Hi
Actually, I was bummed. I gave away about 1/2 lbs of candy
corn and hardly got any votes. Many walked by and looked
at my monitor and said " Ah, a Apple III." I finally had
to put a piece of paper over the label so people would
look a little closer. The monitor was just the first thing
I could find at the top of the pile that lit up.
I had a Poly-88 setup but I think only one in 10 noticed
and even then, I think only 2 in those ten knew what it was.
Of course, my display was all about tape recovery and not
the Poly-88. I don't think, maybe, 5 people all together
realized that.
It was partly my fault. My title was a little small and
I spent most of my time fighting with Larry over table space
instead of talking to people ( Larry was cheating with Tootsie
Pops! ). I had no cool graphics either.
Next year I'll have better candy and a bigger title!
Still, I had a great time. Thanks Sellam!!!
Dwight
>From: "Sellam Ismail" <foo(a)siconic.com>
>
>On Mon, 28 Oct 2002, Bill Sudbrink wrote:
>
>> Anyone out there want to enlighten us poor slobs stuck on the wrong side
>> of the continent? Anyone putting any pictures on the web?
>
>It was a wholly awesome event. The most well-run VCF in the history of
>the VCF (all talks on time and recorded and video taped). Nearly a
>perfect exhibit (one problem with a circuit breaker on Sunday that was
>promptly fixed) with Kraftwerk playing in the background, not to mention
>the excellent exhibits themselves. We had broadband Internet access
>in the Exhibit Hall plus a WAP. Plenty of good stuff in the vendor
>area (much stuff for which I had to quell my impulse to buy, though I
>did get a lot of keen donations). Lots of great literature at the
>Propaganda Zone. Tours to the Computer History Museum, the California Air
>and Space Center (which were only a short walk away) and an excursion to
>the DigiBarn (http://www.digibarn.com). And the attendance was way
>higher than expected (right up around 300).
>
>In my opinion it was one of the best VCF's yet. Next year it will be even
>bigger and better.
>
>I will now turn my sights to VCF East 2.0.
>
>Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
>
> * Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
>
>
>From: "Jim Battle" <frustum(a)pacbell.net>
>At 06:09 PM 10/28/02 -0800, dwight elvey wrote:
>>Hi
>> Actually, I was bummed. ...
>> I had a Poly-88 setup but I think only one in 10 noticed
>>and even then, I think only 2 in those ten knew what it was.
>
>I spotted it, and I knew what it was. But how could you tell
>that? Probably other people were the same.
>
>> Of course, my display was all about tape recovery and not
>>the Poly-88. I don't think, maybe, 5 people all together
>>realized that.
>
>That, I didn't spot. I noticed the waveforms on the wall, but amidst the
>din (auditory and visual) it didn't register. I wish I had noticed,
>though, since it is an area I want to spend some time working on one of
>these years. Rather than letting it be lost to the moment, is there any
>chance of you writing up your work and putting it online somewhere (even
>posting it to this list and letting it get archived would work).
>
>I've read a half dozen very terse summaries of emulators and such that do
>this, but most work only on really clean tapes. They simply do some DC
>correction, perhaps a bit of filtering, and then time zero crossings and
>decode from there. Have you done something more sophisticated than
>this? Some of the Sol tapes I've looked at are way too corrupted for such
>a simple technique to work.
>
>There are a lot of communication theory ideas that could be applied to the
>problem directly; in addition, the file format is going to have some known
>structure that could be used to help train the receiver and disambiguate
>some cases.
>
>I'd be interested to hear more.
>-----
>Jim Battle == frustum(a)pacbell.net
>
>
Hi Jim
I will try to put something together. I did have an outline
posted at the exhibit but hoped many would ask questions
( quite a few did but only about 1/3 of those knew what
a Poly-88 was ). First, I didn't use any of the high tech
methods. I know a reasonable amount about DSP, having taken
a couple of courses and tinkered some as well. There is
little in DSP that will fix a dropout caused by folded tapes.
DSP can be used for such problems as high frequency rolloff
or print-thru. These problems are often over stated and
are not the most common problems.
Understanding how the data is recorded and how your machine
reads these back can be a large help. One also needs an alternate
method of reading the tape because the canned software usually
won't continue after an error. You also need to know the
method used to validate the replay. If you are lucky, they
used a CRC or ECC. In most cases, it was a simple check sum.
Recovery is more about bringing all the known stuff together
and recreating the missing parts. As long as the recorded
data is something like a program or text the problem can
often be solved. If it is something like raw data, ( strings
of meaningless numbers ) the chances are poor.
One of the first things to look for is duplicate tapes. Not
all errors happen at the same place and same time.
Like solving a mystery, it is all about putting all of the
pieces together and not just a single part. It is easier then
one would think but does take some time to develop the
tools needed to get all the information.
I don't have a web site to publish such information but
I suspect someone will provide it.
Anyway, I apologize for not having a bigger title. Even though
Sellam gave us plenty of extra time, I was still doing a lot
of last minute preparations.
Dwight
Hi Ross,
Do you have the Source of your "KIM-1" clock for me.
You told me about your clock, here:
http://www.learnmicros.com . I have a KIM-1, but I'm
afraid to connect it with power. I only can test it on
emulators, so maybe you have it for me...
Greetz,
Richard, The Netherlands.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Everything you'll ever need on one web page
>from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts
http://uk.my.yahoo.com
Connecticut sounds good to me too. I am around Hartford and I presume David A. Woyciesjes who is often on this list is around New Haven. If someone wants advice on venues ask me by direct e-mail.
> From: Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) <cisin(a)xenosoft.com>
> IIRC, #26-1401 It is basically straight through, and can be made by
> crimping a card-edge connector on one end of ribbon cable, and a
> "centronics" amphenol connector on the other. Sorry, but I don't
remember
> which direction to offset the cable (for the 34 v 36)
Thanks, Fred. The docs give the pinouts on the card-edge, so a cable
should be no problem.
> The other 34 pin is for external floppies. It should be possible to
> identify which 34 is which by proximity to the disk controller.
Piece of cake -- thanks again.
> "expansion bus" On the model 1 it was 40 pin. Did they change to 50 on
> the 3?
I don't know -- I wonder why this is not shown in the docs?
Later --
Glen
0/0
> From: DAVID L. ORMAND <dlormand(a)aztec.asu.edu>
> I'm trying to help some guys outfit TI-99/4As with 360K
> drives. A year or so ago, they were still available from
> some of the surplus dealers I know about, but they seem
> to have disappeared.
>
> Does anyone have a line on supplies of 360K drives? The
> only ones I find via web search are $25, which seems a
> bit much for a once-ubiquitous drive that is now a little
> obsolete.
I've been picking them up on eBay, often in never-been-used condition, for
$10 - $12 including shipping. I've also found some in junk systems at
thrift stores. They are not as easy to find (at least in my neck of the
woods) as they were a couple of years ago, but the high-density "1.2 MB"
drives seem to be everywhere (including my shop -- I've got almost 50 of
them here!).
Glen
0/0
On Oct 30, 16:38, Patrick Finnegan wrote:
> I've got a 35mW HeNe Laser + Power supply that I picked up today for next
> to nothing. It seems to be having some problems - the laser (somtimes)
> blinks a few times when I first turn it on, and then stops.
As a few others have said, most common cause of an HeNe laser failing to
"lase" is loss of the helium. I, too, found that out the hard way.
Interestingly, the more it's used, the less likely that is to happen in a
given time (at least, so said the notes with the last HeNe tube I bought).
> Now, I've never really worked on a HV power supply before, and I'm trying
> to be careful when I play with things. First off, does anyone have a
> general idea of what sized dummy load ("resisitor") I should try haning
> off of the HV output to properly load it? I noticed that the laser tube
> has 3x27kohm resistors in series, would a couple watt approx 81kohm
> resistor be a good idea?
Probably not. Although not always obvious from the specs, most resistors
are only rated to some hundreds of volts, maybe a thousand or two. That's
why your laser has three in series instead of one bigger one.
> Also, does anyone have an idea for a failure mode to look for? I've got
> an O'scope, dmm, and various other tools at my disposal, but no
> 'authentic' HV test/mesurement gear.
You want a proper insulated HV probe for a start... you need to be able to
measure kilovolts if you want to check the power supply.
Check out Sam's laser FAQ at www.repairfaq.org
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Hi -- does anyone have any documentation
for the IBM 2520 card reader? I know it's
a long shot. (I checked Al Kossow's archive
and don't see it there). Any leads would
be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Brian
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
_| _| _| Brian Knittel
_| _| _| Quarterbyte Systems, Inc.
_| _| _| Tel: 1-510-559-7930
_| _| _| Fax: 1-510-525-6889
_| _| _| Email: brian(a)quarterbyte.com
_| _| _| http://www.quarterbyte.com
I've removed (as of tonight) all the parts out of the chassis,
documenting
where everything goes. I cleaned the chassis very carefully. Once the
card cage/
backplane was out, it was obvious that these parts were in beautiful
condition,
if not more than a little bit dusty. A couple of bent pins in back were
easily
corrected, and the entire assembly sits waiting to be reinstalled in the
chassis.
The TU58, unfortunately, did not fare quite as well, as the mice had
chosen
it as their nesting place. After finally managing to get the tape that
was in it
loosened up, it came out coated with mouse fur and mouse droppings etc.
The rollers are entirely wound up in this stuff. It sits in a box
awaiting later
attempts at cleaning. I hold out little hope.
The power supply, which seems to consist of a controller and two
actual PSUs, looks solid from the outside, and also what I can see of
the inside.
It appears to have large battery packs in the bottom of it. These,
certainly,
would be dead after all this time. Are they important? Maybe theyre not
even
batteries...
The H7112A looks solid, but again, I haven't explored inside.
Everything in the system
has a light coating of New Mexico red clay dust.
The blower/motor assembly from the bottom of the cabinet awaits
cleaning.
The blower itself turns freely, which I'm taking as a good sign.
The cards are pristine, L0002, L0003, L0004, L0008, L0007, L0016. There
are 8 memory boards (M8750), several bus grant cards, a card labeled
"M9313"
and one labeled "M9202." I also found in the bottom of the system an
M9014 Unibus to H854 adapter that wasn't plugged in. I also have a
DELUA.
-----Original Message-----
From: Zane H. Healy
Sent: Tue 10/29/2002 9:35 PM
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Cc:
Subject: Re: Bringing up a 10 years dormant VAX 11/750
> I just a couple of days ago picked up a VAX 11/750. This machine has
Cool!
> been stored
> in a damp shed for ten years or so, has had mice living in it, and the
> usual assortment of spiders, etc.
Oh, SHUDDER! It sounds like you're in for an interesting restoration
process.
> to the control panel and TU58 tape drive. I'm in the process of
cleaning
> all the components,
> but am in search of some advice on this process, especially the power
> supply. How long
> should I let the power supply dry out from its prior damp condition,
and
> what should
> I do to bring it up for testing without risking damage to other
> components? I wish to
> do this methodically and carefully.
Unless this is a powersupply that needs a load on it when you power it
on
(anyone know?), I'd recommend having it totally disconnected when you
power
it on. I'd also recommend you have someone else standing by with a C02
Fire
Extinguisher for safety.
As for how long it needs to dry before powering up, I'm not really sure,
if
you've got it in a warm, heated location, I'd say a week or two should
be
plenty (probably doesn't need that much but it's better to ere on the
side
of caution).
Something to do in the mean time is to look for corrosion and to get
everything good and clean. I'm most concerned about your powersupply
and
backplane. Also take a look at the rollers in your TU58. While the
following is for a PDP-8, you might find it useful.
http://pdp-8.org/revive.htm Definitly read up on what Aaron has to say
about Backplanes.
Zane
BTW, I've found my VAX 4000 reports errors and will not boot
if the KZQSA is not properly terminated.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
> ...Yes it does! I'm using it right now on a POWERserver 370 (7012-370) at
> work an it runs just fine. (That's a 62,5MHz POWER proc, 64bit memory
> bus, and MCA for those who don't know.) ...
Let me just echo those sentiments. I'm currently running AIX5L on a
7013-591 at the office and a 7012-390 at home. Both of these machines are
similar in spec to the 370 and 580 Pat mentioned. Mine have 128MB and 256MB
RAM respectively. I can also add that I've had full graphic support on
both. In fact the only graphics nightmare I've had with backward
compatibility is with my 860(RS6000 Laptop). It depends on your card of
course, but the graphics on my systems are just fine. Odd to say, but in
most things non-CPU bound, these are the fastest machines I have at the
moment, including the PII linux boxes. The IO in these boxes is fab'.
> If you need any help with AIX things feel free to email me, I'm now
> involved (somewhat) with some sysadmining of AIX boxen at work, so I
might
> be able to help with OT things (or talk to someone who has been for a
> while)....
I'll also echo Pat's offer of help. I'm trained, current and even somewhat
proficient with both the recent gear and the vintage stuff. I'm not a
sysadmin anymore, though -- I consult on performance engineering.
Colin Eby
ceby2(a)csc.com
However, documentation/softwareless old computers make wonderful doorstops.
Actually, I gave a couple gutted 5360s away to a friend who made them into a
workbench, I had stripped the good stuff from them already. Waste not, want
not.
Will J
_________________________________________________________________
Internet access plans that fit your lifestyle -- join MSN.
http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp
Yeah, everyone knows you're supposed to put a blown, alcohol-injected 392cid
Chrysler hemi in a T-bucket, not some chevy garbage... LOL
Will J
_________________________________________________________________
Choose an Internet access plan right for you -- try MSN!
http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp
>I'll second that, although a VCF 'near' New Jersey *might* be close
>enough for me to attend...
Being that everything in NJ is within driving distance (as opposed to RI
where everything is within walking distance)... I would most likely
attend if it were held within about 4 hours drive from Northern NJ (so DC
or similar to the south, Mid to West PA to the west, and Boston or abouts
to the North.... not much of a swimmer, so going east is out of the
question for me).
But I would attend purely as a spectator/buyer (I'm assuming that is
allowed... you aren't forced to expo things to get in right?)
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
All,
Today I got a call from one of Holland's major daily newspapers (for
those
of you who are curious: its the NRC Handelsblad). They asked me if I
were
willing to write them a feature article on "Retro computing: strange
people,
or a necessity for the future?". This (working) title is mine; what
they
mean is: are we just being weird geeks, or is preserving the computing
past
something required for future generations to understand the world in
which
they live, and how things got to be that way?
I have done books and various articles in papers before, but I do feel a
little uncomfortable writing about things I have been involved in for
only
about 5 years or so.
Any suggestions here?
[the answer, by the way, is: "yes, we're weird. so deal with it."]
Cheers,
Fred
Does anyone have a Corvus Mirror? I need it for a project. Please
contact me directly if you do.
<sellam(a)vintage.org>
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
D.C. Sounds like a good idea. There are a also a number
of other attractions in the area, such as the Smithsonian and various
historical sites, etc. (Of course, the fact that it's local
to me has had no impact on my opinion ;-)
-al-
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Veeneman [mailto:dan@ekoan.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 10:58 AM
> To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
> Subject: RE: VCF East ? [was:Re: VCF5]
>
>
> At 10:11 AM 10/30/02 -0500, you wrote:
> > > I vote for somewhere in CT this year, it will give those in the
> > Southeast an
> > > easier drive up (seems like a lot of people in Virginia
> and PA would
> > attend)
> > > and be more of a median point for all.
> >
> >I vote for Washington, DC. The above mentioned people could attend
> >plus the Florida contingent might come up. (Not to mention it's
> >where I live :-) )
>
> I vote for DC as well, or at least somewhere close by. It
> would also give
> the attendees a chance to visit the NSA's Cryptologic Museum, which
> does have some interesting old computers as well. You can read more
> about the museum at http://www.nsa.gov/museum/ .
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Dan
>
> I must be google-ly impaired, I tried all different combo's of kzqsa
> jumpers, settings, technical and so forth and the closet I found was a
> cryptic response from the HP/Compaq Vax Wizard which said a lot but told you
> nothing, thanks Eric, where do you want that Jolt sent? :-)
No charge, Curt. :-)
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
I just got the UPS tracking info, this thing
weighs 100 pounds!? I thought I was being
gouged on the shipping, but now I see I wasn't.
It just doesn't look that big in the pictures.
Anyway, when these two crates show up on my
doorstep, my wife is going to have a cow!
Space is tight here and I've just managed to
get my collection as it stands under control.
So, I'm going to need to move this beast fast.
Is there anyone in the Washington, DC area that
wants to take it off my hands for what I have
invested in it ($30 cost + $50 shipping)?
Email quick, UPS says it arrives on Friday (11/1).
Thanks,
Bill
> In all that is the collective geek-dome of classic computers, I find it
> boggling to see that no one has (or wishes to share... you greedy SOB ;-)
> the technical manual and/or jumper settings for the elusive DEC KZQSA Qbus
> to SCSI adapter boards.... come on, I challenge the collective knowledge
> base of the DEC geeks to come up with this mysterious and treasured
> knowledge and share it with the list. The winner gets a free 6 pak of
> JOLT soda for those looooonnnnngggggggg caffeine induced late nights ;-)
Courtesy of Google (first entry I found):
There are three sets of jumpers on the KZQSA:
1) W1 to W7 select the CSR address; the interrupt vector is programmable,
so there are no jumpers to set it. Since it sounds like your setup is
fairly simple, I'll guess that your CSR is at or near the default
address and list a few corresponding jumper settings ... if the CSR that
CONFIGURE gives you is not below, you might want to post it, so that one
us can verify the correct jumper settings, just to be on the safe side.
CSR W7 W6 W5 W4 W3 W2 W1
------ -- -- -- -- -- -- --
761300 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 (default)
761400 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
761500 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
But generally, you can work out the jumper settings as follows: if W7 is
0 (not set), the CSR is 76xy00, but it it is set (1), the CSR is 77xy00;
the octal digit "x" is determined by the settings of W6 to W4, and the
digit "y" is determined by W3 to W1 as illustrated by a few examples:
760100 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
760400 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
761000 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
764000 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
770000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
2) W9 to W13 determine the memory base address; the default is the
address range 01000000-01377777 for the 128 KB memory on the KZQSA,
for which only W10 is set and the others are not. You need to
arrange for all modules that use Qbus memory space to have unique
address ranges ... but this is normally not such a problem, since
not so many modules use Qbus memory space. To see if it is a problem
in your configuration, issue a SHOW QBUS command from the console
prompt (>>>); at the end of the output (after the scan of IO space),
you will find the Scan of Qbus Memory Space, which shows which
address ranges are in use. If 01000000-01377777 does not overlap
any range currently in use (if any), you have no problem and can
just use the default jumper setting here.
Otherwise, the address selection jumpers just increase the base
address of the KZQSA's 128 KB memory in steps of 128 KB; i.e.,
address range W13 W12 W11 W10 W9
----------------- --- --- --- --- ---
00000000-00377777 0 0 0 0 0
00400000-00777777 0 0 0 0 1
01000000-01377777 0 0 0 1 0 (default)
01400000-01777777 0 0 0 1 1
...
17400000-17777777 1 1 1 1 1
Also note that W8 is in the same jumper block as W9-W13; I have no
idea what it does, probably best to leave it alone...
3) W14 to W16 set the SCSI ID of the KZQSA; W14 sets the MSB (4)
and W16 the LSB (1). The default is 7, which should be OK for most
purposes.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
Does anyone want some 486 motherboards? I'm not sure who makes them (made
in Tiawan, SiS chipset).
They have the CPU (486 DX/2 50Mhz); 6 ISA slots, 2- 72pin SIMM slots and
8- 30 pin slots, AMI bios, AT keyboard, SiS chipset. And I'll throw in
the VGA card and I/O cards that are currently installed with them (I/O
card has FDD, IDE, LPT, 2- Com). Both are ISA cards, but have a 2nd
connector that looks a bit like AGP and hangs off the back end of the ISA
slots (3 of the 6 slots have this addition connector, so these two cards
fit into 2 of those).
CMOS batteries are soldered on, and corroded, but were working and
holding power as of not too long ago (these machines were last used a
month or so ago).
If anyone wants them (there are 4), let me know before I pull all the
jumpers off and toss the motherboards.
Or if anyone just wants 486 CPUs, let me know. I have the 4 listed above
with the boards, and another 3 or 4 pulled from other boards (not sure on
the specs for them, if there is interest, I'll check).
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
could fit in there.
>
> Here is a picture of the (almost) final results...
>
Naturally, I forgot to post the link to the picture...
http://www.oz.net/~otter/geekworks/Crysta-00.JPG
-- Scarletdown
>I just a couple of days ago picked up a VAX 11/750. This machine has
>been stored in a damp shed for ten years or so, has had mice living in it,
Sounds like you are in for a bunch of fun !
If the mice chewed through the docs you can find a set of prints
and a few manuals at:
http://208.190.133.201/decimages/moremanuals.htm
I don't think the Installation and Acceptance manual covers
infestation in great depth though :-)
Antonio