At 09:54 AM 11/30/97 -0800, you wrote:
>Most all of the consumer IR controls on the market use the same carrier
>frequency and the same modulation technique, and only differ in using
>different codes for different functions. Evidently some of your boxes
>use the same codes for different functions!
I am amazed that there isn't a standard for remotes -- 01 for on/off, 02 for
VolUp, 03 for VolDn, etc. But of course, nobody listens to me.
>I would guess that the IR keyboards in the PC Jr's pretty much guaranteed
>that they would never be adopted by schools. When all you have to do
>is point your keyboard at the teacher's PC and type "DEL *.*", any
>schools that did buy them must've unloaded them as soon as they could...
As I recall, there was much criticism of the IR keyboard since if you were
far enough away to make it useful, you were too far away to read the screen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
A 68040 -based machine is not that old, maybe a bit under 10 years. What I
was wondering is whether or not there is any objective advantage of old
machines to new ones. F.E. one could get an old IBM mini (System/3X) for
little or no money, but is there anything doable on it that is impossible to
do on a W****** 95 machine?
In a message dated 97-11-30 21:43:54 EST, you write:
<< FYI...
In ba.market.computers, George Akimov <iga(a)metabyte.com> wrote:
>Our company has a computer which we would like to donate to college or
>school.
>The name is "ARETE" Model 1224/160/16 OS - ARIX, ARIXNET Ethernet
>2 CPU boards, 68040 -25mhz
>64 MB memory
>4-800 MB Disks
>16 serial ports
>240 v.power
>Expansion Cabinet 1200/exp
>474 MB disk drive 1000/D474
>9-track Tape Drive 1000/9T-HP
>9-track Tape/Disk Controller 1000/DT2-9T
>Software, incl INFORMIX.
>>
Greetings all!
I recently received a ZX-81/TS-1000 (can't tell, the case was gone and the
TS-1000 is marked as ZX-81 on the board - doesn't matter anyway..)
It has a second set of ROMs, selectable via the channel switch, which
comes up as:
PLURI-FORTH BY TREE SYSTEMS
COPYRIGHT 1983
Does anyone know about this, or, hopefully, have a manual? VLIST tells me
the words but a manual would be really nice. I've since mounted the board
with homemade keyboard (which I didn't make) in an old Apple II case. Add
a few connectors on the case and I'm all set with a nice little 16k Forth
machine!
- Ron Kneusel
rkneusel(a)mcw.edu
Neil McNeight wrote:
>On Fri, 28 Nov 1997, Sergio Izquierdo Garcia wrote:
>> I've obtained one streamer tape drive, Wangtek Model 5099EN24.
>> I have read that Linux can support it directly.
>
> It's a SCSI device (at least the ones I've seen are). As long as you have
> a SCSI card to plug it in to and the drivers for that, you shouldn't need
> anything else. But then, I've never used one under DOS or Windows either.
The EN drives are _not_ SCSI drives. You will need a controller card for them.
Roger Ivie
ivie(a)cc.usu.edu
>PC jr.
Would you like to have another IR keyboard?
Also, do you need any C64 stuff? I've been trying to get rid of it for a
while now (You name it, I have it, except the C64 and all kinds of expansion
boards/cartriges)
<quite a few Rainbow user groups sponserred by DEC. Allison I'm sure,
<has all the specs and there is a downloadable systems site.
Actually I'm not current on the Rainbow and a few otehr would know where
the stuff is.
< Not being mini or DEC literate what is the RX50 format and what
<systems (platforms) is it used on ?
Basic RX50:
Single sided, ten 512 byte sectors per track soft sector and 80 tracks at
96 TPI for a total of 409kb formatted space per disk. It was DECs attempt
to get more density on low cost floppy. While the format worked the slow
dual spindle single positioner dual drive was a dog and internal pressure
made it's use manditory for many systems that would have gone with buyout
floppy drives like teac or sony. In the late 80s that would happen as
a result for the need for PC compatability (AT) and later lower cost and
more compact (3.5" 1.44mb).
The format is not half a 1.2mb drive as it's 250kbit MFM(same as 360k
floppy) and the spin rate is 300 rpm. It emerged whe DSQD drives were
being seen on CP/M-80 and the 16 bit systems of the time. Back then CP/M
could effienctly use a pair of 800k floppies cheaper than hard disk. DSQD
were 96tpi, 80 track 730->820k per drive and were essentially 360k drives
with 80 instead of 40 tracks. This format combo fell into disuse quickly
with poor acceptance due to the general chaos of 5.25" disk formats emerging
between 81-86ish. The driver of that chaos was the need for more space and
the still very high cost of then 5-40mb hard disks. The availability of
media for IBM XT 360k made it a pseudo standard.
It was introduced on the early 80s and used on most all DEC systems until
the late 80s when the VAXmate broke the mold by used RX33(1.2mb at
compatable) and later with 3.5" RX23(1.44)/24(720k) on the 3100 and PC
systems.
Allison
<I have a query about the operation of a KSR 33 TTY when reading paper
<tape : does the TTY blindly send the characters read from the tape at 10
<cps or is the tape advance and read triggered by a signal from whatever
<th TTY is connected to.
This is limted to ASR33s as they have the reader punch, KSR33 is keyboard
and printer only.
The answer is yes! Some systems have provision for tty reader control
and enables single character read. Others just take it at 10 cps as they
have all the time in the world between characters, it's not fast.
Allison
At 09:37 PM 11/28/97 -0800, you wrote:
>was an Atari 130XE, the case is like my 520ST, but I'm possitive this is an
It's an 8-bit atari (ala 800) but from later on at the very end of the 8-bit
line. Be very careful about plugging an ST ps in, I don't htink they're the
same.
>It has a cartridge port that looks like it will take the cartridges that go
>in the Atari 800 I've got (it's also missing a power supply).
Same cartridges.
>One major plus is it had the necessary cable to connect the computer to the
>floppy drive I picked up a month or so ago. Although the cable seems to be
>intended to go to this real cool looking little box, an "Atari 850
>Interface Module", which is complete with a power supply, and a operaters
That connector/cable is used for a lot of things. It's mainly(?) for the
disk drives, but hooking up to the 850 gives you standard RS-232, multiple
atari SIO(is that what it was called?) ports and possibly a parallel printer
port? There were cables that had built-in adapters to go from the sio to
parallel printers as well as ones for RS-232. Also, there were modems that
used that interface rather than a standard RS-232 and printers too.
Sorry if that's not clear but it's late and I'm still working...
>What was probably the biggest find was a Macintosh Colour Classic minus
>keyboard and mouse for $5.00, only has 4Mb of memory, but it just might end
>up replacing my SE/30 as my Word Processor. I just wish it could handle
>32Mb of RAM like the SE/30, instead of a measly 10Mb (OK, I admit, that's
>more than I need for what I'm threating).
D*mn! Why can I find bargains like that! The Mac colour (or color for our
us friends) classic is a heck of a nice machine. Still very useable in the
clsaaroom and elsewhere. P.S., there is a classic macs mailing list for
them what use <'040 macs. email me for more info...
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
>I have one, complete and working, color monitor, printer, >word perfect,
lotus
>symphone, and ALL documentation. It's available!
>Fax 770-486-9847
Isn't that the infamous computer that couldn't format disks? If not, what
was? I am not interested in acquiring this machine, but I would be interested
in the general specs
A bit area-specific but with the plethora of west-coast posters
aargh-ingly having access to so many old machines ; some parity.
Does anyone on this list know of any T.O. computer museums
in this area ? Not the Science Center , it has interactive displays
etc. but no real museum, and they know of none in the area. I know
Charley Fox is trying to set one up in the Windsor area and I've
heard of another chap in the K-W area but none locally. Any info
or interest, please E-mail me.
ciao larry
lwalkerN0spaM(a)interlog.com
FYI...
In ba.market.computers, George Akimov <iga(a)metabyte.com> wrote:
>Our company has a computer which we would like to donate to college or
>school.
>The name is "ARETE" Model 1224/160/16 OS - ARIX, ARIXNET Ethernet
>2 CPU boards, 68040 -25mhz
>64 MB memory
>4-800 MB Disks
>16 serial ports
>240 v.power
>Expansion Cabinet 1200/exp
>474 MB disk drive 1000/D474
>9-track Tape Drive 1000/9T-HP
>9-track Tape/Disk Controller 1000/DT2-9T
>Software, incl INFORMIX.
>Any interest in that, please call (408)376-3801 ext.128
>or e-mail: marina(a)dentistat.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad
sinasohn(a)crl.com that none but madmen know."
Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates
San Francisco, California http://www.crl.com/~sinasohn/
Well, I have a TV, VCR, and Cable Descrambler box. Each has a separate
remote. I was unable to operate the TV picture controls for a while, because
each time I do, the Cable Box does something weird. Also, if I operate the
the volume control on the TV remote, the Cable Box sometimes changes the
channel. But, the IR emitter is focused in a small beam, so that unless the
IR keyboard reflects off of something, or the receivers are right next to
each other, there oughtn't be interference.
In a message dated 97-11-30 12:20:54 EST, you write:
<< > >PC jr.
> Would you like to have another IR keyboard?
On the subject of PC Jr's, I've always had a silly question: how do you
use more than one in the same room at the same time? Don't the IR
keyboards interfere with each other? Or is there some obvious solution
to this problem?
I've noticed that some of the Web-TV units also have IR keyboards...
do they have a solution to this problem?
Tim.
>>
I'll e-mail a price list in the next couple of days.
manndey(a)nwohio.com
----------
> From: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
> To: Manney
> Subject: Re: 386 and 486 motherboards
> Date: Sunday, November 30, 1997 10:07 AM
>
> sure tell me how much you want.
>
> dave
> microage97(a)aol.com
Does anyone have a copy of the Apple /// SOS distribution that I can buy?? I
got the recently-adopted /// working, but it has no disks or manuals.
Thanks again!
Rich Cini/WUGNET
<nospam_rcini(a)msn.com> (remove nospam_ to use)
ClubWin! Charter Member (6)
MCP Windows 95/Windows Networking
============================================
>I've noticed that some of the Web-TV units also have IR keyboards...
>do they have a solution to this problem?
I think that the IR keyboards are the same thing for jrs and for Web-TVs...
a joke. I mean, they belong with video confencing, (responsive) touch
screens, and gigahertz processors. Right now, the technology is too
expensive to get a good use. (IE make something cheap and with few
functions, like a remote, or expenisve and keyboard functions, but at a high
cost). I've seen the Web-TV IR keyboards (a very slim & beautiful-looking
unit), and they cost hundreds of dollars. When you buy the add-on printer,
keyboard, and stuff like that, the price probably soars to a higher price
than a sub-$1000 PC (I've seen 166MMX boxes for under $500), it was the same
problem with the jr: You promise them cheap, easy to use, and seemingly
child-like to use. You end up with bad IR transmiters/recievers, expensive
replacements, a high initial-cost, (the jr. shipped for like 1,200, not the
promised 700 bucks.), and babies are bad enough with remotes. What do they
do with 110 volts, a IR keyboard and reciever, and a cartrige system, all
wonderful devices used by adults/older kids? The results are hard to even
think of. If they could make a computer with less than 20V.... that would
probably be OK....
(A different) Tim. ;^)
In a message dated 97-11-30 12:56:10 EST, you write:
<< I would guess that the IR keyboards in the PC Jr's pretty much guaranteed
that they would never be adopted by schools. When all you have to do
is point your keyboard at the teacher's PC and type "DEL *.*", any
schools that did buy them must've unloaded them as soon as they could... >>
For the weak-stomached, I will use profanities here, so watch out.
Well then, what about the new IR stuff like IRDA, the new IR Mice in the IBM
A****A S series, the IR keyboards for l*****s, etc?
I would like to get an AD converter board for my s100 bus North Star. It
is still in use on a piece of equipment. I need a backup. I also have
other S100 boards if someone is in need. pwb3(a)columbia.edu
my favorite tv/radio shop again seems to be cleaning out his back room. i
picked up:
Radio Shack Color computer
C64
PC Jr + monitor (w/ IR keyboard)
XT clone
2 IBM 5151 monitors
Apple III monitor
which was all i had room for. had to leave behind a cool looking (although
somewhat beat up) IBM Displaywriter system. also lots of TVs, typewriters,
old dot matrix printers, 3rd party EGA monitors, etc.
the only thing i've played with is the PC jr. I used to have the tech.
manual on this puppy but i think I tossed it out some years ago (dumb).
the machine seems to work (IR keyboard and all) but the monitor has a
vertical hold problem (beautiful colors on the monitor though). i'll try
the NTSC out and see how that works.
- glenn
+=========================================================+
| Glenn F. Roberts, Falls Church, VA
| Comments are my own and not the opinion of my employer
| groberts(a)mitre.org
At 11:30 PM 11/29/97 -0500, William Donzelli wrote:
>I spent some time at the Capital for the holiday, and took a few hours off
>to check out some of the vintage machines at the Smithsonion Institution.
speaking of which, i would recommend the Smithsonian's "Information Age"
exhibit to anyone in this group. It's in the National Museum of American
History (14th and Constitution in Washington DC):
http://www.si.edu/organiza/museums/nmah/youmus/genlinfo.htm
or see a glimpse of it in the on line version:
http://www.si.edu/organiza/museums/nmah/youmus/ex18infa.htm
they have cool stuff like an early Sun, and (as I recall) an Apple I - also
mainframe history, telephone and telgraph, television, etc. worth a trip.
the price is right too (free!) - one of the benefits of living in the DC area.
- glenn
+=========================================================+
| Glenn F. Roberts, Falls Church, VA
| Comments are my own and not the opinion of my employer
| groberts(a)mitre.org
<Actually, didn't some of the DECmates come with a RX50 floppy drive?
<Were these capable of formatting?
DECmate-II/III are rx50 based.
Actually the RQDX1/2/3 can format a rx50 but the code to do so is not
supplied. The PRO350/380 and DECmate-II/III can't becuase the the floppy
controller that can use handled by an 8751 uP, and the floppy subsystem
does not have enough memory to buffer all the needed data for the 1793
format track command (all bytes including gaps must be supplied).
Some of the DEC controller work alikes may have formatting capability using
RX33 type drives(must have dual speed and nultidata rate).
Any CP/M system with 179x compatable chip can format an RX50 and it's
possible to do it using some PCs (controller/programming dependent).
Allison
Been doing a bit of an inventory (sanity check) around the Computer Garage
this weekend, and have come across some units that need to find a new home
to make room for things somewhat less contemporary.
Asking price for any of the units is $25.00 plus shipping, or trade for
other items of interest. (see the Computer Garage 'Wish List' for some
possibilities)
Available Quantity Description
4 Digital DECstation 2100
1 Digital DECstation 3100
1 Digital DECstation 5000/200
These are CPU only, various configurations of memory and hard drive, built
in video and ethernet capability. No OS. (suitable for ULTRIX or
NetBSD/MIPS) Obviously, no shipping if you pick them up! (Beaverton,
Oregon.) No guarantee of condition, though they are in good shape by
visual inspection. Indicated as functional when removed from service by
person who provided the units to me.
Please note: these are MIPS processor based DECstations, *not* VAXstations!
These units will *not* run VMS or any other VAX software.
Drop me a note if interested.
-jim
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
I just bought forty 386 and 486 motherboards. These are anywhere from 386
SX-16's to 486-[unmentionable because less than 10 years old].
Anyone want?
e-mail me privately...manney(a)nwohio.com
ps I even have a 286 with onboard HDD, FDD, parallel and Coms...never seen
built-in peripherals on a 286 -- that ought to be collectible, now!
What would the jumpers be set to for a CSR of 160160 and a vector of 350?
I have the manual and I've set them to 4 or 5 different addresses, but I
must be doing it wrong as INIT never sees them.
