- test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org - classiccmp.org

by mouse＠Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA

> For me, at least, the hard part of designing a modern Qbus and/or > Unibus interface would be what to select for bus drivers. Well, for Qbus...there's an appendix in the KA630 document that's titled "Q22-Bus Specification". Based on that: >From the looks of it, for a driver you can use almost any open-collector TTL output - at least, a quick look at the specs doesn't reveal anything that stands out as incompatible. The receivers are a bit more interesting. The spec says that their threshold must be between 1.3 and 1.7 volts and that their high-level input current must be no greater than 80?A; it fails to give any limits on how much current they source into a low-level input, though there surely must be such a limit. Are there any bus receiver chips that have a reference-voltage pin, which could be connected to (say) 1.5V? Basically, a bunch of specialized voltage comparators? Personally, I'd be tempted to just use TTL and see if it works (LSTTL, probably, since that sources less current into low-level inputs). But of course "it works for me" isn't good enough if you're designing for other people's use. /~\ The ASCII der Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse(a)rodents.montreal.qc.ca / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

22 years, 2 months

3
3
0 0

brew-your-own-unibus boards?

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Ethan Dicks <dickset(a)amanda.spole.gov> wrote: > Yes, but some devices are not so old and _do_ use ASICs. There are some > peripherals that came out at the same time as the 11/20 (~1970) that > they are made up of several square feet of TTL/Linear chips. Well, what I meant was that UNIBUS and Q-bus were designed to be implementable without ASICS using only discrete logic, and the simpler devices were implemented that way. > Unibus? 8640, 8641, 340, 8881, DC013 (custom DEC chip) > Qbus? DC003, DC004, DC005, DC006, DC010, 74LS240, 8837, 8838 > > In other words, with few exceptions, *not* ordinary TTL chips (though ISTR > one of their busses used hand-selected 7438s chosen for low (1uA?) leakage. Hmm, 74LS240 for Q-bus? It's just a standard three-state TTL inverting buffer, isn't it? For driver, receiver, or both? > designed-as-such bus drivers/receivers from companies like > National Semiconductor. Does NS still make them? MS

22 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

IBM PS/2 Model L40 SX

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Quick question, What would folks here be prepared to pay for this machine, particularly as it's boxed and never been used? It went into the workshop to have a hard drive fitted shortly after being bought in 1992 or thereabouts and for whatever reason it sat on a shelf forever thereafter. Or is the general concensus 'oh it's just a 386SX PC running DOS 5' Pix at http://www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk/ebay/ibm/ibm.php cheers -- Adrian/Witchy www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - possibly the UK's biggest online computer museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(

22 years, 2 months

5
6
0 0

IBM 519 Punch and 083 Sorter

by vcf＠siconic.com

Only $5,500 and $4,500 respectively! What a bargain! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3072636290&category=294 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3072636344&category=294 -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

22 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

Qube (warner Amex)

by CBurroughs＠aol.com

Hello Friend, I actually have an old Qube box in my closet. The weird thing is that it doesn't work on any other cable systems, except the old qube system. My unit used to work when we had the qube system. Once they shut off Qube, the unit no longer works. I remember these things from when I was a kid, that is why I have kept it. You know much about how they work? I would like to get this one to work. I have opened the unit, but see nothing wrong that would cause it to power up and then the display goes dead. Glad to see someone has the same interest in these old things

22 years, 2 months

3
2
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Identity of DEC BC20K Cable

by CyndeM＠vulcan.com

Can anyone tell me what the BC20K is used on? Thanks Cynde Cynde Moya, MLIS Archives Cataloguer Vulcan Inc. www.vulcan.com Office Tel. 206-223-4901 Mobile Tel. 206.369.3205 Fax. 206-223-4207

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

System programmers vs. administrators

by india_50＠yahoo.com

Hmm, well u know what, the system programmers i guess use the right side of their brain, while the admins use their left. i guess, as an admin, u need to look at individual problems and try to solve them with a more logical and rational approach while, a programmer would have to use his creativity, and intuition to be able to "design" programs/SWs. and, i'm neither of them, so no bias here!!! what do u think, curt??? > > > >Message: 1 Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 22:17:33 -0800 From: Ernest <ernestls(a)comcast.net> Subject: System programmers vs. administrators To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <1074320253.1586.16.camel@ernest> Content-Type: text/plain I was having a discussion with a friend earlier tonight about programming, and how I've never been the least bit interested in learning how to program -I'm convinced that I have a mental block against it, or something like that. As the discussion progressed, we decided that there are two types of advanced computer users -system programmers and system administrators. That in itself is debatable but where our discussion became bogged down was when we tried to decide which user was left brain, and which was right brain. We started by agreeing that programmers are artists, while the administrators are more scientific. But then, as we talked, we decided that you could make the same arguement for each side. So, I thought I would throw the discussion out here, and see what you guys think. Assuming that there really are two types of computer users -programmers and administrators- which side is left brain thinking, and which is right brain thinking? I pulled the following off some psycho-babble website: Experimentation has shown that the two different sides, or hemispheres, of the brain are responsible for different manners of thinking. The following table illustrates the differences between left-brain and right-brain thinking: Left Brain: Logical Sequential Rational Analytical Objective Looks at parts Right Brain: Random Intuitive Holistic Synthesizing Subjective Looks at wholes Most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of thinking. Some, however, are more whole-brained and equally adept at both modes. In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying the right-brain ones. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical thinking, analysis, and accuracy. Right-brained subjects, on the other hand, focus on aesthetics, feeling, and creativity. ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 12:19:54 -0500 From: "Curt vendel" <curt(a)atarimuseum.com> Subject: Re: Re: Apple 'Star Trek'? To: <freddyboomboom(a)comcast.net>, "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <000601c3dd1e$211f6990$1a02a8c0@starship1> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hmmmm.... D/L'ing now... curious to check this out :-) I have a Mac OS X 10.2 Server running in my office, so I'm curious to see how these interact... Curt ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html

22 years, 2 months

2
1
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pcb mount 2.5mm power socket

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Hi folks, Has anyone got a spare 2.5mm 12V DC power socket that's PCB mounted? The one I'm replacing looks exactly like these: http://tinyurl.com/2mhkr http://tinyurl.com/3gtau I can only get 'em in packs of 10 and I don't really want to buy 10! Cheers all! -- Adrian/Witchy www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - possibly the UK's biggest online computer museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

brew-your-own-unibus boards?

by Lee.Davison＠merlincommunications.com

> The receivers are a bit more interesting. The spec says that their > threshold must be between 1.3 and 1.7 volts and that their high-level > input current must be no greater than 80?A; > Are there any bus receiver chips that have a reference-voltage pin, > which could be connected to (say) 1.5V? You can use open drain CMOS buffers/inverters in this way by setting the supply volts to give the desired ViH point (check the data sheet but ViH * 2 is about right). The outputs are at least TTL volts tolerant used like this. Lee. ________________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: http://www.star.net.uk ________________________________________________________________________

22 years, 2 months

1
0
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Reply-To:

by Lee.Davison＠merlincommunications.com

> I also can't be the only Outlook 2000 user here, can I? You're not, I'm stuck with it here at work. Anyone want to check my message to see if the redundant "Reply-To:" is there > I wonder how..... I don't, because fixing software here has become a summary dismissal offence. 8^(= Cheers, Lee. ________________________________________________________________________ This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star Internet. The service is powered by MessageLabs. For more information on a proactive anti-virus service working around the clock, around the globe, visit: http://www.star.net.uk ________________________________________________________________________

22 years, 2 months

2
1
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Aquarius II on eBay didn't sell at over $400

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jan 20, 0:54, Witchy wrote: > Bearing in mind a lot of mailing software ignores the 'from' field and > instead uses the 'reply-to' field instead. Well, OK, for USENET anyway :) Well, anything that replies is *supposed* to ignore the "From:" field *if* (and only if) there is a "Reply-To:". The "From:" is mandatory, the "Reply-To:" is optional. There are some other headers that may be involved but only for errors and control messages. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 2 months

1
0
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Aquarius II on eBay didn't sell at over $400

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jan 20, 0:34, Jules Richardson wrote: > Well hang on.. surely it's legal protocol-wise for witchy to put the > reply-to field in the header for email that he sends, even though the > from: field is also present and valid? The "Reply-To:" field is supposed to override the "From:" field, and although the standard doesn't expressly forbid setting both the same, it makes it clear that there is no point unless they're different. > Isn't it a little quirky for the list software to append to any existing > reply-to field rather than overwriting it? (which for a mailing list > might seem more sensible). Not really, the standard implies that appending is correct behaviour, in case replies direct to the originator should not go to the originator's address as given in the "From:" field (eg suppose Witchy sent a message from somewhere other than his normal address, or a machine that didn't have a valid address; the "From:" would show the not-normal point of origin, the "Reply-to: would show his normal address). -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

brew-your-own-unibus boards?

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jan 19, 16:24, Brad Parker wrote: > > der Mouse wrote: > ... > >Once, years ago, I was involved in building a designed-on-the-spot Qbus > >board. > > Which raises a question I've been meaning to ask. [...] > Seems like a 4 layer board with gold fingers would work - the few boards > I've handled seemed pretty thick, however. I'm guessing the thickness > needs to be correct. Small variations shouldn't matter. I've not noticed any Unibus boards being abnormally thick. > I have not (yet) looked at a unibus card schematic - would be it hard to > create a bus master IDE interface? > > Is a unibus controller a relatively straight forward TTL design ? Dunno about the DMA -- probably not hard -- but the rest is straightforward. > And, if I did manage to create a realiable IDE interface, would anyone > else want one? For low enough cost, yes, me! -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 2 months

3
4
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Aquarius II on eBay didn't sell at over $400

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jan 19, 23:03, Witchy wrote: > > It *is* your mailer. It appears to be putting an unneccessary > > "Reply-to:" header in, and when the list software sets its "Reply-To:", > > it gets concatenated to yours instead of replacing it: > > I know microsloth stuff has a mind of its own, but if I've not changed > anything since well before pre-upgrade days and both my 'from' and > 'reply-to' addresses are the same what more can I do? But you don't need a "Reply-to:" if it's the same as the "From:" and it shouldn't really be there unless it's diifferent. > I'll have a nose through the options, but I doubt 'include from AND reply-to > address when replying to mails' is in there. It's microsloth, what more can > I say :) :-) I'm fairly sure there's a way to tell it not to include the "Reply-to:". I'll ask the M$ people at work. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

DEC VT520 terminals: $25 on VCM

by vcf＠siconic.com

I've listed (3) DEC VT520 terminals on the Vintage Computer Marketplace. Search for items #372-374. I'm asking $25 each. These are fantastic multi-purpose terminals. Check out the listing descriptions for more information. -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Estimated Value of an ASR-33....

by david＠dynamicconcepts.us

Looking for peoples estimate of the value of an ASR-33 with working paper tape reader/punch (and of course keyboard/print), modem is quite optional. I am starting to search for one to add to my collection and am not sure what price range is reasonable these days.... Also if anyone has one that they want to sell (especially if located in North East US), please contact me directly. David Corbin dvcorbin(a)optonline.net

22 years, 2 months

2
1
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1959 Brainiac K-30 listed on ebay

by lsprung＠optonline.net

If you need one for your collection, I thought someone might find this listing of interest. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2781740056 If anyone has any other Berkeley Enterprise items for sale, please let me know. I would also like to purchase a number of other early computer artifacts. Any suggestions besides ebay? Can I submit a "want list" to this group? Thank you for your time.

22 years, 2 months

3
3
0 0

Datapoint and ARCNET

by vcf＠siconic.com

I was searching around the net for information on Datapoint the other day and came across information on ARCNET. I never realized ARCNET was still in wide use today. There is even a 100Mbit version of ARCNET over RG58(!) Check out the links below for more interesting reading and history of ARCNET: http://www.tcpmag.com/archives/article.asp?EditorialsID=58 http://www.arcnet.com/abtarc.htm -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Old no-name laptop, anyone interested?

by charlesmorris＠direcway.com

I have a working "no-name" laptop (it doesn't seem to have a brand name, just "Notebook Computer" on the label) made around 1991. It's a 486-66 with a whopping 8Mb RAM, 540 Mb hard drive, color LCD screen, and a PCMCIA 33.6k modem card. It's running Win95 (albeit slowly). It works just fine for email and word processing but bogs down trying to run Web browsers (not sure if more RAM can be added or not). The battery pack won't hold a charge for more than a day or so, and the CMOS battery is dead, but aside from that everything works fine. I just bought a more modern Dell used laptop so I no longer need this "classic" ;) Is anyone interested in purchasing it cheap? Make me an offer... thanks Charles

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

DEC MINC-11 question

by aek＠spies.com

The engr drawings for the MINC are up now at www.bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/qbus/MP00652_MNC11engrDrw_1978.pdf

22 years, 2 months

2
2
0 0

brew-your-own-unibus boards?

by chrisc＠addpower.com

And, if I did manage to create a realiable IDE interface, would anyone else want one? If it came in a qbus version, I'd take one...or two. :)

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

'not well' Osborne 1 mk 2

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Just a quickie folks, Does anyone have the power cable pinouts for the Osborne 1 motherboard? Got one here from Kevan that doesn't boot at all - consistent garbage on the nice'n'bright screen. Before I start further messing with the beast I want to make sure it's getting enough juice. Suppose I can always check the CPU and RAM chips for +5V couldn't I - it's been powered up in this condition in the past so I'm not going to do any more damage to it :) Got to dig out my hot glue gun too - in their infinite wisdom they've glued the mountings for one of the daughterboards onto the motherboard :-/ Cheers! -- Adrian/Witchy www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - possibly the UK's biggest online computer museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(

22 years, 2 months

5
15
0 0

stuff destined for trash, speak up if wanted

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Finally cleaning out around the house, started with the PeeCee junk. It's in a pile next to the trash, let me know if anyone needs any of this, quick, I want it gone! Cost = Shipping (shipping included) :) All these are ide hard drives, most all western digital caviars, a couple quantum & fuji five 2.0gb two 2.1gb three 2.5gb five 1.6gb (figured some might want these for SBC6120 projects, probably 95% of these drives work, one or two may be bad) CTS 212AH modem - didn't know if this might be old enough to be collectable Mitsumi CD with non-ide interface card Several quad speed ide cd's a 5.25 1.2mb floppy drive Many misc cards that go in 486 type systems - serial/parallel I/O cards, sound cards, modems, etc.

22 years, 2 months

9
14
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MSCP Spec questions

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jan 19, 9:14, Patrick Finnegan wrote: > So, is there a document anywhere that explains the 'programmatic' > interface to MSCP-type controllers (or for any particular controllers)? > And I'm looking for disk MSCP not TMSCP. Basically, I'd like something > that explains the registers, command packets, etc. for hardware like a > RQDX3 or KDA50 or... > > Any help is greatly appreciated. I tried with little luck on google > last night to find thist kind of stuff. What you need is the "UDA50 Prograsmmer's Doc. Kit", QP-905-GZ. It's not really UDA50-specific; I last used it to figure out what was wrong with the DU: driver in RT-11 5.01, such that it wouldn't work with an RQDX3 (DEC didn't follow their own protocol properly, was the answer, and the bug happened to get past an RQDX1 but not some other controllers). Mine is labelled "First Edition April 1982" and consists of: AA-L619A-TK Ver.1.2 MSCP Basic Disk Functions Manual (approx 170pp) AA-L620A-TK Storage System Diagnostics and Utility Protocol ( 46pp) AA-L621A-TK Storage System Unibus Port Description (58pp) The first deals with MSCP itself; gives an overview, a bit about the comms side of it, algorithms, message formats, and a subset of commands for disks. The second deals with DUP, which is what's used for diagnostics and formatting. The last is about the port driver, which you can think of as the layer under the class driver (MSCP/DUP). Has the MSCP patent expired, or do you still need to license it? And can you get copies from DEC/Compaq/HP, and if not, do they come under the permission DEC gave to make copies? -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

PUTR, port?

by jwest＠classiccmp.org

Any thought been given to porting PUTR to FreeBSD/Linux/Unix??? Was hoping to use it but really don't want to install a dos partition on my Unix PC. Other solutions out there? Jay

22 years, 2 months

4
3
0 0

EPROM eraser needed

by jack.rubin＠ameritech.net

Anybody have a spare eprom eraser for sale? Don't need anything fancy. Please reply direct, since I'm on the Digest mailer. Thanks. Jack

22 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

MSCP Spec questions

by pat＠computer-refuge.org

So, is there a document anywhere that explains the 'programmatic' interface to MSCP-type controllers (or for any particular controllers)? And I'm looking for disk MSCP not TMSCP. Basically, I'd like something that explains the registers, command packets, etc. for hardware like a RQDX3 or KDA50 or... Any help is greatly appreciated. I tried with little luck on google last night to find thist kind of stuff. Pat -- Purdue University ITAP/RCS Information Technology at Purdue Research Computing and Storage http://www.itap.purdue.edu/rcs/

22 years, 2 months

3
3
0 0

Oldest Working PC?

by r_a_feldman＠hotmail.com

>From The Register: "Intel and HP find oldest working PC" (http://www.theregister.com/content/67/34933.html) "Dutch company PHI DATA yesterday received a € 18,000 prize from Intel, HP and Dutch IT weekly Computable for still owning and operating a vintage IBM 5160 (Intel 8088) computer from 1983. PHI Data uses the IBM to test matrix printers. It is now officialy the oldest obsolete-yet-active PC in the Low Countries." <snip> "When Dell ran a contest in the USA back in 1999 for the oldest small-business PC still in use, the winner was the Altair 8800b. Still running a 1960 Digital PDP-1 to do your maths? Let us know." I suspect that a number on this list can do better. Bob _________________________________________________________________ There are now three new levels of MSN Hotmail Extra Storage! Learn more. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-us&page=hotmail/es2&ST=1

22 years, 2 months

10
9
0 0

Emulators of Classic Computers

by india_50＠yahoo.com

Message: 14 Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 22:15:27 -0700 From: ben franchuk <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca> Subject: Re: Emulators of Classic Computers To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> Message-ID: <4008C4EF.10003(a)jetnet.ab.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner wrote: > It was thus said that the Great Tony Duell once stated: > >>Steve Ciarcia's bomebrew computers (he did several -- I remember an 8088 >>system in 5 chips, a sort-of PC compatible, a Z8 board without even >>thinking about it) were based on microprocessors. But I do remember a >>Byte article on making a homebrew CPU (from TTL). I think it was called >>'EGO', and hung off a Tandy 2000. > > > I remember that. I still have the Byte magazines the EGO appeared in. > Neat CPU, made for floating point operations if I recall. > > -spc (Fondly remembers bytes from the mid 80s ... ) But it was micro programed with EPROMS. Nice idea. Ben. hey, can u also fwd me a copy of the 'EGO' article ur talking about. plss....... i need it desperately........... pls...... subs here ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html

22 years, 2 months

7
8
0 0

DEC MINC-11 question

by TRASH3＠splab.cas.neu.edu

If I remember correctly, the MINC-11 is just a Q-bus machine with extra analog/digital I/O for laboratory work. The standard serial I/O on every DEC machine I've used has been just 3-wire (recieve,transmit, ground), XON/XOFF, 9600 baud, no parity, 8 bits. You can use Hyperterm IF you set it up for software handshaking. If you forget to change it, then the default is hardware handshaking and hyperterm will appear hung. the m8012 (BDV-11) has two switches on the edge, halt enable and restart. Halt enable is used to put it into ODT. Lights: The green led is power ok. if all 4 red leds are on, then the system is hung; halt switch or power up mode wrong. At least that is the message in the interfaces handbook. Make sure your VT102 is not in local mode, they like to switch to that sometimes. Joe Heck

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

DEC MINC-11 question

by Steven_R_Hutchins＠raytheon.com

Thanks, seems like when I turned the intensity up on the CIT-101 video terminal the error was "checksum error NVR 00" and the error was there, even with the MINC-23 off. NVRAM in the terminal must be bad. I replaced the C.ITOH model CIT-101 video terminal with a DIGITAL VT-102, I get the flashing cursor in the upper left hand corner of the VT-102 with no errors in NVRAM , but the terminal does not talk to the MINC-23. I am not familiar with how the MINC communicates to the terminal. I have baud rate on VT-102 set at 9600 for both RX and TX. I do not see even an echo on my keystrokes on the VT-102. I have no docs on the terminal or the MINC. Can I use a PC running hyperterm or procomm to talk with the MINC? The M8012 boot card has 5 LEDs, red,green,red,red,red and all of them are continuously illuminated. What are the functions assigned for these LEDs? Hutch ard(a)p850ug1.demon. co.uk (Tony Duell) To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Sent by: cc: cctech-bounces@cla Subject: Re: DEC MINC-11 question ssiccmp.org 01/16/2004 06:26 PM Please respond to "General Discussion: On-Topic Posts Only" > > > > > > Classic comp lister's, > > I have MINC-11 ( seems to be a MINC-23 in a MINC-11 box) with the The field upgrade from MINC-11 to MINC-23 was basically just swapping the CPU card. Sounds like somebody (not DEC failed circus?) did this and didn't change the nameplate. > following: > It only has these cards inside: > M8186 CPU > M7506 MEM > M8029 RX02 DISK CONT > M7954 IEEE CONT > M8043 4510 MUX Card > M8012 Boot Card > > This was a working unit until recently when I consistantly get > "checksum error KVR 00" on bootup. That doesn't sound like a DEC bootstrap message. Are you sure it's coming >from the MINC and not from whatever you're using as a terminal? -tony

22 years, 2 months

2
1
0 0

EPROM eraser needed

by dwight.elvey＠amd.com

>From: "John lambert" <cncmedic(a)sbcglobal.net> > >JACK --- CHEAP QUICK EPROM ERASER-- > SANYO DENKI GERMICIDAL ULTRAVIOLET LAMP > NO. G6T5 WITH ADVANCE TRANSFORMER CO. NO. LC-4-8-C >BALLAST 120 V. AN FS-4 FLOURESENT STARTER. A >RECEPTACLE TIMER TO CONTROL LENGTH OF TIME LAMP IS ON. >MOUNT LAMP 2.5 CM ABOVE PROMS LOCATION IN AN ENCLOSED >LIFT LID BOX. A LIMIT SWITCH ON THE LID TO SHUT LAMP >OFF WHEN LIFTED. SAFETY MEASURE THAT LAMP WILL BURN >YOUR RETINA'S. JACK AT ESHOP. Hi Actually it doesn't hurt your retina, it damages your cornea. This frequency of uv doesn't penetrate very far into the eye. This means that extra care is needed since it isn't just a matter of looking at the light. Any direct path from the lamp to the surface of your eye can cause damage. Most reflected uv light is attenuated quite a bit and is not as dangerous but one should still design their box to avoid reflective surfaces like aluminum. Even though 90% or so is lost, these lights are intense. Cardboard or conductive foam has about 0% reflections. One can get an idea of the reflected quantity by placing a piece of 'T'shirt near. It will glow if hit by the uv. Dwight

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Digi Comp 1 still open on eBay

by jrkeys＠concentric.net

Someone is selling a Digi Comp 1 on eBay right now it's at $100 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3169710286

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

stuff destined for trash, speak up if wanted (more)

by msokolov＠ivan.Harhan.ORG

Jay West <jwest(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: > Also have a bunch of old pc monitors that will be hitting the trash, > not gonna post those! If there are any original IBM (not clone) VGA monitors or cards, I would be very interested, so don't trash those please! MS

22 years, 2 months

2
1
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Wyse 9000?

by stevew＠ka6s.com

Has anyone seen or do they HAVE the Wyse 9000 multiprocessor chassis? This was a machine built by Wyse around 1990 that was based on Sequent's bus technology that was a multi-processor system based on 386's or 486's running Sys V? Steve Wilson

22 years, 2 months

1
0
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Emulators of Classic Computers

by aek＠spies.com

OK, using a 1 million gate FPGA to replace a 7400 is overkill, but it would work -- Not if the FPGA isn't 5v tolerant. It isn't very likely that a device produced in five years will be useful as a replacement for 7400 series logic, much less in 50. We've left the days of logic level compatibility behind us unfortunately. 3.3v logic is even disappearing pretty quickly now, and that didn't last a decade.

22 years, 2 months

22
51
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Estimated Value of an ASR-33....

by dvcorbin＠optonline.net

Looking for peoples estimate of the value of an ASR-33 with working paper tape reader/punch (and of course keyboard/print), modem is quite optional. I am starting to search for one to add to my collection and am not sure what price range is reasonable these days.... Also if anyone has one that they want to sell (especially if located in North East US), please contact me directly. David Corbin dvcorbin(a)optonline.net

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

ASR-33 Value....

by david＠dynamicconcepts.us

Looking for peoples estimate of the value of an ASR-33 with working paper tape reader/punch (and of course keyboard/print), modem is quite optional. I am starting to search for one to add to my collection and am not sure what price range is reasonable these days.... Also if anyone has one that they want to sell (especially if located in North East US), please contact me directly. David Corbin dvcorbin(a)optonline.net

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Foam replacement options

by rcini＠optonline.net

I pulled out my Model 100 the other day and discovered that the foam in the hard case has begun to disintegrate. The hard case is the Radio Shack original-issue hard case, so the foam is a pretty big size. I'm sure that others have experienced this already and I was searching for replacement options that didn't involve gluing together small pieces of foam to fit the case. Any thoughts? Has anyone found a foam supplier that can do small quantities? Rich Rich Cini Collector of classic computers Build Master for the Altair32 Emulation Project Web site: http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/~rcini/classiccmp/ /************************************************************/

22 years, 2 months

6
6
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RA81 spindle sensor

by julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk

Ok, we took the HDA out of one of the RA81 drives yesterday. The bearings seem good - no excessive play - and we think the motor capacitor is fine. Some wear on the motor + HDA spindle pulleys, but the drive belt has a huge amount of grip so I don't think there's any belt slip problems. The front panel lights just indicate a "spin error", whilst the logic board status LEDs indicate a code of 01 - pointing at the spindle sensor. I made sure this was dust-free, but still no joy, so either it has gone bad or there's a fault with the logic board bolted to the top of the HDA itself (sensor seems more likely as we have two drives giving the same symptoms) The sensor appears to be optical in nature - with four wires (red, black, yellow and white). So: 1) Anyone know the connections to the device? If so we'll stick the output side on a 'scope next weekend and see if it outputs anything (of course we have no working unit to see what the waveform *should* look like, grr) 2) There are a couple of unknown-status RL01 and RL02 drives in store. Long shot, but anyone know if they use the same sensor in any part of their mechanism so we can do a temporary part swap with a (hopefully good) unit? 3) Anyone have a RA81 HDA in the UK that's suffered a head crash or other destruction and may yield a working sensor for us? :-) cheers Jules

22 years, 2 months

3
2
0 0

Odd PDP-11 tape related question

by bqt＠update.uu.se

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh(a)aracnet.com> wrote: > > I just decided to test a TLZ06 on my system, and it don't want to > > work. I normally play with an Exabyte 8200, and that works just fine. > > (This on a 11/84 with a CMD controller) > > I managed to dig up a TZ30 and a couple TK50's last night, though I didn't > get a chance to try it. If an Exabyte 8200 works just fine, I think I might > try the Exabyte 8500, as I can hook it up to my PDP-11/23+ fairly easy > (hooking an external drive up to my /73 as I mentioned would require > rewiring the SCSI Bus). I just wish I'd thought to dig out a couple 8mm > tapes while I was digging. The 8500 should work fine as well, according to documentation I have. > BTW, what do you mean by "didn't want to work". Do you mean that it wouldn't > work at all with your PDP-11/84 and CMD controller? The TLZ06 works just > fine on my PDP-11/73 with Viking controller. It's just with RSTS/E ANSI > tapes that I seem to be having a problem. I just tried with RSX, using BRU, DMP and INI. With DMP I tried a tape I wrote on another machine with tar. I got some funny error. I can send you the RSX error log of the occasion, if that makes you happy. Both BRU and INI will create small blocks. Btw, I also created small blocks on the NetBSD machine I have a DDS drive on, and it went just fine there. But I did notice that someone else said that the TLZ06 will not like DDS2 tapes, which is what I had. The NetBSD box appearantly have a DDS2 drive... (since it works fine) Johnny Johnny Billquist || "I'm on a bus || on a psychedelic trip email: bqt(a)update.uu.se || Reading murder books pdp is alive! || tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol

22 years, 2 months

5
4
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Field trip :)

by witchy＠binarydinosaurs.co.uk

Hi folks, Just thought I'd report in after an excellent couple of days on the vintage trail! Yesterday gave me a genuine MicroVAX I with a fully stuffed backplane I haven't investigated yet, though there's definitely the 2-card CPU, memory, RQDX disk controller (for the RD52) installed and a 4-line serial option which will probably be a DHV11. I'll find out tomorrow. The system came with a Tektronix 4019 colour display which is the biggest monitor (physically) I've ever laid eyes on I think, complete with keyboard and drawing tablet. Not sure what I'm going to do with it as yet - it's got to be a 19" screen! Apparently the RD52 has some sort of CAD package installed so I'll find out hopefully once the machine's stabilised itself to the house temperature. Also in the bundle was a boxful of Tangerine Microtan 65 bits including the machine itself (with TANEX expansion) in a lovely home-made wooden box, what looks suspiciously like an Apple ][ keyboard, full documentation and the first 30 or so issues of the Tangerine User Group magazine. More on that later. There's a handful of DEC cards too: M7944 x2 - 4K RAM M7680/M7681 - RK05 control cards M7258 - LP11 driver M7860 - DR11 driver as well as a 4-slot self-contained backplane containing: M7270 - KD11-HA LSI 11/2 CPU M7944 x2 - 4K RAM M8027 - LPV11 driver. Also several copies of the MicroVAX II diagnostic kit on RX50 and RX33 floppies as well as (I think) most of VMS V5 on RX50. I don't think there's enough disks for it to be a complete set :-/ Today brought a couple of visits, one to see Nick Toop who some of you may know was involved with many early UK home computing projects including the Science of Cambridge MK14 (supporting hardware), Acorn Atom (designer) and the should-have-been-venerable Enterprise 64 (graphics chip and supporting hardware). Lovely bloke - he sorted out my 'suspect' Atom and brought it back to life! Excellent. Second visit was to help Kevan Heydon of this 'ere list empty some of his garage with Jules Richardson, so new museum additions are a cased Ohio Superboard II (with docs), Memotech RS128 with FDX floppy subsystem (yay!), boxed NeXT Station (double yay!), 2nd Microtan 65 with extended backplane and more cards, and a CST Thor - Sinclair QL that's been massively expanded and recased. Thanks Kevan :) Faaaaaaantastic! Now where is it all going to go.... -- Adrian/Witchy www.binarydinosaurs.co.uk - possibly the UK's biggest online computer museum www.snakebiteandblack.co.uk - ex-monthly gothic shenanigans :o(

22 years, 2 months

4
6
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Anyone know if this story is true?

by brad＠heeltoe.com

Anyone know if this story is true? http://www.phonehelp.com/p-1-50.htm (story about bell labs experiment where handset cords are made shorter and shorter and help desk calls are monitored to find 'knee' in help call curve to use as optimal length of handset cords) certainly a little off topic - if there is a better place/list someone can suggest I'm all ears. (alt.bell-labs.stories? :-) I'm pretty gullible, so I believed it the first time I read it. I ran into it again recently at this URL... -brad

22 years, 2 months

6
5
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Emulation (Was: Emulators of Classic Computers)

by d_cymbal＠hotmail.com

All this talk about emulators has got my juices flowing again. I use emulators alot, and have always been fascinated with machine emulation. It's always been a desire of mine to code up an emulator of my own for some box but I've never been confident enough in either my coding chops or understanding of really low-level machine details to think I could pull it off (I am an application programmer by day and have done little serious system-level and below coding). Recently I've been toying with maybe trying to do something, but where to start? I picked a candidate like the Visual 1050 because my first thought was "there's alot of free existing, debugged code that can be utilized" i.e. no need to write a Z80 or 6502 core as there are quality ones available. Being a cpm machine would appear to be another plus in this area. And, I like this machine and I don't believe there is an existing emulator for it. Now the part that I'm hoping someone who has written an emulator can shed some light on: how much machine docs/specs does one need to hope to have a fair shot at pulling this off successfully? For example, I'm pretty sure that there must be some 6502 ROM code somewhere in that box that provide graphic routines services. If you had a listing of this I'm sure that you'd be that further ahead towards your goal. Or even if you knew where it was mapping into memory you could at least dump it and disassemble it. Thing is, all the docs I have are user guide/usage type things which obviously do not go into these sort of technical details. I'm sure there are those that could reverse engineer the entire machine soup-to-nuts but it certainly seems like that is trying to find the needle in the haystack (which is maybe some of the fun?). Comments?

22 years, 2 months

11
18
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why ?

by mcwood＠t-online.de

Hi, Why should I spend $333 for one 9-track tape ? http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2779754108&category=4193 Best Regards, Marc

22 years, 2 months

11
18
0 0

Stuff available, some free

by r_beaudry＠hotmail.com

Hello all, I have the following items available. If you want one, send me an email OFF-LIST, and include your ZIP code (for shipping quotes). I'll take emails until Wednesday morning to be fair to all. I will use my patented name-in-a-hat method to resolve multiple people wanting the same items. I will contact all winners on Wednesday afternoon. Thanks! - (*FREE* + shipping) Wilson SX-503 Disk Exerciser. Good photo at http://www.wilsonlabs.com/testers/sx530p.htm. According to the website this item tests SMD Interface Disk Drives. It's about the width of an IBM PC case, but a little shorter, and a little thicker. I guesstimate somewhere around 25lbs or so in weight. Lights up when plugged in, but I have no manual, so I cannot test. Comes with all cables seen in the photo. As a bonus, it has a "Property of U.S Gov't DOT/FAA" sticker on it :-) - (*FREE* + shipping) - Paper trays for an HP LaserJet III (no idea if they'll fit other LaserJets)... 3 Letter, 1 Envelope, 1 Legal. All are working, but very worn and used. - (*FREE* + shipping) - Tecmar expansion chassis for IBM PC. Adds 7 8-bit slots. Comes with card and cables that go in the PC. Case has some scratches and light surface rust. About the size and shape of a PC case, and weighs a ton!! Never powered it up, so it's untested and as-is. No manuals... - (*FREE* + shipping) - Two font cartridges for HP LaserJet III (no idea if they'll work in other LaserJets) "Persuasive Presentations" and "Polished Worksheets" - ($5.00 + shipping) - Pacific Page PE Postscript Emulation Cartridge for HP LaserJet. Working condition. Label on back says "010570 REV G. VERSION 4.1" and "IIP Single Slot; IID/III/IIID Left Slot" - ($20.00 + shipping) - Intel series 310 Multibus I chassis. Picture at http://www.northwesttechnical.com/multibus/chassis/syp310.jpg No drives, no cards. Just chassis, power supply, backplane. Powered up at last use, about a year ago. About the size of an IBM PC case, and quite heavy. That's it for now ... If nobody wants them, they get trashed... Rich B.

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Foam replacement options

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Jan 18, 10:01, Richard A. Cini wrote: > I pulled out my Model 100 the other day and discovered that the foam in the > hard case has begun to disintegrate. The hard case is the Radio Shack > original-issue hard case, so the foam is a pretty big size. > > I'm sure that others have experienced this already and I was searching for > replacement options that didn't involve gluing together small pieces of foam > to fit the case. Is this foam for dust filtering? Or thin foam for holding boards in place? Or thick foam for cushioning against shock? For the first, I use the filter material sold for cooker hoods/extractors. It's cheap, available in many hardware stores and kitchen suppliers, and doesn't impede the air flow too much. It can also be pulled apart to get a half-thickness. For the other two, I go to the nearest upholstery shop, or any place that repairs furniture or car seats. They sell various densities and thicknesses, often cut to size, or in standard small quantities (like 15" or 18" square). -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

PDP11/24 & 3 RK07 on UK ebay

by stanb＠dial.pipex.com

Hi, There's a PDP11/34, three RK07s and 20+ platters on uk ebay right now. I don't have the space or any way of transporting it so I won't be bidding, but hopefully there's someone who'll appreciate it. Starting bid is 500 gbp. 14 hrs left...no bids so far. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3070793388&category=14… -- Cheers, Stan Barr stanb(a)dial.pipex.com The future was never like this!

22 years, 2 months

2
2
0 0

Foam replacement options

by r.mueller＠fz-juelich.de

There is some hidden wisdom here! There are several plastics used for making foam. One of these is polyurethane, others are polypropylene and polyethylene. I have often thought that manufacturers who put high valued goods in polyurethane should be responsible for the repairs even after 30 years; this stuff is often terrible, turning to either dust or paste, neither of which is good for a camera or a computer. The paste variety is very hard to completely remove. Conversely, those camping mats can be made of PP or PE, which I have never seen undergoing the transformation into a viscous liquid. You computer should still be clean after you pass it on to the next generation. Bob Message: 5 Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2004 17:49:35 +0000 (GMT) From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell) Subject: Re: Foam replacement options To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Message-ID: <m1AiH3K-000J2AC@p850ug1> Content-Type: text/plain > > I pulled out my Model 100 the other day and discovered that the foam in the > hard case has begun to disintegrate. The hard case is the Radio Shack > original-issue hard case, so the foam is a pretty big size. A tip I got from Amateur Photographer magazine, relating to foam for camera cases, was to use a camper's sleeping mat. They're fairly hard foam, about 1cm thick, and are larger than any carrying case I've ever seen :-). And they're not too expensive. Dunno if this would work for the M100 case, but it might be worth a try. -tony .

22 years, 2 months

1
0
0 0

Kaypro II's available

by doc＠mdrconsult.com

Was at the local thrift tonight and there are 4 apparently intact Kaypro II units there. They want $20 each, and do not dicker. I'd be willing to schlep them and ship them for a modest honorarium. I don't know anything at all about Kaypros, and really don't care to learn, so ALL I'll check for is huge dings in the box, obviously hosed keyboards, and cracked screen. The thrift doesn't allow testing, either. Reply off-list, please. Doc

22 years, 2 months

1
0
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