Hi list,
I have here a part number 370-1327-04, which is a 207MB Maxtor 50pin
SCSI disk. It's mounted on the right bracket to go in an SS2 - I'm
guessing this is probably the same for the 1 and 1+, but I don't know.
Is anyone interested in this drive, or even just the bracket, before I
pitch it? Usual deal - I'll ship to anywhere as long as you pay the
cost.
Ed.
Hi all, I just spotted an R10K Onyx on eBay UK. It's not of any interest
to me (had 2 before!) but thought someone here may want to care for it.
Item number is 110215756310
Cheers,
James
>> Current custodian of the University of London machine, having
>> bought the
>> 200,000 pound machine for 150 pounds in 1976.
>
> Still a 200,000 pound machine, regardless of the price.
> That was big iron back then. :) How hard is to keep and get spares
> for that system?
I bought a machine which I stripped for spares and also the previous
owners had got most of the parts from the factory when they had
cleared their parts store.
Some SES light bulbs are still available from classic car parts
stores, and wedge lamps were used in old telephone exchanges which
sometimes come up on eBay, I even got some 17volt ones a while back,
and some are still available new from RS components and they even
make LED equivalents at a price, though they're the wrong shade of
white.
The rarer transistors sometimes come up on eBay too. The commonest
(Mullard GET871/GET872/A/B/C) are difficult to get, though I passed
on a half dozen on eBay where the blue plastic had turned brown -
looked like they had blown up or got hot when de-soldered.
Fortunately I have enough for the foreseeable future.
Diodes (mainly OA5 and OA10) did have sky high prices and now are
unavailable but I've got thousands.
Of course resistors, capacitors and inductors are still available,
though they do not look the same, and I still have to find out why
the resistors have double green bands where there should be a gold
band for the tolerance. I have been lucky so far with the
electrolytics, not one has blown up, despite being 46 years old. They
bought the best components available back then, and hand built them
and tested every soldered joint and marked it with lacquer to show it
had been tested. The biggest electrolytics are bigger than a hand
grenade, so I hope they never fail!
There two types of valves in the tape drives. I got about a hundred
of one type with the machine, and not used one, the other type I've
picked up in the States on eBay, they are used in old CNC spark
eroders apparently.
I am rapidly getting though my stock of 'rubber' pinch rollers for
the mag tape drives, which go hard and crack up. The same thing
happens with the rubber-like roller in the punch card reader, but
that is about 4 inch diameter, so it is currently wrapped in four
layers of motorcycle inner tube, though its not very effective and I
may have to mould a new one in synthetic rubber.
Most of the mechanical parts are simply unavailable, but I have a
lathe and a milling machine.
I bought some flat belts for driving the tape capstan rollers, they
are commonly used as knitting machine drive belts apparently. V belts
for the drums and line printer are fortunately standard car parts.
Line printer ribbons will be a problem (when I get the printer
working again). I have a box of a dozen or more but if they have now
dried up by now I will be amazed. There used to be re-inking firms
around, or maybe I could just buy the ink and get my hands dirty.
Should not be unsurmountable, even if the fabric has failed, its just
(nylon?) cloth, should be able to get something to do the job.
I've a good stock of blank punched cards and paper tape (5 and 8
track) and enough mag tapes to keep me going for a long time. Fan
fold paper is probably still available new and when I see any cheap
locally on eBay I buy it up.
The logic indicator tubes (DM170 or something like that) never seem
to fail. The microswitches (particularly the start switch which takes
a hammering when single stepping a program) are in short supply,
though I don't see too much of a problem in fitting modern sub-micro
versions and extending the actuating arms. Multi-segment rotary
switches just need a squirt of switch cleaner/lubricant from time to
time.
One problem, and it sounds stupid, is the rotary switch knobs. They
are made of plastic and they fit on a 1/4 inch shaft with a flat
section, nothing unusual there. There is a boss on the back which
fits into a recess in the formica covered blockboard (yes the
computer has wood in it) front panel. These bosses break off. The
shafts are not long enough for most modern knobs, and anyway I want
to keep it looking original. Because of the recess, it is not
possible to use knobs with a screw. I am thinking about making some
aluminium knobs which I can glue or screw into the original front
parts of the knobs. The problem is making the flat part which fits
the flat of the shaft. I suppose I could make them of brass and then
put sufficient soft solder in the hole so that I can shove it onto
the shaft so that it won't come off easily. I guess there must be a
tool for making D-shaped holes somewhere, or maybe there should be
some spring steel in there somehow.
The relay contacts need cleaning sometimes, though they are platinum
so are pretty reliable.
There are no edge connectors in the computer itself, every one of the
4000 PCBs is wire wrapped in, which means there are about 50,000 test
points. The racks in the computer are also wire wrapped together, no
plugs and sockets. This all improves reliability and I think accounts
for the machine's survival (well that and my eccentricity). The tape
drives have some plugs and sockets and edge connectors, but have so
far been reasonably reliable as well.
Castors were a nightmare. The tyres on the ones on the (800 lb) tape
drives crack up. The ones on the computer have a flat top with a stud
poking out. The stud has a washer and a nut and fit into an open
ended slot with another nut on top. Any jolt and the stud bends. If I
have to move anything heavy now, I remove the washer and first nut
and make up a three inch piece of wood the equivalent thickness to
take their place, which spreads the load over a larger area instead
of concentrating it on the stud.
Fuses: small ones still available from Maplin for peanuts, large ones
are NATO standard and cost silly money, so I drill the ends, empty
out the sand and solder 10,15 or 20 amp domestic fuse wire into the
old cartridges.
Meters, so far very reliable apart from one where the needle would
not go above a certain point, so I had to dismantle it and glue the
glass back in which was what the needle was jamming on.
I think that just about covers all the parts which go wrong.
Roger Holmes
On 16 Jan, 2008, at 18:00, cctalk-request at classiccmp.org wrote:
>
> Message: 11
> Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:13:44 -0800 (PST)
> From: "James A. Markevitch" <jam at magic.com>
> Subject: Re: VLSI of classic architectures (was Re: 11/70 board set on
> e-bay. . .)
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
> Message-ID: <200801160613.WAA26599 at magellan.magic.com>
>
>> On 15/01/2008 17:37, James A. Markevitch wrote:
>>>> Chuckles at the typo.Is the PDP-8 the only classic architecure
>>>> from the mid
>>>> 1960's that was made with VLSI components.
>>>
>>> IBM 360 (still being made today)
>>
>> Is it?
>
> The 360 itself is not, but the architecture is, and in multi-GHz
> parts.
>
>>> PDP-11 (LSI-11)
>>
>> Definitely not mid 1960s. The first PDP-11 appeared in 1970, and
>> LSI-11
>> came out in 1975!
>
> Well, the architecture was conceived in April 1969, I believe :-).
> Guess
> that's not quite mid 1960's.
It is not normal to consider conception dates, neither with computers
nor babies. I don't go calling my ICT 1301 a late '50s computer just
because it was conceived in 1959, nor because thats when some of the
technical drawings date from. Its an early '60s machine because the
first one shipped in 1962, and you could even argue about that as it
was actually an extra prototype which the University of London
pressed ICT into supplying because otherwise there would be no
undergraduate intake in 1962 as they were committed to it, having had
the computer on order for a LONG time. As the factory prototypes were
refined, engineers would be sent out to also modify the university's
machine.
At a meeting of the Computer Conservation Society, the chap in charge
of the software said it was the only computer which ICT/ICT ever
shipped where the system software and libraries were ready before the
first machine shipped. Most of it had been hand executed to verify it
apart from the real time aspects, which had been the big hold up,
particularly the routine which punched one card whilst reading six
cards and printing one line. For months they had been travelling from
London to Coventry every night to test the next amendment of version
one and failing whilst some of the programmers had been putting
together a version two in their spare time. One night they rang their
manager, waking him in the early hours. They said they were not
getting anywhere with version one, and asked for permission to try
version two. This was grudgingly given as a sop to frustration. It
worked first time, and version one was abandoned and at last all the
software was ready.
Roger Holmes.
Current custodian of the University of London machine, having bought
the 200,000 pound machine for 150 pounds in 1976.
On Jan 17, 2008, at 2:11 AM, Doc Shipley wrote:
> There can't be too many people named Chris in Buffalo who
> collect old
> Unix gear and have an amazing array of install media and software for
> them. If this is who I think it is, he's legit and very easy to deal
> with. I've bought both equipment and media from him.
Yes, it is him. He's also the one who sells PS/2->SGI {Indigo|Crimson|
Onyx|Personal IRIS|Professional IRIS} keyboard adaptors.
Dear Sir,
i would like to ask you the price for IBM 8530-021 and cost for shipping to italy.
IBM 8530-021 computer still working??
Best Regards
Filippo
Fly Informatica snc
tel. 0572 445340
fax 0572 448378
Le informazioni contenute nella presente comunicazione ed i relativi allegati possono essere riservati e sono comunque, destinati esclusivamente alle persone e agli Enti sopraindicati.
La diffusione, distribuzione e/o copiatura del documento trasmesso da parte di qualsiasi soggetto diverso dal destinatario ? proibita, sia ai sensi dell'art. 616 c.p. che ai sensi del D.Lgs.n.196/2003.
Se avete ricevuto questo messaggio per errore, vi preghiamo di distruggerlo e di informarci immediatamente per telefono allo 0572 445340 o inviando un messaggio di posta elettronica all'indirizzo: info at flyinformatica.it.
In caso di ricezione mancata o incompleta, telefonare al numero 0572 445340.
... and was rewarded with a gift of 3 very rare Honewell Bull diskcartidges, which will go a long way in keeping my Lilith running for a few more years.
And even more importantly, I got loaned all technical infomation on the Lilith : circuit decription, schematics, microcode listings, you name it, it is there !
Expect scans shortly !
( and they have a nice Cray on display in their basement )
However I do feel somewhat stupid now, having spend quite a bit of time reversing engineering my own Lilith....
Jos Dreesen
One thing that has worked for mee in the past is to replace the "gummy"
rubber with black adhesive lined heatshrink tubing. Measure the old roller
diameter, remove old rubber down to metal part, carefuly shrink on a piece
of new heatshrink. Oversize heatshring builds up thickness quickely, sizes
close to the diameter do so more slowly. With *care* it can be turned to
the correct diameter although not by much, you need to be close to finished
size.
I used adhesive lined for the first layer on the metal core, susequent
layers stick to each other quite well.
Mike
>
> Message: 19
> Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:03:35 +0900
> From: "David Vohs" <netsurfer_x1 at fastmailbox.net>
> Subject: Ye old HP-85 "gummy" pinch roller problem.
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
> Message-ID: <1200488615.10086.1231544527 at webmail.messagingengine.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
>
> Just wanted to pose the question to the group in regards to the gummy
> pinch roller problem in the HP-85.
>
> Anyone know where I can find a commpatible, hard plasic pinch roller?
>
>
very much strapped for cash. If you're interested,
e-mail an offer off-list. I have to admit it's not
going to go cheaply...snifful
____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
It powers on, doesn't see the internal hard drive (or there isn't on
there,) 12mb, modem installed, floppy drive works, serial port works.
Don't have the A/C adaptor but works off the Toshiba adaptor I had
lying around.
Not particularly classic, but it kills me to throw even this one out.
So if anyone needs yet another serial terminal....
Free + shipping from 60074.
--
j
> Chuckles at the typo.Is the PDP-8 the only classic architecure from the mid
> 1960's that was made with VLSI components.
IBM 360 (still being made today)
Data General Nova (MicroNOVA)
PDP-11 (LSI-11)
Maybe HP 21xx (A series?)
Just to name a few.
James Markevitch
-------------- Original message from ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell): --------------
> > I know the design well. The contacts spring togethe, and are kept apart
> by a plastic pin in the plunger when the key is not pressed.
>
> The keycap is a press-fit into the plunger, which means it slightly
> stretches the latter. In time the plunger cracks anyway, even if you
> don'y drop anything on it.
>
> The other prolem is fitting new contacts. At one time you could buy
> individual contacts and more importantly a tool to hold them and press
> them in place without damaging them. Said tool was (at least) sold by
> Radio Shack Nationl Parts Centre and HP (I have part numbers for both),
> but AFAIK it's now unavailale, It's possilble to use long-nose pliers
> carefully, but it's very easy to mangle the contacts.
>
> >
> > What I would like to find is a doner type of system that does not have
> > any value so I can rob the middle piece.. (typewiter) ???
>
> I've seen this type of keyswitch on (at least) the following :
>
> DEC VT50 series
> DEC VT100 series
> TRS-80 Model 1 (early version only)
> TI 99/4a
> HP80 series (HP85, etc)
> HP9915 keyboard (very rare!)
> HP98203 (small keyboard for the HP9816)
> HP2623 (IIRC) graphics terminal
>
> Unfortunatley none of those are exactly common. When I repaired my 9816,
> I was lucky enough to find a 'spare' VT52 keyboard PCB i nthe junk box,
> given to me with a load of other DEC spares, which provided contacts,
> plungers, even keycaps.
>
> -tony
>
Yes that is what I'm finding . The donors have more value than the
pieces I'm working on.
Tony, Do you have one of these tools ??? and/or what it looks like
- Jerry
Jerry wright
g-wright at att.net
I have a couple of Macintosh Color Classics I'd like to find a home
for. As far as I know, they both work. One has been upgraded with a
faster system board and one has a IIe card in it. I also have the
cable and external 5.25" drive to go with the IIe card. Both machines
come with a keyboard and mouse.
The catch is, I'm not really interested in packing and shipping them.
I'd first like to see if anyone is willing to come pick them up. I'm
in Bedford, NH 03110 and would be willing to drive a bit to meet
someone if that is necessary.
Anyone interested?
David Betz
Looking for an Western Digital WD1001 MFM controller card , preferably working.
It is an 8X305 based, very early controller card .
I do not know how rare they were, but they are bound to be rare now.
Jos Dreesen
From: dwight elvey <dkelvey at hotmail.com>
> More voltage and it would have used more power. Less
> voltage and it would have been too slow. In the DTL days,
> unlike today, the major factor in speed was the transistors
> them selves and not the interconnect. Today, the interconnect
> dominates and the smaller one can make the transistors,
> the shorter the interconnects.
I've got a brief Moto app note here from the late 60's that
essentially says that 7400/5400 TTL could be run from Vcc as high as
+7, so long as V(IH) was not allowed to go any higher than +5. The
term "exceptional circumstances" is used, meaning, I suppose, where
better noise immunity or more speed is required.
Since this is contemporary with 5400/7400 SSI, I don't know if it
could be carried over to more recent MSI/LSI TTL circuits.
RTL had a much wider supply range, IIRC.
FWIW,
Chuck
Just wanted to pose the question to the group in regards to the gummy
pinch roller problem in the HP-85.
Anyone know where I can find a commpatible, hard plasic pinch roller?
Not me, but saw this mentioned elsewhere (from New York):
http://buffalo.craigslist.org/sys/540478438.html
> Date: 2008-01-15, 9:04PM EST
>
>
>
> I'm clearing out some of my collection of older Unix-based systems,
> and at this point, I just want to be rid of them. I'm offering them
> for $20 each. Any less than that, and I'll part them out, and
> reclaim the gold. If you want more than $100 in gear, let me know,
> and I'll work out a deal with you.
>
> Most of these systems all worked the last time I used them, and all
> have CPU's, memory, and a disk. Some of the rest of them I never
> got around to doing anything with, so I don't know for sure if they
> have a disk. I also don't know for sure what the exact specs are --
> the model numbers don't really help, because I usually reconfigured
> them when they arrived. Some of these systems take proprietary
> keyboards and mice, which I may or may not have laying around.
> Others (like Sun, for example) I have more keyboards than I know
> what to do with.
>
> I do have ISOs of operating system installation CD's for most of
> these systems, which I can burn onto DVD-R in trade for a bunch of
> blanks.
>
> Here's a list of the machines that need homes:
>
> - DEC/Digital MicroVAX 2000; this one doesn't have a disk, so it'd
> have to be net booted over a LAVc.
> - Silicon Graphics Indy; I have two of these to move.
> - DEC/Digital DEC 3000 Alpha workstation
> - DEC/Digital Personal DECstation 5000/25
> - Sun SPARCstation 2; not sure if this one works anymore -- you can
> have it for free
> - Sun SPARCstation 4
> - Sun SPARCstation 5
> - HP B160L
> - HP C240
> - IBM 43p
> - Sun Ultra 10
> - Silicon Graphics Indigo2; a few Express graphics systems and a
> couple Impact graphics systems. The R10k Max Impact with a lot of
> memory is something I'd like to get $50 for.
>
> Non-workstation stuff that I want to move:
> Chaparral Fibre Channel to SCSI bridge
> Brocade Silkworm 2800 -- two carcasses, with one supply in each --
> one has the password set, and the other doesn't boot properly, and
> I don't use Brocade, so I don't need them.
>
> I also have Fibre Channel and SCSI storage and accessories, which
> would be more than the $20 each. I have 73GB SCSI drives in
> UltraWide SCSI arrays, and I have 181GB FC drives in small
> standalone enclosures. I do also have 1G/2G/4G Fibre Channel PCI
> cards, cables, GBICs/SFPs, etc. If you need anything to do with FC/
> SCSI storage, let me know.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris
>
>
>
>
> * Location: North Tonawanda
> * it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other
> commercial interests
>
>
>
>From: "Jason T" <silent700 at gmail.com>
>
>
>>> From: Alan Perry <alanp at snowmoose.com> <alanp at snowmoose.com>
>>
>>> A friend of mine has a Coleco Adam (and bits to go with the system) that
>>> he wants to get rid. I do not yet have the complete list of what he
>>> has. Anyone here interested in it? It is located in Shelton, WA. It
>>> sounded like it was free, but I need to confirm that.
>>
>>
>
>Any idea if he's willing to ship it?
>
I expect that he is going to ship it (at the expense of whoever gets it).
My friend was quite surprised when I forwarded him e-mail from 4 people
who were interested in it.
alan
> > Does anybody know why the 7400-series TTL used +5V for Vcc? I've
>
> ---snip---
>
> To make them plug compatable with DTL. Next!
> Dwight
OK, if that's the case, then why 5V for DTL?
-Bobby
>
>Subject: Supply voltage for 2N2/256-BSCP
> From: Robert Nansel <bnansel at bigpond.net.au>
> Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:24:59 +1030
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
>
>On Wed 16 Jan Brent Hilpert said:
>
>> ...
>> I hope you're not looking to mimic TTL - you'll have trouble sourcing
>> multi-emitter transistors in discrete form. (I know - it's outside
>> your design
>> constraint anyways.) More seriously, looking to TTL or standard DTL
>> ICs for
>> design would kind of chew up the transistor count very quickly. Is
>> there a
>> reason you're not looking to period/original discrete-component
>> logic designs?
>
>I am using discrete diode-transistor logic; I'm just trying to
>figure out what a sensible Vcc should be. I've seen discrete
>transistor logic designs with Vcc voltages from 3.6V clear on up to
>90V, plus and minus (and often both). I suspect the higher voltages
>were more out of habit from vacuum tube days, but perhaps there were
>other reasons.
More in the realm of other reasons. Transistors of the day could not
switch much current so I^2R ruled where higher voltage at the current
they could switch was used to get enough power. This was balanced
against device breakdown voltages. Other factors that are to be
considered is higher voltages allow larger signal swings for better
noise immunity at the cost of speed (R*C).
>Since I'll ultimately run this whole thing from batteries, I would
>naturally prefer to deal with 6V or 12V (or even 3V or 4V, depending
>on the battery chemistry), less the <mumble> dropout voltage of my
>regulator.
Forget batteries. The voltage stability will be important and as you
get enough powered elements you'll find that all those milliamps start
to pile up to amps, potentially lots of them.
I'd stick to 5V for interface to current parts where needed but you
might find time to look at old machines and their design. One of the
things done was -V to reverse bias transistors to help with stored
charge for faster switching. The -V was in the range of -3 to -10V.
The most recent of transistor machines like the PDP-8 (link-8 too
as well as early DEC modules and the TX2 machine) would be an example
to look at. FYI: the really ond machines used PNP transistors as the
Germainium technology was better able to make those, that only means
all the votages are "upside down" compared to what we currently expect.
>So far I've been able to keep everything in the ALU data path to a
>depth of two diode gates. I'm using the complementary outputs from
>three flip-flops for true and inverted versions of the A-word and B-
>word bit streams and Carry inputs to the adder. It takes more gates
>this way, 25 diodes but no inverters, versus 12 diodes with two
>inverters.
Watch fanout, that is output of the FF being loaded with enough current
sinks to inhibit operation or make for lousy noise immuunity. Many
designs used enough inverters to avoid needing buffers, again a
balanacing act.
Allison
On Wed 16 Jan Brent Hilpert said:
> ...
> I hope you're not looking to mimic TTL - you'll have trouble sourcing
> multi-emitter transistors in discrete form. (I know - it's outside
> your design
> constraint anyways.) More seriously, looking to TTL or standard DTL
> ICs for
> design would kind of chew up the transistor count very quickly. Is
> there a
> reason you're not looking to period/original discrete-component
> logic designs?
I am using discrete diode-transistor logic; I'm just trying to
figure out what a sensible Vcc should be. I've seen discrete
transistor logic designs with Vcc voltages from 3.6V clear on up to
90V, plus and minus (and often both). I suspect the higher voltages
were more out of habit from vacuum tube days, but perhaps there were
other reasons.
Since I'll ultimately run this whole thing from batteries, I would
naturally prefer to deal with 6V or 12V (or even 3V or 4V, depending
on the battery chemistry), less the <mumble> dropout voltage of my
regulator.
So far I've been able to keep everything in the ALU data path to a
depth of two diode gates. I'm using the complementary outputs from
three flip-flops for true and inverted versions of the A-word and B-
word bit streams and Carry inputs to the adder. It takes more gates
this way, 25 diodes but no inverters, versus 12 diodes with two
inverters.
In reading some stupid web site today that claimed to have a canonical
list of "top 50 arguments of computing" (e-week? someplace I normally
ignore), they had the "DEC vs. IBM" argument in which they claimed
that AS/400 was created as a "VAX killer" by IBM.
Is this really true? I never heard of an AS/400 described that way.
They also had some weird ideas about DEC vs. IBM networking described
in that argument, as if neither company supported TCP/IP until their
proprietary networks (DECnet and SNA) were forced to relinquish ground
to open protocols.
OK, googling brings up the link. "Network World" is the culprit:
<http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/102607-arguments-dec-ibm.html?nwwpkg=…>
--
"The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download
<http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html>
Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>
I've not seen these before, but then I live in the Q-bus world.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120210769260
Are these some sort of serial I/O connectors for use with either
top-edge connectors, or in a backplane ?
Just curious. . .
Tim
________________________________________________________________________
More new features than ever. Check out the new AIM(R) Mail ! -
http://webmail.aim.com
>> > (As I've said before on the list) there was at least one third-party producing
>> > a TCP/IP stack for VMS before DEC got around to it.
>>
>> CMU-IP from Carnegie Mellon?
>
> The implementation I was recalling was from the Wollongong Group (Univ. in
> Australia) (WIN/TCP I believe).
TWG was a Silicon Valley company.