test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

I'm not one that ever advocates tearing apart classic gear. But in this case I think it's warranted and I'd like some advice. I have more than a few RA81's that are all clearly labled "BAD HDA", and the person I got them from confirmed "these are all dead". I grabbed them anyways as they had to be taken as part of "the deal". I am not familiar with these drives at all. From what I've heard over the years, they have a fairly high failure rate and thus people who use them are often looking for HDA assemblies. This makes me think that it's unlikely that I'll be able to just pull the bad HDA's out and obtain good ones to put in. Plus I don't need this many drives at all, so I think it's time to tear them apart and scrap them. Since I don't know anything about RA81's yet (have never used them or opened one up), and because I do intend to keep one or two of the drives running (a few don't say "bad hda" on them), can someone tell me what parts I should scavange off the dead ones that are worth keeping as spares? I know the obvious like the light bulbs and drive select plugs, but what about components on the inside that "those in the know" would advise I not just pitch with the drives? Lastly, are the casings for the RA81's mostly steel, or aluminum? I'm pondering putting them in the van and taking to a scrap metal dealer. I wouldn't do this, but they are clearly dead, HDA's not likely to appear, no one wants them, and I need the space. Jay West

19 years, 7 months

PolyPaks (was Re: OT: Where have electronics hobby stores gone?)

by James＠jdfogg.com

> > I'd like to see the ads again. > > The adverisments really defined just how people saw the techology. > > I think I still have a Poly Paks data sheet for a uA709 > op-amp (TO- 99). Was pretty amazing stuff back then. I grew up in Wakefield Massachusetts. I used to ride my bike over to PolyPaks and raid their dumpster on a regular basis. It looks like they used to get all sorts of stuff for evaluation that they'd toss. Sometimes I'd have money to spend there too.

19 years, 7 months

OT: Where have electronics hobby stores gone?

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

--- Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote: > On 11/5/06, Roger Merchberger > <zmerch-cctalk at 30below.com> wrote: > > Under the IC listing, I found an $80 8Mhz Moto > 68000!?!?!?! > > Ye gods!!! > > Wow! I'm Rich! > > Personally, I'd queal if I had to pay more than > $5-$10 for a 68000-8. > > -ethan > Well, I paid about $10 USD (?5 GBP) for 3 68000 processors and that included P&P to the UK. Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk

19 years, 7 months

fyi: new superPET doc

by nospam212-cctalk＠yahoo.com

I've added the SuperPET Waterloo APL manual on my site. http://www.trailingedge.com/cbm8/ (Warning it is 38 meg) ----- David Williams http://www.trailingedge.com

19 years, 7 months

11/44 memory question

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

It would appear that the slots designated "MEMORY" in the 11/44 (slots 9-12 in the *system* backplane) are actually "Extended Unibus" slots. My reading is that these slots allow 22 bits of memory addressing instead of 18. So, of they are still "unibus" slots, does that mean that if there is one board in slot 9, that slots 10-12 should have grant continuity cards (G727)? If they are unibus slots I would certainly think so, but they are designated for memory only... and I can't find any reference to using grant cards there for non-populated memory slots. Anyone know off the top of their head? Jay

19 years, 7 months

PolyPaks (was Re: OT: Where have electronics hobby stores gone?)

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

On 11/5/06, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote: > On 4 Nov 2006 at 11:19, woodelf wrote: > > > We want poly-packs back ... how do I get my 2 cent 7400's with 3 working gates > > each for my next big project. :) > > When ICs were very dear, PP wasn't such a bad deal, even if they > offered mostly floor sweepings. I was surprised at how many ICs in > one of their assortments didn't even have plating on the pins. > > But I last bought from PP when RTL and DTL were all the rage. Back in that era, I wasn't buying too many parts, but I remember looking over all the stuff they would cram in their ads and wishing I had a few bucks to scrape together. -ethan

19 years, 7 months

Radio Shack Science Fair manuals

by magneticsciguy＠yahoo.com

Do you know of a group(s) exchanging Radio Shack Science Fair manuals? I'm thinking of rolling all of these into torrent(s) as I get them collected. I have manuals (that I can scan in, in a few phases) for: 28-249 "200 in 1" 28-267 "75 in One" & need manuals 28-245 "20 in 1" 28-259 "130 in One" Thanks much! Brian P.S. Radio Shack itself has a scattered few like (280-0161) "30-in-1" http://support.radioshack.com/support_games/doc18/18973.htm ----------------------------------- "Going back to 2003 and a post you made about the Radio Shack Science Fair 10 in 1... :) I have a manual for the 28-225 if you would like a scanned copy. Just let me know." http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2005-June/196536.html ____________________________________________________________________________________ Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail (http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/)

19 years, 7 months

TI 99/4a Manual

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

--- Robert Borsuk <rborsuk at colourfull.com> wrote: > Hi, > Anyone interested in a TI 99/4a Editor / Assemble r > manual and two > floppies? (no cartridges) > Figure $8 priority mail shipping. > > If no one claims it, it's going in the trash. > > Rob > If no-one claims it by next Saturday the I'll take them. I don't have a TI 99/4a at present, but might end up with one in the future :) Even if I don't, the manual will be an interesting read ;) Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk

19 years, 7 months

fyi: New Exidy Sorcerer docs

by nospam212-cctalk＠yahoo.com

Added some new Exidy Sorcerer docs up today. The Sorcerer S-100 Expansion Unit Technical Manual and the Software Internals Manual for the Sorcerer. They're in my Exidy section on my site at http://www.trailingedge.com/exidy/ ----- David Williams http://www.trailingedge.com

19 years, 7 months

Disk image needed

by teoz＠neo.rr.com

Looking for a disk image for a dead floppy. The disk is WATCOM VX-REXX Version 2.0, made in 1994 for OS/2. I just need an Image of disk 2/2. Can provide an image of my original disks and manuals if you like. Winimage format is fine, contact me offlist. Thanks, TZ

19 years, 7 months

TI 99/4a Manual

by rborsuk＠colourfull.com

Hi, Anyone interested in a TI 99/4a Editor / Assembler manual and two floppies? (no cartridges) Figure $8 priority mail shipping. If no one claims it, it's going in the trash. Rob

19 years, 7 months

Fw: Tandy PDD2 Portable Disk Drive 2 - Mint Cond

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

Check out this auction ----- Original Message ----- From: "Neil Morrison" <neilsmorr at gmail.com> To: "M100 List" <m100 at list.30below.com> Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:44 AM Subject: eBay: Tandy PDD2 Portable Disk Drive 2 - Mint Cond > > http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150051417513 > > Winning bid: US $306.00 > > Glad I got mine long ago!! > > Neil > > >

19 years, 7 months

Time to purge - pickup only in the NW Indiana/Chicago area.

by nerdware＠ctgonline.org

The time has come for me to let go of the collection - I want my basement and garage back, and I just lost interest and don't have the time any more. I have an assortment of stuff, inlcuding a complete PCJr, a Kaypro II with bunches of disks, some Tandy stuff, and a couple of older Macs, along with several boxes of old Byte magazines. I donated a big lot of it to another collector several years ago, and this is what I had kept. But now it's time for even that to go - I'm keeping my first VIC-20 and my Amigas, along with one Mac SE/30 just for fun. I started listing stuff on *bay, but I no longer have time or easy access to the place where I used to ship from, and I'm just too busy to do it now anyway. If this interests you, please email me offline and I can give you some more details. If I don't hear from anyone in a week, I'm afraid it's going to the recycler. -- Paul Braun Valparaiso, IN "There's a fine line between stupid, and clever." - David St. Hubbins "Enjoy every sandwich." - Warren Zevon "The Fountain of Youth is a state of mind." - The Ides of March

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk

--- Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote: > On Fri, 3 Nov 2006, Robert Feldman wrote: > > No, quipus were to record information, not perfo rm > computations or logic. > > Also, they appeared a couple of thousand years > after Stonehenge. Most quipus > > are Inka, which date them after ca. 1100 AD, > although, IIRC, there are Wari > > quipus (ca 500AD). The Moche (200 BC-400AD) > possibly used colored beans in a > > similar way (the first bean counters!). > > Oldest found so far is about 3000BC ! > > http://archaeology.about.com/od/ancientwriting/a/c aralquipu.htm > Wow, that is old. All this talk of quipu's reminds me of one of my favourite cartoon shows from the early 80's - Mysterious Cities Of Gold. I don't suppose anyone knows of any games based on it? Regards, Andrew B aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk

19 years, 7 months

test

by dm561＠torfree.net

What say we give the Jay West test fest a rest... m

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by Billy.Pettit＠wdc.com

aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk wrote: Wow, that is old. All this talk of quipu's reminds me of one of my favourite cartoon shows from the early 80's - Mysterious Cities Of Gold. I don't suppose anyone knows of any games based on it? Regards, Andrew B ------------------------------------------------------------- I share your love of the series. It only showed up for one run in the US. Just didn't draw and audience. Apparently the DVD set is out in the original French. And there are a lot of DVDs in English that come up on eBay. But they are rips and of very poor quality. Plus none of the commentary. I've seen a game a couple of times on eBay. But it seemed to be a children's game and was in French. You might point your eBay preferences to include the French auctions. If they ever release it in an authorized DVD, I'll certainly buy it. Right now, I have some poor mpg2's that I found on a black IRC channel a few years ago. Billy

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by dm561＠torfree.net

Speaking of unit record equipment, another candidate for the "first" programmed "computer"?: http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/switch.html m

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by dm561＠torfree.net

-------------Original Message: From: "Chuck Guzis" <cclist at sydex.com> Subject: Re: Discussion of large systems No matter how you cut it, sorting on tape beat sorting cards on unit record equipment... Cheers, Chuck --------------Reply: Mind you, an 082/083 sorter with cards feeding across and dropping into their compartments is as much a part of the "old computer" image as spinning tape reels... And considering the cost of CPU time and the fact that input data was still on punched cards in most cases, it was usually more efficient and cost-effective to still sort the cards off-line and then copy/merge to/with tape. Ah, fond memories of carrying stacks of 5-6000 cards across the room to the collator (or, later, the high-speed card reader), not to mention the inevitable day when you bumped into someone and scattered half a megabyte of data across the data centre floor and under the machinery; now _that_'s fragmentation! m

19 years, 7 months

Classiccmp wiki, et al, for dummies...

by evan＠snarc.net

All this fuss is idiotic. A knowledge base and a wiki are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. There was already a recent discussion about whether classiccmp should have a wiki, and the concensus was "not at this time" as Jay already noted. Further discussion is always welcome in an environment like cctalk, but geez, people should read up on the recent history before spouting about the same old things without adding anything new. Meanwhile lots of people are complaining that the existing KB is lame and sparse. Those people should sign off from their email and go add something constructive to the KB instead of critizing what Jay and others have already done for it. It's the fault of users, not the underlying technology, if nobody adds to the database -- no amount of CMS or wiki or anything else will help with that.

19 years, 7 months

Classiccmp Wiki

by aek＠bitsavers.org

A related and remarkable resource, which is less a Wiki and more of a blog, is Paul McJones' "Dusty Decks" page: http://www.mcjones.org/dustydecks/ This is so monumentally great and exactly what should be done at this point in computer/software/emulation history, taking advantage of the web in exactly the right way. ----- Abosolutely! He's one of the cornerstones of CHM's software preservation SIG I really wish there was more work of this quality going on.

19 years, 7 months

Early Sun manuals

by aek＠bitsavers.org

> In particular any manuals concerning the maintenance of early monitors (the > monochrome monitor that was attached to the old Sun-1) Moniterm or Philips? Sun bought generic Multibus cases for the original desktop units. The most common monitors in them were made by either Moniterm or Philips. Moniterm monitors are notorious for flyback failures.

19 years, 7 months

Classiccmp Wiki

by tshoppa＠wmata.com

A related and remarkable resource, which is less a Wiki and more of a blog, is Paul McJones' "Dusty Decks" page: http://www.mcjones.org/dustydecks/ He does a very excellent job of tying together multiple resources around the web, relating them to real computer history of wide general interest. Paul brings together several ingredients here: 1. A genuine interest in computer and especially software history in the context of the entire industry. 2. Knowledge of many others around the world who are doing solid work on the subject, including collecting/storing/making available hardcopy documents, reading old media, emulating old systems, etc. 3. Links to the others who are doing the work, often showing the output of the work. 4. A blog-type format that show shis personal interest but also shows that the work being done is relevant and important. 5. Incorporating comments/replies/etc. into his page. This is so monumentally great and exactly what should be done at this point in computer/software/emulation history, taking advantage of the web in exactly the right way. I should point out that there are some more scholarly and museum-like efforts going on at the same time, but none present the work and details and results nearly as openly and vividly as Paul does. Tim.

19 years, 7 months

Early Sun manuals

by silvercreekvalley＠yahoo.com

MessageHi, Looking for any of the early Sun manuals - eg the multibus Sun-1 era. In particular any manuals concerning the maintenance of early monitors (the monochrome monitor that was attached to the old Sun-1) and/or the early multibus Sun processor boards/FP board/CG1 board. Many thanks! Ian. --------------------------------- Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.

19 years, 7 months

Anyone around tonight in VCF land?

by evan＠snarc.net

Arrived today from New Jersey. Staying in Mountain View. Open to meeting other collectors tonight / tomorrow for fun times, computer chat, drinks, etc. .... cell-able at 646-546-9999. - Evan

19 years, 7 months

Discussion of large systems

by dm561＠torfree.net

Another part of computing history that seems almost completely forgotten is ledger card systems, which is what many small offices (if they weren't doing things manually) were using before PCs came along and for quite a few years afterwards. With magnetic stripes on the back of the cards, paper tape I/O and/or high speed digital cassette drives, automatic feeder/stackers, (relatively) high-speed card readers, and datacomm capabilities, they were certainly true computers by any criterion. I recall one of my Burroughs L installations which would have 4 cassette drives randomly zipping back and forth (much quieter than your tape drives, actually quite pleasant to listen to) and an auto-reader going through a deck of ledger cards, while another set of cards was being fed into the printing console, stripe read and updated, printed (along with 2 reports being printed simultaneously on the same independent-dual-carriage 255x10cpi 2-colour dot-matrix printer), and stacked in the back, all without any operator intervention; fun to watch. I'll have to dig around & see if I can find the core memory card from an E series machine that I used to have lying around somewhere... m

19 years, 7 months

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