test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

how bad do you need it? IBM still stocks it. www.direct.ibm.com/ In a message dated 4/25/99 7:22:21 AM US Eastern Standard Time, gene(a)ehrich.com writes: > Does anybody have one or know where I can get one? > > gene@ehrich > http://www.voicenet.com/~generic > Computer & Video Game Garage Sale

26 years, 1 month

The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were the80s id AA20656; Fri, 23 Apr 1999 18:48:08 -0400

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<On other point: Do you have any idea how many computers there were in <1952? Or their cost? I do, do they? I think a number totaling under 20 would be about right. the volume of computers were about to increase around '52 but the next production step was the transistor machines. Allison

26 years, 1 month

z80 timing... 6502 timing

by edick＠idcomm.com

I suppose that's true, Hans, BUT, in1982, there were few other processors than the 6502 and Z-80 in popular use, with the exception of the 8080A and the 8085, of course. The majority of home computers, though, used one of these two, at that time. Several years later, we found the 6510 and 6809 in commercially interesting applications, but not for as long a period as the Z-80 and 6502. These two had a life of nearly ten years before the IBM-PC and its clones wrenched the home computer market from their grasp. My last, albeit not "commercial" application was designed with a pair of 65C02's (just under 5MHz) and a pair of 8751's in '86. The 6502 and Z-80 made their appearance in '76, as I recall, though there may have been a few out in '75. The big 6502 rollout was in '76, though. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Hans Franke <Hans.Franke(a)mch20.sbs.de> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Wednesday, April 21, 1999 11:32 AM Subject: Re: z80 timing... 6502 timing >> While your comments are valid observations, I submit, however, that we're >> coming at this from two different viewpoints. I wish to address the >> question "Which processor is faster, 6502 or Z-80?" while you want a general >> comparison of processors. Unfortunately, answering one question doesn't >> address the other. > >The 6502 vs. Z80 is only a subplot in the all CPU question - so >if the measurement does fit the general question it also fits >the specific. In fact, if we go for the general thing, the rules >will be much more aprobiate then when we only focuse on two >examples. > >Gruss >H. > >-- >Stimm gegen SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/de/ >Vote against SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/en/ >Votez contre le SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/fr/ >Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut >HRK

26 years, 1 month

Building Core, Stage 2

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

Ok, I'm getting to the point where I can _almost_ start taking pictures of the waveforms on the oscilloscope. Now, if you are wondering, this does have a point. I've got a 4K core stack for a PDP-8 that I've been loath to get into because I didn't feel I had a strong enough understanding of the basics in order to figure out just what the heck was wrong with it, once this project is complete and I understand core memory, theory and operation, I'll be ready to tackle fixing that stack. I've been reading and re-reading the theory section in the PDP-8a manual and some parts are starting to seep into my consciousness. This is where we are at. 1) I'm using copper clad board to provide a ground plane "under" the core. After my last message it became obvious that this was the other half of the winding "through" the core. 2) I'm using "magnet" wire (enameled copper wire) for the core wire. I'm guessing it can take a couple of amps for a short period of time. I'm not sure that is sufficent to "switch" the #2 nut I'm using but we'll see. 3) Allison referenced a waveform that looked like this: +--+ | | | | ----------+ +-------------+ +--------- Gnd | | | | +--+ Now in the ToO section in the manual it was written that the first pulse "reads" the core, and the second pulse "writes" the core. A light bulb went on because of course core is "destructively" read, and has to be rewritten. 4) The diagram in the 8a manual shows the sense wires going through one set of cores, looping and coming back through another set. The sense wire is also used as the 'inhibit' wire when one wants to write a zero. This is done by reversing the X or Y current so that the selected cores don't get full write current (and thus don't switch.) 5) So this is the plan: put three wires through the nut and wire them up as follows: -- 1/h select ----------\ | | /----- GND 1/h select ---------------| |-------------- GND sense + ----------/ | | \----- sense - The scope will display the current on the select lines on channel 1 the sense lines on channel 2 (floating ground) 6) When the current is sufficient, I should see a pulse on the sense line. (This is the hypothesis part, now to apply the scientific method) We'll see ... if there are obvious errors in the above please let me know! --Chuck --

26 years, 1 month

Saving BIG OLD Iron...

by mbg＠world.std.com

The first part of the effort has been a success... we had about 8 people show up today to load the KS10 systems and their disks and tapes (and printers, and some terminals, and documentation and printsets) into two trucks... one going up to New Hampshire and one going down to Rhode Island. It turns out that we were unable to lock down the head carriages on the RP06 drives, and I know we're taking a little risk because of it, but we did not have the procedure available in the manuals we referred to. What little we did find led us to believe that there were parts required (removed at the time of installation) which the site no longer had... Anyway, it all got loaded. Tomorrow some of use will unload the truck which went to Rhode Island... One of the things I found out about the systems is that they were apparently the last set of decsystem-10s in active commercial in the new england region. One of the machines is an ADP onsite machine. It has a modified front panel which can apparently display the number of local and remote users, the %utilization of the machine, and two other displays which can be selected as to what they display. It is an LCD display which appears to have been cracked at some point, so it may take some work to make it work again. Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ p.s. Anyone have any information on the ADP onsite modifications which might have been standard?

26 years, 1 month

Chrislin Industries

by mbg＠world.std.com

>My question is if I stuck the RQDX3 in slot 4 would it work? If I found a >copy of RSX-11M could I boot it on this system (128KB of memory) how >about RT-11? Do I need the BDV11 if I have the RQDX3 ? The RQDX3 is only the controller, it doesn't have any boot code on it. If your BDV has the boot code for an MSCP disk, then it should just work. If not, you'll need to get some... One point, the RQDX3 was not supported until V5.3 of RT-11. Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | Megan Gentry, EMT/B, PP-ASEL | Internet (work): gentry!zk3.dec.com | | Unix Support Engineering Group | (home): mbg!world.std.com | | Compaq Computer Corporation | addresses need '@' in place of '!' | | 110 Spitbrook Rd. ZK03-2/T43 | URL: http://world.std.com/~mbg/ | | Nashua, NH 03062 | "pdp-11 programmer - some assembler | | (603) 884 1055 | required." - mbg | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

26 years, 1 month

Chrislin Industries

by edick＠idcomm.com

Have you visited www.chrislin.com ? Dick -----Original Message----- From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis(a)mcmanis.com> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Saturday, April 24, 1999 6:30 PM Subject: Chrislin Industries >I've got disk box, 19" rack mount, that is labelled Chrislin Industries. >Inside is an SA612 hard disk labelled DL0: on the front, and two 8" >floppies (NEC floppies) labelled DY0: and DY1: on the left. (horizontal >mount). Inside the box is a PC board that takes a 50pin connector (labelled >"Controller") and has connectors labelled WINC0, WINC1, 5" FLOPPY, 8" >FLOPPY, and WINCHESTER. > >This is the zillion dollar question, it looks as if this box could be >plugged into an RQDX3 and emulate two RX02 and an RLxx. Or, it could plug >into some CI controller that did its own emulation. > >My "Microcomputers and Memory" handbooks lists on the back the following >boards for an 11/23 in a BA11-N >#0 KDF11-AA >#1 MSV11-DD >#2 MSV11-DD >#3 DLV11-J >#4 spare >#5 spare >#6 spare >#7 spare >#8 BDV11-AA > >My question is if I stuck the RQDX3 in slot 4 would it work? If I found a >copy of RSX-11M could I boot it on this system (128KB of memory) how about >RT-11? Do I need the BDV11 if I have the RQDX3 ? > >--Chuck >

26 years, 1 month

Chrislin Industries

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>I've got disk box, 19" rack mount, that is labelled Chrislin Industries. >Inside is an SA612 hard disk labelled DL0: on the front, and two 8" >floppies (NEC floppies) labelled DY0: and DY1: on the left. (horizontal >mount). Inside the box is a PC board that takes a 50pin connector (labelled >"Controller") and has connectors labelled WINC0, WINC1, 5" FLOPPY, 8" >FLOPPY, and WINCHESTER. This is a box that works with a Chrislin Industries Q-bus controller. >This is the zillion dollar question, it looks as if this box could be >plugged into an RQDX3 and emulate two RX02 and an RLxx. Nope. > Or, it could plug >into some CI controller that did its own emulation. Yep, the Chrislin controller does RX02 emulation and RL02 emulation. Most also had a small bipolar boot ROM on it. >My "Microcomputers and Memory" handbooks lists on the back the following >boards for an 11/23 in a BA11-N >#0 KDF11-AA >#1 MSV11-DD >#2 MSV11-DD >#3 DLV11-J >#4 spare >#5 spare >#6 spare >#7 spare >#8 BDV11-AA > >My question is if I stuck the RQDX3 in slot 4 would it work? The RQDX3 will work, but it won't talk to your Chrislin industries box. There's a 50-pin to 34-and-20-pin breakout board you need to hook floppy drives and MFM drives to a RQDX3. In a BA23, the breakout board resided in between the card cage and the drive bays; in a BA123 there was a breakout board, with a Q-bus form factor, that plugged into the "dummy" Q-bus slots at the front of the backplane; in a BA11N-type box, the breakout usually resided in the Leprechaun box that holds the MFM or floppy drive. > If I found a >copy of RSX-11M could I boot it on this system (128KB of memory) Sure. You need the drive, of course... and installing RSX from floppy is just plain cruel (about as convenient as the Wagner Ring Cycle on 45's...) > how about >RT-11? Sure, again you need media and matching drive.... > Do I need the BDV11 if I have the RQDX3 ? No. The official rules for when you need a terminator in a box and when you don't need one are in Micronote #29, "Q-bus Expansion Concepts", available from http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/microno… Keep in mind that you won't have a MSCP bootstrap in this system, meaning you'll have to use console ODT to put the MSCP bootstrap in for each cold boot you do. -- Tim Shoppa Email: shoppa(a)trailing-edge.com Trailing Edge Technology WWW: http://www.trailing-edge.com/ 7328 Bradley Blvd Voice: 301-767-5917 Bethesda, MD, USA 20817 Fax: 301-767-5927

26 years, 1 month

Chrislin Industries

by cmcmanis＠mcmanis.com

I've got disk box, 19" rack mount, that is labelled Chrislin Industries. Inside is an SA612 hard disk labelled DL0: on the front, and two 8" floppies (NEC floppies) labelled DY0: and DY1: on the left. (horizontal mount). Inside the box is a PC board that takes a 50pin connector (labelled "Controller") and has connectors labelled WINC0, WINC1, 5" FLOPPY, 8" FLOPPY, and WINCHESTER. This is the zillion dollar question, it looks as if this box could be plugged into an RQDX3 and emulate two RX02 and an RLxx. Or, it could plug into some CI controller that did its own emulation. My "Microcomputers and Memory" handbooks lists on the back the following boards for an 11/23 in a BA11-N #0 KDF11-AA #1 MSV11-DD #2 MSV11-DD #3 DLV11-J #4 spare #5 spare #6 spare #7 spare #8 BDV11-AA My question is if I stuck the RQDX3 in slot 4 would it work? If I found a copy of RSX-11M could I boot it on this system (128KB of memory) how about RT-11? Do I need the BDV11 if I have the RQDX3 ? --Chuck

26 years, 1 month

RARE: Original Macintosh found!!

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 99-04-24 19:02:39 EDT, you write: > Just kidding, but I am looking for some info. I found a good condition 128K > Mac at a sale today, with most of the original packaging and materials. I'd > like to know if anything's missing, other than the original packing box for > the system unit itself. I'd like to have a complete set of Mac Ver. 1 > materials. What I have is: sounds like you have everything and even more than what i got with my 128k system i bought. I didnt get a audiotape with mine. should be manuals for macwrite and macpaint though. Be on the lookout for dodgy video due to that infamous cold solder joint problem. My machine has it.

26 years, 1 month

PDP-11/44 Power Supply Questions

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

OK, the good news is it didn't blow up when powered on, though did have a few worried minutes till I got smart and got out the console key, and turned it to a on possition :^) I just got done measuring the voltages and if I'm reading the manuals correctly the voltage levels are within limits. Flexprint Cable: +5.37V P1 Connector Pins Voltage Overvoltage Limit (according to BA11-A manual) 1-10 +5.05 +6.5 11-16 +11.92 +15.0 17,18 -11.91 -15.0 25,27 -14.97 -18.0 26,28 +15.11 +18.0 However the following pins seem reversed 23 GND SENSE 24 +5 SENSE I get nothing on the +5 SENSE, but I get +5.24V on the GND SENSE. What is up with that?!?!?! I'm possitive that I'm not the one that is reversed as I checked this several times. The voltages all are under the overvoltage limit, so I assume I'm OK on that note. Zane | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |

26 years, 1 month

The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were the 80s

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<console interface. In fact I don't know of a graphics card that was, thoug <on toward '82-83 there were a few with some of the more "capable" graphics <support chips like the NEC 7220 or that "BIG" Hitachi graphics chip, thoug <I never saw one except at a trade show. The 7220 was introduced early 1980 and volume ships were 5 months later. By 1983 it was well on it way to next generation. <Some of these were pretty demanding applications which quickly pointed up <the weakness in using 8-bit computers for multi-plane graphics. They also <pointed up the fact that decent high resolution color monitors cost about a <much as a house . . . well, not quite, but you get the idea. If you bough <one, you'd better keep the box, because you'd need a place to live when you <wife found out . . . We did a multibus baord with the first 7220s and we had a heck ofa time with the monitors as most really could not do the bandwidth and the .042 dot size didn't help! As to using a z80, it was awkward but doable though we designed with a 8086 in mind as we sourced that as well. By late 81 we were running a 4plane (1 megabit planes) graphics CPM86 with 512k of ram. The key was the system was cheap for the time considering it was multibus based. Allison

26 years, 1 month

The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were th

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< The ham radio or electronic hobbyist would have been more likely building <or adapting tube technology to solid state. Yes, they tended to be frontrunners but the various ARRL handbooks (I have many going back to '47) which tend to be a good indicater of the hot radio technology of the time. Aywho the transistor was far to expensive and to cranky to work with until the 60s. Some of the tranistors failings were they were poor at anything but audio and low RF and very expensive. I found it hard to find a good RF transistor until the mid-late 60s that weren't several bucks a peice. So there wes another little aspect of the technology that had to happen. devices that could do logical switching (tubes, transistors...) available in low enough prices and compact enough to consider. The first HOBBYIEST IC based frequency counters were not appearing until 1967 give or take 6 months. Now a frequency counter is a pretty trivial logical device but one that has immense value to radio folk. Again convergence of technology is one factor. Discussing the 50s is fairly pointless as even the portable transistor radio was a late 50s advent. Allison

26 years, 1 month

Leaky nicad battery

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<I have an old PC which has a leaky nicad battery soldered to the PCB. There <stuff coming out of the battery, which has corroded the PCB traces near it <This is probably the reason why the machine doesn't work properly. Any mild acid works to neutralize the alkaline NICAd eletrolyte. I personally found lemon juice or vinegar effective and then washing the board well afterwards. Replace the battery! <guess I'll just have to solder some wires in place. Yep! Allison

26 years, 1 month

DEC

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< I have a manual for PrintDirecter put out by Digital Products Inc-"the sub <Company" of Watertown, Ma. Was this a division of DEC ? I know there were <several companies with Digital in their name. No connection to Digital Equipment Corp, Maynard MA. there were no subsidiaries. Allison

26 years, 1 month

building core

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<Ok, one step closer. The description of core in the PDP-8/a miniprocessor <users manual shows the wires going straight through the cores. Is this <correct? I'd expect the wire to make one or two turns around the core so <that the magnetic field it induced would be "inside" the torroid. Comments? So it's a fraction of a turn. There are reasons for not doing multiple turns. One being the size of the wire. another is adding turns increases the inductance of the "coil" and with literally hundreds of "coils" it would be very hard to get a good switching waveform. <What about driving voltages? I've got a +/- 36v @ 3amps supply here, the <PDP-8 uses its 15 volt supplies. I'm building a simply push-pull direct <coupled amp out of a couple of transistors to send the signal that Allison <drew. I'm using a Parallax BASIC Stamp to generate the waveforms (I could <use the HP but then it wouldn't be portable) It's current driven through the wire that is important. <Sense wire? Straight through the core or also with a wrap? Same as core plane. Actually for testing you could used a turn or two for the driving wire and the sense wire to make life easier(less drive, bigger signal) but for multiple cores you need to do the matrix as fractional turns. Allison

26 years, 1 month

The "FIRST PC" and personal timelines (Was: And what were the 80s id AA20486; Fri, 23 Apr 1999 18:47:56 -0400

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<Ummm... must beg to differ here. While the SOL uses the VDM-1 circuitry, <it is an integral part of the main board rather than an S-100 add-on, and <I do not recall any variant offered that would have been minus the video <system. Oops, confused the systems. PT sole a board set that gave a virtual SOL but at S100 board level. The VDM-1 I have still works nicely in the Netronics Explorer 8085. In that case the SOL had the video locked in, that makes the point I was driving toward move valid. Allison

26 years, 1 month

Semi-ot/Semi-odd game requrest

by review＠RyansPC.ryanspc.com

Hi. I've been thinking about asking this for a while, but never got around to it. When I moved, some of the floppies that were in my possession seemingly disappeared/didn't get shipped. In any case, I don't have them anymore. Most of the data was just personal stuff and/or backups, but there were two things in particular that I've permanently lost (both origonals and backups were together, as I didn't think of them getting stolen, but instead infected/defective) were Sid Meier's Civilization I from Microprose, the origional PC edition, as well as the origional PC edition of Castles I from (IIRC) Interplay. I have all applicable documentaiton, as well as a liscense, but just not the software. Would anyone be willing to either make copies of the disks or to email a compressed (either zip or .tgz or .tar.gz would be preferable) copy of the disks? For floppies, I'd be willing to pay the cost of floppies and mailing to Wash., DC, USA, however, the Internet method would probably be better. Also, if anyone knows a used software store where I could get a copy, htat'd also work out. Please eMail me privately at tim(a)thereviewguide.com. Thanks a billion, Tim D. Hotze

26 years, 1 month

PDP-11/44 Boot ROMS

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

I've identified that I've got boot ROMS for the following 751A9 RL01 765A9 TU58 757A9 TU16,45,77,TE16 767A9 <-What is this one, the manual doesn't list it. I assume that I can boot RL02's with the RL01 ROMS. Zane | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |

26 years, 1 month

PDP-11/44 Boot ROMS

by CLASSICCMP＠trailing-edge.com

>I've identified that I've got boot ROMS for the following > >751A9 RL01 >765A9 TU58 >757A9 TU16,45,77,TE16 >767A9 <-What is this one, the manual doesn't list it. The 767A9 is the UDA50 (and other third-party-MSCP-emulating board) bootstrap. >I assume that I can boot RL02's with the RL01 ROMS. Yes. In case you're looking for a list of boot ROM's, see: http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/hardwar… Tim.

26 years, 1 month

Bringing up a old Powersupply

by healyzh＠aracnet.com

I'm getting ready to test the /44's Power Supply tomorrow. Finished the initial AC checks tonite, of verifying that the power distribution unit is working. However, I just remembered a thread that was on the list MONTHS ago about powering on Power Supplies that have been out of service for half of forever. I seem to recall something about slowly applying AC power to the powersupply. I've got access to a variable powersupply that will provide 0-140 VAC. Is this a good idea? If so, how slowly is a good idea? Also, in talking to a friend tonite he was suggesting I hook an O-Scope up to the PS to check for "ripple". Is this necessary? I've got a scope, but honestly do not have any idea how to use it, and haven't had time to learn. Zane | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | | healyzh(a)aracnet.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | | and Zane's Computer Museum. | | http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ |

26 years, 1 month

PDP-11/44 Boot ROMS

by danburrows＠mindspring.com

>I've identified that I've got boot ROMS for the following > >751A9 RL01 >765A9 TU58 >757A9 TU16,45,77,TE16 >767A9 <-What is this one, the manual doesn't list it. The DU rom Add 23-E39-A9 to your manual also. MU ROM > >I assume that I can boot RL02's with the RL01 ROMS. Yes I may want to talk you out of a copy of the 765A9. I don't have that one. Dan

26 years, 1 month

DEC

by edick＠idcomm.com

I don't really have an anti-DEC bias. They kept the industry moving forward (which served their interests if no one else's) at a time when the BIG guys didn't really want it to move form mainframes to distributed minis/micros. I did however, back in the days when this happened, have a bias against buying what we could make and sell at a profit, since I was the resident hardware/systems guru. Having come from a circuit design background as opposed to the usual "rack 'em and stack 'em" position assumed by defense/aerospace contractors, I wanted build something which inherently was suited to the task as opposed to buying a bunch of stuff that didn't and then filing, cutting, and gluing until it did. -----Original Message----- From: Bill Pechter <pechter(a)pechter.dyndns.org> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Saturday, April 24, 1999 1:10 PM Subject: Re: DEC >> That's the name of the guy! Stan Olson . . . the fellows at that one pitch >> to which I was referring in my original post on this subject were touting >> Stan Olson as being so cagey that he kept the gov out of the company's books >> by selling his wares to the gov through integration contractors so that the >> folks at the gov could specify DEC without naming them, and the various >> competing contractors would always decode the RFP to mean DEC and so DEC >> would win every time. I thought it was clever, if true, but the genius's >> name was Stan Olson. > This is actually a very clever and inherently legal way to get around the risk that someone else's product might get introduced into a market you nearly own all for yourself. > >No. Stan Olson's Ken Olson's brother and one of the folks who >kept pushing the company into things like the VT78 and WPS word >processors. He left the company a while back. > Well . . . it COULD have been Ken Olson to whom reference was being made. > >I think you've got a serious anti DEC bias here. > >Someone's very misinformed here or (more likely) the sales guy's full of it. > Well, there were bunches of them swooping down on us . . . the project in question involved about 60 8800's and bunches and bunches of microVaxen with each one. It was many hundreds of the taxpayer's millions that were involved . . . > >Q: How do you tell a computer salesman is lying? >A: His lips move. > >Q: What's the difference between a computer salesman and a used car salesman? >A: The used car salesman KNOWS when he's lying. > >Bill

26 years, 1 month

Leaky nicad battery

by mark_k＠iname.com

Hi, I have an old PC which has a leaky nicad battery soldered to the PCB. There is stuff coming out of the battery, which has corroded the PCB traces near it. This is probably the reason why the machine doesn't work properly. Can anyone recommend an effective method of cleaning off this stuff so that further corrosion does not occur? When it comes to repairing PCB traces, I guess I'll just have to solder some wires in place. -- Mark

26 years, 1 month

DEC

by edick＠idcomm.com

That's the name of the guy! Stan Olson . . . the fellows at that one pitch to which I was referring in my original post on this subject were touting Stan Olson as being so cagey that he kept the gov out of the company's books by selling his wares to the gov through integration contractors so that the folks at the gov could specify DEC without naming them, and the various competing contractors would always decode the RFP to mean DEC and so DEC would win every time. I thought it was clever, if true, but the genius's name was Stan Olson. I worked for a while at a major Government Agency which shall remain nameless . . . Every time I called one of my colleagues to leave a message, his lab partner would ask "are you from Digital?" I interpreted this as being digital, since we were digital systems group in the organization in question, and answered with a resounding YES, being new and underinformed as to the culture. One day at lunch the matter happened to come up and that's when I found out the message my colleague was receiving was causing him to call the DEC salesman. Too bad we haven't a way of pronouncing the case of a letter so people will understand. Dick -----Original Message----- From: Bill Pechter <pechter(a)pechter.dyndns.org> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> Date: Friday, April 23, 1999 9:34 PM Subject: Re: DEC >> I have a manual for PrintDirecter put out by Digital Products Inc-"the sub-Lan >> Company" of Watertown, Ma. Was this a division of DEC ? I know there were >> several companies with Digital in their name. >> > >Digital was a bad name... too often used and too generic. >Too bad K.O. didn't allow the company to do business as DEC. >I believe Stan Olson was in favor of this at one time. > >Nah... the great story is people coming to the DEC facility in >Nashua to get their DIGITAL clocks and watches fixed. > >Bill > >--- > bpechter@shell.monmouth.com|pechter@pechter.dyndns.org > Three things never anger: First, the one who runs your DEC, > The one who does Field Service and the one who signs your check.

26 years, 1 month

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2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

test-drb