At 10:41 PM 2/26/99 -0800, Jason Willgruber wrote:
>How much would you want for the parts? I'm trying to get this computer
>running for a school project (the computer belongs to my school)
>
>I was just wondering --- Could I have an APC IV? Three of the teachers that
>have seen it have either called it an APC IV, or "The pain in the neck".
>Some of the descriptions that I've seen don't sound like the computer I
>have. Although it does say "APCIII" on the front panel.
>--
> -Jason Willgruber
> (roblwill(a)usaor.net)
> ICQ#: 1730318
><http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
Well, prices for parts isn't something I'd worry about. A box of
cookies plus shipping wwould be fine with me.... as soon as I
find the stuff. It would probably be better for you to tell me,
specifically, what it is you think you need. As far as software
and documentation goes, I don't have any -the reason I was
forced to dump mine. I tried (many ages ago) to decipher the
meaning/use of the dip switches at the back, but to no avail.
The problem with mine was that I tried putting a later version
of DOS on it, but the install pooped out, and since it ignored
the floppy on bootup, I was screwed. Even tried swapping
HD's etc. *NO* luck. They (I had two) were VERY picky
machines. Again, let me know what you need, I'll see if I still
have it laying around somewhere.
Les
On Feb 28, 15:59, Chuck McManis wrote:
> Subject: Re: interesting, interesting.
> That's it!
>
> At 11:45 PM 2/28/99 +0000, you wrote:
> >for starters. There's quite a good line drawing halfway down
> >
> > http://www.exabyte.com/suppserv/techsupp/8mm/fullhigh/in0111.html
>
> On this page at step 5 is a drawing of my tape drive. Waaay cool!
Well, I'd suggest you look at the back of the drive (or sometimes it's on
the top) and see if it's an 8200 or an 8500 (8200 is more likely).
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
The guy below has two IMSAI VDP-80's [parts from one of them are on E-Bay but probably won't sell, the better, complete one is not yet offered], a Newtronics ELF, and a SWTPC 6800. He just trashed a System 34 and a Burroughs L6000. If anyone wants the IMSAI, ELF or 6800, call him. You will have to buy the stuff, and pay shipping [the IMSAI is all but impossible to ship, it's best a "pick-up" job]. He's in New Orleans I think, but I'm not sure.
Terry Freeman [SMTP:terryf@intersurf.com]
Mark Gregory
>Of course, since _all_ Amigas have either a "Commodore Amiga" or "Amiga"
>nameplate on the front, that shouldn't cause too much confusion :v)
>(except of course for one that my friend owned that had a VAXstation label
>... ).
Personally I like to confuse people by placing a Hoover by my monitor and
hiding the PC tower under the desk. It looks almost exactly like one of the
Silicon Graphics M2's.
--
Gareth Knight
Amiga Interactive Guide | ICQ No. 24185856
http://welcome.to/aig | "Shine on your star"
In a box I forgot about.. I have managed to acquire the following
Hewlett-Packard manuals for the 9000 series 200:
1. Shared Resource Management HP Series 200 Workstation Manual
2. Basic 3.0 Language Reference
3. " Programming Techniques
4. " Interfacing Techniques
5. " Graphics Techniques
6. " Utilities Library
Any interest? I don't want 'em.. got enough bokks around here
now that actually pertain to things I'm doing.. ;}
Cheers
John
I've got the EXT-4000-series manual. I never owned one of the 4380's,
though I tested a number. Miniscribe built a model 9380 which was quite
similar, except that fewer than 10% of them would pass our tests. However,
I used the 9380's for quite a while in my personal systems.
There was once a military (air force, I believe) site called TheRef, which
had much of this data, if you haven't the patience for me to look up the
information you need. I recall there were quite a number of jumper
options. If you can find me the desired configuration, I can give you the
relevant jumpers and their effects.
Dick
----------
> From: Zane H. Healy <healyzh(a)aracnet.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Maxtor XT-4380E ESDI Hard Drive settings
> Date: Sunday, February 28, 1999 5:19 PM
>
> OK, I'm stumped. I'm finally getting around to adding one of the 380Mb
> ESDI HD's that I got to replace the 150Mb ones I've been using in my
> PDP-11/73. So I check out "The Tech Page" and while they've got the
drive,
> they don't give any of the jumper settings. Does anyone happen to have
the
> settings for this drive?
>
> Zane
> | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
> | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
> | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
> +----------------------------------+----------------------------+
> | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
> | and Zane's Computer Museum. |
> | http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |
One of the sub-goodies from the recent haul is a DEC CI-750
backplane in a 5-slot frame with three modules in it, though it is
marked for five.
1. L0400
2. L0101
3. L0118 * (placarded for L0100)
4. L0101 *
5. L0400 *
Where the * = occupied slot.
The backplane has absurdly large 5V power leads (2 ea #8) and
there are four coax cables coming from slot three backplane pins,
all with a side-mounted fan.
That's it.
Also: The Nicolet scope is a 2090-III, and although there is a
small trace of some kind on the screen, it is sorta autistic. :(
Now to track down docs and fix it. O Goody!! Another Project!!
Cheers and Thanks for all the help...
John
I've got both beige and black drives of this type. They were used in the
Maynard line of tape drives, and are really quite widely used, though
almost no PC-software supports them for "real" backups. Most of the
software I've seen for '95 is limited to floppy tapes and SCSI-II or later
drives. That's a shame, since the GOV went to this format after they
learned that one little 8 mm tape will hold what it takes a pickup truck of
the old open reel 6250 bpi tapes to hold. The button and lamp locations
were quite varied, since exabyte purchased the mechanisms from SONY and
they could be varied a bit.
Dick
----------
> From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)mcmanis.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: interesting, interesting.
> Date: Sunday, February 28, 1999 4:59 PM
>
> That's it!
>
> At 11:45 PM 2/28/99 +0000, you wrote:
> >for starters. There's quite a good line drawing halfway down
> >
> > http://www.exabyte.com/suppserv/techsupp/8mm/fullhigh/in0111.html
>
> On this page at step 5 is a drawing of my tape drive. Waaay cool!
> --CHuck
>
On Feb 28, 13:34, Chuck McManis wrote:
> At 01:04 PM 2/28/99 +0000, Pete Turnbull wrote:
> >Both of my ExaByte 8200's have black faceplates. However, the LEDs are
> >side-by-side about 1.25" from the left side of the drive, and the button
is
> >on the right.
>
> This describes my drive as well, two LEDs side by side on the left,
button
> on the right.
>
> >When the drive is powered up, what do the LEDs do?
>
> Stay on solid until the CPU counts down to 5 (could be 4) then they go
off.
Sounds similar to my ExaBytes...
> > If you press the button, does the front open to allow you to insert a
tape,
> > like a miniature VHS machine?
>
> Wouldn't say a VHS machine (I've got an 8mm cam corder) but certainly the
> door opens and there is space in it to drop in the tape and then
presumably
> close the door.
Hmmm... ExaBytes 8200's take an 8mm tape cartridge like a Video8 cartridge.
> > Or does it just have an open slot to slide a cartridge into?
>
> Nope, the 4MM DAT drive on my Sun is like that. This is not one of those.
I wasn't thinking of DAT, so much as the old DC300-type cartridges, which
are much bigger. No matter, it's obviously neither DAT nor QIC.
It sounds like an 8mm ExaByte to me. If it looks like it's 5.25"
full-height, probably an 8200, maybe an 8500; if half-height, probably
8205, possibly 8505. I'd suggest you take a look at ExaByte's web pages
and see if it matches one of their pictures. Try
http://www.exabyte.com/suppserv/techsupp/8mm/fullhigh/
for starters. There's quite a good line drawing halfway down
http://www.exabyte.com/suppserv/techsupp/8mm/fullhigh/in0111.html
I've just noticed Zane mentioned camcorder tapes; they do work, but in my
experience they're don't have quite the same long-term reliability. Oh,
and they're a slightly different length. But they'd be OK for testing.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
On Feb 28, 13:34, Chuck McManis wrote:
> Subject: Re: interesting, interesting.
> Now we're getting somewhere!
I just discovered that ExaByte have a useful web page called "Identifying
Exabyte Tape Drives" at
http://www.exabyte.com/suppserv/techsupp/8mm/misc/in0059.html
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Does anyone have any information on the KA630 CNF board? It is used
both with KA630s and KA650s to configure them for coprocessor mode.
Since I have never actually seen the board (which plugs into the
KA630/650 directory), I'd specifically like to know what pins I
need to connect to establish the processor as the first, second and
third coprocessor...
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Does anyone here have any 30-pin SIMMs as often found in i386 computers
that are more than 1 megabyte? I have 1-mb SIMMs but I've never seen
bigger ones
--Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)
I got the NEC to seek the floppy. Sort of....
Does the APC III Use a special version of DOS? If so, what version? I
tried 5.0, and it won't work.
ThAnX,
--
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
At 01:45 PM 2/27/99 -0800, you wrote:
>>If it looks like a PC-clone (vertical metal strips for the expansion
>>slots at the back), then it's either a boring PC-clone or one of the
>>_very_ interesting Whitechapel machines :-)...
>
>It could also be one of the nice big-box Amiga's, though I think only the
>A2000's match that specific description. Not sure about the layout of a
>A4000.
>
Of course, since _all_ Amigas have either a "Commodore Amiga" or "Amiga"
nameplate on the front, that shouldn't cause too much confusion :v)
(except of course for one that my friend owned that had a VAXstation label
... ).
Cheers.
Mark
There are 7 (seven) shares left in the Teledisk group buy. We now have 43
total interested.
Approximate share price is now down to $7.05/person.
More updates as we get closer to closing the second run.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
Max Eskin wrote:
>Nooo...imagine a 3.5" floppy disk chopped in half and you'd be getting the
>idea.
I may have one of these somewhere. If it's the one I'm thinking of, they
were used on some of the old Amstrad CPC and PCW's. Are they black in
colour?
--
Gareth Knight
Amiga Interactive Guide | ICQ No. 24185856
http://welcome.to/aig | "Shine on your star"
As of 10:18, Sunday, Feb. 28th, another one's joined the group.
We now have 11 shares left. Total cost per share, given the current group,
is now $7.77 (oooh, a lucky number!) ;-)
It only goes down from here, folks. If you want in, speak up.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
The Teledisk Pro group buy is growing larger by the minute. Here's an update.
Based on continued strong interest, I have decided to extend the buy to
TWO copies of Teledisk Pro. I will continue (barring any objections) as the
focal point for both copies.
NEW DEADLINE: If you want in on the group buy, please send me a private
E-mail note indicating as much. The deadline to send in your request is by
Wednesday, March 3rd, at midnight (Pacific time). That should allow enough
time for this bulletin to circulate on the list.
UPDATED COSTS: As of Sunday, 28-Feb-99, 10:05 PST, we have 38 people
interested. This brings the cost down to about $7.98 per person. This
assumes a total cost of $300 for two packages plus $3 shipping (303 / 38).
THIS FIGURE MAY GO DOWN if more people jump onto the bandwagon.
I will post updates as they occur. As of 10:08 PST, Sunday, Feb. 28th, we
have 12 (Twelve) license shares still available.
Thanks again to all for your interest. This is certainly a cheap way to
get a nice utility.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
I decided to run over to the surplus store this morning for a closer look at
the nicolet. It's in the front window so even though they're closed I could
get a good look at it. I also saw some other gear I never really noticed
before and would like to ask the list members for info.
1) Nicolet
There are two units. The first is a model NIC-80 Data Processor. It looks
identical to the unit on sellam's website. There's three rows of lights
labelled AC (18 lights +1 L light), IR, and PC. Below that is a set of
switches for the SR (switch register?). Top left is a "sweeps complete"
display. There's two yellow buttons in the upper right labelled "data
processor". Top center is a row of buttons labelled 'memory allocation',
with labels off to the left and right of "start" and "size" respectively.
There is a rotary knob labelled "vertical display scale", and several
buttons below that labelled 'ADC resolution'. Below that is two knobs
labelled Constant A and Constant B. Across the bottom are buttons for step,
deposit, examine, load PC, single ins, continue, and start. Finally on the
bottom right there are two buttons called Execute and Stop. Bottom right is
AC power keyswitch.
The second unit is a Nicolet model NIC-298 "diskette storage unit". It has
two 8" floppy drives. There's a row of lights vertically on the side called
read, write, and ltrack. There's an unlabelled pushbutton on the upper
right, and the lower right is a power switch.
Questions: The cpu definitely says model NIC-80. How does this relate to the
model sellam has? More to the point, can someone tell me about operation of
this unit with regards to what OS it ran, what compilers or languages, etc.
Did one hook up a terminal to this or was it just console input? What made
this unit different from more well known computers (ie. what was it's
specialty)? Most importantly, is any real documentation around on this unit
(operators guide, schematics, logic diagrams, programming info)?
2) Paper tape reader
There was what appeared to be a paper tape reader. Had the leftbay/rightbay
arrangement like a PDP PC04/05 with the read cells in the center. The brand
name appears to be Decitek. There were two switches in the center, one was a
toggle for power, the other I couldn't make out. I could easily be mistaken,
but the bays looked much wider than a PC04/05, making me wonder if it took
wider paper tape than I'm used to seeing.
Questions: Anyone have any ideas what type of system this was compatible
with, what type of interface it might use, and does anyone have docs for it?
3) Data General Mag Tape Unit
There is a DG 1/2" mag tape unit there too. The unit is about 13" tall by
19" wide, with a clear blue plastic cover. The takeup reel is on the left,
and it looks like it supports a very slightly smaller than normal 1/2" tape
reel (but larger than the little 8" jobs). The other hub is on the right for
your tape. There is a row of controls down the center sticking through the
blue cover. The top is a rocker switch for power, next is a group of two
lights marked 'ready' and 'write protect'. Lower is another group of two
lights marked 'bot' and 'eot'. Next is a rocker switch marked 'unload' on
the left and 'bot' on the right. At the very bottom is an offline/online
rocker switch, and a light on the online side.
Questions: There's no model on this unit I could see from the front. Anyone
hazard a guess as to the model number? What type of DG was this usually used
on, what interface does it use (pertec, scsi, proprietary, etc.), could it
be used on other systems (till I get a DG :) ), and are there any docs
available?
Finally - I'm still trying to decide if I want to get all of this or some of
it (depends on the prices, when I looked today none of this stuff was marked
so I'll have to ask the owner). If there's any of it I decide I don't want
that others here are interested in - let me know!
Jay West
Hi,
(This isn't really on-topic. If anyone knows of a place or mailing list which
covers obsolete but not classic computers, please let me know.)
Today I picked up a DECstation 316. Since I'm in the UK, this European model
may or may not be the same as the DECstation 316 machine which was sold in the
US.
This is a 386SX-based PC, presumably running at 16MHz. Useful to me because it
has 4 ISA slots. The machine came with 5MB RAM and an IBM 171MB disk drive,
probably added as an upgrade after purchase.
This PC seems to be a rebadged Olivetti; motherboard, PSU and BIOS code say
Olivetti. A label on the rear of the unit says Model:PC 651-A3
CMOS battery is almost dead, but the machine seems to work okay. Though when I
first tried it the Base unit system test (part of the power-on tests) reported
an error. Now it doesn't.
There is no reset button on this machine, and it came with a somewhat
nonstandard DEC LK250 keyboard.
Things I would like to find out:
- Does anyone have setup disks for this machine? I downloaded a DECstation 316
setup disk from the Digital web site, but the SPEED316.COM program on that
reports "SPEED316 ONLY WORKS ON A DECstation 316." (Which is why I suspect
the American machine of the same name is different.)
- There is no predefined setting in the BIOS setup menu for the 171MB IBM hard
disk (which is IBM-H3171-A2 P/N: 84G3902). There doesn't seem to be a way to
set user-defined drive type. What can I do about this?
- Does anyone have docs for this machine? There is one jumper and a 26-way IDC
connector on the motherboard. What are these for? How is the drive cage
supposed to be removed? I can't see any way to do this.
-- Mark
Does anyone have an idea what these IBM model numbers
are like more precisely ??
3380- AD/AE DL131 BE4
3380- AD/AE LK
3380- AD/AE LM135 AE4
3380 "E" DL
3380 "K" BP BK4
3380 "K" BP AK4
3380 "K" LM131 BK4
3380 "D" AD/AE KJ131
3380 "D" AD/AE JJ131
3390 "2" B2C
3390 "2" A28
I am particularly concerned about disks inside these machines;
is there anything known ? Is any documentation available ?
Thanks and regards
John G. Zabolitzky
Hi Megan,
----------
> From: Megan <mbg(a)world.std.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: KA630 CNF?
> Date: Sunday, February 28, 1999 7:55 AM
>
>
> Does anyone have any information on the KA630 CNF board? It is used
> both with KA630s and KA650s to configure them for coprocessor mode.
All I have, is the KA630-AA CPU Module User's Guide.
> Since I have never actually seen the board (which plugs into the
> KA630/650 directory), I'd specifically like to know what pins I
> need to connect to establish the processor as the first, second and
> third coprocessor...
If i read that right, there are 10 switches on this board. Switch 7 & 8 are
defined as:
7 8
off off Arbiter
on off auxiliary 1
off on auxiliary 2
on on auxiliary 3
Switch 7 is connected to pin 4 of the J2 connector (20 pin connector)
Switch 8 is connected to pin 5 of the J2 connector.
Don't have any of this boards, simply out of the manual.
Hope it helps,
emanuel
Okay, I'm sure this is going to cost me, but... :-)
I've made a first-attempt at a list. You can find a link to it,
called "Machines to watch for", from my classiccmp web page, at
this URL:
http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/classiccmp/
I'm open to suggestions on additions and deletions. My current rule
of thumb (which is also open to suggestions) is that it belongs on
that web page if there is sure to be someone who wants it enough to
pay shipping charges for it, or otherwise arrange to take posession
of it.
While you're there, kindly glance at the Rescue Squad volunteer
list, and let me know if your entry needs an update.
BTW, how does everyone feel about advertising that? I've considered
posting the URL to various related newsgroups, but am torn between the
possibilities of increased donations and getting the attention of the
wrong people. I'd rather not feed the e-bay "collectables" frenzy.
Should I be shooting for "high profile", or just letting interested
parties seek us out?
Cheers,
Bill.
On Fri, 26 Feb 1999, Mike Ford <mikeford(a)netwiz.net> wrote:
] Novice guide to old stuff.
]
] I disturbs me to think I have ever walked past something neat, and left it
] to rot or be loaded into a scrap bin. Outside of a fairly narrow scope of
] Apple products I don't know what I should be looking for. I would like to
] see some sort of guide to old stuff, maybe a half or quarter of a doubled
] sided laser printed sheet of paper, that ran down some of the items that
] are hard to find, which I could fold up and put in my wallet. Is there a
] short list, generic or specific?
<I have a couple of motherboards sying about which use the SIPP's, though,
<and though it's quite easy to imagine SIPP's being as easy as ever to
<build, I've never seen a 4MB SIPP.
Reason for that is when SIPPs were in use 256k and near the end of life for
that config the 1meg parts started to be common. Sipps were out os use by
time 4mb parts were getting cheap enough to consider.
Often forgotten... at one time 4 or 8mb was a BIG system!
Allison
<BTW: I also saw a Rainbow 100. Anything distinguishing it from any other
<CPM/MS-DOS machine?
It was a dual processor with z80 and 8088, the bus as not PC (ISA) and it
allowed 768 or 825Kw of ram. It was color medium resolution when the PC
was still mono. It's noteable in that it ran CP/M-80, CP/M-86 and MSdos.
When Running CP/M86 or MSdos the z80 is still operational and services IO
for the 8088 giveing it better performance for it's day.
Allison
Fine,
I got a complete PCjr with pretty much all of the peripherals ever made for
it, two joysticks, color monitor, a box of software and the carrying case.
So there!
Francois
>Got a second Altair today. No serial number and missing a capcitor in the
>power supply but otherwise it looks like it's in perfect condition.
>
> Joe
>
Here is someone wanting to sell a pretty complete Tandy 1000HX system. Is
it this one or the 1000EX that has MS-DOS 2.11 in ROM? At any rate its a
pretty nice little Tandy all-in-one computer.
Please reply to the original sender.
Reply-to: bluegill(a)interworldnet.net
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 23:24:05 -0700
From: C Barnes <bluegill(a)interworldnet.net>
Subject: Tandy 1000HX system
I have the following working system available if you are interested:
Tandy 1000HX personal computer (1988) - no hard drive, 640k RAM, two 3.5 in.
disk drives,
external 5.25 in. disk drive, mouse, and joystick
Tandy RGB color monitor CM-5
Tandy DMP 132 dot matrix printer
associated software, manuals, diskettes
PCM magazine for Tandy users - November 1990 - December 1992
Compute magazine - September 1991 - October 1992
Several other magazines dating back to 1994 (PC Magazine, PC Computing, Home
PC, etc)
If you are interested in any of this, let me know how I should get it to
you.
Thanks,
Cindy Barnes
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)verio.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puttin' the smack down on the man!
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details
[Last web site update: 02/15/99]
More uVaxen bits...
So I finally got all my wires correct in the serial connector and now get
the following dialog:
KA630-A.V1.3
Performing normal system tests.
7..6..5..4..3..
Tests completed.
>>>
Pretty cool. However on the NetBSD/VAX faq they suggest typing 'test 50' to
get the ethernet address, if I type that it just says "Failure" does the
port need to be connected to a network?
So it turns out the _both_ systems had the Sigma Information System ESDI
controller in them (not too suprising because they came from the same
source) which everyone says "Ohhh, that's a nice controller." which warms
my heart, but I _need_ docs. Another reader said that you can plug into the
10 pin port on the board and do some cool stuff like low level format etc
etc. But I've not tried that until I get an ESDI disk.
I've done lots of searches on the net for ESDI, Q-Bus, Sigma information
systems, etc but no luck! I presume they've gone Tango Uniform.
But that brings up another issue, I need a mounting "sled" for the disk.
Preferably two sleds, (one for each disk). Anyone have any spares?
Presumably I can kludge something in a pinch (or use the bottom bay which
has a "floor" anyway.
I did get donated a complete set of VMS documentation (5.4) but I don't
have _any_ hardware documentation, again if you have said docs perhaps we
can work out some sort of trade.
Given the "mini-PDP-8 surge/hunt" that appears to be going on I expect this
thing to be in hot demand in 10 years :-)
What was the "standard" console terminal used with these in 1985? VT100?
VT220? something else?
On the tape drive in the BA123, it has a plain black front with a button
and two LEDs, one orange and one green. TK50? Where could I get media for
it? What does it look like?
Thanks for all the help everyone, this is what makes this hobby fun.
--Chuck
In a message dated 99-02-27 23:18:07 EST, you write:
> >I'm open to suggestions on additions and deletions. My current rule
>
> I think at least some Mac's are something to keep an eye out for. I
> haven't seen a Mac 128 since they were new! I've only seen one Mac
> Portable ever. Any Mac that is in something other than a Mac case is also
> a definite grab! There were kits to do it, but I've never seen one (or if
> I have, didn't realize it).
standard compact macs are rather unremarkable although i guess the 128 might
be worth keeping since it was simply the first model. I think modified macs
are far more interesting. for instance, i have a 128 in original box with all
the ship group items. the mac was modified with a third party board to
basically make it into a mac plus complete with scsi. even got an external
floppy and flight sim with it! also have two mac512k models with a hyperdrive;
a st225 hard drive and cooling fan installed INSIDE the mac. <!> very heavy
but actually works.
david
Quick question, what is a fair price to offer someone for a nicely decked
out CP/M laptop? It's the one that has a bunch of the software on two
ROMS, and IIRC has a tape recorder. It has modem, doc's and some other
stuff. I'd like to offer the guy a fair price instead of getting a good
deal.
Zane
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast |
| healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------+
| Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, |
| and Zane's Computer Museum. |
| http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |
As you know I got these two uVaxen that had been decomissioned from a
"secure facility." (GE Nuclear Technology, and no they aren't radioactive!)
One has this mystery tape drive (TK70 or perhaps an 8MM) and the other
(which is the innards of a BA23 slim chassis stuck into a Sigma Information
Systems expansion chassis (which looks somewhat like a BA123) has nothing
but a 'hole' where the tape drive should be. Since these are configured
identically in every other way I asked a friend of mine who is ex-military
what his thoughts on this situation were. His response was :
"Its obvious that the second system had a floppy drive. Seen it before, the
rule is all disk drives are removed and crushed, tape drives can stay. The
system chassis is sold as scrap."
Ya gotta love that literal interpretation of the 'regs!
--Chuck
<> Standard TTY test pattern.
<
<For _5 bit_ machines...
<
<>
<> RY is the extreme opposite in the machanics of a ASR/KSR33. IF you can
<
<Surely you mean an ASR/KSR32 here.. It's not a particularly useful test
<in ASCII.
I'm not talking about 5/8 bit. I'm talking mechanicals. RY really bangs
the bails and bars around.
<You mean you don't have a telegraph distortion measuring set (TDMS)?
<Basically a special-purpose character/message generator and 'scope. I
<found an old one (valved) at a radio rally about 15 years ago and fell in
<love. It followed me home...
Nope no need, I have a DEC terminal test set. No valves, still old.
Allison
>How about a database on the web that collectors could visit and use to
>record their stuff? Then everyone could query and find out who to talk to
>for questions on certains items.
>
>The problem would be coming to consensus on a common data format.
>
>I'll volunteer to host the site and do the DB development if everyone can
>agree on how to do it.
>
This is a nice idea. I just want to remain this list about the long,
recently held, discussion about privacy in this list's archives and the
negative comments about a web site on MITS Altairs attempts to keep an open
registry about Altairs. I have a web site that exposes my collection just
like many other members of this list have. I wouldn't participate in a
specialized, centralized database of old computers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
Kevin Stumpf * Unusual systems * www.unusual.on.ca
+1.519.744.2900 * EST/EDT GMT - 5
Collector - Commercial Mainframes & Minicomputers from
the 50s, 60s, & 70s and control panels and consoles.
Author & Publisher - A Guide to Collecting Computers &
Computer Collectibles * ISBN 0-9684244-0-6
.
Cataloging your collection has many direct and indirect benefits. By all
means do it.
There isn't anything unique about collecting computers. It takes the same
pedigree-type data as does collecting Conestoga wagons. System -
sub-assemblies - related items (e.g. documentation). Please don't spend too
much time on this. The Computer Museum has done it. The Smithsonian has done
it. Ask them. It is covered in the Guide to Collecting Computers...field
definitions, etc. are included. If in doubt, don't do this as a "community"
excerise, just ask the pros and move forward. Ask you local association of
sewing machine collectors, county museum, etc.
The issue of compatibility between one collector's database and anothers is
easily handled by remapping source to destination fields, if and when an
exchange takes place.
Actually cataloging your collection is a fun activity. You re-discover all
sorts of items you forgot you had.
Have fun.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
Kevin Stumpf * Unusual systems * www.unusual.on.ca
+1.519.744.2900 * EST/EDT GMT - 5
Collector - Commercial Mainframes & Minicomputers from
the 50s, 60s, & 70s and control panels and consoles.
Author & Publisher - A Guide to Collecting Computers &
Computer Collectibles * ISBN 0-9684244-0-6
.
<Quite a few of my machines -- including one PC-compatible and a couple of
<Sparcs -- have 30-pin 4MB SIMMs. They're fairly common.
For some reason here in the Boston metrowest area 4mb 30 pin simms are
scarce and don't go cheap.
That and most 386/486 boards want 4x of each and even at $11 that makes a
16mb ram in a 486 using 30pin more expnsive here that a 16mb (and 32mb
on sale) of the 72 pin simms.
Allison
<And folks use the 256k ones for keyring fobs.
I don't! They are cheap and when soldered together cordwood style they
make nice multimegabyte memories for z80s and the like.
Allison
<Quick question, what is a fair price to offer someone for a nicely decked
<out CP/M laptop? It's the one that has a bunch of the software on two
<ROMS, and IIRC has a tape recorder. It has modem, doc's and some other
<stuff. I'd like to offer the guy a fair price instead of getting a good
<deal.
I presume it's a PX-8 Geneva. Ok the options are various utilities in roms
that appear to the system like CPM disk drives. Also there are wedges that
screw on to the back, those are a modem/60k ram disk, a utility unit and a
120k ramdisk. DOCs can be anything but the more the better.
I ahve one it's a good unit. The common problem is dead nicads of which
there can be three of them (one in the wedge, two different one in the main
unit).
I paid 75$ for mine a bunch of years ago, they are a workhorse unit.
Allison
<> MVII memory use PMI AND CD slots and the CD slots are not bussed for Q.
<
<Yes, but the CD slots *are* bussed together.
True, the B side of the first goes to the A side of the next. It's not a
continious bussing. So if there is a gap the memory chain is broken.
<I still can't find a single signal between the KA630 CPU board and the
<pair of MS630 memory boards that is not bussed straight through between al
<three cards. Other than the bus grant on the A/B Qbus connectors, which
<AFAIK doesn't enter into memory addressing in any way.
The A/B bus is insignificant for PMI memory. also the singnaling scheme is
one of terminated signals with open collecotr drives so a lot isn't
apparent on inspection.
DEC books I ahve don't explain it either. I do have several working
uVAXIIs though.
Allison
I hate to see folks closed out of the Teledisk deal just because we
already hit the ceiling on the first group buy.
With that in mind, I have written to my contact there to find out how much
extra it would be to boost the license quantity to 31 instead of 25. That
should allow the six folk that got bumped out a chance to get back in.
Stay tuned, fellow ClassicCmp'ers! There may yet be a solution. I can't
speak for Sydex, but I can sure as heck ask 'em about this!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
OK, we're done! All shares have now been spoken for in the first Teledisk
group buy. I would like to thank all those who were interested for
participating.
FWIW, the last share was claimed by Dan Burrows via a phone call.
I did receive about six more E-mails after the quota for this one had been
reached. This tells me that there may be more interest. If anyone else
wants to do this as well, please, go for it! This is a great way to buy the
higher-end software tools that would be useful to us, and if Sydex did it
for the group I had they can certainly do it for another one.
Banzai!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
30 Pin 4meg $12 and 30 pin 8 meg $? were at TRW swapmeet today. There is a
place in Santa Ana and Lomita CA that has "used" ones for about these same
prices. Alltech Computers is the name but I do no't have the phone number.
They sell a lot of mailorder. Hope this is of help.
-----Original Message-----
From: Max Eskin <max82(a)surfree.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 12:41 PM
Subject: OT: 30-pin SIMMS
>Does anyone here have any 30-pin SIMMs as often found in i386 computers
>that are more than 1 megabyte? I have 1-mb SIMMs but I've never seen
>bigger ones
>
>--Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)
>
>
Howdy, I've taken delivery on two MicroVax II's, one is a model 630QY-A2
and the other is a 630QB-A2, the QY is basically a narrow cabinet and the
QB is a wide cabinet. Both have 8MB and both have ethernet controllers.
Both were stripped of drives although one still has a tape unit. (TK50? How
can I tell?)
Here are the questions:
1) I'd like to find a disk or two for these (they each have slots for four
disks of the DU type.) what do I need to look for? Are there size limitations?
2) Can these things be booted over the network in a pinch? (one has no tape
drive)
2b) Do these things have boot roms that are interactive ala ODT? Until I
get disks is there anyway to verify that they work?
3) Would it make sense to combine the memory cards so that I have one 16MB
VAX or should I leave it at two VAXen?
4) One has a busextender unit that goes to a non-DEC disk card labelled:
"Wombat" (its a disk controller of some sort) with tag WQESD 2.8M
SCD-RQD11/EC
a) This is ESDI controller yes?
b) It has four data connectors so four drives?
c) Its in a different backplane UNIBUS perhaps? (quad height)
Both machines internally appear to be in very good shape. Anyone have the
"MicroVAX II 630 QB Technical Manual" ?
All in all it wasn't a bad deal at $18 each.
--Chuck
On Fri, 26 Feb 1999 06:28:21 -0800, Bruce Lane <kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com>
wrote:
>>I'm a little surprised to hear of a V.35 cable on something like a paper
>>pe handler. Are you sure the thing really does have a V.35 interface, and
>>at Roytron didn't just happen to use the same connector that V.35 devices
>>do?
Since I have no operational data for the unit, it may not be a real v.35
interface, but it may just use the v.35 connector. Since it was used in a
PDP farm, I would suspect it's RS232. The cable that I remember that was
attached was RS232 to v.35 with no electronics in between.
[ Rich Cini/WUGNET
[ ClubWin!/CW7
[ MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
[ Collector of "classic" computers
[ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/
[ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/pdp11/
<================ reply separator =================>
Yes . . . there are lots of 4MB simms of the 30-pin variety around. I even
have a few sitting around and frequently have seen them offered for sale.
I have a couple of motherboards sying about which use the SIPP's, though,
and though it's quite easy to imagine SIPP's being as easy as ever to
build, I've never seen a 4MB SIPP.
Dick
----------
> From: Max Eskin <max82(a)surfree.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: OT: 30-pin SIMMS
> Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 1:40 PM
>
> Does anyone here have any 30-pin SIMMs as often found in i386 computers
> that are more than 1 megabyte? I have 1-mb SIMMs but I've never seen
> bigger ones
>
> --Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)
<OK, except that I still don't understand. It looks like ALL of the signal
<are bussed straight across, except the bus grant. So I still don't see
<how the first card knows that it is first, and why the second card doesn't
<erroneously think that it is first.
MVII memory use PMI AND CD slots and the CD slots are not bussed for Q.
Allison
I've always wanted an IMSAI 8080. If you get two would you be willing to
part with one or possibly trade?
I know they seem to be fetching hefty prices from what I've heard so I don't
think I can afford one.. but thought I'd ask.
Jay West
-----Original Message-----
From: John Lawson <jpl15(a)netcom.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 4:06 PM
Subject: TRW encounters
>
>
> (Hey Paul! Sorry we missed you at TRW!)
>
>
> Marvin got a Processor Tech dual 8" floppy subsystem and an HP 65
>desktop comp.
>
> I found a Kaypro 10 for $5, and a Nicolet digital storage scope
>for $10. No chance right now to see if it works... I got a box of
>binders of HP 3000 software docs, and a bunch of other classiccmp
>related software books, like Lisp, Pascal, and some early IBM PC
>type books.
>
> (I have to work today and tonite; I won't be able to unpack the
>truck and get to this stuff until tomorrow.)
>
> I also was given a Sord Socius.. after the idiot who bought it
>tore it apart for the 8" disk drives, and then discovered he didn't
>want them after all. Any info on this machine? Date codes are from
>the early 80s, and it has an 8086 and 8087... color monitor... big
>machine. It's in pieces right now and the case is gone, but it
>might be good for parts.... I also have the OS (I think) and
>another disk which were in the drives. The OS disk is labelled
>partially in Japanese.
>
> I got a newish DEC backplane with some hex-height boards..
>L1011??? have to unpack it and then I'll look em up.
>
> I saw an old friend of mine there whilst I was buying the HP 65...
>he didn't know I collected Old Iron..... "Oh, then you would you be
>interested in two old IMSAI 8080s I have? I was using them to
>collect and collate earthquake data, but I don't use them now and
>they're just in the way..."
>
> YAAAHAHAHHAAA!!!!!! Of course what I said to *him* was: "Hmmmm
>those are really *old*... I'll call you monday and I'll come check
>them out...." salivate salivate Pavlov's Classic Collector
>salivate salivate...
>
>
> Non classiccmp... I got an ancient VOX harmonizer accessory, and
>the an old Teac Dolby Encode/Decode box.
>
> Dave Dameron stopped by.... but no party this time, Marvin and I
>both had afternoon appointments.
>
>
> Cheerz
>
>John
>
>
>PS: Next TRW: 27 March 99...
>
Someone just mentioned nicolet which rings a bell...
At a local surplus store, I've been eyeing a nicolet machine. It sure LOOKS
like a computer. ISTR panel labels about registers, instruction counter,
etc. Front panel has lots of blinkenlightenz. Can't recall the model number,
330 or 880 or 800 possibly comes to mind...
Also can't remember but there may be a dual floppy unit with it. Just on
appearances I was considering adding it to my collection - they only wanted
about $15.00 for it. Looks in good shape. Can anyone give me any information
on this guy about what it really is from my schetchy outline?
Jay West
(Hey Paul! Sorry we missed you at TRW!)
Marvin got a Processor Tech dual 8" floppy subsystem and an HP 65
desktop comp.
I found a Kaypro 10 for $5, and a Nicolet digital storage scope
for $10. No chance right now to see if it works... I got a box of
binders of HP 3000 software docs, and a bunch of other classiccmp
related software books, like Lisp, Pascal, and some early IBM PC
type books.
(I have to work today and tonite; I won't be able to unpack the
truck and get to this stuff until tomorrow.)
I also was given a Sord Socius.. after the idiot who bought it
tore it apart for the 8" disk drives, and then discovered he didn't
want them after all. Any info on this machine? Date codes are from
the early 80s, and it has an 8086 and 8087... color monitor... big
machine. It's in pieces right now and the case is gone, but it
might be good for parts.... I also have the OS (I think) and
another disk which were in the drives. The OS disk is labelled
partially in Japanese.
I got a newish DEC backplane with some hex-height boards..
L1011??? have to unpack it and then I'll look em up.
I saw an old friend of mine there whilst I was buying the HP 65...
he didn't know I collected Old Iron..... "Oh, then you would you be
interested in two old IMSAI 8080s I have? I was using them to
collect and collate earthquake data, but I don't use them now and
they're just in the way..."
YAAAHAHAHHAAA!!!!!! Of course what I said to *him* was: "Hmmmm
those are really *old*... I'll call you monday and I'll come check
them out...." salivate salivate Pavlov's Classic Collector
salivate salivate...
Non classiccmp... I got an ancient VOX harmonizer accessory, and
the an old Teac Dolby Encode/Decode box.
Dave Dameron stopped by.... but no party this time, Marvin and I
both had afternoon appointments.
Cheerz
John
PS: Next TRW: 27 March 99...
A bunch of X terminals were donated to the local university, but the company
was unable to find most of the host software... If anyone has the host based
software for these, i'd sure like to get a copy:
A couple Sun SPARCclassic X units were donated. They look to my eyes as
if they are a normal sun, just missing a floppy drive... Can I just install
Solaris on these?
A pair of terminals from "Phase X Systems". I've never heard of them.
The majority of terminals are from HP. Both HP Entria Plus, and a few
HP Entria II systems. I really* need the host software for these...
-Lawrence LeMay
lemay(a)cs.umn.edu
On Feb 27, 15:40, Max Eskin wrote:
> Subject: OT: 30-pin SIMMS
> Does anyone here have any 30-pin SIMMs as often found in i386 computers
> that are more than 1 megabyte? I have 1-mb SIMMs but I've never seen
> bigger ones
Quite a few of my machines -- including one PC-compatible and a couple of
Sparcs -- have 30-pin 4MB SIMMs. They're fairly common.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Hey,
TRW was a blast this morning. I found a Sony SMC-70G computer. I looks a
little like an old laptop. Does anyone have the OS for this machine? It has
the video titler modification. The cool thing about the computer is the two
3.5' Drive bays. Sony developed the 3.5" disk for this computer. It was
their first "micro computer." I also scored an original TRS-80 monitor
that still works.
I have about 15 Apple II e and a few Plus, about 20 floppie drives, some
manuals, power supplies, and a selection of language cards, etc. Anyone
interested. I am not looking to make money, just looking to help anyone that
might be collecting this stuff.
At 11:02 27-02-1999 -0800, you wrote:
>Might I suggest that you hand out the remaining licenses for a flat rate
>of $20 to anyone who does not come in before you actually do the purchase?
<snip>
Actually, Sellam, the question may be rendered academic, because...
1 SHARE LEFT! Yes, folks, we're up to 24 shares (some people bought two).
We've got one left, and if no one else speaks up I think I may pick it up
myself.
Soooo.... does anyone else want a copy of Teledisk? With the number of
folks we've got now, the remaining share would be around $6 and change.
Anyone?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
Power supply for model 70, like new and works fine. Gutted machine for
motherboard related errors and have teted this unit with other 70's -
works flawlessly. $5.00 plus applicable USPS rate, about 5 lbs weight
>from zip 40144. Needs to go soon, we're looking at a move soon.
Payable by money order, USA and APO/FPO addresses only please.
Good Morning,
Today, I saw an interesting typewriter from the late '70s/early '80s
called a Hermes 51 Level 4. It's an enormous 135-column daisy wheel with
erasing tape. What is interesting about it is that it has an external disk
drive, connected to it with an extremely thick cable. The drive is called
a 'microdisk' according to the reference card. It allows storage of text.
Looks like a scaled-down VHS tape rewinder. I have never seen any disk
that might fit it. Does anyone know anything about this machine? This
might be one of the first 'word processor' typewriters. It also has a
green LED display and a light-and-mirror system to make sure the operator
can easily read the paper as it is being printed.
BTW: I also saw a Rainbow 100. Anything distinguishing it from any other
CPM/MS-DOS machine?
--Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)
WHOA! Stop the presses! I goofed.
A couple of people in the group ordered two shares in the group buy for
Teledisk, so I screwed up in the previous message.
We have FIVE (5) shares left. The deadline of tomorrow at 17:00 Pacific is
still in effect.
If we get a full 25 people in on this, the total cost with shipping will
be $6.12 per person.
Let me know! Thanks...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
Well! This is going better than I ever expected!
We've got 17 people so far, counting myself, interested in chipping in for
a copy of Teledisk. This has brought the per-person price down to $9.00
(assuming $150 for the program plus $3.00 shipping).
We have eight slots left out of 25 originally, and it occurs to me that I
should probably set a deadline. For the moment, that deadline is 17:00
Pacific Time Sunday (2-28). In other words, tomorrow by five.
If you're interested in getting in on this, please let me know via private
E-mail by then.
Thanks to all who've signed up so far.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
At 12:40 PM 2/26/99 -0800, you wrote:
>
>Does anybody know when Hewlett-Packard made the Model 130C oscilloscope?
>Its tube based. The serial number is 503-03353.
>
>Any pointers would be appreciated.
Well I can tell you that it was made in the 3rd week of 1965. It may be
in my '68 catalog. I'll check next time I pull it out.
Joe
In case it's of interest to anyone, I found the (5-1/4") CP/M boot diskette
for my TS806's. What's the best way to make this available to those who
want it? I'm not sure I can dupe it without setting up one of the
machines? I could do that I guess, but am inclined to let sleeping dogs
lie . . . .
Dick
----------
> From: Richard Erlacher <edick(a)idcomm.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: Wanted: TeleVideo CP/M machine(s)
> Date: Saturday, February 20, 1999 9:16 PM
>
> Perhaps I can help . . . I have a couple of TS806's sans HDD. Any
> interest?
>
> regards,
>
> Dick
>
> ----------
> > From: Doug Auerbach <douga(a)email.com>
> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> > Subject: Wanted: TeleVideo CP/M machine(s)
> > Date: Saturday, February 20, 1999 9:01 PM
> >
> > Greetings,
> >
> > I'm looking for a TeleVideo CP/M machine, particularly the TS-803 or
> > TS-1603. If you have one of these computers, or one similar to this
one
> > (not including the portable), I'd be interesting in buying it. Or, if
> you
> > have suggestions on where else I might look for one, I'd really
> appreciate
> > it. These were great machines, but they're hard to find now!
> >
> > Actually, I may be interested in two of these, if they're available.
> This
> > may turn into a crazy project, but I have the idea of taking one of
them
> and
> > replacing the guts with a standard PC motherboard/hd/ram/power supply
> > combination to run Linux on it. The TeleVideo 803/1603 has a unique
> case,
> > which would make for a great looking computer even today. The trick
> would
> > be maitaining compatibility with the keyboard cable and monitor; not to
> > mention fitting the components inside reliably. But what a coup it
would
> > be!
> >
> > Thanks. I'm in the Seattle area, fwiw.
> >
> >
> > Doug Auerbach
> >
>
>I was just wondering --- Could I have an APC IV? Three of the teachers
that
>have seen it have either called it an APC IV, or "The pain in the neck".
>Some of the descriptions that I've seen don't sound like the computer I
>have. Although it does say "APCIII" on the front panel.
>--
The APC III's and IV's look much the same. If anything the III looks more
modern as it is a smaller neater case, but it dates from 1984. The IV's are
286's and are fully IBM compatible with a Phoenix based bios. They have a
normal ISA bus while the III's have different shaped cards that are
installed in horizontal slots.
>>The APC III was not IBM compatible at all in it's original form. It had a
>>special version of DOS and the floppy drives are _Quad_ density not double
>>density.
>>
>Not at all??? It's got an AMD 8086 and a Intel 8087 directly on the
>motherboard.
>
>About the only thing that I can see that is non-standard is the bus
>archetecture. It's got a standard (looking) floppy, and an MFM (or RLL)
HD.
>
Having familiar looking hardware doesn't mean it is IBM compatible. It was
the bios that counted in those days. NEC did it's own thing here rather than
go to Phoenix.
Doug wrote:
<<
OK, I think I have a candidate for the first computer with blinkenlights.
This is from David Richie's The Computer Pioneers:
<<
As he sat in his kitchen, one November evening in 1937, [...] Stibitz went
into his workshop, took some relays salvaged from Bell Labs' junk pile,
[...] and devised a few circuits. Input consisted of strips of metal cut
from coffee cans. Output was a pair of flashlights bulbs that lit up or
stayed dark to indicate the results of binary calculations.
>>
Stibitz is generally credited with creating one of the first digital
computers. I think this date is earlier than both Zuse's Z1 (1938) and
Atanasoff's ABC (1939), so I guess blinkenlights were there from the
start!
>>
Now that is really thorough digging! Good find, thank you.
John G. Zabolitzky
To my knowledge the blinking lights go back to the UNIVAC 1, 1951.
They became famous - and therefore made their way to almost any computer
of that time - due to the successful 1952 US presidential election prediction
on TV. It is rumoured that the TV crew wired up a few more lights than
actually part of the computer.
John G. Zabolitzky
Yeah and it's "n'est ce pas" and "mais oui"
Oh well I can't help it I'm from France
-----Original Message-----
From: Joseph S. Barrera III <joe(a)barrera.org>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 3:20 PM
Subject: Re: Ooops, Typo!
>> Tre cool, ne c'est pas? Ooo, mai oui!.
>
>You misspelled "Tres." ;-)
>
How much would you want for the parts? I'm trying to get this computer
running for a school project (the computer belongs to my school)
I was just wondering --- Could I have an APC IV? Three of the teachers that
have seen it have either called it an APC IV, or "The pain in the neck".
Some of the descriptions that I've seen don't sound like the computer I
have. Although it does say "APCIII" on the front panel.
--
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
-----Original Message-----
From: Les Berry <lfb107(a)psu.edu>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 10:25 AM
Subject: NEC APCIII
>
>I had similar problems with my pair of APCIII's. Frustrated, and in
>need of extra space, I threw them out, but I managed to save most
>anything that wasn't permanently attached to the case. I've got a
>few of the memory boards that slid in the back as well as a few
>parallel cards I think. I also (think) that I have a few of those NLE
>cards that plugged in the front. The two that i had also had another
>smaller (memory?) card that plugged in to a special slot at the front,
>an external HD connector (and a HD.... SCSI?), and a special keyboard
>with special buttons for graphic functions. Not surprising since they
>booted up with the DOS 2.11 version of AutoCAD. I couldn't, for
>the life of me, get them to run anything else! If anyone needs any parts
>let me know, I haven't got much use for them.
>
>Les
>lfb107(a)psu.edu
>
>
>The APC III was not IBM compatible at all in it's original form. It had a
>special version of DOS and the floppy drives are _Quad_ density not double
>density.
>
Not at all??? It's got an AMD 8086 and a Intel 8087 directly on the
motherboard.
About the only thing that I can see that is non-standard is the bus
archetecture. It's got a standard (looking) floppy, and an MFM (or RLL) HD.
>When NEC later saw the error of their ways, they offered a special card
>called an SLE that when installed allowed the machine to run standard IBM
>compatible software. This came with another version of DOS, which I think
>was also specific to this machine for booting purposes. SLE stood for
>Software Library Extender.
>
>I think the special card had it's own 8088 cpu.
>
>APC III's were heavily marketed here in Australia and were once very easy
to
>find. I have a number in deep storage (ie too deep to get out and look at
>easily). NEC also provided financial incentives for software developers
here
>and I have come across several cases of startup companies built on these
>incentives, all now gone though.
>
>I think NEC learned about compatibility the hard way.
>
>To get your machine going the first question is whether you have the SLE
>card or not.
>The second question is whether you have the correct monitor. I don't think
>normal IBM style monitors will work.
>
It's got either an CGA or EGA (made by NEC) on it. It works on an old Tandy
1000, so, I'd say the monitor is standard.
--
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
This one has 2.11. It half-boots from the HD then locks.
--
-Jason Willgruber
(roblwill(a)usaor.net)
ICQ#: 1730318
<http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
-----Original Message-----
From: Computer Room Internet Cafe <netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, February 25, 1999 7:51 PM
Subject: Re: Another NEC APCIII question.
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jason Willgruber <roblwill(a)usaor.net>
>To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
><classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
>Date: Friday, 26 February 1999 15:06
>Subject: Another NEC APCIII question.
>
>
>>I got the NEC to seek the floppy. Sort of....
>>
>>Does the APC III Use a special version of DOS?
>
>Yeah, I think it does.
>
>>If so, what version? I
>
>3.3 IIRC.
>I've got one here somewhere, I'll dig it out over the weekend and have a
>look.
>I might be able to do you a disk image of the boot disk.
>>tried 5.0, and it won't work.
>
>I think only the NEC 'version' of the OS will work.
>
>Cheers
>Geoff Roberts
>Computer Room Internet Cafe
>Port Pirie
>South Australia.
>netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au
>
>
> Greetings, Classic Computer Fans,
Hello Rick! This is definitely the place to be!
> I have a few older computers that I've run across, mostly as orphans.
> These include a Tandy 100 (who doesn't have one of these?), a Tandy 600, a
> Sun 3/50, a Sun 4/360, A couple of Tektronix 6130's, a Tektronix 4132, and
> a Tektronix 4319. I worked at Tektronix for 13 years, from '77 through '90,
> so I have a particular affection for Tektronix equipment.
Do you know anything about the 4050 series? Joe Rigdon (who made sarcastic
remarks about Tek 31 calculators) has a 4051 (as do one or two others on the
list) and I have a 4052 and we are both avidly hunting useful info and/or
documentation.
> I'm looking forward to sharing memories with the list, and, as mentioned,
> hearing about your memories, and all the great collector finds out there.
You'll certainly have fun, then.
Welcome to the list.
Philip.
Upon the date 12:40 PM 2/26/99 -0800, Sellam Ismail said something like:
>
>Does anybody know when Hewlett-Packard made the Model 130C oscilloscope?
>Its tube based. The serial number is 503-03353.
Sometime just after the 3rd week of 1965.
Rule for deciphering HP SN's in the above format as tought to me by a
couple of different HP service engineers and other written sources:
Take the numbers preceding the hyphen and add 6000. Result gives the first
two digits as the year and the second pair is (usually) the week of
production. Numbers after the hyphen are the serialized number.
1834A-xxxxxx is some unit built around 34th week of 1978, for example. Note
the "A". Can't recall when, but the nation of manufacture is depicted by
that alpha character. A is USA, J is Japan for example.
>So what, if anything, should appear on the console when you turn on a
>Microvax that has no disks connected ? The little display on the back
>seems to go from '6' to '7' and stay there, or perhaps to 'L'. Which side
>is up?
It should count down from 7 to 3 and wait there for console input, unless
the boot device has been specified -- then it continues counting down
as it accesses the boot disk. If it reaches zero, it will boot.
>Also there are two knobs next to the console port, one is clearly the
>baud rate and the other has three positions, each position is identified
>by a pictograph. The three pictures are
> top - line connected to a triangle (arrow?)
> middle - looks like a face in profile
> bottom - a T inscribed in a circle.
The top one is the normal position. The middle one is for the boot dialog
regarding language and boot device. The bottom one is continuous test.
>Then there is a paddle switch above that whose positions are identified
>with a circle and a dot inside the circle, and another position where the
>dot is outside the circle. Which should it be?
This enables (dot in circle) or disables (dot outside circle) the halt
on break feature. Normal position is dot outside circle, you don't
want someone to halt a time-sharing system when other users are on it.
But if you're the only user (/owner), then you probably want to have
total control... unless you find you accidently hit BREAK too often... :-)
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
>Howdy, I've taken delivery on two MicroVax II's, one is a model 630QY-A2
>and the other is a 630QB-A2, the QY is basically a narrow cabinet and the
>QB is a wide cabinet. Both have 8MB and both have ethernet controllers.
>Both were stripped of drives although one still has a tape unit. (TK50?
>How can I tell?)
Narrow cabinet vs. wide cabinet? Sounds like a BA23 vs. BA123 cabinet.
>1) I'd like to find a disk or two for these (they each have slots for
>four disks of the DU type.) what do I need to look for? Are there size
>limitations?
But with four slots, they both must be BA123 -- by the way, there should
be a total of 5 slots... four horizontal on the right side (with the top
one being the TK50), and one vertical on the left side for the RX50 (but
you can put an RX33 there as well).
What to look for? If you can get an MSCP controller (RQDX1, 2, 3), you'll
need RD series disks. Max of 159 MB. If you have a third-party
interface, probably much larger. I have a machine with 2GB DSSI disks,
and another machine with a 770 MB ESDI disk.
As for TK50, it has one large red switch on the right side and one small
green LED on the left. The TK70 has a smaller switch on the right side
and three LEDs.
>2) Can these things be booted over the network in a pinch? (one has no
>tape drive)
Yes, so long as you have another machine set up to serve the files to
it.
>2b) Do these things have boot roms that are interactive ala ODT? Until I
>get disks is there anyway to verify that they work?
Sure do... and with NVram, you can also establish default settings for
language and boot device.
>3) Would it make sense to combine the memory cards so that I have one
>16MB VAX or should I leave it at two VAXen?
Depends on how many memory cards are in each machine. If that is 8MB
in two cards (4MB each), then no. You'll need larger capacity memory
cards. Max is 16MB in two cards (of 8 MB each).
>4) One has a busextender unit that goes to a non-DEC disk card labelled:
>"Wombat" (its a disk controller of some sort) with tag WQESD 2.8M
>SCD-RQD11/EC
*Very* nice... makes your deal quite a good one...
> a) This is ESDI controller yes?
> b) It has four data connectors so four drives?
> c) Its in a different backplane UNIBUS perhaps? (quad height)
Different bus? If they are BA123s, there should only be one backplane
which is quad high...
>Both machines internally appear to be in very good shape. Anyone have the
> "MicroVAX II 630 QB Technical Manual" ?
Yes... but I don't want to part with it... contact me off list.
>All in all it wasn't a bad deal at $18 each.
Not at all...
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 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
For those still with me here, I'm looking for a used but functional T3000
tape drive. Reply off list please.
Wanted to check with the group for something available first to keep the
business "in the family" :)
Thanks, Chris
-- --
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net
Member of Antique Wireless Association
URL: http://www.ggw.org/awa
Hi Chuck,
----------
> From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)freegate.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: uVax II questions
> Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 3:51 PM
>
> Howdy, I've taken delivery on two MicroVax II's, one is a model 630QY-A2
> and the other is a 630QB-A2, the QY is basically a narrow cabinet and the
> QB is a wide cabinet. Both have 8MB and both have ethernet controllers.
Ethernet is fine ;-)) Most common on the MVII is the DEQNA.
> Both were stripped of drives although one still has a tape unit. (TK50?
How
> can I tell?)
TK50 has a bigger button with a LED in it, TK70 has a small button and
three LED's.
> Here are the questions:
>
> 1) I'd like to find a disk or two for these (they each have slots for
four
> disks of the DU type.) what do I need to look for?
Standard were the RD51/RD52/RD53/RD54 disks. You would be lucky to find
some of these. The controller is RQDX..
The biggest of these disks is the rd54, which is appr. 150MB.
You can buy a SCSI controller for it (appr $1000)
ESDI controllers & disks are the cheapest. (my opinion ;-))
Once again, the controller is expensive, appr. $100-200. Disks are $0-100,
which is appr 70-660MB.
> Are there size limitations?
Budget. ;-))
> 2) Can these things be booted over the network in a pinch? (one has no
tape
> drive)
If you try to use NetBSD, is ok. But you need a host for the files...
In case you don't know, there is a hobbyist VMS out there, no cost. But the
CD is sold out, new one comes in March (?)
So If you like to use VMS, you should aske the group about tapes...
> 2b) Do these things have boot roms that are interactive ala ODT?
a little like ...
> Until I get disks is there anyway to verify that they work?
Netboot.
> 3) Would it make sense to combine the memory cards so that I have one
16MB
> VAX or should I leave it at two VAXen?
What you wrote, is that you have 8 MB on each. If it is one board, you need
the cable & you can use two of them in one system. If you have already two
memory boards in each, bad. Than you got the 4MB boards.
> 4) One has a busextender unit that goes to a non-DEC disk card labelled:
> "Wombat" (its a disk controller of some sort) with tag WQESD 2.8M
> SCD-RQD11/EC
>
> a) This is ESDI controller yes?
Guess so. (You are lucky !!!)
There are other here on this group, who use them.
> b) It has four data connectors so four drives?
> c) Its in a different backplane UNIBUS perhaps? (quad height)
??? Should be all q-bus.
> All in all it wasn't a bad deal at $18 each.
Yes. But you can get them for free already.
cheers,
emanuel
Philip,
I'm posting this to the list so you can't say I didn't do my homework.
I tracked down a 4051 that I saw mentioned on the web and asked about it.
Here's their response:
Greetings Joe,
I have had your e-mail on my to do list for
sometime but the alligators have been chasing me on other chores. Any
how The tek 4051 is about 1976 vintage and it is only recently that we
disposed of them to our surplus place. We had 4051, 4052 ,plotter,
joystick and a printer. I still have all the manuals and microfiche for
them I think.
The address for our surplus unit is <sniped>.
I'm already working on trying to get the manuals and to find out about
their surplus disposal.
Joe
<> > PS: If 'RYRYRYRYRYRYRY....' means anything to you... that is the
<> > kind of gear I've bought from him. :)
Standard TTY test pattern.
RY is the extreme opposite in the machanics of a ASR/KSR33. IF you can
do a string of RYs without error then the reader/punch/printer is good.
The gig is to punch a length of RYs long enough to loop into the reader
and then read it on local. If it's a good machine it will keep punching
RYs and if in need of adjustment or cleaning... the rys get translated
to something else.
Allison
Does anybody know when Hewlett-Packard made the Model 130C oscilloscope?
Its tube based. The serial number is 503-03353.
Any pointers would be appreciated.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always hasslin' the man.
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 02/15/99]
On Wed, 24 Feb 1999, Dave Dameron <ddameron(a)earthlink.net> wrote:
> I did finally find a copy of "Microcomputer Design"
> by Martin by interlibrary loan :). Abebooks, etc never found it. It is
> loaded with 8008 stuff with things like all timing, a 9 chip 8008 system,
> etc. They also sold the "Mike" series of microcomputer boards, but I have
> never seen one except pictures in early Byte's. I also tried to find
> Martin or his company (In Illinois), but no luck.
>
I actually bought a copy of Martin's wonderful book in 1976 (by mail,
directly from Martin Research) for the then-enormous price of $25 (I was a
poor grad student then rather than the poor wage-slave I am now). I have
never seen another copy since in all my years of secondhand book browsing.
It was, I guess, the first microprocessor book I ever acquired. Indeed, I'm
wondering if it was the first-ever practical application manual for
microprocessors published by someone other than the major chip vendors.
Arlen
--
Arlen Michaels amichael(a)nortelnetworks.com
A friend of mine from another (algorithmically-related) List has
the following PDP8 Stuff for y'alls consideration:
A Front Panel
A "single-card core plane"
A Power supply.
A "complete set" of software on DEC paper tape in DEC trays.
Please write to : Don Merz
71333.144(a)compuserve.com
for more info.
I have done much business with Don and have found him to be honest
and fair. He would rather a true PDP8 Collector have a chance at
this, than list it on e-bay.
Drop him a line.
Cheerz
John
PS: If 'RYRYRYRYRYRYRY....' means anything to you... that is the
kind of gear I've bought from him. :)
[Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers]
> I am not sure what the UK IEE regulations state about them (Philip?), but
> they are not that common in domestic installations. I would always use
> one on a socket for something like a lawnmower or other outdoor device.
The IEE regulations require that any socket likely to be used for equipment
operated out of doors be protected by a residual current circuit breaker
with an instantaneous tripping current of not more than 30mA.
> 1) A lot of classic computers - particularly minicomputers - have proper
> mains filtering. The earth leakage current of the mains filter, when
> operating correctly, is enough to trip most RCDs. Useful, that.
Think of it as a protection grading problem. But here you have to choose
the protection settings upstream to grade with the equipment downstream. I
haven't heard of such filters drawing 30mA, though.
> 2) They are not a substitute for an isolating transformer. If you want to
> make measurements on the primary side of an SMPSU with an earthed 'scope
> then you need an isolating transformer. Put the PSU on a RCD and said RCD
> will trip (correctly) as soon as you connect the earth lead of the probe.
> As doing things like that is the main reason why I'd be working on a live
> machine, I'd rather have an isolating transformer. And of course an RCD
> won't protect you if you manage to connect yourself across the output of
> the isolating transformer.
True. Any protective device is useful in a specific situation, and
protects against specific faults. Anything can be used where it's
inappropriate. But that doesn't make it per se a bad thing.
> 3) They are only of use if you touch the mains side of a supply. They are
> no use at all if you manage to get connected across the output of an
See above.
> isolated HV supply. But IMHO having a safety device in line makes you
> careless. You may not realise it, but you will depend on the RCD to save
> you if you make a mistake. And then you make a mistake where it can't
help.
I disagree. I once said, joking, "I used to recommend steel toe-caps when
moving large computers, but now I generally prefer bare feet - so you make
damned well sure you don't drop it!"
My view is: A protective device - any protective device - is there to get
you out of trouble, not to get you into it. One should never take risks
(because one knows there is protection there) that one wouldn't take
without it. I disagree that the knowledge that there is an RCCB in the
circuit will make me complacent.
> I'd rather just work carefully, knowing any mistake I make could be
> fatal.
I'd rather work carefully, knowing that any mistake I make could be fatal,
but also knowing that I have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that it
won't.
Our protection specialist at Power Tech often talks about prortection in
terms of "the fence at the top of the cliff" and "the ambulance at the
bottom of the cliff". When working with live high voltages, one should
always try and put in place as many "fence" systems as possible - rubber
gloves, isolating transformers, insulated screwdrivers, hands in pockets
etc., but "ambulance" systems such as residual current devices have their
place.
Philip.
Hello, all:
One of my recent acquisitions is a Roytron paper tape punch/reader.
Before I actually got it, it had a v.35-to-DB25 cable on it . Now it
doesn't, of course.
I'm ignorant (about many things, but particularly) about v.35, so could
this have been an RS-232 adapter cable? If so, how could I make one?
Thanks for any info.
[ Rich Cini/WUGNET
[ ClubWin!/CW7
[ MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
[ Collector of "classic" computers
[ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/
[ http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/pdp11/
<================ reply separator =================>
Hi,
I thought I would type up a few paragraphs from "The Amiga System Programmer's
Guide" published by Abacus, ISBN 1-55755-034-4 which relate to this.
Amiga 1000 WOM
--------------
The Amiga 1000 models have additional special features. Owners of these
machines may be surprised that we keep talking about a Kickstart ROM, even
though the Amiga 1000 loads the Kickstart from disk when it's turned on. The
situation with the Amiga 1000 was the following: The hardware was done, the
machines were ready to be sold, but the software in the form of the Kickstart
operating system wasn't complete and still had some bugs in it. A decision was
made to provide the Amiga with special RAM which would be loaded with the
operating system when the computer was turned on. After this, the Amiga would
prevent write accesses to this RAM, making it behave like a 256K ROM.
Commodore called the WOM, or Write-Once Memory. Now the first Amigas could be
delivered with the incomplete Kickstart 1.0. After the new Kickstart versions
were complete (1.1 and 1.2), the Amiga owner simply had to insert new
Kickstart disks.
Since this WOM is naturally more expensive than a simple ROM, the Amiga 500 and
2000 are not equipped with it, since by then the final Kickstart (V1.2) was
finished.
The WOM raises some questions, however: Where is the program which loads
Kickstart? How can Kickstart be changed, since it is RAM?
Normally the Amiga 1000 operates just like the newer models, with Kickstart at
$FC0000 to $FFFFFF with a mirror at $F80000. If you try to write into
Kickstart, nothing happens. Write access is not possible. The boot ROM which
loads Kickstart is also nowhere to be found in memory.
The whole process is controlled by the reset line. After a reset, whether by
turning the computer on, by pressing the Amiga, Commodore and Control keys or
by executing a 68000 reset command, the memory configuration changes.
Reset
-----
Immediately after a reset, the boot ROM is at $F80000 (since on a reset the OVL
line is set, the reset vector also comes from the boot ROM) and it is possible
to write into Kickstart. It can be changed as desired! This condition holds
only until you try to write something in the boot ROM range from $F80000 to
$FBFFFF. Then the boot ROM is masked out again and the Kickstart memory is
write-protected. In short:
Reset keeps the Kickstart WOM in memory and enables the boot ROM.
A write access to an address between $F80000 and $FBFFFF disables the write
protection and the boot ROM. [This should read "enables the write protection
and disables the boot ROM."]
-- Mark
I had similar problems with my pair of APCIII's. Frustrated, and in
need of extra space, I threw them out, but I managed to save most
anything that wasn't permanently attached to the case. I've got a
few of the memory boards that slid in the back as well as a few
parallel cards I think. I also (think) that I have a few of those NLE
cards that plugged in the front. The two that i had also had another
smaller (memory?) card that plugged in to a special slot at the front,
an external HD connector (and a HD.... SCSI?), and a special keyboard
with special buttons for graphic functions. Not surprising since they
booted up with the DOS 2.11 version of AutoCAD. I couldn't, for
the life of me, get them to run anything else! If anyone needs any parts
let me know, I haven't got much use for them.
Les
lfb107(a)psu.edu
I'm a new guy on this list from Kansas City. My biggest problem is my house
doesn't have a basement or a garage, I keep my computer toys in the rec room
under the Ping-Pong table. When the garage is built I'll have a computer
spot for more stuff. I've been lurking in this group for awhile.
I'm from the cardpunching/papertape reading generation of PDP8 and PDP11
types. Pre RSX-11M and RT-11.
I wander into a not-for-profit computer surplus place every week. Recently
I investigated the salvage room in the basement, they have lots of non PC
and non Mac stuff there.
Here is what I found I'm looking for more information about them.
TI Explorer VME tower style machine
external case dual full height 5 1/4 hard drives
external case tape backup unit
Might be a LISP machine
TI doesn't seem to have and information about this machine on their web
site. I found Usenet group ti.explorer with not much traffic.
Rainbow 100 special DEC floppy
DEC Pro 380 special DEC floppy and ST251 hard drive
DEC PDP micro 11/23 in tower case
Maybe I'll crosspost to alt.computers.pdp11.
Glad to be aboard!
mmcfadden(a)cmh.edu
Real computer can run for months without crashing, all other kinds are only
wannabe's.
Hi,
I maintain the transputer homepage at
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/1190
and I am looking for transputer software & documentation to add to my
webpage. If anyone
is willing to part with their transputer trams, boards, etc. Let me know, I
will gladly take it from
you.
Ram
"Jay West" <jlwest(a)tseinc.com> wrote:
> Yes, there is an emulator for the 2100 series cpu. Check out Jeff Moffat's
> website. Don't remember the URL, but search yahoo & such for "2100" and
> you'll find it. He has an emulator that runs on dos. It is supposed to run
> on Unix, but - it has some real problems with FreeBSD. Another user on the
> list here was kind enough to fix it up for freebsd and send me a diff file.
It's OK to blame me in public, Jay. I probably still have the diffs
around too.
The diffs pretty much just make bugs come out elsewhere (to wit,
instead of the simulator's text being emitted with LF-only newlines so
they're hard to read, the simulator aborts when the simulated 2100
halts), and I really ought to quit screwing around with e-mail and
spend the time working on fixing the problem by making the controlling
terminal abstraction a little bit more abstract and probably cleaning
up the Un*x terminal I/O code some too; it's lifted from Doug Jones'
PDP-8 simulator and it does some non-POSIXy things. OTOH if I make it
POSIXy it will probably not work on older Un*xes. Decisions,
decisions.
Jeff Moffatt and I did exchange e-mail about it two or three weeks ago
and then I got sidetracked by the day job. Turns out he did most of
his development and testing under MS-DOS.
-Frank McConnell
Hi Sam and all,
At 01:30 PM 2/24/99 -0800, you wrote:
>
>Does anyone have the data sheets for the 1101 RAM and the Intel 8008? I
>need both. In the case of the 8008, an instruction set listing would also
>be cool.
I have both the AMD and Intel data sheets for the 1101(A). They also may be
in a early (~1976) Intel data catalog.
For the 8008, the best is the mcs8 microcomputer set users manual. Someone
on the list just found one in the last week or 2. I probably have a
"condensed" data sheet from a Intel catalog as well. The mcs8 book is about
100 pages.
The instruction set would be only 4 pages or so. I might have some data
>from the Canadian company that second sourced the 8008??
>
>Anyone know where 1101 RAM chips are for sale (if at all?)
A few years ago I searched all over the place, not only Halted, James, ACP,
and any other advertisers in early Byte magagines that might still exist,
but the "obsolete ic" house resellers too. Remember the ads for "8008 +8
2102's"? I only found about 3 "tubes", but may not ever use them as wire
wrapping 8 chips give only 256 bytes. How many do you want?
Can't you find this stuff by the barrel and data sheets by the ream there
in Si valley :-)? ..Like a west coast "Poly Pac's".
No I don't expect to find a Mark 8 or Scelbi, so am moving slowly to
building a 8008 system. I did finally find a copy of "Microcomputer Design"
by Martin by interlibrary loan :). Abebooks, etc never found it. It is
loaded with 8008 stuff with things like all timing, a 9 chip 8008 system,
etc. They also sold the "Mike" series of microcomputer boards, but I have
never seen one except pictures in early Byte's. I also tried to find
Martin or his company (In Illinois), but no luck.
By the way, searching, I found a rumor that Intel was going to come out
with a support chip for all the control logic for the 8008. I have seen no
indication they did, just went on to the 8080.
>
>Sellam Alternate e-mail:
dastar(a)siconic.com
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>Always hasslin' the man.
>
-Dave
>Has anyone had their computer "speak" over the radio before? I have a
>local (small-town) live radio talk show on one of the local AM stations
Dunno about AM but Harry Shearer http://www.harryshearer.com
(voice of Mr. Burns et al) does an ocassional sketch with "Ralph the
Talking Computer" on his Public Radio FM shows in Santa Monica - of
which there is a great online collection at above url.
Plug Plug
Chuck
cswiger(a)widomaker.com
I remember at least one contact with this sort of cabling arrangement. The
v.35 normally uses a distinctive rectangular connector while most
manufacturers like the cheaper 'D' connectors. The use of the 'D'
connector has more to do with cable-assembly cost than anything else, and
it may not be assumed that there is any implication of signal
compatibility.
If you intend to play with the v.35, you may want to look at the standard
before risking the health of your interface hardware. I haven't looked at
it in years, but IIRC, it's a differential arrangement at ECL levels or
something on that order. I say this because I seem to have seen ECL logic
used to generate the levels in at least one piece of equipment. I don't
much regret that I don't remember the details. Now that amateur ISP's are
running high-speed telecom interfaces, e.g. DS-3, from their basements,
we'll undoubtedly see this one more often.
Dick
----------
> From: Bruce Lane <kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: V35-RS232 cable?
> Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 7:28 AM
>
> At 20:33 25-02-1999 -0500, you wrote:
>
> >Hello, all:
> >
> > One of my recent acquisitions is a Roytron paper tape punch/reader.
> >Before I actually got it, it had a v.35-to-DB25 cable on it . Now it
> >doesn't, of course.
> >
> > I'm ignorant (about many things, but particularly) about v.35, so
could
> >this have been an RS-232 adapter cable? If so, how could I make one?
>
> It's not just a simple cable in a case like that. There would also be
some
> level-shifting electronics involved for at least the data leads because
> V.35 is a differential interface.
>
> I'm a little surprised to hear of a V.35 cable on something like a paper
> tape handler. Are you sure the thing really does have a V.35 interface,
and
> that Roytron didn't just happen to use the same connector that V.35
devices
> do?
>
>
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
> http://www.bluefeathertech.com
> Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
> SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
> "Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our
own
> human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
Fellow in New York's got a bunch of stuff available. Contact him directly
if interested.
-=-=- <snip> -=-=-
From: jdvicto(a)mail.med.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: vmsnet.pdp-11,alt.sys.pdp-11
Subject: NYC: pdp-11/73's, related eqpt. available
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 03:27:43 GMT
Organization: Deja News - The Leader in Internet Discussion
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ot-for-mail
Xref: news1.jps.net vmsnet.pdp-11:1117
New York City (Manhattan):
Three 11/73 systems, also many Qbus boards (including
two /73 boards, multiple DEC and non-DEC boards),
magtapes, LN03's, etc. looking for a nice new home.
For details, see [replace the "dash" with a dash,
and replace the "tilde" with a tilde]...
http://www"dash"users.med.cornell.edu/"tilde"jdvicto/nycpdp.html
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio:(WD6EOS) E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
SysOp: The Dragon's Cave (Fido 1:343/272, 253-639-9905)
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
The APC III was not IBM compatible at all in it's original form. It had a
special version of DOS and the floppy drives are _Quad_ density not double
density.
When NEC later saw the error of their ways, they offered a special card
called an SLE that when installed allowed the machine to run standard IBM
compatible software. This came with another version of DOS, which I think
was also specific to this machine for booting purposes. SLE stood for
Software Library Extender.
I think the special card had it's own 8088 cpu.
APC III's were heavily marketed here in Australia and were once very easy to
find. I have a number in deep storage (ie too deep to get out and look at
easily). NEC also provided financial incentives for software developers here
and I have come across several cases of startup companies built on these
incentives, all now gone though.
I think NEC learned about compatibility the hard way.
To get your machine going the first question is whether you have the SLE
card or not.
The second question is whether you have the correct monitor. I don't think
normal IBM style monitors will work.
Hans Olminkhof
-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Willgruber <roblwill(a)usaor.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, 26 February 1999 13:36
Subject: Another NEC APCIII question.
>I got the NEC to seek the floppy. Sort of....
>
>Does the APC III Use a special version of DOS? If so, what version? I
>tried 5.0, and it won't work.
>
>ThAnX,
>--
> -Jason Willgruber
> (roblwill(a)usaor.net)
> ICQ#: 1730318
><http://members.tripod.com/general_1>
>
Here's someone wanting to sell a Tandy 1000 system. Please reply to
original sender.
Reply-to: javajam(a)totalink.net
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 06:15:36 -0500
From: Dave Trevino <javajam(a)totalink.net>
Subject: tandy1000
I have an old Tandy 1000 I was thinking of piecing out. Now I see there
is some interest in this era of computing. I personally don't have a
strong interest in these computers, but I'd hate to trash a great
example of early eighties pc. I hope you could tell me Where I could
sell and for what.
The system is:
Tandy 1000 (no letters)8088 processor
dual 360k 5.25
128k base mem w/ isa expansion to 640k
original rgb monitor, keyboard, two joysticks, and touch pad
original 120 dot matrix printer
My parents purchased the computer new about 1984-5, and it has never
given any problems. It is in pristine shape with just a lillte wear in
one joystick and on the touch pad.
I have all manuals for computer and original Tandy specific version of
MS-DOS 2.1 and Deskmate.
Any help you can give me would be appreciated.
Dave Trevino
Also I have an 8088 Xtra
20mb isa HD
1 5.25" 360k
1 3.5" 720k
with bad switch on monitor
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)verio.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Puttin' the smack down on the man.
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details
[Last web site update: 02/15/99]
Someone just asked me...
>Hmm...what is the difference between the 1000 M-series and the 21MX
>M-series? Paint?
I thought my response might be of interest to others, so here's the scoop...
The oldest systems in the "1000" series are the M series. They consisted of
the 21mx 2112a, 21mx 2108a, and the 21mx 2105a. Later HP introduced the E
series with the new 21mxe 2113a and 21mxe 2109a boxes. The E series did not
replace the M series though. Then there was a major revision to the power
supplies used in the cpu which was indicated by the B version (21mx 2112a
became 21mxe 2112b, 21mxa 2108a became 21mx 2108b, 21mxe 2113a went to 21mxe
2113b, and 21mxe 2109a went to 21mxe 2109b). The 21mx 2105a stayed 21mx
2105a though. Finally there was the introduction of the F series with the
1000F 2117f and the 1000F 2111f. When the F series was introduced, all the
systems became known as 1000's model such and such, with different
designations. So finally there was the HP1000 F series 2117F, the HP1000 F
series 2111F, the 21mxe 2113b became the 1000E 2113e, the 21mxe 2109b became
the 1000E 2109e, the 21mxe 2112b became 1000M 2112m, and the 21mx 2105a
finally changed to 1000M 2105a.
More to the point, most of the upgrades along the way in a given branch were
related to the power supply, the addition of more instructions to the
instruction set (most related to better memory management), and faster
memory boards.
The HP 2000 systems did not designate a particular cpu. HP2000 or access,
2000a, 2000b, 2000c, 2000c', 2000e, 2000F (option 200/205 or 210/215), and
the third party (NON-HP) 2000G designated a particular combination of
peripherals. The hp2000 family generally used the pre-M series 2114 or 2116
cpu's. Later the 2100A and 2100S cpu's were used. Finally, even though HP
still used the 2100 cpu's, many customers switched over to the 21mx 2108 and
21mx 2112 from the M series because they were slightly faster and used the
new semiconductor memory. Few did setup HP2000 on the E series because they
were faster enough to introduce time dependent problems in the TSB code.
Generally the HP2000 designation meant the system was running TSB (Timeshare
BASIC) which is my particular target of collecting since it was the first
computer system I ever learned. If the same hardware was running DOS/RTE,
etc. is was called an HP 1000.
Hope this helps!
Jay West
Hi Group:
I have absolutely no RT-11 documentation, although I have two systems
running it (both 11/23s). Does anyone have any online documentation on the
command language, configuration, device drivers, sysgen, etc? I'm fumbling
around without it.
I couldn't find much on the usual sources. An online intro, users' manual,
or similar would be helpful.
Thanks in advance,
Kevin
==========================================================
Sgt. Kevin McQuiggin, Vancouver Police Department
E-Comm Project (604) 215-5095; Cell: (604) 868-0544
Email: mcquiggi(a)sfu.ca
Okay - I got off my behind and looked it up in my favorites folder ;)
The URL for the emulator is: http://oscar.taurus.com/~jeff/2100/index.html
When you get to the website, notice there is a roughly 17 tape paper tape
set for something called MSU 4 user Time Share BASIC. NOTE THAT IS NOT
"TSB". The msu stuff is greatly stripped down - basically supports a TSB
like basic and saves to/from paper tape. It is however, quite interesting to
see how they wrote their interpreter. Even used the chebbychev
transformations....:)
Jay
-----Original Message-----
From: KFergason(a)aol.com <KFergason(a)aol.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, February 25, 1999 10:15 PM
Subject: Re: HP3000/2000/1000 emulators?
>If anyone does find it, please post it. (or email me).
>I did not find it via Yahoo or Dogpile.
>
>I started computing on a HP2000F back in '78. Man, that was fun.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Kelly
>KFergason(a)aol.com
>
>In a message dated 2/25/99 9:24:42 PM Central Standard Time,
jlwest(a)tseinc.com
>writes:
>
>> in case you missed my post on classiccmp, Jeff Moffat wrote an emulator
for
>> the 2100. Don't recall the URL, but search yahoo & such for 2100 and you
>> should find it.
>>
>> Jay West
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Arfon Gryffydd <arfonrg(a)texas.net>
>> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
>> <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
>> Date: Thursday, February 25, 1999 8:11 AM
>> Subject: HP3000/2000/1000 emulators?
>>
>>
>> >Anyone know of any HP1000/2000/3000 emulators (for a PC running Linux?)
>> >
>
AFAIK, the IBM museum in Sindelfingen, Germany, has one, and it
is up and running (together with their 650, 1401, etc.). If you need contacts
there, I could give them; no Internet, though !!
John G. Zabolitzky
If anyone does find it, please post it. (or email me).
I did not find it via Yahoo or Dogpile.
I started computing on a HP2000F back in '78. Man, that was fun.
Thanks,
Kelly
KFergason(a)aol.com
In a message dated 2/25/99 9:24:42 PM Central Standard Time, jlwest(a)tseinc.com
writes:
> in case you missed my post on classiccmp, Jeff Moffat wrote an emulator for
> the 2100. Don't recall the URL, but search yahoo & such for 2100 and you
> should find it.
>
> Jay West
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arfon Gryffydd <arfonrg(a)texas.net>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Date: Thursday, February 25, 1999 8:11 AM
> Subject: HP3000/2000/1000 emulators?
>
>
> >Anyone know of any HP1000/2000/3000 emulators (for a PC running Linux?)
> >
-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Willgruber <roblwill(a)usaor.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, 26 February 1999 15:06
Subject: Another NEC APCIII question.
>I got the NEC to seek the floppy. Sort of....
>
>Does the APC III Use a special version of DOS?
Yeah, I think it does.
>If so, what version? I
3.3 IIRC.
I've got one here somewhere, I'll dig it out over the weekend and have a
look.
I might be able to do you a disk image of the boot disk.
>tried 5.0, and it won't work.
I think only the NEC 'version' of the OS will work.
Cheers
Geoff Roberts
Computer Room Internet Cafe
Port Pirie
South Australia.
netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au