In a message dated 97-06-13 16:35:47 EDT, Ray Stricklin wrote:
> I'm just curious, but what's special about the MX-80?
The MX-80 was the first low cost RELIABLE dot matrix printer and made
printing an affordable reality for we poor early micro users. The Paper Tiger
was (to the best of my memory) the first low cost ($995, again to the best of
my memory) micro dot matrix printer. Unfortunately it was NOT very reliable.
BTW after my post on collecting printers I suddenly realized I have about 12
lying around so I guess I am sort of collecting them - but it's against my
will. :-)
Lou
Opens tomorrow. Should be fun!:
"Boston, MA (May 23) - On June 14, 1997, The Computer Museum re-creates the
dawn of the PC age through a lifesize reconstruction of a 1970s' hacker's
garage and vintage personal computing artifacts. ... The Museum draws on
artifacts from its rich collection, including an Apple I and Altair 8800,
to recall the garages of 1970s' hobbyists who assembled "homebrew"
computers ... Rich in period detail, the "garage" is cluttered with an
oscilloscope, a ham radio, an old TV tube, 1970s' issues of Byte magazine,
a drum set, a guitar and photos of Mick Jagger and the Beatles. The relics
- including two early personal computers and two video games - recall a
pivotal time when computers began to serve as consumer items ..."
for the full article see:
http://www.tcm.org/info/press/wpr-hgarage.html
- glenn
+=========================================================+
| Glenn F. Roberts, Falls Church, VA
| Comments are my own and not the opinion of my employer
| groberts(a)mitre.org
Well, darn it, I tried, but I just can't get the silly thing to work!
Ok... first volunteer who feels like visiting Kent, WA (yes, Bill, that's
a big hint, especially since I CC'd you on this... <g>) can have this
beast. It's an STC/StorageTek 9-track tape drive, model 2921. When working,
it can do 1600 and 6250 (GCR), sits in a standard 19" rack, has a Pertec
interface, and weighs about 100 lbs. or so.
Notice I say 'when working.' I tried to get it to going, but it seems to
have a sick CPU card. I kind of hate to get rid of it, but I need the space
more than I do the drive and a new CPU card was quoted as being around $800
(yikes! My skylight blinds are going to cost that much!)
Come to think of it, if anyone's got a working dual-density drive that
they feel like getting rid of, I would love to know about it. ;-)
Thanks in advance. E-mail or call me at (253) 639-9555 for details.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Sysop, The Dragon's Cave BBS (Fidonet 1:343/272)
(Hamateur: WD6EOS) (E-mail: kyrrin(a)wizards.net)
http://www.wizards.net/technoid
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our own
human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
At 01:56 PM 6/13/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Say someone had a nice, working IMSAI 8080 in decent condition. How
>much, realistically, could one expect to sell this for?
Haddock lists it at 150-225... (Values are for complete systems, with
everything that came with it, but not boxes, and not nec. working.)
>Victor 9000, working...how much?
I paid $100 + tax for mine. Took me a while to find it, too.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
While Isaac Davis wrote:
Wait a minute, it was an Olivetti, but I can't remember the
>> model. The coolest part was turning the lights off when it was printing and
>> watching the sparks fly across the paper as it printed. That's a printer I
>> would like to have again.
At 21:28 12/06/97 -0600, Jeff wrote:
>Y' know, I seems to me that some of these 'sparky' dot matrix
>printers used aluminized "thermal" paper.
No Jeff, this Olivetti "sparkling" system was different and was not using
thermal-conductive (=aluminium) paper (at least the one I know); was a real
DRY INK JET.
The "bullet-shaped" cartridge was containing the DRY INK (a sort of TONER)
and a high-voltage electric field was made between the rubber(but conductive)
roll, and the head. In this way the particles of positive electrically
charged toner is "aimed" to go against the negative charged roll, but in
between there is the paper (common paper), so the electricity pass, but ink
stay.
>I used to have a stack of
>old machine runs on such paper, and I remember certain cheesy
>cash-registers using the same kind of paper tape (about 1981 or so .
also this DRY system was widely used by Olivetti on desktop financial
calculator (I have one working) and cash-registers
I think that the system was good for those applications (fast,quite
silent,working on common paper instead thermal and..yes,cool in the dark)
but the problem was the powder spread all around the printing bay of the
machine, so when bubble jet came out...
Sorry for my instinctive and not-checked english.
Ciao
Riccardo
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
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. NUMBER*
where*=asterisk key | for help visit http://www.tim.it/tldrin_eg/tlde03.html
TELEX:551132 CHEMIF I
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
> Aha! YUV is something I recognize now. I believe this is what broadcast
> professionals call component video. (Let's see if I'll be right one out of
> two.)
>
> > The signals are transmitted this way in broadcast TV to ensure
> > compatibility between colour and BW tellies. They are also the signals
> > that would normally be sent to a TV (UHF or VHF) modulator from the
> > computer, hence their presence on the video connector.
>
> Hmmm... any modulator I've ever worked on had a composite input. Is this
> maybe more common in European systems?
Hmm. I'm getting out of my depth at this point. I've not dealt in
detail with many colour modulators but I recall the Sinclair Spectrum
had YUV as opposed to RGB on its expansion port.
The computer obviously uses RGB internally (although I don't see why one
couldn't design a machine to do YUV instead!) and it has to be converted
to YUV at some stage in the modulation process. My guess (no evidence
to back this up) is that the more expensive modulators - the ones one is
likely to be able to buy for one's own projects - accept composite, but
many mass-producing manufacturers got away with a cheaper modulator by
putting the conversion in the (custom) chip in the video circuitry.
Philip.
Found this in comp.os.cpm. It is on the wrong side of the country
for me.
--pec
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saved From The Dumpster Collection: http://www.crl.com/~pcoad/machines.html
Reply-To: Stephen Griswold <stephen.griswold(a)CIRCUITCELLAR.COM>
Sender: CPM-L Mailing List <CPM-L(a)VM.ITS.RPI.EDU>
From: Stephen Griswold <stephen.griswold(a)CIRCUITCELLAR.COM>
Organization: Micromint/Circuit Cellar, Inc.
Subject: fwd: Kaypro 2 For sale
Lines: 28
Xref: nnrp1.crl.com comp.os.cpm:15835
* Originally By: Calvin Krusen (Local BBS)
* Originally To: All
* Originally Re: Kaypro 2 For sale
* Original Area: General Interest
While cleaning the basement of the company I work for, I found a
Kaypro 2 "portable" PC. Its blue with an integrated 5" green
monitor and two 5-1/4" disk drives. On power up, it tries to boot
>from one of the drives and displays a message on the display to
insert system disk.
I'm not looking for any money for it, just a good home.
It weighs about 27 lbs, so you would have to pick up the shipping
>from Warrington, PA (just outside Philadelphia).
I'll give one week for responses then it goes in the trash.
Email me direct at ckrusen(a)erols.com or call me at my place of work\
215/343-6600 x122.
Calvin Krusen
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Director of Engineering
MEECO Inc.
Warrington, PA 18976
215/343-6600 x122
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-End forward-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
-- end of forwarded message --
At 07:47 PM 6/12/97 -0700, you wrote:
>I noticed their web page and it looks like a pretty good collection!
>One thing I didn't see there was information about how it got started,
>who was involved, what kind of a group it is, etc. Can you help out and
>fill in the blanks? Thanks!
Okay, let me put in a disclaimer that a) I have a horrible memory and b) I'm
not super involved in the day-to-day stuff (I've spent the last 2 years
dealing with the passing of my mother and taking care of my father among
other disasters -- the best thing in the last two years has been having to
have my entire sewer system replaced because of tree roots completely
clogging it.) (Oh, and a general disclaimer that I really don't know as
much as people seem to think I do.)
Anyway, what happened is Kip Crosby realized that much of our history was
disappearing as companies tossed their old, non-pc systems in favor of
Gateway 2000's et al. I think this came about because he replaced Brenda
(his older, multi-user micro (IMS? something like that)) with PC's. Being a
realist, however, he decided to concentrate on California computers only (A
daunting task in and of itself). I think he hoped to see other orgs
covering other areas in the future.
I knew Kip from eons ago (early 80's) when we were on a couple of Fido
BBS's. He rang me and a couple others up and we got together, tossed around
the ideas. He got going on it, and I signed on as Secretary. I must admit,
though, that I kinda left most of it in his capable hands. (I trust him to
do it right.)
The focus (from what I see) right now is research and the Analytical Engine
(the magazine). Also, collecting/cataloging classic computers. Right now,
the collection (which I'm pretty sure is not fully represented on the web
pages) exists in a bunch of containers in San Jose. There are plans for a
museum at some point, as well as exhibits.
The coup d'grace (is that the right word?) for CHAC was saving the SDS 930
>from Colorado. This is a Mainframe built in (IIRC) 1963 here in California.
It was then sent to Colorado for NASA? to use, and ended up doing something
with Weather. It was in use up to a few years ago, and was going to be
scrapped, but Kip worked his tail off to save it and bring it out here where
it will become the centerpiece of the assn's displays.
Hmmm... Perhaps I should pass this on to Kip himself before I pass on too
much misinformation... 8^)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
Due to massive amounts of caffeine & sleep deprivation, Kai Kaltenbach said:
> | And if we caught anybody throwing anything out we'd jump out
>of the back
> | of the van and beat them senseless (and then pick their stuff
>out of the
> | trash)
> | LeS
>
>No need for violence... we'll just go to their house and throw out their
>Pentium :)
>Kai
No... you've got that wrong... we'll go to their house and *steal* their
Pentium, so that we can sell it on the black market for money to buy more
classic computers with!!!! ;^>
"Merch"
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
In my previous message I wrote (re: meanings of video signals),
> The other two signals are the quadrature components of chrominance.
> They are derived from Y by subtracting red and blue, and are normally
> called U and V (in some order).
>
> The colour telly receives U and V phase modulated onto a subcarrier (I
> think). The hue control on American tellies sets the baseline against
> which phase is measured here. (In Europe, the PAL system reverses the
> phase each line, so any hue errors should cancel out)
Before someone like Tony jumps down my throat, U and V are _amplitude_
modulated onto the subcarrier, in quadrature with one another. Thus the
phase of the subcarrier gives the hue, and its amplitude the saturation.
I hope you are not any more confused than before :-)
Philip.
| And if we caught anybody throwing anything out we'd jump out
of the back
| of the van and beat them senseless (and then pick their stuff
out of the
| trash)
| LeS
No need for violence... we'll just go to their house and throw out their
Pentium :)
Kai
You can find the info on
http://www.research.ibm.com/quantuminfo/teleportation/
:)
Kai
> ----------
> From: Marvin[SMTP:marvin@rain.org]
> Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu
> Sent: Thursday, June 12, 1997 10:10 PM
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> Subject: IBM Transporter
>
> In looking at Bill's collection on the Web, I noticed a reference to
> the
> IBM Transporter. I found a card that had those words on it and am
> curious what this thing is, what it does, is software required, etc.
> Thanks.
>
Bill:
You have a great listserver here, and I'm glad I've subscribed. I'm going
to assume (and yes, I know the consequences <g>) that advertising a
special-interest listserve is o.k. provided it's within the realm of this
list.
Well, they are. I have started two listservers, one of which used to be
*very* popular in it's heyday (which, unforch, has passed it seems) and the
other solely because there wasn't one.
The first is a replacement for Andrew Diller's Model 100/102/200 listserve,
and one can subscribe by going to the web page at:
http://home.northernway.net/~zmerch/signupform.html
or sending an e-mail to m100-request(a)list.northernway.net with "subscribe"
(no quotes) in the _Subject:_ of the message. To send messages to the list,
e-mail m100(a)list.northernway.net.
The second is my own creation, because there was no Tandy Model 600
listserver. It can be accessed thru it's web page at:
http://home.northernway.net/~zmerch/signupm600.html
or sending an e-mail to m600-request(a)list.northernway.net with "subscribe"
(no quotes) in the _Subject:_ of the message. To send messages to the list,
e-mail m600(a)list.northernway.net.
I don't have to mention to anyone just how wonderful these lists can be for
information... If you're interested in these machines, come on in and join
the fun!
Thanks for the bandwidth,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch(a)northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
I haven't received any new issues of the Classic Computer mailings since
June 7th. Is there anything wrong? This has happened before, maybe it's
my mail provider. Should I sign off and re-register as a new member of
the list?
> At 09:24 AM 6/11/97 -0700, Sam wrote:
> >On Wed, 11 Jun 1997, James Willing wrote:
> >
> >> Mayhaps, as a parallel to the 'Classic Computer Index", we need to
> develop
> >> a 'Classic Computer Collectors Index' so that we know where others are
> >> when things like this pop up so that we could have some local options.
<snip>
> >> Or am I just dreaming out loud?
> >
> >Not at all. This is a terrific idea! I nominate Bill Whitson to
> >formulate this list :)
I think that we should take this a little more seriously. I propose that we
form regional SWAT teams. In the event of a classic computer crisis the
nearest SWAT team would be dispatched. Ideally each team would be comprised
of individuals who each had a separate area of expertise, i.e. Apple II,
Coco, TI, etc. Rescued computers could then be placed in foster homes until
caring, loving permanent homes could be found. :-)
Lou
Here's one for the printer books. I had a printer for my atari 800 that we
order out of the DAK catalog. It used a little cartridge shaped like a
bullet with a contact on the end. The printer would fire a spark and
actually burn the dots onto the paper to make the characters. It was
relatively slow, but considering it had to make about 9 passes to form a row
of characters it did pretty well. I can still remember the burning smell
everytime you would print something out. It was really a neat little
printer, and I can't for the life of me figure out why we got rid of it. I
still have the driver disk for it, but the actual name of the thing escapes
me right now. Wait a minute, it was an Olivetti, but I can't remember the
model. The coolest part was turning the lights off when it was printing and
watching the sparks fly across the paper as it printed. That's a printer I
would like to have again.
Isaac Davis | Don't throw out that old computer,
idavis(a)comland.com | check out the Classic Computer Rescue List -
indavis(a)juno.com | http://www.comland.com/~idavis/classic/classic.html
At 03:16 PM 6/12/97 -0800, you wrote:
>I remember showing an undergraduate how it was possible to plug
>a modem into a terminal and dial up to a shell account. He was
>so amazed that the world had been easily fooled into thinking that you
>need a computer to access the Internet :-)
The San Francisco Public Library has terminals (DEC VT220's?) in every
library. My girlfriend was impressed when I used Lynx to telnet to my
account to check mail one day... 8^)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
At 04:20 PM 6/12/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Here's one for the printer books. I had a printer for my atari 800 that we
>order out of the DAK catalog. It used a little cartridge shaped like a
>bullet with a contact on the end. The printer would fire a spark and
>actually burn the dots onto the paper to make the characters. It was
Actually, it was an InkJet... I think I still have some of the ink
cartridges around somewhere. (I was paranoid that I might not be able to
find more when I ran out, so I bought a whole bunch.) The sparks were to
convince the ink to jump onto the page, I think.
>me right now. Wait a minute, it was an Olivetti, but I can't remember the
It was indeed an Olivetti, but I too have forgotten the model.
>would like to have again.
Me too. I remember demoing mine for ABACUS, the Atari Bay Area Computer
Users Society. That thing is what made it possible for me to pass English
in college! (I loathe the physical act of writing, so I never did any work,
until I could type it up on my 600xl (and later, 800) and print it out.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
> > if anyone can shed some light on these, let us know):
> >
> > 1. "12v vid"
> > 2. R-Y (colorburst clock)
>
> Red - (minus) Yellow
>
> > >3. Audio out
> > >4. Y
>
> Yellow
>
> > >5. B-Y (ext video input?)
>
> Blue - yellow
>
> > >U. Ground
>
> Just a different way to send an 'RGB' signal. I'm not sure what the merit is
> of sending it this way... any video techs out there? I'll cc this to one who
> might know.
Um... No. Sorry. Close though.
Y is not yellow, i'm afraid. These signals derive from the way
luminance and chrominance are handled in a telly.
Y is intensity (luminance). It is made up of red, green and blue in the
rough proportions that generate intensity in a human eye. This is the
only part of the signal that a black and white telly (or greyscale
monitor) would decode.
The other two signals are the quadrature components of chrominance.
They are derived from Y by subtracting red and blue, and are normally
called U and V (in some order).
The colour telly receives U and V phase modulated onto a subcarrier (I
think). The hue control on American tellies sets the baseline against
which phase is measured here. (In Europe, the PAL system reverses the
phase each line, so any hue errors should cancel out)
The signals are transmitted this way in broadcast TV to ensure
compatibility between colour and BW tellies. They are also the signals
that would normally be sent to a TV (UHF or VHF) modulator from the
computer, hence their presence on the video connector.
Hope this helps! I could be more specific if I had some of my reference
books from home...
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
>From: Doug Spence <ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca>
>Subject: C64 CP/M carts (was: Re: Yet another weekend haul story)
>On Mon, 2 Jun 1997, George Lin wrote:
>> At 11:24 PM 6/1/97 -0700, you wrote:
>> ><...>
>> >> accessories including a CP/M cartridge for C64
>> >
>> >A CP/M _carthridge_? Awesome.
>>
>> I just tried it yesterday. Pretty cool. The Z80 is in the cartridge. The
>> package comes with a CP/M 2.2 diskette for 1541 and a condensed CP/M manual
>> by Commodore (copyright 1983). There is a K-Mart price tag on the original
>> box that reads $54. Not bad.
NOTE: the Commodore CP/M Cart is only usable on the oldest of the 64s
(usually models with the 5-pin DIN plug for video. It would seem that
when Commodore debugged some video problems they tweaked the system
speed slightly which made the CP/M cartridge unusable.
>This reminds me... I also have a Z80 cartridge for the C64. But it's not
>the one from Commodore. It's from a company called DATA 20 Corporation.
>I haven't been able to get it to work. It has what looks like a connector
>for a power supply on the back, but I didn't get the PS with it. It also
>came without any disks, though it did have a cassette in the box with it,
>which says "Use side A for Commodore 64/Use side B for VIC 20".
>It's a Z-80 Video Pak, that combines the Z80 processor AND an 80-column
>display adapter into one (big fat) cartridge.
Are you sure the plug isn't for some sort of video cable contraption?
(the Data-20 carts usually sported an 80 column composite video output.)
>To quote from the box:
> The Z-80 Video Pak brings the convenience of an 80 column screen and
> the power of a CP/M compatible operating system to the Commodore 64.
> Designed to be used with a monitor, the Z-80 Video Pak lets the
> Commodore 64 owner switch to a 40 or 80 column screen in black and
> white, or back to the standard color screen. All switching is done
> through software and no cables need to be moved.
> The Z-80 Video Pak has its own Z-80 microprocessor and operating
> system which allows the 64 to run CP/M software formatted for the
> Commodore 1541 disk drive. A Terminal mode which brings communication
> with central data bases is included at no extra cost. The Z-80 Video
> Pak also supports the advanced screen handling features of all Video
> Pak models such as erase to the end of line, erase to end of screen,
> and dump screen to printer.
>If anyone out there knows this thing's power requirements (AAAGH! Another
>wall-wart!) and where to get CP/M disks in 1541 format, please tell. :)
If there is power needed for it, I haven't seen anything mentioning
requirements... yet.
Larry Anderson
--
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Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/
Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363
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>>True, that's bizarre... they appear to be especially common in the
>>northwest. But just try to find a PEB!
<snip>
>The closer you get to Texas, the more abundant TI-99 stuff gets.
So true! I worked for TI in Dallas at the time of the big selloff. I remember buying several consoles for $25, a PEB for $20, several monitors for $50, and catridges for $.50 each. All brand new in boxes. What a madhouse it was.
Bob
slightly off but information needed.
Cipher model st150s-II 6150? cartridge tape drive scsi interface.
I need data on this jumpers commands anything.
Allison
At 01:32 AM 6/12/97 -0400, you wrote:
>- I'd like a MSX machine as well (never even seen one in anything other
>than magazine articles)
I *sorta* have an MSX machine. It was donated to ABACUS, the Atari Bay Area
Computer Users Society, but isn't of much interest to the club. So it sits
in my garage (or attic?). One of these days, I'll get around to making a
suitable cash donation to the club and move it in with my collection.
In the meantime, if anyone wants any info or anything, let me know and I'll
dig it up...
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
