test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by gmast＠oboe.aix.calpoly.edu

I'm sorting through the boxes of "stuff" I have accumulated and I've saved a pile of books you folks might be interested in. I am selling them in lots because I don't have time to pack up and mail them out individually. Besides they're going cheap! Shipping via USPS Book Rate. Commodore Lot: The Manager - Commodore 64 C64 User's Manual Kids and the Commodore 64 Commodore 64 Favorite Programs Explained Re Run - Reprinted Articles from Jan to June 1984 - Run Magazine VIC 1541 User's Maanual More than 32 Basic Programs for the C64 Commodore 64 User's Handbook Commodore 64 Programmer's Reference Guide Turte Graphics II Instruction Manual Price $5, Shipping $4.25 Apple Lot: Critic's Guide to Software for Apple and Compatible Computers Apple II Super Serial Card Manual Apple II 80-Column Text Card Manual Extended 80-Column Text Card Supplement Apple II The DOS Manual Applesoft II Basic Programming Reference Manual Price $5, Shipping $4.25 Other Lot: 10 Starter Programs from Family Computing (Apple, Atari, etc, 1983) 1986 Radio Shack Software Reference and Tandy Computer Guide A Bit of Basic (Apple II, TRS-80) Price $2.75, Shipping $2.25

28 years, 9 months

TRS-80 Model I info (RE: MSX, TRS-80, Colour Genie, etc.)

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

The Model I originally shipped without a numeric keypad. To the right of the main keyboard was a rectangular keypad-size plaque reading "Radio Shack TRS-80 Micro Computer System". The numeric keypad was added to later models, and was available as a retrofit kit for around $50. With the numeric keypad installed, the nameplate was moved to a horizontal plaque above the keyboard. The TRS-80 Model I lineage includes: Model I, 4K, Level I BASIC - This is a 3-piece system with the computer in the keyboard. It includes the system keyboard/cpu, monitor, tape drive (actually a rebadged regular Radio Shack portable cassette deck with no modifications), and power supply brick. Level I BASIC is similar to Tiny BASIC. I still have my Level I BASIC reference manual. Model I, 16K, Level II BASIC - The 16K and Level II upgrades went together. 16K is the maximum Model I memory in the system unit (8x 4116 DRAMs). Level II BASIC is similar to Microsoft BASIC/80 with functions added for things like the TRS-80's 128x48 memory-mapped monochrome graphics. Level II also added a keyboard debounce routine--Level I machines were very difficult for typists. Other Upgrades: - Expansion Interface Matching silver color, acts as a monitor stand, connects to system unit via ribbon cable. Contains dual floppy controller (WD chip), sockets for an additional 32K (2 banks of 4116 DRAMs) for a system maximum of 48K, and a parallel connection. 16K ROM BASIC occupied the remainder of the address space. The expansion interface also contains a card bay for an RS-232 interface. - RS-232 interface board For expansion interface. - Floppy drives Single-sided single-density, approx. 90KB free space. - Lower case upgrade Provides lower case capability. - Numeric keypad retrofit As discussed above Known TRS-80 Model I problems: - Unreliable cassette interface. Radio Shack later released a modification that improved this somewhat. The best option is a third-party unit called the Data Dubber by Microperipheral Corporation (I worked there!) that went in between the system unit and cassette and squared the wave. - Wonky, unbuffered connection to Expansion Interface. This went through various modifications, and some cables you'll see have big buffer boxes in the middle. Later Expansion Interfaces had built-in buffering. Some bought third-party expansion interface clones from Lobo and others. Be very careful if you get an Expansion Interface without a cable. It might need the buffered cable, and it would be a pain to manufacture. - Bad data separator chip. The stock data separator was unreliable. Most people replaced theirs with a third-party improvement such as Percom's. - Unreliable connection for the Expansion Interface-mounted RS-232 board. This board slipped over vertical post connections and never made good contact. Most folks used third-party alternatives that worked off the cassette port. Kai > ---------- > From: Mr. Self Destruct > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 1997 4:14 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: MSX, TRS-80, Colour Genie, etc. > > > On Wed, 25 Jun 1997, Scott Walde wrote: > > > No. They were originally known (and labelled) as the TRS-80 > Microcomputer > > System. They later became known as the model 1 (Although I don't > think > > they were ever labelled as such.) > > > > Were there two different Model 1's? I have seen pictures of Model 1's > that don't look like my Model 1. (i.e. no numeric keypad) > > Les > more(a)crazy.rutgers.edu > > >

28 years, 9 months

Archive file formats (RE: Archiving Stuff)

by BROBSTONA＠wartburg.edu

>> Compressed 1-bit, 300 dpi TIFF for schematics >> - Almost everything supports TIFF, including tons of shareware and [technical stuff snipped] >I'm not so sure that "everything" supports TIFF. After a little looking, >I couldn't even find a TIFF file to test with xv. Is there anything for either OpenVMS/Alpha (No DEC/X-windows) or the Apple IIGS that can read TIFF? >> RTF (Rich Text Format) for text documents that use formatting >> - WordPerfect, Word, WordPad, etc. will save in this format How about HTML? That would likely be more readable for my shell account (though not all formatting would be displayed in Lynx). I suppose I could walk over to the computer lab and use a Mac or a PC if I *had* to. :) -- Andy Brobston brobstona(a)wartburg.edu ***NEW URL BELOW*** http://www.wartburg.edu/people/docs/personalPages/BrobstonA/home.html My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Wartburg College as a whole.

28 years, 9 months

Archive file formats (RE: Archiving Stuff)

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Hey, figuring out standards like this is what I do. I recommend: JPEG for photo scans (brochures, ads, etc.) - It's the Internet photo file format standard Compressed 1-bit, 300 dpi TIFF for schematics - Almost everything supports TIFF, including tons of shareware and Wang's free image processing add-on for Win95 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/wang.htm) - 1-bit means monochrome (not grayscale). Use JPEG for images. - Images should be 300 dpi, 8 1/2" x 11", i.e. 2550 x 3300 (don't worry about scanning white space, it takes no space at all when compressed) TXT for text documents that don't use formatting - 80-column with carriage returns please RTF (Rich Text Format) for text documents that use formatting - WordPerfect, Word, WordPad, etc. will save in this format Kai > ---------- > From: Bill Whitson > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 1997 1:05 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Archiving Stuff > > Hi all. > > Consider Classiccmp Web/FTP open for your archiving pleasure ;). > > The process has been more or less tested out and is ready to go. > Submissions of Software, Documentation, ROM code, whatever are all > OK. > > What really remains to be done is to work out standards for file > formats. I'll let those of you who are experts on specific platforms > argue that out. I'll follow whatever ensues and firm up some > guidelines. > > To submit something you need to download the form DS-form.txt from > the FTP site (140.142.225.27) and fill it out to the best of your > ability. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the form for > uploading. > > All the form does is provide evidence (if anyone ever complains) that > I'm not just uploading copyrighted material without a care. > > Anyway - if you're itching to archive stuff feel free. Your comments > are welcome and also unavoidable ;) > > Bill > > ---------------------------------------------------- > Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp > bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu > http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw > >

28 years, 9 months

TRS-80 Model I info (RE: MSX, TRS-80, Colour Genie, etc.)

by allisonp＠world.std.com

> The Model I originally shipped without a numeric keypad. To the right Correct. > of the main keyboard was a rectangular keypad-size plaque reading "Radio > Shack TRS-80 Micro Computer System". The numeric keypad was added to > later models, and was available as a retrofit kit for around $50. With > the numeric keypad installed, the nameplate was moved to a horizontal > plaque above the keyboard. Also correct. > > The TRS-80 Model I lineage includes: > > Model I, 4K, Level I BASIC > - This is a 3-piece system with the computer in the keyboard. It > includes the system keyboard/cpu, monitor, tape drive (actually a > rebadged regular Radio Shack portable cassette deck with no > modifications), and power supply brick. Level I BASIC is similar to > Tiny BASIC. I still have my Level I BASIC reference manual. The Basic was an 4k microsoft basic with floating point and simple arrays but no alphanumeric operators or transcendental functions. Tiny basic was an integer language of less than 4k. > Model I, 16K, Level II BASIC > - The 16K and Level II upgrades went together. 16K is the maximum Model > I memory in the system unit (8x 4116 DRAMs). Level II BASIC is similar wrong. Either could be installed alone. Generally LII with 4k was pretty cramped. FYI: the LII romset was only 12k. > to Microsoft BASIC/80 with functions added for things like the TRS-80's > 128x48 memory-mapped monochrome graphics. It was MS12k basic with TRS extensions (graphics). >Level II also added a > keyboard debounce routine--Level I machines were very difficult for > typists. The key bounce was a bug in the original 4k software, it didn't wait long enough. There was a cassette that when loaded fixed it. Me I'd clean the key contacts with a swab and some contact cleaner and get the same result. > - Expansion Interface > Matching silver color, acts as a monitor stand, connects to system unit > via ribbon cable. Contains dual floppy controller (WD chip), sockets > for an additional 32K (2 banks of 4116 DRAMs) for a system maximum of > 48K, and a parallel connection. 16K ROM BASIC occupied the remainder of > the address space. The expansion interface also contains a card bay for > an RS-232 interface. The bottom 16k was 12k of rom (LII basic) 1k of ram for video and keyboard mapped in to memory space. Some of the 4k space for the video and keyboard was wasted due to partial decode. The upside was since the keyboard was scanned by the cpu so alternate shift and character sets were easy to do. The down side is no matter how you tried, keyboard type ahead was impossible, the keyboard could not interrupt the CPU. > - RS-232 interface board > For expansion interface. The surface connector used was very cranky. > - Floppy drives > Single-sided single-density, approx. 90KB free space. The design used the 1771 internal data seperator which was not very tolerent of drive spped errors or data jitter. > - Lower case upgrade > Provides lower case capability. Way late in the game the "field mod" had been around over a year before tandy did it. > - Numeric keypad retrofit > As discussed above Popular item! > Known TRS-80 Model I problems: > > - Unreliable cassette interface. Radio Shack later released a > modification that improved this somewhat. The best option is a > third-party unit called the Data Dubber by Microperipheral Corporation > (I worked there!) that went in between the system unit and cassette and > squared the wave. There were two mods one largely marginal, the later one was very effective. I had a mod I did that worked very well and was far simpler. > - Wonky, unbuffered connection to Expansion Interface. This went > through various modifications, and some cables you'll see have big > buffer boxes in the middle. Later Expansion Interfaces had built-in > buffering. Some bought third-party expansion interface clones from Lobo > and others. Be very careful if you get an Expansion Interface without a > cable. It might need the buffered cable, and it would be a pain to > manufacture. The first version with the unbuffered or buffered cable was a junk design. the later one with local ras/cas timing was far better. > - Bad data separator chip. The stock data separator was unreliable. > Most people replaced theirs with a third-party improvement such as > Percom's. The stock circuit depended on the 1771 chips internal seperator, Even WD the chipmaker said don't do it! > - Unreliable connection for the Expansion Interface-mounted RS-232 > board. This board slipped over vertical post connections and never made > good contact. Most folks used third-party alternatives that worked off > the cassette port. Being there at the begining was half the fun. Allison

28 years, 9 months

Lisa's scores

by allisonp＠world.std.com

> > really think the engineers blew it. The original OS is too innovative, > > so much that the computer is nearly unuseable. > > I wouldn't think that "too innovative" would result in a lesser rating fo > "technical" aspects (at least in the realm of computer history/collecting > the "real" world is a different matter (see "success"...)) Lest we forget the LISA was the Prototype system for the mac! Allison

28 years, 9 months

MSX, TRS-80, Colour Genie, etc.

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

> I am looking for > > IBM PC Junior > Apple II > TRS-80 (model I) I think I have a couple of trash-80's in the back room. One with disks, one without. Do they say "model 1"? (I don't know these at all) Does have a Lisa he/she wants to unload? I also have several, nice-condition Commodore boxes that I'd hate to pitch. As long as we're in the subject of trading, I have several years of PPC (HP programmable calculator user group) that I'd *love* to find a home for of...absolutely fascinating stuff, including the origin of Ulam's conjecture.

28 years, 9 months

Archive file formats (RE: Archiving Stuff)

by thedm＠sunflower.com

Whats wrong with plain old ascii text. ---------- > From: Paul E Coad <pcoad(a)crl.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: Archive file formats (RE: Archiving Stuff) > Date: Wednesday, June 25, 1997 8:47 PM > > > Kai, > > Nice initial stab at some standards. I am a little concerned that this > is a bit PC-centric. I would like to make sure that those of us on the > fringe (not using Windows machines or Macs) don't get left out. This > may mean lowering the standards to be a little more inclusive. > > Maybe these are all cross-platform standards, I don't know. Can any of > the VMS/AmigaOS/TOS/whatnotOS people read and write all of these formats? > > I'm not trying to start a religious war. I want to be able to make use > of and possibly contribute to the archive. > > On Wed, 25 Jun 1997, Kai Kaltenbach wrote: > > > Hey, figuring out standards like this is what I do. I recommend: > > > > JPEG for photo scans (brochures, ads, etc.) > > - It's the Internet photo file format standard > > xv can be used to view these so Unix/X is covered. > > > > > Compressed 1-bit, 300 dpi TIFF for schematics > > - Almost everything supports TIFF, including tons of shareware and > > Wang's free image processing add-on for Win95 > > (http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/wang.htm) > > - 1-bit means monochrome (not grayscale). Use JPEG for images. > > - Images should be 300 dpi, 8 1/2" x 11", i.e. 2550 x 3300 (don't worry > > about scanning white space, it takes no space at all when compressed) > > > > I'm not so sure that "everything" supports TIFF. After a little looking, > I couldn't even find a TIFF file to test with xv. > > Is there a reason that postscript cannot be used? Most of the schematics > out there that I have seen have been postscript files. > > > TXT for text documents that don't use formatting > > - 80-column with carriage returns please > > Text is good. > > > > > RTF (Rich Text Format) for text documents that use formatting > > - WordPerfect, Word, WordPad, etc. will save in this format > > > > Is there anything under Unix which can read and/or write RTF? > > Why not use postscript for publishing the formatted documents? > > --pec > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Saved From The Dumpster Collection: http://www.crl.com/~pcoad/machines.html >

28 years, 9 months

Computer Trivia Game

by sinasohn＠crl.com

At 11:03 PM 6/24/97 -0400, you wrote: >I'm a trivia freak, and computer trivia's fun. Old computers are great Anyone remember a trivial-pursuit-like Computer Trivia game? It was being touted at one of the last West Coast Computer Faires here in San Francisco. Anyone have a copy? --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- 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/

28 years, 9 months

Lisa's scores

by sinasohn＠crl.com

At 08:38 AM 6/25/97 -0400, you wrote: >technical - foul - It seems that the Lisa should do better here, but I > really think the engineers blew it. The original OS is too innovative, > so much that the computer is nearly unuseable. I wouldn't think that "too innovative" would result in a lesser rating for "technical" aspects (at least in the realm of computer history/collecting; the "real" world is a different matter (see "success"...)) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- 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/

28 years, 9 months

Convergent Technology Computers

by sinasohn＠crl.com

At 11:33 PM 6/24/97 -0400, you wrote: >And don't forget the Workslate from Convergent. It was the slickest laptop Anyone know where to find one of these? I'd sure like to add one to my collection! --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- 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/

28 years, 9 months

Apple II (wasDumpster Diving)

by BigLouS＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-06-22 05:13:35 EDT,maynard(a)jmg.com (J. Maynard Gelinas) wrote: > I have an opportunity for an original Apple II. Keyboard > works, the system prom boots, but unfortunately he lost the disk > controller. He still has the old full height 5 1/4" drive, however. This > thing is quite dirty, and a few keys will have to be cleaned carefully > with alchol, but it looks good. I'm curious to know if I need to find > anything other than the floppy controller. Didn't Microsoft Basic come on > a prom card? Or was that on the floppy controller card? Or was there at > one point a mixed controller/BASIC card? Any Apple disk II controller will work. Apple originally offered an Integer basic card (which contained integer basic in rom) for the Apple II+ series. This solution was replaced by the 16K language card in slot 0. As part of the boot up sequence DOS 3.3 would determine which basic was resident in rom and load the other basic into the 16K on the language card. There was no mixed controller/basic card. Language cards are plentiful and cheap so you should have no trouble finding one. Hope this helps. Lou

28 years, 9 months

pieces of metal and plastic

by IVIE＠cc.usu.edu

> Remember it? If it's what I am thinking of, I was doing it a couple of > weeks ago. You are talking about a 'Coconut', right (explanation of that > codename also on request - it has _nothing_ to do with the Tandy CoCo). > Nowadays I do something similar. I create a GROB with the right bit > patterns, use the SystemRPL 'Get' routine to remove the header, and thus > create new objects. Wouldn't it be easier to create the object on something else (like that PDP-11 sitting in the corner) and then just download it using Kermit? I built a set of macros for M80 to create Chip-8 code I could download >from my DECmate, but I never cobbled together a real assembler for the beast... Roger Ivie ivie(a)cc.usu.edu

28 years, 9 months

pieces of metal and plastic

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

Why do I play with old computers? I love collecting oddball stuff, just to consider what people could do...in what directions the industry could have gone. I play with old software (Visicalc, Concurrent DOS, and others) and trace their influences on today's WINtel products...and you know? as clunky as those old programs are, today's software is a direct descendant of many classic programs. I'm a trivia freak, and computer trivia's fun. Old computers are great trivia. (here's a good one for everyone...does anyone remember "synthetic programming"? Explanation on request.) I recondition old PC's, because -- then -- it puts an *affordable* PC into someone's hands. Unused machinery distresses me. Good machinery trashed makes me really ill. Why do we (USA) throw so much away? I loved computers from my first programmable calculator (1978...a TI-58). I lusted after many higher-priced units of the day. I can satisfy my ex-lusts now for -- sometimes -- a few bucks. I see the earlier stuff I have on the shelf increasing in value. Hey I'm not in business for my health! And...so you watch TV in the evening. Well, I hate TV and don't watch it. Does that make it bad? I read old issues of Punch Magazine, sci-fi and play with old machines. We all should have *something* different to do, or else we'd be alike, and who would I talk to, to keep me interested?

28 years, 9 months

CLASSICCMP digest 90

by ghjorth＠sn.no

Would someone please remove me from this list. Thank you.

28 years, 9 months

CLASSICCMP digest 94

by ghjorth＠sn.no

Will someone take me off this list.

28 years, 9 months

Archiving Stuff

by bill＠booster.bothell.washington.edu

Hi all. Consider Classiccmp Web/FTP open for your archiving pleasure ;). The process has been more or less tested out and is ready to go. Submissions of Software, Documentation, ROM code, whatever are all OK. What really remains to be done is to work out standards for file formats. I'll let those of you who are experts on specific platforms argue that out. I'll follow whatever ensues and firm up some guidelines. To submit something you need to download the form DS-form.txt from the FTP site (140.142.225.27) and fill it out to the best of your ability. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the form for uploading. All the form does is provide evidence (if anyone ever complains) that I'm not just uploading copyrighted material without a care. Anyway - if you're itching to archive stuff feel free. Your comments are welcome and also unavoidable ;) Bill ---------------------------------------------------- Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw

28 years, 9 months

Computer Documentation

by rcini＠msn.com

Marvin: I, too, like to have documentation for my various holdings. I have copies of the service manuals for the Radio Shack Model I, the Commodore PET 4032, the VIC-20 and (I think) the VIC 1541 floppy drive. I'd like to get copies of the schematics for the Altair, the IMSAI, and anything related to the System 23/Datamaster. If you need these, I can have copies made. As far as ROMs are concerned, maybe we can start a "ROM Archive" database/repository. Members with EPROM programmers could make copies of known-good ROMS from various machines at the request of other members. However, there is a major pitfall: version control. Unless someone has an idea as to which ROM versions go with each hardware revision, there is a risk of incompatibility. Although, what's the worst that can happen -- it doesn't work. As far as Copyright concerns, I don't think that there are any. First, many of our target companies are out of business. Second, we are not selling these chips (and the software contained therein) in a commercial sense. Third, they're being used as a one-for-one replacement for defective firmware. I view it like a diskette: I own Norton Utilities with a bad disk 1. My friend also owns Norton Utilities, and he makes me a copy of his disk 1. Both of us have valid software licenses because we both bought the program. It's like preservation of matter. Rich Cini/WUGNET - MCPS Windows 95/Networking - ClubWin Charter Member Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 13:56:15 -0700 From: Marvin <marvin(a)rain.org> To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Subject: Computer Documentation Message-ID: <33B0346F.3FFC(a)rain.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit One of the things *I* like to have available is the documentation, particularly schematics, on the things that I have. As such, there are docs and schematics on quite a bit of stuff here but there are also a lot of holes. I'm not sure how the copyright laws apply to machines where the company has ceased to exist, but it would be great to be able to exchange documentation as needed. Things I have machine schematics on include:

28 years, 9 months

pieces of metal and plastic

by allisonp＠world.std.com

> What worries me is that in a lot of cases, the older machines are more > useable than the modern Wintel equivalents. This applies both to a new > user (somebody who just wants to write 2 page letters does _NOT_ (or > should not) need a 166MHz Pentium with 16Mbytes of RAM), and to 'hackers' > who want to understand their machines. It's possible for one person to > complete understand both the hardware and software of most classic > computers - something that (IMHO) is not possible with a Wintel box. Same here. In reality I use my s100 crate, ampro, and sb180 to produce 8048/9 and 8051 code as they really are faster and easier to use. Also being as I have them interconnected it's easier to blast proms in the s100 crate. Efficient, very! I've had nearly 20 years to refine the code and tools! I have the advantage of having source code for those tools so and long latent bugs are easily squashed. This is not doable on PCs. I still do my banking/checkbook on the kaypro! Faster than the PC overall. Allison

28 years, 9 months

Help identifying ...

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Yes, it is. Kai > ---------- > From: Stefan Walgenbach > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Thursday, June 26, 1997 10:13 AM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Help identifying ... > > Hi, > > today I got a special german (?) computer. It is a "SIEMENS PC100". > But inside > there is a board labled "R6500 ADVANCED INTERACTIVE MICROCOMPUTER" > it is made by "ROCKLWELL" with a small (thermo?) printer a one-line > display. Is this one of the legendary AIM65-Machines? >

28 years, 9 months

MSX, TRS-80, Colour Genie, etc.

by thedm＠sunflower.com

Im in kansas and have a spare TI994a with powersupply but no RF box. ---------- > From: Stefan Walgenbach <walgen(a)do.isst.fhg.de> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: RE: MSX, TRS-80, Colour Genie, etc. > Date: Thursday, June 26, 1997 8:46 AM > > > > ---------- > From: Cord Coslor[SMTP:coslor@pscosf.peru.edu] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Thursday, June 26, 1997 2:50 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: MSX, TRS-80, Colour Genie, etc. > > > > I am located in central Nebraska, USA, and am looking for the following to > > add to my collection. If you have these systems or might be able to get > > them for me at a reasonable price, PLEASE e-mail me. > > > > MSX computer > > Colour Genie > > TI 99/4a > > I have a Colour Genie and a Sony HitBit HB75 and also a Ti99/4A > as I live in germany sending the TI99/4A makes no sense but if you > are interested in the other items drop me a note. I would like to > swap them on a "I send them to you and pay on my own and you send > me some other stuff and pay for the shipping". What do you think? > > Here my URL for some other stuff I have to trade: > > http://192.102.161.122/~walgen/ >

28 years, 9 months

Convergent Technology Computers

by thedm＠sunflower.com

Are those DOS machines, or are those the BTOS/CTOS type I used to run in the military? ---------- > From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers <classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu> > Subject: Re: Convergent Technology Computers > Date: Wednesday, June 25, 1997 1:31 AM > > On Tue, 24 Jun 1997, Commercial Computing Museum wrote: > > > And don't forget the Workslate from Convergent. It was the slickest laptop > > around in 1984. Small LCD screen but built in voice digitization and voice > > mail system! No disk, only min-cassette. > > I see one all the time at my local swap meet but always pass it up. I > found a program micro-cassette at a thrift shop and decided I'm going to > pick this thing up next swap meet. Sounds real neat. > > Sam > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- > Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 9 months

Historical Research

by ccm＠sentex.net

This is just information. I completed a reference tool that accomplishes most of this for computers built between 1950 and 1979. It's called Domestic Commercial Computing Power Between 1950 & 1979 (DCCP). It doesn't include statistical data, but it does list every make and model of computers built or sold by North American computer companies. It was self-published, but you'll find reviews in upcoming issues of the Annals, Analytical Engine, and the CBI newsletter. It's not available on the web and I have no plans for that, but I am trying to make a CD version that would include photographs, commercials/promotional video clips, sales literature, etc. We could use a similar tool for the years 1980 onwards for commercially available computers, but also for military computers, industrial control computers, programmable communication controllers, etc. Yours in good faith. Kevin Stumpf ------------------------------------- I'm working on my signature file.

28 years, 9 months

This weekend's haul

by ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca

I just started paying attention to garage sales this month, because of this list and because my traditional computer supply (Salvation Army) has dried up. I'm very glad I have! Last weekend was my first trip out, but I only managed to find two sales (one of which was in the paper) but this weekend the garage sale season seems to have begun in earnest. There were only two sales listed in the paper for my little town, and one of these was just up the street and around the bend, so I went there first. I ended up buying an Apple /// for $2 and carrying it home on my bicycle! (Not an easy task). I then went back for the cheap green Amdek monitor for another $2, because I have far more computers than monitors. I had to ask if there were any disks to go with the machine, and I was handed a box that I went through until I found one with a label that read "Apple ///", so I knew the disks matched the computer. There were no manuals. After plugging the thing in at home and finding that the beast worked, I went out again. I must've visited five more places (by following signs on telephone poles) before I came across the next thing that was mildly interesting: a Commodore filing cabinet with the chicken-lips logo. Not exactly related to this group, I suppose, and not the kind of thing I collect, but interesting nonetheless. Several stops later I hit the jackpot. Not for me, so much, but for a friend of mine who is out of school, out of work, bored, and constantly coming over to my place to play video games on my computers. :) This was obviously the home of a computer nerd like myself, as there was a complete Apple ][+ clone system and a complete Commodore 64 system for sale, as well as a large box full of books. I picked up four books: "The Explorers Guide to the ZX81", "Timex/Sinclair Interfacing", Jim Butterfield's "Machine Language for the Commodore 64, 128, and Other Commodore Computers", and the "Commodore 64 Troubleshooting & Repair Guide". I also picked up a complete(?) boxed GEOS 2.0 set (which probably should've stayed with the 64 system, come to think of it) and the owner parted out the joystick for his Apple ][+ (mine fell apart years ago). Total cost was $10. I rode straight home from this place, called my friend, and had lunch. He showed up with his car, and we went back to that place together to pick up the C64 system. He got a boxed C64 (old brown one), boxed 1541, 1802 colour monitor, dot matrix printer with Commodore serial ports on it, 1351 mouse in box with docs, 300bps modem in box with docs, a couple of books, a hand-killing Atari joystick, a boxed copy of Atarisoft's "Track and Field" with 3-button arcade controller, and datasette, for $35. Then we went over to the next town, because there was supposed to be some huge 40-family sale at some apartment complex, but there wasn't anything interesting there (perhaps everything was gone by then). I spotted a sign for another garage sale on the next street, so we walked over there. There I picked up an Intellivision with 6 boxed cartridges (Sea Battle, Vectron, Sub Hunt, Utopia, Chess, Armor Battle) and a BIZARRE piece of IBM equipment: an external 5-1/4" floppy drive, model 4869. I figure someone important must have an opinion on the Commodore 64, because there was an earthquake (4.5 on the Richter scale) while we were setting it up to test it. :) Anyway, not everything was perfect. The Intellivision doesn't work 100%... background graphics are OK, but most of the games have totally munged sprites. It looks like the sprites are being read out of the wrong area of memory. Oh, and background graphics ARE screwed up in Sub Hunt as well... not that it really matters, as all of the docs for that game are in German for whatever weird reason. :) There was NO useful software for the Apple ///, only something called "Apple /// Utilities" that let me make a backup of itself. There was also an incomplete copy of Pascal 1.0. Going by the info I gleaned from checking out the system config saved on the Utilities disk, the system was set up to have two floppy drives and a hard drive, but I saw no signs of any extra stuff at the garage sale. There are TWO Apple /// Profile I/O boards in the machine, though, as well as a parallel printer card. The power supply of this machine makes a LOT of noise. Is it supposed to? I found out that there is a monitor built into the machine, too (press Control-OpenApple-Reset) but apart from dumping memory eight bytes at a time and the ability to change the values stored in bytes, I can't figure out if the monitor can do anything. Some of the hardware is very Apple ][ish, though... when romping through memory with the monitor, I of course stumbled into $C000 and beyond, and the speaker sounded in the correct place, and the screen switched to high-res mode. Is this thing just a glorified Apple ][ with an incompatible OS? I took the machine apart, too, and I found a place for a battery on the motherboard, with no battery or battery cover in it. Does the /// have a system clock? Oh, and it has 256K, and the chips are neat little brown chips with gold plates on their backs. 4164s. They look just like the ones in my weird PET expansion board, except that the pins aren't gold. I heeded the warning sticker and didn't open the power supply. :) There was a loose screw, and another spall flat piece of metal, roaming about inside the keyboard. :/ Does anyone know if the Apple ][+ or //e can be made to read/write Apple /// disks in any manner that would be useful for getting files to it? Or do I have to get software for it in actual disk form at first, before I can get the thing to do anything useful? Can the /// emulate a ][? Now, on the subject of that weirdo IBM 4869 disk drive... what does this plug into? The guy I bought it from said it was for an old PC. It has a 37-pin connector on the end of its cable. It's LARGER in two dimensions than even a Commodore 1541 drive. Its power switch is very high quality. :) Would this be a 160K drive? I haven't ripped it apart (yet) to see how many heads the thing has. Pretty cool day, though. It looks like I'll be doing this quite often in future. :) Doug Spence ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca

28 years, 9 months

pieces of metal and plastic

by sinasohn＠crl.com

At 04:09 PM 6/24/97 +0000, you wrote: >Your lovely machines (whichever they are) live *only* because there >someone (you or another human person) to make it work and appreciate the >results. They *only* live in your (or somebody else's) mind. And that is >why their history is important because it's not their history that we >appreciate but the sentiments, feelings, joy and sadness of the people >who used them! What yer saying then, is, that we should collect to remember the impact each computer had on our individual lives and on the lives of the people around us, rather than simply because a machine is physically attractive, technically impressive, or financially successful. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- 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/

28 years, 9 months

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