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

by waltje＠pdp11.nl

Hi all, I found three interesting bits of stuff today: 1. HeathkitH-8 2. Tandy Color Computer 3 3. Instructigraph code/teletype practice set with practice tapes, keys and (tube) amp There's also a cute Tandy 200-in-one Electronics Lab kit, thats way cool :) I am cleaning out someone's garage for them, and would probably want to sell the above items to get them some money. Any interest here, or should I go ePay ? Cheers, Fred

22 years

6
6
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Article on data rot on CD's

by cb＠mythtech.net

>Some of the CD longevity articles talk about this... those safes >are rated to preserve paper. The char or combustion temperature for >paper is far higher than the highest temperature that a CD-R >will survive. True, I hadn't thought about that angle of it. I suppose a CD or disk will warp enough to ruin it long before paper starts to show signs of heat damage. Its still going to be better then keeping important media in a cardboard box. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

22 years

2
1
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OT: Simple electronics question...

by woyciesjes＠sbcglobal.net

I do realize that this doesn't really apply here, but I know some of the electronic geniuses here can help me out... I have a little Timex clock radio. Works great, except when I want to fall asleep to the radio, I need to turn it down so as not to disturb my wife. Problem is, that the volume control isn't sensitive enough at the low volume I want. So, my thought is to put a resistor on the positive lead of the speaker, which (I think) would lower the overall volume output, and give me a wider range to adjust the volume to a quiet level. I'm just not sure what size resistor to use, or if that is even the right way to go. I haven't cracked it open yet, but I'm fairly certain it's only a single speaker in there, and it's probably a 16 ohm one at that. Am I on the right track? -- --- Dave Woyciesjes --- ICQ# 905818

22 years

6
8
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Fw: OT stupid Welsh and Americans (was Re: Cirris 1000)

by geoffreythomas＠onetel.com

This one got lost too . What's going on ? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Geoffrey Thomas" <geoffreythomas(a)onetel.com> To: "Joe R." <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 12:59 AM Subject: Re: OT stupid Welsh and Americans (was Re: Cirris 1000) > > >But our comrade Joe is using a purely perjorative term from the English > > >colonial past. > > > > I might be classified as a lot of things but Comrade is definitely not > > one of them! Where the hell did that come from anyway? > > It's meant to be irony.

22 years

1
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rarest computers

by RMaxwell＠atlantissi.com

> On Tue, 3 Aug 2004, Bill Sudbrink wrote: > > > Well, I have a pretty big stack of Ohio Scientific... hardware, > > software, documentation and advertising. I never thought it was > > that rare, but then Sellam told me that he has a very hard time > > turning up OSI stuff, so maybe it's a little rare. > > To which Sellam Ismail replied: > > OSI stuff has traditionally been hard to turn up (for me at least). It > took several years of collecting before I got my first OSI system. Now I > have a few various models, all given to me by various people ironically. > > Bob Maxwell had the coolest and rarest OSI computer at VCF East: a model > 300 (OSI's first kit?) > Alas, it's not mine. Jim Kearney brought it VCF East to supplement my OSI Superboard display. The 300 is a sobering reminder of how a computer company could start in those early days with hobbyist-grade products. I don't think Michael Dell could have ever sold any PCs with hand-taped circuit board artwork... Bob

22 years

1
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Fw: OT stupid Welsh and Americans (was Re: Cirris 1000)

by geoffreythomas＠onetel.com

This message got lost , here it is again. It wasn't censored was it ? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Geoffrey Thomas" <geoffreythomas(a)onetel.com> To: "Joe R." <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 12:42 PM Subject: Re: OT stupid Welsh and Americans (was Re: Cirris 1000) > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Joe R." <rigdonj(a)cfl.rr.com> > To: "Geoffrey Thomas" <geoffreythomas(a)onetel.com>; "General Discussion: > On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> > Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 12:01 AM > Subject: Re: OT stupid Welsh and Americans (was Re: Cirris 1000) > > > > Considering the English colonial past, the English don't have the right > > to complain about anything! Not only see Opium wars, see black slavery > > (who do you think shipped the slaves to America and the Caribeaan in > > exchange for sugar and rum?), Irish potato famine, Endentured Servitude > > (another word for slavery), debitor's prison, scalp bounties (both in > North > > American and for Australian Aborigines), press gangs (ship's crews). Then > > go see American Revolution! > > > > Now do you REALLY want to get into a debate about English colonial > past???? > > > > My 2 cents worth, > > Joe > > I'm not English , I'm Welsh - hence my objection to your use of the term in > an offensive (to me ) manner. > You don't need to tell me about the English colonial past - the Welsh have > been on the wrong end of it - hence the large migration to the USA to get > away from them . Hence also the large no. of signatories on the declaration > of independence who are of Welsh descent. > > Geoff. >

22 years

1
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FA: DEC cards, VME card and PC/104 card

by rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com

It's piling up faster than I can get rid of it but I finally got around to putting some more stuff on E-bay. There is a Motorola MVME 167 Single Board Computer card, a Diamond Systems PC/104 Single Board Computer card with DAQ and some DEC cards including a GPIB interface, 11/23+ CPU and a DSD disk drive interface on See <http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=rigdonj>. Joe

22 years

1
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Why do MRV11-D's crap out?

by RMaxwell＠atlantissi.com

A little clarification of Dwight's comment on EPROM life expectancy: The 10-year spec is for the half-life of the charge on the floating gate of the EPROM. In other words, after 10 years, you can expect half a programmed gate's charge to have dissipated. This, by no means, renders the data unreadable: a smaller fraction of the charge is sufficient for the EPROM circuitry to read a programmed cell (most algorithms do a 2x to 4x overprogrammming once a cell reads back programmed). The programmed/unprogrammed read threshold is also temperature sensitive, so cooling off a warm part may allow data recovery from an EPROM that's fading away. Also, bear in mind the specifications are for worst case: the charge leaks away fastest as the device sits near its maximum rated temperature (people have erased EPROMs by heating them over a light bulb!). The cooler the chip, the less leakage. The relationship between temperature and leakage is exponential, too: a few degrees make a lot of difference. If Ed's 2764As were running hot, the gates might have lost enough charge in 15-20 years to forget a few bits... This helps explain why all the EPROMs I programmed in 1985 are still intact. They're backed up on floppy... which decays faster? Bob > -----Original Message----- > > Ed>The set of MXV11-B2 boot ROMs I have are 2764A's. > Ed>Do these die after awhile? > Ed>Just sitting here scratching my head. > Dwight> Most EPROMs are rated for 10 years. That doesn't mean that Dwight> every one will last that long. Also, many of these types Dwight> of systems were all made with EPROMs from the same lot. Dwight> If there was a long term issue, they'd all fail.

22 years

1
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rarest computers.

by fm.arnold＠gmx.net

cctech-request(a)classiccmp.org schrieb am 04.08.2004: >Message: 17 >Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 10:53:15 -0700 (PDT) >From: "Dwight K. Elvey" <dwight.elvey(a)amd.com> >Subject: rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation > > >Hi > I was just wondering. What people on this list consider their >rarest computers in their collections. > >Dwight Hi, My rarest computer is a Nokia Mikko-1. Made by Nokia of Finland in the second half of the seventies. (The g.o.days N. still was a decent company). This computer was build as a 4 bit slice on one 4" x 9" pcb, so there were 8, 12, 16 and even 20 bit versions of it. The instructionset was microprogrammed on another control-pcb, and since different departments at Nokia had different opinions on what was a suitable instructionset, there were at least 4 different instructionsets simultanousley in continuous devellopment. It was programmed in assembler only, whith some cross-compiler running on a PDP8-E with a RF32 attached. It was using Intel 1103 RAM and 1602 ROM or 1702 Eprom. Several thousands were manufactured and used in many different industrial aplications, and as embedded systems in the NOP30 time-shareing terminal or LP4900 multi-channel analyser. I have no idea how many there are still alive, I have 2 systems, and will put some photo's on-line sometime next week. Anyone else has such a beast or its successor Mikko-2? (mainley used in banking applications). Frank

22 years

2
1
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HP 7980 tape drive

by vax3900＠yahoo.com

Saw one today. They ask $69 plus tax. vax, 3900 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

22 years

1
0
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Zilog Z8038 Z-FIO document available

by aek＠spies.com

> Al Kossow might want > it for bitsavers. Oh, There is an Al_Kossow on the list. He must hate me because I snapshot his ebay bid of an 80186 emulator. He got the manual though. -- Would be interested to know when you get it if it was the complete boxed unit. The listing was ambiguous. If it wasn't complete, the manual will be up on bitsavers/microtek in the next week or two.

22 years

2
1
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TEK UNIX history

by aek＠spies.com

Later, Tek developed a microprocessor development system that utilized an LSI-11 core. It was called the 8250. -- 8550 and 8560 It was an evolultion of the systems that started with the 8002 8550s have an 11/02 in them and ran an OS called DOS-50, which I would REALLY like to find. The 8560s are UTEK machines starting with 11/23s and 8" drives and evolving through 11/73s and 5" drives. I have an 8560 with an 8" drive and would like to find the service manual for it (I have the svc docs for the 5" version). There is a fair amt of scanned documentation on the 8002->8560 up now on bitsavers. And dovetailing into Hans' comments, it is VERY difficult to find the documentation and software for these systems, while the hardware shows up at hamfests and on eBay frequently.

22 years

9
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Tandy 1000 on ebay

by teoz＠neo.rr.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1247&item=5112979548… Is there something rare about a Tandy 1000 TL/2 for pricing to hit $167.50 or more?

22 years

3
2
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rarest computers

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Vintage > Computer Festival > Sent: 05 August 2004 10:55 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: RE: rarest computers > > I wasn't allowed to take photos, but it looks pretty much > like it did in the late 1960s (with a few scuffs here and > there perhaps). Not allowed to take pictures? Swines. I'd love to see that up close and personal! Cheers w

22 years

2
1
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Sord M5

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Dave Brown > Sent: 05 August 2004 10:51 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: Re: Sord M5 > > Whether the 'briefcase' held an audio cassette as well I'm > not sure-it would have been a tight squeeze. Be interested in > tracking down samples of software for it. A single basic cart > is rather boring! You haven't seen the rest of the software yet :) Lack of software is one of the things that killed off the M5's chances, along with the Texet TX8000 (amongst other names) and Mattel Aquarius, though let's be honest the Aquarius was never going to set the world on fire was it :) Cheers -- adrian/witchy owner & curator, Binary Dinosaurs - the UK's biggest online home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - former gothic shenanigans www.aaghverts.co.uk - the place to whinge at adverts!

22 years

2
1
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Sord M5

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Dave Brown > Sent: 05 August 2004 09:35 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: Sord M5 > > > Anyone else have one of these? Seems to need a cartridge to > run. I have a basic language cartridge for it- (labelled > Falcon) and a Sord Basic G cart manual. So I'm looking for > any info, software, other carts, etc. If anyone's interested, > there's pix of the M5 on a few web sites and summary data as well. I've got the european version which was badged by CGL and made in a blue case instead of brown. You need either the BASIC-I (integer) or BASIC-G (graphics) cart before you can do anything else. I've only got a small amount of s/w for it though, maybe 3 tapes and a single lonely 'tank battle' cart that was given to me at the Classic Gaming Expo the other week. http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Sord/sord.php Cheers -- adrian/witchy owner & curator, Binary Dinosaurs - the UK's biggest online home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - former gothic shenanigans www.aaghverts.co.uk - the place to whinge at adverts!

22 years

3
4
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z8000 segment scheme question

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Hi If you guys are intending to build a Z8000 machine to run CP/M-8000, you should let me know. There are a couple hardware restrictions you should know about early on. Dwight >From: "Kane, David (DPS)" <David.Kane(a)aph.gov.au> > >The Z8000 segmented address scheme has two forms. The long form that you >described uses two 16 bit values (registers or memory locations). The >short form uses a single 16 bit value with the 7 bit segment number in >bits 9-15 and an 8 bit offset into the segment in bits 1-8. Bit 16 of >the first 16 bit value is a flag which indicates long or short segment >address. This is important for memory addresses operands as the CPU can >get an address word operand from memory, and then based on the flag bit >can decide if the next word must be read to get the complete long >address. In either case the segment address is located in the same place >in either a short segment address or the first word of a long segmented >address. > >David > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org >> [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of SHAUN RIPLEY >> Sent: Monday, 26 July 2004 1:27 PM >> To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org >> Subject: z8000 segment scheme question >> >> >> I picked up one of my computer books today and read >> that z8000 uses one 16 bit register to hold the 7 bit >> segment number and one register to hold the 16 bit >> offset. The strange thing is that the segment number >> is hold in position of bit 9-14 other than the bottom >> half of the first register. I goggled and found >> complaint about this scheme but no one explained why >> it was designed so. Could somebody on the list tell me why? >> >> >> >> __________________________________ >> Do you Yahoo!? >> Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! >http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail > >

22 years

2
1
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Contact cleaner/lubricant?

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

Jay West wrote: > If you're dealing with gold contacts.... Nope :-( The OSI fatherboard pins and the card connectors are silver(tin?) with nylon. But, Caig makes DeoxIT too, so that's a "sort of" vote in favor of it. Thanks, Bill

22 years

2
1
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Metal Case Northstar Horizon

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Marvin Johnston > Sent: 05 August 2004 17:08 > To: General(a)dmzms01.aramiska.net; On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: Re: Metal Case Northstar Horizon > > > > Actually, it would be nice to have pictures of all three > Northstar chassis styles. Right now, mine are all buried and > I won't get a chance to get near them for another month or > so. But I'll keep my eyes open for one of the beige ones now :). I'm back at bletchley at the weekend so I'll do some proper pictures; I'm sure there's more than one 'cos I remember seeing a box for them (WOW*RARE*L@@K BOXED!!!11) In common with pretty much all of the stuff in 'storage' they're not in the best condition, principally down to where they're being stored :-\ Cheers -- adrian/witchy owner & curator, Binary Dinosaurs - the UK's biggest online home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - former gothic shenanigans www.aaghverts.co.uk - the place to whinge at adverts!

22 years

1
0
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Gaps in the collection

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of lists(a)microvax.org > Sent: 05 August 2004 10:09 > To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: RE: Gaps in the collection > > > > I fact let's start a thread of what items people feel are > missing from > > their collections, Here's mine... (No, I am not asking for > any of these...) > > I would kill for a VAX 6000 in the UK. Mmmmm... *dribble* :D I walk past a 6000-410 every time I go upstairs here, and there's a 7000 just round the corner in stores. They're both backup machines for a customer though so you can't have 'em. > I'm still a student though, so i've not got a permanent base > to keep one at. And I thought a uV-II in a BA123 was a > bastard to heft around every end-of-academic-year... BA23 is the way forward, though still bloody heavy. Cheers -- adrian/witchy owner & curator, Binary Dinosaurs - the UK's biggest online home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - former gothic shenanigans www.aaghverts.co.uk - the place to whinge at adverts!

22 years

2
1
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Metal Case Northstar Horizon

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> On Wed, 4 Aug 2004, Marvin Johnston wrote: > > > Someone mentioned some time ago a metal case instead of the > standard > > case for the Northstar Horizon. Can anyone confirm if they > did put out > > a computer in a metal case, and if so, (wishful thinking) how many > > they might have produced? I have one here in a powder blue > metal case There's at least one of the metal cased ones in 'storage' at Bletchley Park - IMSAI blue with an (I assume) aluminium front, 2 vertical floppy drives etc. Got a pic somewhere if anyone's interested, I can't attach it to this mail 'cos the list software will bin it. Cheers -- adrian/witchy owner & curator, Binary Dinosaurs - the UK's biggest online home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - former gothic shenanigans www.aaghverts.co.uk - the place to whinge at adverts!

22 years

2
1
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rarest computers

by sloboyko＠yahoo.com

Not "really" meant to be a computer, but I have a working HP2644A (with DC100a tapes) that uses an 8008 microprocessor (the first thing HP made with an "outside" CPU, I think). I went nuts on it and rebuilt the moldy CRT. The only other one I know of is at the Univ of Stuttgart museum. You can hack this terminal into playing pong on the 8008. Classic computers need classic peripherals - that's why I've been working on paper tape readers. ===== -Steve Loboyko Incredible wisdom actually found in a commerical fortune cookie: "When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day." Website: http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

22 years

3
3
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cctalk Digest, Vol 12, Issue 11

by mtapley＠swri.edu

At 21:01 -0500 8/3/04, William Donzelli <aw288(a)osfn.org> wrote: >Look at your machines as individuals. Where did you get each one? What >were they used for? Do you have evidence to back up the claims? Got a NeXT Cube from Whitelight systems in Palo Alto, CA. They were a NeXT software developer. I still have the company label on the monitor (which has a fault which I'll need to fix eventually) to show that. The disk was scrubbed, though. Unfortunately, that's about as good as it gets in my collection. -- - Mark 210-522-6025, page 888-733-0967

22 years

1
0
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Gaps in the collection

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of lists(a)microvax.org > Sent: 05 August 2004 14:09 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: RE: Gaps in the collection > > > 7000 just round the corner in stores. They're both backup > machines for > > a customer though so you can't have 'em. > > Bastard. Dibs! ;) You're in the queue after me :) > I was just chatting to Greg this morning about swapping my > worldbox for a BA23. Sad to see it go because it's so pretty > and noisy, but I can rack a BA23 and get some work out of it. Why not get one of the VAXstations he got from Jules? Do you have a requirement for a QBUS box or summat? Cheers a/w

22 years

1
0
0 0

Article on data rot on CD's

by cb＠mythtech.net

>in a >fire-safe case (yes, I realize it wouldn't help except in >the lightest fire) Depending on the case/safe/cabinet, it may actually help quite a bit. They are generally rated to 1200 degrees or higher for 45 minutes or longer. If you have a 1200 degree fire for 45 minutes, then your house is a total loss. A fully involved room doesn't usually get to 1200 degrees (flashover will usually happen around 600-750 degrees depending on air and flamability of the items in the room). However, many MANY people make the mistake of putting their fire resistant safe in an upstairs bedroom for easy access. That will likely cause a failure much sooner then its fire rating. Why? Because as the structure burns, the floor weakens, and now you have a 100+ pound weight sitting on a burned, water soaked, weak floor. It tends to break thru the floor, and not stop falling until it hits the basement two stories down. Usually the impact will make the casing of the safe fail and either pop the door open, or totally destroy the outer shell. In either case, the fire rating has been removed, and the contents will now happily burn. Are these types of boxes/safes the best option? No, but they are better then using a rubbermaid container or a regular file cabinet. For truely important paperwork, a safe deposit box is probably the best option (although they are very rarely fire rated at all, but the safes always have fire suppression systems in them, and seal air tight, so the odds of a fire getting very large is pretty slim). -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

22 years

3
2
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Zilog Z8038 Z-FIO document available

by David.Kane＠aph.gov.au

> ..I remember that somebody on the list tried to make a collection of zilog chip documents. That might be Joe R. (looking at old messages), or Al Kossow might want it for bitsavers. Any chance the book has details on the Z-ASCC? David

22 years

2
1
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rarest computers

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Vintage > Computer Festival > Sent: 04 August 2004 19:23 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: RE: rarest computers > > rush for a Computer History Museum event, but I think it > boiled down to dirty contacts on everything. I unseated and > re-seated all the modules and it finally came up. There I did all that before I discovered it was an NTSC box :) Didn't have any compatible display device at the time so it went back in its box.... > BTW, when I was in Japan at the National Science Museum, they > had on loan the original "Brown Box" prototype of the > Odyssey. They actually had it turned on and connected to a > television, and it was still working! Brilliant! Do you know if there are any pictures of that? I've seen original 1960s photos of the brown box but a current one would be excellent. Cheers -- adrian/witchy owner & curator, Binary Dinosaurs - the UK's biggest online home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - former gothic shenanigans www.aaghverts.co.uk - the place to whinge at adverts!

22 years

2
1
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Gaps in the collection

by lists＠microvax.org

> I fact let's start a thread of what items people feel are missing from > their collections, Here's mine... (No, I am not asking for any of these...) I would kill for a VAX 6000 in the UK. Mmmmm... *dribble* I'm still a student though, so i've not got a permanent base to keep one at. And I thought a uV-II in a BA123 was a bastard to heft around every end-of-academic-year... alex/melt

22 years

1
0
0 0

looking for tek manuals

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Anyone have installation and service manuals for the following in electronic format? Tektronix 455 S/N: B055329 Tektronix 465 S/N: B306547 Thanks in advance! Jay West

22 years

3
2
0 0

bah! (spam)

by Innfogra＠aol.com

I get no spam on this email list. Best run list I have ever seen. I use this email address only for this list. Actually that is not entirely true. Usually I get about one spam a week but lately there have been none. I don't think spam comes through this list. Paxton Astoria, OR

22 years

1
0
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bah! (spam)

by waltje＠pdp11.nl

Hiyall, Bah.. where's spam when ya need it. Waiting for some to arrive to test the new antispam stuff... I have been getting a growing number of spam messages through this address, which is only used for this list, so there have to be spam-harvesters out there. Jay, could you enable a monthly (or longer) "please verify your address" email system where address get dropped off the list of they dont reply, meaning, a human is using it? Thanks, Fred -- Fred N. van Kempen, DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) Collector/Archivist Visit the VAXlab Project at http://VAXlab.pdp11.nl/ Visit the Archives at http://www.pdp11.nl/ Email: waltje(a)pdp11.nl BUSSUM, THE NETHERLANDS / Mountain View, CA, USA

22 years

2
1
0 0

Metal Case Northstar Horizon

by marvin＠rain.org

Someone mentioned some time ago a metal case instead of the standard case for the Northstar Horizon. Can anyone confirm if they did put out a computer in a metal case, and if so, (wishful thinking) how many they might have produced? I have one here in a powder blue metal case similar in color to the IMSAI, but I thought it was something someone just put together. I talked to the person a few days ago that I got it from, and he couldn't remember any details except that it came from a swap meet many years ago.

22 years

6
6
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First computer with real-time clock?

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Vintage Computer Festival <vcf(a)siconic.com> wrote: > > If you mean a clock that maintains time when power is off or gets the time > > by radio then we are probably into the micro era. > > Yes. > > But I can't imagine there was not a real-time clock (i.e. as described > above) as at least an option for an earlier computer system. VAX Architecture Reference Manual requires every VAX to have one, and they all indeed do starting with the 11/780. Was the 780 introduced in 1978 or 1979? In any case it was designed in the late 1970s. MS

22 years

7
6
0 0

Metal Case Northstar Horizon

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Hi I have one that is in a beige metal case. Yes, they did do metal case ones. These are not as desired as the wood ones but more practical. Dwight >From: "Marvin Johnston" <marvin(a)rain.org> > > >Someone mentioned some time ago a metal case instead of the standard >case for the Northstar Horizon. Can anyone confirm if they did put out a >computer in a metal case, and if so, (wishful thinking) how many they >might have produced? I have one here in a powder blue metal case similar >in color to the IMSAI, but I thought it was something someone just put >together. I talked to the person a few days ago that I got it from, and >he couldn't remember any details except that it came from a swap meet >many years ago. >

22 years

3
2
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rarest computers

by mross666＠hotmail.com

Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 10:53:15 -0700 (PDT) From: "Dwight K. Elvey" <dwight.elvey(a)amd.com> Subject: rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation >>From: "Vintage Computer Festival" <vcf(a)siconic.com> >> >>They have a *very* well done restoration page. Cool project! However, I >>don't believe their claim to have the only original Alto left in existence >>is accurate. Al Kossow would certainly beg to differ... he has some, I believe, and knows others who do. >Hi >I was just wondering. What people on this list consider their >rarest computers in their collections. Here is my list Oooooooh a liststorm coming! First, define 'rare'... I would say, less than 10 machines known to exist, as an arbitrary figure. OK, here's the Corestore contribution: Two pdp-12s (not 'rare' by above definition, but rareish and very much in demand) Three pdp-10s (a KS (not very rare), a KL 1091 (rare), and a KL 2065 (rare) Two pdp-15s (I know of one other in UK, 4 others in USA) An IBM 1800 (unique, as far as I know) Two IBM System/32s (again unique - know of no others in collections) A Thinking Machines CM-2a (very few other CMs around, but my -2a is unique AFAIK) I'd like to add an IBM System/360 Model 40 to the list, but it *still* isn't here... negotiating! Any of these systems folks wouldn't consider 'rare'? Curious... What rare machine do I covet most? A System/360 Model 30. KA or KI pdp-10 a close second. Web pages: http://www.corestore.org/12.htm (no page for 2nd pdp-12 yet) http://www.corestore.org/15-1.htm http://www.corestore.org/15-2.htm http://www.corestore.org/dec20.htm http://www.corestore.org/dec10.htm http://www.corestore.org/2065move.htm (no proper page yet) http://www.corestore.org/1800-2.htm http://www.corestore.org/32.htm (no page for 2nd System/32 yet) http://www.corestore.org/cm2a.htm Mike http://www.corestore.org

22 years

3
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Metal Case Northstar Horizon

by melamy＠earthlink.net

they indeed produced both a beige and blue metal case. I have one of each as well as a wooden one. I iwll have to dig into my issues of Byte to check into N* ads for more info when I get back to Seattle again. best regards, Steve Thatcher -----Original Message----- From: Marvin Johnston <marvin(a)rain.org> Sent: Aug 4, 2004 5:47 PM To: ClassicCmp <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Subject: Metal Case Northstar Horizon Someone mentioned some time ago a metal case instead of the standard case for the Northstar Horizon. Can anyone confirm if they did put out a computer in a metal case, and if so, (wishful thinking) how many they might have produced? I have one here in a powder blue metal case similar in color to the IMSAI, but I thought it was something someone just put together. I talked to the person a few days ago that I got it from, and he couldn't remember any details except that it came from a swap meet many years ago.

22 years

1
0
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seeking info on ASR-33 interface board

by brian＠quarterbyte.com

Hi Y'all, I just popped open an ASR-33 I picked up a few weeks ago. The tty ran OK in local mode in the store where I found it but in shipment to me something happened, it now free runs (runs free?). Maybe it's a loose connector. In the electronics bay on the right hand side, there's a printed circuit board that runs from front to back. It's definitely a power supply, and probably also an RS-232 to current loop converter. In front is the line/off/local switch, and in back are several large Molex connectors. I was surprised to see this printed on the circuit board: MITS INC TELETYPE INTERFACE BOARD REVISION 0 COPY RIGHT 1976 Does anybody know if this the Altair MITS? The date seems about right. Was it common to produce custom internals like this for teletypes? Anybody have the schematics for this board? Thanks, Brian =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- _| _| _| Brian Knittel _| _| _| Quarterbyte Systems, Inc. _| _| _| Tel: 1-510-559-7930 _| _| _| Fax: 1-510-525-6889 _| _| _| Email: brian(a)quarterbyte.com _| _| _| http://www.quarterbyte.com

22 years

3
2
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Vector Flashwriter

by gtulloch＠shaw.ca

Hey all: I'm fixing up a Vector Graphic MZ machine and have a problem with the Flashwriter II - all that comes up on the terminal is garbage when I boot the machine. Someone has the Flashwriter (1!) card on sale on eBay, anyone know where I might find docs for this thing? I need to compare them to the Flashwriter II to see if the Mindless Terminal changed between versions or if the older board will work on the newer "terminal". Anyone know of any docs (they're not on the Harte collection, alas) out there? Or any ideas if this will work? Thanks! Regards, Gord

22 years

1
0
0 0

Contact cleaner/lubricant?

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Bill Sudbrink" <wh.sudbrink(a)verizon.net> > >While watching me struggle with the cards in my OSI C4P, >someone at VCF East (I can't remember who, sorry if it >was you) suggested a product (I can't remember what, I >was a bit distracted) that they used to clean and lubricate >contacts. I just did a little googling and there seem to >be two "major" products: Stabilant 22 and DeoxIT. Anyone >care to share their experiences with either of these or make >another recommendation? > >Thanks, >Bill > Hi Bill I've only had experience with DeoxIT. It seems to work well but before these products were around, I used DC #4 ( Dowe Corning ) silicon grease and also an automotive product called SilGlyde. You shouldn't use ordinary lubricating grease because these have too high of a film strength. The silicon grease used for heat sinks is not good either because of the filler ( white stuff ). Any of these will work miracles. I use this type of product on most card edges and ROM sockets. I've even been know to use it on boards with all socketed parts. If you look back in the archieves you'll see that I've talked about this stuff before. Dwight

22 years

1
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rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation

by aek＠spies.com

>They have a *very* well done restoration page. Cool project! However, I >don't believe their claim to have the only original Alto left in existence >is accurate. At the time the page was created, no other Alto I's were known to exist. Since that time, two are known to still exist in PARC storage, and one is at the CHM. The Alto I in that picture is now back in the Bay Area also. It was one of mine at one point. -- > I was just wondering. What people on this list consider their > rarest computers in their collections. MIT CADR PARC Dorado PARC Dicentra National IMP-16P

22 years

3
2
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unidentified HP loader rom

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

What's 1816-0769? The image is on Al's site, but can't find it referenced in my docs. Anyone know offhand? Jay --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]

22 years

1
0
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VCM

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Marvin Johnston" <marvin(a)rain.org> > >Since I will be leaving for Europe (Hungary/Czech Republic) in several >weeks, the stuff I have listed on VCM will be expiring on 8/12. It would >be nice to see more names listing things too :). > Hi Marvin How long do you expect to be gone? I was thinking about making a weekend trip down to Santa Barbara sometime later this summer to look at the Polymorphic items you have. Dwight

22 years

2
1
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VCM

by marvin＠rain.org

Since I will be leaving for Europe (Hungary/Czech Republic) in several weeks, the stuff I have listed on VCM will be expiring on 8/12. It would be nice to see more names listing things too :).

22 years

2
2
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rarest computers

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Vintage > Computer Festival > Sent: 03 August 2004 18:20 > To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts > Subject: Re: rarest computers > > > I have one of these, but I'm missing most of the overlays. Also the > > rifle for some of the games is long since trashed. Some day > I'll dig > > the thing out and see if the system itself still works. > > I got one of mine working recently. It was pretty cool to > see it actually work for the first time. Nice! Mine's NTSC and I need to build a game cable so I can plug it into the tv card in my peecee. Wouldn't surprise me if it was dead. It's been disassembled here: http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Magnavox/odyssey.php 'all' that circuitry can generate is 2 player objects, a ball object and optionally a net object down the middle. Top stuff! Cheers -- adrian/witchy owner & curator, Binary Dinosaurs - the UK's biggest online home computer collection? www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - former gothic shenanigans www.aaghverts.co.uk - the place to whinge at adverts!

22 years

2
1
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Article on data rot on CD's

by jfoust＠threedee.com

I recently tried reading some CDs burned in 1998 or so, on a nice SCSI Sony burner of the time, on Taiyo Yuden media, kept in sleeves with no label or Sharpie, in a fire-safe case (yes, I realize it wouldn't help except in the lightest fire) in an A/C office environment. One of five had an error. On the other hand, I probably didn't check the original for read errors after I made it. - John

22 years

2
1
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May mailing list change?

by jfoust＠threedee.com

I noticed that my CC-talk and CC-tech mailings stopped in early May. I re-subscribed today. Was there a known glitch? - John

22 years

2
1
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rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation

by JMeyer101＠aol.com

The rarest computer I now have is a working MCS Intellec 4. I also have a GRiD Compass II 1137 (not as rare as the Intellec but there are not many of the 1137's out there). Jeff Meyer

22 years

1
0
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SIMH on Slashdot

by rcini＠optonline.net

In case anyone hasn't seen the Slashdot article on SIMH, here's the link. About midway down is my little blurb on the Altair32 project. Right now at 2 ( Informative)...hoping to hit 5. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/04/146202&tid=137&tid=190&tid=1… Rich

22 years

1
0
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seeking info on ASR-33 interface board

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Hi One of the things I've seen that is most of these machines seem to lack lubrication. These things need lots of oil. If you've no run it for a month or two, you'll most likely need to quirt some oil in it. The other thing is if they are run for some time, they need to be cleaned. This means partial disassembly and dunking in solvent ( a large sonic cleaner system is best but one of those automotive part cleaning trays with the pump works well ). There are a lot of moving parts and they all rub against something. Anyway, for the original problem, check the coupling between the printer unit and the keyboard. The "H" coupling piece often pops off. This will cause the machine to not lockup when in the local mode. That board is most likely a RS232 interface card. Maybe some pictures would be good. Dwight >From: "Brian Knittel" <brian(a)quarterbyte.com> > >Hi Y'all, > >I just popped open an ASR-33 I picked up a few weeks ago. The tty ran >OK in local mode in the store where I found it but in shipment to me >something happened, it now free runs (runs free?). Maybe it's a loose >connector. > >In the electronics bay on the right hand side, there's a printed >circuit board that runs from front to back. It's definitely a power >supply, and probably also an RS-232 to current loop converter. In >front is the line/off/local switch, and in back are several large >Molex connectors. I was surprised to see this printed on the circuit >board: > >MITS INC >TELETYPE INTERFACE BOARD >REVISION 0 >COPY RIGHT 1976 > >Does anybody know if this the Altair MITS? The date seems about >right. > >Was it common to produce custom internals like this for teletypes? > >Anybody have the schematics for this board? > >Thanks, >Brian > >=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >_| _| _| Brian Knittel >_| _| _| Quarterbyte Systems, Inc. >_| _| _| Tel: 1-510-559-7930 >_| _| _| Fax: 1-510-525-6889 >_| _| _| Email: brian(a)quarterbyte.com >_| _| _| http://www.quarterbyte.com > >

22 years

1
0
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Signetics kit available in the UK

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

Folks, Had this mail in from a bloke who has a Signetics development to (I assume) give away; reply to him direct as usual. Cheers w > > Geoff Baxendale (thebears(a)sarno.freeserve.co.uk) on July > > 29th, 2004 at 10:47PM (BST). > > > > Hi Adrian, > > > > > > > > I have a Signetics 2560 development system complte with 8" > > floppies VDU and printer. Any interest? Enjoyed you site,

22 years

1
0
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infovox 500 speechsyntizer

by rachael＠rachael.dyndns.org

Hello Today I found a infovox 500 speech syntizer card, its a small 8bit isa card, dominated by a massiv 68hc000 dil, two 27c2001 eproms, two 62256 32kb sram, and a 88c681 Uart along with a db25 rs232 serial port. Does anyone knows such a card ? My initial thought when I brought it was to remove the parts as everything is socket, but now I`m not sure, might be fun to use or even usefull to someone. Regards Jacob Dahl Pind -- CBM, Amiga,Vintage hardware collector Email: rachael(a)rachael.dyndns.org url: http://rachael.dyndns.org

22 years

1
0
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VAXStation 4000/90 Hard drive options

by m.wickens＠rhodium-consulting.com

Hi all, A quick question for the VAXen experts out there. Help would very much be appreciated. I'd like to know what the maximum drive size is that I can attach to my VAX. I've never been given a definitive answer, but many people appear to have had success with drives larger than those 'officially' declared supported. I will be running OpenVMS. In particular, I'm wondering whether a Seagate ST39173N which is a 9.1GB 50 pin device will work. There are also several 4.3/4.5GB 50 pin models available, as well as a huge number of 68 and 80 pin devices that could be connected via adapters. I bought a Fujitsu 9.1GB 80 pin SCA drive and attempted to connect this to the VAX via an 80 - 50 pin converted but the drive was not recognised properly by either the boot rom or OpenVMS. Thanks for the help, Mark. -- Mark Wickens Rhodium Consulting Ltd

22 years

5
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rarest computers

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "William Donzelli" <aw288(a)osfn.org> > >> OK, I do have one that is going to be an unusual one >> that is significant in its insignificance. > >This is not what I mean by significant. I am looking for machines that did >something historically important. Or even maybe not so historically >important. Provenance - it is important. > >So far the silence has been a bad sign... > Hi Sure, I know what you mean. It is just hard to pick such items out from the flow. Things like the Altair 8800 or an original IBM PC come to mind. But where does one draw the line for things like laptops. It isn't just a matter of being first, it is a matter of actually starting a particular trend. Some of these items may actually be rare while others may be common as dirt. TRS-80's surely had a significant effect. The various BBC computers in the UK had influence there as well. I'm sure there are a number of others to mention. The hard part is to pick one point in the flow of things and state that this was truly a turning point and not just some advertising hype. Influencing things and actually causing wide spread use are different as well. Of the rarer machines that I have, I'd have to say that only my Poly88 started a trend. It was the first of the "reset only" front panels where there was no longer all the lights and switches, for what was then called PC's. Dwight

22 years

4
3
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TI 980

by aek＠spies.com

> With the severe lack of docs, I haven't even powered it on yet. have you looked at www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ti/980 ? The 960 was the process control computer. 980's are fairly conventional 16 bit minicomputers.

22 years

1
0
0 0

Teac floppy replacement

by rcini＠optonline.net

Hello, all: I'm trying to get my "new" Micromint SB180 to work with the floppy drives that came with it. I've been given two sets of disks, both of which were made on a known-working system but which produce read errors on mine. The drives pass the internal disgnostics that are in the SB180 ROM, but I want to eliminate the drive from the problem by swapping another in. It appears to use standard 5.25" 1/2-height PC drives except that the "old" drive has a head-load solenoid while the new one doesn't. The model number of the "old" drive is FD55F-03-U and the model number of the "new" drive is FD55BV-36-U. There are differences in the jumper designations between the models so I can't readily map the settings. Can anyone help with this? Thanks. Rich Rich Cini Collector of classic computers Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ /************************************************************/

22 years

4
3
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Foam pads for keytronics keyboards ?

by jos.mar＠bluewin.ch

Does anybody have a current source for the foam pads that are used in capacitive Keytronics keyboards ?

22 years

3
2
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HP 2100 manuals on ebay

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I didn't bid on this (was preparing to snipe), but finally talked to the other bidder and was sure the documentation would be preserved on bitsavers. Turns out some other third person won the auction who I don't recognize their ebay userid. I sure hope it was a classiccmp'er and we'll all benefit >from the archival of the documents. If not... it's probably lost. Big shame, looked like some great stuff. Jay West --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]

22 years

2
1
0 0

rarest computers

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "William Donzelli" <aw288(a)osfn.org> ---snip--- > >You will see that most machines - nearly all - did pretty unimportant jobs >in their lifes. I look at mine - one was used for managing parts for GM in >Canada. Another did payroll at a steel and bridge company. Another was >used in a high school. A few I simply do not know. Anyway, not very >exciting. What I am looking for are instances of machines with a exciting >history. > OK, now I see what you are getting at. History of these machines is really hard to get. For the most part, it is even harder to prove. The most interesting one from that standpoint was the Olivetti M20. I got it from the xwife of a fellow that worked for Olivetti here in Sunnyvale, developing applications. When he gave it to her, all she wanted it for was the word processor. I have a Kim that was purchased by a fellow that was in the early days but never actually did anything with it. Sales slip included. Most anything else I've gotten lacks history. I wish I'd gotten more with items but it is tough enough to just round up documents and programs for these machines. The only machine that I know the complete history is my second computer ( a H89 ). I built it and learned from it. I've designed and built some of my own I/O boards for it. I have nothing with any Earth shaking history( that I know of ). I know such machines are out there. They just never come my way. I'm just not in the right place at the right time. I keep looking, though. I guess the biggest problem is that few individual machines were actually involved in history making events. Many may have been involved in bits and pieces. The only famous machine I can think of is the IMSAI that was used in "War Games". It is not all that important a history event but it is the only one I know about. There are reproduction items but no other originals that I'd consider related to historic evens or times. You are really asking for the rarest of items. Dwight

22 years

1
0
0 0

rarest computers

by cb＠mythtech.net

>> Apple IIc Plus - Only made for a year or so. Again, not ultra-rare, but not >> often seen around. > >Is this the one that has a small form factor? It is a small form factor Apple II series. Looks kind of like a small briefcase or a laptop without a screen. The difference between the IIc+ and the regular IIc is the IIc+ has an integrated power supply and a 3.5" floppy drive. (The regular IIc has a 5.25" drive and requires an external power brick). -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

22 years

3
2
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RA71 all alone?

by brad＠heeltoe.com

Hi, [dec pdp-11 question] anyone know if I can use a RA71 drive all by it's lonesome with an UDA50? I have some RA90's which are working fine but I found a naked RA71 recently and was wondering if I can use it. (probably not without some sort of controller board, but I thought I'd ask) It has a obvious molex power connector and three .1" headers. Two of the headers look like they want to accept the 8 pin plug from my UDA 50 :-) probably wishful thinking. (I've been running the RA90's straight from the UDA50 with the 'red cable'; this has been working fine and doesn't violate the 'odd # of cables' rule) -brad

22 years

2
1
0 0

PDP-11 Freeware CDs for RSX-11 and RT-11 (Originally Produced by Tim Shoppa)

by jhfinexgs2＠compsys.to

Hi John, I attempted to send the following e-mail, but it keeps getting rejected at your e-mail address. So I am also sending it to the classiccmp address in case anyone is able to forward it to you. If anyone at classiccmp knows what the problem is, then please help! If John sends me his new (or old) e-mail address or can verify the snail mail address, that would be what I need!!!!!! Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine ============================================ Hi John, At this point, after many delays - most of which are my fault - I am about to mail the CDs. They are actually ready to be taken to the Post Office to be mailed. I want to check on your address first, so please respond! John W. McCance aaaaa (deleted in case it is private) aaaaa aaaaa Thank you for being so patient!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine -- If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the 'at' with the four digits of the current year.

22 years

1
0
0 0

PDP-11 Freeware CDs for RSX-11 and RT-11 (Originally Produced by Tim Shoppa)

by jhfinexgs2＠compsys.to

Hi John, I attempted to send the following e-mail, but it keeps getting rejected at your e-mail address. So I am also sending it to the classiccmp address in case anyone is able to forward it to you. If anyone at classiccmp knows what the problem is, then please help! If John sends me his new (or old) e-mail address or can verify the snail mail address, that would be what I need!!!!!! Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine ============================================ Hi John, At this point, after many delays - most of which are my fault - I am about to mail the CDs. They are actually ready to be taken to the Post Office to be mailed. I want to check on your address first, so please respond! John W. McCance aaaaa (deleted in case it is private) aaaaa aaaaa Thank you for being so patient!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine -- If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the 'at' with the four digits of the current year.

22 years

1
0
0 0

RA71 all alone?

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Brad Parker <brad(a)heeltoe.com> wrote: > anyone know if I can use a RA71 drive all by it's lonesome with an UDA50? > > I have some RA90's which are working fine but I found a naked RA71 > recently and was wondering if I can use it. (probably not without some > sort of controller board, but I thought I'd ask) RA71 is an SDI drive just like RA90 and every other RAxx drive. They all connect directly to an SDI controller (UDA50, KDA50, KDB50, KDM70, HSC, etc). You just need the right SDI cables. I have never seen a UDA50 (all my life so far has been Q-bus MicroVAXen, so all my RA drives are on KDA50s), so I don't know what cable it will need. > It has a obvious molex power connector and three .1" headers. Two of > the headers look like they want to accept the 8 pin plug from my UDA 50 > :-) Those are SDI connectors for port A and port B. The larger header is for the OCP (operator control panel). Having an OCP is nice, but one can live without it (I have none myself). Without an OCP the drive gets its unit number from 3 switches on the side. This limits the unit number to 0-7, while the MSCP spec allows much higher unit numbers. I believe you can get the full MSCP spec range of unit numbers with the OCP. MS

22 years

3
2
0 0

PDP-11 Freeware CDs for RSX-11 and RT-11 (Originally Produced by Tim Shoppa)

by jhfinexgs2＠compsys.to

Hi John, I attempted to send the following e-mail, but it keeps getting rejected at your e-mail address. So I am also sending it to the classiccmp address in case anyone is able to forward it to you. If anyone at classiccmp knows what the problem is, then please help! If John sends me his new (or old) e-mail address or can verify the snail mail address, that would be what I need!!!!!! Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine ============================================ Hi John, At this point, after many delays - most of which are my fault - I am about to mail the CDs. They are actually ready to be taken to the Post Office to be mailed. I want to check on your address first, so please respond! John W. McCance aaaaa (deleted in case it is private) aaaaa aaaaa Thank you for being so patient!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sincerely yours, Jerome Fine -- If you attempted to send a reply and the original e-mail address has been discontinued due a high volume of junk e-mail, then the semi-permanent e-mail address can be obtained by replacing the four characters preceding the 'at' with the four digits of the current year.

22 years

1
0
0 0

Electronics Barn closing

by sloboyko＠yahoo.com

Ron Hudson Stated: >Another problem with most modern stuff is that it is >surface mount tiny "you can't work on it without >special tools" not meant for repair, only for >replacement. This is not really a problem with surface mount. I thought this would be impossible too - then I built, as my first SMT project, a Nixie tube watch - with "over 45" eyeballs that never worked perfectly. http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/nixwatch.htm I invested in only: 1. A GOOD temperature controlled iron ($50) from eBay 2. Good (but not great) tweezers ($5.00) 3. $5.00 set of eye loupes 4. $110.00 - a hot air rework station from eBay (I didn't really need this) 5. Some flux "markers" and some really thin solder >from Digi-Key - around $20 Nice things about surface mount are that the parts are really cheap, you can get a lot more stuff on a board (board cost), and the parts can be fairly easily recycled (especially with the rework station). The real problem as I see it is the proliferation of parts. The Digi-Key catalog is like, 10 times the size it was in the 70/80's. Parts come and go very quickly now. And with ASICs, you are at the mercy of the manufacturer. I am concerned that all the TTL in the surplus market now is all that there is-I can't beleive that anyone is making any more. Wire-wrap sockets and quality punched boards are getting very expensive. ===== -Steve Loboyko Incredible wisdom actually found in a commerical fortune cookie: "When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day." Website: http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo

22 years

2
1
0 0

rarest computers

by cb＠mythtech.net

>> Magnevox Odyssey 1 - Not really a computer (It was analog!), but farily >> uncommon, and predecessor to the really-a-computer Odyssey 2. I have one of these, but I'm missing most of the overlays. Also the rifle for some of the games is long since trashed. Some day I'll dig the thing out and see if the system itself still works. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>

22 years

3
2
0 0

Electronics Barn closing

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Cameron Kaiser" <spectre(a)floodgap.com> > >> > He got red in the face when I asked him how he's teaching kids any >> > base OS principles such as state-saving and interrupting. Meaning, >> > kids don't go there, pretty much. The next major version of a >> > known OS will probably be without interrupts, as none of the >> > programmers will have any knowledge about them anymore ;-) > >> OH, like DOS again! > >DOS is an operating system? ;) > Windows is not. It is an application interface. Dwight

22 years

11
14
0 0

rarest computers

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "SHAUN RIPLEY" <vax3900(a)yahoo.com> > ---snip--- >In my eyes X86 is not bad at all. Every divert from >X86 Intel made was a failure. I432, I860, I960, >Itanium, all failed. Maybe 8051 is an exception. Also Hi I'd not say that either the 432 or 8051 were spawned >from the X86. Also, even though Intel doesn't deal with it anymore, the 186's are still quite popular for embedded. Most CISC processors of today run with a RISC core. CISC has the advantage of more efficient use of bulk memory bandwidth while RISC can be more easily handled for things like pipelining and multiple execution engines. Dwight >CISC won the battle with RISC finally. It might be >better for DEC to develop faster VAX than to develop >Alpha. > >vax, 3900 > >> >> William Donzelli >> aw288(a)osfn.org >> >> >> > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >http://mail.yahoo.com >

22 years

1
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HP 2100 manuals on ebay

by aek＠spies.com

I didn't bid on this (was preparing to snipe), but finally talked to the other bidder and was sure the documentation would be preserved on bitsavers. -- Copies of those documents have been scanned, and are in the queue to be pdf'ed I probably should put up a list of what has been done to see if people would volunteer to postprocess the scans. On a good day, I can finish about 1000 pages while on average I have been scanning about 4x that per day. I just checked the /scan directory and it's around 80gb, with only about 25gb postprocessed.

22 years

4
4
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Why do MRV11-D's crap out?

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Ed Kelleher" <Pres(a)macro-inc.com> > >I get requests for MRV11-D's regularly, like once a week. >Had a bunch and sold them. >Still have several in the field and have never seen one fail. > >Are these things going bad? >Can't believe people are building new systems with them. >There's nothing much on them, just 2 boot ROM's and a simple QBUS interface. >The set of MXV11-B2 boot ROMs I have are 2764A's. >Do these die after awhile? >Just sitting here scratching my head. > >Ed > > Hi Ed Most EPROMs are rated for 10 years. That doesn't mean that every one will last that long. Also, many of these types of systems were all made with EPROMs from the same lot. If there was a long term issue, they'd all fail. Dwight

22 years

1
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rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "John Honniball" <coredump(a)gifford.co.uk> > >Dwight K. Elvey wrote: >> 3. Olivetti M-20 > >I want one of these! ---snip--- Hi John These were also labeled as L-1's with slightly different add-on hardware options. Some had color but mine is only black and white. I believe there was a M-30 as well with the Z-8000 but I've never seen one of these. I'm quite enjoying reading about all the unusual items that are in many collections. It seems we all have some interesting items. Dwight

22 years

2
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First computer with real-time clock?

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Paul Koning" <pkoning(a)equallogic.com> ---snip--- > >For autonomous timekeeping independent of technology, the state of the >art was a second per year or so (that's 10^-8, roughly) around the >early 1900s. First with pendulum clocks (Shortt clock), then around >the 1940s or so crystal clocks came in that could match this. And not >too long after that there came the rubidium (10^-10) and cesium >(10^-14) clocks. Some of that would be found in military gear, I >think (Rb at least, Cs somewhat less likely). Consider GPS >satellites, which have either or both built-in. > > paul > > Hi I thought I'd mention that GPS satellites are very precise but no longer accurate. The world standards like UTC are not on the same second as used for GPS. I don't recall how far things have changed but for political and other reasons, the world time standards have been changing. GPS are still locked to being relative to particular data and time. Every one else has had a few leap seconds here and there. There is a chart someplace on the web that shows how things are. Dwight

22 years

2
1
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EPROM Erase or Program service

by vcf＠siconic.com

In light of recent conversations, I found this eBay auction interesting: EPROM : ERASE OR PROGRAM EPROM SERVICE PERFORMED http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50914&item=3830935563 -- 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 ]

22 years

4
10
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rarest computers

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Bryan Pope > Sent: 03 August 2004 16:30 > To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: rarest computers > > > Magnevox Odyssey 1 - Not really a computer (It was analog!), but > > farily uncommon, and predecessor to the really-a-computer Odyssey 2. > > Wow! I didn't know this.. (that it's analog) .. very cool! :) Mine's been disassembled here: http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/Museum/Magnavox/odyssey.php 'all' that circuitry can generate is 2 player objects, a ball object and optionally a net object down the middle. Top stuff! Cheers w

22 years

1
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AT&T General Purpose Sychronous AT/Enhanced card

by hrs-accounting＠wi.rr.com

Do you still have this card? Connie Kreis Financial Manager High Reliability Systems 469 Decorah Road West Bend, WI 53095 p 262-268-0911 f 263-268-0967 hrs-accounting(a)wi.rr.com

22 years

1
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Reforming Old Capacitors

by marvin＠rain.org

Someone just posted this handbook on the Heathkit listserver, and looks pretty good at a first glance. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HANDBOOK FOR STORAGE SHELF LIFE AND REFORMING PROCEDURES FOR ALUMINUM ELECTROLYTIC FIXED CAPACITORS It is online in PDF format at: http://www.multi-volti.com/hb1131.pdf

22 years

2
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rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation

by Adrian＠beovax.co.uk

> -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk-bounces(a)classiccmp.org > [mailto:cctalk-bounces@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Jules Richardson > Sent: 03 August 2004 12:25 > To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org > Subject: Re: rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto > Restoration + Emulation > > I found an RML advert in an old comp magazine at Bletchley of > a pair of cream 480Z's along with a *white* 380Z at the > weekend. I'm assuming it was a mock-up as I've never known of > a white 380Z before. *cough* Who found it? :) I think I'll borrow it next weekend and scan it on sat night. Can you remember which mag it was in? Cya w

22 years

1
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Looking for Steve Loboyko

by JCalvert＠trinityvideo.net

I am looking for a Steve Loboyko that use to work for VSI and BellSouth in Charlotte. If this gets to you Steve, this is coming from John Calvert, please send a reply to me. THANKS!

22 years

1
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Cirris 1000

by jimc＠unipower-corp.com

Joe, The link to e-bay for the Cirris Signature 1000 is no longer valid. Do you still have it? Jim Ceavers Unipower Corp. 954-905-1062

22 years

8
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rarest computers

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Joseph S. Barrera III <joe(a)barrera.org> wrote: > > > Half of everything I have has something wierd about it, like the > > > MAC with an Apple-II card in it or the uVAX-II GPX that was said to > > > be Stallman's. > > > > Ew. Did you sterilize the keyboard before using it? > > Can you imagine Stallman hairs coming out of it for years afterwards? > > Best to sterilize it in a furnace. Stallman? Do you mean Richard Stallman of GNU fame? If so, what's so bad or contageous about him? While it's well known that I'm quite disapproving of GNU (which is strictly because GNU is anti-UNIX and I'm well known to be a priest of Holy UNIX), I have nothing against RMS personally and I'm quite shocked to see people make comments concerning him ("sterilize the keyboard" etc.) that one would expect to be made about, say, Dark Emperor BillG. MS

22 years

1
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rarest computers. was: RE: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Hi ben A good picture of it can be seen at: http://www.omahug.org/vcf40/v02.jpg ( the Wyse terminal is not original ) It was used as a processing unit for a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. This did chemical analysis. The upper part of the panel is related to the data acquisition while the lower part is the blinking lights part. Mine has 12Kx20 of core but they also had a 24Kx20 setup with an expansion chassis. The 12K core comes in 3 stacks. Most used a hard disk but mine is floppy bases. I'm always looking for more programs to run on this ;) Sellam has another one of these and there is a fellow in England that has one as well. These are the only remaining machines that I am aware of. These were in competition with the Varian machines of the time. Nicolet was one of the last manufactures to make core bases processors and made processors for use on subs because of cores resistance to radiation. The instruction set is funny as well. It used the typical conditional skip instruction of the time but the ALU was interesting because it used a 5 port input. It has hardware for doing multiply and divide because it's primary output was the result of doing FFT's on the data input. Fast multiply and divide are desirable. I have running a BASIC ( with matrix operations ), an assembler, an editor and several games. I also have a floating point package as well and some diagnostic programs. Any more specific questions? Dwight >From: "ben franchuk" <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca> >Dwight K. Elvey wrote: > >> Hi >> I was just wondering. What people on this list consider their >> rarest computers in their collections. Here is my list >> >> 1. Nicolet 80 ( 20 bit mini with core. working condition. Only know >> of 2 others. I doubt there are more than 10 left >> anywhere. ) > >Hmm, I want to hear more of this mini. >Ben. > >

22 years

2
1
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important

by rschaefe＠gcfn.org

I have received your document. The corrected document is attached. ++++ Attachment: No Virus found ++++ Norman AntiVirus - www.norman.com

22 years

1
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Electronics Barn closing

by chowell2＠pacbell.net

Tony Duell writes: > >> just get into different tools then older people who didn't have a computer >> to play with when they grew up. When I was young I went out and purchased >> some ram chips to fix my dead C64 (was stupid and touched a staticy TV while >> my other hand was on the keyboard, ESD), equipment was expensive. Today if a >> pc card breaks its cheaper to chuck it and get a new/used one then it is to >> even think of looking for the parts to fix it, same with all other > > We've had this before, and I still don't believe it. If you can honstly > tell me that it's cheaper (and quicker) to replace some large PCB costing > several hundreed pounds/dollars than to find the dead I/O buffer chip > (which sould cost a few 10s of pence, and which would take me about 10 > minutes to find at most), then I have to wonder what planet you're on. How about replacing a card costing $25 to $50, vs. replacing the fried surface-mounted ASIC (one of only two or three chips on the card), which incidentally is only available to OEMs in the first place? In order to make mass-market electronics so cheap, they have had to be tailored to large-scale industrial producers, rendering them inaccessible to mere mortals. To take one extreme example, the single IC of modern calculators isn't packaged at all in the conventional sense--the chip is mounted right on the printed circuit board and encased in a blob of resin to protect it. And, of course, the logical conclusion of integrated circuit technology is to get rid of the circuit board and separate components entirely. Colin

22 years

1
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OT: ServGate documentation pack, anyone want?

by shirker＠mooli.org.uk

Hi, I have a ServGate EdgeForce documentation pack here, consisting of a CD-ROM, Quick Start Guide Version 2.5 and SGOS 2.5 Administrator's Guide (book). Free, but you pay postage. Contact me within 14 days if you want it, or it hits the trash. Regards, Ed.

22 years

1
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Zilog Z8038 Z-FIO document available

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "SHAUN RIPLEY" <vax3900(a)yahoo.com> > >I copied the Z8038 part from the book "The Z8000 >microprocessor, A design handbook" by Bradly, K. >Fawcett. I remember that somebody on the list tried to >make a collection of zilog chip documents. I'd like to >mail the 20 pages to him. Please send me email if it >is you. Thanks. > > Hi Shaun Does your book describe the floating point processor ( that was never released ). I was wondering because the CP/M-8000 that I've been playing with ( accually the C compiler ) uses the floating point processors instructions and then exception traps them to execute the floating point code. The format for using these traps would be the same as was expected for the real FPU. Dwight

22 years

2
1
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RX50 Dis/assembly..

by trash3＠splab.cas.neu.edu

Did you get it back together? I have 3 RX50 drives I have not dismantled yet, so I could probably let you know layout. Joe HEck

22 years

3
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wtd (uk): TI99 memory cart, ACT Sirius

by stuart＠zen.co.uk

Hi everyone, I'm on the lookout currently for a 32K memory cart for a TI99 PEB, as well as extended basic. I'm also interested in any ACT Sirius hardware anyone has currently hanging around. Many thanks for any help. Stu

22 years

1
0
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Senosa Directdata 640

by swebb＠cix.co.uk

I've been asked if I can find any information on the following, can anybody help? 'We acquired a number of years ago a Senosa Limited Directdata 640 Transmission Processor with Digico Teletype from a local company but it came with no information. Could you please point me in the right direction for some information about how these items work, date of production etc.' Simon Webb Curator, Museum of Computing www.museum-of-computing.org.uk Tel: 07939 582544

22 years

1
0
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First computer with real-time clock?

by mmcfadden＠cmh.edu

Caged human or graduate student doesn't count. Mike.

22 years

2
1
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a classiccmp electronics project?

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "John Honniball" <coredump(a)gifford.co.uk> > >Jay West wrote: >> Since the blank chips are nigh impossible to find anymore... is it possible >> to use something like a PIC chip on a small DIP carrier card, that could be >> plugged into an existing loader rom or microcode rom socket and function >> just like the "real thing" to the system? > >You wouldn't use a PIC chip for something like this. A PIC would be >used in a microcontroller-type application, where program-controlled >behaviour is required. To replace a ROM, we could simply use another >ROM (or PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash ROM, etc.) with a pinout adaptor. > >People are already doing this for PROMs in mobile radios. These PROMs >are in fact the same chips as one finds in a PDP-11 for booting (M9312) >and for storing the 8008 firmware in an 11/34 console card. The >PROMs in question are 82S131, 74S571 or Am27S13 types (512x8). I have >some blanks here to fix a console card, as it happens. > >Scroll down here: > > http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/legacy.html > >to the section headed "EPROM Conversion" to read about the PROM >replacements for Syntor radios. And see this page: > > http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/legacyeprom.html > >for photos of a completed adaptor. > >Do you know the chip numbers and/or specs for the ROMs you wish to >emulate? > >-- >John Honniball >coredump(a)gifford.co.uk > Hi John Most of the applications Jay is talking about require faster than 100ns someplace. Most EPROMs just are not in that range. Dwight

22 years

4
4
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Electronic Barn closing

by evan947＠yahoo.com

Found a few things besides the place in Green Brook: --- http://www.clarkreiss.com/CR_Products.htm --- http://www.edlieelectronics.com/ --- http://www.adc-ast.com/ --- http://www.servosystems.com/ --- http://www.herbach.com/ --- http://www.industrialsurplus.com/ --- http://www.vulcanscrap.com/

22 years

4
3
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Bimodal error distribution?

by charlesmorris＠direcway.com

>Since actual error distributions on crystals are bimodal, not Gaussian, you would >normally get just about that error. This sounds interesting. Any ideas why? -Charles

22 years

2
1
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Bimodal error distribution?

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: charlesmorris(a)direcway.com > >>Since actual error distributions on crystals are bimodal, not Gaussian, you would >>normally get just about that error. > >This sounds interesting. Any ideas why? > >-Charles > What Why? Bimodel is quite common for tuned circuits that are lightly loaded. Still, if one goes out on the skirts of the curves, you'll be as close to Gaussian as you'd ever want to be. Dwight

22 years

1
0
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Looking for help with V-marc 88a

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

I need the power supply for a V-marc 88a or the information about it so that I can get the computer tested that I have. Also missing the plastic cover for the printer area if anyone has an extra. Thanks in advance.

22 years

1
0
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Altair Repair

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Hi Marvin There is a front panel schematic, someplace on the net but I don't recall where. There was a CDROM set released that had it as well ( as I recall ). You should also note that any card with DRAM on it is most likely not going to work unless things are matched with the CPU card. Most early machines did different things for the refresh clocking. I know that I added a kludge to my Poly88 CPU card to get the EconoRam board to work with it, that I got from SD Sales. Other DRAM boards have different setups. Dwight >From: "Marvin Johnston" <marvin(a)rain.org> > > >"Dwight K. Elvey" wrote: > >> It sounds like the front panel isn't jamming the correct >> instructions onto the data bus ( or something on the data >> lines of the CPU is loading one of the data lines ). >> The front panel works by either jamming a JMP ( 0C3h ) instruction >> onto the CPU's bus or a NOP ( 00h ). This allows for both changing >> address and incrementing the address. The front panel can then >> override the read and write operations to the physical memory >> during the increment. > >Since this does appear to be related to the databus and getting the >correct information to the CPU, I'll start by checking to make sure the >JMP and NOP instructions are getting out on the bus. What is interesting >is that the switch settings seem to have almost no effect on anything >until I turn them all on. But the JMP and NOP buffers could well cause >some problems. Wish I could find my Jade Board quickly :). Right now, >I'm using a Bob Mullens S-100 extender card with the High, Low, Pulse >LED indicators ... may have to actually fire up the scope if I don't >find out the problem fairly soon. > >> The most common problem I've seen that causes similar effects >> is that there are several 7406 ( or similar OC buffers ) connected >> from the front panel to the data lines of the CPU. One or more >> of these devices has failed ( I suspect this is mostly do to >> some overlap timing and stressing of the parts but that is >> the way they are designed ). One other thing that I've seen >> is that the data lines going to the CPU from the front panel >> were wired upside down. This is that cable between the two. >> ( soemone put the cable together backwards ) > >This is one of the original style Altairs where the wiring between the 4 >slot motherboards and the front panel are all done with discrete wires. >Makes me wonder if the 2 MHz clock speed is too fast :). I've checked >out all the data and control lines from the front panel to the bus and >everything seems to be correct. I did notice that the Phase 2 clock >doesn't register on the Bob Mullens card, but that may be because the >pulse length is too short for the card to read (123 w/ 10 pf cap and >about 6.? K resistor.) > >Thanks! >

22 years

1
0
0 0

Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation

by mross666＠hotmail.com

Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2004 23:32:18 -0400 From: "Chandra Bajpai" <cbajpai(a)comcast.net> Subject: Xerox Alto Restoration + Emulation >Has anyone every heard of these guys.they seem to up in Canada and are >painstakingly restoring an Xerox Alto I since April 2003. <snip> That would be the Bordynuiks, Heather & John IIRC. They had a bunch of stuff on ebay a while back, bought some pdp-11/20 memory from them. Other than that my contact with them has been minimal. They own pdp8.com - they had some nice stuff, including a nice pdp-15 with drum IIRC. Think Robert Garner has that one now... The Alto restoration is one *very* impressive bit of work, they're serious hardware engineers - seem to recall they also (according to rumour) had something to do with Paul Allen and his KL... Mike http://www.corestore.org

22 years

3
2
0 0

Altair Repair

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "Marvin Johnston" <marvin(a)rain.org> > > >I fired up an Altair and found it didn't behave as it should (tested >with MITs and Polymorphic CPU cards.) Doing an "Examine" does not load >the switch settings into the program counter. Doing an "Examine Next" >seems to increment the program counter by 3. The preceeding was done >with and without a memory card. I tried the "Deposit" but had no way to >see what I was doing since the switch settings apparently weren't being >loaded. Finally, the "Deposit Next" increments the LEDs. One other >strangeness, when I connect the Data Display cable to the MITS card, the >"Stop" switch ceases to function although the "Start" seems to work >fine. > >I do have the schematics and will start to dig into it later this >morning. BUT, I was hoping to short circuit some of the troubleshooting >time if someone on the list has experienced something like this :). >Thanks! > Hi Marvin It sounds like the front panel isn't jamming the correct instructions onto the data bus ( or something on the data lines of the CPU is loading one of the data lines ). The front panel works by either jamming a JMP ( 0C3h ) instruction onto the CPU's bus or a NOP ( 00h ). This allows for both changing address and incrementing the address. The front panel can then override the read and write operations to the physical memory during the increment. The most common problem I've seen that causes similar effects is that there are several 7406 ( or similar OC buffers ) connected >from the front panel to the data lines of the CPU. One or more of these devices has failed ( I suspect this is mostly do to some overlap timing and stressing of the parts but that is the way they are designed ). One other thing that I've seen is that the data lines going to the CPU from the front panel were wired upside down. This is that cable between the two. ( soemone put the cable together backwards ) Dwight

22 years

2
1
0 0

Looking for old data information

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

Hi Steven I suspect that the MM78 is at least one of the parts that I'm looking for. I regret that the actual chips have no information on them other than the date code and the in-house part number. There are no generic part numbers on their labels. Dwight >From: steven <tosteve(a)yahoo.com> > > >I have a 1984 Rockwell Data Book with lots of ICs in >it - I will need a part number. > >Steve. > > >--- John Honniball <coredump(a)gifford.co.uk> wrote: > >> Dwight K. Elvey wrote: >> > Does anyone have any data books with the specs >> > and signals for Rockwell's 4 bit processors that >> > they made during the late 70's? These were in a >> > funny flat pack called spider chips. >> >> I have a book by Steve Money called "Microprocessor >> Data Book", and >> it lists three Rockwell 4-bit chips, the MM75, MM76 >> and MM78. They >> make up the PPS4/1 Series. Are they the ones you >> are interested in? >> >> -- >> John Honniball >> coredump(a)gifford.co.uk >> >> > > > > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! >http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail >

22 years

1
0
0 0

Looking for old data information

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "John Honniball" <coredump(a)gifford.co.uk> > >Dwight K. Elvey wrote: >>>From: "John Honniball" <coredump(a)gifford.co.uk> >>>I have a book by Steve Money called "Microprocessor Data Book", and >>>it lists three Rockwell 4-bit chips, the MM75, MM76 and MM78. They >>>make up the PPS4/1 Series. Are they the ones you are interested in? >... >> Hard to say. The chips I have all have inhouse numbers on them. >> It sure does sound like the right stuff though. The chips are >> all 42 pin spider chips. > >There's no detail about the packaging, but only one chip has 42 pins. >The MM78 (and MM78LA) is listed as "42-pin quad in line". That chip >has 2k of 8-bit ROM, 128x4 bit RAM and 31 I/O lines. Instructions >are 8 bits wide, but the ALU and memory are 4-bit. Maximum clock >frequency is 100kHz. > >-- >John Honniball >coredump(a)gifford.co.uk > Hi John That would most likely be part of what I'm looking for. "42-pin quad in line" sounded like how they might describe the spider chips. I suspect that this is what most of the IC's are on this unit. Dwight

22 years

1
0
0 0

First computer with real-time clock?

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "William Donzelli" <aw288(a)osfn.org> > >> My favorite on the opposite end, is a random bit stream produced by >> using the pulses from a geiger counter (and associated radioactive >> material) to clock a long shift register. It's well-discussed, but I'm >> not sure anyone ever produced one. > >I *think* some military crypto gear did things link this, but I am not >sure. > >I know that AT&T once marketted a true random bitstream chip using a bunch >of unstable oscillators. > >William Donzelli >aw288(a)osfn.org > > Hi It has been shown that if you loosely couple three oscillators they will produce chaotic periods. I've also seen that when a zener diode is around 7.2V it is especially noisy. This has been used to produce many types of random noise, including white and pink noise for special purposes. Most silicon transistors will zener in this region if back biased, base to emitter. I ones made a wave sound simulator using both the zener and the oscillator principles. Dwight

22 years

2
1
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