> The small town in Missouri where I live actually uses the portable punch
> card system. It's basically a portable 2' plastic desk with fold up sides
> that provide 3 side walls. There are 4 screw-in legs that make it into a
> desk. The ballot card is inserted into a slot at the top and there is a
> booklet with the candidates names on it. There are round holes in the
> booklet where you punch a stylus. The stylus looks like an oversized push
> pin. You can't see the "computer card/ballot" while you are voting.
> There is no way to know which hole in the card matches a specific
> candidate. There is also no way to know if two were punched in the same
> category. There is no way to know if you actually punched through because
> there is no indication or light that passes through the punched hole.
>
> There is a good picture of the actual Florida ballot in the article
> http://giantstep.com/ballot_usability/
>
> /---------|
> / |
> | x |
> | z |
> | y |
> | |
> | |
> | |
> | |
> ------------
> x = vote for candidate #1
> z = vote for candidate #2
> y = vote for candidate #3
>
> I think we have about 300 voters in our community. If there are more than
> 4 people in line then that's a big line. We have 3 voting locations, a
> school, a church, and a community club. Actually when we vote for school
> board, the top three vote getters are usually elected. Some positions are
> uncontested and some have no candidates. Some times there are elections
> with only 1 or 2 races.
>
> Mike
> mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu
>
There's a huge amount of Honeywell equipment in "Billion Dollar Brain".
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Sorry, forgot to specify... it's running Digital Unix 4.0b at the moment. I
might move it over to my SGI Indigo2 running IRIX.
-----Original Message-----
From: John Foust [mailto:jfoust@threedee.com]
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 6:20 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: RE: storage media
At 06:28 PM 12/15/00 +0000, Miller Scott Contr 30CS/FTI wrote:
>Speaking of VICE, in a fit of boredom I set up an AlphaStation with VNC to
>launch remote C-64 emulation sessions, sort of a C-64 ASP. You just fire
up
>your VNC client, point it at the server, and you get an emulated C-64 with
a
>bunch of old game disks. I haven't had it running since I moved over the
>summer, but if anyone's interested I can fire it up and publish the
address.
An Alphastation running which OS? And VNC doesn't handle
sound, does it? Hmm, maybe it should. And you know about
the built-in VNC web server, right? You don't even need
a client, just a browser.
Emulation ASP not only sounds like fun, but it's probably
a more meaty business model than your average dot-com.
- John
In a message dated 12/19/00 10:23:20 PM Eastern Standard Time,
foo(a)siconic.com writes:
> On Tue, 19 Dec 2000, John Foust wrote:
>
> > Probably right after they stop adding gratuitous sounds and
> > inaccurate functions to computers: dot-matrix printer sounds,
> > beeps and boops that would drive you nuts if the damn machine
> > actually made that sound all the time, slow-motion text display,
> > fonts larger than your mouse, etc.
>
> I especially like how a lot of computers in movies sound like the terrible
> Atari 2600 version of PacMan.
>
> Sellam Ismail
what's even more pathetic is that a commercial is running here advertising
best buy/compusa or something like that that shows two guys playing at a game
console in a store and it's making atari2600 pacman sounds! Its always
interesting that computers in movies and tv constantly make the same beep as
the original IBM PC does and that these same movie computers need a lot of
typing rather than just a slight movement of the wrist and a click of the
mouse button. I guess using a mouse doesnt look as interactive as madly
typing on a keyboard.
DB Young ICQ: 29427634
hurry, hurry, step right up! see the computers you used as a kid!
http://www.nothingtodo.org
Hello everyone,
Please be advised that I am intending to leave my position at Viking
Electronics on January 4th, 2001, and my last regular day of work will be
December 22nd 2000. My current work email address of
<b.layer(a)vikingelectronics.com> will expire sometime during that period with
no further notice.
Any and all future correspondence shold be directed to my home email address:
"Bill Slacking Layer" <blayer(a)qwest.net>
I'm looking forward to an extended and long-overdue rest before I take up a
new position in the coming weeks.
Thanks very much,
--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
| .:Bill Layer:. | Viking Electronics,Inc. 1531 Industrial St |
| .:Sales Technician:. | Hudson, WI 54016 USA + 715.386.8861 x210 |
| b.layer(a)vikingelectronics.com | http://www.vikingelectronics.com |
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Telecom Solutions for the 21st Century" + Powered by Slackware Linux 7.1.0
Hooray! Whatever was preventing my access to
ClassicCmp seems to have been cleared up.
There's a Commodore Pet in the first Star Trek movie. It's
in Kirk's apartment and is painted silver (you can see it
behind him when he opens the door to let McCoy in when
McCoy gives him the glasses).
The fun thing about the PDP-8/e in "Three Days of the Condor"
is that there was a computer magazine which used that as a
trivia question, but gave the answer as being a PDP-11; they
didn't print my nasty letter to the editor...
Does anyone know what is used in "Rollerball"? IIRC, there are
some prominent Sperry logos, but I don't know enough about
Sperry equipment to be able to identify it.
The secretary in "Ghostbusters" uses a DECmate II.
The video phone in "Buckaroo Bonzai" is a DEC machine; the
logo is covered up, but it's too small to be a Pro, so it's
either a Rainbow or a DECmate II.
There's a forest of Crays in "Reno Williams", although the
actual user interface is done on a PC. I presume the forest
of Crays was done with mirrors.
--
Roger Ivie
rivie(a)teraglobal.com
Not speaking for TeraGlobal Communications Corporation
I got it for someone but he already has a copy.
It's "How to Use the Nova Compueters". It covers the Nova, Nova 800, Nova
1200, and Supernova. It explains the insruction set, I/O in general,
details of specific I/O devices, interfacing and timing (with some
schematics), and installation. It's 8 1/2" by 11", softbound, rather worn
(pen marks inside, tape on binding, coffee-cup ring on cover), but the paper
and printing are in good shape.
Trades in kind (documentation, source code, book, magazine, etc.) or of
8-bit micro software happily accepted.
I'm going on vacation at the end of the week so if you don't reply soon,
expect a delay.
-- Derek
Today some folks came into the shop and inquired about a new Windows-based
PC. They've been using an Atari (which I know nothing about) for over ten
years. They use it to print flyers, manage a mailing list, do word
processing, and other minor tasks.
They "think" the system is a Mega ST 4 (corrections, please). They "know"
that they are using Calamus, Tracker, and WordPerfect on their Atari.
My questions to the group:
Is there a Windows 9x emulator for this machine so they can run their old
programs and use their old data?
If not, can Calamus, WP, and Tracker data be transferred to a Win9x machine
and accessed using current Win9x programs?
In other words, they want to retain the functionality and data of their old
Atari and at the same time move to a Win9x platform.
Any help, as always, is greatly appreciated.
Glen Goodwin
0/0
On December 19, Sellam Ismail wrote:
> > - Know who your friends are. If you find yourself constantly
> > coming up against the same person on stuff, send him or her
> > some email. Get to know the other person. Try to form some
> > sort of working relationship that facilitates communication
> > on a per-auction basis. Decide amongst yourselves who wants
> > or needs the item more. Concede once in a while. It's better
> > to have friends than enemies...and sometimes those friends
> > spot things that you may have missed.
>
> Not that I plan to turn you in (as long as you send me $100 within the
> next 2 weeks, e-mail me for my address :) but this practice is actually
> illegal.
It's illegal to (for example) send my friend "sartoris1" email saying
"hey Doug I see you're bidding on that lot of DEC processor
handbooks...I really want 'em and was gonna bid, but if you really
want 'em I'll back off.."??
Does that really constitute collusion? If so, then I believe this
is one instance in which the letter of the law doesn't faithfully
represent the spirit of the law.
-Dave McGuire
On December 19, Michael Nadeau wrote:
> The second-highest bidder has also placed large bids on other items,
> including the Apple I ($18,475), 20th anniversary Mac ($1,925), and a MIB
FYI, that 20th anniversary mac price isn't too far out of line. Most
of them go for $1500-1800. Most of them sold on eBay come with G3
upgrade boards and large drives preinstalled, and so-equipped they
make perhaps the best kitchen table web browsing machine I've ever
used.
-Dave McGuire
From: Claude <claudew(a)sprint.ca>
>The owner told me the Robin board was modified to use 1M drives (?).
>There are a couple ou wire jumpers on the Robin board. Also got some
>disks, Robin schematics, a few CP/M manuals...
1m???? maybe two sided 8". the best you can do with it is 800k using
80tr/2sided DD.
>2 BNC connectors on the Robin board. Whats coming outta there? video? on
>both? composite?
Those are on the VT100 board. Video in and video out, VT100 can sync to
external video. Makes a fair char gen.
>What drives should I be using to boot the Robin? The RX50-AAs or the
>Shugarts 400L?
SA400s but if he modded the boot roms then anything goes.
>I see 2 DB25 ports on the Robin board and a larger (DBxx) on the VT100
>board, anything special?
larger DB (37 pins) is on the VT180 card and is the FDC connector.
The VT180 is the 54-15152 board { z80, 64k dram, 4 8251s, 1793}.
>DIP switches on VT100...whats the deal there?
config for AVO, serial port (DTR/DTC if memory serves).
>Anything else I should look out for?
>
>Anybody know where VT180 info is available...I would like to see the
>guts of one...
the Vt180 design is near textbook z80 without zilog peripherals.
I have a fair amount but,not scanned. I've hacked the board hard. I
bought
a box of Vt180 cards (about 20 of them) and mods I've worked include:
Standalone (no VT100 required)
2 sided
Z80 @6mhz
Modded bios for 782k on 3.5" floppy
IDE interface hacks
CP/M in ROM
Extended ROMs and paged ram
I've used it as a stand alone printerbuffer.
Allison
Nope, I have a Pro 325 in my garage, and it's the same size case as a
Rainbow or Pro 350/380...
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Does anyone here who can afford shipping of three boxes weighing 7 pounds,
33 pounds, and 68 pounds respectively from zip code 98039 want a complete
TRS-80 Model 4P (this is the portable version) with manuals and
everything?
If you do, please contact me directly. Serious inquiries only please.
This is the fourth time I've advertise for this system trying to find it a
new home. Someone has GOT to want this!
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
Regarding a plotter as a router.
If I remember correctly from my plotter software days, you can issue a
command that slows the pen movements down. I think you can define the
acceleration rate. Alternatively you can postprocessor the plotter file to
find any large plotter movements and recode them as a series of smaller
movements. I have actually hand typed/edited plotter commands to correct a
simple error in the plot file instead of reloading the drawing into the CAD
system and then replotting.
I'll look at my cheat sheet of HP plotter commands tonight.
Mike
mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu
I'm looking through some old issue sof Your computer, and in the october '87
issue, the cover story is Olivetti's attempt at a home PC, the PC1.
Why someone would like to have an IBM compatible at home is beyond me, but
look at the design! It's difficult to describe, but very 80s, very Italian.
Extremely compact, CPU and keyboard integrated into a home micro-ish console,
with 3,5" drives protruding from the top of the keyboard. Runs on a NEC V40
and has got a CGA adapter. Apparently the sound is "hi-fi".
But look at the design! Drool.
Was this radical design ever released, though? Has anyone got a PC1?
--
En ligne avec Thor 2.6.
/"\
\ / ASCII Ribbon
X Campaign Against
/ \ HTML Mail!
I hate it when I do this.
So I started playing around with the 11/34 and discover that 2 bits aren't
being set on the words I try to load into memory.
I guess it is perhaps bad memory, I don't have a way to test it other than
to load in a program from the front panel, so I pull the memory and replace
it with 64KW that are known to be good. Now it shows the top 4 bits as
being stuck on. I pull the memory, blow out the connectors, look for loose
dirt etc that I've missed, reseat the memory but no joy. Everything else
seems to be working so the next suspect is the KY-11B, if it had lost a
buffer it could exhibit this behaviour. I pull the KY-11B and check it out,
it looks ok so I clean out the connectors where it is seated and
re-install. No joy, 4 bits stuck.
Now I'm really irritated, so I take the KY11B from my working 11/34 and
replace it, great all the bits work. Ok so I've got a KY11B to fix. Not too
much of a problem since it is pretty simple. I put back the original memory
and now I get BUS ERR whenever I try to touch memory. Ok, figure the memory
board was bad and put the good board back in so that I can work on the RL11
but wait, now it also gives me a BUS ERR indication. I check to make sure I
haven't dislodged any of the stubby grant cards, they are fine, pull the
terminator and move it up to the end of the first back plane. Still I get
the BUS ERR indication. ARGH!
--Chuck
The RX02 has afair 77 tracks, 26 sectors at 256 bytes giving 512512 bytes.
In RSX11M sources at some places an RX03 is mentioned at double RX02
capacity. This was never sold by DEC. But an 1 Mb 8" floppy is very much
possible.
Wim
----------
> From: ajp166 <ajp166(a)bellatlantic.net>
> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: VT180/Robin system help needed
> Date: Monday, December 18, 2000 8:06 PM
>
> From: Claude <claudew(a)sprint.ca>
> >The owner told me the Robin board was modified to use 1M drives (?).
> >There are a couple ou wire jumpers on the Robin board. Also got some
> >disks, Robin schematics, a few CP/M manuals...
>
>
> 1m???? maybe two sided 8". the best you can do with it is 800k using
> 80tr/2sided DD.
>
> >2 BNC connectors on the Robin board. Whats coming outta there? video? on
> >both? composite?
>
>
> Those are on the VT100 board. Video in and video out, VT100 can sync to
> external video. Makes a fair char gen.
>
> >What drives should I be using to boot the Robin? The RX50-AAs or the
> >Shugarts 400L?
>
>
> SA400s but if he modded the boot roms then anything goes.
>
> >I see 2 DB25 ports on the Robin board and a larger (DBxx) on the VT100
> >board, anything special?
>
>
> larger DB (37 pins) is on the VT180 card and is the FDC connector.
> The VT180 is the 54-15152 board { z80, 64k dram, 4 8251s, 1793}.
>
> >DIP switches on VT100...whats the deal there?
>
>
> config for AVO, serial port (DTR/DTC if memory serves).
>
> >Anything else I should look out for?
> >
> >Anybody know where VT180 info is available...I would like to see the
> >guts of one...
>
>
> the Vt180 design is near textbook z80 without zilog peripherals.
>
> I have a fair amount but,not scanned. I've hacked the board hard. I
> bought
> a box of Vt180 cards (about 20 of them) and mods I've worked include:
>
> Standalone (no VT100 required)
> 2 sided
> Z80 @6mhz
> Modded bios for 782k on 3.5" floppy
> IDE interface hacks
> CP/M in ROM
> Extended ROMs and paged ram
>
> I've used it as a stand alone printerbuffer.
>
> Allison
>
re: From: Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk
Date: 09/03/99-07:23:55 AM Z
>I like the idea of a router in the pen part of a plotter - but it's a lot
of
>mass for the pen carriage to move around!
>
>Philip.
Am working on a router table based on the HP 7225A single pen 8 1/2"x11"
flatbed plotter. To make architectural models out of foam etc.
Built an aluminum gantry-crane type arrangement that supports a Dremel tool.
Tried to keep mass and friction low as possible. Connected it to the plotter
with a pantograph arrangement.
The plotter will drive the dremel tool well at slow speed. HOWEVER, when
the plotter gets the message "PU" pen up, it RACES to the next x,y
coordinate. This quick movement throws calibration and accuracy off.
The other problem is printing from a Windows CAD program to an old plotter
like this.
Gary
Gary M. Wheeler, AIA
home page: http://g.wheeler.home.att.net
> >I just spec'd a new fileserver for our office:
> >
> > Dell PowerEdge 2400
> > Dual hot-swap power supplies
> > 6-bay hot-swappable drives
> > RAID 1 & 5
> > 512MB ECC SDRAM
>
> Those run about $500 these days right?
>
> OT, but has anybody else been surprized at how fast the current generation
> of processors are falling in price? 1.4 Ghz P4 has gone in the last couple
> weeks from about $1400 to under $700.
The price of that CPU *should* fall fast- a 1.2GHz P-II is faster...
-dq
>Subject: THE TWELVE RECOUNTS OF CHRISTMAS
>
>THE TWELVE RECOUNTS OF CHRISTMAS
>
>On the first recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...a disputed presidency.
>
>On the second recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...two campaign spins, and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the third recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...three pregnant chads, two campaign spins, and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the fourth recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...four contested ballots, three pregnant chads, two campaign spins,
> and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the fifth recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...five court filings! Four contested ballots, three pregnant chads,
> two campaign spins, and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the sixth recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...six disenfranchised voters, five... court filings!
> Four contested ballots, three pregnant chads, two campaign spins,
> and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the seventh recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...seven politicians babbling, six disenfranchised voters,
> five court filings! Four contested ballots, three pregnant chads,
> two campaign spins, and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the eighth recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...eight spokesmen whining, seven politicians babbling, six
>disenfranchised voters, five court filings! Four contested ballots,
> three pregnant chads, two campaign spins, and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the ninth recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...nine reporters guessing, eight spokesmen whining,
> seven politicians babbling, six disenfranchised voters,
> five court filings! Four contested ballots, three pregnant chads,
> two campaign spins, and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the tenth recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...ten legal rulings,nine reporters guessing, eight spokesmen whining,
>seven politicians babbling, six disenfranchised voters, five court
>filings! Four contested ballots, three pregnant chads, two campaign
>spins, and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the eleventh recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...eleven judges judging, ten legal rulings, nine reporters guessing,
>eight spokesmen whining, seven politicians babbling,
> six disenfranchised voters, five court filings! Four contested ballots,
>three pregnant chads, two campaign spins, and a disputed presidency.
>
>On the twelfth recount of Christmas my country gave to me
> ...twelve lawyers lying, eleven judges judging, ten legal rulings,
> nine reporters guessing, eight spokesmen whining, seven politicians
>babbling, six disenfranchised voters, five court filings!
> Four contested ballots, three pregnant chads, two campaign spins, and...a
>disputed presidency.
>
At 03:40 PM 12/18/00 -0500, you wrote:
>> > that ran the original DIA baggage system...
>>
>> Could it be that you have a machine even more
>> despised than the Florida Vote-O-Matic booths
>> with the special decis-E-rase buffer pads...
>> ...Uuuh forget it.
>>
>> John A.
>> Would like to get my hands on
>> one of those and a steam roller.
>
>No, noooo! Have you forgot the cardinal rule of
>computing- gigo (garbage in, garbage out)?
>
>These may be the last of the DataProducts card
>readers! Don't put the blame on them, when it
>was those garbage pre-punched cards that were
>to blame!
>
>For any of you who are in Florida, when, early next
>year (I'd guess), they outlaw the Vote-A-Matic, I'd
>like to get one of these dear old friends.
Hmmm, I haven't thought of it but I guess they'll be an instant
collectible. I'll have to start watching for them at the auctions.
Joe
Hmm, the recent discussion about the "shoot the other node in the head" or
whatever reminds me of the so-called "fault-tolerant" 486 machines I have
that ran the original DIA baggage system... Hehehehe... They make very
lovely end tables!
Will J
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>From: "John Allain" <John.Allain(a)donnelley.infousa.com>
>Subject: RE: RL01/RL02
>> The RL01/02 pocket service guide is still avalable
>> from Compaq, $42, http://www.digital.com/dassearch.html,
>> enter rl01
>
>r101 entry Did Not work.
>
Is it RL01, not R101. (either case works)
>From: Paul Williams <flo(a)rdel.co.uk>
>Subject: Re: RL01/RL02
>
>This was also a friend's experience when attempting to order the VT100
>User Guide. I wish they'd remove these items from their price list,
>because it would make me feel happier about scanning them.
>
Thats annoying, I know that before Compaq when I ordered stuff they
didn't have it did leave the price list some time later. I was also assuming
that when people can't buy them they would go away so I can put them online.
David Gesswein
http://www.pdp8.net/ -- Old computers with blinkenlights
It was "blue tag" day at the thrift store - 50% off. I found this black box
with a 9" crt, telephone and floppy drive. There was a bit of thermal fax
paper hanging out the back and the top lifted off to reveal a paper input
hopper. The whole thing seems to be a piece of office equipment, c. 1990,
consisting of an integrated phone, fax and 8086-based PC.
Locating and removing the kilogram of metric screws reveals a 40-pin drive
interface (with a Fuji FK311X-50R drive attached), a 720K Sony floppy, a bunch
of 64K DRAM zips, an externally accessible 27C1024 EPROM and the general sorts
of things one finds in an 80x6-based box.
Does anyone have any information on this guy? Web searching for keywords
like Sanyo and Navigator comes up with *lots* of hits, but none useful.
One problem with this unit - the crt has a collapsed display - all the video
signal is shown one pixel tall. I know it's likely to be a very simple fix,
but I'm not an awesome TV repair dude. The interface between the CRT and the
CPU is a single, proprietary cable. Other than the lack of video, the box
seems to boot. The hard disk makes proper sorts of noises and the caps lock,
scroll lock and num lock keys all make the lights go on and off.
Thanks for any hints,
-ethan
=====
Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to
vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com
The original webpage address is still going away. The
permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/
See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/
Hi
I know a lot of people collect Digital stuff on here. But I have no idea
of how rare or un-rare this is:
This will most likely go into garbage soon - at next major bi-monthly
cleanup.
I got a DEC LA100 logic board in a lot of DEC Robin stuff. I have no use
for this LA100 board. No idea if it works. Looks complete and in good
shape, no apparent damage or missing parts. Tags on eproms had fallen
of. Perhaps EPROM data is now corrupt.
I also have a DEC RRD42-AA (SCSI) CdroM drive. Dont know if it works.
Not dead when power applied. Takes and ejects caddy/cd. It was with some
parts I got from someone with a VAX8350...perhaps that was used with it
(?) I had forgotten about this...pretty sure this is a 1X unit. Needs a
caddy.
Free or will accept anything you wanna throw out that might interest me
in return.
Shpping will be from Montreal Canada. Expect maybe $5US-$10US for
shipping costs.
I have been posting quite a bit of stuff for free/trade lately. I try to
post anything "interesting" and in great shape before I throw out.
Sometimes perhaps it's not too interesting. If it's getting to some
people - tell me.
Claude
The Canuk Computer Collector
(It's cold up here now...time to hide in basement and restore some
computers...)
Hi
Picked up 2 boxes full of VT180 stuff from a ex Digital employee.
Got a keyboard, Vt100 and robin board, small "backplane" board, 2
Shuggart 400L Digital branded drives and 4 RX50-AA drives. Also got a
VT100 keyboard and a VT100 power supply and several cables. Seems
everything is there except VT100 case/crt...could always build this in
some full/half tower AT PC case...still I will hunt for a VT100...this
is for collecting and not using really...
The owner told me the Robin board was modified to use 1M drives (?).
There are a couple ou wire jumpers on the Robin board. Also got some
disks, Robin schematics, a few CP/M manuals...
Questions:(I have not looked at the schematics yet......)
2 BNC connectors on the Robin board. Whats coming outta there? video? on
both? composite?
What drives should I be using to boot the Robin? The RX50-AAs or the
Shugarts 400L?
I see 2 DB25 ports on the Robin board and a larger (DBxx) on the VT100
board, anything special?
DIP switches on VT100...whats the deal there?
Anything else I should look out for?
Anybody know where VT180 info is available...I would like to see the
guts of one...
Thanks for the Help again
Claude
The Canuk Computer Collector
Does anyone out there have a copy of GSOS 4.02 in Mac Diskcopy format?
This is for us losers who don't have any fancy Rom upgrades of a decent
amount of Ram. As far as I can tell is isn't available on the internet.
Apple, of course, has the lastest system software available but that does'nt
do people like me much good. I'd really like to see GUI on my GS rather than
just Prodos. If you can help let me know. Thanks all.
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
The Microcoupler is just the phone line interface, of a two part
modem. That same coupler was used on the S-100 board version modem
and the Apple II board modem. Seems to me the telephone company
required a separate DAA (data acquisition something_or_other?)
to interface to ''their'' phone lines. Remember all that crap
about we couldn't just hook things up - we might ''damage''
telephone company property? Turns out all we really damaged was
their profits!
Bill Hemmings
Tucson, AZ
Semiconductor storage solution
What you really need to do is place each semiconductor chip in a individual
case lined with black foam with a barcode on the outside of the case. You
then have a database that knows which barcode is which chip. You have a
huge bin filled with bar-coded cases and a robot arm that picks up each case
examines the barcode and then if it's not the correct one drops the case
into another huge bin. When the robot is through sorting the bin then you
have two pieces of information the, identify of all of your chips and an
inventory.
We really should think of elegant computer solutions for problems that deal
with computers instead of simple mechanical ones. This solution would
involve robots, computer vision, barcodes, scanning and databases. You
could create an entire industry to solve a simple problem, start a company,
have a IPO, make millions, laugh all the way to the bank.
That's what computers are for to keep track of other computers.
Mike :)
PS I'm just kidding!!
mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu
> > that ran the original DIA baggage system...
>
> Could it be that you have a machine even more
> despised than the Florida Vote-O-Matic booths
> with the special decis-E-rase buffer pads...
> ...Uuuh forget it.
>
> John A.
> Would like to get my hands on
> one of those and a steam roller.
No, noooo! Have you forgot the cardinal rule of
computing- gigo (garbage in, garbage out)?
These may be the last of the DataProducts card
readers! Don't put the blame on them, when it
was those garbage pre-punched cards that were
to blame!
For any of you who are in Florida, when, early next
year (I'd guess), they outlaw the Vote-A-Matic, I'd
like to get one of these dear old friends.
OTOH, if anyone has one already, especially one of the
models with the Pr1me colors, let me know, maybe we
can work out some kind of deal.
Regards,
-dq
I have seen several articles on why companies are choosing mainframes as
servers for PC networks.
1. Scalability If you need a PC based server for every 100 PC's and a
system administrator for each server and you have 2000 PC's then you need 20
system administrators, also 20 backups, also 20 sets of passwords,
permissions and rights lists. How do you keep the systems synchronized and
running. Logistics nightmare.
2. Predictability. You can buy a "mainframe" from IBM and know what costs,
licenses, and hardware will cost. Your software probably won't need an
infinite number of patches to run. You can buy known network and backup
solutions.
3. Stable OS. The operating system is a known quantity with predictable
costs to support. You can hire staff that have mainframe experience.
4. IBM actually is selling more "mainframe" hardware than ever before.
Enough with the big iron.
Mike
mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu
I've seen a couple of voteomatic machines (suitcase variant) on eBay... :-)
-----Original Message-----
From: John Allain [mailto:John.Allain@donnelley.infousa.com]
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2000 3:05 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: RE: Fault-tolerant computers (supposedly)
> that ran the original DIA baggage system...
Could it be that you have a machine even more
despised than the Florida Vote-O-Matic booths
with the special decis-E-rase buffer pads...
...Uuuh forget it.
John A.
Would like to get my hands on
one of those and a steam roller.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Iggy Drougge [mailto:optimus@canit.se]
>Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2000 4:35 PM
>To: Lawrence Walker
>Subject: Re: Atari questions from non-Atari person
>Lawrence Walker skrev:
>> Whoa, what magazines pray tell. I thought all of the ST zines had
>>folded their cards or were unfulfilled launches.
>The only serious ST print mag I know of which is still published is ST
>Computer/Atari inside of Germany. However, it went subscription-only last
>year, so I can't buy the occasional issue at Interpress anymore. =(
Antic, a mag devoted to Atari 8-bitters, went out in '91 (I think), but
check out the Digital Antic Project page at http://www.atarimagazines.com/.
They've scanned and archived articles from most of magazine's run and offer
a complete index. A nice resource. If someone's done something similar for
the early ST, I'd like to know about it.
Mark
==============================
Mark Price, Library Computer Specialist
Washington County Cooperative Library Services
e-mail: markp(a)wccls.lib.or.us
voice: 503-846-3230
fax: 503-846-3220
Somewhere I have the RL01 printset, and also the RLV11 (or is it 12?)
printset... I also have 3 M8061's, one RL11, and at least one of the other
qbus interfaces, should anyone need one.
Will J
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>From: Jeffrey l Kaneko <jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com>
>I hope some day, maybe some kind person will do the same
>for the RL02.
>
I put up the RL01/02 user guide, search on RL01 or RL02 at
http://www.pdp8.net/pdp8cgi/query_docs/query.pl
sorry, don't have printset/maintenance manual.
The RL01/02 pocket service guide is still avalable from Compaq, $42,
http://www.digital.com/dassearch.html, enter rl01
On Sun, 17 Dec 2000 12:50:34 -0500 David Gesswein <djg(a)drs-esg.com>
writes:
> >From: Jeffrey l Kaneko <jeff.kaneko(a)juno.com>
> >I hope some day, maybe some kind person will do the same
> >for the RL02.
> >
> I put up the RL01/02 user guide, search on RL01 or RL02 at
> http://www.pdp8.net/pdp8cgi/query_docs/query.pl
> sorry, don't have printset/maintenance manual.
Wow, thanks David! This is a *very* interesting document, and
as per usual, has lots of useful information . . .
Thanks again!
Jeff
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
Umm, I threw a couple of them away last year, no particularly interesting
parts inside them either..
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
This link has just appeared in slashdot. I guess it deserves a
closer look:
http://www.asw.cz/~kubecj/aczhwho.htm
Note the last photo... :-)
Cheers,
--
*** Rodrigo Martins de Matos Ventura <yoda(a)isr.ist.utl.pt>
*** Web page: http://www.isr.ist.utl.pt/~yoda
*** Teaching Assistant and PhD Student at ISR:
*** Instituto de Sistemas e Robotica, Polo de Lisboa
*** Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa, PORTUGAL
*** PGP fingerprint = 0119 AD13 9EEE 264A 3F10 31D3 89B3 C6C4 60C6 4585
> Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 22:40:07 -0500
> From: Joe <rigdonj(a)intellistar.net>
> Subject: Re: TV Tuner cards (on topic, honest :)
>
> Adrian,
>
> I had* a couple of Zydacron Z-220 CODEC Video Conferencing
> cards that
> handled both NTSC and PAL. They didn't have TV tuners so I
> don't know if
They wouldn't have done then - I need something that can tune to PAL-I
channel 36 and whatever channel the NTSC machines poke out :)
> Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 06:51:28 +0000
> From: Jim Arnott <jrasite(a)eoni.com>
> Subject: Virus/worm?
>
> This morning I received a post to classiccmp from
> 'null(a)domain2.bigpond.com' containing an executable entitled
> 'CAHFPJCA.EXE'. I run a Mac, so it's no threat to me, but folks
> running the 90% solution might want to be careful...
Digest mode's great - I just got a load of MIME that I couldn't have run
even if I wanted to :)
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 17:19:12 -0000
> From: Miller Scott Contr 30CS/FTI <Scott.Miller(a)vandenberg.af.mil>
> Subject: RE: TV Tuner cards (on topic, honest :)
>
> I just picked up a Pinnacle Systems Studio PCTVpro at Office
> Depot for about
> $80. It does NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. Or at least it says it
> does... I don't
> have anything besides NTSC to test it with.
That's odd. I'm sure I looked at the PCTV Pro over here and it didn't
mention NTSC.....have to check again at lunchtime - there's a PC World 5
minutes from here.
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 15 Dec 00 19:09:40 +0100
> From: "Iggy Drougge" <optimus(a)canit.se>
> Subject: Re: TV cards/WOZ disks
>
> Adrian Graham skrev:
>
> >It's the official C= D23 to red/white/yellow RCA type
> connectors to plug
> >into a 1084 monitor or any CVBS supporting monitor like the
> Philips CM8833.
>
> It would be rather silly venture to plug a composite signal
> into a 1084 or an
> 8833. Granted, it would certainly work (I do that, for
> technical reasons), but
> these monitors will happily accept RGB, and should be fed accordi
Not when you haven't got an RGB cable and only have the proper CVBS one
complete with stereo audio :) I've only ever ran Amigas on either an old DEC
Rainbow colour monitor (RGB Sync on green) or a 1084ST (CVBS).
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: 16 Dec 00 00:23:00 +0100
> From: "Iggy Drougge" <optimus(a)canit.se>
> Subject: Olivetti PC1
>
> Extremely compact, CPU and keyboard integrated into a home
> micro-ish console,
> with 3,5" drives protruding from the top of the keyboard.
> Runs on a NEC V40
> and has got a CGA adapter. Apparently the sound is "hi-fi".
> But look at the design! Drool.
>
> Was this radical design ever released, though? Has anyone got a PC1?
Wot, the Olivetti Prodest PC1? Ho yus. Definitely released and if I'd had my
wits about me a few weeks ago I could've had both single and dual floppy
versions, one complete with monitor, for 5 or 10 of your english pounds.
Unfortunately I'd run out of both time and money!
cheers!
Bill Sudbrink said:
> > It got me thinking though about other old computers that I've
> > seen in movies recently. Here's what I can remember so far.
> >
> > Televideo TS-802 -Pretty in Pink
> > AT&T 6300 -Secret to My Success
> > IMSAI -Wargames
>
> Real Genius - HP-150
And I'd like to add an analog to the list:
"When Worlds Collide"(1951) - the GE Differential Analyzer at UCLA
http://avserver.lib.utmem.edu/HSLBC/Instruction/Courses/LBC721/Lecture_2_In…
(the Quicktime movie on this page is 7137K)
http://avserver.lib.utmem.edu/HSLBC/Instruction/Courses/LBC721/Lecture_2_In…
(Just one frame from the movie)
--Doug
=========================================
Doug Coward
Press Start Inc.
Sunnyvale,CA
=========================================
Back! I'm back. Everyone relax. ;-)
Some quick news bits in case not everyone's caught up. NetBSD 1.5 is out,
and I've managed to burn a bootable CD-R for it for VAX platforms. I'm also
working with another fellow to get a tape-bootable image going for them. My
next attempts will be at bootable CD's for Alpha, ARC, and possibly others.
For those of you that are into both ham radio and old computers, I've
rescued an AEA PAKRATT-64 from the local thrift store. This beastie was
used in conjunction with the Commodore-64 systems to provide amateur packet
communications. Maybe it's usable for RTTY as well? Anyway, I'll be putting
the thing up on E-pay as soon as I clean it up and do some basic checks on it.
It's not classic, per se, but I have a new laptop that I've loaded down
with engineering and reference apps. It'll be, in essence, my "field guide"
on steroids.
The only other thing I can think of at the moment is that, for some reason
as yet unknown to my conscious mind, I've developed a serious interest in
the former Bell System. As a result, I've started collecting memorabilia in
the form of tools, phones (back to the mid-70's or so... anything earlier
doesn't really thrill me), decals, a Bell hard hat, and especially the old
BSP's (Bell System Practices) and other technical docs.
Soooooo.... if any of you happen to come across Bell System/Western
Electric/phone stuff in your travels to recover computer hardware, I would
appreciate at least knowing about it. There may be something I want! ;-)
Conversely, if someone comes across, say, a Bell dataset or something else
that you need details on, let me know. I may have the BSP that covers it. I
can scan it and turn it into a .PDF if need be.
Thanks much, keep the peace(es), and have a terrific holiday.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com // E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio: WD6EOS since Dec. '77 (Extra class as of June-2K)
"I'll get a life when someone demonstrates to me that it would be
superior to what I have now..." (Gym Z. Quirk, aka Taki Kogoma).
--- Tony Duell <ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > One problem with this unit - the crt has a collapsed display - all the
> video
>
> This is various called 'vertical collapse', 'frame collapse' and 'field
> collapse'. This might give you some keywords to search for.
Great.
> > signal is shown one pixel tall.
>
> It is most likely a simple fix -- the vertical section of most TVs and
> monitors is the simplest part of the set. I am assuming this is a
> monochrome monitor.
Yes. Monochrome.
The other "problem" with this unit is operator error - I got the manufacturer
wrong. It's a Cannon model S31118, "Facsimile Transciever Unit".
Thanks for the pointers, Tony.
-ethan
=====
Even though my old e-mail address is no longer going to
vanish, please note my new public address: erd(a)iname.com
The original webpage address is still going away. The
permanent home is: http://penguincentral.com/
See http://ohio.voyager.net/ for details.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/
-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail <foo(a)siconic.com>
To: ClassCompList <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Date: Sunday, December 17, 2000 2:26 PM
Subject: Re: Semicon storage
>On Sun, 17 Dec 2000, Richard A. Cini wrote:
>
>> So, I realize that there's a problem here. I need to number the
>> tubes and re-sort the chips. But, while I'm going throught this I
>> wanted to get some ideas for "a better way." Does anyone use a formal
>> inventory system? How do you track the tubes and chips?
>
>So unless you really worry about static, get one of those multi-drawer
>storage cabinets that has like 10 rows of like 8 little drawers each,
>usually used to hold screws or whatnot.
>
>That way you can just label the front of each drawer with what IC it
>holds.
I've learned over 30 years that antistatic meaures even for TTL is
a good idea. However it was about 18 years ago it was proven to me
that mild ESD hits to even TTL degrades them.
I line the bins with black foam or Al foil.
Allison
From: Michael Passer <mwp(a)acm.org>
>> I do it all the time. The VT180 card can be modded for standalone.
>> It requires power, connectors and a simple source of reset.
>>
>> Allison
>
>Cool! I had no idea that's all that was drawn from the VT-100.
Yes basically the VT100 is used for the terminal and power.
>So the keyboard and display talk over the serial bus to the 180
>board as a terminal?
No bus. There are 4 serial ports on the VT180 card, one for the VT100
as console and the other three as Printer, AUX and terminal. The
terminal
port allows setting it as a plalin terminal.
>I always thought that the VT-180 board
>took over the keyboard and display rather than using the VT-100
>as a terminal.
Thank about that again, it does. However the Vt180 board allows for a
pass through mode so you can still have a vanilla VT100.
The VT180 only expects the terminal to respond to ESC[5n as that
gives a status (vt100 selftest status) back. Fake the response and
anything works.
Allison
Hello, all:
I'm wrestling with a chip storage problem and wanted to get ideas from
others as to how to store and track ICs in my "stock".
Right now, I have ICs of various types stored in a mixture of anti-static
tubes and black foam. Unfortunately, it's impossible to find any particular
chip because most of them are mixed-up and the tubes aren't identified.
So, I realize that there's a problem here. I need to number the tubes and
re-sort the chips. But, while I'm going throught this I wanted to get some
ideas for "a better way." Does anyone use a formal inventory system? How do
you track the tubes and chips?
Rich
Rich Cini
ClubWin! Group 1
Collector of Classic Computers
Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/
/*****************************************/
From: Michael Passer <passerm(a)umkc.edu>
>Unfortunately, a compatible won't work with the Robin upgrade; it
consists
>of boards that are installed in the VT-100 cabinet itself.
>
>--Mike
I do it all the time. The VT180 card can be modded for standalone.
It requires power, connectors and a simple source of reset.
Allison
On Dec 16, 1:00, Chuck McManis wrote:
> At 08:08 AM 12/16/00 +0000, you wrote:
> >You did remember to put the pack cover back in the drive, yes?
>
> After the first attempt, yes :-) The "latch" on the top isn't too springy
> so I'm wondering if the safety isn't being released. I'm going to have to
> look at that mechanism a bit more closely to find out.
:-) I had one like that -- it took a lot of fiddling to get it right.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
I wrote down the inventory of modules in the 11/34 and its pretty standard:
CPU + FP11
128KW MOS Memory
Programmers Console
9312 Boot/terminator
RL02 interface
SLU+Realtime clock interface
DR11-C interface (DMA capable?)
9302 "far end" terminator.
Unlike my first one this has sort of a bent screen unit above the
programmers console rather than the black dress panel. (looks like it got
impacted at some point). Further it has the FP11 but doesn't say PDP 11/34a
on the front as the older ones used to, presumably this became "standard"
at some point.
I of course will take a functional CPU over a "pretty" box any time :-)
All in all a very nice box.
--Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: Claude <claudew(a)sprint.ca>
>I have been offered the components for a Dec "Robin" system. Person says
>he has everything except the VT-100...
A DEC VT180 (Aka Robin) without VT100 is just a disk box, a VT180 board
and the cables and connectors to insert it in vt100.
What it is is a Z80 /64k board with 4 serial ports and FDC. You basic
CP/M
engine. What it needs to work, power, interface to terminal, reset from
vt100.
The VT100 supplies power, reset and the interface between the two.
That board can be made to run standalone with any standard DEC tube or
similar.
As CP/M systems go it was a decent one. It's weaknesses were, only
single sided drives and bios was for DD 40 tracks (172k per drive). The
upside
was it was a soild machine and fast {for the time} at 4mhz.
>Anybody wanna speculate what are my chances of finding a clean no screen
>burn VT100 terminal/keyboard these days...and in Canada...???
Good possibility.
Allison
Hi
I have been offered the components for a Dec "Robin" system. Person says
he has everything except the VT-100...
Anybody wanna speculate what are my chances of finding a clean no screen
burn VT100 terminal/keyboard these days...and in Canada...???
Thanks
Claude
Personally, I consider all VAXen minicomputers, except for the 9000's, which
I definetly agree are mainframes (use MCM technology, can be serviced
without bringing down the whole system, etc.). But then again, I'd call just
about any dedicated UNIX box (aka "workstation") a minicomputer too... I
personally make the distinctions based not so much on physical size, but on
the architecture, software, etc. For example, the smallest VAX is still a
minicomputer to me because it uses a bus used only by DEC, a DEC processor,
and runs a DEC-created operating system (I'm only talking about the OS that
it was originally meant to run, please don't think I'm trying to leave out
UNIX, BSD, or Idris, to name a few).
Will J
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
UNIX dates and 2038.
I'm willing to bet that there will be people looking at atmospheric,
rainfall, snow cover, and other long term datasets that were created long
ago :), 40 years, and some of there data formats are probably platform
dependent. There are people still running IBM emulators that run old
emulator code that runs old code that probably controls missiles and planes.
The problem is not going away, everybody is hoping not to spend money for
data their company will probably loose or discard before 2038.
It all comes down to a question of self interest. Most company managers
plan not to be in business in 20 years and their compensation is tied to
this quarter.
1. If I were an astute computer manager I would convince my company
that it was actually intelligent to outsource all my computing and problems
and then quit before the ramifications are known.
2. I would then go to work for somebody else and convince them to
insource the computing because of security risks associated by outsourcing.
3. I would then quit and go to work as a consultant and lecturer on the
perils and pitfalls of computing.
4. I would then write a book on the theoretically best system, which is
of course doesn't exist.
5. Finally I would write a book on my life in the golden age of
computing.
I know that I will have computers in 2038 that I have now.
Mike
mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu
On Dec 16, 16:50, Mike Kenzie wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pete Turnbull" <pete(a)dunnington.u-net.com>
> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 8:27 PM
> Subject: Re: The debate on what per say is a mini...
>
> > In the end, we found it better to switch one off.
> > Moral: there is such a thing as overkill, and such a thing as
> > over-engineering.
> The second machine when it detected trouble with the primary
> would power off the first machine (Shoot The Other Node In
> The Head). It was quit impressive but had me thinking of
> VMS and MVS and wishing everyone would talk to each other
> instead of reinventing the wheel.
Yes, I must admit when we sat down to discuss the supposedly-failsafe
servers at a meeting, I couldn't help thinking "VAX" and "cluster".
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Minicomputers = a class of computers now referred to as "midrange", except
that people tend to class some random Intel-based garbage in there sometimes
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Greetings,
Today I collected a Kaypro-4 that I notice is different from my
present Kaypro-4. If it makes any difference, there's a rounf "84"
sticker following Kaypro-4... is this a Kaypro-4 "84", whatever that
is? In addition to two serial, and one parallel, ports, has a reset
button and a fan in the back panel. Haven't time to open it up and
look inside yet, but I wonder what other differences I'll discover -
>from what I could quickly tell with a flashlight, it didn't appear too
unusual. Alas, it didn't come with floppies.
Other finds: an Apple Macintosn LC with an RGB monitor and an IBM PC
Aptiva model S15 (I know, this doesn't qualify as a classic... I think
it was made in 1994), which I bought primarily since the price was
lower than the value of the Soundblaster-16 board, WD Caviar 2700 hard
drive and 4x CD-ROM. Didn't determine the CPU in it yet, as the silicone
between the IC and heat-sink was covering it up.
--
Copyright (C) 2000 R. D. Davis "The best way to gain a true understanding of
All Rights Reserved Wile E. Coyote on the Roadrunner cartoons is to
rdd(a)perqlogic.com 410-744-4900 fly, head-first, off a horse into something like
http://www.perqlogic.com/rdd a fence or a tree; trust me, this works." --RDD
I got another PDP-11/34 today, this one is a bit more modern but with less
stuff in it. It has an RL11 interface connected to an RL02 drive.
It has the newer switching PSU (vs the original boat anchor PSU) and I
powered it up with some SLU's installed for load. It came up fine and all
the voltages are spot on.
I put all the cards back in and confirmed I could start and stop the CPU
>from the control panel. However I don't know enough about operating the
11/34's operator panel to be able to input a program. CNTRL/BOOT starts the
bootstrap.
I opened up the RL02 drive and it has a pack marked "RSX-11M 3.2SYS" in it.
I vacuumed out all the dust I could, checked around and it seems fine. So I
buttoned it back up and tried to load the pack. It powers on (the fan
blows) but popping the LOAD switch has no effect. No lights (not even
fault) light up and the drive doesn't seem to spin at all. (yes it is
terminated)
So my first question is, what to check on the RL02 to see why it may not be
spinning up?
The console SLU has a male DB25 on it. Since I didn't have a compatible
terminal where it was I don't know yet what the output, if any is, to the
serial line.
Suggestions? Steps for entering a simple program into the programmers console?
--Chuck
> Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 20:20:52 +0000 (GMT)
> From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell)
> Subject: Re: Apricot & G4IDE
>
> The other possibility is that this is some kind of timing card (the
> counters would give that impression) and that the audio
> signal from the
> radio receiver is fed into the Cassette Input of the ZX81.
> You may have
> the complete unit apart from the software.
>
> Have you considered looking him up in the callbook (assuming
> he's in it)
> and writing to him to ask what the unit is?
I did a google search for him and found him in Boston, Lincs. It IS a timing
card but it's for the Spectrum, not ZX81, despite the edge connector. The
software was called RTTY and he can't remember that much about it since it
was so long ago, but it received weather FAX data by radio and RTTY graphed
it up on a Speccy......cool :)
As an aside I've just won an Apple 5 1/4 drive (still in its plastic bag :)
that will go nicely on my Woz GS. The problem I now have is getting the disk
images off one of my Macs and onto a 5 1/4" disk! Any clues? I don't yet
have a suitable drive on the PC but getting one won't be too
difficult.......
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Online Computer Museum
Seriously, the freezer trick might be worth trying :-)
The spindle bearings on my drive make weird noises that change pitch as the drive heats up.
After a while, it gets really loud and the drive stops working.
I think when the drive is cold, the bearings tighten a little -- due to themal contraction.
If the head actually crashed, I don't think there is any hope, however.
I have a little thermoelectric cooler/fan for a CPU chip.
I have thought about sticking it to the drive with some heat-sink compound.
Continuing on the other topic --
Data interchange with my Fortune is a pain because the 5-1/4 floppies have their own unique format
which nothing else will read.
Last time I looked at my floppies, it looked like they had a very thin layer of mold growing on them.
(I think I had them in a damp place for a while)
Anyone have experience reading moldy floppies ?
-Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: Sellam Ismail [SMTP:foo@siconic.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2000 1:43 PM
To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org'
Subject: RE: Anyone else with an interest in Fortune Systems ?
On Sat, 16 Dec 2000, Rob Kapteyn wrote:
> My Fortune is complete and basically works, except that it has a
> really flaky hard drive. (It makes lots of noise and runs about 15
> minutes before warms up and quits working).
Sounds like you need to stick it in the freezer :)
Try adding some more fans to the box to help keep the drive cool. It'll
probably run stably for great lengths of time (until it just up and
crashes).
I have a Fortune 32:16 as well. The only one I've ever seen. I guess
that makes it uncommon too, by my own standards :) The floppy mechanism
on mine needs work. I have a Fortune terminal but I don't think it's the
special kind that was mentioned was required to interface with it. I
don't have a keyboard either.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
<<Sellam has a very good idea! I know that there are several members on
the list in the Central NJ area. Anyone care for an impromtu meeting after
the Holidays?
We might want to take this off list.>>
Eastern PA here.. May want to come out myself!
-Linc Fessenden
On Dec 15, 11:51, Sellam Ismail wrote:
> You can also get fairly robust PCs, with dual hot-swap power supplies,
> dual (or more) CPUs, mirrored hard drives (or RAID), error-correcting
> RAM, etc.
Indeed. I can tell you a story about that...
A few years ago, our Department tendered for a Novell server, to act as
file and mail server for our student network. The tender was won by A
Well-Known PC Company with 4 letters in their name (how appropriate, as it
turned out) who supplied the hardware and on-site maintenance.
Well, the on-site maintenance came in the form of trained monkeys who were
moderately capabable of, say, swapping a disk drive, and not very good at
solving problems when the system went wrong -- as it did, rather
frequently. So frequently, in fact, that for a while the Department
insisted a rota for support staff "on call", something which as far as I
know, has never been done before. After many "discussions" with the
trained monkeys and their management, who insisted that our experienced and
qualified staff must not taper with "their" hardware, we stopped calling
them, and did some tests. Basically, the power supply couldn't cope with
the sum of the disks and RAM.
To solve the problem properly (after adding a second PSU and moving all the
disks to separate housings) it was decided that we'd buy a replacement
system, from another Computer Company of high repute (this one with six
letters in its name). The new, overkill, spec was for dual-processor, two
banks of ECC RAM, triple redundant hot-swappable power supplies,
hot-swappable RAID disks, two network interfaces, and a UPS. And just for
good measure, we wanted a pair of these, linked directly by a crossover
cable on the second network interfaces, and running some smart software
that allowed one to mirror the other. In theory, if the "live" server
failed, the other would adopt its IP address and take over.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are
different.
In practice, our network turns out not to like duplicate IP addresses, that
is, two devices with different MAC addresses but using the same IP address
-- and the second machine was not always perfectly silent. In practice,
the backup server was always a bit too enthusiastic. The live server would
see a glitch on the RAID disks and report it, and the backup would try to
take over. But the live one wouldn't let go, and they'd fight. Almost
daily, partly because the RAID system was perfectly capable of correcting
errors much of time, but its controller was perfectly capable of generating
them as well.
In the end, we found it better to switch one off. The live one fails only
occasionally, usually when doing an overnight backup. And we have a heavy
box to prop open the machine room door. Or run VMware from time to time.
Moral: there is such a thing as overkill, and such a thing as
over-engineering.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
I just spec'd a new fileserver for our office:
Dell PowerEdge 2400
Dual hot-swap power supplies
6-bay hot-swappable drives
RAID 1 & 5
512MB ECC SDRAM
My boss will sh*t when he finds out we're buying a mainframe...
:-)
-dq
> ----------
> From: Sellam Ismail
> Reply To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 2:51 PM
> To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: The debate on what per say is a mini...
>
> On Fri, 15 Dec 2000, Jim Strickland wrote:
>
> > in the world for modern mainframes - IBM still makes them - because
> > some jobs require more computing horsepower and reliability than
> > modern pcs can deliver, and hooking one clydsdale to a big job instead
> > of 400 squirrels is alot easier and cost effective to manage.
>
> I think it would be much more entertaining to watch 400 squirrels. Put my
> vote in for the squirrels :)
>
> > And as for reliability, let me draw my line in the sand and say that I
> > think using PCs for mission critical servers is not a good idea.
> > Even if you put a decent OS on them - Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, etc,
> > they're not designed or supported the way a real mini or mainframe is.
> > 'course the flip side is you can keep another machine around for a
> > spare for a reasonable cost...
>
> You can also get fairly robust PCs, with dual hot-swap power supplies,
> dual (or more) CPUs, mirrored hard drives (or RAID), error-correcting
> RAM, etc.
>
> Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
> Festival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> International Man of Intrigue and Danger
> http://www.vintage.org
>
When I was a grad student at Caltech I heard some professors offering
some similar worries as much as 10 years ago.... See the full article at
http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2659964,00.html
An excerpt:
And then, someone shouted, "Let's put a computer
together with all this stuff!"
But could they? Could a handful of engineering
majors, circa 2000, actually make a computer out of
assorted parts?
It's a question that has professors tossing and
turning at night. It also has many of them rethinking
basic college curriculum, trying to prepare a new
breed of students for a new economy screaming
for high-tech talent.
Used to be, engineering majors would come to
college fresh from childhoods of tinkering with car
engines and taking apart and putting together
radios.
No more.
"Students have never taken a toaster oven apart,
certainly never built a radio," said Lynn Abbott,
associate professor of computer and electrical
engineering at Virginia Tech. "They've never
changed the oil in the car, never seem to have
gotten their hands dirty with how things work. That
has had an impact on how we have to teach the
courses."
Tim. (who was weaned on big bags of parts from Poly Paks, anxiously
ordered from ads in the back of _Radio-Electronics_...)
David:
I am not sure that you saw my earlier response, which I only sent to the mailing list.
My Fortune is complete and basically works, except that it has a really flaky hard drive.
(It makes lots of noise and runs about 15 minutes before warms up and quits working).
I would be very interested your parts machine, if it had a compatible harddrive and
especially if it had an ethernet card.
-Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Kapteyn [SMTP:kapteynr@cboe.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 7:24 PM
To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org'
Subject: RE: Anyone else with an interest in Fortune Systems ?
Hi:
I retired mine when the Miniscribe 10MB hard drive gave too many errors to be useful.
But otherwise, I have everything complete with manuals and disks.
The only "extras" I ever got were some extra Unix utilities and a Fortran compiler.
The "special terminal" is actually just a low-resolution monochrome monitor connected with an RJ-45 type connector.
(Character based, no graphics)
The keyboard plugs into a similar connector on the front.
Later models had a keyswitch, mine does not.
Fortune made very nice stuff at an acceptable price for their day, but they crippled everything
by making it non-standard to try to control their market.
If you wanted a cheap computer to do Fortran programming, like I did, the only competition
was the original IBM PC, which was brand new back then.
The fact that the Fortune ran Unix made me choose the Fortune.
I have no time for my collection either, but with an economic recession on the way, I might soon
find myself with lots of spare time :-)
In your "parts" machine, you wouldn't happen to have an ethernet card, would you ?
I know that they sold them, but they were too expensive for me back then.
-Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: David Williams [SMTP:dlw@trailingedge.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 4:55 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Anyone else with an interest in Fortune Systems ?
Hi,
I've always been interested in them. I was hired back in the early
80s to pick a multi-user system for a business and that was one of
the boxs we looked at. I have 2 of them and a third in parts along
with some doc but don't have the special terminal to work with it.
Thus I have never been able to bring them up. They seem to need
some special key when trying to access these and I have no idea
what sequence it sends so I could mimic it on another terminal.
One day I plan on scanning the doc but haven't had the time. But
since I've dropped one side job recently maybe now I'll have more
time for my collection.
David
-----
David Williams - Computer Packrat
You can learn to like the life you live
or live the life you like.
dlw(a)trailingedge.com
http://www.trailingedge.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-classiccmp-digest(a)classiccmp.org
> [mailto:owner-classiccmp-digest@classiccmp.org]
> Sent: 14 December 2000 02:08
> To: classiccmp-digest(a)classiccmp.org
> Subject: classiccmp-digest V1 #455
>
>
>
> classiccmp-digest Wednesday, December 13 2000 Volume
> 01 : Number 455
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 17:41:23 -0700
> Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 12:13:31 -0800
> From: "Henry Broekhuyse" <broekh(a)interchange.ubc.ca>
> Subject: RE: G4IDE and ][GS disks (slightly off topic)
>
> If you don't have one already, get a 3.5" floppy drive for
> your GS (even on
> ebay these rarely cost more than $10). A Mac is able to read and write
> ProDOS formatted 3.5" floppies, making this a convenient means of
> transferring files.
I'd kind of hoped the 800k external Mac drive could do that but it won't.
> controller. If you must use a PC, the "easiest to implement"
> method of file
> transfer with an Apple II series computer is via a "null modem" serial
> connection.
Dammit :) I'd kind of hoped there was some Apple ][ flavour of a program
like TransMac - read/write Mac disks on a PC. To get a null modem connection
going though I need some sort of operating environment on the GS. Varying
experiments with keypresses at powerup have got me into the control panel
but that's about it. Is it possible to boot to BASIC? It must be since the
ROM has Micro$oft written on it :)
> Date: 14 Dec 00 00:26:28 +0100
> From: "Iggy Drougge" <optimus(a)canit.se>
> Subject: RE: First personal computer nostalgia
>
> I'm sorry, but I feel it's nitpicking time...
> I've never heard of an Atari 1050ST before, nor of a 1 MB
> hard drive fitted to
> an ST. OTOH, there is the Atari 1040ST, which had 1 MB of RAM.
And you *could* get HDs for them too; can't remember their product
designation OTTOMH but a swift look at the Atari Historical Society should
tell you. Maybe it was a Falcon!
> Date: 14 Dec 00 01:26:27 +0100
> From: "Iggy Drougge" <optimus(a)canit.se>
> Subject: Re: amiga 500
> http://www.hardwarebook.net/ (everyone should have it
> bookmarked) has got the
> pinouts. Getting the D23 might be problematic, but I know
> several sources
> around here.
> You'll get just about every 15KHz monitor to work, both
> analogue and digital.
> Possible models: Commodore 1081, 1084, 1085, 1940, 1942; Nec
> Multisync II, 3D.
I've got a spare Amiga -> CVBS cable if needs be......
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Online Computer Museum
On Dec 15, 19:31, Chuck McManis wrote:
> I opened up the RL02 drive and it has a pack marked "RSX-11M 3.2SYS" in
it.
> I vacuumed out all the dust I could, checked around and it seems fine. So
I
> buttoned it back up and tried to load the pack. It powers on (the fan
> blows) but popping the LOAD switch has no effect. No lights (not even
> fault) light up and the drive doesn't seem to spin at all. (yes it is
> terminated)
>
> So my first question is, what to check on the RL02 to see why it may not
be
> spinning up?
You did remember to put the pack cover back in the drive, yes?
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Hello all,
With the recent discussion on Z80 datasheets, I thought I'd chime in...
There's a site, www.freetradezone.com, that has a 12,000,000 component
database, and has datasheets for many of them. The site is a free
registration, but it does take forever for them to mail you a password.
Please note that I have no stake in this site...
I snagged the complete Z80 datasheet set. If anyone has a spot that can
handle the bandwidth on downloads, I'll gladly send them along. They are
all in .PDF format...
Also, If anyone is looking for a datasheet on some odd part that hasn't been
made in 20 yrs., send me an email... I can't guarantee instant (or even slow
:-) ) response, but I will look it up, and fire off the datasheet if it's
not too big...
Rich B.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
OK, having today found a Power Series 4D/210VGX in a twin tower enclosure
that I plan on buying, (not sure how much to offer though, but hey), I got
motivated to mess with my dear old doorstop, err I mean Personal Iris
4D/35... Except I discovered that it's a 4D/25, and that therefore it was
dumb of me to just assume the 2 PI's that were at the place I got it were
the same... I chose the one I have because it had a nicer case, and I stole
the little top door from the other one because the one I got was missing
it.. and guess what, the door says "Personal Iris 4D/35".. so here's the
second question.. does anyone have a 4D/25 door they'd part with? (Or for
that matter skins for an Origin 200? but thats OT).. Now on to the next
question.. I also accquired a 950-0801 keyboard and before risking the poor
little PI I want to be sure this is the correct keyboard... Finally, does
anyone have a copy of IRIX 5.3 they'd part with/copy, preferrably on QIC
tapes? Oh yeah, if anyone has any PI manuals or manuals for that Power
Series, I could use those too..
Will J
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
At 06:28 PM 12/15/00 +0000, Miller Scott Contr 30CS/FTI wrote:
>Speaking of VICE, in a fit of boredom I set up an AlphaStation with VNC to
>launch remote C-64 emulation sessions, sort of a C-64 ASP. You just fire up
>your VNC client, point it at the server, and you get an emulated C-64 with a
>bunch of old game disks. I haven't had it running since I moved over the
>summer, but if anyone's interested I can fire it up and publish the address.
An Alphastation running which OS? And VNC doesn't handle
sound, does it? Hmm, maybe it should. And you know about
the built-in VNC web server, right? You don't even need
a client, just a browser.
Emulation ASP not only sounds like fun, but it's probably
a more meaty business model than your average dot-com.
- John
Antigen for Exchange found CAHFPJCA.EXE infected with W32/Hybris-B virus.
The file is currently Deleted. The message, "classiccmp-digest V1 #457",
was
sent from owner-classiccmp-digest(a)classiccmp.org (classiccmp-digest) and was
discovered in IMC Queues\Inbound
located at CMHMAIL/CMHMAIL/EXCHANGE-SMTP.
'Smatter of fact, so do I, for my _personal_ e-mail...
Actually, I don't always end up "previewing" my mail with Pine, but
lately, I have been. Ultimately, if I don't delete the messages from Pine,
I download the remaining messages with Pegasus Mail, which
similarly seems immune to all these Lookout virii.
BTW, I'm using Pine (4.31?) under Solaris (my ISP says they'll always
provide shell access, and I'm one of the few people who turned off the
Lynx-based menu system for the shell (Korn).
I like Bash, perhaps I should switch shells... dang, I'm drifting OT
again.
C Ya!
-dq
> ----------
> From: Sellam Ismail
> Reply To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 2:48 PM
> To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org'
> Subject: RE: Virus/worm?
>
> On Fri, 15 Dec 2000, Douglas Quebbeman wrote:
>
> > Strange... my trace of the addresses didn't point to a site in Crete...
> >
> > Seriously, I never even received it- Groupshield Exchange always detects
> > this stuff and puts it in quarantine; the original attachment was
> replaced
> > by a message alerting me to what happened.
> >
> > Of course, as the sysadmin, I'd already received a "ticket" informing me
> > that an infected message had come in and was taken care of.
> >
> > Buggy, and difficult to administer, but the NAI Total Virus Defense
> > package hasn't slipped and let anything through yet...
>
> I read my mail using PINE on my linux server over a telnet session. It has
> automatic anti-virus features built-in :)
>
> Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer
> Festival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> International Man of Intrigue and Danger
> http://www.vintage.org
>
In Wednesday's USA Today there was a article on Silicon Valley and it
talked about a guy named Gordon Bell and the fact that he is helping
create a computer history museum in the valley. The paper says he works
for Microsoft Research and is doing this on the side. It then goes on
tell about some of the collection that he has in his warehouse. Short
but nice article.
John Keys
Almost a computer system :)
If I remember correctly Robert Redford was reading the output from a
Decwriter III in "Three Days of the Condor". Supposedly the computer system
did automatic language translation. I don't remember what the rest of the
system looked like.
Mike
mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu
I have something very similar (if not identical)
to the black box with white top and metal
toggle switches. Mine is a microprogrammer (as
visible on the picture) LCM-1001. I have nothing
to plug into the expansion socket but do have a
paperback book containing diagrams similar to
those on the cover of the hardback book shown
in the picture. It might be the same book in
paperback - I'll have to check.
My microprogrammer still works happily on its
original NiCads - not bad for something over
twenty years old. I still have the original
box. Also have the mains adapter/charger.
Doug.
Yeah, the mainframe is obsolete... riiiight... Gee, that hasn't been said
before in the last 30 years has it? Sure, maybe the role of the mainframe
has diminished to a large degree, but they still are useful and powerful
machines. If you want to run a huge website without it crashing, and have
thousands and thousands of people accessing it, buy a mainframe. There was
recently an article in VARBusiness I believe about .com businesses replacing
Suns and the like with mainframes because of the need for reliability and
the fact that they went from many many boxes to only one.. An example that I
remember was a company that replaced around 500 NT servers with a single
System/390.. And while I haven't seen the newest IBM mainframes in person, I
have seen a fairly recent System/390, and the whole thing is only about 5' x
5' or so, and not all that tall either... Compared to my 4381, that's a huge
shrinkage, since just the processor takes up more space than that almost!
And mainframes now use standard disk drives, instead of things like my IBM
3880, which is, like the 4381, 6' tall, 6' wide, and 4' deep, and weighs in
at around 1000 or more pounds.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
> I received the same attachment this morning but it was from a hotmail
> address. This is a shame that a Cretan has to cause this disruption.
Strange... my trace of the addresses didn't point to a site in Crete...
Seriously, I never even received it- Groupshield Exchange always detects
this stuff and puts it in quarantine; the original attachment was replaced
by a message alerting me to what happened.
Of course, as the sysadmin, I'd already received a "ticket" informing me
that an infected message had come in and was taken care of.
Buggy, and difficult to administer, but the NAI Total Virus Defense
package hasn't slipped and let anything through yet...
regards all,
-dq
On December 14, Jeff Hellige wrote:
> I was checking out some Mac IIfx machines today and they had
> what appeared to be boards with a single IEEE-488 connector on them.
> To the best of my knowledge, all the machines were used as graphics
> workstations. I've never seen that interface on a Mac before
> though...any ideas what it might have been used for?
Well, National Instruments does make a few NuBus IEEE-488
cards...crack open one of the machines and see who made it. If memory
serves, though, they also made a card that *looks* like an IEEE
interface but isn't. I've never actually seen one of those, but I
have several of the real IEEE-488 NuBus boards.
-Dave McGuire
>"IBM used to send out its salesmen with little 1/24
> models of their Mainframe installations to do site
> planning on the desktop first before bringing in the
> actual HW. With Moore's Law and the progress of
> miniaturization, you could Build a system that big
> now that actually works."
>
>Only with more power.
Imagine putting together a little model of, say, the
PDP-10 system on the back cover of one of the PDP-10
reference manuals, but build an imbedded x86 machine
into the model, with one serial line... run linux on
the the embedded machine and Timothy Stark's pdp-10
emulator running TOPS-10...
:-)
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg KB1FCA |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
In a message dated 12/15/00 10:11:56 AM Eastern Standard Time,
rmeenaks(a)olf.com writes:
> Apparently a virus as NAV responded:
>
> Sender of the infected attachment: null(a)domain2.bigpond.com
> Subject of the message:
> One or more attachments were quarantined.
> Attachment CAHFPJCA.EXE was Quarantined for the following reasons:
> Virus W95.Hybris.gen was found.
>
> Ram
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim Arnott" <jrasite(a)eoni.com>
> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 1:51 AM
> Subject: Virus/worm?
>
>
> > This morning I received a post to classiccmp from
> > 'null(a)domain2.bigpond.com' containing an executable entitled
> > 'CAHFPJCA.EXE'. I run a Mac, so it's no threat to me, but folks
> > running the 90% solution might want to be careful...
> >
> > Jim
>
One of the many reasons I run Linux as my OS of choice is so I can chuckle
robustly at these virus attachments.
-Linc Fessenden
> Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 09:20:43 -0800 (PST)
> From: Cameron Kaiser <spectre(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu>
> Subject: Re: TV Tuner cards (on topic, honest :)
>
> You probably have a PeeCee, but I bought a Formac PCI tuner
> card for my
> PowerMac. After I had a mild brain fart getting the RF input
I wish I had the cash to buy a PowerMac! Believe it or not our little one
uses a Color Classic at school so she's right into Apples ATM :) She's only
4 1/2 but had no bother navigating her way round a Performer 475 last
weekend!
>
> Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 12:06:44 -0700 (MST)
> From: Jim Strickland <jim(a)calico.litterbox.com>
> Subject: Re: GS disks an' that.
>
> The easiest (and IMHO best) solution to this problem is to go
> to www.allelec.com
> and for $69 purchase the focusdrive IIgs, which has system
> 6.0.1 already
> on it. These drives are great. You'll need at least a 4 mb
> memory expander
> to run it though.
Ah, but that's money :) I'd rather spend the cash on saving more machines
>from the skip......
> > I've got a spare Amiga -> CVBS cable if needs be......
>
> What does this do? Perhaps we could trade amiga hardware for
> GS hardware?
It's the official C= D23 to red/white/yellow RCA type connectors to plug
into a 1084 monitor or any CVBS supporting monitor like the Philips CM8833.
> Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 14:21:00 -0500
> From: THETechnoid(a)home.com
> Subject: Re: TV Tuner cards (on topic, honest :)
>
> My friend Mark of Skyforward Productions uses a Mirrovideo dc30 series
> card that does both video standards. I think it might also do
> PAL/M and
> Secam. You will have to research the newer-model cards as his is no
> longer made.
thanks! I'll do a swift google search and see what I turn up.
> Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 16:21:27 -0500
> From: Jeff Hellige <jhellige(a)earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: TV Tuner cards (on topic, honest :)
>
> For an older PC using PCI slots for the video card, the Real
> 3D Starfighter had a version that had both inputs and outputs that
> could work with both PAL and NTSC. It's a 3D card based on the i860
> and it has 16meg of RAM onboard. I used to see these on eBay quite a
> bit.
'Tis a pity my primary card is a AGP Nvidia GeForce 2......thanks anyway.
> Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 23:59:42 +0100 (CET)
> From: kees.stravers(a)iae.nl
> Subject: Re: TV Tuner cards (Correction)
>
> The Matrox Marvel G400-TV can record and playback in both PAL
> and NTSC.
> Kees.
Can it? I didn't know that......I might be able to get one of these locally.
> Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 16:57:27 -0800
> From: "Henry Broekhuyse" <broekh(a)interchange.ubc.ca>
> Subject: RE: GS disks an' that.
>
> The original posting on this topic was from someone with an
> original "Woz" GS. Many "Woz" GSs were of the "ROM 00" type (the later
> versions were ROM 01 and ROM 03). Apparently all versions of GS/OS require
a
> minimum version of ROM 01.
Actually, mine isn't an original "Woz edition" per se. It's a normal GS
that's been signed by the man himself and dedicated to the previous owner
underneath the hood ("Richard, love a bug" it says - the previous owner was
the man behind the Apple Retrospective website and he has a thing about VW
beetles). I was looking at it last week trying to find out what version ROM
it has and I drew a blank.
I'll check the FAQ, but I think the core thing I must do is get a 3.5"
floppy that will actually work.
> Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 17:32:53 +0000
> From: Jim Arnott <jrasite(a)eoni.com>
> Subject: Re: GS disks an' that.
>
> WHile we're on the subject of GS's... The local thrift store has a
> complete IIgs system (CPU, monitor, external 3.5" drive, Imagewriter
> II, cables, power supplies, software) that they're asking $25 for.
> Anyone interested? Claim that it fires up just fine. (shipping would
> be from 97883)
And therefore too expensive to get to the UK. I don't suppose you could just
buy the floppy drive for me could you? :o))
cheers folks
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Online Computer Museum
I just picked up a Pinnacle Systems Studio PCTVpro at Office Depot for about
$80. It does NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. Or at least it says it does... I don't
have anything besides NTSC to test it with.
Scott
-----Original Message-----
From: Adrian Graham [mailto:agraham@ccat.co.uk]
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 7:12 AM
To: 'classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org'
Subject: TV Tuner cards (on topic, honest :)
Hi folks,
I thought I had a great idea the other day. Since the number of NTSC
machines in my collection is growing and my little NTSC portable isn't the
best of things to look at (3" screen!) I thought I'd get a TV tuner card for
my PC that would allow me to connect up my PAL machines and my NTSC
machines. Amongst other things this would let me do screen grabs of uncommon
machine boot screens and the like for the museum.
Problem - I can't find one anywhere! Does anyone know of a card that does
BOTH PAL-I and NTSC or do I need to get 2 cards? And will 2 cards live
happily together in the same box?
cheers
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Online Computer Museum
I just sent a complaint to the appropriate abuse department of the sender.
It is infected with W95.HYBRIS.GEN virus.
What I also found interesting is my incoming filters did not move it to the
classic -cmp directory like it does for everything else.
Dan
>This morning I received a post to classiccmp from
>'null(a)domain2.bigpond.com' containing an executable entitled
>'CAHFPJCA.EXE'. I run a Mac, so it's no threat to me, but folks
>running the 90% solution might want to be careful...
>
>Jim
>> PDP-8 in 3 days of the condor
>
><anal retentive mode> Which model PDP-8? B^} </anal retentive mode>
I'll have to watch it again to find out... I've forgotten.
Megan Gentry
Former RT-11 Developer
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com |
| Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com |
| Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' |
| 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ |
| Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler |
| (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg KB1FCA |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Hi folks,
I thought I had a great idea the other day. Since the number of NTSC
machines in my collection is growing and my little NTSC portable isn't the
best of things to look at (3" screen!) I thought I'd get a TV tuner card for
my PC that would allow me to connect up my PAL machines and my NTSC
machines. Amongst other things this would let me do screen grabs of uncommon
machine boot screens and the like for the museum.
Problem - I can't find one anywhere! Does anyone know of a card that does
BOTH PAL-I and NTSC or do I need to get 2 cards? And will 2 cards live
happily together in the same box?
cheers
adrian/witchy
www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - the Online Computer Museum
Does anyone know what mainframes the online service Delphi ran on?
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
On December 14, Mike Ford wrote:
> I've seen at least one high end Kodak photo printer that used a 488
> interface with a Mac, but this is a heck of a guessing game compared to
> just firing up the mac and running something like TattleTech that reads the
> rom on the cards.
Yes, that's right, I had almost forgotten. The XL-7700 and XLT-7720
both use IEEE-488, though at least the 7720 can have a SCSI board. I
use a 7720 interfaced to my Mac via SCSI. Gorgeous output;
indistinguishable from mainstream photographs.
-Dave McGuire
From: Neil Cherry <ncherry(a)home.net>
>Most VAX are mini's (at least in my Opinion). I'm not sure exactly what
>decides that a machine is a Main frame, a mini and a micro (yes I know
>most desktops are micro's).
A MicrovaxII in a BA32 is a mini. I VAX6440 is a super mini. VAX9000
certainly qualifies as MAINFRAME.
The '80s blurred mini/mainframe and VAX and AS400 type machines
were doing their best to foster that. The VAX (11/780!) was originally
called a superminicomputer. Then again a 8250 with a disk farm was
anything but mini.
Allison
On December 13, Ernest wrote:
> >Televideo TS-802 -Pretty in Pink
> >AT&T 6300 -Secret to My Success
> >IMSAI -Wargames
> >HP-150 -Real Genius
> >GE Differential Analyzer (UCLA) -When Worlds Collide
> >Thinking Machines CM-5 -Jurrasic Park
> >Memotech FDX500 or MTX512 -Weird Science
> >Mac Plus -Star Trek IV
> >VAX 11/750 with IBM 3290 plasma display panels -some independant film (?)
>
> It's kind of cool to be able to spot a vintage computer that you recognize
> in a movie. I never noticed the computers in "Secret to my Success" until I
> found a AT&T 6300, and then the computers on the desks might as well of had
> flashing red lights on them. "Hey! I've got one of those."
Wait a minute...Wasn't it a 7300, not a 6300, in the "Secret of my
Success"?
-Dave McGuire
I think this got lost in the server rearrange:
Anybody have information on this card reader? It says DEC CR05 on the
outside but seems to be made by Peripheral Dynamics, made in 1981. I
just acquired it and would like to figure out the I/O etc.
Thanks,
David Gesswein
http://www.pdp8.net/ -- Old computers with blinkenlights
I have an Apple II SCSI card (the original, not the "High-Speed") that I
just discovered has firmware too old for use with GS/OS. On boot, GS/OS
(System 6.0.1) tells me that I need version C or newer.
Anyone have an image of the Rev C (or newer) EPROM?
Thanks!
Eric
> It may have been a said on the list in the
> earlier thread that the Sage debuted(sp) in
> "Desk Set" and came back in "Dear Bridgett"
> and then later in "What a Way to Go".
Was "Desk Set" the Tracy-Hepburn film with
him as an efficiency expert, to her girl-from-
small-town-working-in-the-big-city?
I also recall a late 60s/early 70s film, that I
think starred Patrick McGoohan, with him playing
a mathematician/codebreaking expert, who employed
a large number of beautiful women who actually did
the codebusting; but they used a computer to check
the results. I think we saw a shot of the computer,
but I wasn't kind to my memory organ back in those
days... ring any bells?
-dq
Hi:
I retired mine when the Miniscribe 10MB hard drive gave too many errors to be useful.
But otherwise, I have everything complete with manuals and disks.
The only "extras" I ever got were some extra Unix utilities and a Fortran compiler.
The "special terminal" is actually just a low-resolution monochrome monitor connected with an RJ-45 type connector.
(Character based, no graphics)
The keyboard plugs into a similar connector on the front.
Later models had a keyswitch, mine does not.
Fortune made very nice stuff at an acceptable price for their day, but they crippled everything
by making it non-standard to try to control their market.
If you wanted a cheap computer to do Fortran programming, like I did, the only competition
was the original IBM PC, which was brand new back then.
The fact that the Fortune ran Unix made me choose the Fortune.
I have no time for my collection either, but with an economic recession on the way, I might soon
find myself with lots of spare time :-)
In your "parts" machine, you wouldn't happen to have an ethernet card, would you ?
I know that they sold them, but they were too expensive for me back then.
-Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: David Williams [SMTP:dlw@trailingedge.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 4:55 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Anyone else with an interest in Fortune Systems ?
Hi,
I've always been interested in them. I was hired back in the early
80s to pick a multi-user system for a business and that was one of
the boxs we looked at. I have 2 of them and a third in parts along
with some doc but don't have the special terminal to work with it.
Thus I have never been able to bring them up. They seem to need
some special key when trying to access these and I have no idea
what sequence it sends so I could mimic it on another terminal.
One day I plan on scanning the doc but haven't had the time. But
since I've dropped one side job recently maybe now I'll have more
time for my collection.
David
-----
David Williams - Computer Packrat
You can learn to like the life you live
or live the life you like.
dlw(a)trailingedge.com
http://www.trailingedge.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Iggy Drougge [mailto:optimus@canit.se]
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2000 3:26 PM
To: Mark Price
Subject: RE: First personal computer nostalgia
[snip!]
>I'm sorry, but I feel it's nitpicking time...
>I've never heard of an Atari 1050ST before, nor of a 1 MB hard drive fitted
to
>an ST. OTOH, there is the Atari 1040ST, which had 1 MB of RAM.
You are correct, sir. My 5 should've been a 4. Nit well picked.
==============================
Mark Price, Library Computer Specialist
Washington County Cooperative Library Services
e-mail: markp(a)wccls.lib.or.us
voice: 503-846-3230
fax: 503-846-3220
-----Original Message-----
From: Ernest [mailto:ernestls@home.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2000 10:47 PM
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: RE: Vintage computers in movies
>Televideo TS-802 -Pretty in Pink
>AT&T 6300 -Secret to My Success
>IMSAI -Wargames
>HP-150 -Real Genius
>GE Differential Analyzer (UCLA) -When Worlds Collide
>Thinking Machines CM-5 -Jurrasic Park
>Memotech FDX500 or MTX512 -Weird Science
>Mac Plus -Star Trek IV
>VAX 11/750 with IBM 3290 plasma display panels -some independant film (?)
IBM XT or AT -Stand by Me (1986)
Richard Dreyfuss is the grown-up writer whose coming-of-age story we see
portrayed in the film. At the end, he's sitting there at his XT or AT (I
haven't seen it in a while) and regards with satisfaction the novel he's
just finished writing on his amazing menu-free, rulerless word processor.
His kids are calling him, so he reaches up and--oh, no--shuts off the
computer?? Aacckk!! YOU DIDN'T SAVE YOUR WORK, RICHARD!
But maybe he was just shutting off the monitor to avoid screen-burn. Yeah,
that's it. (I squirm every time I see that scene.)
And does this one count? In This Island Earth (1954), made great fun of in
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996), Dr. Jeff Meachum gets a
computer kit from the planet Metaluna. Like most computer kits, this one
takes him and his PhD. buddy utilizing an entire university physics lab just
to get it put together, BUT they end up with an "Interocetor," I believe it
was called, a very cool mini that ran on a single glass bead and was
controlled by a single colorful plastic wheel. It featured a large
triangular monitor and--a heat ray! (Much more effective than a
screen-saver at keeping gawkers from looking at your work.) Apparently, not
many Interocetor kits were sold in the U.S. because for one thing Metaluna
was soon destroyed in an interstellar war before they could open any plants
in Mexico, and for another, there's nobody bumming Interocetor documentation
on this list. Too bad, the monitor heat ray could be very handy. I have a
flickering Vivitron at home that feels like it fries my retina, but it's
just not the same...
==============================
Mark Price, Library Computer Specialist
Washington County Cooperative Library Services
e-mail: markp(a)wccls.lib.or.us
voice: 503-846-3230
fax: 503-846-3220