty to take up arms and declare war against the illegitimate nation-state that illegally occupies the land you live on. People of the world, rise up to be Free! -- Michael Sokolov Starfighter and Chief Philosopher Interplanetary Internationale (business) http://ivan.Harhan.ORG/Internationale/ (personal) http://ivan.Harhan.ORG/~msokolov/ Proletarians of all planets, unite!

21 years, 2 months

8
9
0 0

Emulex UC17/UC18 SCSI-Controller in PDP11/24

by GOOI＠oce.nl

Hello Andreas, you might try leave off the leading "17" of the address, thus enter @760334 1 <LF> but I am not 100% sure. Give it a try :~) - Henk, PA8PDP. > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]On Behalf Of Andreas Holz > Sent: maandag 13 juni 2005 8:58 > To: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: Emulex UC17/UC18 SCSI-Controller in PDP11/24 > > > Hello all, > > I'm trying to configure an Emulex UC18 SCSI-Controller in a PDP11/24. > > From the switch settings (MSCP) the Device Base Adresses of the two > SCSI channels are 17772150 and 17760334. > > Looking at the UC17 Manual (bitsavers) on page "Installation 4-33" I > found to enter the following at the 11/24 ODT prompt: > > @177xxxxx 1 <LF> > /177yyyyy 30003 <CR> > > ... > > based on the real adresses e.g.: > > from table 4-13 on page 4-31 xxxxx = 60334 and yyyyy = 60336 > > @17760334 1 <LF> -> but how to enter such a long adress on a 11/24? > > What is going wrong? > > Andreas >

21 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Addmaster Paper Tape Reader #601-1

by swtpc6800＠comcast.net

There is a lot of 5 Addmaster paper tape readers (new in box) for sale on eBay. No bids yet, ends April 9th. Item number: 7505437498 I would buy one but I don't need five of them. These look like the ones Data I/O uses to use for the PROM programmers. Michael Holley

21 years, 2 months

4
3
0 0

Registry for terminal DA responses?

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Hello again, As I was working on my terminal application (people usually say "terminal emulator", but I avoid that term since I'm creating a new terminal rather than emulating one made by someone else), the following question came up: there is a control sequence called Device Attributes (DA) whose generic form CSI c requests that the terminal send another DA sequence back to the host to identify itself. Each DEC terminal, for example, has a unique DA response. This is what the ECMA 48 standard (equivalent of ISO 6429) says: 8.3.24 DA - DEVICE ATTRIBUTES Notation: (Ps) Representation: CSI Ps 06/03 Parameter default value: Ps = 0 With a parameter value not equal to 0, DA is used to identify the device which sends the DA. The parameter value is a device type identification code according to a register which is to be established. If the parameter value is 0, DA is used to request an identifying DA from a device. My question is: does anyone know if such a registry exists and where can one apply for a DA code assignment? TIA, MS

21 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

HP 2100S @ $5K?

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

HP 2100S on ebay... looks nice, but.... Seller lists it as "mint" and "may never have been used" - uh, no. Not even close to "mint/never been used". I'd grant it "good", maybe even "excellent"... but mint/never used? nah... The ad says it's fully functional. That suprises me... I hope they didn't run it for hours to test it what with the power supply filters visibly all turned to dust and sucking up inside the machine. Lastly.... $5K? Surely they aren't worth even half that - even if it was truly "mint". I'd put actual (non-Ebay) value at around $400 (maybe I'm biased, I have a few)... and I'd put Ebay closing prices for a 2100 anywhere >from $1500 to $2000 (actual values I've seen recently). But opening bid $5K? I just can't imagine that. The contents (memory, I/O cards) are unknown.... I predict that it won't get a single bid.... until the guy relists with a starting bid of around $1000. If I am wrong, then I really need to clean up and refurb a few 2100's and put them on ebay. Heck, if my wife sees a $5K close, she'll force me to. Jay

21 years, 2 months

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Wild-hair floppy drive question

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Wild-hair floppy drive question > From: Scott Stevens <chenmel at earthlink.net> > Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 09:28:37 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >On Sat, 11 Jun 2005 20:01:12 -0500 >Doc Shipley <doc at mdrconsult.com> wrote: > >> Eric Smith wrote: >> >> > Doc asks: >> > >> >> Would a DSHD floppy drive with a DSHD disk in it >> > >> > >> > You mean a 96 TPI high-density 5.25" disk and drive (e.g., IBM 1.2M >> > format that was introduced with the PC/AT)? >> >> Sorry, no, I meant a 3.5" floppy drive. As soon as Allison replied >> I >> realized the question was ambiguous. >> >> I've found something intersting about the Compaq m/b that hosts my >> 1.2MB 5.25" disk drive, though. >> >> That board auto-detects all its hardware on every boot. If I boot >> with a DSQD disk in that drive, the BIOS auto-updates the settings to >> '3.5" 1.44MB Drive". >> >> Which is what prompted my question in the first place. >> >> >> Doc > >Years back, I had good luck using a 720K (DSDD) 3-1/2" drive in place of >the 720K '80 track' 5-1/4" drive in an Intel PDS workstation. I >'converted over' all the original media from 5-1/4" by installing the 3 >and 5 inch drives in a 'dual drive' configuration then ran the disk copy >utility. > >Blank new 720K 3-1/2" media itself has become scarce now, though. I still do this in my Kapro 4/84. In a pinch 1.44media will work fine if the media select hole (not write protect) is filled. Fortunatly I have a box of 720k media. Allison

21 years, 2 months

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Antikythera device on History Channel Ancient Discoveries program

by vcf＠siconic.com

Just saw a wonderful program on the Antikythera device on The History Channel. The program is called "Ancient Discoveries". The UK listings indicate the program will be aired there on June 17 and 18: http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/tv_guide/full_details/Ancient_histo… Oddly, I couldn't find it on the American History Channel pages but then I didn't search thoroughly. I checked Netflix but they don't seem to have the Antikythera episode available. -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

21 years, 2 months

1
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Wild-hair floppy drive question

by swtpc6800＠comcast.net

>Doc asks: > What I think I *don't* have is a 3.5" drive that can be jumpered to ID > 0. Here is my web page on using 3.5 inch drives with SWTPC 6800 systems but the information is the same for all classic disk controllers. It show how to build a cable to make a drive ID 0. http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/35disk/Disk.htm Michael Holley www.swtpc.com/mholley

21 years, 2 months

1
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VCF Midwest 1.0 Exhibitors needed!

by vcf＠siconic.com

There's still more than 6 weeks to go until VCF Midwest 1.0. That's plenty of time to put together an exhibit for the event. So far we only have 3 exhibitors, and Pat is started to get nervous. I told him that people usually wait until a few weeks before to submit their exhibit entries, and so in case you forgot, now is the time to submit your entry! We've already got a couple great speakers lined up (still updating the pages but you can see the first speaker's bio up now) and more to come. It's going to be an excellent event. So please run on over to your nearest web browser and fill in the exhibitor form here: http://www.vintage.org/2005/midwest/exhibit.php Don't wait until it's too late! Main VCF Midwest 1.0 website: http://www.vintage.org/2005/midwest/ -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

21 years, 2 months

1
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Nice computer museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil

by vcf＠siconic.com

If you're planning to go to South America anytime soon, here's a great computer museum to visit: www.museudocomputador.com.br I'm impressed! There is actually quite a bit of computer history activity in South America. There's another computer museum in Argentina as well: http://www.comsto.org/ The images are currently broken for some reason. However, this one has been around for years and was started by a kid who first contacted me several years ago and I've watched him grow the thing into a full blown organization based out of his university. I'm planning a South American nerd tour at some point. Maybe next year. I actually have relatives throughout South America so it'll be a dual purpose trip ;) -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

21 years, 2 months

1
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WTB: DL11

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

So, one more part I need to get my DIY 11/34 functional, I need a DL11 for its console port. Since I aparenly was outbid on the one I was bidding on on ebay, I thought I might see if anyone on here has one available for a reasonable price. Thanks, Pat -- Purdue University ITAP/RCAC --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org

21 years, 2 months

1
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Wild-hair floppy drive question

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

Would a DSHD floppy drive with a DSHD disk in it look like a 5.25" DSQD drive to an Altos 580? IOW, could I just plug it in and go? Doc

21 years, 2 months

4
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Compaq DOS 3.31

by dieymir＠yahoo.es

> Hi if you 5.25 or 3.5's try this man, > Computer News 80 > PO Box 50127 > Casper, Wyoming 82605-0127 (compnews at trib.com) > he should have some. > Al DePermentier > Thanks a lot for the info, I'll try it. ______________________________________________ Renovamos el Correo Yahoo! Nuevos servicios, m?s seguridad http://correo.yahoo.es

21 years, 2 months

1
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Tom Jennings on History channel

by James＠jdfogg.com

> The show missed it though, since the MC Pacer was originally > a possible candidate for a rotary engine that was replaced by > a 6 cylinder for road. If they had refitted the Pacer with a > triced out 13B they would hav ehad a better show if they had\ > been racing Pacer vs something with 300 hp. The original Ford Mustang (1964 1/2) was slated to have a rotary too. Some early marketing material and a coffee-table book or two mention the existance of a rotary model, but none are known to have been registered as far as I can tell.

21 years, 2 months

1
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CompuPro RAM14 switch settings

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: CompuPro RAM14 switch settings > From: "Richard A. Cini" <rcini at optonline.net> > Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 22:16:57 -0400 > To: CCTalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >All: > > Does anyone have the configuration switch setting information for >the CompuPro RAM14 manual? I've gone to the usual manual archives and no one >seems to have the RAM14 manual. > > Thanks. >Rich I have the two volume compendium and a large assrotment of loose manuals for Compupro and I see no RAM14. Sure of that number? Allison

21 years, 2 months

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CompuPro RAM14 switch settings

by rcini＠optonline.net

All: Does anyone have the configuration switch setting information for the CompuPro RAM14 manual? I've gone to the usual manual archives and no one seems to have the RAM14 manual. Thanks. Rich Rich Cini Collector of classic computers Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ /************************************************************/

21 years, 2 months

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Tandy 2000 720k floppy drive

by chrism3667＠yahoo.com

shouldnt they look like a 3.5 inch 720k drive to a PC? (when connected to one) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

21 years, 2 months

1
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Wild-hair floppy drive question

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Wild-hair floppy drive question > From: Doc Shipley <doc at mdrconsult.com> > Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2005 18:21:15 -0500 > To: General at mdrconsult.com, "Discussion at mdrconsult.com":On-Topic and Off-Topic > Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > > Would a DSHD floppy drive with a DSHD disk in it look like a 5.25" >DSQD drive to an Altos 580? IOW, could I just plug it in and go? > No! The drive should be jumperd for DSDD use. The media should be standard Floppy Brown stuff. All of the DSHD drive will do DSQD mode if setup (jumpers) correctly. The 5.25" HD mode is both higher data rate and differnt media and they must match. Unfortunatly the Altos does not drive the disk at that data rate. It may plug and go depending on the cable and the drive. Allison

21 years, 2 months

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Progress on my migration from VT320 to Classic X11

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Hello fellow ClassicCmp'ers, I have just completed another kilometre-post on my road of migration >from a VT320 to a Classic X11 environment. I wrote and released a library that can be used by X11 applications to turn the X11 keyboard into an IFCTF keyboard, i.e., an extended ASCII input generator rather than a random bank of buttons. It is called the X11 IFCTF keyboard library and can be found on my FTP site: ifctfvax.Harhan.ORG:/pub/unix/X11/libXIFCTFkbd-1.0.tar.Z It takes the next step beyond keycode-to-keysym translation and turns the keyboard input into extended ASCII. For an explanation of what I mean by this you'll need to download the library and read the documentation. This library will be used by my HECterm/X11 terminal application. One thing that I absolutely have to have in order to migrate from the VT320 I'm typing this on to an X11 environment, even a Classic one (X11R4 client environment under 4.3BSD-Quasijarus talking to a standalone X11 display on Ethernet), is a text terminal application that can match the quality of a real DEC VT terminal. Since this is so critical to me, I have decided not to rely on anyone else's software and to write my own terminal application from scratch. I'm already well into it and it's coming along nicely. When it's ready, I'll of course release it as public domain software as well and announce it here. MS

21 years, 2 months

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Proper name for Tandy Color Computer?

by vcf＠siconic.com

What is the "proper" name for the Tandy Color Computer? Is it that? Or is it "Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer"? Or is it "Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer"? I guess it also depends on what model we are talking about, so let's say the original and the CoCo2. I know the CoCo3 was pretty much labeled Tandy by then. Thanks! -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

21 years, 2 months

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MITS 8800B CPU Board Info

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

At 17:07 11/06/2005 +1000, you wrote: >Hi, > >I've got an old MITS 8800B CPU (Rev 0) board. It's in a pretty sad state and >missing some chips and most of the voltage regulation components. Although I've >seen a few pics on the net of this board, none are clear enough to read the >chips. > >If anyone has one of these boards can you pls tell me what chip D, F and K are. >I think D is an 8216, and F is an 8224 clock chip, but would like confirmation. >A circuit diagram would be brilliant, if anyone has one. D: 8216 F: 8224 K: 8212 Rich Cini has a pile of Altair 8800B documentation on his site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ Look under "Altair 8800 Emulation", then "Technical Links". You could also try Howard Hart's site: http://www.hartetechnologies.com/manuals You may have to do a bit of digging, the 8800B CPU info may be buried in the 8800B system documentation. Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Collector of vintage computing equipment: http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

21 years, 2 months

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Rescue of data from Pioneer 10 & 11 tapes at JPL needed. Vintagecomputers slated for demolition.

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Nico de Jong" <nico at FARUMDATA.DK> >Subject: Rescue of data from Pioneer 10 & 11 tapes at JPL needed. > > >> Unfortunately, this data is stored on hundreds of ancient >> nine-track tapes >> Are there any list members interested in assisting in the transfer >> of this data to "more modern media"? > >Yep, I make my living from projects like that. >It will not be a problem to copy the data; but I dont have the foggiest idea >whether the data is "decodeable". The best way to save the data, is to get a >copy of the program which wrote the data in the first place. I have the >funny feeling that the data is written in _huge_ blocks. > >Nico Hi Two things needed, a tape drive and something to interpret the data. Many times, important information about the data is external to the recorded data on the tape. Like pdf or zip files, I suspect that some pieces may be missing to recover the information. I doubt that the major issue is the obsolete computer. Those doing archives might take note! Dwight

21 years, 2 months

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MITS 8800B CPU Board Info

by river＠zip.com.au

Hi, I've got an old MITS 8800B CPU (Rev 0) board. It's in a pretty sad state and missing some chips and most of the voltage regulation components. Although I've seen a few pics on the net of this board, none are clear enough to read the chips. If anyone has one of these boards can you pls tell me what chip D, F and K are. I think D is an 8216, and F is an 8224 clock chip, but would like confirmation. A circuit diagram would be brilliant, if anyone has one. I'd like to get this poor old board looking nice and running. rgds river

21 years, 2 months

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PC RT boards

by aw288＠osfn.org

I recently got a bunch of tower RTs (6150s, I think), and after putting together a good one, I have a few extra parts. (3) 61X6811 Ethernet Cards (1) 08F3149 Extended ESDI Adapter (2) 00F2353 Mystery Adapter Cheap! Cheap! William Donzelli aw288 at osfn.org

21 years, 2 months

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S100 PROM boards

by Richard.Cini＠wachovia.com

All: With my two new machines I want to get a PROM monitor in them so I can start really playing around with them. I have a single Vector RAM/PROM III board, which uses 2704 or 2708 EPROMS. Most of the chips I have are 2732 or larger. Before I go slogging through the manual to try to hammer a 4k chip into a 1k socket, does anyone have any experience making this mod? Alternatively, can someone recommend a good general PROM board that can use larger EPROMS (programming feature not necessary). Thanks. Rich

21 years, 2 months

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Data formats was Re: Rescue of data from Pioneer 10 & 11 tapes atJPL needed.Vintagecomputers slated for demolition.

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Fred Cisin" <cisin at xenosoft.com> > >A REAL programmer can write a FORTRAN program in any language. And some can even write COBAL in any language. We have a few working here :( Dwight

21 years, 2 months

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S100 PROM boards

by dave04a＠dunfield.com

>> With my two new machines I want to get a PROM monitor in them so >>I can start really playing around with them. I have a single Vector RAM/PROM >>III board, which uses 2704 or 2708 EPROMS. Most of the chips I have are 2732 >>or larger. >> >> Before I go slogging through the manual to try to hammer a 4k >>chip into a 1k socket, does anyone have any experience making this mod? >>Alternatively, can someone recommend a good general PROM board that can use >>larger EPROMS (programming feature not necessary). > > >I'd build a board, it's fairly trivial. Compared to the mods needed to >make a 2708 board take 2732s. There is one easy way and thats to make >a header that takes the 2732 and maps the Data/Address/CS-/OE- pins >to the 2708 socket along with power and ground. That will allow only >using 1k of the 2732 but that may be all you need. the upside is one >2732 can hole 4 1k programs and it's easier to program than 2708. I agree with Allison, It's pretty easy to make a board. Another option might be to make a daughter card which not only adapts the 2732 (or bigger) to the 2708 socket, but also takes a couple of extra address lines and the select via taps to other locations on the board. I don't have the schematic for this particular board in front of me, however if it takes multiple 2708 EPROMs, the there likely is a decoder which has a select generated by the board address range, and the next few higher address lines to determine which EPROM device to enable. By ignoring the chip select at the 2708 socket, and taking it from the input to the decoder along with a couple of extra address lines, then you can fit a larger device on a small daughter board without having to hack the board (worst you will have to do is tack onto some signals). I have a couple of different 8080 monitors that might be of use to you. I have a <500 byte very basic monitor, which has the advantage that it requires NO RAM (not even for a stack) - it provides basic dump/edit memory, execute and loop read/write commands (handy for hardware debugging). I also have a 3.5K full 8080 debug monitor, which features memory dump/disassemble/edit/fill/copy, register dump/edit, In/Out, execute, single-step, breakpoints and a bunch of other goodies. I'll be happy to send them to you. I can also give you LOTS of other original 8080 CODE (Disk OS, BASIC, editor, assembler etc.) Regards, Dave -- dave04a (at) Dave Dunfield dunfield (dot) Firmware development services & tools: www.dunfield.com com Collector of vintage computing equipment: http://www.parse.com/~ddunfield/museum/index.html

21 years, 2 months

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A classic present - the "Instructo Paper Computer"

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

One of my co-workers just dropped off a fun little thing at my desk - a McGraw-Hill publication from 1979, the "Instructo Paper Computer"... it's like the Bell Labs Cardiac. I'd never heard of the Instructo before. Digging around on the 'net only found this... http://www.computermuseumgroningen.nl/mcgrawhill/ipc.html (is Allard Shaap here on the list?) In case this spawns a CARDIAC thread... start here -> http://www.larkfarm.com/cardiac_answers.htm or here -> http://www.bellsystemmemorial.com/belllabs_kits_cardiac.html Fiber-based computing... big fun! -ethan

21 years, 2 months

3
2
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S100 PROM boards

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Randy McLaughlin" <cctalk at randy482.com> > > >"Start with a 24 pin socket and plug it into the PROM board leaving pins 19 >& 21 hanging out, tie these to ground (pin 12 or any convenient spot)." Hi Apologies. I didn't see that part clearly. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

1
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S100 PROM boards

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> > >On 6/10/05, Dwight K. Elvey <dwight.elvey at amd.com> wrote: >> >If you are willing to only use 1K it's easy, no changes are required to the >> >board: >> >> I'm not sure how you would define removing a power supply lead >> but I'd call that a change?? >> Dwight > >Socket the 2732 with that pin hanging out of the socket. You can even >tie it to Vcc or GND with a jumper wire to either pin 12 or pin 24... >no need to mod the board, just the 2732. > >-ethan > > Hi I'd stack two machine pin sockets, with jumpers and pins removed, but that isn't what was said. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

2
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S100 PROM boards

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Randy McLaughlin" <cctalk at randy482.com> > >From: "Cini, Richard" <Richard.Cini at wachovia.com> ---snip--- >> Before I go slogging through the manual to try to hammer a 4k >> chip into a 1k socket, does anyone have any experience making this mod? >> ---snip--- >If you are willing to only use 1K it's easy, no changes are required to the >board: > Hi I'm not sure how you would define removing a power supply lead but I'd call that a change?? Dwight

21 years, 2 months

2
1
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OT: EMP and Equipment

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: OT: EMP and Equipment > From: jim stephens <jwstephens at msm.umr.edu> >EMP as related to an atmospheric nuclear explosion is caused because >of the release of energy from the atmosphere ionized by the radiation >pulse sent by the blast. Radiation as in Energetic Particles or as Waves like EM? >when the ionized gases recombine, they release a huge amount of radio >frequency radiation in a pulse. This causes any junctions to have >induced a potential across them, unrelated to being plugged into anything. That pulse wouldn't happen to be ELECTROMAGNETIC would it? >This is similar to the damage from static electricity, but is not related >to >direct conduction and release of potential to ground, which static >usually is, but is rather induced potentially deep inside any devices >however well shielded. Your confusing netrons and gamma particles that go through most everything to Electromagnetic waves that don't. Faraday shield will stop or suffifiently attenuate EM waves. >The only way to guard against this is to engineer all junctions and >circuits to withstand and survive this potential. That makes stuff resistant. >This is also the reason that vacumn tube circuits recover faster or at >least they should, if the circuits don't get damaged by a sudden jump >in potential passing thru them and settle back down. They don't have >solid state junctions to be damaged permanently in such an event, and >in theory should settle back to original function. Wrong in part. Tubes are more resistant as anything that nominally operates with hundreds of volts is less likely to be terminally affected by a 20V spike. However a piece of logic that runs on 5V will be totaled with even a 1V spike. >note that satellites in orbit, or airborne aircraft can be equally at >risk to EMP. Yes they are. At least the electronics will be. A C150 flying behind a real honest to dog Slick magneto won't even notice it. However Sats die not only from the EM fields from solar storms they also suffer from the ionizing radiation that literally posions the silicon and it's doping. >Note that the high potential caused by lighting is mostly caused by >conduction, not by the field of the bolt. It is an excess of electrons >looking for a path that cause the damage there. Really wrong! While that is the primary damage path it is far from the only path. Near hits are a danger due to the EM field resulting. I have a computer that was damaged by EMP from a direct hit to the house I was in at the time. It was not connected to power or terminal. The damaged chips were near the physical edges close to openings as the case (NS* horizon with wood cover) was not 100% enclosure. The terminal (an H19) was totaled. It too was no cables connected and line cord laying on the ground. Another machine in the house that was connected was totaled. A portable battery operated common 6 transistor AM radio was cooked, mixer/osc transistor connected to internal loopstick antenna was shorted(that's a magnetic loop!). Remember in an intense EM field any wire is the load side of a transformer (or field of a generator) and the connected circuits have to dissipate the power induced in that winding. > Nuke EMP is from the radiation pulse and is effective far from >the point of the blast, which is why it could be an effective >threat over hundreds of miles distant. Even then inverse square law says no, not that far. Check the various studies done with the Nevada desert blasts and out in the Pacific. Military field radios are EMP resistant. Ever look at field radios? They have everything going in or out through connectors, when connectors are unplugged there are conductive caps placed over the connector and the cases are all continous conductive including closeable covers on things like speakers. This is partially to protect against handeling and environment but also EMP. If "you" a user are far enough away to survive without ill effects likely those radios will. The key is anything too close is at risk. Distance is safety. For known cases, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Pacific Islands that safe distance only a few miles from ground zero. This does not include radioactive fallout and it's longer term poisoning. Further in the desert where thy did underground blasts for years at the top of the hole were older computers with CORE memory that were subjected to both EMP and physical shock waves. Usually the system was trashed due to the trailier being tossed around but, the cores would be pulled and read if the machines were too mechanically damaged. Fact, bombs are bad. Being close to them is very bad. Allison

21 years, 2 months

7
7
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S100 PROM boards

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: S100 PROM boards > From: "Cini, Richard" <Richard.Cini at wachovia.com> > Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 16:09:44 -0400 > To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" > <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >All: > > > > With my two new machines I want to get a PROM monitor in them so >I can start really playing around with them. I have a single Vector RAM/PROM >III board, which uses 2704 or 2708 EPROMS. Most of the chips I have are 2732 >or larger. > > > > Before I go slogging through the manual to try to hammer a 4k >chip into a 1k socket, does anyone have any experience making this mod? >Alternatively, can someone recommend a good general PROM board that can use >larger EPROMS (programming feature not necessary). I'd build a board, it's fairly trivial. Compared to the mods needed to make a 2708 board take 2732s. There is one easy way and thats to make a header that takes the 2732 and maps the Data/Address/CS-/OE- pins to the 2708 socket along with power and ground. That will allow only using 1k of the 2732 but that may be all you need. the upside is one 2732 can hole 4 1k programs and it's easier to program than 2708. Allison

21 years, 2 months

1
0
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Apple Goes Intel...

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: > Thank you, Michael, for clarifying that Apple's choice to go Intel > is NOT an engineering, NOR a marketing decision, > but is in reality an intergalactic conspiracy. I made my post in response to Eric's comments regarding DRM and Richard Stallman's prophetic "Right to read" story, not in response to Apple's choice to go Intel. I couldn't care less about what CPU Apple uses - that's utterly insignificant on the cosmic scale. Technology changes, but the epic struggle between good and evil, between Light and darkness, and between freedom and tyranny stays the same. MS

21 years, 2 months

3
2
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Data formats was Re: Rescue of data from Pioneer 10 & 11 tapesatJPL needed.Vintagecomputers slated for demolition.

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Randy McLaughlin" <cctalk at randy482.com> > >From: "Paul Koning" <pkoning at equallogic.com> >Sent: Friday, June 10, 2005 12:51 PM > > >>>>>>> "jim" == jim stephens <jwstephens at msm.umr.edu> writes: >> >> jim> I have met these people and visit with them every year at the >> jim> JPL open house, and this is most certainly not the case. The >> jim> data division is very serious about conserving the data, and >> jim> they would do anything they can to convert it. >> >> So does that mean the Planetary Society article that started this >> whole thread was just a fund raising scam? >> >> paul > > >I would call scam over stated, I am sure it is a "scheme". > >Revenue generation is a serious business, everyone has seen pictures of >starving children in Africa. This is necessary to get the $ rolling in. >They never point out that after administration fees and the "help" of local >officials just a tiny percentage helps anyone. > >If people donated $100,000,000.00 to help with the data recovery who >believes that one $0.01 would every get used to recover any of the data, not >me. The money would end up on other projects that never get off the ground. > >That's just the nature of most "charitable" contributions. > >Personally I donate to charities but I check them out first, being a well >known name doesn't guarantee anything. > Hi I would suspect that it is the writer of the article that has simply taken bits and pieces of what was said and made a "STORY" out of it. It wouldn't be the first time. They were most likely looking for more funding but that doesn't make a "STORY". Dwight

21 years, 2 months

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Fwd: [GreenKeys] Rock and Roll Teletype 'experts'

by drb＠msu.edu

> Hmm, what's the little bit in the red strip? Must look at that > later... I can't get it to make sense, regardless of which way I interpret colors as punch or no punch, and which order I read the bits. De White=0, Black=1 00001 E T 00000 nul nul 11011 FIGS FIGS 00000 nul nul 11000 9 - 11000 9 - 11001 ? 2 11001 ? 2 11000 9 - 00011 - 9 10111 1 / 10111 1 / 00001 3 5 00001 3 5 00000 nul nul 00000 nul nul 11111 LTRS LTRS 11111 LTRS LTRS 01111 K V 11101 X Q 01011 J G 01011 j G 11111 LTRS LTRS 00011 A O 11000 O A 00000 nul nul 00111 U M 00011 A O 10011 W B 11000 O A White=1, Black=0 11110 V K 11111 LTRS LTRS 00100 SP SP 11111 LTRS LTRS 00111 U M 00111 U M 00110 I N 00110 I N 00111 U M 11100 M U 10111 Q X 10111 Q X 11110 V K 11110 V K 11111 LTRS LTRS 11111 LTRS LTRS 00000 nul nul 00000 nul nul 10000 T E 00010 LF LF 10100 H S 10100 H S 00000 nul nul 11100 M U 00111 U M 11111 LTRS LTRS 11000 O A 11100 M U 01100 N I 00111 U M

21 years, 2 months

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Apple Goes Intel...

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Vintage Computer Festival" <vcf at siconic.com> > >On Thu, 9 Jun 2005, Fred Cisin wrote: > >> Thank you, Michael, for clarifying that Apple's choice to go Intel >> is NOT an engineering, NOR a marketing decision, >> but is in reality an intergalactic conspiracy. > >I'd honestly rather have Michael for President than anyone currently in >Washington. > Hi I agree with that but he doesn't seem to understand that someone needs to have incentive to make toilet paper. This requires the thing that he hates, contrast. Dwight

21 years, 2 months

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Seeking BBC Domesday system

by williams.dan＠gmail.com

> For all of our critical space-flight hardware (power supplies, plasma > instruments, etc.), we put them in well-padded containers and carry > them onboard. We draft letters to airport security (and carry > duplicates thereof) quoting the NASA contract number and giving > contact phone numbers at the SwRI office. In many cases, neither > X-rays nor opening the contamination bag is a good idea. With the > appropriate groundwork, we have not had any problems (knock on wood) > so far. > > So it is *possible* to carry electronics on planes, under some circumstances. > > The clever instrument teams make sure their containers don't fit in > coach seats, so they have no choice but to go First Class. :-) > -- > - Mark > 210-522-6025, temporary cell 240-375-2995 > That makes it much easier all Sellam has to do is find a Domesday system, convince them to ship it. Then get a Nasa contract number to make sure it gets there. It might be easier to build his own ;) Dan

21 years, 2 months

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LF: DEC power supply schematics

by kirk＠ba23.org

Hello, Does anybody know where I can find the schematics for the following DEC power supplies? TIA. - H7822 from a BA42-B - H7868 from a BA213 - H7864 from a BA23 -- Kirk Russell <kirk at ba23.org> http://www.ba23.org/ Bridlewood Software Testers Guild Ottawa Ontario Canada

21 years, 2 months

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Fwd: [GreenKeys] Rock and Roll Teletype 'experts'

by drb＠msu.edu

> Clever use of Baudot code on an album cover - fascinating information > from "experts" on the origins of it - I bet none of us knew that ITU > 1 was "...used in Teletype machines in the late 1800s." > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050609/ap_en_mu/coldplay_album_cover Never mind the bollo..., er, I mean character set. Or the history. It's the bit patterns. I get "X FIGS 9 6", not "X FIGS & LTRS Y". http://www.coldplay.com/img/squares.gif De

21 years, 2 months

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Altair 8800b received

by rcini＠optonline.net

All: Today I received the Altair 8800b that I won on eBay last week. I honestly say that this is the first machine that I'm honestly afraid to plug in. It was billed as "working but in need of a good cleaning" which is an understatement. The interior is filled with greasy dust. Among the other atrocities buried therein: * two bus connectors (out of 10) have destroyed pins * poor repairs/lifted traces on the display control board * repairs on the other boards (CPU and two memory boards) in need of a solder reflow * the main filter cap was replaced with two smaller (but equivalent uF) caps which were unsecured, banging around the inside. These broke one of the card supports. * the top cover has three 3/16" holes drilled into it I've asked the seller to give me a rundown of the history of the machine if he knows it. On a positive note, the switches appear to be intact and the panel graphics seem to be OK. Now, I remember someone asked me to look at the CPU board for some sort of identification. The CPU board has the following designation: "MITS 8800b CPU REV 0". For those who keep track, this unit is labeled SN#5400280K. Rich Rich Cini Collector of classic computers Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ /************************************************************/

21 years, 2 months

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DEC Station stuff

by KParker＠workcover.com

A good friend of mine, Jason, has been stripping DEC's in San Francisco - he has the following stuff left for anyone who is interested - here is his message below . Please contact thorpej<put_the_at_thing_here>shagadelic.org ++++++++++++++++++++ Free DEC parts available for pick-up in San Francisco. This stuff is small, so I will also ship it if you are willing to pay packing and shipping costs. No international shipping, please. Will also consider delivery to locations in the South Bay or Peninsula (I work in Cupertino). I need to get this stuff out of my attic, and will send it to a raw materials recycler if no one wants it. - LK201 keyboard - LK201-AA keyboard - LK401-AA keyboard - PMAZC-AA TURBOchannel dual-scsi => This is quite a score! It would be nice for a DECstation owner to snag it and verify that it works with NetBSD/pmax! - PMAG-B TURBOchannel frame buffer - DEFTA-FA TURBOchannel FDDI interface ++++++++++ Kevin Parker Web Services Consultant WorkCover Corporation p: 08 8233 2548 m: 0418 806 166 e: kparker at workcover.com w: www.workcover.com ++++++++++ ************************************************************************ This e-mail is intended for the use of the addressee only. It may contain information that is protected by legislated confidentiality and/or is legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient you are prohibited from disseminating, distributing or copying this e-mail. Any opinion expressed in this e-mail may not necessarily be that of the WorkCover Corporation of South Australia. Although precautions have been taken, the sender cannot warrant that this e-mail or any files transmitted with it are free of viruses or any other defect. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and destroy the original e-mail and any copies. ************************************************************************

21 years, 2 months

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(OT) Re: Rescue of data from Pioneer 10 & 11 tapes at JPL needed

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 12:00 -0500 6/8/05, Bill Dawson wrote (quoted from a website): >"With the spacecraft now silent, we cannot expect future data, >so we must look to the past. In fact, there are hundreds of >tapes containing data taken before 1987, when the spacecraft >were between 10 and 40 AU from the Sun. This data from the time >the Pioneers were still in the midst of this planetary realm >could be crucial to solving the anomaly. We can expect future data. The New Horizons mission should launch in January 2006 and zip by pluto in July 2015 if all goes well. Of course, it's not a JPL mission, but the data should be equally relevant. Nevertheless, considering the cost/bit of the Pioneer data, if there is any chance of recovering it, serious effort should be made to do so. FWIW, a paper describing the anomalous acceleration is at PHYSICAL REVIEW D, VOLUME 65, 082004 Study of the anomalous acceleration of Pioneer 10 and 11 John D. Anderson,1,* Philip A. Laing,2,? Eunice L. Lau,1,? Anthony S. Liu,3,? Michael Martin Nieto,4,i and Slava G. Turyshev1,? 1Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 and I have a .pdf copy of that paper, if anyone is interested (unless, of course, anyone from Physical Review D asks me not to pass it on). -- - Mark 210-522-6025, temporary cell 240-375-2995

21 years, 2 months

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looking for a Sun 4/260 PROM image

by fredette＠theory.csail.mit.edu

Hi. I'm looking for a PROM image for a Sun 4/260. If you can help, please email me directly, since I don't subscribe to the list. Thanks, -- Matt Fredette

21 years, 2 months

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Stuff I grabbed... (Update)

by Arno_1983＠gmx.de

Hi all, just to give the current state of affairs: I decided to go after those cables I had missed anyway, and made a couple phone calls and mails to the people responsible for recycling. Indicating that "there has been a mistake at the computing center" brought me in contact with the internal recycling department, where I got an appointment for yesterday morning to come sort through the stuff, which was still there. To get it short: I went, and finally got two HP PSI -> X.21 cables, 5 m each. Issue solved. Now to learn something about X.21, and/or communications standards in general... Any good sources Google won't turn up likely? Additionally, I got four original HP standard serial cables (SubD-9f - SubD25-m) and an Exabyte streamer in an external SCSI enclosure, which even still had a cartridge inside. Even more to learn about... Yours sincerely, -- Arno Kletzander Stud. Hilfskraft Informatik Sammlung Erlangen www.iser.uni-erlangen.de Geschenkt: 3 Monate GMX ProMail gratis + 3 Ausgaben stern gratis ++ Jetzt anmelden & testen ++ http://www.gmx.net/de/go/promail ++

21 years, 2 months

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[SPAM] - Re: Simulated disk drive for RT-11? - Sending mail serverfound on relays.ordb.org

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: [SPAM] - Re: Simulated disk drive for RT-11? - Sending mail serverfound on relays.ordb.org > From: "Jerome H. Fine" <jhfinexgs2 at compsys.to> > Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 22:05:18 -0400 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > > >Allison wrote: > >>>Jerome Fine replies: >>>That would explain the situation since no one else seems >>>to have ever seen a pure Q22 backplane for a BA23. >>> >>It's possible, I've done it and it fits well. The Q22 >>18slot (M9275) is a nice backplane for non-PMI based >>systems. >> >Jerome Fine replies: > >If you want to add one more backplane to your >list, I used a 2 * 22 slot Qbus Q22 bit backplane >when I did some Y2K bug fixes for some application >programs. Specifically, this was a 22 slot backplane >with ONLY dual slots, obviously all AB. The last slot >had extra room to allow for a board of about 2" that >held a small SCSI hard drive of about 100 MBytes. >The 3rd last slot (and the 2nd last which it overlapped) >help a 3 1/2" floppy or an RX23. There was a CQD 220/TM >with special ROMs which supported the RX23 as a standard >device with removable media. By the way, the power >supply was not part of the box holding the backplane - >they (power supply and backplane) were connected by a >short 3 foot cable. I think that the ONLY DEC board >was the M8192-YB CPU. I've seen one of them, third party nonDEC. The 12 slot is fine as a 11/23 board set and a meg of ram with RQDX3 it can hold everything needed except power. >As for one more backplane, I presume that you have the >4 * 4 slot (4 quad slots) for the VT103 which were sold >with 18 bits, but could be upgraded in the field to 22 >bits. At one point, I heard that someone made the first >2 slots AB / CD and installed a uVAX-II. That was beyond >my ability, I only used an M8190-BB and a 4 MByte memory >board with a CDQ 220/TM and a DHQ11. I have two. One modded for Q22 and the other Q22/ 2slotsCD. That was a had discussed internally at DEC. There were a few made. >Those days fooling with the hardware were fun, but now >that there are emulators that can run about 100 times >the speed of a PDP-11/73, for an RT-11 software addict >like myself, the hardware has become much less important. Doesn't work for me. Sims are useful but the fastest PC I have is a 1g celeron. They aren't that fast and often a lot less reliable as the OS supporting them can be cranky. I still have two xerox paper boxes full of Qbus cards, hardware is easy. Allison

21 years, 2 months

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Compaq DOS 3.31

by Alwrcker82＠wmconnect.com

Hi if you 5.25 or 3.5's try this man, Computer News 80 PO Box 50127 Casper, Wyoming 82605-0127 (compnews at trib.com) he should have some. Al DePermentier

21 years, 2 months

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Infocom on PDP-11

by GOOI＠oce.nl

Ah yes, good memories! At the Technical High School in Heerlen (very southern part of Holland) our computer class program tasks were written in BEATHE. I can't remember what the B and E stand for, but the "ATHE" stand for Algol(60) Technical High school Eindhoven. The school in Heerlen used at that time (1975 era) IBM 027's (?) to enter the program on punch *card*. We always had a fight for the few desks that had a punch that also *printed* the line of Algol on the top of the punch card. You learned to want to enter your work on such a desk after your deck of cards had once slipped out of your hands and fell on the ground ... You turned in the deck of cards, and one or two days later you got the print out on green bar paper. In the beginning your program hadn't even run because the compiler found a missing ";" Get the correct card, remove it from the deck and put in the corrected one. Submit the deck again, and before you knew a week had passed. Turning in the deck more than 5 times would seldom produce a good score, so I guess I learned at that time to be precise. - Henk, PA8PDP. >>>>> "woodelf" == woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> writes: woodelf> But remember too you really had only two sized variables, woodelf> ints and floating point. I think the big problem with algol woodelf> you never were ment to compile it, just write programns in woodelf> it. > Nonsense. It certainly wasn't designed as a paper language, and it > wasn't used as a paper language. The first compiler (MC Amsterdam, by > Dijkstra) was a real compiler, and at the T.U. Eindhove the "THE" > operating system used Algol exclusively, so all the programming for > many years at that major university was done in Algol 60. > > paul

21 years, 2 months

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Seeking BBC Domesday system

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 11:21 -0500 6/8/05, bv wrote: >With the "security" they have implemented in the US these days, I would >strongly advise against taking any unique device on a flight there. >There are too many stories of devices being tampered with, dismantled >and ruined by trained monkeys. For all of our critical space-flight hardware (power supplies, plasma instruments, etc.), we put them in well-padded containers and carry them onboard. We draft letters to airport security (and carry duplicates thereof) quoting the NASA contract number and giving contact phone numbers at the SwRI office. In many cases, neither X-rays nor opening the contamination bag is a good idea. With the appropriate groundwork, we have not had any problems (knock on wood) so far. So it is *possible* to carry electronics on planes, under some circumstances. The clever instrument teams make sure their containers don't fit in coach seats, so they have no choice but to go First Class. :-) -- - Mark 210-522-6025, temporary cell 240-375-2995

21 years, 2 months

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Catering VCF-MW (was: Apple Goes Intel...

by cb＠mythtech.net

>Ah... no. You don't want her cookin'... believe me. ;^> >I'm the cook of the family; altho I have no formal training. I am, however, >waiting for my midlife crisis which I feel is coming on very soon, when I >quit computers altogether (well, the Wintel crap anyway) and go to culinary >school... ;-) Ahh... I have been pondering the exact same scenario for a few months now. I've grown to hate computers, and prefer to be cooking, and have been considering quitting and finding a new career (although I don't think I could cook for a living... I think I enjoy it because its an escape activity.... I think I'd rather return to what I went to school for and try to get back into theater or television... maybe start doing voice overs professionally or something). -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

21 years, 2 months

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Compaq DOS 3.31

by dieymir＠yahoo.es

>> I'm looking for a copy of Compaq DOS 3.31 rev. G >> (circa 1990) Anybody has this at hand ?? > Just curious: Why do you need this specific revision? Because I think it's the latest one, and probably they fixed lot of errors :-) ______________________________________________ Renovamos el Correo Yahoo! Nuevos servicios, m?s seguridad http://correo.yahoo.es

21 years, 2 months

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Compaq DOS 3.31

by dieymir＠yahoo.es

>> I'm looking for a copy of Compaq DOS 3.31 rev. G (circa 1990) >> Anybody has this at hand ?? > I have the Compaq disks that come with a Portable III, I think it's DOS > 3.31. I also have the Compaq diag disk to set the > BIOS in the Portable III and other models. Fine, but Will be 'rev. G'?? DOS 3.31 was released in November 87 and Compaq was using it until 5.0 (they skipped 4.0), AFAIK 'rev. G' was the last iteration (1990), probably an update (somthing like IBM's CSD) was available from compaq but I suppose that they have forgotten this. Anybody knows something about ?? > I need to dupe these disks anyways, I can make a set > for you too. I need to install a 5 1/4 disk in a > modern machine first. There are DOS proggies able to do the job, my favorite is DiskXpress (it even can convert boot disk images to another sizes). I really prefer to use DOS to do the job since Windoze trash the boot record OEM id. > Now the big question.... > Can I still buy 5 1/4 disk blanks? Making a bit of cleaning I've found a bunch of DD 5.25" with junk, they where 320KB formated ... All had bad sectors!! :-( > And do you need 5 1/4 or 3 1/2? OR - can you use a dd > copy (disk image) that will allow you to make your own? Don't worry use 3.5" ones. Thanks a lot. ______________________________________________ Renovamos el Correo Yahoo! Nuevos servicios, m?s seguridad http://correo.yahoo.es

21 years, 2 months

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Rescue of data from Pioneer 10 & 11 tapes at JPL needed.

by technobug＠comcast.net

On Sat, 4 Jun 2005 16:01:32 -0400 "Bill Dawson" <whdawson at localisps.net> wrote: > I came across this very interesting, on topic story about > the detection of an anomalous acceleration, the need to > recover data which "exists on a few hundred ancient 7- and > 9-track magnetic tapes", and the imminent scrapping of the > original computers at: > > http://www.planetary.org/news/2005/pioneer_anomaly1_0510.html > [...] The U of Arizona had the imaging experiments on the two spacecraft and a friend worked on the data reduction team. I got the following >from him: The tracking stations recorded the data on analog tape and then converted it to digital and transmitted it to JPL which then retransmitted it to Ames (and possibly Goddard) which had spacecraft responsibility. He believed the analog data was kept for some time at the tracking stations (he had some data retransmitted occasionally up to 3 months after reception), but does not know how long. Ames had a program called SOLDPS (sp?) that received the data, recorded it, and divided it up between experimental teams utilizing an IBM 360/90 pair. The UofA got 7-track tapes in fixed block, ASCII, stranger tapes that were taken apart on the local CDC (which only had 7-track tapes). He believed other teams received both 7-track and 9- track tapes written in IBM EBSIDC standard form as require by the local computer systems. The point he made is that each experimenter knew what their data meant and had their own analysis programs - a virtual tower of Babel... He believed that the Pioneers were unique at that time in that they used the received carrier to generate the transmitted carrier. This created an interferometer which, if he remembers correctly, placed the distance to the spacecraft to a meter or so. Tucked away in one of his storage modules he has the Space Craft Bible for those beasts and he promises to pull it out one of these days - should be interesting reading. CRC

21 years, 2 months

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Mr. Franke!

by news＠computercollector.com

Nice to see you emerge from the shadows of cctalk. What's up? ----------------------------------------- Evan Koblentz's personal homepage: http://www.snarc.net Also see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/midatlanticretro/ *** Tell your friends about the (free!) Computer Collector Newsletter - 740 readers and no spam / Publishes every Monday / Write for us! - Mainframes to videogames, hardware and software, we cover it all - W: http://news.computercollector.com E: news at computercollector.com

21 years, 2 months

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Altair 8800b received

by ajp166＠bellatlantic.net

> >Subject: Re: Altair 8800b received > From: "Randy McLaughlin" <cctalk at randy482.com> > Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 22:22:38 -0500 > To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> > >From: "Richard A. Cini" <rcini at optonline.net> >Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 8:39 PM > > >> All: >> >> Today I received the Altair 8800b that I won on eBay last week. I >> honestly say that this is the first machine that I'm honestly afraid to >plug >> in. It was billed as "working but in need of a good cleaning" which is an >> understatement. The interior is filled with greasy dust. >> >> Among the other atrocities buried therein: >> >> * two bus connectors (out of 10) have destroyed pins >> * poor repairs/lifted traces on the display control board >> * repairs on the other boards (CPU and two memory boards) in need >> of a solder reflow >> * the main filter cap was replaced with two smaller (but equivalent >> uF) caps which were unsecured, >> banging around the inside. These broke one of the card >> supports. >> * the top cover has three 3/16" holes drilled into it >> >> I've asked the seller to give me a rundown of the history of the >> machine if he knows it. On a positive note, the switches appear to be >intact >> and the panel graphics seem to be OK. >> >> Now, I remember someone asked me to look at the CPU board for some >> sort of identification. The CPU board has the following designation: "MITS >> 8800b CPU REV 0". >> >> For those who keep track, this unit is labeled SN#5400280K. >> >> Rich >> >> Rich Cini >> Collector of classic computers >> Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project >> Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ >> /************************************************************/ > >Just in case you are unfamiliar it is best to take a pair of vise grips and >break up the bad S100 connectors. After that you can remove the pins one >pin at a time. It is very very bad to heat up the Motherboard and by >removing the plastic and just leaving the 100 metal pins that means you need >to apply less heat. This even applies if you have a desoldering station. >Trying to remove multiple pins at once is near impossible, 100 pins is >impossible. Some are of softer plastic and dont crack. I hate impossible. ;) My solution to pulling bad S100 connectors was a copper bar of the correct dimensions to heat all 100 at the same time. The correct dimension is wider than the solder pins and slotted to recieve the pins. Takes three ungar 47watt elements to heat it evenly and a special Teflon handle for the whole mess. The whole mess sits in a copper trough of solder to keep it tinned. Works very well. Why do that? Back when some of the vendors used tinplate and gold over copper for edge connectors. Some socket vandors also cheaped out using nickle. For those that don't know gold over copper requires a nickle over copper first or you get old that turns greenish black in a while and high resistance contacts. Metal ion migration is a bad thing. The end result was shakewell disease. Shakewell is when to get the system to run you have to pull and reinsert every card before every use or the system crashes. I learned of this after the S100 connectors of the NS* Horizon were contaminated by this. I had to replace all the connectors, and junk out 5 8k and one 16k memory card, and some of the MITS (tinplated connectors) PIO cards I'd used that caused the grief. The only connectors that were ok had the CPU, MDS disk controller and my VDM-1. I've had to do a backplane replacement really nice ATI S100 I'd aquired due to this. plus tossing scrapping the board in it. When I pulled them out the pins of some connectors and most of the boards were greenish black. The only thing more annoying is some brands of IC sockets that loose their spring or also get a surface corrosion, very difficult to troubleshoot the intermittnt signals or worse. Allison

21 years, 2 months

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