Hello friends,
I recently acquired a NIB 9-track for use in my (someday to be operational) PDP-11/23+ or PDP-11/73 (I've lost track of the details). I got it on ebay for $150 but the shipping from CA to NY was not insubstantial :). The ebay ad showed a well-used unit but when it arrived it was clearly new in box! Nice when that happens :) Some pix:
http://w2hx.com/x/VintageComp/Fujitsu-2444AC/
It is VERY heavy! Took me and my 17 year old (and a lot of sweat and swearing) to get it up to the attic where my burgeoning little vintage computing lab is shaping up.
I should mention, I'd like this tape drive to be able to work in either the various DEC OS's available (RT-11/RSX/others?) and also Unix/BSD which I plan (hope) to get up and running.
Now for some questions.
1. I've been told the QT13 is a very good card to interface here. I've been looking for a while on ebay without luck. I do see a QT14 on ebay right now at a good price, but I am not familiar with the "S" card business and what that means for use in a PDP-11 backplane.
2. Anyone have a QT13 for sale? Or based on my dec and unix interests, is there a better/recommended card?
3. Anyone have the 50 pin cables/connectors available? If not I feel confident I could make these up. But I thought I'd ask in case someone has a set getting in their way
4. Anyone ever make a pertec to USB project? Might be interesting to get access to old tapes on more modern computers?
Thanks all!
73 Eugene W2HX
Hi,
I have a stack of a few dozen CD-ROM disks with various files (old
software, backup files, photos). I'm willing to pay a reasonable rate
to have somebody read each of these in, convert them to .ISO files or
some other reasonable format, and either make them downloadable or
put them on a thumb drive.
Does anybody know of such a service? I can find lots of services for
converting audio CD's into MP3 files, but nothing that specifically
handles data CD-ROMs.
Any leads most appreciated. Please reply directly, as I don't often
check this list.
Thanks,
jp
One of my few remaining Holy Grail items, I got a Hayes Transet 1000
this week. My three-part Hayes stack is now complete.
I've scanned the manual and quick-ref card. The scan is not up to the
quality of my usual work, as I tried a new technique using a DSLR
instead of a scanner so I wouldn't have to take the manual apart. The
results are good enough to read, but that's about it. I'll re-do it
again someday with the proper tools. Here's the link:
http://chiclassiccomp.org/docs/index.php?dir=%2Fcomputing/Hayes
I have two manuals for the config software (alas only the Mac version
of the software itself), which I'll try to do soon. I'll image the
Mac disk as well. If anyone has the PC version of the software, I'd
love it have it.
-j
I have two Silent 700 terminals (model 745) that I bought quite a few years
ago (nonworking). Couldn't find a schematic. Last week I just happened to
search for one - and found a complete service manual with theory of
operation and full schematics! So I got them on the workbench.
The more worn one wouldn't print anything on the paper but was otherwise
working. I found that the nylon printhead pressure adjustment wheel had
split and fallen off the solenoid shaft into the case, along with the
pressure spring. Then it would print, but I promptly discovered that the
printhead has several "dots" missing in a pattern that could not be
accounted for by the driver circuitry. I confirmed it by swapping the
printhead from the other one, and now it prints perfectly. So at least I
have one working now :)
The second one in half-duplex mode will only beep (Ctrl-G), CR and LF in
half-duplex mode, so I know the keyboard is alive and there is power.
But it otherwise won't move the carriage forwards (including space), or
print any characters at all.
Before I go to the trouble of diagnosis and repair, does anyone have a good
printhead, or know where I can find one?
No point in fixing it if the characters won't be printing properly when I'm
done...
thanks
Charles
Still cleaning out for Nevada move.
http://www.myimagecollection.com/cemanuals/
Last 2 are interesting. 2075 Processing Unit and some Russian machine
EC4001. Number sounds familiar from my eBay sojourns.
Available for cost of Media Mail shipping. These buggers are heavy. As last
time, all or nothing.
Donald
Anyone know much about early MIPS workstations? I'm trying to get a
MIPS RS2030 to boot, without much luck so far. It goes through the
selftest but stops with the internal LED display at "5" accompanied by a
continuous beep.
Known problems:
- The Dallas DS1287 battery is flat; I can hack a 3V lithium onto that.
I assume it should still work to some extent even if the contents are lost?
- The RAM is highly suspect. I think it needs a minimum of 8MB to start
up. It has a good complement of SIPPs, but some of them are definitely
non-original and are actually 30-pin SIMMs that somebody has done a
rubbish job of soldering short stiff wires onto.
So I'd like to know what the RAM spec really is, whether I need to
reprogram the Dallas chip (and if so what goes where), and what the
diagnostic numbers on the internal LED mean. Anyone?
--
Pete
Pete Turnbull
So I called my buddy of 20+ years.
Got old PDP junk left?
Like what kinda junk?
PDP 8 or 11?
Hmm, got PDP 8 boards and BA11 boxes. PDP11 makes no sense, it is a series,
11/70 or what?
I know NOTHING about this stuff. I told him slide in boxes with flippy
switches. He laughed and said he will send me over a list of all the OLD DEC
stuff left in the warehouse. Shipping will be from Calif. Pickup avail, or
shipping, for rack stuff.
Cindy Croxton
Electronics Plus
1613 Water Street
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-370-3239 cell
sales at elecplus.com
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Found in the shelf in smecc library
- Case study of control data corporation 1958-1967 by Steven Arnold Estrin B.S.B
?a master's? thesis -? anyone know? him or this?
Ed# at SMECC
I have the opportunity to purchase some old 50-pin SCSI, ESDI, MFM, RLL etc.
drives.
There is no way to test them, and there are no refunds.
There are no dents or obvious signs of damage, but that means noting.
Is there any way to resurrect these if they are dead/defective?
Any interest?
Cindy Croxton
Electronics Plus
1613 Water Street
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-370-3239 cell
sales at elecplus.com
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I plan to go to Dallas next week for a quick run.
Things I know are there:
IBM XT and AT computers with kbds, no monitors. (3 pallets last I checked)
CASES of NIB 360K internal floppy drives (not diskettes) for the original
IBM PC
Some hdd for the original PCs, new and used
Defective IBM monitors (flybacks are no longer made)
Parts for 5140 computers, some NIB (no kbds)
Original DEC things that have orange flippy switches-WARNING! Smells like
dead rats and rat poop. Nasty condition! Looks something like this
https://obsolescence.wixsite.com/obsolescence/pidp-11
Lots of NIB off brand old computers, PCs, like Apex by Compaq
Most of the stuff is PC or laptop related
Let me know what u want and what u want to pay, I will bring it home and
ship. Car will only hold so much.
Cindy Croxton
Electronics Plus
1613 Water Street
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-370-3239 cell
sales at elecplus.com
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Hello;
In my quest to try to see what the problem is with my vs/60, I want to
convert it into a networked stand-alone machine, i.e. not use clustering
at all.? What is the easiest way to do this? I still want it to do
DECnet and TCPIP.
Carlos.
> From: Mister PDP
> reading through the "DLV11-E and DLV11-F asynchronous line interface
> user's manual", the diagrams of the DLV11-E and F do not line up my
> module.
Oh, must be a later board rev, one that's not covered in EK-DLV11-OP-001.
(I should have compared your pic with the manual illustration, sorry.)
{Checks}
Yes, there is a D rev etch; see page 22-3 of the "Microcomputer Products
Handbook" (perhaps the single most useful book for early QBUS stuff - anyone
who's working with that stuff should get one - they're not too hard to find
on eBait). The layout corresponds with the image of yours.
Noel
> From: Mister PDP
> I have this DEC M8017-AA / DLV11 module that I am trying to configure
> ... the only manuals or resources I can seem to scrounge up are for the
> DLV11-E, DLV11-F, and DLV11-J.
> If anybody knows what the jumper settings are, or where I can find
> them
Huh? According to EK-DLV11-OP-001, an M8017 _is_ a DLV11-E?
If you need config info for a DLV11 (M7940), it's available in the "LSI-11,
PDP-11/03 User's Manual" (EK-LSI11-TM-003), available in BitSavers.
Noel
Hello,
I have this DEC M8017-AA / DLV11 module that I am trying to configure to
act as a console. I have been trying to find a manual to tell me what
jumpers go where, but the only manuals or resources I can seem to scrounge
up are for the DLV11-E, DLV11-F, and DLV11-J.
If anybody knows what the jumper settings are, or where I can find them, I
would really appreciate it. Here is a image of the board I am trying to
configure: https://ibb.co/MS3hphz
Thank You, Gavin
> From: Zane Healy
> How safe is it to put modern rack rails (HP) in a classic DEC Rack?
May I ask why you're doing that? Are you trying to mount modern units
in an old rack?
If you're trying to mount old units (RK05's, BA11's, etc) in an old rack,
I've been working on finding old slide-mounts; e.g. I know the thing
to order for RK05's.
Noel
THAT IS? NEAT? AL NEVER? SAW THIS? BEFORE....THERE? WAS ALSO A? ?CHASSIS? THAT? DEC MADE? SORT? OF A LAB? COMPUTER TYPE OF THING THAT HAD? A? SWITCH AND LIGHT? FRONT PANEL AT ONE? TIME? FOR Q BUS???
I SEEM TO REMEMBER A? BROCHURE? ?ON IT ... AND IT IS? HERE.... SOMEWHERE.
ED#
In a message dated 4/29/2019 6:27:23 PM US Mountain Standard Time, aek at bitsavers.orgwrites:
I thought about it.. but..https://www.ebay.com/itm/133019966845
> It occurs to me that the turbochannel slots have 4A each. It would be
> entirely possible to print a whole open source board like the raspberry
> Pi (or banana Pi, etc) on a turbochannel card and kill two birds with
> one stone.
I'n not quite sure why people are so interested in killing birds with
stones, but perhaps that's a discussion for another time :)
I've thought about doing something similar. I use my Raspberry Pis / small
computers to do more than just MOP boot, serve NFS, and perhaps NAT or
route to the Internet:
https://hackaday.io/project/218-speed-up-pkgsrc-on-retrocomputers
(it does need to be updated a little)
It's not entirely clear whether you're talking about making a board that a
Pi (whether Raspberry, Banana, or other compatible) can just plug in, or
if you're talking about making a full TURBOchannel board that has a Pi on
the board itself ("print a whole open source board"). If the full board,
then it would make a lot more sense if it was interfaced directly to
TURBOchannel and could present itself as various devices such as mass
storage, ethernet and GPIO. Otherwise, why bother with the complexity?
My VAXstation 4000/90 has a TURBOchannel adapter. It was not easy to find,
nor was it cheap. I'm currently using it for a TC-USB card:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170831062121/http://www.flxd.de/tc-usb/
So a Pi on a TURBOchannel card wouldn't be useful for any of my other
VAXstation 4000/60 machines (nor VLC).
Otherwise, it would make a lot more sense to instead mount a Pi in a 3.5"
drive's space and use a Molex drive power connector to power it. One can
even get fancy and get a 12 volt to 5 volt regulator to power the Pi.
I looked in to the idea of using an ESP8266 in place of the AUI to give
older machines wireless, but it seems this is hardly trivial:
https://hackaday.com/2015/06/12/retro-edition-the-lan-before-time/
That also dissuaded me from imagining something that could plug in to the
AUI port and interface with a Pi or other SBC. The same goes for a modern,
inexpenive, small way to interface an SBC with the 10BASE2 ports on older
machines.
So I can't picture any better way to get ethernet from the back of the
machine to a Pi / SBC, internal or otherwise, without an AUI and ethernet
cable. How were you thinking of doing that?
John
> The system is mostly idle, RAM is mostly free (there's 32mb),
> there is almost no paging, but the CPU is spending upwards of 70% of the
> time in the interrupt stack mode.
If I had to guess, I'd say the most likely culprit is ethernet. Try
disconnecting ethernet, perhaps the AUI, too, and see if it's any
different.
John
On 4/28/19 3:55 PM, Ray Jewhurst via cctalk wrote:
> I am new to the list and would like to introduce myself. I
> am a computer history buff who especially likes DEC machines.
> I unfortunately don't own any hardware but I use Simh on a daily
> basis. I would like to start off with a question. I see that Bitsavers
> has a copy of VMS 1.5 and wanted to know if anyone got it working
> with the Vax 780 simulator?
> I hope to learn a lot from this group.
Hi Ray, about 18 months ago, I did indeed install VMS 1.5 on a simulated
(with simh) VAX-11/780. It was not particularly difficult, but it did take
a bit more effort than I expected. Here is what I did and the problems that
I came across. I am typing this from memory, so I might have mis-remembered
the odd fact.
The instructions tell you to create a bootable disk from tape using the DSC
utility. However, DSC was something that ran in PDP-11 emulation mode on a
VAX and was discontinued early enough in the evolution of VMS that it was
not present on any of my simulated systems (VMS 4.x, 5.x and 7.3). I needed
to build a VMS 3.0 system in order to complete copying the VMS 1.5 tape to
disk. If you have a simulated PDP-11 system, you might be able to use that
instead.
Building the VMS 3.0 system gave me another problem in that I tried using a
simulated TE16 (Massbus) tape drive to read the VMS 3.0 installation tape.
This should have been fine, but actually I uncovered a bug in simh. Bob
Supnik fixed the bug, but you do need to use an up to date version of simh
to get the bug fix. If you need to use an old version of simh for some
reason, then use a TS (Unibus) tape drive and all should be well.
VMS 1.5 is primitive compared with later versions, but does have historical
interest. Do let me know if you want any further information about my
adventures with VMS 1.5.
Cheers
Peter Allan
Was given a tapedrive in rather bad condition, but it has no manufacturers name on it.
Pics on ftp://ftp.dreesen.ch/Tapedrive
Anyone recognizes this ? The paddle PCB says "paddle board, 7/9 level tape handler."
Not even sure if it is a computer tape drive or an instrument / data logger...
Yours if you pick it up ( and be prepared to spend quit some time to clean this one up. Unit has seen more this its share of water over the years)
Location : CH
Jos
Good Monday Evening (or Tuesday Morning if you are beyond the International
Dateline)!
Here is the latest batch of computers and boards and peripherals and things
that I've carefully curated for your consideration and consumption from my
collection:
Homebrew Small Form Factor S-100 System
Indus GT 5.25" Floppy Drive (Atari)
ADPI Easi-Disk 5.25" External Serial Disk Drive
Camwil Printwheel - Pica 10
Camwil Printwheel - Elite 12
Diablo Black Cloth Ribbon
Diablo HiType-I FIlm Ribbon (6 pack)
GP Technologies Printwheel - Titan Legal 10
Xerox Metal Printwheel - Titan Legal 10
Xerox Metal Printwheel - Vintage 12
Toshiba T1950CT Laptop
Toshiba T4900CT Laptop
Commodore 1311 Joystick (boxed)
Microsoft InPort Mouse w/Mouse Interface
Articulate Systems Voice Impact Pro
Dysan 100 MD2HD 5.25" Floppy Diskettes (10-pack)
Curtis Electro Devices PR5200B 32x8 Memory Programmer
Asante FriendlyNet Adapter
Perkin-Elmer PC AT Single T4 4 Meg Transputer
CompuPro CPU 8085/88
CompuPro CPU 8085/88 (incomplete)
CompuPro RAM16
CompuPro RAM21
Comrex The S100 TimePiece
JVB Electronics Spool-Z-Q 100
MATCO Data Products EPROM Emulator/Programmer
Morrow Designs MM256K
CompuPro/Viasyn SPUZ 64K
Viasyn Interfacer 3A (bare board)
Viasyn Interfacer 4 (bare board)
Atari XG-1 Light Gun
Atari XE Keyboard
IBM PCjr Internal Modem
IBM PCjr RF Modulator
MOS Technology KIM-1 (Rev. A)
Commodore KIM-1 (Rev. G)
Radio Shack TRS-80 64K Color Computer
DEC Celebris FP 590 PC
Links to information on these items and more can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1I53wxarLHlNmlPVf_HJ5oMKuab4zrApI_hi…
Photos are linked in the descriptions. I will be going back and adding
photos for the last couple batches in the near future and will post an
update when they are up.
As ever, please contact me directly by e-mail via <sellam.ismail at gmail.com>
to inquire or make an offer on a particular item.
Thank you!
Sellam