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

by barythrin＠gmail.com

It could also be from the popular article about George RR Martin using a vintage dos computer with wordstar 4.0 for his writing rig. Similar to some other authors I've heard look for a machine that doesn't offer distractions. My own mis-remembrance though for some reason I thought it was a trs-80 model 4p but I'm not finding specifics in the quick google search. -------- Original message --------From: Evan Koblentz via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Date: 10/30/17 2:47 PM (GMT-06:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: looking at buying a pocket PC / PDA > Radio Shack M100 ... still used by some writers for the very reason you mention. That is not true. It was an urban legend in the 1990s that a handful of old farts in the entirely sportswriting industry (thousands of writers overall) may "still" be using their Model 100s. I'm sure if you looked hard enough some of them still used typewriters too. In 2017? It's ridiculous to even speculate.

8 years, 7 months

1
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HEXTIr - TI HexBus SD Drive

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Jim I thought all TI computers had one? But I am new to TI's never owned one when were new... just dealing with one in a museum environment now. In a message dated 10/30/2017 8:25:17 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On 10/30/2017 9:32 PM, Ed via cctalk wrote: > ok .. does this mean I can put lots of ti 99/4 software on the sd > card for people to play with in the museum? > Ed# Do you have a HexBus interface for the 99/4a? I thought all of them had it?

8 years, 7 months

2
2
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Image de-warping tool, and Multics/GCOS panels

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Hey all, I've been doing research on Multics front panels, which it turns out are slightly different from those on the Honeywell 6000 series machines which ran GCOS, and are often confused with them. So, I've put together a Web page about them: Multics and Related 6000 Series Front Panels http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/multics/MulticsPanels.html and I've taken some new images, so make sure the captions are all readable. I'm having an issue with the images, though: taking a picture of a flat, rectangular panel with a camera usually produces distortion (even with the lens set to the narrowest angle possible). Does anyone know of any freeware which will fix this? The image tool I normally use (ImagePals, sort of a poor man's Photoshop) does have a 'warp' function, but it requires setting up a grid of points, and is a pain to use: optimal would be something where you mark the 4 corners, and few intermediate edge points, and the image is automagically fixed. I did find this: http://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=347882&p=2345440 but it's even hairier than the warp function in my image tool; it's very powerful (and thus complex, sigh) and can straigten out badly warped old book pages. I'm hoping there's a simpler tool, for the simple case of distortion of rectangles by a lens - does anyone know of anything? Thanks! Noel

8 years, 7 months

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HEXTIr - TI HexBus SD Drive

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

ok .. does this mean I can put lots of ti 99/4 software on the sd card for people to play with in the museum? Ed# In a message dated 10/30/2017 7:06:33 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: On Sun, 29 Oct 2017 12:14:41 -0500 Jim Brain via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: > In case anyone has a fondness for niche tech... > > At VCF-SE this year, the TI folks had a great exhibit, and perusing > it I saw an unfamiliar machine, the TI CC-40 (Compact Computer-40). > While I was investigating, the exhibitor (MillipedeMan aka Mark), > told me the machines were frustrating to use, as TI only supported > one communications method on the unit, a proprietary protocol called > HexBus, and produced very low quantities of very few peripherals that > work on the bus. Most frustratingly, they never producing a mass > storage device in any appreciable quantity, and there was no other > way to save programs written on the unit. > > Mark did note there was an eBay seller liquidating units, so I bought > a 2 unit combo from eBay before I left the show. > > Sadly, Summer happened, but I was finally able to get to the unit, > and started working on an SD-based mass storage device for the unit. > It was an interesting journey to learn a new protocol. > > The (development in progress) result is HEX-TI-r, the HexBus SD drive: > > GitHub source code is here: https://github.com/go4retro/HEXTIr > > Video of unit operating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX5ahVCRdvM > > I don't have a project page up yet, but will work on that. > > Jim > Nice work, Jim. Thanks for the effort you've put into this. jbdigriz

8 years, 7 months

2
1
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HEXTIr - TI HexBus SD Drive

by brain＠jbrain.com

In case anyone has a fondness for niche tech... At VCF-SE this year, the TI folks had a great exhibit, and perusing it I saw an unfamiliar machine, the TI CC-40 (Compact Computer-40).? While I was investigating, the exhibitor (MillipedeMan aka Mark), told me the machines were frustrating to use, as TI only supported one communications method on the unit, a proprietary protocol called HexBus, and produced very low quantities of very few peripherals that work on the bus. Most frustratingly, they never producing a mass storage device in any appreciable quantity, and there was no other way to save programs written on the unit. Mark did note there was an eBay seller liquidating units, so I bought a 2 unit combo from eBay before I left the show. Sadly, Summer happened, but I was finally able to get to the unit, and started working on an SD-based mass storage device for the unit.? It was an interesting journey to learn a new protocol. The (development in progress) result is HEX-TI-r, the HexBus SD drive: GitHub source code is here: https://github.com/go4retro/HEXTIr Video of unit operating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX5ahVCRdvM I don't have a project page up yet, but will work on that. Jim -- Jim Brain brain at jbrain.com www.jbrain.com

8 years, 7 months

3
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CDC 6000 series transistors [was RE: Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?]

by RichA＠livingcomputers.org

From: Paul Koning Sent: Friday, October 27, 2017 12:07 PM > True if you have a TTL machine. 6600 is discrete transistor, and the actual > transistor specs are nowhere to be found as far as I have been able to tell. > But that doesn't directly relate to gate level emulation. If you have gate > level documentation you can of course build a copy of the machine out of > actual gate-type parts, like 7400 chips. Or you can write a gate level model > in VHDL, which is not the most popular form but certainly perfectly > straightforward. Either way, though, you have to start with a document that > shows what the gates are in the original and how they connect. And to get it > to work, you need to deal with timing issues and logic abuse, if present. In > the 6600, both are very present and very critical. For example, I've been > debugging a section (the central processor branch logic) where the behavior > changes quite substantially depending on whether you favor S or R in an R/S > flop, i.e., if both are asserted at the same time, who wins? And the circuit > and wire delays matter, down to the few-nanosecond level. Paul, I asked the Principal Engineer here, who has spent the last 3 years making our 6500 run, about transistors in the 6000 series. He replied: Near as I can tell, the 6500 uses 2n2369 transistors in a slightly shorter version of the to-18 package. I have had good success with both the 2n2369 for replacements, and mmbt2369 for the modules I have re-manufactured. Since the flip-flops are merely cross coupled transistors, if they are both set at once, both outputs will be true. In my experience, the set and reset run on different phases of the clock, so that doesn't happen. What you see on the logic diagrams can be interpreted this way: Each arrow is a transistor, with the emitter tied to ground. The base usually has about a 150 ohm resistor. The circle or square is the collector pull-up resistor, so in the example of the PC module in 1n15 of the 6500, there are two gates that can set flip-flop 0, and they come in on transistor 15, and 17, and the other side of the flip-flop comes in on transistor 19. All three transistor collectors are connected together to 1 pull-up. If the output pin does not go anywhere internal to the card, there will be a 120 ohm resistor in series with a diode to ground on it. If it does go somewhere internal to the card, they will leave off the resistor/diode, as the load will provide it. Hope that helps. Rich Rich Alderson Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer Living Computers: Museum + Labs 2245 1st Avenue S Seattle, WA 98134 mailto:RichA at LivingComputers.org http://www.LivingComputers.org/

8 years, 7 months

1
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Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

by spacewar＠gmail.com

On Oct 29, 2017 09:54, "Dave Wade via cctalk" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: I am not sure they invented computer emulation. I think that the concept Emulation/Simulation is as old as, or perhaps even older than computing. Whilst it was a pure concept Alan Turing's "Universal Turing Machine" was a Turing machine that could emulate or simulate the behaviour of any arbitrary Turing machine... 1. Did Turing use the word "emulate"? I honestly have no idea. My (possibly wrong) impression was that no published literature used the word emulate with that meaning (one computer emulating another) before the IBM papers. 2. What a UTM does is simulate another machine using only a general-purpose machine. In fact, the UTM is arguably the most general-purpose machine ever described. What IBM defined as emulation was use of extremely specialized hardware and/or microcode (specifically, not the machine's general-purpose microcode used for natively programming the host machine). If anyone else did _that_ in a product before IBM, I'm very interested.

8 years, 7 months

5
4
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Look to get a copy of a Multi-Tech FM300 Modem manual

by pete＠petelancashire.com

I've acquired a Multi-Tech FM300 acoustic modem and even though I could figure out the pin-outs and switch settings, it would be great if I could get a copy of the original manual. Goal is to add it to a Teletype 33 or 35 and a Bell System 500 desk set. -pete

8 years, 7 months

3
3
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Cleaning and Restoring a Badly Corroded PSU

by robert.jarratt＠ntlworld.com

I am now looking at the H7826 PSU that came with a TURBOchannel Extender. It looks like there may have been capacitor leakage and some heatsinks will need to be replaced. I have posted pictures here: https://robs-old-computers.com/2017/10/23/corroded-h7826-power-supply/ So two questions: 1. Any suggestion on how to clean the board? Some of the corners are a bit inaccessible to reach with just a cotton bud and isopropyl. 2. Do those heat sinks have a particular name/spec that I can search for? Thanks Rob

8 years, 7 months

5
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Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

by bygg＠cafax.se

Lars Brinkhoff wrote: > Jon Elson wrote: > > I'm not sure the original DEC PDP-10 (KA-10) used microcode, but the > > KI-10 did. > > As far as I understand, the PDP-6 (type 166), KA10, and KI10 were > hardwired. KL10 and KS10 were microcoded. The Foonly F1 preceeded and > influenced the KL10 design. This is exactly correct. BTW: they still are... --Johnny

8 years, 7 months

1
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Picked up job at electronic recycling center

by lyokoboy0＠gmail.com

I recently picked up a job at an electronic recycling center. Harris is right around the corner from us, as well as a bunch of technical schools and aerospace related businesses. All of thier old stuff ends up at the shop to be resold as surplus or broken down and scrapped. There tends to be to much to process, and inside space is limited. Excess equipment is stored outside in tents, and it goes to crap quite quickly unfortunately. The humidity and rain destroys stuff outside quickly. I am uncertain of how many requests I will get, but if anyone is looking for something in particular, please send me an email and I will keep an eye out for you. The place is a goldmine, and a lot of nice older gear is going to waste because the store owners do not know what it is. Examples of stuff that comes in are old microcomputers like the c64, nice 486 like machines with good isa cards in them, TONS of HP and tectronics test equipment, ham radio gear, you name it. There is a ton of good stuff here, i am trying to find some a good home before it gets stripped out. Some of this stuff works fine, the tandy 1000 computer I picked up this weekend works flawlessly for example. Other things are in a broken or parts state, but within reach of repair. There is a lot of new gear there as well, not many machines come in with nice graphics cards in them, but tons of workstations with lots of ram and hard drives are common. We get so many servers they are broken down almost immediately unless they are particularly new or unique in some way. Lets see how busy my inbox gets, if you are in need of something, please send me an email, i can keep an eye out for it and hopefully be of service.I work on Saturdays, that is the day i will be on site to look for things. Stuff will be priced as surplus/used. Hopefully i can be of use and keep some of this stuff out of the scrap pile. --Devin

8 years, 7 months

2
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HPGL plotter art files

by curiousmarc3＠gmail.com

And I found the Columbia.plt HPGL I believe I generated using the method below. Sending directly to Mike. Marc -----Original Message----- From: CuriousMarc [mailto:curiousmarc3 at gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2017 6:16 PM To: 'Mike Stein'; 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' Subject: RE: HPGL plotter art files The space shuttle comes from a .dwg that was included in an version of AutoCAD, the file is named Columbia.dwg if you want to search it on Google. I can send you the original .dwg file if you want. Then you need to use AutoCAD to print out an HPGL file. I used Autodesk DWG TrueView which is free. You'll need to spin it around in 3D until you get a top view, then zoom to it. Then I printed it from TrueView using Roland DXY 880 output with the following options: A4 paper, landscape orientation, print to file, center, print extent. Out will come an HPGL file that you might want to further massage depending how early or late your plotter is, as was said by Brent. Marc -----Original Message----- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of tom sparks via cctalk Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2017 11:36 PM To: cctalk at classiccmp.org Subject: Re: HPGL plotter art files On 16/10/17 15:07, David Collins via cctalk wrote: > Brent could you send it to curator at hpmuseum.net as well? > > Thanks! > > David Collins > >> On 16 Oct 2017, at 2:32 pm, Brent Hilpert via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: >> >>> On 2017-Oct-15, at 4:20 PM, Mike Stein via cctalk wrote: >>> Can anybody direct me to some interesting HPGL plotter files for a display at the upcoming World of Commodore show? >> >> I'm sending (in a separate, direct message with attachment) the semi-famous / once ubiquitous Space Shuttle plot from the 1980s. >> >> I received it from someone after making a similar request to the list 10 years ago. >> >> Some things to note though: this plot uses multiple colored pens and was scaled to some (largish, IIRC) size of paper. >> I was targetting a HP 9872 plotter which was too early to understand some of the more complex HPGL directives present in the SS plot, such as drawing arcs. >> I wrote a language filter/converter that will optionally scale the image, offset it relative to the plotter bed, converts certain directives e.g. arcs to a series of line-segment directives, reduces the number of pens, etc. >> >> I'll send the original SS plot, if you figure you could use the filter program, I can send it along, or a modified plot, upon request. >> inkscape has hpgl export support [Chiplotle](http://cmc.music.columbia.edu/chiplotle/) gives you a python API these is also [tsp art](http://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/TSP_art) witch can drawn on plotter tom

8 years, 7 months

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looking at buying a pocket PC / PDA

by barythrin＠gmail.com

I'll add a few more problem specs than answers but the down side of a lot of devices is lack of backlit screen so working in a dark space can be a problem, and I'd be quite interested to see real battery life reviews.? ?So many devices that can work only last a few hours on battery. Could be age issues but that's what I've accepted as a reason not to collect too many handheld devices. Proprietary batteries and most are dead. Do you want keyboard or is palm like writing acceptable? On the bright side, despite battery age palms are easy to find and relatively cheap. Most are at goodwill because of obsolescence not because theyre broken.? I find them all the time for $10. null

8 years, 7 months

3
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PowerPrint 2.5.2 for the classic Mac

by curiousmarc3＠gmail.com

Anyone in the list has a copy of PowerPrint 2.5.2 from GDT Software? It's a collection of printer drivers for the Mac for non-Apple printers that works under System 6.0.7. I am particularly looking at a driver for an HP 2225D (the serial version of the ThinkJet). It is said that GDT had a one. Marc

8 years, 7 months

1
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Picked up tandy 1000 TX

by lyokoboy0＠gmail.com

I picked up a tandy 1000 TX with a color CM 11 monitor. Both are in the original boxes with keyboard,monitor and the printer cable. It powers on but i can not seem to get it to boot from the floppy drive. Ive tried writing 720K boot disks from my windows computer but it is still not booting. Some better pictures to follow soon. I do not particularly need such a machine, and am open to trade or offers. If no one wants it perhaps it can be put to use as a BBS or something packet radio related over here. Also, the boxes both had us goverment stickers on them, kinda intersting. https://s20.postimg.org/fr7iox7kt/image3.jpg --Devin

8 years, 7 months

2
2
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Looking for Dr. Dobb's Developer Library DVD 6

by jseiwert07＠berkeley.columbia.edu

Hello Steve, Found ur post re: a copy DDJ DVD 6. Wondering if u ever got a response. Also, I'm looking for an archive of Computer Language. If u know where one is at be greatful if u can pass along the info. -- Joe Seiwert III jseiwert07 at berkeley.columbia.edu http://www.linkedin.com/in/jseiwert

8 years, 7 months

1
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VR150

by emu＠e-bbes.com

Anybody looking for one? Free for pickup, 80433 colorado

8 years, 7 months

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looking at buying a pocket PC / PDA

by mark＠wickensonline.co.uk

I'd second the Z88. A lot of people get put off by the keyboard but it actually works really well, and I'm a proper mechanical keyboard snob. You get can a proper turn of speed up on it. Mark On 29 Oct 2017 4:04 p.m., "Lawrence Woodman via cctalk" < cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: On 29/10/17 15:22, Mike Stein via cctalk wrote: > Radio Shack M100 (if you've got a large pocket); still used by some > writers for the very reason you mention. > > m > > On 29/10/17 06:01, Evan Koblentz wrote: > >> I am looking at buying a pocket PC / PDA, so I can write idea/notes >>>>> when I >>>>> am away from my computer >>>>> >>>> >>> I was also thinking of something a little bit bigger, such as the M100. The Cambridge Z88 is an excellent machine and they are still being sold new in box. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Z88 Lorry

8 years, 7 months

1
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NEC 4164-12

by ethan.dicks＠gmail.com

Hi, Emanuel, I have a quantity of 4164 DRAM from the Comboard days, new in tube. It is likely to mostly be 150ns and I don't know the brands until I dig it out, but I will check when I get home. If it matches what you need, I'm happy to send some to you. -ethan On Oct 28, 2017 12:32, "emanuel stiebler via cctalk" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: Hi all, anybody has some spare in the bin, he doesn't need? Looking for 18 pieces, preferably NEC, -12. Thanks!

8 years, 7 months

4
4
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TVTropes mention of a certain computer magazine

by echristopherson＠gmail.com

I was just wasting time with TVTropes and, on the page http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FandomBerserkButton, came across this quote: The editor of one early (late 1970s) British computer magazine persistently claimed that the difference between compilers and interpreters was "academic", even in the face of corrections from knowledgeable readers, until one month he learned the hard way just how wrong he was, by wasting three pages of the mag on a worthless hex-dump of the workspace of a BASIC interpreter. The mag didn't last very much longer after that issue. Does anyone know what magazine this was? I'm not sure I understand what the hex dump thing is all about. -- Eric Christopherson

8 years, 7 months

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PDP8.org

by barythrin＠gmail.com

The wayback machine sorta of details the end of the site. Not sure how much data is archived in archive.org. null

8 years, 7 months

1
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Anyone know who does 'decmuseum.org', PDP-5 pictures

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

Hi Noel - http://www.dvq.com/ is the master site it seems.. I goggled dvg and dec as it said it was copyrighted dvg I figured that would show up elsewhere and it did. Ed# _www.smecc.org_ (http://www.smecc.org) In a message dated 10/28/2017 5:43:37 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: Does anyone know who does this site: http://decmuseum.org/index.html I looked, and didn't see anything in the site itself, and doing a 'whois' didn't turn up anything useful. The site has some really nice PDP-5 photos which I was wondering if that person could/would put in the public domain, so I can use them for a PDP-5 article I'm working on for Wikipedia and the CHWiki. So I'd like to get in contact with them. Noel

8 years, 7 months

1
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PDP8.org

by cramcram＠gmail.com

Is anyone re-hosting pdp8.org yet? Marc

8 years, 7 months

7
7
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Anyone know who does 'decmuseum.org', PDP-5 pictures

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Does anyone know who does this site: http://decmuseum.org/index.html I looked, and didn't see anything in the site itself, and doing a 'whois' didn't turn up anything useful. The site has some really nice PDP-5 photos which I was wondering if that person could/would put in the public domain, so I can use them for a PDP-5 article I'm working on for Wikipedia and the CHWiki. So I'd like to get in contact with them. Noel

8 years, 7 months

6
6
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NEC 4164-12

by emu＠e-bbes.com

Hi all, anybody has some spare in the bin, he doesn't need? Looking for 18 pieces, preferably NEC, -12. Thanks!

8 years, 7 months

1
0
0 0

Anyone know who does 'decmuseum.org', PDP-5 pictures

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

Thanks, everyone! Got it. Noel

8 years, 7 months

2
1
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PDP8.org

by tingox＠gmail.com

On Sat, Oct 28, 2017 at 1:42 PM, Paul Birkel <pbirkel at gmail.com> wrote: > Are you sure that you're not looking at a local cache? It doesn't look like a local cache to me: tingo at kg-core1$ curl http://pdp8.org/ | head % Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 --:--:-- --:--:-- --:--:-- 0<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> <meta name="POSTINFO" content="http://www.pdp-8.org/postinfo.txt"> <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document"> <meta name="keywords" content="pdp8, pdp12, pdp-8, pdp-12, linc"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 4.0"> <title>PDP-8.org: a PDP-8 and PDP-12 resource</title> 100 8656 100 8656 0 0 8656 0 0:00:01 --:--:-- 0:00:01 30265 curl: (23) Failed writing body (0 != 1603) and tingo at kg-core1$ host pdp8.org pdp8.org has address 216.99.193.149 pdp8.org mail is handled by 10 mx.spiritone.com. tingo at kg-core1$ ping pdp8.org PING pdp8.org (216.99.193.149): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 216.99.193.149: icmp_seq=0 ttl=55 time=139.792 ms 64 bytes from 216.99.193.149: icmp_seq=1 ttl=55 time=140.435 ms ^C --- pdp8.org ping statistics --- 2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 139.792/140.113/140.435/0.322 ms HTH -- Regards, Torfinn Ingolfsen

8 years, 7 months

3
2
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"documentary"

by cctalk＠snarc.net

The video is produced by an openly libertarian organization: https://www.youtube.com/user/ReasonTV/about. It's an interesting story but that is propaganda not a documentary. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)3 educational non-profit evan at vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation

8 years, 7 months

1
1
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Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

by cclist＠sydex.com

On 10/27/2017 01:01 PM, Paul Koning wrote: > Oh yes, and if you look at the wire lists (on Bitsavers) you will get the length of every wire in the machine. The trouble is that, even if you use the documented delay per foot, things don't necessarily match. The stated logic stage delay is 5 ns, no special numbers given for twisted pair drivers. In my model, I do everything in 5 ns multiples (to keep the simulation time under control). That works pretty closely, but not 100 percent, not for some of the CPU pieces. The other thing that's nuts is that the CPU effectively has a 20-phase clock: the documentation shows clock signals with offsets from the reference time given in multiples of 5 nanoseconds (for the 100 ns clock period). And yes, it matters. And yes, many (I'm not sure about all) of the 20 phases are actually used in the CPU. I can't recall, but didn't the 6600 have something like 10 clock sources, all kept synchronized? In any case, it's a gross oversimplification to say that the 6600 had a 10 MHz clock. --Chuck

8 years, 7 months

1
0
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Apple II no video display

by dave.g4ugm＠gmail.com

Folks, I have an Apple II that produces one beep at power on, but my monitor says "no video present". A scope on the output shows frame sync but at low levels. The odd thing is that ic A9 appears to be a 74S151 not a 74LS151. I wouldn't expect this to work, but I assume it was working at some point in time! I have done some googling and can't see any reference to this substitution. Is it something any one else has seen? Dave Wade

8 years, 7 months

3
6
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RK05/BA11 slides

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: "Rob Jarratt" > I misread your email as suggesting that the 124 was more suitable than > the 122 No, it's just cheaper (at the moment), and can be made to work. > My H960 is not very accessible but I attempted to measure it front back > and it may be 25". Do you know where should the length be measured? You don't need to measure anything. The C-230-S-122 is the _exact_ part DEC used originally for mounting RK05's in H960's. Noel

8 years, 7 months

2
1
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Contacting the list admin?

by mikew＠thecomputervalet.com

Hello, I've been trying to unsubscribe from the list. I did it once before and hadn't seen anything for months. However, I suddenly started receiving mails last weekend. I went to the webpage to unsubscribe but I can't login and neither the password reset or unsubscribe confirmation make it to me. So I'm hoping someone can tell me how to contact the list admin. I emailed an address I found on the website but I hadn't received a response yet. I may not have waited long enough but I don't know. Cheers, Mike

8 years, 7 months

2
1
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Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Kip Koon > I tend to get emulation and simulation a bit confused. You and me both! I think part of the problem is that there is no generally-agreed-upon definition of the two terms. I like this one a lot, though: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1584617/simulator-or-emulator-what-is-t… Emulation is the process of mimicking the outwardly observable behavior to match an existing target. The internal state of the emulation mechanism does not have to accurately reflect the internal state of the target which it is emulating. Simulation, on the other hand, involves modeling the underlying state of the target. The end result of a good simulation is that the simulation model will emulate the target which it is simulating. Ideally, you should be able to look into the simulation and observe properties that you would also see if you looked into the original target. In practice, there may some shortcuts to the simulation for performance reasons -- that is, some internal aspects of the simulation may actually be an emulation. ... EDIT: Other responses have pointed out that the goal of an emulation is to able to substitute for the object it is emulating. That's an important point. A simulation's focus is more on the modelling of the internal state of the target - and the simulation does not necessarily lead to emulation. ... SPICE, for example, cannot substitue for an actual electronics circuit There's also the question of what's being emulated. Ersatz-11, for example, does a good job of looking like a PDP-11 - for the software. However, it does not like a PDP-11 for the hardware (although John used to sell boards you could plug into a PC, which provided a QBUS, IIRC). So is it a simulator or an emulator? Good question. About the only _generally-agreed_ example of the terminology I can think of are 'in-circuit emulators', which _exactly_ match the behaviour of a given chip. Noel

8 years, 7 months

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RK05/BA11 slides

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: "Rob Jarratt" > Thanks for this info Noel. Sure; I figured it would be useful to someone, glad to know it was. > So it sounds like I would need the C-230-S-124. ... My metalworking > abilities are limited. If you don't want to have to do any mods, the C-230-S-122 is a straight bolt-in, albeit $30 or so more than the -124, which requires.. > I am not clear from the picture you linked to, what the modification is? Drilling the two holes. Noel

8 years, 7 months

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RK05/BA11 slides

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

So, you have an RK05 drive, but you're missing the slides to mount it? Your troubles are over (sort of :-). It turns out the slide DEC used was the General Devices 'Chassis Trak' C-230-S-122 (22") - and those are still available (e.g. from Newark). They're somewhat pricey - the -124 (24") is slightly cheaper, and can easily be modified to fit an H960, viz: http://ana-3.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/jpg/24InchSlide.jpg The one in the image actually came off an -11/05 in a 10-1/2" box; the 3-3/8" outer slide pair from the RK05 slides does in fact fit the inner slides (i.e. the part permanently fixed to the box) used on a lot of BA11 boxes. One hitch: the location of the safety latches (the 'buttons' on the inner slides that pop out through holes in the intermediate slides) is different on most of the BA11-K inners (on the three BA11-F's I've looked at, they do match), and so the latches don't work. (Unless of course you make the correct hole in the intermediates, or drill new holes in the inners that come with the slide set, to match the mounting holes on the BA11-K, and use them instead.) So, better than nothing, if you have BA11's (or similar) and don't have the outer slides, to mount them. Noel

8 years, 7 months

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QEMM

by lproven＠gmail.com

The old extended/expanded memory manager for DOS. Anyone remember? I'm playing with bootable USB keys with PC DOS 7 (and DR-DOS 7 to follow). I have it working and booting now, but I'd like to disable QEMM's memory check on startup. I'm sure there was a switch, but I can't remember it. Even with just -- "just" -- 4GB of RAM it takes quite a while. If anyone knows of a place where there's a summary of QEMM's command-line switches, that'd be great. I have found some manuals but nothing helpful. I'm using QEMM 9, the last version, for Win9x. Any suggestions? -- Liam Proven ? Profile: https://about.me/liamproven Email: lproven at cix.co.uk ? Google Mail/Talk/Plus: lproven at gmail.com Twitter/Facebook/Flickr: lproven ? Skype/LinkedIn/AIM/Yahoo: liamproven UK: +44 7939-087884 ? ?R/WhatsApp/Telegram/Signal: +420 702 829 053

8 years, 7 months

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Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Kip Koon > I was initially thinking of a strictly software only solution Whatever you eventually do in the way of hardware, it might be a good idea to start with this. You can get familiar with whatever OS you decide to go with, and get used to its tools, get to know the instruction set of that machine, etc, etc. So then, if you do do a hardware project, it won't be such a big gulp, and you'll have the knowledge base covering all the above already there to draw on. > which still presents a problem for me and that is which PDP do I teach > myself and set up. Probably the way to answer that is, if you're going to build hardware at some point, a combination of 'what's out there that I can get to talk to', and 'how complicated a beast are we talking about'. For the first, there's a lot of QBUS stuff around, some UNIBUS, and basically zilch on the PDP-10 or PDP-15 front. For the second, most -11's (both QBUS and UNIBUS) are relatively simple and straightforward. Any kind of PDP-10 is pretty complex (depending on if you emulate the original busses, or not). > 3rd, and this is a big factor in the choice of DEC PDP computer to pick > for simulation or emulation and that is the small cash flow and itty > bitty storage space I have available to me. Noted. > The choice so far it seems is the PDP-11/70. If all you're doing is simulation (software), the -11/70 would be fine. It's no more work to set up than one of the other timesharing-capable models; it's only slightly more complicated than say, an -11/45, _from the programmer's point of view_ (there's a UNIBUS map as well as the usual memory mapping hardware), but if you're running an existing OS, that should not affect you. > Remember I still have no idea ... what boards and peripherals > a PDP-11/70 consists of. Hardware-wise, the -11/70 could be a complex project - it depends on exactly how much you try and emulate, a full emulation could be a very complex undertaking indeed. The thing is that while the /70 looks to the programmer a lot like one of the simpler models, the hardware is quite a lot more complicated: there is a cache, a separate memory bus, high-speed I/I controllers with their own special bus to the devices (MASSBUS), etc. It's basically an -11/45 with a bunch of extra stuff glued onto the sides of it to boost the performance; the board count went from 10 (w/o floating point, which adds an extra 4) to a minimum of of 16 (w/o FP), plus 4 for each high-speed I/O controller (up to 4). Now, if all you're doing is emulating the system, _without_ providing any of the busses, no problem; all that complexity is hidden inside the simulator. But once you start emulating real busses (i.e. to be able to plug in real hardware) - whole different kettle of fish. Noel

8 years, 7 months

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Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?

by jnc＠mercury.lcs.mit.edu

> From: Kip Koon > f I were to have to decide on just one model DEC PDP system to run in a > DEC Emulator, which one would be the most useful, versatile and has the > most software available for it? To echo what others have said, when you say 'emulator', do you mean hardware (the usual meaning of emulator), or software (which would be a simulator)? And if you mean hardware, are you going to emulate the bus as well? Having said that, I think you should ask yourself 'what do you want to do with it'? The thing is there are a lot of DEC machines which are 'interesting', and have a lot of software available for them: the -8, -10, 11, -15 and VAX (dunno if you consider that a 'PDP') are all in that category. > I hear a lot about the PDP-11. I found out that there were 16 major PDP > models at one time so I'm not too sure which one to pick. They aren't really that different; many of them are more 'the optimal technology to implement in' changed over the (fairly) long life of the architecture, so many of models are where an earlier one was replaced by a more cost-effective equivalent. E.g. for one 'class', the /20 (TTL SSI) was followed by the /05 (microcoded TTL SSI), and then the /04 (TTL MSI), and then the /03 (LSI); in another the /40 was followed by the /34 and then the /23. Etc. There are really only 3 kinds of -11: - Those without memory management (the /20, etc) - Those with 'simple' memory management (the /40, etc) - Those with 'complex' memory management (all the others) Simple software will run on all three; more complex (e.g. Unix) only on the latter two. > Back in the day when Bill Gates and company 1st started out > ... a B/W photo of a young Bill Gates bending over the operator at what > looked like a very small computer. Maybe it was just a terminal. I > don't remember. I understand they did software development on a DEC PDP > of some sort. The very earliest version of their BASIC was done on PDP-10's running TOPS-10 - first the one at Harvard, and then some commercial time-sharing system in the Boston area. > I have many projects in the works already so I decided to setup a > software emulation of just one of the DEC PDP models. OK, so it's going to be just running a simulator? > I have heard a lot about the PDP-11 which if the information I read is > correct was 16-bits. in the world... The PDP-11 is the model I hear the > most about. Well, for good reason, I think. It was at one point (1980), the best-selling computer, and really made the minicomputer (yes, I know the -8 was the first successful mini, but their size/computing power range was a lot smaller than the -11, and so it didn't have as widespread a utilization as with the -11). It's also the machine that Unix was developed on, so if you want to play around with the 'classic' early Unixes (e.g. Version 6), you'll be wanting to go with the -11. Finally, it is to me the finest architecture ever, in terms of elegance, and bang/buck - the power they squeezed into a 16-bit instruction is pretty mind-blowing. If you want to see a really elegant design, look at the -11. A lot of later architectures stole a lot of ideas from the -11. If you want to go the -11/V6 route, there are instructions for doing so here: http://gunkies.org/wiki/Running_Unix_v6_in_SIMH http://gunkies.org/wiki/Installing_UNIX_Sixth_Edition_on_Ersatz-11 and I have a very detailed page for doing so with the Ersatz-11 simulator (which is _very_ fast, and easy to work with), with a lot of useful pre-built disks, and tools, here: http://www.chiappa.net/~jnc/tech/V6Unix.html The other one I would point to as 'interesting' is the PDP-10, _especially_ if you run ITS on it. There's a very complete and detailed page here: https://www.cosmic.com/u/mirian/its/itsbuild.html for bringing it up under SIMH. There's also KLH10 as a simulator, which I know a lot of people like for running ITS; instructions here: http://its.victor.se/wiki/setup which has a lot of detail about how to get things running _on_ your ITS once you have it up. Please let us know what you decide... :-) Noel

8 years, 7 months

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Acorn, Apple, IBM old computers up for auction (via Proxibid)

by linimon＠lonesome.com

There are a few lots that may be of interest to people on this list. Disclaimer: I have no connection to any of this. I just browse proxibid.com once in a while. The overall link: https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/Michael-F-Dilliard-Auction-amp-Realty-Company… The particular lots: ACORN computer programs https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/ACORN-computer-programs/38893071/LotDetail.as… Vintage computer lot (Apple) https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/Vintage-computer-lot-APPLE-external-disk-driv… APPLE Graphics Tablet + Acorn https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/Vintage-APPLE-Graphics-Tablet-British-BBC-Mic… Vintage APPLE IIe https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/Vintage-APPLE-IIe-computer-keyboard-monitor-e… IBM PC Jr computer lot https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/IBM-PC-Jr-computer-lot/38893111/LotDetail.asp… (editor's note for the last item: "ew.") mcl

8 years, 7 months

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New Items Up for Sale from Sellam's Collection

by sellam.ismail＠gmail.com

Here is the latest batch of items up for sale. Full running list with updates are here: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?58709-New-Items-For-Sale-Check-th… New items for October 26, 2017: Boards: 3Com Corp IE Controller (1982) ASST 0345-03 REV J - very early(?) IBM PC ethernet controller; BNC and AUI connectors; good condition, maybe probably still works [ http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/3Com/3C500_Mar83.pdf] 3Com Etherlink II ASSY 2227-00 REV 08 - 8-bit PC ethernet controller; BNC and AUI connectors; excellent condition HP 82335 8-bit HP-IB ISA board - excellent condition - $35 Future Domain TMC-850MER "Apple Signal Port" 8-bit ISA SCSI board - has socket for BIOS EPROM; comes with 50-pin ribbon and Y-splitter power cables; like new; [http://www.vcfed.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-9546.html] - $30 Unpopulated (New Old Stock) Motorola MC68000 Educational Computer board - like new condition - $20 shipped anywhere in USA Sirius Systems Tech peripheral mainboard - for Victor 9000/ACT Sirius 1 computers; excellent physical condition, unknown functional condition - $13 shipped anywhere in USA Peripherals Panasonic Interface Adaptor RP-K100 - parallel port interface for Panasonic word processor(?) - $5 Kroy Digital Cassette Drive Cat. No. 1674400 "290 Keyboard" - digital microcassette data drive; 34-pin dual row connector; includes digital microcassette tape - $15 APCON ACI-2016 SCSI Booster - 68-pin SCSI booster, w/power supply - $10 Advanced Electronic Applications PK-64 PAKRATT-64 - packet radio modem for Commodore 64; excellent condition - $60 Remex 5.25" drive - inside external enclosure with power supply and 34-pin connector; excellent condition inside and out - $15 HP 82950A Modem - includes severely water damaged but mostly readable users manual - $45 HP 00085-15001 Mass Storage ROM - HP-85 mass storage ROM, allows HP 85A to connect to disc drives - $25 shipped anywhere in USA Avatex 1200HC 300/1200 external modem - $5 Atari SC1224 (Version 2) color monitor - powers up, has raster, do not have cable to test - $70 Atari SH305 MegaFile 30 - contains Seagate ST-238R hard drive; powers up, drive spins up, sounds healthy; case was slightly hacked by a less than skilled hand to add status LEDs to the front as well as a slot for a 3.5" removable drive (not present; includes custom internal 34-pin slot connector to external DIN connector cable) - $50 Atari 1064 - 48K parallel port memory module for Atari XL series - $20 Atari SX212 Modem - for IBM PC and compatibles; in original box with manual, power supply, and data cable BMUGNET adaptors for Macintosh - made by Bay Area Mac User Group; pre-Farallon PhoneNet adaptors; works similar to Apple LocalTalk - 2/$10 Sun Type 4 optical mouse - $5 Commodore 1531 Datasette - $15 Plus Development Corp. Impulse dual external hard drive unit - same maker as Plus Hardcard; includes (2) Conner CP-340 40MB RLL drives, powers up and drives spin up with healthy sound; unable to test further; requires DB-19 cable and PC interface board to be fully useful - $20 DSP 225 Tempest InkJet Printer - HP ThinkJet Model 2225A (HP-IB interface) fitted inside an all black TEMPEST resistant enclosure, fine working condition - $75 Computers and Such Tektronix 4050 - complete working system in excellent condition with manuals and software on QIC Apricot F1 - CPU only; powers up, blurts out some strange "beep" and seeks a boot disk; (2) internal 3" drivesl unable to test further Motorola Envoy - (3) units with (1) charge station and extra battery Commodore 16 - untested - $30 Osborne 1 - original tan case; fairly low serial number (A01284); powers up, screen is good, tries to boot from disk drive; very good cosmetic condition with some scuffs, leather handle is broken - $160 HP 7475A Plotter - full complement of pens are mostly dried out but it performs the demo function admirably; excellent condition - $85 Lynx 460 floppy disk drive exerciser w/User's Manual and Xerox Supplement - $25 Atari Mega ST4 - powers up, seems to boot from the floppy drive, no monitor cable so unable to test further; includes Practical Solutions Tweety Board (adds true stereo) - $250 Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 - works great; very good condition with minor yellowing and a couple scratches; includes form fitting faux leather case in excellent condition - $40 Miscellaneous Dolch Logic Instruments 9604 uP Trace Unit - logic analyzer module for National Semiconductor NSC-800 microprocessor - $15 Tandy data cable - 34-pin slotted connector to Centronics male connector, approx. 10' - $5 As always, please send inquiries to me directly via e-mail at for best results. Thanks! Sellam

8 years, 7 months

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Digression - Ah Yes!! The PDP-10

by bob＠theadamsons.co.uk

Beginning of the 70's I was using a pdp-10 at TSL (Time Sharing Limited, UK) over a phone line writing logic simulation software in Fortran. Remember it fondly, especially the number of times I needed to redial in and try to reconnect to my session. Still smell the teletype. Cost about ?10 for the 20 seconds cpu-time or so just to compile the program!!! Roll on a few years and I was actually at the console of a 10 at Smiths doing IC layout graphics interactively on their Lady Jane suite. What a great single-user machine! (and I still remember my username and password from TSL, typed it so often it burned in). Bob > -----Original Message----- > Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2017 18:42:42 +0100 > From: "Rob Jarratt" <robert.jarratt at ntlworld.com> > To: "'Dave Wade'" <dave.g4ugm at gmail.com>, "'General Discussion: > On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'" <cctalk at classiccmp.org>, "'Kip > Koon'" > <computerdoc at sc.rr.com> > Subject: Re: Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?. > Message-ID: <003101d34cef$7eca53c0$7c5efb40$(a)ntlworld.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > > > Ah the PDP10! Although the very first computer I used was a PDP11, it > was so briefly that I really consider the PDP10 (in DECSYSTEM-20 form) > to be my first computer. It is easy to emulate in SIMH, although the > SIMH emulation is of a less capable processor (KS10) and I think KLH10 > is the best emulator for that (but I have never used it). > ... > > Rob

8 years, 7 months

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FOR SALE: Macintosh Performa 450

by sellam.ismail＠gmail.com

I have a nice, working Macintosh Performa 450 for sale, details here: http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?60274-Apple-Macintosh-Performa-45… Thanks! Sellam

8 years, 7 months

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Interesting mini-doc on Gilbert Hyatt

by sellam.ismail＠gmail.com

Here is an interesting mini-documentary on the fight Gilbert Hyatt (patent holder for the concept of the microcomputer) had with the Franchise Tax Board of State of California: https://youtu.be/rfyPZdSBwBQ Sellam

8 years, 7 months

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Is it really that quiet out there?

by barythrin＠gmail.com

Yes, but the irony if us replying on-list isn't lost. -------- Original message --------From: Robert via cctalk <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Date: 10/24/17 11:40 AM (GMT-06:00) To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Subject: Re: Is it really that quiet out there? The last one that I received was October 20th. Robert

8 years, 7 months

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Digression - Ah Yes!! The PDP-10

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

oddly there were times you could dial into a broken dec 10 connect and end up connected to someone elses session.... Ed# In a message dated 10/25/2017 2:18:30 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, cctalk at classiccmp.org writes: > -----Original Message----- > From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Robert > Adamson via cctalk > Sent: 25 October 2017 20:56 > To: cctech at classiccmp.org > Subject: Digression - Ah Yes!! The PDP-10 > > Beginning of the 70's I was using a pdp-10 at TSL (Time Sharing Limited, UK) > over a phone line writing logic simulation software in Fortran. Remember it > fondly, especially the number of times I needed to redial in and try to > reconnect to my session. Still smell the teletype. Cost about ?10 for the 20 > seconds cpu-time or so just to compile the program!!! > I used to use the DECSYSTEM-20 from a Teletype (until they got replaced by VDUs). That is why I really wanted a nice Model 33 ASR, which I now have. I sometimes connect it up to SIMH running TOPS-20 to relive the happiest part of my school days. > Roll on a few years and I was actually at the console of a 10 at Smiths doing IC > layout graphics interactively on their Lady Jane suite. What a great single-user > machine! > > (and I still remember my username and password from TSL, typed it so often it > burned in). >

8 years, 7 months

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Cyclops page (Popular Electronics and Cromemco)

by wh.sudbrink＠verizon.net

Hi, In case anyone is interested, I have finally cobbled together a web page that documents the construction of the Popular Electronics Cyclops camera that I exhibited at the 2016 VCF East. It also documents my work to produce a Cromemco S-100 Cyclops that I hope to exhibit at the 2018 VCF East. The page is here: http://wsudbrink.dyndns.org:8080/cyclops/index.html The Cromemco S-100 Cyclops starts down the page a bit. Bill S. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

8 years, 7 months

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Cleaning and Restoring a Badly Corroded PSU

by shadoooo＠gmail.com

Hello, the vertical heat sinks for the TO220 with this design are fairly common, I saw them many times on various boards. However, as they are simply aluminum parts, you can clean them for sure. After removing the screw, you could try simply with an hard brush. If badly corroded, remove the bubbles of oxide with a thin sanding paper, then you could restore the opaque aspect submerging for few seconds in caustic sodium solution. Be aware to protect eyes and skin! Replace the RIFA X2 capacitor!!!! Andrea

8 years, 7 months

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Fujitsu M2235S

by pb＠pbcl.net

Anybody familiar with the internals of these disks? I have one here which seems to have the positioner stuck at track zero. I'm not sure whether it's likely to be just a bit sticky and in need of some assistance or whether there is some sort of latch involved, and I am a bit reluctant to just pull the lid off the chamber to find out. Thanks Phil

8 years, 7 months

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HP 2640S terminal for sale in closed Facebook group in Sweden.

by mattislind＠gmail.com

https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/s720x720/22713265_1015612717… I am not the seller. It looks like it is working. The seller confirms that there are some screen mold. If there is anyone that is interested I can get you in contact with the seller. /Mattis

8 years, 7 months

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HP 21mx/whatever processor works with doublesided key... i forgot model#

by COURYHOUSE＠aol.com

IT RUNS MEMORY RESIDENT LOADED FROM PAPER TAPE? ED# In a message dated 10/20/2017 7:37:48 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, jwest at classiccmp.org writes: "Forth-like" system that is well developed/flushedout. So in addition to BASIC, you get oh-so-many-wonderful-things. I very highly recommend that anyone messing with 21mx/1000 systems take a good look at HP-IPL/OS.

8 years, 7 months

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