test-drb

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

101090 discussions

by ekman＠lysator.liu.se

Kevan wrote: > I think the Microbee also originates from Australia. Correct. The Microbee is Australian. I'd love to have one of these. Is there anyone on this list who has one or used to have one? Or who knows if there are still any user groups or similar in Australia? /Fredrik

28 years, 10 months

Help me identify a component.

by kevan＠motiv.co.uk

Ok, I have an old Anita 1000 calculator which I think dates from around 1967. It is all discrete components mounted on a number of seperate boards. One board has a funny spidery type component on it and I don't know what it is. You can see a picture here: http://staff.motiv.co.uk/~kevan/card.jpg I have a second Anita that has three of these things on it so I really would like to know what they are. Thanks -- Kevan Old Computer Collector: http://staff.motiv.co.uk/~kevan/

28 years, 10 months

Xerox 860's available

by dcobley＠island.net

Forwarded from comp.os.cpm:- From: schach(a)garnet.berkeley.edu (Linda B) Subject: Xerox 860's -- anyone interested Date: 6 May 1997 17 : 59 : 43 GMT Organization: University of California at Berkeley Have several Xerox 860 8080 CP/M computers as well as Diablo 630 printers modified to work specifically with them. They are located in Berkeley, nyone interested in them? Linda B

28 years, 10 months

Victor Computer anyone?

by dastar＠crl.com

One of the things I saw at the last swap meet I was at was a Victor PC. I am pretty darn sure this is some PC clone because it had the requisite function keys and 2 5.25" floppy drives. The drives and monitor and CPU were all one unit (the monitor may have been detachable or just sitting on the CPU). It was labelled "Victor" and the "o" was like a multi-band colored sun (or something). Um, don't know what else to say about it. Does anyone know what this is? I was tempted to pick it up but it was priced at (I think) $40 and wasn't even going to bother haggling (this was the same guy trying to sell two VIC-20s at $25 a piece). Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

by dastar＠crl.com

Well, here's this weekend's take: Among several computer's, I also brought in quite a few books. Here are the titles in case anyone's counting: PET Personal Computer Guide (1982) TRS-80 Color Computer and MC-10 Programs (1983) CP/M Handbook with MP/M (1980) How to Get Started with CP/M (1981) Mastering CP/M (1983) Using CP/M (1980) Color Computer Basic09 Programming Language Reference (with software) Osborne CP/M User's Guide [not Osbourne computer] (1981) The Elementary Commodore 64 (1983) Programming Techniques for Level II Basic (1980) Color Computer Playground (1983) Sams ToolKit Series VIC20 Edition (1984) Graphics Guide to the Commodore 64 (1984) TRS-80 Color Computer Programs (1982) I also got these manuals/software: TRS-80 Model II Operations Manual TRS-80 Scripsit Manual TRS-80 Videotex Commodore 64 Bonus Cassette Pack (this is 5 cassettes still in the original shrinkwrap of all things) I'm finding that I am more interested now in the accessories, like cables, manuals, modems, datasettes, etc. than in the computers I find now because I pretty much have all the common systems. What I really need to get a lot of my systems running are power supplies or, in most cases, the original video cable. A lot of these lame-o manufacturers of yester year (namely Commodore) used cables with ridiculous pin-outs for the video. Now onto the hardware...first some accessories: TRS-80 Modem I (very cool) (2) C64 1541 drives VIC 1541 drive Commodore 1531 Datasette And these systems: Commodore Plus4 Commodore 64 (for parts to fix my broken one) Atari 5200 (have 5 of these but none with the funky video/power adapter...this one had one so I bought it). Odyssey 3000 [!] (stand-alone unit with 4 built-in games...Pong-type games...by Magnavox) Laser 50 PC [!] (cool little "portable computer"...has a one-line 20 character LCD display with built-in BASIC...it is about half the width and thickness of a typical laptop...it is not a serious computer, more like a toy; manufactured by Vtech, which is the company that makes all those kids computer toys; circa 1985) Between the Odyssey 3000 and the Laser 50, I can't decide what I should choose as my catch of the weekend. Both are systems I had never even heard of or seen, so its always a nice surprise to pick up something like these out of the blue. Last but not least, I got this luggable that I need some help identifying. It is a portable that looks very much like an Osbourne (which is what I thought it was at first but realized it wasn't). It has a built in 7" screen and two 5.25" floppies. It has one knob on the front for contrast, and next to that is an RJ-14 (6-conductor) jack for the keyboard. There is no identifying mark on it anywhere. The front cover pops off revealing the screen/floppies and contains the keyboard. When it boots up, it just shows a flashing "K" with an underscore beneath it located at the upper left-hand corner of the screen. It doesn't do anything beyond that, which is making the identification process all the more difficult. The back has two DB25's, one male labelled SERIAL and the other female labelled PARALLEL. There are also some peripheral card openings. Cracking it opens reveals that it has what looks to be an XT bus with 4 slots. There are 2 cards and a hard drive inside. One card is labelled "Hyper CLOCK" and is obviously a clock card. The other is a Racal-Vadic modem. Then the 3rd & 4th slots are taken up by a hard-card (hard drive on a card) which plugs into one slot. It is manufactured by Tandon. The only chip of significance inside is a Motorola labelled MC6845P. I'm speculating that this is the CPU. There is a label on the motherboard (which is huge, measuring almost 2 feet square) which says "Corona Data Systems" and then "200290-512" which I am guessing means it has 512K. There are 4 rows of 16 each RAM chips...half are soldered in and half are plugged into sockets. Lastly, a label on the back of the outside say "Model M18P-2" and the keyboard is made by Keytronics. I didn't write it down but I believe I saw a date somewhere of 1981. Any help figuring this behemoth out would be appreciated. After figuring it wasn't an osbourne 1, I was going to pass on it but I offered $5 and for the hell of it and got it. Maybe it'll turn out be something cool. Oh yeah, total bill was $44.00. Sam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

28 years, 10 months

Victor Computer anyone / Heath

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> Hi All, > > Right on. The Victor 9000 was quite a system. Monochrome hi res > video. Way ahead of its time IMHO. If I remember right, it was an > 8086 based PC that was designed by the same fellow who designed the > 6502 chip. Unfortunatly, his name escapes me. Chuck Peddle.

28 years, 10 months

movie computers (The List! )

by David_A._Vandenbroucke＠hud.gov

On Tue, 6 May 1997, Roger Merchberger wrote: > > And the 64,000 byte question: If Scotty had *never* seen a QWERTY keyboard > before in his life... how the *he!!* can he type so fast!?! > > Inquiring minds want to know! > Not to mention that he was able to quickly sketch out the formula for "transparent aluminum" using ghod knows what software. --Dav david_a._vandenbroucke(a)hud.gov

28 years, 10 months

Pournelle (The decline and fall of Byte)

by David_A._Vandenbroucke＠hud.gov

>I have read many letters here and I hope this is NOT what we are going >to continually hear - Microsoft reps patting themselves on the back >because they and the company can NEVER BE WRONG. Let's keep company >reps out if they only want to glorify the company (that basically has >the computer world in turmoil with poor quality non-innovative >software). I don't work for Microsoft, but I have had a similar run-in with Dr. Pournelle. I am a professional economist (a "Dr." too, as it happens), and in some discussion forum or other on GEnie I once quoted Milton Friedman's well-known (among economists) remark that "we're all Keynesians now." If you know the way that macroeconomic theory has converged over the past few decades, the remark makes perfect sense and doesn't detract from Friedman's status as the leader of the believers in the unfettered market. However, Pournelle was on me like a ton of bricks. He clearly _didn't_ understand what Keynesian theory was all about and thought that it just stood for government policies that he didn't like. He didn't care about references, because he "knew" that Friedman just _couldn't_ have said that, sort of like those guys who didn't bother to look into Galileo's telescope because they _knew_ the sun couldn't have spots. Eventually I just gave up on the conversation, and I suppose Pournelle thinks that he won the argument. --Dav david_a._vandenbroucke(a)hud.gov

28 years, 10 months

Victor Computer anyone?

by tomph＠ix3.ix.netcom.com

Hi Again, <snip> > I remember playing around with some Victors at the neighborhood computer > store in 1981 or so. . .did they run CP/M? The original lot we used ran CPM/86. As the IBM continued to grow in market share a version of MS/DOS modified specifically for the Victor was released. > I also remember reading that they had a wierd disk format, and Victor > wanted to control all of the software available for the machine. The wierd disk format came from the multi speed floppy drive and the zones. 600K on one side of a 5-1/4" disk. Not bad for it's time. > The > article said "You couldn't even get a copy of Dbase II unless you got it > through Victor". Any truth to that? Yep, due mainly to the disk format. Can't remember if there were problems with the video driver portion also. The system had a very high resolution. I once saw video being played on the screen. Looked every bit as good as a black and white TV except it was green and black. In any event, you just couldn't bring programs straight over. As far as applications went, they had Victor versions of Lotus, Supercalc, MultiPlan, Multimate, dBase II, Crosstalk, Wordstar and others. It even had a 3D spreadsheet called Victor Calc. There was talk of Victor releasing a disk drive that would read and write IBM format and an emulation board that would allow it to run IBM software. As I remember it, this board was giving them all kinds of headaches. Never really got it to work bug free or at least free enough so that users wouldn't complain. Shortly after this the company went belly up. Seems that they were will established over seas and had a good share of the market. In an attempt to migrate the system to this side of the pond they overextended themselves in the marketing department and opened up too many sales locations all over the country but the sales didn't materialze. I remember them shutting down location after location. That's about all I can remember. Hope that helps. Tom

28 years, 10 months

movie computers (The List! )

by gmast＠polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu

I'm sorry but I can't recall a scene in any movie that resembles a real use of a computer. Face it computers on film are boring. That's why every movie computer has animated graphics and makes noises every time you do something. I worked with a guy in 3-D modeling. He learned how to spin a shaded object on the screen. Every time a (computer clueless) manager came by he'd start spinning. They were really impressed! Then after they left, he'd ask me how to make it do something else. What I really enjoy is the blank screen where you type in "find Bob Smith" and it comes back with everything about the guy including pictures, tax returns, blueprints of his house, and always that little piece of information that ties him to the crime. Where can I get one of those? I remember trying out a little accessory for my mac that caused the thing to beep every time you hit a key. just like in the movies! Drove me crazy after about 30 seconds.

28 years, 10 months

Victor Computer anyone / Heath

by tomph＠ix6.ix.netcom.com

Hi All, I've been lurking for one day but had to reply to this one so I hope I'm not breaking any rules. <snip> > That was an ACT Victor 9000, aka Sirius 9000 in Europe. It's a brilliant > machine (by coincidence I saw a Sirius keyboard for sale last Sunday). > 8088-based, but not PC compatible. Will run the usual OSs and the usual > software. I can't remember specs of the top of my head. After the > Victor/Sirius, ACT went on to design the Apricot series, with which you may > be more familiar. If you need the full specs, I'll be happy to have a look > for you! Right on. The Victor 9000 was quite a system. Monochrome hi res video. Way ahead of its time IMHO. If I remember right, it was an 8086 based PC that was designed by the same fellow who designed the 6502 chip. Unfortunatly, his name escapes me. It was not IBM compatible in any way which is what really killed it. I had a classroom with 12 of those systems in it. Very reliable. Also had a variable speed 5-1/4 drive that stored more data on the outer tracks by slowing the drive down. Had about 5 different speed zones on the disk so it store 600k per disk. Quite a feat when IBM was still at the 360K density. On another note. The reason I'm here is that someone recommended I drop a line to let you all know I have a Heath Z150 PC that I built back in 1984. I also have all the manuals and schematics and two binders of Remark mag. I no longer have room for it and would like to find a good home for it. Aside from shipping charges, it's free for the taking. I'm located on Long Island in New York. Anyone interested. I'd hate to have to deep six it. Let me know Tom

28 years, 10 months

movie computers (The List! )

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> You can't forget about the PDP-8/E with DECTape drives that > appeared in "Three Days of the Condor". And wasn't there an IMSAI in War Games? (It's been a long time, though.) ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

28 years, 10 months

movie computers (The List! )

by zmerch＠northernway.net

Two of my favorites: ISTR (tho I haven't seen it since it came out) that the original Terminator was programmed in: 1: Basic (Applesoft Basic, wasn't it?) 2: 8-bit Assembly (methinks 6800/6809, but it could have been 6502... memory fuzzy) 3: Get this: COBOL!!!!! ;-O There may have been others... but those are three I distinctly remember >from the movie. The other one (of course): Scotty talking to a mouse on an original Macintosh (which, of course) had the computational capabilities of a Cray it would seem... And the 64,000 byte question: If Scotty had *never* seen a QWERTY keyboard before in his life... how the *he!!* can he type so fast!?! Inquiring minds want to know! Prost, "Merch" -- Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed, Programmer, NorthernWay | nuclear warhead disarmament should *not* zmerch(a)northernway.net | be your first career choice.

28 years, 10 months

movie computers (The List! )

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> And the 64,000 byte question: If Scotty had *never* seen a QWERTY keyboard > before in his life... how the *he!!* can he type so fast!?! Shouldn't that actually be the 65,536 byte question? ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

28 years, 10 months

movie computers (The List! )

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> Two of my favorites: > > ISTR (tho I haven't seen it since it came out) that the original Terminator > was programmed in: > > 1: Basic (Applesoft Basic, wasn't it?) > 2: 8-bit Assembly (methinks 6800/6809, but it could have been 6502... > memory fuzzy) That reminds me... was it Inner Space where the guys working on the computers were simply going through pages of monitor dumps on Apple ][+ or //es? ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

28 years, 10 months

Pournelle (The decline and fall of Byte)

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

About 9 years ago when I was in our end user support organization, I had occasion to speak to Jerry. He was threatening to give QuickBasic a scathing review because he couldn't get it to compile Mrs. Pournelle's Reading Program (what else?) under Windows 386. He called up our QuickBasic group manager and just about carved him a new orifice. I, as the Windows support lead, was asked to call him on this very urgent, sky-is-falling problem and help him out, since as you may have noticed >from years of columns, he never, ever calls support himself. The conversation went something like this: Me: "Hi Mr. Pournelle, this is Kai with Microsoft Product Support..." Jerry: "What the HELL are you DOING calling during my DINNER TIME?!?" Me: "I'm sorry sir, I understood you had a very urgent issue, and I had no way of knowing..." Jerry: "YOU PEOPLE are MORONS! <blah blah blah blah>" And things went downhill from there. Later on we finally got to the problem, which as I recall was related to a bizarre SCSI adapter in that silly Cheetah 386 he had, the one into which he would put any piece of hardware any manufacturer ever sent to him for free. Not a great experience. I spoke to him again a few months later on a different issue, and he was no more lucid or logical on that occasion. Kai > ---------- > From: Ward Griffiths and/or Lisa Rogers[SMTP:gram@cnct.com] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 1997 2:01 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: The decline and fall of Byte > > On Tue, 6 May 1997, Captain Napalm wrote: > > > My own collection of Byte starts with August of 85 (Amiga 1000 is > the > > cover story) and ends somewhere in late 89 or early 90. The library > at the > > university I attended had issues starting from Jan '77 (which I read > 8-). > > The dates given here are approximate, looking at a Byte from 1980, > then 1985 > > then 1990 will show almost three different magazines. > > > > -spc (It started sliding when Robert Tinney stopped doing magazine > covers, > > (~87) then it nose dived once Steve Ciarcia stopped writing > hardware > > articles, (~88 or 89) although there are some that think it > started > > way back in '77 when Pournelle started his column) > > Well, most of my older Byte magazines were destroyed by water several > moves ago, and I wouldn't mind acquiring most of them again. I had > mostly > given up on Byte in the mid-eighties, but in recent years I've wound > up > with a subscription (recently finally expired) due to McGraw-Hill > ceasing > publication of more useful magazines. Ciarcia's articles were always > excellent (and I know that most of them were released in book form > awhile > back), and his current magazine, "Circuit Cellar Ink" is pretty good, > especially if you're a serious hardware hacker as I no longer am. > Actually, nowadays, Pournelle's column is about the only thing I read > in > the magazine, and now that it's available on the web (with extra > text), I > really don't care to subscribe. Opinions vary concerning Jerry > Pournelle. > I've known him for over twenty years due to our mutual interest in > science > fiction and membership in the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (I'm > still a member despite living in New Jersey -- Death Shall Not Release > You!). Over the years we've had a lot of conversations and arguments, > about politics (he's in favor of having a government, I'm opposed), > about > space development (we're both in favor) and computers (I was a > Shacker, > and while I was living elsewhere on the continent he had bad > experiences > with a very early TRS-80 and the company rather hurt themselves by > being > uncooperative and ignorant of the power of the press -- which is why > after > I showed him one of the first Model 100s, he went out and got a NEC > equivalent). He's a man of strong opinions who's always trying to > learn > something new and so am I. Really, he should be a member of this > mailing > list -- he's experienced directly more of the history of computers > than > most of us who've worked and played with them. That plus having the > clout > to get information from the movers and shakers. > -- > Ward Griffiths > "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within > the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." --Claire Wolfe > >

28 years, 10 months

The List!

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> > Apple III 6502 128K SOS MICRO 83 > > The Apple III is definitely earlier than 1983. I have a booklet entitled > "Apple In Depth" from 1981 and it has the Apple III in it. Also, I found > a review of the III in the December, 1980 issue of Popular Science > (p.113). Strictly from my memory but, I'm _positive_ the A/// was released in fall of 1980. It actually beat the IBM PC to market, but had 100% hardware malfunction in the first run, and didn't have the bugs fixed until after the PC was out. (No longer strictly from memory. I just checked it out, It _Was_ Sept. 1980, and the ][+ was June 1979.) Apple has a great 'History' at: http://product.info.apple.com/pr/background/pr.background.timeline.html (Of course, it doesn't really mention any of the major failures.) ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

28 years, 10 months

movie computers (The List! )

by ldickey＠west.cscwc.pima.edu

DATE SENT: 6-MAY-1997 16:59:36 > >I recently found out that _Weird Science_ possibly has an Apple Lisa in >it and that some chick is named Lisa because she was designed on the >computer. Never seen the flick, but I think I might have to now... > I think it may have been an Atari (1200xl?). It's been years since I last saw the movie, so I might be wrong. --- ####### "Hey...how'd I get in here?" | o o | Loren Dickey ( ^ ) ldickey(a)west.cscwc.pima.edu \ o / ldickey(a)aztec.asu.edu

28 years, 10 months

Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.classic

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

I agree completely Bill. Here are some reasons I can think of off the top of my head for starting the newsgroup: - If we look at The List that has been circulating, only about 1% of those manufacturers have a comp.os.* group associated. - Someone who has a classic computer in their closet doesn't want to join a mailing list just to post a targeted for sale ad. - We don't want posts from commercial vendors of classic systems/software/parts filling up our mailboxes, but I'd like to encourage them to post to the newsgroup. - alt.folklore.computers is for discussions about folklore (did Gary Kildall really refuse to sign that IBM nondisclosure, thus dooming CP/M?) not buy/sell/trade activity. - A mailing list is an inappropriate place to hold an auction - Usenet is automatically archived and searchable via DejaNews Kai > ---------- > From: Bill Whitson[SMTP:bill@booster.bothell.washington.edu] > Reply To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu > Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 1997 2:52 PM > To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers > Subject: Re: Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD > rec.collecting.computers.classic > > > Keeping it to ourselves is counter productive. The point is to > share the > > knowledge to get more people interested to preserve more computers. > The > > point is we do this because we have passion for the systems. Every > hobby > > is going to be prostituted some time or another. As long as your > passion > > remains, its all good. > > Let me clarify, just in case. Anyone with interest can join this > list. > If you guys wish to spread the word or post about it in appropriate > places be my guest. > > I don't stand one way or the other on the newsgroup idea but I think > it's agood idea to take a look at groups like comp.sys.ti where the > bulk of the info comes from the mailing list reposts and almost > everything else is spam. That is the reason why I decided to go with > a > mailing list rather than a newsgroup. It seems silly to argue about > the > group if the process has already been started - if it gets created it > will > either get used or not. If it passes I'll be one of the people > reading > it as I'm sure most of you will. > > 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, 10 months

Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.c

by scott＠saskatoon.com

> Well how about a "Computer Journal" all our own? > > Just an idea... and it really wouldn't take that much effort! I like this idea. Maybe it could be a group collaborative effort. (Another mailling list?) Besides articles relating to collecting, I think it would be really cool to try to obtain the rights to reprint some classic magazine articles that some of us never got to see, or were to shortsighted at the time to keep. (Construction type articles. Maybe some reviews.) (Are we talking about 'ink and paper' here or electronic? I was thinking 'ink and paper', but [html,pdf,whatever] wouldn't be bad either.) > Les ttfn srw ------------------------------------------------------------ Walde Techonology http://scott.cprompt.sk.ca Box 7284 finger: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca Saskatoon, SK S7K 4J2 email: scott(a)saskatoon.com CANADA email: scott(a)cprompt.sk.ca -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS d- s:+>: a- C++++$ UL++++$ !P L++ E- W+++$ N+ o? K? w$ O- M-- V PS+ PE++ Y+ PGP->++ t+ 5 X+ !R tv- b+ DI++++ D+ G e* h r++ y- ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

28 years, 10 months

Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.classic

by kaikal＠MICROSOFT.com

Hi all, Due to the shocking absence of a computer collecting newsgroup (alt.folklore.computers is used a bit, but doesn't really apply), I'm submitting an RFD for rec.collecting.computers.classic. If anyone would like to be listed as a co-proponent, let me know. This may entail some work in assisting/monitoring the RFD process. The RFD will be cross-posted to classiccmp when complete. thanks Kai

28 years, 10 months

Replies to stuff...

by foxnhare＠goldrush.com

From: hellige <jeffh(a)eleventh.com> To: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Subject: Re: Atari prob, etc. > One thing about Atari 8bit stuff is a lot of it tended to use it's own > power rating on the power supply, and not really interchangeable > between most of it, it seems. I'll check the ratings on the 1200 xl in the FAQ maybe that was the problem... :/ --------- From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)crl.com> Subject: yo >First Annual Classic Computer Collector Conference >Why? BECAUSE! Does any hacker need a reason (well maybe the tried and true, "Because they say it's impossible.") > Next question... > Where? > Livermore, California (tentative...actual venue TBD) I could handle that. Hey that's were alot of the companies started. > When? > Late Summer 1997 (possibly August) > Who? > Organizer: Sam Ismail > Sponsors: Pending (targeted sponsors will be > Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and > other computer manufacturers in the local area > and Silicon Valley). Apple could use a little more good P.R... (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) > What? > The Classic Computer Collector Convention is > slated to be the premier computer faire to > attend to meet with fellow classic computer > collector geeks, buy/sell/trade classic computer > stuff, exchange classic computer software and > classic computer hints and tips, attend > workshops on classic computer preservation and > restoration, and of course see classic > computers. > Some show features: > Classic Computer Spotlight - every year a > legendary system is chosen to be heralded as the > classic computer of the year (nominees for the > first show are Altair 8800; Apple ][; Commodore > PET; ???). Hey how about a demo contest too? Have you ever seen those european groups' parties, (search the web there are some good pages about them) looks pretty cool to me. Kinda like a hackerfest. > Classic Computer Pioneer - every year an > individual from the annals of computer lore will > be chosen as the Classic Computer Pioneer of the > year. This would be someone who had a lasting > legacy or made a historical impact on the > computer industry, but is not necessarily active > anymore (ie. this precludes Bill Gates from > qualifying). Nominees: Gary Kildall, creator of > CP/M; Steve Wozniak; ??? As I said Apple could use the P.R. (maybe get the Steves...) Unfortunately Gary Kildall (creator of CP/M) died a couple years back (but would be a kick to honor him), Chuck Peddle was the creator of the 6502 microprocessor and Commodore PET among other things. > Classic Computer Museum - A classic museum will > be set-up on-site to allow interested public to > see what classic computers are all about. > Attendees will be encouraged to submit their > favorite classics for display during the show. Better have tight security there if we bring our 'babies' to sow off. > The success of the show will depend on > attendance. Admission will be enough to cover > the costs of running the show (including lease > of the venue, advertising, etc). Although there > won't be much of a vending atmosphere (unless > people want to haul their stuff from all over > the country) space will be sold for such > purposes. That sounds reasonable. > More details as I come up with them. I would > really appreciate feedback from the patrons of > this discussion group. Any ideas, comments, > suggestions are welcome (please suggest a better > name!) The only computer show I attended was the World of Commodore in San Francisco in 1987, since then most of the shows have been feeding frenzies for developers and not at all interested in the computer classics. I would attend and I'm sure I could get others in the area interested. ---------- From: Doug Spence <ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca> Subject: Re: Old Computer Books (was Re: Pets & Silly Game) > ...But the only PET books this library has are things like > collections of type-in programs for the PET, and books on using the PET in > an educational environment. Nothing good and technical. The technical ones are some of the hardest to locate, some of mine came from a Commodore Group weeding out their library, I bought them via mail. The most PET books I've come across are old college and school textbooks (anyone see "Hands-On BASIC with the Commodore PET?" yuk.) --- Subject: BBSes on old hardware and SuperVIC > (re: VIC-20) I'd put at least 32K in it, with a memory > protection toggle on the RAM so that it could run images of cartridges > from disk. There is a file I think on funet.fi's FTP that describes and internal mod that does just that. :) --- Subject: PETs etc. > If only I could find such things. I suspect that if I took a trip to > Toronto I'd have much better luck in all of my searches for old computer > hardware, software, and books, but the chances of finding PET stuff in > particular would go up a hundred fold. (What with TPUG, the Toronto PET > Users Group, etc.) True, that was a very good Commodore region. > I have a feeling that computer ownership wasn't nearly as common in > Montreal in the early days as it was in most other major North American > cities... I would believe that, I think it depnds on what stores, groups were in the area as well as what computers were first brought in. (Keeping up with the Jones') > (re-piggybacking chips) > Uh... was he looking for data redundancy or something? ;) No he had some dead RAMS and got tired of swapping chips, and figured if he piggybacked two he would at least get one good one out of it. :/ > I intend to write the software on my own, but fast serial routines might > come in handy. I want to at least get 2400bps out of the thing. Most of the BASIC boards I have is up to 1200 baud, I know for 2400 you probably have to tweak the timing registers, cause the computer does not provide decent numbers. > I don't think that'll be a problem for the VIC-20, as it's faster at I/O than the > 64. I'll probably have to put in a lot of RAM, though, to act as buffers > for the slow disk drives. :) There have been a bunch of articles for adding 256k to 1 meg internally to the 64 and bank-switching, not sure if that's possible on the VIC though, they may be adaptable. > Do you mean the music teacher's programs, or the Cursor tapes? :) YES! YES! > I think I have copies of tapes #1 to #8, plus a couple of games from later tapes. > I wish I had the originals... but these were copies made from the high > school music teacher's subscription. :) Mine are also from High School and I can say I have programs from 13 to into the 20s I think. No originals here either *sniff* > Ouranos! is an awesome game, BTW. I had the PET print up the listing and I > intended to port it to the Amiga, but I never got around to it. I don't > think it'd be the same, though, on anything but another PET with glaring > white screen. Weather War II for the Commodore-64 is a re-write of Ouranos! nifty little character graphic castles, SID sound, sprites were used to add some foliage (just for looks) > What's the serial number on that machine? Gotta go to storage and read it... Not in the 'original documentation' envelope. > I have a feeling it's a lot older than this PET. Both of my PETs have quite > ordinary-looking ROMs. > (The one with the mini keyboard has the 1.0 BASIC ROMs, with the '*** > COMMODORE BASIC ***' message and the other one has upgrade ROMs.) My 'calculator keyboard' PET has 1.0 too. I have the schematics and diagnostics for it too... Has been modified with a reset switch has ability to use a skyles add-on keyboard (you have to load and run a program first), and of course, expandamem. > Um... hold it... how are the 4116's arranged? You probably said, but of > course I can't go back into my mailbox to read that while I'm replying to > this one (I knew there was a reason I should my system to do this > locally!). If they're 16K by 4, then that certainly WOULD be more than > 8K. :) I think those are only 8kx1. I did look at my expandamem board and the chips with the plates on them had (c)Mostek written. > (RE: Visible Memory Board deveoped for KIM-1 first.) > Wow, that's incredible. Not only did I not think that PETs that old could > do high-res graphics in any way, but to learn that one could do so on the > KIM-1! I'm flabberghasted. ;) > The KIM is something I'd really like to find somewhere. So would I. > I have this terrible fear, though, of coming across one in some electronic surplus > shop and not recognizing it. :) I had nightmares about coming across an incredible Commodore stash in some store and not having any money. *gasp!* > (re: MTU visible memory ad) > BTW, I'd love a copy of that ad. Send it to: > Doug Spence > 85 Devon Road > Baie d'Urfe, Que. > H9X 2X3 > CANADA Heck I'll toss in some disks full of other goodies too. But don't hold your breath I tend to froget doing things (like mailing stuff) for a spell. ---------- From: "Mr. Self Destruct" <more(a)camlaw.rutgers.edu> Subject: Re: weekend additions > The plus/4 could run *some* very simple basic programs from 64/vic-20 land > but even that was a chore if I remember correctly because of the different > ways the computers "tokenized" basic. I think the main difference was between the 128 and the Plus/4s extended BASIC, but was compatible with the 64. > There was also a "parallel" drive for this > computer (well I think there was) called an SFX-1??? something or other. The parallel one was the 1551; the SFX 1001 was a 1 meg floppy drive the the PET using an IEEE-488 interface (esentally an 8250 with only one disk drive.) ---------- From: "Mr. Self Destruct" <more(a)camlaw.rutgers.edu> Subject: Funky looking mouse and other TCF stuff... >1 CBM 8032 $5 > (this things got some kind of memory board that plugs into the CPU > socket and a parallel interface) Wait a minute here, are you sure it's not a RS-232 interface? It could be an 8032 upgraded to a SuperPET. If it is a SuperPET there would be a 6809 processor as well as the 6502 in there and you have 96k of RAM accessible (via bank switching). Keyboard my have some odd characters on it too (to support the languages it could run such as APL, Fortran, COBOL, etc.) Of course to run the languages you would need the disks and a drive. (I don't have them) Otherwise the daughterboard could be memory to bring it up to 96k (via bank switching) or as I mentioned a visible memory board - the indication for it is that the monitor will plug into the daughter board and then the daughterboard plugs into the motherboard's video output connector. - :) BTW REALLY GOOD PRICE! Larry Anderson P.S. I think I'm gonna start writing a FAQ about the Commodore PET. Will let you guys now when I get it on-line. -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

28 years, 11 months

by KFergason＠aol.com

In a message dated 97-04-29 11:22:24 EDT, you write: << Yes, I realized that. The PDP-8 and PDP-11 are definitely worthy of mention, but did they really make the impact and have significance equal to the Altair and the others? I'm sure you could argue to that effect. Care to? >> someone can correct me if necessary, but weren't the first PDP's pretty "important" in that respect? Suddenly, universities could have their own systems. or maybe I am dreaming, mixing stories from various books. Kelly

28 years, 11 months

by jeffh＠eleventh.com

On 29-Apr-97, classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu wrote: >I'll second his nomination, and with great trepidation add Jay Miner to >the list. :) I think Jay Miner is definately worthy of inclusion since he did much of the design of the Atari 8bit machines, such as the 400/800, and he is generally considered the father of the Amiga line. Out of curiosity, is anyone willing to nominate Jack Tremiel? <sp?> Jeff jeffh(a)eleventh.com -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sent from an Amiga 3000..the computer for the creative mind! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Collector of classic home computers: Amiga 1000, Atari 800, 800XL, and Mega-ST/2, Commodore C-128D, Plus/4 and VIC-20, IBM 5155, Kaypro 2X, Osbourne Executive Radofin Aquarius, Sinclair ZX-81, TI-99/4A, Timex-Sinclair 1000, TRS-80 Color Computer-3 and Model 4, plus Atari Superpong and 2600VCS game consoles.

28 years, 11 months

Wanted: Co-Proponent for RFD rec.collecting.computers.c

by idavis＠comland.com

>generate printed copies of the mag from it. PLus HTML is "free" wheras >printed copies would need a modest fee, means for collecting this, places >to print, etc. I agree with Les, start with an electronic form, then maybe move to print. I am on a limited computer budget to begin with, I would hate to reduce it any further, I might miss that big find I have been looking for. I would like to see some program listings for various machines and various languages included. I learned more from magazine program listings than I did from anywhere else. I still use program listings to divine tips and tricks. Besides, it is interesting to see program listings for other machines, and see if anything applies to a machine I am using. I am sure all of us have some programs for our machines that we could clean up and submit for inclusion, and no worries about copyright violations if we wrote them, not to mention just having some valuable information available for the taking. Plus as we add to our collections, finding program listings will give us a place to start with a new unknown machine. I actually tell people that we used to get programs in magazines, and typed them in sometimes for days at a time, and they laugh and me and think I am pulling their leg. Just be sure and include program listings. Isaac Davis idavis(a)comland.com indavis(a)juno.com

28 years, 11 months

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