test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 05:04 PM 1/19/98 +0000, you wrote: >> Oh, they also had a few IBM PS/2 style monitors with a single RCA jack >> > What denotes a PS/2 "style" monitor ? I haven't heard this term >before and have several P/S2 s. The RCA jack would suggest a >composite monitor. It's the kind of case; the PS/2 style is rather different from the old 5150 style. Dunno if it was actually part of the PS/2 line-up or not. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

28 years, 3 months

Kaypro's Available

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 08:31 PM 1/18/98 -0600, you wrote: >Would any collectors be interested in Kaypros. > >I have four -- some complete with original advertisement, software, >manuals, etc. Definitely! Where and how much? Which models? Thanks! --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

28 years, 3 months

Sinclair Kit for Sale

by zmerch＠northernway.net

At 09:30 PM 1/19/98 -0600, Anthony Clifton wrote: > >Yeah ok. I just report what I'm told. I'm not a salesman. I'm not an >apologist. If you want to negotiate price with the guy contact him >directly at squest(a)cris.com. I'm not making any money off them. I don't >care if sells any. I don't care if anyone buys any. >Anthony Clifton - Wirehead > Cliff Gregory Wrote: >> Seems to me these kits are still available from some distributor on the net >> for around $30. I'll see if I can dig up the exact URL. [snip] Sir Anthony, I don't believe that Sir Cliff was undermining your post -- for you posted no actual prices. All you stated was: "at what looks like an interesting price." An interesting price to me is $5.00. An interesting price to another could be $500.00. Frankly, I wouldn't pay either price right now due to lack of spare time to actually build the kit (which is what I would do -- I *like* trying to burn my fingers with a soldering iron (thank goodness I'm horrible at it - the burning, that is ;-)). I believe Cliff was just mentioning the URL just in case the Sinclair kit that you mentioned was already gone -- there may be a source for more so that others could enjoy them to. [Of course, I'm an optimist...] Anyway, that's my take on this situation -- now back to the rest of my (short) 12-hour shift. See ya, and chin up, eh? Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- Roger Merchberger | Why does Hershey's put nutritional Programmer, NorthernWay | information on their candy bar wrappers zmerch(a)northernway.net | when there's no nutritional value within?

28 years, 3 months

ID help (Commie, IBM, Nissho?)

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

Spotted a few things that someone might be interested in, and that I wasn't sure what they were... First, and oddest, was a pizza box labelled Nissho Electronics. Looked like a workstation, one 3.5". Almost got it, but for $26... Anyone know what it might have been? Commodore 64 for $5, 64c in the box for $15 -- Anyone interested? I know what a 1541 disk drive is, but what about a Vic-1541? Is it worth $10? I did pick up a C modem/300 (model 1660) for $.99 and an Osborne 1 keyboard (only!) for (I know, too much, but it's an Osborne!) $5. Oh, they also had a few IBM PS/2 style monitors with a single RCA jack input on the back; they were mounted on little stands, kinda like (I think) the Apple IIc monitors. Possibly Composite? Possibly from some POS terminal/cash register? A little steep at $26 though. (Looked new though!) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/

28 years, 3 months

ID help (Commie, IBM, Nissho?)

by chemif＠mbox.queen.it

At 08:24 19/01/98 -0500, you wrote: >The Vic-1541's are somewhat more uncommon that the >C-1541's, and are in a little more demand among Commodore collectors for >that reason. ..omissis.. >Now then, should you happen across one labled "Vic-1540", you had better >grab it as they are ultra-rare. I've only heard that they exist, I've never >actually seen one. Who saw a C=1570? How much would worth? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? Riccardo Romagnoli,collector of:CLASSIC COMPUTERS,TELETYPE UNITS,PHONE ? ? AND PHONECARDS I-47100 Forli'/Emilia-Romagna/Food Valley/ITALY ? ? Pager:DTMF PHONES=+39/16888(hear msg.and BEEP then 5130274*YOUR TEL.No.* ? ? where*=asterisk key | help visit http://www.tim.it/tldrin_eg/tlde03.html ? ? e-mail=chemif(a)mbox.queen.it ? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

28 years, 3 months

Kaypro's Available

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

Sure -- I'm interested. btw, might I (humbly) suggest that anyone offering something for sale include his (her) e-mail address in the message? Then the subsequent hail of offers will stay off the LISTSERV. manney(a)nwohio.com

28 years, 3 months

Firsts

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 10:26 PM 1/16/98 -0500, you wrote: >>Haddock says (now that I'm home) the Compass was early 1982, $6000-8000. > >Forgive me, my ignorance, O Wise One, but what is this Haddock? I think that's the first time anyone's ever called me wise (except, of course, myself, who knew it all along.) 8^) Haddock, Dr. Thomas F., author of "A Collector's Guide to Personal Computers and Pocket Calculators", ISBN # 0-89689-098-8. It's an excellent first go at a refernce book on collectible microcomputers; incomplete, and inconistant, but a good start. (I can't speak for the calculator part.) Prices are not realistic (some too high, others too low) and missing a lot of machines, but good for what it's got. I think I got my copy from amazon (http://www.amazon.com/) but other bookstores (like powell's (http://www.powells.com/) might have it as well.) His PhD, btw, is in physics, and he's also the author of a book on Jag E-type restoration. Go figure.

28 years, 3 months

Cleaning out my storage room...

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

I dibs the 486 and/or the VLB card, if it has drivers. manney(a)nwohio.com

28 years, 3 months

PDP-11/73 -- VT220

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

Have you set the communications protocols correctly? Baud rate, parity, stop bit(s), word size? That's the usual reason for gibberish. manney(a)nwohio.com ---------- > From: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > To: Manney > Subject: PDP-11/73 -- VT220 > Date: Sunday, January 18, 1998 2:45 PM > > I picked up a VT220 yesterday, as I was getting tired of using another > computer for a terminal. The question is how do I connect it? I'm > assuming the DB25 on the back of the VT220 is the comm line (especially if > I read the back correctly), I gather the DB9 is for a printer (from what I > found in my web searches last night). > > I took a cable and ran it from the Comm port on the /73 to the Comm port on > the VT220, and get nothing. I then added a Null-Modem adapter and got > gibberish. Does this need some kind of special cable to work? I don't see > any switch settings on the back of terminal or anything. > > Oh, and the VT220 say's it's OK when I power it on. > > Zane > > > | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator | > | healyzh(a)ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast | > | healyzh(a)holonet.net (alternate) | Classic Computer Collector | > +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ > | For Empire of the Petal Throne and Traveller Role Playing, | > | see http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/ | > | For the collecting of Classic Computers with info on them. | > | see http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/museum.html | > >

28 years, 3 months

Firsts

by chemif＠mbox.queen.it

At 03:58 11/01/98, you wrote: Someone At 01:44 PM 1/11/98 -0500, wrote: >>> >First programable calc >>> >>> Then there is the "first solid state electronic calc" which I think goes to >>> the Busicom from Japan that employed the first production run of the intel >>> 4000 chip set: the 4001 (2048 bit ROM), 4002 (320 bit RAM), 4003 (10 bit >>> shift register), and the 4004 (4 bit CPU). That chip set was shipped to >>> Busicom in March 1971 according to Michael S. Malone's "The >Microprocessor: >>> A Biography" ISBN 0-387-94342-0 Then William Donzell added: >>Wang's first (or quite near their first) product was an all electronic >>calculator, introduced in the late 1960s. They are big, but could be >>lugged around. Then Joe: > HP's first calculator, the 9100a, was introduced in 1967 or 68. It had >no ICs, used core memories, and used logic gates made of diodes and >resistors. It did have transistors but they were mainly used as amplifiers >for the core memory. I guess it still qualifies as "solid state".) It was >fully proggramable and used RPN. I have a 9100B with a 1969 date code. > > I believe the Japanese Busicom calculator is even older and dates from >about 1966. Let see if I' m able to go more back: I translate from the URL page of the Pisa University Scientific Instruments Preservation Dept. < http://www.difi.unipi.it/museo/calcolat/miniepc/miniepc.html > Olivetti Programma 101 Olivetti Programma 101 Programma 101 comes introduced in 1965 during the BEMA elecronic show,in New York.It represents the first "desktop calculator" ever constructed in the world. 40.000 exemplary were constructed at the price of 3.200 $ The machine offered the possibility to carry out arithmetical operations in direct way, or of being programmed for the calculation of complex functions. The programs could be stored in magnetic stripes. It was entirely planned and realized in the Olivetti research laboratories of Pregnana, from a group of researchers guided from the Ing. Piergiorgio Perotto, the design was from the Arch. Mario Bellini. Attacment:picture of the machine "olip101.jpg"

28 years, 3 months

ID help (Commie, IBM, Nissho?)

by cgregory＠lrbcg.com

The Vic-1541 was the disk drive with the colors of the Vic-20. These were marketed at about the time of the introduction of the C64 and could be used with either the Vic-20 or the C64. Internally the Vic-1541 and the original beige Commodore 1541 (the one with the pull down door latch) are essentially the same. The later versions of the C-1541 (flip down latch) were changed internally with different drive moters, etc. Functionally they are all the same. Is it worth $10.00 ? The Vic-1541's are somewhat more uncommon that the C-1541's, and are in a little more demand among Commodore collectors for that reason. I would put their value at between $10 and $20. In other words, if I were in San Francisco I probably would have picked it up, but it's not worth shipping across country. Now then, should you happen across one labled "Vic-1540", you had better grab it as they are ultra-rare. I've only heard that they exist, I've never actually seen one. Supposedly they were introduced for a short time before the Vic-1541 and the drive speed is set for the Vic-20, and therefore will not work with the later Commodore machines. Cliff Gregory cgregory(a)lrbcg.com -----Original Message----- From: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> To: Cgregory <Cgregory> Date: Monday, January 19, 1998 5:01 AM Subject: ID help (Commie, IBM, Nissho?) >I know what a 1541 disk drive is, but what about a Vic-1541? Is it worth $10? > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- O- > >Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad >roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." >Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates >San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/ > >

28 years, 3 months

Transformer theory for computer hackers.

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

This would be easier with some diagrams, but I'll do my best. This is not strictly on topic but I think I'd better clear up some of the confusion since I caused it! The equivalent circuit of a transformer is an "ideal transformer" in series with an impedance and in parallel with a magnetising impedance: O---------------+----------UUUUUU----/\/\/\/----)||(-------------O | )||( / Xs Rs )||( O I \ Rm )||( U N / )||( T P | )||( P U ) )||( U T ) Xm )||( T ) )||( | )||( O---------------+-------------------------------)||(-------------O The ideal transformer merely changes voltage. Xs = series reactance (inductive) Rs = series resistance (copper loss - due to resistance of windings) Xm = magnetising reactance Rm = magnetising resistance (iron loss - due to hysteresis of core) There are two things limiting the power you can shove through a transformer. First (and quite easy) is the thermal limit - the current flowing in Rs. In reality, the thermal limit is the current flowing in _any_ winding, which might burn out that winding. Next is the flux in the core. The two windings of the ideal transformer carry equal and opposite ampere-turns, and their flux cancels out. The flux in the core is determined by the current in Xm, which depends on voltage and frequency (remember it's an inductor - more current at lower frequencies) Usually the transformer has a primary winding with a rated voltage (so you don't over-flux it. It also has a VA rating which determines the current (so you don't burn out the windings) If you are trying to kludge things, there are some special cases to worry about. 1. 50Hz MAINS. If your transformer is designed for 60Hz mains and you want to use it at 50Hz, the lower frequency will meaan that Xm is lower. (X=2*PI*f*L). The magnetising impedance will draw more current, and the flux in the core will be higher. From a practical point of view, this means that the rated VOLTAGE must be lower. For example if it is designed for 240V, 60Hz, at 50Hz the rating is 200V. This is called DERATING. Since the rated voltage is lower, and the rated current is the same (excessive current will melt copper whatever the voltage), the VA rating is also less. Most small commercial transformers are designed for 50Hz anyway, so this shouldn't be a problem. However (following the discussion of mainframes and things) most [North American] medium to large power transformers are not! (Medium > 5kVA I suppose. Large probably > 50 kVA. Hard to say - in my job I regularly deal (at least on paper) with 500000kVA transformers) 2. HOME MADE AUTOTRANSFORMERS. An autotransformer has the low voltage end of one winding connected to the high voltage end of another. This saves copper, reduces core size, etc. It is often used for converting between mains voltages and is at its best around the 2:1 voltage ratio. Many small transformers are made with two primary windings, each rated at 120V or thereabouts. The idea is to connect them in series for 240V operation and in parallel for 120V. A trick I mentioned a few days ago is to wire them together as an autotransformer (Windings are W1 and W2 in the diagram: +---------------O | )|| W1 )|| )|| O-----------------+|| )|| IN- W2 )|| PUT )|| | O-----------------+---------------O Call the VA rating of the transformer V*I, where V is the voltage rating of the windings in series (usually 240V) and I is the current that flows in each winding. On the HV (higher voltage) side, we want V and I. On the LV side we must therefore provide V/2 and 2I. (Assuming an ideal transformer for the moment) Now each winding is rated at V/2, so energising one at this voltage is not a problem. But each winding is only rated at I, so what do you do with the 2I you have to supply? 2I must flow in at the junction of the two windings, and I must flow out at the HV terminal. It is easy to see that I will flow through W1; the rest of the current entering at the junction must flow through W2. Simple arithmetic tells you that each winding carries a current of I; the ampere turns are equal and opposite, so the transformer will work. However, once you add the imperfections, you do start to get a few problems. I'd have to do some serious calcs to find out exactly how Zs (= Rs + i*Xs) and Zm affect it, but you may have to take a VA rating 10% or so lower than nameplate. Which is not much of a loss. You also have a regulation problem. Most small transformers have extra turns on the secondary to compensate for the voltage drop across Zs. Here you are only using the primary, so you don't get this. Expect a voltage drop (proportional to load current, of course) of about 10% to 20% (less for larger transformers) at full load. So, in response to Tony's comment, the transformer won't mind if you use it almost up to nameplate rating - but you may not get as many volts out as you expected. Using a transformer at 30% of nameplate rating is as good a way as any to avoid this! In response to (I forget your name - sorry!) I hope this has explained what I was getting at. Finally, SCOTT CONNECTION etc. Someone yesterday(?) tried to perpetuate one of the myths about the Scott transformer, which is used in converting balanced 2-phase to 3-phase power. If you have two phases at 90 deg to each other, you have a balanced 2-phase supply. This is very rare! There will usually be 3 wires - two phases and neutral - and the phase to phase voltage will be about 1.41 times the phase to neutral voltage. The scott transformer (actually two single phase transformers) converts this to and from 3 phase. Most US domestic supplies (and a few UK rural supplies to farms and things) have two phases at 180 deg to each other - phase to phase voltage is twice phase to neutral voltage. THERE IS NO TRANSFORMER THAT WILL GIVE YOU THREE PHASE FROM SUCH A SUPPLY. You need preferably a motor-generator or dynamotor (motor-generator sharing a common rotor winding). As mentioned previously, an induction motor with suitable capacitors and things will do this quite well up to a point. Electronic converters exist and are getting cheaper all the time... Finally, you may have two of the phases of a three-phase system. If you have three wires - two phases and neutral - there is a transformer that will derive balanced 3-phase from this. If not, you're in the same position as with a single phase or unbalanced 2-phase (which is actually single phase centre tapped to earth) supply. If anyone STILL doesn't understand what's going on, ask privately. Who knows? If I get very many questions, I may be posting "3 phase ac theory for computer hackers" before long... Philip. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Philip Belben <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Bloedem Volke unverstaendlich treiben wir des Lebens Spiel. Grade das, was unabwendlich fruchtet unserm Spott als Ziel. Magst es Kinder-Rache nennen an des Daseins tiefem Ernst; Wirst das Leben besser kennen, wenn du uns verstehen lernst. Poem by Christian Morgenstern - Message by Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk

28 years, 3 months

System/34

by Philip.Belben＠powertech.co.uk

Someone asked about power requirements for IBM S/34. All I can say is it's less than 7 kVA (ours was plugged into 30A, 240V single phase circuit. The other one at IBM Bristol was plugged into a 3-phase 415V socket but I don't know whether it used all 3 phases) If there's one going begging, I want it as long as (a) it's within 200mi of Coalville, England and (b) it can wait a week or three while I get my truck back on the road. Philip

28 years, 3 months

Toronto-area comp museums ?

by kstumpf＠unusual.on.ca

Did any one ever reply? I believe I'm the chap in the K-W area. We once had Canada's first computer museum, but it has since closed. Have you seen our web site? www.sentex.net/~ccmuseum. Please let me know what I can do to help you. Yours in good faith.

28 years, 3 months

One question was: Re: Cleaning out my storage room...

by jpero＠cgo.wave.ca

Oh, About lunchbox, I nearly forgot, To anyone who knows the Canadian-USA border well, could anyone tell me what is proper proccedures to let border guys know that I'm ridding of this lunchbox? It has the small yellow serial label that border person stuck on my lunchbox when I was travelling to visit my friend. The empty lunchbox was originally privately brought used by mail from a person in USA during last summer. Thanks! Jason D.

28 years, 3 months

Firsts

by bmpete＠swbell.net

At 07:39 PM 1/18/98 -0500, you wrote: ><You could use the "skip big messages" option that most mail program have ><Anyway I will refrain from sending attachements to this list in future. > >not all mailers have that! My email prog never saw the message; many times the ISP timed out and closed the connection. _______________ Barry Peterson bmpete(a)swbell.net Husband to Diane, Father to Doug, Grandfather to Zoe and Tegan.

28 years, 3 months

Bubble Memory

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

Bubble memories were once available as a kind of disk emulator for SwTPC 6809 machines with the FLEX OS. The package was called "DISKBUB", and was based on a bubble memory by Texas Instruments, IIRC. Didn't sell terribly well; cost something like $1000 for 128K bytes. God, I wish I'd saved those old program listings. Bill.

28 years, 3 months

Uncles/PC-C64c file transfers

by scott＠isd.canberra.edu.au

At 10:26 17/01/98 -0800, Larry Anderson wrote: >>Okay, so I have a C-64c, 1541 floppy, and monitor. Now how exactly would I >>go about downloading programs from the internet on my PC machine and >>porting them over to the Commodore? Will I need a special serial cable? I >>have the 64 boxed up at the moment so can't really tell what I need. [Snip!] > Finaly (if nesessary) convert the file, it it is .D64 there are a few >d64 to 1541 utilities out there for both the 64 and 128. T64 is a >different story, it will need to go to tape, and even though I know it >can be done I am unsure whether or not a utility exists yet for the 64. Actually, you can transfer .T64 files to disk without any problem. .D64 is a disk image format, .T64 is simply a single file. Just transfer it as a PRG file and it should work fine. Regards, | Scott McLauchlan |E-Mail: scott(a)isd.canberra.edu.au| | Admin/ISD IT User Support Team |Phone: +61 2 6201 5544 (Ext.5544)| | Information Services Division |Post: University of Canberra, | |University of Canberra, AUSTRALIA | ACT, 2601. |

28 years, 3 months

Mini & Mainframe Power Requirements

by pvhp＠forte.com

classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Subj: Re: Mini & Mainframe Power Requirements William Donzelli wrote: >OK, running a big mini or a mainframe class machine is not for everyone. >However, running a processor plus a single disk and perhaps a tape may not >be all that bad. Water cooled machines, however, would be too much to >handle. > >For those that only want to plug things into the wall, turn back now! > >A typical mainframe machine from the past is going to want 3-phase power. <more scary power specs snipped> Well not necessarily. Of late IBM has been putting effort into making S/390 (note: less than 7 years old and not quite a classic) available to small shops: via the P/390 (a 7490 mainframe on a chip hosted by a pentium running OS/2) and the R/390 (also a 7490 with an AIX host - RS/6k or PPC). I must apologize: in a previous message I had referred to the mainframe on a chip as a "3490" which is a tape drive not a CPU model number. To the extent that S/390 derives its heritage from S/370 and S/360 such a box may serve the needs of the mainframe hacker with a small power capacity/budget. IBM's amazing efforts at preservation of backward compatability are a big plus here: to a first approximation S/390 simply adds features to S/370 (the parallel sysplex clustering ability allegedly being quite highly advanced nowadays e.g.). Unfortunately the purchase price won't help the budget minded hacker: a new P/390 runs $50k to $100k and the R/390 a bit more. I've used a P/390 and must say that it is quite a machine: all DASD communication channels are actually handled via a software emulation that runs under the host OS/2 machine, but other than that it seems much like a mainframe. You can run with RAID 0,1,3,5 using PC type drives. The 7490 can run OS/390 (the new name for MVS), VM/ESA, as well as VSE/ESA (the new name for DOS since about 1987). Interestingly enough IBM recently upgraded their P/390 production line to move from 90 MhZ Pentiums to 200 MhZ Pentiums and touted that customers could expect throughput rates to increase a whopping 10% (this gives you an inkling of how much the host OS adds in overhead). According to an IBM technical contact there are shops that are actually running P/390s in a production environment: doing payroll, accounting and whatnot. This despite the fact that the intended market was primarily for software shops porting code to S/390. Perhaps the most unusual thing about S/390 are the OpenEdition environments that run under the various OSes. They give you unix on the mainframe and the OpenEdition environment under OS/390 is now known as "UNIX System Services for OS/390". The irony being that MVS is actually 3-4 years younger than UNIX: UNIX started in 1969, MVS was announced in 1973 and shipped in 1974. At any rate keep an eye out for P/390 on a PC Server 500 (maybe the P90s will wind up on the used market?) and the equivalent R/390 machine - they take only wall plug 110 AC and will let you hack JCL, assembler, and CLISTs to your heart's content - destined to be classics. Peter Prymmer

28 years, 3 months

Kaypro's Available

by strategy＠winning.com

Would any collectors be interested in Kaypros. I have four -- some complete with original advertisement, software, manuals, etc. Time to free them from the storage bin.

28 years, 3 months

Firsts

by SUPRDAVE＠aol.com

In a message dated 98-01-18 17:11:29 EST, you write: << Just acquired a Compaq luggable (don't know the model, but it's an XT) that's pretty hefty. I forgot how much I love mono screens, though. The case reminds me of an airline carry-on cat container...stands on end, with the handle on top. >> ive got two IBM portable pc's (5155 i think) which are the same thing. also has built in handle and a 5 inch screen. both that i have are upgraded to 640k, and one has one floppy removed and a hard drive in its place. david

28 years, 3 months

Round-up of classic HP stuff

by fmc＠reanimators.org

Sam Ismail <dastar(a)wco.com> wrote: > (2) 21MX E computers (one having 1MW of memory, the other with 256MW) For Joe: MW == megawords. These being 2100-family machines a word is 16 bits. > (1) HP1000A Um, no, I think that is an HP1000 F-series. (I have trouble keeping 1000 M/E/F-series straight though, really should copy those pages out of the test equipment catalog and paste them to my monitor or something.) > (1) HP1000 model 600A (hard drive, 3.5" floppy) Cute little thing, in a deskside tower chassis. And a 2621P terminal that I am guessing was last used as its console: it's got the fiber-optic console interface attached. > (1) Tape Reader Reroller (the 8th of only a few ever made) Well, that's what the seller told us. Definitely 1960s stuff though. The idea was that the reader would re-roll your tape into its canister as it read. I gathered that that part didn't work too well. There were also some drafting erasers, um I mean hand-held re-rollers in a box nearby. > (2) 2647F terminals (these are actually computers running Basic with > built-in tape and external 5.25" disk drives but are used as > terminals to the 21MX) Take a close look at the label on the front. They say "HP3000". That's because these 2647Fs were originally meant to be used as consoles for HP3000 series 64/68/70 systems. (Though, in April 1984 when the shop I was at got a brand new 3000/64, the 2647F console with it had a 2647F badge on the front.) It's been a while since I had one of these to play with, but I'm thinking that the BASIC was loaded from diskette. There is a sort of command/script interpreter in the terminal though. > (2) Mag-tape drives (Frank will provide the specs and model #s) I think one of them has a 7970B tag and the other doesn't have a model tag but behaves like a 7970E, meaning nine-track 1600 BPI read/write. It's been modified, though, and I gather it started life as a read-only drive that could read 7-track tapes, and that we may have the parts to convert it back. Some of the parts are definitely there, but I can't judge their condition or completeness 'til we do a decent inventory of the lot and I try to wrap my head around the service manual for that drive. > (1) Big-assed line printer and stand HP 2608A. Needs work, doesn't feed paper right. As line printers go it's kinda dinky. E.g. you can take it off its stand and then two people can carry it without too much trouble, so long as there aren't stairs or doorways or RVs in the way. So if you have Sam's attention and are near a proper line printer please show it to him so he can get properly calibrated. > (2) HP racks No, two 19" HP racks on a pedestal. Apparently from an engine test system of some sort. HP used to embed 2100-family CPUs in all sorts of specialized test equipment and that's what these look like they were, once upon a time. > The guy was more interested in getting rid of it and having it go to a > good home than getting money for it. We paid him $200. Of course Frank > now has an invaluable contact for discussing his HP passion (the guy we > bought the stuff from is a 26 year HP veteran). Yeah, y'all really should have hung around a bit longer before zipping off to unload. > I think when it was all done Frank basically had an accident in his pants > as he could not contain his excitement over his good fortune. No, I was just dazed'n'confused because I really hadn't expected we'd be moving it that day, just looking and dealing to come get it in a couple weeks' time. So today I am playing catch-up, then maybe going off to rearrange /dev/closet02 in the hope of making a hole that some of this stuff can fit in. Catch-up? Um, yeah, I have a bunch of IBM manuals and stuff to sort through and inventory. They go with an IBM RT PC (6150). Got that too. Up to my butt in alligators, I remain, -Frank McConnell

28 years, 3 months

Firsts

by chemif＠mbox.queen.it

Hi, Barry, At 04:03 18/01/98 GMT, you wrote: >>Attacment:picture of the machine "olip101.jpg" > >PLEASE! No more attachments, especially of that size. >It took me dozens of tries to finally get it. (It blocked all my >other emails.) Hmm, sorry but I thought that 77 k attachment file would not make any problem (it took 45 sec. to send it). You could use the "skip big messages" option that most mail program have. Anyway I will refrain from sending attachements to this list in future. About my messag on Re: Firsts/programmable calculators, I received back from classicmp only one part of the whole message wrote (very strange). Here follows a copy without attachement: ------ Someone At 01:44 PM 1/11/98 -0500, wrote: >>> >First programable calc >>> >>> Then there is the "first solid state electronic calc" which I think goes to >>> the Busicom from Japan that employed the first production run of the intel >>> 4000 chip set: the 4001 (2048 bit ROM), 4002 (320 bit RAM), 4003 (10 bit >>> shift register), and the 4004 (4 bit CPU). That chip set was shipped to >>> Busicom in March 1971 according to Michael S. Malone's "The >Microprocessor: >>> A Biography" ISBN 0-387-94342-0 Then William Donzell added: >>Wang's first (or quite near their first) product was an all electronic >>calculator, introduced in the late 1960s. They are big, but could be >>lugged around. Then Joe: > HP's first calculator, the 9100a, was introduced in 1967 or 68. It had >no ICs, used core memories, and used logic gates made of diodes and >resistors. It did have transistors but they were mainly used as amplifiers >for the core memory. I guess it still qualifies as "solid state".) It was >fully proggramable and used RPN. I have a 9100B with a 1969 date code. > > I believe the Japanese Busicom calculator is even older and dates from >about 1966. Let see if I' m able to go more back: I translate from the URL page of the Pisa University Scientific Instruments Preservation Dept. < http://www.difi.unipi.it/museo/calcolat/miniepc/miniepc.html > Olivetti Programma 101 Olivetti Programma 101 Programma 101 comes introduced in 1965 during the BEMA elecronic show,in New York.It represents the first "desktop calculator" ever constructed in the world. 40.000 exemplary were constructed at the price of 3.200 $ The machine offered the possibility to carry out arithmetical operations in direct way, or of being programmed for the calculation of complex functions. The programs could be stored in magnetic stripes. It was entirely planned and realized in the Olivetti research laboratories of Pregnana, from a group of researchers guided from the Ing. Piergiorgio Perotto, the design was from the Arch. Mario Bellini. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? Riccardo Romagnoli,collector of:CLASSIC COMPUTERS,TELETYPE UNITS,PHONE ? ? AND PHONECARDS I-47100 Forli'/Emilia-Romagna/Food Valley/ITALY ? ? Pager:DTMF PHONES=+39/16888(hear msg.and BEEP then 5130274*YOUR TEL.No.* ? ? where*=asterisk key | help visit http://www.tim.it/tldrin_eg/tlde03.html ? ? e-mail=chemif(a)mbox.queen.it ? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

28 years, 3 months

Power Problem (slightly offtopic?)

by higginbo＠netpath.net

I know this is off-topic, but I think someone might be able to help me with this here. If you want, reply privately to higginbo@netpath. net. I haven't got a clue on this one: I was putting together this system the other day at work, got everything setup, turned it on, and it was fine. But when I hit reset or power down, I can't get it to come back up at all. The hard drives would init, the cd-rom drives would power up, but nothing would come up on screen, no memory check, etc. I could then reset a few times and it would eventually come up. The system is getting power, and the motherboard and case/PS are brand new. So I'm throwing this out to you guys: Is it the power supply not providing enough juice for all the drives? It's a 250w PS, and everything works once it's on. Is it the motherboard? (TX Pro chipset, el cheapo, but have had no probs with them in the past.) Not enough power getting to the power supply? I'm at a loss on this one. -John Higginbotham- -limbo.netpath.net-

28 years, 3 months

DECMates

by allisonp＠world.std.com

<A while ago, I mentioned that I had a DECMate III, the one without <the hard drive. It has two DECWrite manuals, a disk set for the same, <Could anyone tell me what OS I can use on this, where I can get it, <and how to install it. The DEC is not at my house, and any mistake will DECMATE-III is a sorta PDP-8 using the harris 6120 chip that is a microprocessor clone of the basic PDP-8 with some added features. With some notable exceptions it will run most PDP-8 software and there are some spcific DECMATE modified veriosn out there like OS/8 and operating system. FYI DECMATEs nominally run WPS a word processing, list management, spread sheet and communications terminal emulation package unique to them. If you can surf the web most of the software for PDP-8 and DECmates are out there along with tech info. To get the OS on the decmate there are two paths... get someone to make a copy of the OS/8 disk set(its permitted) or down load the files from those sites and use PUTR ot teledisk(disk cloner) and a 1.2m 5.25" drive on a PC. Allison

28 years, 3 months

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