test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by chrish＠knet.kootenay.net

Sam: could you please tell me what isbn number and the publisher was on the "Computer power for small business" book though I could try and track it down in some used book syores around here. thanx Chris At 10:25 AM 06/02/98 -0800, you wrote: > >I added another 37 volumes to my vintage computer library yesterday. > >By far the most valuable from a historical standpoint is the book >_Computer Power for the Small Business_ from 1979. It is a buyer's guide >for microcomputers of the mid- to late -0's era. Talk about a treasure. >This book has pictures and decriptions of many computers I've never even >heard of. > >It contains information on systems we know much of, such as the Atari's, >Apple, PETs, Radio Shack, etc. But it also has blurbs on systems that >I've not seen mentioned anywhere else (at least not in a way that is >looking back on these systems with a historical perspective) like the RCA >Cosmac VIP, the Sol-20, Exidy Sorcerer, Heathkit H-8 and H-11, Intecolor >8031. > >The best part is the descriptions of systems I've never knew about before. >Has anyone ever heard of an Outpost computer? Its a fully integrated >package with keyboard, display and 5.25" drive, but its almost three feet >wide, with the two 5.25" drive bays to the side of the display! How about >the PeCos One from APF Electronics. I have a pong machine made by APF but >who would've thought they once made computers? How about The Renaissance >Machine (aka Compucolor II)? There's also mention of the Teal SHC-8000, >which is sort of like a pet with display, keyboard and cassette player in >one unit. > >It then has a listing with about 40 different system descriptions, >including CPU, memory, external storage, input (ie. keyboard, lightpen), >output (ie. display, printer) and basic cost. There's also the company >address which is extremely valuable for research. > >Here's an interesting tidbit. Apparently Data General made a line of >computers dubbed "The Digital Group". According to this entry in the >table, they were systems based on the Z-80, 8080A, 9080A, 6800 and 6502 >processors; they had 2K of main memory; they used cassettes for storage. >Can anyone verify this? > >I also got another similar book entitled _The Peter McWilliams Personal >Computer Buying Guide_ circa 1985. I haven't had a chance to go through >it in much detail but it is basically more nice descriptions of early- to >mid-80's computers, again some of which I've never heard of. I'll do a >review later. > >In my travels I also picked up a Victor 800 electric adding machine. I >don't collect adding machines and only rare grab them for specific >reasons. In this case, this is the same Victor as the Victor 9000 >computer. I knew right away because the 'o' in the "Victor" emblem was >that striped-circle that is telling of a Victor product (plus it had a >Scott's Valley, CA address on the back). > >Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass > > Coming Soon...Vintage Computer Festival 2.0 > See http://www.siconic.com/vcf for details! > > >

27 years, 11 months

PDP-8

by allisonp＠world.std.com

> That sounds right. In fact, the readers are even labeled < > "DECtape55"s. How much do these hold? Around 185-230k 12bit words depending on how formatted. 1464 blocks of 128 words, randomly block addressable with an index. Another scheme used 129 word blocks with over 1400 available. It was low cost disk like and moderatly fast storage. One tape could hold a complete OS and utilities along with a language. Allison

27 years, 11 months

PDP-8

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< >Standard paper tape stores 10 characters/inch. Each row of holes across < >the tape is an 8-bit character, with a small 'sprocket' hole which is < >either used to drag the tape through the reader, or to provide a strobe < >pulse. < < Is that enough to actually do some decent stuff with the PDP-8. Humph, PC mentality... Back beofre Gates could stand there were computers and programmers programmed such that tens of kilobyte requirements for OSs were inconceiveable as being bloated. Considering the basic PDP-8 has 4k 12 bit words. Yes. < I also have some reels of film-like tape. What's the proper name for it? < How does it compare to the paper tape? There are two things, mylar tape (does not decay around oils) and if the tapes have a 4" hub and say dectape then it's a old low cost magtape. Allison

27 years, 11 months

PDP-8

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

>> >A full reel of tape was 1000' I think. That's about 100K of data (to give >> >an order of magnitude). A full box of fanfold tape would be about the same. >> >> I also have some reels of film-like tape. What's the proper name for it? >> How does it compare to the paper tape? > >Are these little reels about 4" in diameter of 3/4" magnetic tape? If so, >they're the original DECtapes. That sounds right. In fact, the readers are even labeled "DECtape55"s. How much do these hold? What is used to 'punch' the paper tape? My reader certainly doesn't look like it's capable. Thanks. Tom Owad -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 11 months

Recompilong old DOS

by rcini＠email.msn.com

On Fri, 17 Jul 1998 05:54:31 -0800 (PDT), Tim Shoppa <shoppa(a)alph02.triumf.ca> wrote: >It's probably not too far off target. The original QDOS was certainly >developed on a S-100 CP/M-80 system - Tim Paterson's articles in _BYTE_ >make this much obvious - but most Microsoft products >of the era were cross-compiled from one of several DEC minicomputers >that Microsoft owned or "leased" time on. I know that most of their early >Macintosh products were developed on a TOPS-10 system, in particular. >I would guess that after they bought QDOS, Microsoft moved development >to a TOPS-10 platform. >Tim. Do you have copies of those articles handy? I'd really like to get copies of them. Thanks. Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin! Charter Member - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 11 months

RT-11 Help

by mbg＠world.std.com

> Right now only one of the drives is hooked up, set to drive '0'. >It will boot and run the UCSD stuff and it will boot RT-11(V2.0).... >except that, in 7 out of the 7 packs with RT-11.... it is as if KMON >was missing or damaged; it boots up to the dot prompt and then >returns the ?ILL? message no matter which command I give it. I have >RT-11(V5.0) on my 11/73 and it is fully functional, so I have had >some cursory (N.P.I.) experience with the OS. Ah... you're playing with an RT-11 which didn't have DCL... there are no quick shortcuts to accomplish things. To get a directory of your disk: R PIP *RK0:/L *^C There is no 'HELP' command... each utility has to be run explicitly. There is no BUP, DUP, DIR... the functions that were split out into DUP and DIR are still in PIP... Back when I first used V2... I wrote what I called a supplementary command scanner which was invoked if KMON couldn't otherwise identify the command. So I had a sort of CCL way back in 1976 or so (when I was at WPI). Megan Gentry Former RT-11 Developer (1978-1992) User of RT-11 since 1975 +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+ | 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 | +--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

27 years, 11 months

Looking for 2 magazine articles

by rcini＠email.msn.com

Hello, all: While going through the old Popular Electronics magazines that I recently got, I found two article series that I would like to have complete, but I'm missing two issues...bummer. Does anyone have the following and would be willing to mail me a copy: 1. Popular Electronics, March 1977, Part 3 of the "Build the Cosmac Elf" construction article. 2. Popular Electronics, November, 1981, Part 3 of the "Designing with the 8080 uP" article. I'd be more than happy to reimburse for copying/postage. Thanks. Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin! Charter Member - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 11 months

MSDOS 6.x

by bwit＠pobox.com

I ran across a consignment store that has a large supply of shrink-wrapped MSDOS 6.x they are selling for $1 each. Probably be about $5 including postage. Please let me know if anyone is interested. Regards, Bob

27 years, 11 months

Sirius sound chips

by ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk

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27 years, 11 months

Updated Commodore PET and P500 Pages

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

Those of you interested I have been doing some updating to my Commodore pages. Let me see if I can give you a list: * Added a better 'original PET' graphic to the PET page (Yeah Doug, that picture does look awfully familiar, hope you don't mind..) * Added a picture of my Pet Rock (as a link in the PET page) * Added to the PET FAQ two sub-pages on PET BASIC (one small, one REALLY BIG) both are adapted from the Commodore 64 Programmer's Reference text from Project 64 with changes/additions to be PET specific. also a nother question or two * Started a Commdore 8-bit Troubleshooting Guide (stuff like don't put things to close or to the left of monitors, etc) I have a couple 64 and 1541 fixer charts I plan to add someday too. * P500 Page has all new pics! (with close-up of the back panel) much re-wording (also found a pic of an Ultimax to add) Unfortunately my QuickCam can't do a screen-shot, the monitor refresh through the camera is too messy. * Did a bit of work on the BBS history, still have to add a link over to the CBBS North West page (4th BBS in the U.S!)... If any of that sounds interesting, click on the link below and check it out. (BTW I know the long PET BASIC page 4.0 command portion is incomplete, I got lazy, what can I say.) -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Larry Anderson - Sysop of Silicon Realms BBS (300-2400bd) (209) 754-1363 Visit my Commodore 8-Bit web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/commodore.html -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

27 years, 11 months

new additions: mac128

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 98-07-18 21:53:03 EDT, you write: << A friend of mine called me today and told me that he stopped at a garage sale and that they had some kind of large Apple laptop computer for sale. The owner claimed it was some sort of prototype and was asking $100 for it. Do this sound like anything that you're interested in? >> i dunno. ive heard that "its a prototype" line before so unless they have incontrovertible evidence, they are probably lying. it's probably just a mac portable. i'll pass.

27 years, 11 months

Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

> I was just pointing at that in the US, the telcos have far >less ability to control how many phones you have the house than in other >parts of the world. > >Anyway, point taken. > Is there any reason for a telco to worry about the number of phones in a house besides for purely financial concerns? Of course, if you have 100 phones all plugged in, it's possible there won't be enough power for all of them, and certainly not enough to make them all ring. I believe the FCC controls stuff about the amount of power a phone can use for ringing. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

How many computers?

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< > TRS80 model II with 3 physically huge 8 meg HDDs < < 8 meg ? not five ? Whats the type and manufacturer ? < Do you have an online picture ? Back then SA4000, Memorex M101s were as common as the new ST506/412 drives. I have a M101 here operational on a CCS s100 crate big and like most of the 8"s clear plastc cover to watch the goings on. Allison

27 years, 11 months

Atari 1040 ST

by higginbo＠netpath.net

Looking for a good source of info, parts, specs, etc. for the Atari 1040 ST. Haven't found much yet out in netspace. - - john higginbotham ____________________________ - webmaster www.pntprinting.com - - limbo limbo.netpath.net -

27 years, 11 months

new additions: mac128

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

i've got just about every compact mac model made except for a 128. while selling some things at a radio rally today, i came across a guy who said he had a complete working one for sale. turns out this guy even works in the same facility i do! here's what i got for $10 imagewriter // in original box. mac128 in its original box with manuals and system disks. also has keyboard and mouse in their boxes also along with the purchase list and other literature. machine is dirty and will have to be disassembled and cleaned. one thing he told me is that it has some sort of scsi upgrade. the battery door has been replaced with a db25 connector so im not sure if it has a genuine 128 board in there. nonetheless, i will keep it in its current modified status because the upgrade it's had is almost as "rare" as the machine itself. i also have a lead on another guy that has about 30 compact macs in several designs: 512, plus,se and probably some more 128 models which i might also get. for some reason, i couldnt sell all the plus and 512k models i had...

27 years, 11 months

PDP-8

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

>Standard paper tape stores 10 characters/inch. Each row of holes across >the tape is an 8-bit character, with a small 'sprocket' hole which is >either used to drag the tape through the reader, or to provide a strobe >pulse. Is that enough to actually do some decent stuff with the PDP-8. >A full reel of tape was 1000' I think. That's about 100K of data (to give >an order of magnitude). A full box of fanfold tape would be about the same. I also have some reels of film-like tape. What's the proper name for it? How does it compare to the paper tape? Thanks. Tom Owad -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 11 months

C'mon guys - somebody has to know these things!

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Do those panels have any circuitry in the back? Switches that are stamped with the date? Could you make pictures of the back as well? >A bit ago, I posted a request to help identify some old front-panels >that have been in my collection for about 20 years. I didn't get a >single response! With all of the wise guys (sorry - smart folks ;-) >in this group, I'm disappointed! Somebody has to recognize them! >Allison? Anyone? Anyone? (The pictures are on my web page at >http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r. Just click on the "Classic >Computers" link, then "Unidentified Technological Artifacts".) Your >help would be appreciated? > > > -Bill Richman > bill_r(a)inetnebr.com > http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r > (Home of the COSMAC Elf Simulator!) > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

Re-compiling old DOS

by rcini＠email.msn.com

On Fri, 17 Jul 1998 14:45:11 +1 "Hans Franke" <franke(a)sbs.de> wrote: > Anyway, this plus a message from one of our own, results in an > interesting question. How, in 1982 (or in 1980-81, when Project Acorn was in > beta), would Microsoft have written and compiled DOS 1? >>86-DOS (the base of MS-DOS 1.0) at least was developed on >>a DEC 2020 station and transfered via serial line to an >>INTEL ISIS system for writing Disks, or to the SCP 8086 >>S100 system for runntime tests. What is a DEC 2020? Rich Cini/WUGNET <nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> - ClubWin! Charter Member - MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking - Preserver of "classic" computers <<<< ========== reply separator ========== >>>>>

27 years, 11 months

PDP-8

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

I picked up a PDP-8, 8L, 11/20, and a bunch of accessories this week. That PDP-8 is one cool looking computer. Of interest in the lot was a "high speed paper tape reader" and quite a bit of tape. The tape, one inch thick, looks to be of incredibly low density. Just how much does this stuff hold? More questions to come as I learn more about the PDP's. Thanks in advance. Tom Owad P.S. I'm looking for an inexpensive Mac Classic or SE, 4/40 configuration, w/kb & mouse. Anybody? -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 11 months

How many computers?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jul 16, 19:28, Tony Duell wrote: > > I suspect it used the same ROM as the Z80. A colleague used to have a > > Graduate, so I'll ask him today. > > Please do. I've got the Z-80 host ROM (and know of a few more if this one is > dead), but I don't have any other Torch ROMs. My friend reports that the Graduate doesn't have a BBC ROM, and indeed doesn't use the Tube. It uses the 1MHz bus to access BBC I/O, apparently. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Dept. of Computer Science University of York

27 years, 11 months

DIGI-COMP 1 Assembly Instructions now available

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Thankfully, I was using a T1 at the time I first looked at this page and didn't notice the size of the images. The first thing you should do is reduce them from RGB to Grayscale. I tried it and it doesn't reduce image quality at all. Also, does anyone currently own the rights to this? I would like to make an HTML and DVI version of it, which would be much easier to read, since it wouldn't involve as much horizontal scrolling. Now, some questions about the computer itself. A) How much did it cost in 1998 dollars? B) Was there ever a DIGI-COMP II? C) What type of plastic was used in it? D) Has anyone tried to make one? E) How popular was it? F) What year was it terminated? Basically, a brief history. >Due to popular demand, I have finally gotten around to >adding the DIGI-COMP 1 Assembly Instructions to the >collection of other scanned DIGI-COMP 1 manual pages at >http://galena.tjs.org/digicomp/ . They are all 300 DPI >grayscale images - in other words, huge! The parts list >alone (Page 1) should be immensely helpful for those >wishing to create their own DIGI-COMP. > >Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me over the past few >days! > >Tom >-- > >This account is used so mailing lists don't >clutter up Tom's real account. If you really >want to talk to Tom, use tom(at)galena.tjs.org > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

C'mon guys - somebody has to know these things!

by bill_r＠inetnebr.com

A bit ago, I posted a request to help identify some old front-panels that have been in my collection for about 20 years. I didn't get a single response! With all of the wise guys (sorry - smart folks ;-) in this group, I'm disappointed! Somebody has to recognize them! Allison? Anyone? Anyone? (The pictures are on my web page at http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r. Just click on the "Classic Computers" link, then "Unidentified Technological Artifacts".) Your help would be appreciated? -Bill Richman bill_r(a)inetnebr.com http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bill_r (Home of the COSMAC Elf Simulator!)

27 years, 11 months

Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by allisonp＠world.std.com

< >they couldn't charge you on anything if they found out you were < physically messing with the line. HERE IN THE USA: If you violate the NI (bell parlance for network interface) which is the demarcation line to your home or business and damage their equipment you will likely be at the end of both criminal and civil charges. The key issues would be if the cause is deliberate, neglegence or accidental. They do actively persue this as deliberate tampering with their business as both a public safety issue and interfering with their conducting business in an unlawful manner (mischeif, vandalism). I would bet in Europe there are certain actions available as well. The oddity of it all is if you fry the phone line who really looses? Your out the use of the phone and their interface equipment is likely protected as they have to worry about power distibution lines and lightining getting into their stuff. The damage would be more to the user than TPC (the phone company). Allison

27 years, 11 months

Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by maxeskin＠hotmail.com

Is there anything I can do at home that will damage phone company equipment? I suspect that 240v in a telco switch is nothing pretty. >That was when you could get away with free phone calls by messing with the >line voltage. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

27 years, 11 months

Off-topic informational anti-spam anecdotal

by JRichardson＠softwright.co.uk

>> A _very_ good book for the older stuff (manual switchboards, relays, >> step-by-step 2-motion selectors) is called 'Telephony' by (IIRC) Herbert > and Proctor. It's a UK book,... Hmm, I'll have to check that out. > >> 'Tip' and 'Ring' refer, of course to the 2 contacts on a 3-wire jack >> (phone?) plug - like a stereo headphone plug, used on the old manual >> switchboards. The other contact - sleeve (aka the 'P wire') was used in >> the exchange to check if a line was in use (P=Private, I think). I always did wonder. I've got a couple of old (can't remember the exact date, but I'd say early 70's at a guess) answering machines somewhere which make use of such plugs. I'd love to wire one of these things up to a phone circuit if possible, I doubt that it could be done though - the systems were badged "Ansafone" IIRC, making use of enormous reel-to-reel tape decks and foot pedals... :) (I suppose this could be judged almost-on-topic, if the phone system is deemed to be some giant computer, and the technology, after all, is more than 10 years old) cheers Jules >

27 years, 11 months

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