Ran into this at the electronics-surplus store just down the way from
my workplace and grabbed it on the cheap. I don't actually know what
it *is,* but the labels on the switches make it look a *hell* of a lot
like a 16-bit general-purpose computer of some kind. Despite the
claims of being "microprocessor-controlled," I looked at every board
inside the thing and couldn't spot anything that looked like a 16-bit
or even 8-bit CPU. Genuinely curious what this is, but I can't find
much on it online - the name pops up in a few archived documents, but
Bitsavers doesn't have anything for the company. Though the design is
attributed to Stanley Kubota and Edward Corby - looks like Mr. Kubota
still has an online presence at https://www.exsellsales.com/about-us/
so I'll have to drop them a line...
Anybody heard of or encountered one of these before?
http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-front.jpghttp://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-back.jpg
I had planned on using this as a case for a project but then
I noticed it still seems complete etc. and one of you lot *might*
be interested. It's a blue metal steel box
30cm x 24cm x 6.4cm (I'll let you heathens work out Freedom units yourself)
NWW Micro Systems on front panel marked Serial Remote Control Interface.
Diane
--
- db at FreeBSD.org db at db.nethttp://www.db.net/~db
Seeing as I do not have an ATARI 520 or 1040 any more I have some
Atari related stuff to give away as one bundle. It's a PITA enough
to package for me.
Bundle is (roughly)
Atari VHS tape 520 ST Instruction tape
Flight simulator II
pair of games (one of the disks is damaged :-( )
and Mark Williams C compiler all 5 disks.
Let me know if you are interested.
Diane
--
- db at FreeBSD.org db at db.nethttp://www.db.net/~db
So many VCFs happening in the US but we have them in Europe too!
VCF Berlin is not even two months away (Oct 12th and 13th) and
you can still register as an exhibitor till Sept 8th.
Our special topic this year will be Computer from Germany.
The show will be located at the Technikmuseum (do I need to translate
that?) which is itself worth a visit.
So please attend, as exhibitor or visitor, admission is free!
For more information and a list of exhibitions see
https://vcfb.de/2019/index.html.enhttps://vcfb.de/2019/ausstellungen.html.en
Hope to see you there,
Angelo/aap
I have been contacted by a gentleman in the Seattle, WA area who would
like to put a Wang PC240 system into the hands of a collector rather
than see it scrapped.
The system includes the custom Wang keyboard (with extra function keys
and Wang "EXECUTE" key!), a 20MB half-height Seagate drive and 5.25"
DD floppy drive. There is no monitor included but I believe it used a
regular CGA signal. Manuals are included but no software.
I have not seen the system and have no interest in its sale. Please
direct all inquiries to Dave Felice at gelato321 at aol.com.
-j
> How about some pictures of what was inside. A picture that is atleast good
> enough to see what is there.
> Dwight
I did also take a photo of the interior, though nothing you'd be able
to read the chip designations on:
http://www.commodorejohn.com/whatsit-interior.jpg
My rough guesstimate is that the boards in the backplane are memory
and I/O options (two of them have cables going to the back panel, the
rest are apparently identical,) while the core functionality is on the
large board on the left and the second large board below it (which is
where the cable from the front panel go.)
Re:Re: So what the heck did I just pick up?
My guess is some type of interface between 1970's vintage Storage
Technologies gear and some test equipment and the
Tape subsystem. Perhaps a bus switch.
The clue is the STC Red and Black property number on the back -- that mates
the Storage Tek (then Storage Technologies Corp.
colors in their early days... So it's either something they purchased or
bought. The vintage look and 64 bit width makes me figure
it was either some kind of tape bus switch/diag panel for manufacturing or
field service use.
64 bits wide would be 2x32 bit word size.
Perhaps they built a diag box that sat before the IBM channel to let them
debug tape data transfers. The other thought is some kind of key to tape
alternative keypunch system...
Bill
--
d|i|g|i|t|a|l had it THEN. Don't you wish you could still buy it now!
pechter-at-gmail.com
******
>
Say, can anyone tell me which version of the kernel was the last one to
work with Decnet?
Does anyone know what the actual issues are? My friend who does kernel
stuff wants to know.
--
Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems: "The Future Begins Tomorrow"
Visit us at: http://www.yoyodyne-propulsion.net
--------
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign,
that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." -- Jonathan Swift
Beautiful front panel (1970s design).
It would make a nice front panel for a DIY Computer.
?
It is an RS-423 control/switch panel.
RS-423 is an EIA/TIA serial communications standard, BUT there is no common pinout (standard) for RS-423.
==
RS-232 was defined in 1962 by the Electronics Industry Association (now the Electronics Industry Alliance). Control of the standards definition was passed over to the Telecommunications Industry Association in 1988. Since then, standards documents relating to RS-232 are referenced by the code ?TIA.? The standard is currently known as TIA-232-F.
RS-432 was a faster version of RS-232 ? BUT it was not widely adopted.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-423
The BBC Micro computer used a 5-pin DIN connector. DEC used it with their Modified Modular Jack (MMJ) connector. This was sometimes called "DEC-423".
RS-432 was implemented in Apple Mac computers and the Enterprise 64 and 128 models. All other hardware manufacturers stuck with RS-232.
g. beat
elmhurst, is
Midwest VCF : September 14-15, 2019
http://vcfmw.org/
Sent from iPad Air
I'm just curious how many people have powered up their TRS-80 computers,
and ended up with a bang and a room filled with smoke?
So far, I've gotten the fireworks in two out of two TRS-80s (model 3 and
4) when they were powered up. In both cases, the problem was with the
main line filter capacitor mounted on one of the power supplies. The
computers continued to work which was my first clue the problem was not
serious :).
Is this a normal problem with these older computers? I'm used to seeing
the electrolytics give problems, but this is the first time I've seen
one of the X type line filter caps blow.
OK...?? it isn't Versatec or Calcomp but it is early HP.?? It's a
DesignJet 755CM.?? HP part number is C3198B.?? It was fully functional and
in weekly used when finally taken out of service but it's been sitting
for 20+ years in inside storage and it needs a new home. I haven't fired
it up as it *will* need new belts (just from sitting) but otherwise it
should be in fairly good mechanical/electronic condition. Lots of tech
data including the complete service manual can be found online.
It needs a new home.
Any interest? Physically/cosmetically it's in good shape although the
paper bin is not original.?? Its mounted on the classic DesignJet stand
for mobility and I have a box of assorted unused/sealed ink cartridges
(beyond that, their status is totally unk though).?? I can probably find
a roll of paper for it as well.
Located in the SF Bay area, it *could* be shipped but I suspect you
don't want go there - even if I boxed it myself.?? If there's a serious
interest, I'd be open to delivering it or meeting part way.?? Obviously,
I can part it out or just e-waste it but those seem like such a shame to do.
I could email some photos off-list if there's anyone interested.
Steve
With SMD disks even harder to come by than MFM disks, has there been any plug-in replacements developed for them? I've seen MFM disk emulators, haven't seen SMD ones though, anyone know if they exist?
> From: Zane Healy
> What I found really odd was that it had part numbers and manual names
> from one version, but when I clicked on the links it said no known
> version online.
They try and list all known DEC manuals and print sets that ever existed, so
just because something is listed in the index page (and has a subsidiary page
which is linked from there), doesn't mean there's a known copy online.
If you look in the "Status" column on the index page, it will be blank if no
online copy is known, or "Online" if there is a copy (to which they link,
through the subsidiary page).
I have mixed reactions to it. I use it some, often to see if something is
online at all. (If I buy a manual, I usually check, to see if I need to
scan it, and get it to Al. Have a backlog at the moment, sigh.)
The problem is that there are 'false negatives'; i.e. entries where
they say 'none known online', but which are available. E.g.
KE11-A Field Maintenance Print Set
http://manx-docs.org/details.php/1,9358
KE11-B Field Maintenance Print Set
http://manx-docs.org/details.php/1,9361
Both listed as not online, but they are: the KE11-A is on Bitsavers,
and the KE11-B I also just found (IIRC, on one of the collections they
list as indexed).
So I'd use it as a 'first stop', but don't depend on the negatives to
be accurate - do a Web seach if it pans out.
Noel
I am looking for 3 VME slot covers for a Sun 3/260. I presume ones from any Sun 3 VME cabinet will work.
For shipping purposes, I am in the Seattle area.
alan
While getting ready to order some Kemet caps from Digi-key (same P/N
posted earlier), I noticed they all had "RIFA" on them. Is this a big
OOPS to order them, or would they be okay?
I tend to prefer fixing something once :).
Marvin
I picked up a couple of HP 5036A logic trainers today, both of which have
had goopy decaying foam come into contact on their PCBs. What's effective
at removing it? I've only ever had problems with it in locations where I
can use things such as citrus-based cleaners, but I'm a bit wary of using
those around a PCB. Is regular Dawn/water likely to work?
thanks!
Jules
If anybody wants any DEC items brought up there for pickup or to do any
trading, please let me know so I can plan accordingly.
If you want to stop by here, please make arrangements ASAP. I plan on
going up Friday afternoon and returning Saturday evening.
Thanks, Paul
> From: Antonio Carlini
> I think the best thing to do would be to get the data into manx. Manx
> feels like the right tool for finding manuals.
Yes, I agree. Replicating the data, in a system which isn't organized to
hold it (i.e. the CHWiki) would be a desperation move, only to be taken
if nothing else was available.
> From: Matt Burke
> I think his address is legalize at xmission.com.
Ah, thanks very much for that; I'll give that a whirl.
> Let me know how you get on
I will report back here (hopefully there will be news).
Noel
Hello,
yes, bitsavers and the efforts of Al are invaluable!
Considering that I'm referring only to DEC PDFs, but the archive is indeed
far more vast then this, the time to maintain all of it is way over what
normal people would dedicate to free time jobs... simply that could mean
that Al is a superhero itself? :)
On the other side, for ignorant people like me, not knowing exactly what
and where find the right document, browsing over the sea of documents, and
over several sites (without knowing the exact list of addresses either)
could be difficult...
I really appreciate the folder sorting based of bitsavers, while other
archives with a flat list of files with the bare document code (no human
readable title) really needs an index at least...
I could scan all of my documents with a specified resolution and lossless
compression, even if these are duplicates of Carlini's, so these can be
added to bitsavers.
Could it be considered useful?
Thanks
Andrea
Starting around the VMS 5.5 era, isn?t anything from then or later on the Condist documentation CD?s? And thus we don?t have to make a priority for scanning?
Tim N3QE
> From: Al Kossow
> I don't even have time to deal with all of my paper.
Understood. A huge 'thank you' for all the work you have put in, to saving
and making available a massive quantity of old documentation.
Given that we have stuff scattered across a number of sites, rather than
bringing it all to one location, maybe we just need a single site with
pointers to them all. Oh, wait...
I guess I should see if Richard Thomson (he's the last name on:
http://manx-docs.org/about.php
so I assume it's still him) needs/could use help updating Manx content; anyone
know how to reach him (no contact info anywhere on the site)?
I guess if that fails, I could include links to online manuals in CHWiki
pages. That would be a massive campaign, even just the PDP-11 hardware and
PDP-10 hardware (all I'd want to do) would be weeks of works. There's no way I
could do all the other stuff on Bitsavers (e.g. PDP-10, -11 software, all the
VAX stuff - and that's just DEC).
Noel
