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in need of an SX-64 keyboard

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

email me please

13 years, 7 months

Amstard PPC640D - boot idsk?

by peter＠vanpeborgh.eu

1987 vintage. I have this one in beautiful condition, although batteries may be tired. Does anyone out there have a functioning system disk for its drive A? The ones I have are duff or not the correct type of disk - difficult to tell. DOS 3.3 is the revision of DOS required. Thanks. || | | | | | | | | Peter Van Peborgh 62 St Mary's Rise Writhlington Radstock Somerset BA3 3PD UK 01761 439 234 || | | | | | | | |

13 years, 7 months

Origins of term "laptop" computer was Re: Bill Moggridge

by feldman.r＠comcast.net

Evan Koblentz wrote: >>>>> On the Osborne 1, Lee Felsenstein designed in a connector for >external battery power! When queried about how large the battery >would be, Lee > >>>> Measuring mine (including case), it's about 155mm wide x 115mm deep x >190mm high > >Then it must be a prototype, or custom-made, or unauthorized, because Lee >himself told me Osborne never made a battery, and that there was a deal in >the works to authorize an aftermarket battery, but the deal fell through. I hate to say that Lee was wrong, but I've been able to locate the user manual for the Osborne battery I have. It was called the Powr-Pac(tm). The manual is printed with a tan and blue cover, just like the rest of my Osborne software manuals. Copyright is 1982. The Part Number in the manual is 3F-00128-00. If anyone wants a scan of the manual, email me. Bob

13 years, 7 months

Shameless plug: HP plotters on epay

by hp-fix＠xs4all.nl

I know it's a plug and yes I'm shameless, but.. I've put some HP plotters and classic calcs (non hp) on ebay http://myworld.ebay.nl/dr_emiel -Rik

13 years, 7 months

I meant Scion PC 640 was Re: Psion PC 640

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

why would I intentionally make posts difficult to read, being Im looking for responses to sometimes obscure queries?? Yahoo upgraded itself recently and no longer inserts the conventional >. Sorry I refuse to do that manually. Perhaps theres a setting I could alter. I saw an Australian bloke post as Ive been, even when it wasnt apparently necessary, on the usenet, and figured it was appropriate. It never seemed unreadable to me. ------------------------------ On Tue, Sep 18, 2012 2:05 PM PDT Vincent Slyngstad wrote: >From: "geneb": Tuesday, September 18, 2012 12:52 PM >> On Tue, 18 Sep 2012, Chris Tofu wrote: >> C:\DERP> I don't understand the question. If it's "what am I quoting?" - >> Byte January 1984, p.8 >> >> He's politely asking why you quote replies like you've got a mental disorder. > >I had assumed he's reading his email in HTML or some client that uses color to indicate quoting. Then when it arrives here there's no color, leaving nothing but that C: to mark his stuff. Depending on how he handles line wraps, that would also explain why there's only one C: on the first line of each segment he writes. > >Or, he could be deliberately using a difficult-to-read style to troll us. >In which case, he's succeeded. > > Vince >

13 years, 7 months

Psion PC 640

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

Im looking at a picture of one, albeit small, but I see nothing approaching the size of a crt controller. Did the MicroAngelo have one?

13 years, 7 months

Need software for Chromatics CG Series computer

by richardlynch3＠verizon.net

Does anyone know if there is software available for a Chromatics CG-1599 color graphics computer? Z80-based, has a dual 8? floppy drive and paper tape reader. Supposedly there was a version of Microsoft BASIC for it, but first I have to find the OS to get thing booted. Richard Lynch

13 years, 7 months

Sequent SE20 any interest?

by shadoooo＠gmail.com

Hello, what Diablo drive do you have? I'm searching for drives (fixed or cartridges) for a Data General (SMD or custom interface) and for a PDP (SMD / SDI interface). If you have some drives, please contact me before they go to the scrap. Thanks Andrea > Some might have to go to scrap (ie. Diablo drives that people don't want to ship).

13 years, 7 months

WANG PC-XC2/2 Software?

by holm＠freibergnet.de

Hi, a friend of mine got a Wang PC-XC2/2 lately. We found out that the computer itself is still working, even the Display. Unfortunately the contents of the keyboard are pretty much rotten, he is in the proces of restoring the keyboard to a working state... He now suches some Bootdisk , this PC has only two 5,25" Floppy drives. There semms nothing appropriate on bitsavers, where else to look? Kind Regards, Holm -- Technik Service u. Handel Tiffe, www.tsht.de, Holm Tiffe, Freiberger Stra?e 42, 09600 Obersch?na, USt-Id: DE253710583 www.tsht.de, info at tsht.de, Fax +49 3731 74200, Mobil: 0172 8790 741

13 years, 7 months

Onyx and Monroe 80186 based systems

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

Any out there?

13 years, 7 months

TRS-DOS as possible prior art for MS patent on exFAT, and Reference request

by alhartman＠yahoo.com

I would try to get a manual for Trackcess or Super Utility Plus. Both of those should have indexes that document the TRS-DOS directory format. There were several articles in 80-Micro as well, that had to do with undeleting files using Super-Zap. Al From: Eric Smith <eric at brouhaha.com> So my question is, are there any published works documenting the TRS-DOS? file system on-disk format, especially the use of the HIT table, other? than "TRS-80 Disk and Other Mysteries" by H. C. Pennington?

13 years, 7 months

Sequent SE20 any interest?

by rborsuk＠colourfull.com

Hi All, I'm going to post this to the list. I hate getting involved or starting with flame wars / or character bashing but I think I'm pretty nice and don't deserve this. I offer the computer up to the list before scrapping or ebay or whatever. It seems that Tothwolf was nice enough to post to the list my response to him but not his response to me. There's a bunch of you on the list who I've worked with in the past and I'm happy to work with you in the future. To call a spade a spade, it's my computer. I paid for it. I can do what I want with it. I've made it no secret that I'm out of work and I have to pair down my collection. Some I sell, ie Sequent and I made my AMT Dap available on the list, others might have to be parted out (ie non functioning systems). Some might have to go to scrap (ie. Diablo drives that people don't want to ship). I don't like that I have to do this, it's just a fact of life. I have bills to pay and I don't want to lose my house and other things I do value. I'm not saying boo-hoo poor me. I'm just stating a fact. I have lots of beautiful systems that will stay with me for quite some time more and I won't let them go until the very end. All this said, don't beat me up for what I have to do. I think I was being good by offering it up to the list. I paid more then $150 for it but I just don't have an interest in it. WIth all this said, I'm going to coordinate with who wrote me first, second etc. and get this system to a new home. Thanks. Rob On Sep 17, 2012, at 5:53 PM, Tothwolf wrote: > > I've been out of work longer than that yet you don't see me posting "Give me money or the computer gets it" messages to classiccmp. If Jay were around these days you'd probably have been removed from the list for even posting such stuff. > > > On Sun, 16 Sep 2012, Robert Borsuk wrote: > >> I'm not going to part it out to sell, I'm going to scrap it. I've had this for a couple of years and now I'm offering it to the list. >> I'm not breaking the bank at $150 but I've been out of work for 6 months and I need to make sure I have money for my bills and family. >> I'll get just under this in scrap value. I'm sorry but I need the money more then I need this machine. >> >> Rob >> >> On Sep 16, 2012, at 9:35 PM, Tothwolf wrote: >> >>> On Sun, 16 Sep 2012, Robert Borsuk wrote: >>> >>>> I have a Sequent SE20 with Dynix installed. I also have the terminal to go with it. >>>> It use to boot but I didn't have the password. >>>> Any interst for $150 before I part it out. >>>> Located in New Baltimore, MI. 48047 or I can make it available in Port Huron, MI. 48060 >>>> >>>> Rob >>>> >>>> Quick pic at : http://www.borsuk.info/ebay/sequent.jpg >>> >>> Part out a Sequent SE20? You are kidding, right? As uncommon as these are, parting one out would be very ill-advised and there would be nearly no demand for individual parts. If freight wouldn't be a deal killer, I'd be after this one myself, but I'm nowhere near there and these things are heavy. I generally hunt for older Unix systems for free/open source software porting work, and one of the target platforms I've never been able to test with is Dynix. >>> >> >> Robert Borsuk >> rborsuk at colourfull.com >> >> Colourfull Creations >> http://www.colourfull.com >> >> >> >> > Robert Borsuk rborsuk at colourfull.com Colourfull Creations http://www.colourfull.com

13 years, 7 months

No subject

by julian＠jnt.me.uk

On 16/09/2012 00:09, Dave wrote: Well that's three so far... > >Dave Wade G4UGM >Illegitimi Non Carborundum > >Make that four... Julian.

13 years, 7 months

Meeting for Enthusiasts in the Manchester (UK) Area?

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

Recently I was talking with a couple of people in the Manchester area who like to collect classic computers. It occurred to me that there may be enough of us in the area to warrant organising a regular meeting to talk about what we are all up to. It would be a totally informal format, just a chance to talk to fellow enthusiasts, maybe get some ideas, or pass on experiences etc. We all lead busy lives, so my thought is to make it say once every two months, either at a pub in central Manchester, or perhaps at some location near an exit on the M60. Is anyone interested in this idea? Regards Rob

13 years, 7 months

Official Spring cleaning sale

by dm561＠torfree.net

----- Original Message: Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:01:00 -0500 From: John Foust <jfoust at threedee.com> At 05:07 PM 4/15/2012, David Riley wrote: >On Apr 15, 2012, at 1:02 PM, Steven Landon wrote: > >> <loads of crap> > How can this fellow continue scamming, year after year? > - John Well, as he gets banned from one forum/list after another, he just moves on to the next; looks like he's found a home here at last... To his credit some people have apparently bought from him with no issues, but I'd still be wondering if any of the stuff he's flogging now is part of the loot he stole from fellow hobbyists in his prime...

13 years, 7 months

Sequent SE20 any interest?

by tothwolf＠concentric.net

On Sun, 16 Sep 2012, Robert Borsuk wrote: > On Sep 16, 2012, at 9:35 PM, Tothwolf wrote: >> On Sun, 16 Sep 2012, Robert Borsuk wrote: >> >>> I have a Sequent SE20 with Dynix installed. I also have the terminal to go with it. >>> It use to boot but I didn't have the password. >>> Any interst for $150 before I part it out. >>> Located in New Baltimore, MI. 48047 or I can make it available in Port Huron, MI. 48060 >>> >>> Rob >>> >>> Quick pic at : http://www.borsuk.info/ebay/sequent.jpg >> >> Part out a Sequent SE20? You are kidding, right? As uncommon as these >> are, parting one out would be very ill-advised and there would be >> nearly no demand for individual parts. If freight wouldn't be a deal >> killer, I'd be after this one myself, but I'm nowhere near there and >> these things are heavy. I generally hunt for older Unix systems for >> free/open source software porting work, and one of the target platforms >> I've never been able to test with is Dynix. > > I'm not going to part it out to sell, I'm going to scrap it. I've had this for a couple of years and now I'm offering it to the list. > I'm not breaking the bank at $150 but I've been out of work for 6 months and I need to make sure I have money for my bills and family. > I'll get just under this in scrap value. I'm sorry but I need the money more then I need this machine. > > Rob http://www.savetoby.com/

13 years, 7 months

PCMCIA bus creation/controller

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

if you wanted to add PCMCIA capability to something resembling an ISA slot (but different in many ways, particularly the form factor), what would be the best way to go about this? Obviously many micro controllers have this built in (I would think). I'm looking for something quick and dirty. Off the top of your head. I'm reading into this, but it doesn't hurt to ask. I took apart an HP Jornada VGA adapter (PCMCIA > VGA out) for connecting to an external monitor. There's very little in there. There's a Trident chip (9440-3), 2 memory chips, a couple of other chips (glue of some sort I guess) and passive components. It's the closest thing I've seen to a VGA on a chip solution (I haven't looked, but it's pretty close). Therefore I need to either hack the PCMCIA interface to get it to work w/say a Tandy 2000 bus (or another 8086/80186 based computer). Or create a PCMCIA interface on a card to plug the pc card into, which kind of seems like the long way, but might turn out to being the easier solution. You tell me. Keep in mind I don't need the hot swapping capability or card services stack (can a card function w/o them?). Initially it was designed to add memory. I'm thinking all the rest of the gobligook came along after they realized people might want to add the kitchen sink to laptops and handhelds. 16 bit capability is of course adequate. I imagine I'll have to right a device driver. ISA PCMCIA adapters are mondo pricey on eBay. Icarumba.

13 years, 7 months

Restoring an ASR33 Teletype

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I have managed to obtain an ASR33 Teletype and have started taking a look at it. I have found various manuals and I am starting to go through them. I have partially dismantled it to clean it up a bit. The typing unit seems to be in fairly good condition, but the paper tape punch looks like it needs work. I'd like to check if the machine is basically healthy and just in need of lubrication or if it needs to be completely stripped down (which is a daunting prospect), are there some simple tests I can do on it without applying power? Thanks Rob

13 years, 7 months

Microsoft cordless phone

by jonas＠otter.se

On 2012-09-17 19:00, cctech-request at classiccmp.org wrote: > telephones. And doesn't England still have coin-op residential > >electrical service? When I heard this referred to on an old When I was a kid, one of my uncles lived in a council house outside Nottingham. They had a coin-operated gas meter. No central heating and only single glazing, of course, after all this was an English house built sometime not too long after the war ;-). Eventually they were not allowed coal fires either (probably after the Clean Air Act of 1968) so then if you wanted to be warm as well as fed you needed the gas. I think the electricity meter was coin operated as well. Council estates were built to provide housing for the working class. My uncle was reasonably well off, being a civil servant with the local council, but some of the neighbours definitely were not, one saw gardens with uncut grass, full of broken toys and with really unwashed children in, the mother coming out in an nightgown and slippers with a cigarette in her mouth. The reason for the coin operated meters was pretty obvious, just getting the rent paid by those particular neighbours was probably not easy. And I had to learn to count in (rarely pounds) shillings and pence to get by :-) /Jonas

13 years, 7 months

Items free for pickup; Iowa

by jplist2008＠kiwigeek.com

Greetings; I need to make Space and I've got a random assortment of things I've either never turned on, or not messed with in many years. Free for pickup (I'd really prefer not to box them up) from 50441: IBM 5324 w/keyboard and monitor I've never powered this on and the drive knobs were snapped off prior to my receiving it. My understanding is this is a binary compatible System/34 in baby shoes, but I might be full of it. AS/400 9402 F02 I last powered this on maybe eight years ago. It booted, but I haven't touched it since. HP NetServers 4d/66LM 5/60LM Six drives between them - they should be working IBM Series/1 in rack Someone gutted this before I got it - I have an 8" FDD and the logic cage with the controllers panel. Someone removed the power supply, but I have no reason to believe any of the logic boards were damaged. The hard disk was also taken to pieces, so I have the rack tray and, presumably, the controller in the logic cage, but not the disk itself. Given how long I've had them, I stress "as-is". Lemme know if you're interested; - JP Hampton, Iowa

13 years, 7 months

VCF Midwest attendee from Minneapolis/St Paul?

by jack.rubin＠ameritech.net

Is anyone driving in from the Twin Cities for VCF MW next week? If you are and you have room to take a box or two of vintage gear back with you, please contact me off list. Thanks, Jack Rubin

13 years, 7 months

OK, Who's bidding against me?

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Better yet bid *their* max. That's really the winning factor, right? J/k Actually I had similar lack of luck trying to find Microsoft Adventure. Lost I think 3 of them to the same anonymous bidder. If you're there shoot me a note ;-) I know ya don't need all uvem.

13 years, 7 months

OK, Who's bidding against me?

by robert＠irrelevant.com

Oh I hate snipers... However, somebody is having a laugh with me ... over the last few months there's been a "Preview data systems" custom-branded Tandata TD1616 (a home viewdata terminal) appear three times now, and everytime I've been outbid. At around ?6, ?12 and ?21. The first two times are definitely the same item, the last one looks like it could be, cleaned up a little. I've not got one of these branded ones, so increased my max each time, and still keep getting sniped! Has there been a sudden re-resurgence of interest in all things viewdata? Until recently, I'd win similar items unopposed at opening bid, even 99p.. Have I succeeded in getting people interested in this obsolete form of online system again? (I guess that would be good if it were true..) -- Rob www.viewdata.org.uk

13 years, 7 months

Selenar Graphics II (Was: DECWriter II LA36 being given away)

by rickb＠bensene.com

I was the one that was able to snag the LA-36 DECWriter II that Corey Anderson had rescued from being scrapped. Thanks, Corey, I really appreciate it! I had a great time chatting about the "old days" with Corey when I visited his home to pick up the LA-36. I intend to use this as the console terminal for my PDP 11/34 system. It's a lot more appropriate than the Heathkit H19 currently serving that purpose. I got the LA-36 home on Sunday, but didn't have time to do much with it until yesterday. I did a basic cleaning -- getting rid of dust and cobwebs. In general the terminal was in pretty good shape, and despite some dust and spider leftovers, it was quite clean inside. One of the first things I noticed was that the main controller board looked different than I expected, and on closer inspection, I saw that it wasn't a DEC board. It said "SELANAR CORP." and "GRAPHICS II" in silkscreen on the board. There are sockets for eight 2708 EPROMs, of which 6 are filled (I was worried that some were missing because of the empty sockets), with round stickers over the windows that say "SELANAR". There are three sockets for some kind of RAM (haven't identified it yet), of which only one socket is filled. There appear to be two processors, one made by Western Digital, and another made by Fairchild. Both appear to have onboard EPROM, as they have windows on them that are painted over with a thick black paint. I checked all of the fuses, and they were good. I unplugged everything >from the control board (keyboard connector, printhead drive, carriage drive stepper, pin-feed drive stepper), serial connector, and a couple of power connectors, and powered up the power supply, and found that all of the voltages were good, with minimum ripple. I did a close visual on the controller board, and it looked good...no debris or signs of overheating/blown components. I also checked out the solenoid and stepper driver board, and it also looked good. I wiped down the carriage rail to remove dust and grime, and then oiled it lightly. The carriage moved smoothly in both directions, but the ribbon advance mechanism seemed a bit gummed up, which I figured I could address later, since the ribbon is all dried out anyway. I plugged all of the connectors back in, and put some paper in it, then used a variac to slowly power it up. It didn't appear to like being slowly powered up, as the steppers got all wonky - but, I didn't get any smoke, so I quickly ramped the power back down, plugged the DECWriter directly into mains, and powered it up with the power switch. The carriage went left until it hit the stop with a bang...and sat there with the stepper humming for a nervous 3/4 or so second, then the carriage moved to the right a bit, and things got quiet (other than the hum of the power supply). I set the machine to local mode, and hit a key, and the pins hit the ribbon/paper, and the printhead moved to the next print location. After a familiar delay, the printhead moved to the right to allow the character (which was invisible because of the bad ribbon) to be seen. I typed all of the characters on the keyboard, and everything seems to work -- linefeed, carriage return, backspace, space, repeat, bell(^G), etc. So, the unit appears to be in good shape, though I don't know if the characters print correctly until I can find a ribbon for it. I'm quite happy that it seems to be generally alive. Now, on to the point of my posting: Does anyone know anything about Selanar's Graphics II board for the LA-36? BitSavers doesn't have anything that I could find. Google nets old ads and product announcements in trade rags of the day (1982-ish). Selanar also made graphics engine boards for VT100's, Televideo 950's, and various other printing and display terminals. One advertisement I saw showed an LA-36 that had a pretty printout of a Spirograph-like drawing. I would love to find some documentation on how the graphics work. I found some information relating to FORTRAN libraries that provided routines for "MOVE", "DRAW", and various other graphics primitives, but no real documentation. I'd love to find an operator's guide or a programming guide to figure out how to make the graphics work. I plan on pulling the ROMs and dumping them, and passing them to BitSavers. Anyone out there have any information on this thing that they could share? I'm going to do some more cleanup, test the serial port to see if it works, and track down a ribbon for it (I have a lot of calculator ribbons that I may put onto the spools for the DECWriter just as a temporary measure). The serial cable has had the connector cut off, so I'll have to figure out the pinout and put a connector on the end. Plenty of stuff to keep me busy. There is a DB-25F connector on the Selanar board that isn't plugged into anything. I'm wondering what it might be for, so I may hook a terminal up to it and see if I can get any kind of response from it. Hopefully someone out there will have some docs for this thing that can eliminate the mysteries of this relic. Thanks, Rick Bensene

13 years, 7 months

Microsoft cordless phone

by rampaginggreenhulk＠yahoo.com

thats so funny. I hope Ill eventually remembes who I was conversing with, or even when it was, but was told that phone companies should have been way ahead. After all a computer is just a bunch of switches (one of the best definitions of a computer imho, albeit informal, for those with a smattering of electronics knowledge). ------------------------------ On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 7:34 PM PDT Chuck Guzis wrote: >On 14 Sep 2012 at 21:08, William Donzelli wrote: > >> It seems that every good sized computer company explores the telephone >> market, and many actually bring some sort of product to market, mostly >> leading to disaster. USR, IBM, and Data General all come to mind. > >IBM did pretty well with their acquisition of Rolm. I still have a >Rolm frisbee for playing with the dogs. > >OTOH, telephone companies didn't do all that well in the computer >business. > >--Chuck >

13 years, 7 months

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